Mass Effect Andromeda Series II: Chapter 51

She saved face for so long. A dutiful Lieutenant, a strong fighter. Now a Spectre…but yet there standing just feet outside the med bay, she could no longer be strong. Ashley Williams, the second human Spectre, lost it. This was the second time in her life that she lost John. Sure, he went up against Sovereign on the Citadel, but this was different. The fight against the husks and Geth was tough on the other hand she knew deep inside that they were going to catch that traitorous bastard, Saren. Ever since Harbinger showed up at the beam, they lost all comms. The Reaper flagship left the battlefield and there was no word from anyone: Anderson, Shepard or Hackett. Garrus found Ash standing there trying her best to stop sobbing, but her mind and body had enough. Her heart had enough. The man she loved could be dead down there among the other soldiers who went proudly into this last suicide mission and this time Cerberus couldn't bring him back. After all these years doubting who he was and not trusting him; it pained her to think back to her encounter on Mars. "Skipper…I'm so-sorry I doubted you," She choked through the tears as if she was talking to him right there. Then she prayed…she prayed out loud .Garrus was not too familiar with human religions but he knew to give her space to let her finish before he checked up on her. Luckily, Javik was still in the med bay. The Prothean wouldn't handle this delicate situation properly. The war was so unfamiliar and it brought so many unfamiliar faces. He knew that Williams needed someone familiar. Someone who was with her when she first fought along Shepard's side. Someone who had the same emotions…someone who had a loved one on Earth. Once he knew she was done as she took a breath to regain her composure, he cleared his throat to gather her attention.

The brunette whirled around to look at him, startled. "How long have you been standing there?" Her voice quivered.

"Long enough to understand the pain you are going through. Andromeda is still down there and I have no way of knowing if she's still alive," He admitted. He paused as if he thought she would make some rebuttal about how her situation was different, but she didn't.

A warm smile came across her lips. "Look at us like a bunch of worry-warts," She wiped the tears from her face. "Damnit." She gave a faint laugh.

"I want to go down there as much as you do. Carry my cripple ass if you have to," He pointed to his fractured leg that Chakwas managed to splint for him.

This made Ashley laugh again. "I am not sure if my grandfather would approve." She sighed half-heartedly. "I know now is not the time to say this, but I'll admit I did have issues with aliens working so close with the Alliance when Shepard first took over Anderson's ship. I didn't trust you. I'm a racist that's for sure. Now, I don't think I want you to leave my side."

"The ride has been long hasn't it?" Garrus painfully looked at her as worry still plagued his mind. The realization of years since they first heard of the Reapers. How he wished he could go back and make every race, every world more prepared. The feign hope. What was he thinking? "Where you heading to now?"

"To the bridge. I want to stay on top of the comms. I probably stayed away longer than I should have. I just-I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know it was tough down there."

"No love for the Prothean?" Garrus motioned his head back to the room he just left.

Ashley looked past him and gave a grimaced smile. "I think he will grow on me. Want to accompany me?'

"Sure. I need to see if Zaeed's team checked in yet," He briskfully walked to the elevator with Williams in tow.

"I'm not sure if I would feel safe with that old merc as my squad leader. No offense."

"He's not so bad…once you get past the anger," Vakarian chuckled as he stepped onto the elevator first.

The shock still didn't wear off….there was complete silence aboard the Normandy. Their location was unknown for the time being. The guidance system was down, the comm was down. EDI was down…and probably the most frightening part was that she was probably down for good. That didn't leave Joker in the best frame of mind. Luckily, he was too slow to run off without someone catching up to him. Everybody took shifts keeping an eye on him. Whatever blast they tried to outrun once the Crucible fired they couldn't outrun. Everything felt grave. Hackett said that the Crucible was going to be fired, but what happened to the fleet? What happened to the Reapers? What happened to Earth? Apparently, the wave knocked them off course and they didn't get to the rendezvous point where Hackett was. Joker felt like he was to blame and that blame was putting a huge toll on him. The Normandy SR-2 was the last to leave the system. Joker wanted to stay so bad. They couldn't abandon Shepard now. What would happen to Earth? That extra time cost them.

The assessment of the Normandy was not good. With EDI down, it would take longer to make the major repairs. There were multiple injuries on board with some of the crew from the impact with the planet they were now stranded on. Vega checked their food rations. They probably had enough food to survive for about a month. Longer if they cut back now. There was no ETA on the repairs. "Garrus, want to go for a hunt?" Ashley walked up to the team as she quickly holstered her weapons.

"Sure. I need the exercise. Not much I can do here," Garrus went back to his own stash.

