To Survive: Terminus Coalition

Chapter 50 : Vakarian

Shepard emerged from the washroom; steam spilling into the upper-room as he opened the door whilst still towel-drying his buzzed hair. They only had time for a short rest, as their schedule didn't quite align with the zone of Palaven they were landing on. It was time to get ready and greet the alien morning.

Tali had pushed him into the shower even earlier than he would have otherwise. As he let the towel down from over his face, Shepard saw Tali awkwardly sitting cross-legged at the foot of the bed with a small black box in her lap. Perhaps her distinctively non-human legs were what made her seating position look so painful, and maybe it wasn't as uncomfortable as it looked.

"Alright, Tali. Shower complete. What's the box on your lap for?" He smiled, delighting in her unadorned face, as he loved to do.

"It's for your birthday," She assured with accusatorial eyes, "Remember? The birthday your Mom made sure you told me about."

"Ah… my birthday." Shepard smiled and approached the bed as Tali scooted backwards to sit towards the head. Shepard had his towel wrapped around his waist and shifted into a comfortable position at the foot of the bed. He couldn't help but keep his eyes glued to Tali as she expressed her childlike enthusiasm in a bright smile.

She pushed the black box forward and across the bedding between them. Shepard reached forward and took the gift, which he promptly opened by lifting its cap and removing the small wrappings.

The gift was a small dagger. He lifted it out carefully for closer examination, looking closer at the blade, handle, and sheath as he spun the weapon around in his open palms. The blade was bright silver with engravings spelling a different Khelish word down each side in the cannelure, revealing a bluish core beneath the stainless layers. The handles were a glossy black with vibrant and rigid red accents. It reminded him of his N7 gear. Finally, the quillion had a very large surface area, enough to guard his hand completely beneath its dome. It was plated with a smooth purple, bearing the swirled etchings of their clan. Overall, the knife was beautiful and decorative.

"What do you think?" Tali asked with a bit of a wavering voice, which Shepard found particularly strange.

He leaned forward and planted a kiss gently on her forehead. "I love it. It's a beautiful dagger. Does it mean something?"

"Yes," She said, reaching to take the weapon from Shepard's hands. She held it out between them and gestured to the black and red handle first. "This is you: strong, resilient and in control. It's made of micro carbon structures with some extra touches for design. The quillion is me, and it protects your hand and therefore protecting you from losing control. It's made of an aluminum-gold intermetallic, giving it its purple colouring. The blade is plated in stainless steel with a blue steel core and a layer of indium-gold intermetallic lining the cannelure where the words are, to highlight the inscription."

"And what does it say?" Shepard asked reaching forward to take the dagger back and look closer at the characters.

Tali smiled, seemingly getting over whatever had been worrying her, "It reads 'unity' on the one side and 'diversity' on the other. Blue is the colour of leadership, and I felt it brought the piece together."

"Wow, Tali. It's like a piece of art. You must have put a lot of thought into this." He thanked her, feeling over the dagger's intricacies with the tips of his fingers.

"I thought you would think it was stupid." Tali admitted, looking off to the side a bit, embarrassed.

"This? I mean, if the quillion dome weren't so big this would probably be practical."

"There's a button at the base to retract it." Tali noted, Shepard making a stupidly delighted face as he pushed the button with his open palm and watched the purple flatten and envelope the top half of the hilt. "It's still not practical though. Kasumi and I have our knives too, but these omni-blades that your old N7 friend Chong developed are much more useful. I've been tinkering with the schematics and found interesting ways to use the minifacturer to line the blade with explosives, allow for biotic manipulation or to provide an electric shock. When I have some time I'll probably augment our omni tools with them." Tali explained her thoughts. "Your friend just seemed to have a better gift than me and…"

Shepard turned to fully face Tali, adjusting his towel as he turned. He set the knife aside and took her slender hand in his, caressing it on his lap as he spoke, "I didn't need a present for my birthday, but you decided to give me a very thoughtful one. Tali, I'm never going to freak out because you don't follow some human custom. No gift will make me think that you love me more, and the lack of a gift would have had the same effect on our relationship. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate the gift, and I'll keep it with me always. It's precious to me because it's from you."

"I love you, John."

"I know you do, and I love you too." he assured, and Tali leaned forward for another soft kiss on the forehead.

"You should get dressed. You probably don't need your armour today." Tali said as she leaned away.

"It might make a better impression with Mr. Vakarian."

