Chapter 21: Horizon
"This a horrible picture of Tali," Garrus observed while holding up the data pad for the Commander to see. He was sprawled out on the couch in Shepard's quarters aboard the new Normandy SR-2. "For all of Cerberus' resources, you'd think they could hire a decent photographer."
Shepard chuckled from his seat on the floor at the Turian's elbow with a data pad of his own.
"Yours were worse," Shepard responded absent mindedly as he scrolled through the dossiers.
"Mine?!" Garrus growled incredulous. "Cerberus never found me on Omega. I was too careful."
"They were older than that. From the Citadel."
Shepard subtly glanced at Garrus out of the corner of his eye, trying to read his friend for some kind of reaction on those odd plates. Garrus shifted nervously and tried to focus on the mission.
"I still think we should recruit Tali first," he protested lamely.
"I'm not sure I even want her on the team for this. She might be safer as far away from this mess as I can keep her," Shepard said morosely.
Garrus nodded with understanding. "Same could be said for a few others from the old team...and yet you still seem to be in a real big hurry to recruit them."
"Liara doesn't have anyth-" Garrus' laughter interrupted Shepard's indignant defense.
The Turian clicked his mandibles in a strange reprimanding gesture. "Hey, Shepard. I didn't say anything about Liara."
Shepard glared daggers at the smirking Turian, but didn't get the opportunity to retort. As he opened his mouth to berate his friend, EDI's orb blinked to life in the corner of his quarters and called out to the room at large.
"Shepard, you have an urgent message from the Illusive Man. He wishes to speak with you in the Communications room."
Shepard and Garrus shared a steady look then stood in unison and headed for the door.
"Are you sure you don't want to reconsider Jack's idea about going pirate?" Garrus joked as they exited the elevator.
"Ask me again after this conversation," Shepard grumbled darkly as he headed into the Communications room.
"Good luck, Shepard. I'm here if you need me."
Shepard paced a few circuits around the conference table, focusing his thoughts and preparing himself for the upcoming conversation. He always had to be on guard with the Illusive Man, even the best military discipline poker face wasn't enough. Eventually, when his mind was calm and his anger under lock and key, Shepard activated the quantum entanglement relay and stepped into the strange holographic circle.
"Shepard, I think we have them. Horizon, one of our colonies in the Terminus systems, just went silent."
The Illusive Man began without precursor or greeting. He immediately launched into details of the upcoming attack. He asked about the Mordin's seeker-swarm countermeasures and Shepard kept his face a neutral mask, keeping his urges to throttle the man under tight control.
It was all routine until the bottom fell out of Shepard's universe.
"There's something else you should know. Your sister is stationed on Horizon. The Alliance recently bolstered security forces on the colony - led by one of your former crew, Ashley Williams."
Shepard stared blankly at the hologram image in front of him. His blood ran cold as he repeated the words inside his own head, trying to process the new information. Shepard counted to five silently and systematically forced each of his fingers to unclench out of a fist. He swallowed the lump in his throat, hoping his face remained a neutral mask and didn't reveal the panic that was building in his chest.
"Why is she out in the Terminus systems?" he managed to croak.
"Officially, it's an outreach program to improve Alliance relations with the colonies. But, they're up to something. And, if they sent Chief Williams it must be big. Perhaps, you should take it up with her."
Shepard tried to keep his voice steady, but he could hear the growl in his own throat. The anger was burning white and hot in the back of his mind as he slowly realized the true extent of the danger to his sister's life.
"The Collectors just happened to pick a colony with my sister. I don't buy it."
"It shouldn't be a surprise the Collectors are interested in you. Especially, if they're working for the Reapers. They might be going after her to get to you."
"We should send a message to the Citadel - The Alliance can give us reinforcements."
"Not until you investigate. I don't want the Alliance getting in our way. Once you have the situation under control, I'll send the information personally."
Shepard paced the tiny holographic circle, his fists clenched again. He thought about arguing the point with the head of Cerberus, but he didn't want to delay. His sister was in very real and serious danger. The Normandy was the fastest ship in the Galaxy. If the Collectors were there, the Alliance wouldn't get there in time anyway.
"Send the coordinates. We're heading straight there."
"This is the most warning we've ever had, Shepard. Good luck."
Shepard didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until the virtual environment had disengaged. He didn't waste any time.
"Joker, set a course for Horizon. As fast as you can get us there."
"Aye Aye, Commander," the pilot responded seriously.
