(Reddestiny92: Sudden quick yes but that's the feeling it should have for what happened, there is a larger time skip toward the end but it's still the same Act and I will be taking liberty with some things..again.)
…..
Loss...
Traveling through the relay they were gone and in a few days communications were already lost he wondered where they had to go. He looked up as Nihlus came in the room he could tell something was wrong already. He was sitting with Joker, Edi, Grunt, Solana, and Sparatus.
"What happened is it time for us to leave too?" he asked.
"No, you know who just called the Normandy?"
"Who?"
"Councilor Sparatus they had some leads on the ship that they thought Edi could scan and he asked me if he thought working with Felicity would make the check a little quicker they wanted to extend the damn shore leave."
Garrus moved to stand up.
"Tell me that means he wants us to catch up to Haestrom."
He shook his head, worried.
"The person who did left the hacked message in the system it's tied to an unclaimed omnitool they had it recovered but that is the only information not encrypted to all hell."
"What was the message? Perhaps I can run a quick scan and find something." Edi offered, intending to record it and properly scan it.
He played the message.
"Good morning Commander I apologize for waking you so early especially in this case, but there is a problem that we need you to look into. Ships and shuttles sent out have been vanishing completely we can't contact them they fall off the map entirely. Most of these are for transport moving classified projects and information..some of these items are bombs in the wrong hands. Well I don't need to continue but we use this method to destroy these items we have a controlled almost black hole sort of set up though we know where it goes and that nothing is coming out of it aside from the drones we've explored it with. We need to know what's going on and if it's connected to the abductors we had to shift focus from. Please go immediately and we will simply extend your shore leave after I have sent more detailed reports to the computers on the Haestrom better not to go beyond what I have on an unsecured channel." the fake Tevos poke quickly in a hushed tone clearly worried about it.
Edi was quiet for a moment before she felt a spark and shook her head.
"What the hell was that?" Joker asked.
"There is...there is...vi...error." she shook her head, not in a motion to clear it but in a twitch before settled.
"Edi?" Joker asked examining her.
"There is a firewall and virus fighting against it..I cannot do a deep scan...perhaps whoever set it up was aware that I was a part of the crew."
"So what do we do, we don't even know where they went." Grunt asked, getting worked up as it was.
"I'm not sure, there must be somewhere they messed up there has to be anything could happen to the crew it only took a few days to block everything out that could be a virus as well and perhaps they have not gotten very far. Though we are running out of time to do the back and forth now it is time to act. In whatever way we can."
Damn right it was.
….
"Commander...?"
Felicity shook her head and looked down at Brooks.
"Huh?"
"I said something isn't right."
"Yeah I know...looks like the omnitools are cut out already."
"Should we turn back, I mean the interference could get worse we should at least get information to the Councilors."
"May..."
The ship shook, the crew the squad wasn't so bothered they knew what to expect being a special team but anything wrong with the ship when they had to rush off...well that was a serious issue.
"Woah...I...fuck."
"Commander! Systems are failing left and right!"
"Everyone get suited up, come on Brooks leave it on auto pilot."
She set it up before getting up to run after her to the storage locker, they stumbled as it shook out side it appeared to be shaking shift forward and back things started cut out. One by one everything went out when the ship went dark things got even worse. It wasn't matter of getting to the escape pods on time they were locked whatever pulse hit the ship as it continued to rock was taking down the whole ship, training or no training, there was definitely screaming.
As if anyone sane could hold that against them.
…..
The weeks slid by, months were a jump, even with every hour filling more with dread the ship was just gone and it was on every station. It was one thing the Council did share, this didn't normally happen getting so easily behind their back, setting up a team and completely removing a ship there were no traces. Not one call was getting through, every single member was just gone the Council let them look while they were on missions, but eventually they could only assume the worst, to their credit for this mission all things considered they gave it far more time, three years of nothing they could only assume they were dead.
It should be possible to trace the ship...to somewhere but it could have crashed and exploded damaging what tracking software it had. It was a possibility but at the same time only a speculation. No other ships had been getting taken, no one was just disappearing they weren't sure what to do about it. When it came down to it, the Haestrom was a ship that could be rebuilt, the team could be added on to, but they well there was no telling.
There was a memorial service the only thing more that could be done would be to allow at least the Normandy to keep an eye out. Though in the end it was still the same thing, sending a team around with no leads and no missions..well it was a waste.