Tali shrugged, "I wouldn't worry about it. Just wear your nice jacket."

"Okay."

"Do you want me to sing the birthday song to you as you get dressed?"

"Could you?" Shepard smirked.

"No." She teased.


"Tali doesn't mind staying back in the city with the others. Hell, this is between you and your family; you don't need me to chaperone." Shepard said as the three departed from the Normandy. Getting to Palaven took mere hours, so the rest of the crew had their duties to attend to like a normal day in space. To Shepard's surprise, Garrus had been talking to Tali earlier that morning down in engineering and gave off the impression that she would be tagging along.

"I'll try not to drag you into any family matters. I just think it might be easier for him to understand why I left if he meets you himself. Besides, I want him to meet both of you." Garrus assured.

"This'll be fun, then," Shepard smiled as they proceeded to pick up and pay for their rental vehicle. The sun was rather warm, but partnered with a beautifully cool breeze, the otherwise arid climate was quite lovely. Shepard wasn't feeling nearly as tired as he thought he might, and the weather was brightening him up him exponentially.

The cobalt blue flying craft was quite sporty, with enough room for four. Tali graciously volunteered to sit in the back as Garrus took the pilot seat. "Garrus, this craft is so fun!" Tali exclaimed gleefully. She was clearly in a good mood, as she played with the many options available to her in the back, including ways to orient and adjust the seats and apply temperature controls, with some special vibration options for luxury's sake. It amused Shepard considering her suit could handle most of the options internally. He could tell that she was treating the day as a short vacation. Palaven was beautiful and foreign, unlike taking time off on the Citadel.

"So do you think he'll hate me? You know, since he's C-Sec to the core?" Shepard asked as they lifted off.

"Its been a long time, but people don't change as much when they're older and set in their ways. He consistently discouraged me from Spectre programs as a kid, so don't expect him to treat you like a second son."

"Who else do you expect to be there when we arrive?" Shepard asked curiously. Garrus had never talked much about his sister and mother, though enough that Shepard knew of them. However, Shepard was reluctant to let on that he knew more than he ought after overlooking certain dossiers belonging to the former Shadow Broker.

"My father retired from C-Sec early; with special commendation. I think I've told you once before that my mother was sick. Well, she has Corpalis Syndrome. It's a disease that eats away at her brain tissue and it has no known cure. She's being treated in the city hospital operated by a specialized group of salarians, which is supplemented with research done by Helos Medical Institute on Sur'Kesh."

"I'm sorry, Garrus." Tali offered sincerely.

"My father is on call for the local police forces as an investigator, but I got in touch with his CO last night and he should be at home today. My uh, my sister might be there too. She likes to keep him company on the weekends."

"You have a sister?" Tali enquired as Shepard nodded.

"Yes Tali, and she's never been off world. At least not since she learned to speak. If she isn't fully distracted in her attempts to kill me with stares, I'm sure she'll be excited to meet a quarian." Garrus chuckled nervously.

"You really think that's how it'll play out? You haven't contacted your Dad since you made that message on Omega, and you think they'll be angry as opposed to relieved?"

"I've been away for a long time, and I didn't exactly depart on a pleasant note. My family would have hated to hear that I quit C-Sec, so I told them I was fired." Garrus explained.

"Well brother, I'll try not to make things worse. Hopefully knowing you're alive will ease things up, at the very least. We're doing something good, whether they can see that or not." Shepard responded.

"It must feel good to be home," Tali sighed with her visor pressed up against the window as she watched the tropical landscape pass beneath them. Garrus had been moving at a swift pace.

"I don't really feel like I'm home, yet." Garrus replied.

"This part of Palaven is beautiful. I'm sure all of it is." she mused.

"Most planets are pretty in their own way. I don't think any species would say they live on a wretched planet… except maybe the drell."

"Because of the rain, or the pollution?"

"The planet with the pollution." He identified and explained. "Oceans and rain can be appealing."

"Not if they kill your lungs."

"Benezia was pretty and she tried to kill us." Garrus proposed flippantly as they side-tracked themselves with shallow conversation.

"…Point taken." Shepard smirked.

They flew more inland, and followed a river through a dusty plateau. Shepard decided to bring up family again, "So how old is your sister?"

Garrus paused as though doing the math from his own age. "She's… 24. So, just about your age Tali. Spirits, you're young."