Without missing a beat, Shepard walked with firm and angry purpose towards the doors and straight for Mordin's lab. Garrus was waiting outside, leaning with a casual stance against the bulkhead.
"I take it that didn't go well…" Garrus observed, straightening and falling into step behind the Commander.
"Horizon's just gone dark. The Collectors are heading there next."
Garrus stopped dead in his tracks. Shepard could hear the sharp intake of breath through his slotted Turian nose, though he didn't slow his steps.
"Maggie…" Garrus breathed. It was the first time Shepard ever heard fear in the Turian's voice. It was also the first time since they'd been reunited on Omega that the Turian had uttered his sister's name.
Shepard didn't bother to ask how Garrus knew she was there. None of that mattered now.
"Head to the armory and coordinate with Jacob. Find whatever you can that's effective against their natural armor. I want to put the biggest hole possible in those bastards' heads for even thinking about touching my sister."
Garrus was trying to remember how to breathe. Strange choking sounds were emerging from the Turian's throat. Shepard didn't slow his steps and the Turian trotted a few paces to catch up.
"Shepard, I… Maggie… we…" Garrus stammered awkwardly, almost like he was out of breath.
"I gave you an order, Vakarian," Shepard growled, whirling on his friend.
Garrus jerked to attention. "Right away, Commander." Without another word, he carefully retreated to the Armory.
Shepard ignored Garrus and stomped into Mordin's lab while his panic and fear coalesced into a cold rage.
"Tell me you have something," he demanded of Mordin. The scientist turned to him and smiled.
Shepard dared to hope.
Professor Mordin Solus was one of the most decorated STG Operatives in Salarian history. He was brilliant, highly-trained, and lethal.
And, now, he was incredibly frustrated.
The Salarian scientist was accustomed to dumbing down technical concepts for non-scientists. He could even place value on military's morale-based tactics and the successful camaraderie of a competent combat force. But, Garrus and Shepard were ignoring him. With every step they bypassed the wealth of data surrounding them on Horizon and it was simply unacceptable!
Mordin was mumbling irritably to himself about testing the seeker swarm technology and collecting data.
Yes yes, the civilians were valuable. Of course, it goes without saying that you want to preserve any organic life.
But, right in front of them was irrefutable evidence that the Collectors were working with the Reapers. The technology, the data, and the amount of intelligence here on Horizon was unparalleled. He could be using it to protect hundreds of other colonies, thousands of worlds, and millions of lives.
That data was priceless.
Yet, it was abundantly clear Shepard and Garrus simply didn't care in the slightest. They were trying to locate one human girl and nothing, not even the mission, was getting in their way.
"Try messaging her again." Shepard ordered without looking away from the point of attack. The Turian and the Human were gliding across the battlefield in a perfectly synchronized rhythm of merciless violence. Mordin was struggling to keep up.
"Who?" Mordin asked, glancing back and forth between Garrus and Shepard. Both men continued to ignore him entirely. The Salarian fumed.
Garrus checked his omni-tool and growled.
"Solar interference."
"Collector ship interrupting communications," Mordin corrected with a glare.
As they moved through the colony, the team failed to find a single survivor. Garrus and Shepard were speeding up and moving with a ferocity that gave the Salarian pause.
For the past few weeks, the mental stress of the situation was evident in the Commander and the Turian. Channeling stress into combat or other recreational activities was healthy. Yet, this type of interaction between their species was unprecedented. Mordin considered recording the dynamic for future study.
For a brief moment, he looked past his scientific detachment and was grateful that the fearsome pair were not his enemies. Mordin had seen some brutal and devastating combat in his time. He'd killed a lot of creatures with a lot of methods. Gunfire. Knives. Drugs. Tech Attacks. Even once with farming equipment. And, none of it held a candle to the destructive potential he was witnessing in Shepard and Garrus.
Need more data. Foster replication for military training. Cross-species cooperation ensures long-term collective survival. Mordin was deliberating to himself.
Mordin was ignoring the clipped conversation between his squad-mates as he contemplated the effective uses of Turian/Human military squads. But, then it got interesting...
"She's not here. They probably have her on the ship already. I say we radio the Normandy to blow it out of the sky," Garrus was growling over their comms.
"If she's on the ship and we destroy it, she dies with it. Husk Three o'clock." Shepard's cold, calculating voice echoed in his communication collar.
The conversation paused, interrupted by shots ringing out across the fields. Mordin incinerated a group of Collector foot-soldiers clustered together behind a crate.
"All clear." Garrus announced.