Aaron looked around most were quiet, it was nearly business as usual, though some were on edge, three years was a long while but with everyone just gone and no knowledge of how to stop it some were concerned . There was enough to keep most busy at least as the squad was concerned but it came right back, the worry and fear, the sense of loss. He stared at Grunt who was generally more violent on the field now but he was almost eerily quiet between missions he missed her and it was killing him. Aaron felt a little guilty knowing that there had been a distress call though it wasn't sent through the usual channel and went directly to him.
He heard them screaming and let it be he hadn't said a word about it, the extra channel wasn't set for emergencies but for sensitive topics it was private and only shared if he chose to share it. Well if there was someone who had a reason to hack his omnitool then they could get it but for all they knew he was in the dark.
Felicity had actually looked into a few records being checked for adding on to her crew she couldn't really take all of them anyhow she didn't think it was fair for her to have Garrus when most couldn't bring a mate aboard...they were civilians in most cases though that wasn't the point, it just felt like abusing power.
Not that it mattered now.
Garrus sighed as he finished his calibrations one never thought about the inability to stay busy when you had to hold off on grieving even in situations like this. He looked down as his omnitool went off and answered seeing it was his father.
"What did you need sir?" he asked, watching his tone though he was really in no mood.
"Son I have some good news for you."
"What would that be?"
"You know the birth control path Turians keep."
"What about it?"
"It's been failing, a lot, there were several cases of this happening in various areas before you were even born. I sent in the copy of your records from C-sec with Solana's and you both should be in the clear, well should have been anyways. I can get leave for you, I have met a lovely Turian female that will be willing to test things out and if she gets pregnant you can have a real family."
He gripped the edges of the desk he had sat at.
"Are you kidding me?"
"What? Would you prefer to pick someone else out, we need a few heirs Garrus but I could wait I suppose."
"Dad I'm not interested in anyone else."
"Oh stop, if you have issues getting aroused we can simply avoid the whole mess and take a sample from you to get it set up."
"I bonded to Felicity..."
"And the whore is dead now, Garrus you'll be able to focus, you may not want an empty relationship but if you make an effort you could have something."
"Don't talk about bondmate that way! There is no one that can replace her." he hissed.
"You watch that tone, how long are you planning to mourn?"
"As long as I fucking want to, I love her and I don't plan on moving to another, I still work, I go out on the field in every mission I can what the fuck does it matter how I feel in my personal time?"
"Loved."
"Excuse me?"
"You can't love the dead son."
"Yes I can.."
"Pathetic, you think I love your mother anymore?"
He shook his head.
"If you're trying to tell me that you're fighting..."
"No I'm saying she's dead."
"What...? No I just got a message from her..."
"That was a message she recorded though it wasn't sent by her she died before she could last words and all she'd been sick anyhow."
"...You bastard..how could you let my mother die and not say a fucking thing about it?" he growled.
"Don't be so dramatic, It wasn't important Garrus I told her you were focused on work and wouldn't have time to come back to Palaven she understood."
"Excuse me?! There would have been plenty of time..."
"You were already a sniveling wreck over that Human I was beginning to wonder if you could work at all, it's in the system I just kept it private so you wouldn't be notified it is important to focus."
"I was fucking focusing when did she..."
"Last year, it's in the private records perhaps if you acted like you cared about your kind then I would have told you about it privately."
"You kept the message so long before you thought to give it to me?"
"Well I asked Solana how you were doing and she said you were broken down, so I kept your message don't have a fit I didn't tell her either. She's always been mentally stronger than you but I knew she would say something." he said, like it was as harmless as explaining what he would like for breakfast.
He swallowed thickly.
"Of course she would have told me, because it's the right thing to do."
"Being with that human seems to have made you a lot less reasonable, well Garrus decide quickly on a new match or I'll set things up myself..."
"Are you even listening to yourself? You're telling me you don't care that your mate is dead and I'm the problem for being upset about it?"
"Garrus what's going on? What's with the yelling?" Solana asked, he didn't realize he had been yelling as loudly as he was he was livid.
"...Our mother is dead, she's been dead for a year your dear father just told me."
Her face fell.
"I...that..."
"Yes Sol your mother is dead, and for the record we were not bonded I just redid her mark every couple months it's simply a freedom for me. Military life, get used to things and move on..." Garrus ended the call he couldn't take anymore it wasn't enough thinking of his lost mate but his bastard father's actions hit him further. He sighed swallowing the lump in his throat he walked over to his sister to give her a hug seeing her breakdown they weren't given a chance to properly grieve it hit like a ton of bricks.
…..