Tali laughed lightly, not thinking of a retort. It wasn't long until they came to a single home in the middle of the open landscape. Shepard could make out a large shooting range in the back. "Is this home?" he asked Garrus as the vehicle spun in the air to come in for a landing.

"This is home." he replied. "When the turian policing forces merged with C-Sec, my father was stationed in the city nearby. My little sister can't remember back when we lived in Guterus Station near the relay. I was pretty young myself."

"Doesn't seem as nice as the tropical beaches and coastal breezes surrounding the city."

"My mother has always been… expensive. We never could afford to move into the city, but I didn't mind the extra space." Garrus responded as they popped the windshield off the car and stepped onto the dusty surface.

The house wasn't built like a human home, but was much more vertical. Thin grasses grew up in patches from the reddish sands that covered the lot and lands beyond.

Garrus continued, "Law enforcement is a respectable career, but it's competitive, resulting in lower salaries."

"Beats living in space. Tali and I grew up in ships, so I can definitely appreciate a big plot of land."

"It's a lovely home," Tali commented, moving around the vehicle so that they all stood at the front of the walkway and together walked toward the house. Vehicles were visibly present, so they expected the family would be in.

Stepping onto the porch together, Garrus pressed a doorbell off to the side and they waited for an answer. It wasn't long before footsteps could be heard, and the door whooshed open.

"Garrus?" His dad stood in the doorway, eyes as wide as a turian face permitted in utter shock.

"Dad." Garrus responded simply as his Dad stepped forward and put his hand firmly on Garrus' shoulder. He was slightly taller than his son. Shepard didn't know much about turian aging, but he could guess that the splotchy blue discoloration on his neck and other exposed skin was a sign of it. Beside that, he looked a lot like Garrus.

"You hit your target I take it." Mr. Vakarian said. He may be retired, but the way he held himself and spoke, Shepard would've been fooled into thinking he was a much younger turian if he didn't know better.

Garrus sighed regretfully, "I had a little help." he gestured back to his friends.

Shepard smiled as Mr. Vakarian peaked around his son and saw he and Tali standing together. His mouth a little agape, the surprised host replied, "Please, come in." he opened the door.


"Come on Jossa, hold still," Liara struggled with her small child as she tried to put it into a new diaper. The little asari squirmed on the table in such a way that Liara couldn't help but giggle as she made the common task into a silly game.

The baby wriggled about as Liara scooped her up in the diaper and fastened the straps. She couldn't help but smile at her child as she saw Shepard's bright eyes reflect back.

"Liara, sorry to bother you." Feron interrupted from the doorway.

"Just give me a moment." Liara said with her tongue in her teeth as she concentrated to finish the diaper change and get back to work. She couldn't help but think that Shepard's stubbornness had been imparted to their baby.

"How has Jossa been of late?" Feron asked as he waited for Liara's full attention.

"Well enough. She's too young to know how poorly she has it here." Liara replied, lifting up her child into her arms and turning to face Feron.

"I'm sure Jossa is just happy you're with her…. We've received an update regarding the krogan that Cerberus has been taking. It seems that they're taking them to a base on Pragia for experimentation. I'll save you the details, but I can arrange a strike team to assault the base within a day."

"I'll notify Wrex and give him our data. He can gather his own team to deal with them. As much as I'd love to take the fight to Cerberus, we can't. Given the nature of my promotion, it's difficult to tell if Cerberus knows of my location. By openly antagonizing them, I'd be risking all of us directly. It's a shame that we will likely lose a great deal of their operational information by allowing a krogan team to ransack the base, but sacrifices must be made to keep us safe." Liara explained.

"Have you had any luck in finding us a new location to set up?" Feron asked.

"Borenmyrth, the Blue Suns base now under the command of Zaeed Massani seemed promising, but it's outside of buoy range and would require a great deal of preparation to be used effectively. I have spoken with Zaeed about it, but I no longer believe it is feasible." Liara continued, patting her baby on the back trying to burp her after observing that the child was still squirming, now uncomfortably. "About Pragia, do we have any idea what Cerberus is doing with the krogan?"

"None. We just got our hands on some of the trafficking records for the krogan DMZ. They tracked consistent shuttles out to the Nubian Expanse in the Attican Traverse. From there it wasn't difficult to have a team track them down. All we have are coordinates though. We haven't put any feet on Pragia to take a look."

"Let's steer clear for now. I'd prefer that we focus on moving and not provoking Cerberus until we do."