They were moving across the field now in a triangle formation, approaching a courtyard between two buildings. Instinctively, Garrus and Shepard both paused and inspected the suspiciously open space with their scopes. Mordin arrived a few paces behind, panting. He noted the area and scanned it with his omni-tool.
"Maggie's crafty. She wouldn't let them take her alive. Those seeker swarms are brutal, but not enough to pin her down. She's here somewhere." Shepard picked up the conversation in a low-whisper.
Mordin calculated the odds of that being true. Then, he decided it was best if he didn't share his conclusions. The false hope seemed to be an important component for the effectiveness of this particular combat arrangement.
"Alright, Shepard. We'll keep looking," the Turian relented.
"It's my fault they're after her in the first place and I'll be damned if they are going to take her."
Garrus rumbled a non-verbal grunt of assent. Mordin turned a hint more crimson in his frustration and refused to contribute to the conversation.
They continued to sweep the colony, bolstered by the small hope ignited after discovering a few paralyzed colonists. They checked every stasis victim, but did not locate the "Maggie" Garrus and Shepard were seeking. Instead, they met Harbinger, which offered a pleasant distraction to Mordin's frustration with his allies.
The only solid lead was hiding in a sealed storage shed.
"It's the Alliance's fault. They stationed that Chief Williams here and built those defense towers. They made us a target."
Dr. Solus scanned the man with his omni-tool. The mechanic named Delan had nothing but bitter words and blame for the people trying to save his sorry life. It was a common trait of survivor's guilt. Mordin considered a variety of psychological treatments for him.
"Tell me more about this Alliance Rep," Shepard demanded sharply.
"Chief Williams? Heard she was some kinda hero or something. Didn't mean nothing to me, though. Would rather she just stay back in Council space. She's supposed to be helpin' us get the defense towers up and running. I got the feeling she was here for something else. Spying on us maybe."
"What about Staff Sergeant Shepard?"
Garrus coughed softly and corrected. "Sergeant Major."
Shepard glanced over at Garrus.
"Sergeant Major? Really?"
Garrus shrugged. "Two years is a while, Commander."
Delan, the mechanic, glanced back and forth between the two.
"Sergeant Shepard? You mean Maggizzle? She's got a mean right hook - I can tell you that. She's made herself scarce since Chief Williams arrived. Haven't seen much of her at the bar lately. Her Engineers steer clear of the Marines. She was the only one of the lot who knew her ass from a hole in the ground."
"Where is she?" Shepard asked anxiously.
"Her team was workin' on the defense towers. High powered GUARDIAN lasers. They still couldn't get the targeting systems online. They were the first to get hit. I could hear 'em screaming."
A deadly silence fell over the team. Delan involuntarily stepped back from Shepard's angry, cold glare. Garrus' growl was almost silent, but the vibrations made Mordin's teeth ache.
"Shouldn't be hard to figure out. Just need the location." Mordin interjected, trying to bring Garrus and Shepard back to reality and prevent them from committing unnecessary acts of violence.
"Head for the main transmitter on the other side of the colony. It's pretty hard to miss."
They left the mechanic to his hiding place and crossed the colony at a sprint.
They never found Maggie. Instead, they found lots of Collectors, a hovering spider monster, and Ashley. Good old irritating, self-centered, undisciplined, misguided, Ashley.
It's been two years for her, Shepard reminded himself patiently. Just focus on finding Maggie.
Shepard was immune to Ashley's anger. He didn't even make eye contact as he responded numbly to her accusations. His eyes kept drifting to the vapor trail that indicated where the Collector ship had been. Even Garrus' fervent defense of him couldn't rouse the Commander against his former comrade.
"Damnit, Williams! You're so focused on Cerberus that you're ignoring the real threat. You let them take Maggie right out from under you!" Garrus growled, his fury rising to fever pitch.
"I can see you won't listen to reason…" Shepard added duly, still staring at the empty sky where the Collector ship used to be.
Shepard's thoughts gave into despair. They took her. They took her because of me. Oh god, what will they do to her? Put her on a spike? Turn her into a husk? Indoctrinate her like Saren? Will I have to kill my own sister?
"You show up after two years and tell me you're working for Cerberus? Sounds like you left reason behind a long time ago. Doesn't matter. I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier. It's in my blood. I'm reporting back to the Citadel. I'll let them decide if they believe your story." Ashley spat.
Shepard finally whirled on her. "We both know how that's gonna turn out. The Alliance will just try to blame Cerberus and I'll be no closer to getting Maggie back. If she's even still alive."