"Are you sure that is wise?" Liara looked on with worry. It was just like the Asari to want to be cautious and look at every side.

"Well, how are we going to find out where we are and what the food supply is like until we go out there and hunt? I remember my old man and I use to go for hunts when I was a kid. Mind if I tag a long?" James hopefully asked.

"Grab your gear." Ashley nodded her head. She felt with her rank and the idea of her being the next Spectre, it was her responsibility to get them up to par and get back to Earth. John would have wanted it that way. He always wanted to put the mission first.

"Make sure you scan any foliage you see," Chakwas advised. "I need to know what kind of plant life we are dealing with. Some could be poisonous and I'm not sure if I'm equipped with antitoxins."

Ashley gave a weary glance over to Joker who was standing there at the Mess entrance. "Be strong. You keep trying to get EDI back online."

The sunken pilot's eyes sadly fell upon the woman before him. It had been days since he really slept or eaten. "Yes, mom."

Seeing James and Garrus walk back up with their gear intact, she gave a silent gaze to Liara and then led the party out of the ship. The bright sunlight made them pause to get adjusted. Ashley hesitated at the steps. "Keep any visual cues you can about where we are. We may have to resort to old star charts."

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After tramping for hours through the thick foliage, Garrus stopped to get something to drink from his gear. He was use to missions where you go, shoot the bad guy and leave. Recon was more for a Salarian. So far besides the jungle landscape, the planet did have two moons, one much closer than the other. The temperature stayed around thirty-three degrees Celsius. Several plants were scanned to be shown to Chakwas. Suddenly, Ashley raised her fist, motioning them behind her to stop and be alert. She turned to James and Garrus with a serious look on her face and held up two fingers and pointed to the clearing ahead. Crouching down, she edged closer with James and Garrus looking to the sides for any ambushes. They were not able to see what Ashley saw yet. Going to the right, Garrus took a spot behind a large tree and checked their left. No foliage disturbance. He then slowly took the safety off his rifle and looked back at Ashley. A look of relief and concern on Ashley's face gave mixed signals to her team.

Garrus looked at Vega to see if he could give an explanation. The marine mouthed, "Blue Suns." Now he knew why there was a feeling of mixed emotions. They were somewhere not too far out, but now there was a threat. Communication probably reached this unit that there was a war with the Reapers and several factions of the Suns were engaged, but would that stop them from their usual ways? With them being this isolated right now, they could continue their operations and bank on the interest.

Ashley slowly backed away till she was far enough to stand back up and motion to Garrus and Vega to join suit. She gave a guarded look to the direction they just came back from. "Thoughts?"

"The mercs are not going to play nice. Let's just take them out and see what we have." James quickly answered. Going up against the Blue Suns was probably a walk in the park compared to the slaughter on Earth.

"True, but they may have information we need to have. Luckily, the Normandy crashed outside their patrol sector or they would have already been on us." Garrus pointed out. He had a very good argument. Seeing a large crashing vessel would pose two concerns to the Suns. One being a threat to their operation and two slaves and salvage. The operation had to be small or smaller than before the war.

"I don't think the Blue Suns will be open to trade," Ashley sighed hard as she debated the idea. Now she knew what John went through. There were always going to be tough decisions to make and the wrong one could impact the fate of her squad and the Normandy crew. If they messed up here, it could alert the Suns to the ship's location. She took a breath. "I got this." There was a beat. "Let's keep our distance and our wits about us. They make a move, we shoot. I'll try to engage them in conversation. If they think we are hostile, they may barricade themselves in."

"Or alert more." James honestly added. He gave a grim smile.

Looking back, Ash took another breath. "Let's go. I just hope Shepard's negotiations skills rubbed off on me."

As they approached the Blue Suns base, Garrus realized it was a small operations outpost. Probably run by ten to fifteen men at the most. One shuttle was nearby but too small to take everyone out of the Normandy. They really didn't want to abandon the ship just yet. Ash kept her eyes ahead but spoke softly to Vega. "Once we clear the base out, check the shuttle, James."

"Roger that." The marine took a glance over. A way home? Depending upon wherever home was. The shuttle couldn't maintain the long distant flight the Normandy had. The shuttle was there for most likely other posts transport throughout the planet or hopefully a city for trade. At least they were not marooned for good.

Seeing the human guard move, Ashley paused in her forward advance. The helmeted man turned and went inside the door and in his place out stepped a Batarian in the same Blue Suns armor. Both didn't say a word to each other. The Batarian stopped and looked out around after the door behind him closed and then took out a cig. He was relaxed. Good. It seemed like the Suns had it pretty comfortable in their operations here and with the war going on with the Reapers, they wouldn't be ready for an ambush. They just had to plan this right. This had to be with more finesse. If he tripped the alarms… "Garrus, can you get him?" She asked behind her in a hush tone.

