With a deafening roar, the machine gun ripped into the target at the end of the range. The gun was steady against Tyr'Kozza's shoulder, kicking rhythmically into the armour. When the clip finished, he ejected it and tapped the console to bring the target forward so he could examine his work. The spread was minimal considering the weapon packed a considerable recoil, but was largely located in the torso of the target. Frowning, Tyr loaded another clip into the machine gun and tapped the console again to send the target back to the end of the range. He racked the slide and raised the machine gun to his shoulder, then paused when he heard the door open.
"Tyr, nice to see you're staying in shape," Vei stepped into the firing booth next to Tyr and loaded a thermal clip into his rifle.
"I try my best," Tyr replied. He brought up the machine gun and loosed off a handful of rounds, grimacing when three of them went wide. Vei was watching him carefully. "You want something Vei?"
"Just looking in," he shrugged. "What do you make of this?"
"Not quite sure what you mean," Tyr opened a small grey box that lay on the booth's shelf and took out a screwdriver to readjust the sights.
"You think we should be sending an entire squad out after just one man?"
Tyr put the screwdriver back in the toolkit and looked at the other quarian warily. "I don't make those decisions, Vei."
"I'm not asking you to make a decision," the Master Sergeant fired off a dozen rounds, each one hitting the target in the head and neck. "I just want an opinion is all."
"Zhar's a great soldier," Tyr said, slightly nervous about where this was going. "If we can get him back, I'm all for it."
"What about his geth friend?" Vei fired another handful of shots, these ones neatly placed in the centre of the chest.
"I don't know what to make of it," he brought the machine gun up to his shoulder and fired a dozen rounds down the range to test the sight adjustments. "I mean, it knows a lot about us. Obviously our encryption codes aren't as good as we thought. Not my area though."
"You really think the geth found out who we are all by themselves?"
"How else could they have found out?" Tyr looked over at the quarian. "Zhar wouldn't have told them anything."
"You were on Virmire weren't you?" Vei leaned against the wall of his booth. "When the Lieutenant was there, I mean."
"You know about Virmire?" Tyr frowned. "How?"
"Just a friend," Vei said noncommittally. "Heard it got messy."
"Messy?" Tyr snorted. "It was a fucking slaughterhouse by the time Zhar was finished with it. Tore the place apart."
"Why?"
"Cerberus killed his entire squad a month before and you're wondering why he's executing people left, right, and centre?"
"Do you think he should have been promoted after what happened?" Vei leaned across the booth. Tyr laid the machine gun down beside his toolkit and sighed. "Do you?"
"I walked in on Zhar and found him executing civilians – they were lab technicians and data analysts – nobody important. We were only supposed to destroy the databanks and disrupt the operation," Tyr shuddered. "He was at the last one when he saw me."
He could remember everything. The thin slit across Zhar's blue visor looking up at him, the black and gold armour covering the rest of it shimmering in the bright light of the laboratory. The eight men and woman bound by their wrists on the floor. Seven of them were slumped on the ground, blood pooling around their heads. The last one was crying. The tears slowly rolled down her pale face as the barrel of the pistol was placed against her head.
"He didn't say anything, he just looked at me. Then he killed her. She couldn't have been more than twenty. I'll never forget her face."
"That doesn't answer my question, Tyr."
"I don't think anyone should be commanding a company for executing people like that."
"So you're not part of the fan club?" Vei nodded. "Glad to know there's someone else that knows he isn't all he's made out to be."
"I respect him," Tyr said quickly. "He's a good soldier."
"Is he, Tyr?" Vei said quietly. "After what you saw?"
Tyr bit his lip. A cold sensation washed over him as he thought over what he'd seen on Virmire a year ago. "What do the others think?"
"Eisha hero-worships the man," Vei said distastefully. "Ruun won't budge on him, they've been friends for years. I don't know about Xin. She's always been difficult to read. That's what makes her so good at chess."
"Yeah," Tyr slid his machine gun over his back, where it contracted and magnetically attached to the armour beneath his cloak. "Anyway. I should be going."
"Think about it, Tyr."