Grunt huffed a deep snort into the arid atmosphere, upset with the turn of events. He stood beside Wreav and the other Urdnot elite watching as clan Gurge's chief and krantt approach through the dusty winds.

He was looking forward to ripping this enemy apart and experience a true krogan battle like never before, but as soon as Wrex's detachment arrived, their surrender was announced.

Instead of plunging into the guts of Urdnot's foes, his new kukshock was sticking out of the reddish dirt at his feet. A grumble grew low in his gullet as his frustration burned within him.

Wrex turned his head over, "Relax. This isn't over yet, and if you don't get your share of blood we can go hunting later."

"It's not the same," Grunt muttered in reply as the chief of Gurge stood opposite Wrex with his krantt moving up beside him. Another stood across from Grunt who was particularly large, even comparable in size to him. He sneered at Grunt with dark green eyes and narrow pupils.

"We understand that you have come to destroy my clan, and even if we slaughter your forces today, more will flood into our lands until we are completely purged."

"You surrender because you are weak, not because you understand what's best for your people." Wrex replied.

"Curing the genophage is best for my people, and we are only weak because we are few in number." the chieftain responded.

"You are few because you are weak." Wrex corrected, "Instead of overcoming the genophage yourselves you let humans steal our people away. I might not even accept surrender from such a pitiful clan. Tuchanka would be better off with you left to the dust."

Grunt grinned at the thought.

"I will prove our strength for my clan."

"And how should I test you?" Wrex muttered to himself.

Grunt stepped forward, "I have an idea." he announced with a cruel grin. Eager to begin, he continued, "Starting with the chief, we cut off his hands and break his jaw, and doing the same to his krantt, we see if they can walk back to Urdnot's camp." He suggested quite maliciously, with inspiration from Urgen's talk.

"Urdnot is four months journey on foot." One of the other clan's elite complained. "We will never survive."

"Then you are weak, and you can test your mettle against our armies." Urgen replied with enthusiasm, excited by Grunt's suggestion. Every one of them could feel the battle gearing up.

"We are strong!" The chieftain shouted boldly, stepping forward and with his arms out. "My krantt will prove it." he continued solemnly.

Grunt drew his kukshock, and when he saw Wrex's approving yet joyless nod he arced the blade over his head and struck with vigour. The krogan victim roared in pain as his hands fell dead to the ground after one strong swipe of the sharp weapon. Blood gushed forth, and the chief's eyes were wide as he tried to swallow the pain. However, Grunt continued to step forward to wrench his head back and crush his jaw with a heavy blow.

The chief wreathed on the ground as his cries only added to the severe pains. Two of the krantt had to step forward to restrain the chief as he violently and helplessly thrashed in his blood rage. Watching, the rest of the krantt stood horrified. It wasn't long before the largest of them, the same one that stood across from Grunt, stepped forward as if to be next.

"I am Gursh." He stated plainly, sweeping his eyes across his clan's foes. "I choose battle."

Many of the rest in the krantt grunted and howled in compliment at the defiance. A few were too petrified to lift their gaze from their writhing leader.

Wrex stepped up to the larger krogan. "You'll abandon your leader, whelp?" he asked with great authority

"He is weak." The monster said, taking his own blade and plunging it down with force into his former leader, putting him out of the unimaginable pain.

"Stronger than you," Wrex stated, without looking down at the corpse. Wrex at least respected the former chief. "Go then, prepare your people for battle. I want a good fight."

"Hah ha!" Grunt cheered.

The new leader of the enemy ordered, "After me!" as they turned and jogged back to their frontline.

"You ready for a war, Grunt?" Wrex asked.

"I was made for this. I feel it in my blood."

"It'll be messy." Wrex said, preferring the tighter battles.

"I like messy."


Garrus' father led his surprise guests awkwardly into the large sitting room that made up the entire ground floor. It seemed as though each floor had a single room of separate function.

Before they could settle, "Who was at the door?" a turian woman called as she descended the stairway and came into view. Everyone uncomfortably gawked in unison with Garrus' sister as she saw who was at the door.

"It's good to see you, Sol." Garrus offered his greeting cautiously.

"I'm sure." She snarled sarcastically, turning to storm up the stairs aggressively.

Garrus looked at his feet as the other three looked to him. "I'll uh, I'll have to speak with her later."

Tali shifted on her seat, "Do you mind if I, um, be excused? Perhaps she wants to talk to someone now?"