"No problem," He slowly shifted his body and changed weapons to his Incisor. He delicately moved around them to get into position, be careful of his surroundings. He lifted the weapon and moved to get the target in his scope. He rested his talon on the trigger and took a breath. The Batarian's head was in full view as the four-eyed stood enjoying his unknowingly last smoke. Another breath then…he pulled the trigger. The bullet struck the head, penetrating the skull and hitting the brain. It killed him instantly. His body slumping over. His eyes wide with the surprise still. The cigarette still lit, laying gently on his lips. The trio waited. No one rushed out. It worked.

"Nice hit, Garrus," James congratulated with a pat on the back.

"Okay," Williams finally let herself take a breath. "Let's go in. Rifles at ready."

They moved swiftly through the clearing and up to the compound. The compound was composed of one larger building probably as the operations and barracks and one smaller one behind it. Could be storage…supplies. That's what they needed to get to if they ever wanted to get back to Earth again. James bent down and picked up the Batarian's access card. "How do you want to play this, boss?" He looked up at the others.

Garrus knew what he was thinking. They could all hit the main place first or one could be split out to survey the second building. That would leave one person alone.

Biting her lip, Ash looked at both of her options. "I'm not going to lose a man under my watch. Let's hit together. Clear them out." She rechecked her weapon clip.

"Right behind you," Garrus did the same.

Seconds later after swiping the access card, the doors open to reveal unsuspecting merc whose back was to the group. A vanguard and probably one of those in charge. "What is it now?" The man grumbled, he turned and the look on his face was priceless. His eyes slowly went wide when he realized that he was facing a pretty armed group with no affiliations with the Blue Suns at all. He stumbled back to gather some distance and fumbled to get his weapon. Ashley raised his pistol and fired, hitting the merc square in the head before he was able to pull it out. The bang alerted everyone and they could hear voices of discord and panic throughout the building.

"Let's get them," Williams manned the charge as she leaped out and opened fire on the inbound mercs. James took up her side while Garrus double checked their six and then did the same. The heavy barrage of ammo hit every merc coming their way. The hit was so fast that they did not have chance to oppose fire. "James, front. Garrus, check our six."

"You got it." James sprinted ahead and hit another merc square in the chest that was bringing up the rear.

A bullet whizzed by Garrus' head. He turned to see a young stunned merc trying desperately to hit them. The man was loudly grunting in nervousness as he kept firing at them. Poor bastard. Raising up his rifle, Garrus shot and killed him. Sad that he picked the wrong side. Moments later the building was quiet. He ran to catch up with the others. "Any more left?"

"Doesn't look like it." Ashley kicked one of the bodies on the floor to make sure they were not playing dead. "Keep eyes open for an ambush until we clear every room."

Once they were sure that there was no threat inside the main building, they made their way to smaller structure. However, there was a problem. Another young merc stood guard at the door. Probably the new recruit and placed at the most boring position. Guard duty. He wasn't even paying attention when they first walked up but when he took notice, he shook hard and grabbed his pistol. "Holy shit! Who are you?!" He fumbled for his radio to notify backup.

"Don't bother, kid. You're it," Garrus kept his rifle poised. He hoped this would end peacefully.

A look of dread plagued the young male's face. "Who are you?! Mercenaries?"

"Alliance," James answered him.

"Alliance?" He hesitated. "Out here? They said you guys were caught up in some war."

"We are." Ash aimed her rifle in an intimidating manner. It would be best not to disclose their location of their ship. "Let's just say we didn't plan to be here. Your unit is wiped out. I suggest you lower your weapon. You don't stand a chance."

The man contemplated the command as he desperately tried to look around them for any sign of his group, but then he realized that these three were telling the truth. He dropped his pistol onto the ground and solemnly held up his hands. "I-I don't want to die. I have family at Thun." His voice quaked.

"I believe you're a good kid," James lowered his rifle in response and walked up to him. "We aren't going to kill you if you play nice."

"We need answers," Ashley sighed as she motioned for Garrus to move around to check out the smaller building. "You said Thun. Our ship lost navigation. Where the hell are we?"

The man gave them a puzzled look. "My name is Jarrod. This is Zorya. Currently, we are about a day shuttle flight from Thun."

Garrus paused in his work and turned back around. "Zorya?" He shook his head. "This makes sense now. The Blue Suns have a strong foothold on Zorya." He then looked around. "Looks like you guys are downsizing?"