Ashley winced at his words, like he'd just slapped her across the face. She turned away so he couldn't read her expression.
"With good reason, Shepard. Sorry - good luck."
Shepard stared at her back as Ashley walked away, though he did flinch at the sound of Garrus' armored fist crunching into metal.
"Sorry?! She's sorry!?" growled Garrus, pacing in his rage, throwing another punch and breaking apart another nearby storage container.
"I should've told her I'm sorry," Shepard muttered, watching Ashley's back.
"Fuck that. You don't have anything to be sorry to her about."
"I failed to save her squad, rejected her, killed her lover, spurned her respect then joined the enemy. Everything I do hurts that girl. Best I can do is stay away."
Garrus stared at Shepard in disbelief, but couldn't think of anything to say to refute his claims.
Sorry, Kaidan. Shepard thought to himself sourly.
The flimsy barracks wall shuddered and Shepard raised an eyebrow at the strangely human shaped dent that appeared.
"...your unit! Your responsibility..." he could hear Garrus bellowing from the next room. "Your shame will be spread amongst the stars."
"Gggllrrrk," was the strangled reply of the poor security officer struggling against the Turian's wrath.
Shepard felt neither satisfaction nor anger at the display. He didn't even feel the driving selfless need to protect the innocent Alliance soldier from unwarranted harm.
He didn't feel anything, just emptiness. His sister was gone.
Shepard and Mordin carefully inspected the tiny dorm-like room that had once housed her life. Maggie had jury-rigged a series of ceiling mounted storage devices that imitated the racks on ship's quarters. The racks were filled with wires, circuit boards, and half-finished mechanical projects that would never see completion. They surrounded a custom-built multi-screen terminal.
"Her living quarters?" The Salarian asked.
Shepard reached out and touched one of the incomplete combat drones. It was painted red, her favorite color. The surge of memories he felt made his throat tighten. Until the Normandy, it had always just been him and his sister. They may have been systems apart but they could always count each other. They had no secrets, no judgments, no apprehensions. Shepard simply couldn't imagine a world without her in it.
"Definitely her room," he confirmed solemnly.
"Scanning." Mordin confirmed and turned to his omni-tool.
Outside the room, Shepard listened to the argument which continued between Garrus and the unfortunate Commanding Officer of Horizon's security forces. He was also the source of the dent in the wall.
Shepard stepped into the hallway to watch the end of Garrus' interrogation. The Human Lieutenant was half-way through the wall with three long Turian talons wrapped around his throat. The man broke like bad china.
"I...I…don't know! She was one of those specialists…" the Lieutenant was sobbing. "You know the type…"
"Enlighten me." Garrus growled and the floor beneath him shook.
"S-S-Seperate orders, encrypted reports, a lot of hidden comings and goings… Shepard's team were working on the lasers. W-We had nothing to do with them! I wrote her up once. That's all I know. I swear!"
"Wrote her up for what?" Shepard asked as he peered at the Lieutenant over the Turian's shoulder.
"Unauthorized weapon discharge… she..she used a local monument for target practice on a bet with some Marines. Shot a smiley face in the back of it's head at 900 meters."
For the first time since stepping foot on this cursed planet, Shepard smiled.
"Yeah, that sounds like her."
"Shepard?" Mordin called from the doorway. "Something you should see."
Garrus let the man drop to the floor and followed Shepard into Maggie's room.
"Amount of genetic material in this room - lacking for daily use." Mordin was muttering as he fiddled with his omni-tool. "The subject has not been present. Slept somewhere else. Additional interested parties have been collecting genetic samples. Several weeks at least. Intimate relations with squad perhaps?"
Shepard pretended that he didn't hear the low threatening growl that escaped Garrus.
"Salvaged limited data from terminal," the Salarian continued, oblivious to Garrus' displeasure. "Fire crash program - wiped almost clean. Only one file left."
"What file?" Shepard asked.
Mordin pressed a button to activate the only remaining file. Shepard leaned over and studied the vid as Garrus paced the tiny room like a caged animal.
From the terminal, Maggie's sing-song voice blasted over a cacophony of sound and laughter. The home-made visuals were jerky from her omni-tool recording attached to her wrist. It was the vid she recorded from their victory dinner at "The Digs" back on the Citadel - over two years before. The whole crew of the first Normandy was there, chatting, eating and drinking. Maggie was going around the table to each, asking them about their favorite part of serving with her heroic brother.
Maggie was interviewing Tali on the screen now. Shepard's fingers were tightening around the edge of the desk until it creaked.