"She'd like that." Mr. Vakarian assured. "Just give her some time to get over the initial shock. She could hardly stop talking about you after Captain Shepard brought you into that newscast."

Tali blushed behind her visor, remembering the incident as embarrassing at the time but ultimately a proud moment in her life. She nodded a thank you as she rose from her seat, "It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Vakarian. Perhaps we will become better acquainted later."

"I would enjoy that greatly, Tali'Shepard." He replied cordially. A little surprised, Tali scooted past and up the staircase. It was such a common site to see C-Sec officers disrespecting quarians that she had expected no different from Mr. Vakarian.

"I see target practice went well," Mr. Vakarian returned the conversation to Garrus.

"You could say that." Garrus replied.

Mr. Vakarian leaned back into his chair, "How'd you let yourself get into that mess? Must have been bad if you thought you needed to contact me."

Garrus sighed, "It was my own damn fault. I put together a team on Omega and decided to institute some justice. As you can imagine, it made me some powerful enemies quick. Next thing I knew the criminal gangs allied and persuaded one of my own to get the drop on us." Garrus retold conservatively.

"That's when the Spectre showed up and pulled your ass out of the fire." his father surmised.

"You could say that."

"Seems to me that your damn lucky for the second chance Captain Shepard has given you. A chance to actually make a difference." Mr. Vakarian provoked aggressively.

"I was making a difference on Omega. More than I ever did with C-Sec." Garrus defended himself.

"More than you ever did, not more than you ever could have done. You quit, son. You just gave up on C-Sec and the chance to make a real difference."

Shepard felt the climate heating quickly, "I can leave if-"

"Stay, Captain." Mr. Vakarian requested. "Maybe if my son acted a little more like you, we wouldn't need to be here having this conversation."

"You're right Dad, I did quit. I quit because I wasn't making a difference there, and nobody would change because of me."

"So instead you let yourself go, and decided killing some mercs was a good use of your time as these Reapers prepared to kill us all. You see your Captain? He never gave up. He forced people to listen, and continues to act even when people refuse to listen."

"Mr. Vakarian, even I quit the Spectres when the Council refused to listen." Shepard responded.

"I saw the newscast. I could see exactly what happened. You quit to make them listen and to strengthen the alliance you're building. Garrus gave up on preparing the galaxy for the Reapers the moment it got hard and it was left to him to make his own choices. Instead of sticking to what he knew was monumentally important, he did the easiest thing in the galaxy: moved to Omega to kill criminals." Mr. Vakarian explained.

"Dad-"

"Come with me, both of you." Mr. Vakarian requested as he stood up and moved to the back door. The conversation was fast-paced as if Mr. Vakarian had rehearsed the conversation a thousand times before. He knew exactly what he wanted to say. Shepard could see that Garrus was distraught as they slowly stood to follow. He wouldn't make eye contact with him, and walked with tension in every step. Something his Dad said definitely struck a chord with him.

Together they walked out into the backyard. The lot was large enough that Shepard couldn't see the edge of the property line. Thirty yards out, they came to a shed, which Mr. Vakarian opened and grabbed an old sniper rifle from. It wasn't a model Shepard was familiar with, and given the shape and lack of a compartment for a thermal clip, he could tell it was an older turian rifle.

Through the shed and out the other side, they stepped out onto a platform for the family shooting range. Shepard could see several targets, and they undoubtedly went further than he could see without a scope of his own.

"Alright, Garrus. Targets eight through eleven need to be hit in six seconds. In that time, you can make five shots before the rifle overheats. As soon as you raise the barrel, the timer will start." Mr. Vakarian said as he handed the rifle to his son and tossed Shepard a monocular to scope out the targets.

Shepard looked through his scope and noted that the four targets that needed to be hit were at varying distances and elevations ranging from four to seven hundred meters out. The request was damn near impossible. Garrus wouldn't have time to adjust the scope even for the first shot, so the only logical thing to do was to use the first shot as a measure for how skewed the scope is. After that, it would be all Garrus' skill on whether he could accurately make varying shots in quick succession with a large handicap.

Glancing over at Garrus, it was clear that he wasn't really in the mood for a shooting challenge. He took a few deep breaths and shook his head before raising the rifle to his shoulder. Immediately after doing so, Shepard raised his scope to watch the targets as Garrus missed his first shot as expected and continued to hit all four others directly on their centers in quick succession. To mark his success the rifle overheated and blared its loud warnings. Garrus let out his held breath and set the rifle at his feet.