"A lot of us were called in when the war broke out. Vosque said Aria was calling in her favor. I was lucky enough to be held back to guard our outpost holdings."

"Now for the million dollar question." Ashley casted her eyes to the locked structure. "What's back there and do you have access?"

Despite being the last merc alive, Jarrod remained hesitant to answer both questions. He stumbled over his words. "I-uh…"

"Remember, amigo. We the only ones here now and we have guns," James gave a playful wink.

"That's right...sorry," Jarrod reached into his pocket and pulled out a key card. "Here's access. Not sure if you guys want any of these. They took all the ammo and guns. Mostly salvage that we were housing to be sold to flight merchants and some food." As he spoke, Garrus opened the door to reveal hundreds of containers of ship parts. What luck they had!

The Turian's jaw dropped as he looked down the rows. "Spirits…"

"I mean you can probably sell some of these to merchants at Thun. Though, I'll warn you, they don't trade as much as they use to. A lot of flights don't come in." The young merc rubbed his neck.

"Sell?" Ashley shook her head. "James, what do you think?"

James walked inside the store house and examined one container. "I'm no engineer but maybe we can get some back?"

"My thoughts exactly. Let's take one container back to the Normandy and let the crew examine. It's too much to take back all at once. We can send a party out tomorrow to pick up the rest." She looked back over to the shuttle at the front of the compound. "Does it fly?"

"Yes? I'm not a pilot though." Jarrod shrugged.

"Good. We can get to Thun to see what supplies we can get. Hopefully, the Alliance name may sell more than credits because it's going to be tight. We need to get a course plotted back to Earth and see what time frame we have."

"Wait a minute…Normandy?" Jarrod looked at them as if he saw a ghost. "I heard about that ship...you were with Shepard? The first human Spectre? Heard he was ruthless in the Traverse." Fear shook him once more.

"Relax," Garrus comforted him with a soft pat on the shoulder. "Shepard's on Earth fighting against the Reapers. Be glad that they didn't come here."

"If he's still alive," James grumbled under his breath as he hoisted one container up with a slight groan.

Ash whirled around to confront him. "He is alive!" She harshly spat. "Damnit, we are going back to him."

Garrus sighed hard seeing their new improvised leader stomping back through the jungle. He knew she was taking it hard right now. Giving James a silent look of 'ease off', Vakarian followed Williams back down their path with Vega in tow. The news of loss especially with EDI was hitting them hard and not knowing what happened to Shepard and Anderson was harder. He just prayed that the Crucible worked and Andromeda was alive and well.

"So, I stay here?" Jarrod called out to them from where they left him. No one bothered to answer.

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Months later…

The repairs were finally complete to the Normandy and the crew made their final assessment that she was once again space worthy. They were triple checking their diagnostics. They couldn't afford to be wrong now. Liara was busy in the cargo hold going over their food and supplies that they managed to get from Thun. Luckily, with the Blue Suns off of Zorya, their control was laxed and the Alliance was welcome. Especially with the news of the Reapers hitting the Milky Way. Everyone was on pins and needles. They had no real defense system should the Reapers hit. Fortunately for them, they were a small enough pocket not to attract attention….right now.

After talking with several boggled down merchants and smugglers, they learned that for some reason the relays were not working. The timing went back to right when the Crucible was activated. It felt like a punch to the stomach. They could get back in the air but without the relays, it could be years before they could reach Earth. They had to face reality, they were out of the war. Now the question filled everyone's minds, what would Earth be like when they returned? What would happen to their families? They couldn't even hail Hackett until they got closer.

A small memorial was held for the fallen. They all had to agree that most likely Anderson and Shepard fell to Harbinger. Before they left the system, there was no word and all reports were that none of the teams made it in. Ashley defied the consensus. She wasn't going to assume John was dead again. She wasn't going to lose him again. He felt where she was coming from. The war was brutal and even with Andromeda's biotics, Garrus feared the worst. How could she stand up against Banshees?

He stood now behind Joker's chair as the pilot activated the navigational controls. The co-pilot's chair empty beside him. EDI's hollow shell now resided back in the AI housing room. Looking out the viewpoint, he saw the bright flare of the sun in the horizon staring back at them. Vakarian was finally able to take a breath of relief as a heaviness lifted off of him. "I'm coming back, Andromeda…"

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Over 7 years later…

The Reapers were destroyed. With the unified effort for repairs from everyone, Earth was starting to look like herself once again. Though the planet would never be the same for its inhabitants. With several races stranded, they agreed to get Earth up and running and then left with several Alliance starships to their own home worlds. Hackett retired from the Alliance with several prestigious medals of Honor. A memorial was held for Captain David Anderson who was killed. Commander Shepard was found among the debris, lucky once again to be alive. Devastated by the loss of the Normandy and her crew, John went with the Krogan to head back to Tuchanka along with Urdnot Wrex.