"ok ok...Tali we get it. The drive core is amazing."
"Your brother is amazing too, Maggie."
"Maybe if we packed him full of ezo and used him to power a ship you'd like him as much as the drive core."
"Keelah! That's not fair."
Garrus' rumbling voice interjected and the visuals swung around.
"Have you asked Joker about the drop on Illos yet? I'm pretty sure that was his favorite."
"He's only told me about it like five times!" Maggie's voice chimed, then lowered gently. "How about you, Garrus? You haven't answered yet."
Garrus' face appeared on the screen, he was looking past the omni-tool to what must've been Maggie's face beyond the omni-tool. His expression strange and contemplative. Maggie's voice morphed into a mocking announcer tone.
"Garrus Vakarian! You just saved the citadel, stopped galactic destruction, and spent a year on assignment with the first Human Spectre! What was your favorite part?"
"All of it, the good and the bad. You can't choose favorites in your family."
The omni-tool shuffled and the visuals tilted, as if Maggie had thrown her arms around Garrus and was hugging him fiercely.
"Sure ya can! You're my favorite Turian on the Citadel, Garrus!" Maggie declared, laughing.
Shepard stopped the vid and stepped out of the room silently, like a ghost. Mordin waffled uncertainly a moment before following the Commander outside. Shepard's dull and sluggish steps echoed down the hallway.
Garrus remained behind in silence with his eyes locked on the screen. The scene it displayed was tilted and blurry with movement, but he could still make out Maggie's face looking up at his own framed at the edge of the screen. Her eyes were sparkling, her smile radiant, she was full of life and laughter. And, she was gone; probably dead or turned into some grotesque cyber husk.
Garrus was clenching his fists so tightly his talons were tearing into his palms, blue blood standing out in stark contrast to the black reinforced fabric of his gloves. In this room, he could faintly smell her scent, sweet and salty like the ocean. It was a painful reminder of her presence.
Her face on the terminal shattered.
Garrus felt the pain radiate up his arm before he realized he had punched the display. The image of cybernetic tubes forcing their way into her soft skin invaded Garrus' mind. He pictured her laughter turned into screams as the Collectors cut into her frail human body; the same body that had spent so many nights in his arms. His rapid heartbeat echoed in his skull and his vision blurred red.
He wasn't sure what had happened until he heard Shepard's voice yelling at him. His body felt heavy. As he came back to himself, he realized Shepard had tackled him and was pinning him to the floor. Mordin was locking down his armor and several colonists were staring at him in horror.
The room looked like a bomb went off. Pieces of furniture were strewn about, some half-lodged into the walls. Claw marks riddled everything. The terminal was smashed through the wall into the room next door and there wasn't a single item that hadn't been torn into multiple pieces. There were strips of her pillowcase tangled in his talons where he must've sliced it to ribbons. His body was exhausted and aching. Garrus blinked his vision clear and felt the rage drain from him, quickly replaced by debilitating, aching, pain.
"Garrus… easy Garrus." Shepard was reassuring him while simultaneously holding him down. "Calm down."
It took Garrus a few tries for his voice to function.
"I.. I'm ok, now. You can get off me, Shepard."
Shepard peered at his friend uncertainly.
"You're not gonna hulk out on me are you?"
"I don't know what that means. But, it won't happen again."
Mordin was murmuring again, half to himself. "Turian response to stress - base instincts, protect the family unit. No targets. Aggression manifests itself in physical destruction. Interesting response…."
Shepard sighed at Mordin before his gaze returned to Garrus. He nodded once, leaned back and offered a hand. Garrus took it and was bodily hauled back onto his feet. Garrus surveyed the damage and looked down at his shaking hands, they were bleeding and he was pretty sure one of his taloned fingers wasn't supposed to hang at that angle.
"I-I'm sorry, Commander. I didn't mean to…I'm sorry I... The last order you gave me was to keep her safe. And, I failed...again."
"What are you talking about, Garrus?"
"Shepard…I shouldn't have left… I should've stayed on the Citadel with-" His avian eyes were focused on the floor.
"The Collectors are after me," Shepard interrupted him. "It's not your fault… it's mine."
Garrus knelt slowly to pick up a scrap of pillow case on the floor between his feet. He rubbed the fabric slowly between his fingers. It still lingered with her scent.
"What's our next move, Commander?" The Turian asked as he studied the fabric, a cold rage rising in his voice.
"If she's not here, then we've got a ship to chase."