The first several years were tough for Andromeda. Khar'Shaan was still out of reach for Sh'sk to get to with still many relays inoperable so Sh'sk left on a transport to head to Omega. Finding Shepard brought immense hope to her in reaching Garrus but with the relays down, traveling would take longer time. An Asari team with several people who helped with Project Crucible were working on activating the relays once more. Everyone knew it would take time, time that Andromeda didn't have. After coaxing from Zaeed Massani, she took time to relax at the beach. The water felt so peaceful to her and after fighting side by side with the old merc, she grew fond of him like a father. A father that she no longer had. He in turn had comfort in having somewhat of a daughter. She learned that he had a son that he never knew and had lost contact with. With the Citadel destroyed, she found herself helping with the Alliance cleanup effort. The smell of death was hard and took a great toll on her, but then finding survivors changed everything. After that she took odd jobs but focused on her biotics.

Kahlee Sanders formed a new school on Earth called the "Anderson Academy" to replace "Grissom." Losing David was hard on her, but Jack helped her get through it. Andromeda decided to become a teacher at the Academy and help children especially orphans like herself harness their biotic potential and counsel them over the loss of their parent or parents from the war. Andromeda spent day and night there besides that was the only home or family she had, but Kahlee encouraged to take some time off. That led her to an island off the coast of Florida where Zaeed lived. About a year after the war, Zaeed left for his retirement. He aged more but was still his gruff self.

Settling down in the seat next to him, she gazed out at the sun that was setting off in the horizon. Everything still felt like a dream. She feared waking up and still finding herself in the war against the Reapers. "Any big plans soon? You going to stay here forever?"

The one eyed man took a sip of his fruity drink and then looked at her. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Anybody who didn't know Zaeed probably would have thought he was being tart, but she knew that was his normal self and meant well. "I spent my whole life trying not to get shot and well….fuck it. I'm sitting right here and getting sand on my ass if I feel like it."

Andromeda couldn't help herself from laughing. "I thought you would lead the Blue Suns again. Seeing that Vosque died and all," She gave a playful shrug and took a sip of the drink beside her. She shivered as she felt the intense blast of alcohol hit her system. Man, he liked to make these things strong!

"Why? You want to play merc with me? We could bum around in a ship and pirate." He wiped his mouth with his hand as he spoke in a sarcastic manner. "No creds could make me move off this chair." He took another sip and the dissatisfying sound of an empty glass made him scrunch up his face. "Bloody-tastic."

"I'll get you another," She got up from her chair and wiped the sand that was on her shorts. Zaeed's house was close to the beach so the walk was not too bad.

"Make it strong," Zaeed called back without looking her way.

Giggling under her breath, she sighed happily as she felt the warm sun caress her skin and her hair blowing against her shoulders. She let it grow longer after all these years. She needed a change. Once inside the house, she moved towards the kitchen but stopped short when she saw an uninvited guest bending over looking through the fridge. The frame appeared to be turian but as far as she knew no one lived nearby. Alarmed, she grabbed the M-6 hand cannon that Zaeed kept at the front door and moved back. She aimed at the intruder whose back was still to her. "Okay, pal. I don't think Zaeed wants unwanted guests so turn around slowly."

The turian lifted up slowly with their hands in the air, he turned around to face her. That's when she saw him. The same scar, the same smile and the same loving eyes that she fell in love with years ago. It was Garrus Vakarian. He was back. "What about old friends?"

Dropping the gun, Andromeda clasped her mouth to fight back the tears of joy as the feelings overwhelmed her. "Garrus?!" Her body trembled as she looked at him.
"Yeah, it's me," He lowered his hands. "I guess it's safe to know that you are not going to shoot me."

Running to him, she embraced him tightly and couldn't help the tears that flowed down and struck his carapace. "I-I thought I lost you….this can't be real….." She choked through the flood of tears.

He gingerly held her and ran his talons through her long hair to comfort her. "No way that I was going to be taken out that easily. I love you, Andromeda."

She lifted her head up and kissed his lips passionately with his. How she longed for his taste once more. His smell, his touch, everything felt the same but felt new at the same time.

Zaeed cleared his throat as he walked in on their private reunion. "I wondered what took so long…Garrus. Glad you made the party." He held up his empty glass to toast him.

"It's good to be back."

THE END