"What was your point?" Garrus shrugged.

Mr. Vakarian replied as if he expected the brilliant display of skill, "When you were a boy you said you wanted to shoot like I did. I gave you a rifle and began to train you. You learned quickly, but you didn't have enough experience to take a victory at any of your first several shooting competitions."

Garrus looked at his feet and kicked the red earth.

"You decided that you weren't good enough to be a sniper. At the age of nine, you decided you were going to give up on shooting just because you couldn't consistently hit the hundred meter shot." Shepard couldn't help but smirk at the idea of a nine year-old Garrus frustrated with his sniping skills. "You rationalized your decision by saying you could still help in other ways. You always give up, Garrus. Every time it comes to succeeding, you'd rather take the easy way, whether that involves breaking the rules or handing in your badge."

Garrus didn't reply. He bobbed the rifle in his hands as if testing its worth. The heat had subsided so he raised it again and continued to peck away at the farther targets. Five shots in and another overheat later, it was clear that he wasn't going to speak. Mr. Vakarian waved for Shepard to follow him so they could leave Garrus alone.

It was a lot for Shepard to process. He had never seen Garrus as a quitter, and he hadn't expected his Dad to be so blunt. The exchange hadn't gone how Shepard had anticipated in the least.

"I'm glad you're with him, Captain. You clearly give him enough inspiration to keep going. How is your mission progressing?"

"You can call me Shepard, Mr. Vakarian. Listen, do you really think Garrus just gave up? It doesn't sound like the Garrus I know."

Mr. Vakarian nodded, "Garrus is a good man. He would never give up on his family and comrades, which I'm sure you've noticed, but he doesn't believe in his own ability to make a difference."

"Do you really think that was the best way to tell him? You clearly know how much he cares about his family. Surely you could have been less confrontational."

"He doesn't need me being gentle. He's got you and his other comrades to help him deal with it, but he needed a kick in the head. That's what you're there for: to help him off his ass and help him see why he fell." The old turian assured. "So how is the mission going?"

Shepard shelved his thoughts for now and indulged the old turian, "We're in a bit of an interim. I don't know how cooperative the batarians are going to be, but I can't imagine that it'll be easy to get them on our side. Perhaps the best thing I've got going for it is the Council species not being with me."

"Don't appease them if they push too far. Even if the Reapers are as powerful as Garrus told me, it's not worth letting the batarians manipulate you into giving them enough power to end up weakening the galaxy before they get here." Mr. Vakarian advised.

"They're the closest support humanity will have when the Reapers do hit. Having them on our side is important, but I understand what you're saying. If they see this alliance as anything other than a way to mutually prepare for the Reapers, I can't afford to be giving them more influence." Shepard agreed, "Sir, Garrus always told me that you hated the Spectres, but I'm not getting that feeling from you."

"I don't think the galaxy needs the Spectres, and I think it would be better off without them, yes. It doesn't mean I hate every Spectre, or think they're all liabilities. The power they have just gives them too much potential to cause unchecked injustices. Look at what you've done, and then imagine what would have been different if you had the same power, but were made accountable for every decision you made."

"You think I would have done everything the same?"

"I think if you wouldn't have, then you shouldn't have been a Spectre at all. Even now, you stepped down as a Spectre because you believe it'll help the galaxy more if the Council could see you as an equal as opposed to a tool." Mr. Vakarian elaborated. "I respect you, Captain, not because you quit the Spectres, but because you respect the system and understand that not every decision can be made by you, no matter how much you try to influence it."

"And what about Garrus? You don't think he would have had the same respect if he were a Spectre?" Shepard inquired.

"Do you? As soon as the rules became inconvenient, he would break them. It's not that he doesn't have the potential, but he needs to truly understand that it is everyone who decides justice from injustice, and that's why the system is in place." Mr. Vakarian brought up an example; "There's a group of turians who refer to themselves as the havocs. They're a sect of the turian military, composed of turians that rose to the highest ranks, and when offered a place among the Spectres, they decline."

"What do they do?"

"They're the most elite force utilized in the turian armada. They're not allowed outside of turian space, except during certain extremes, and they generally believe themselves to be better than the Spectres. You see, a lot of turians think that we should stand alone as a race. That we should rule the other races because we are the strongest, and the havocs hold to this ideal."

"What do you think?"

"I believe in cooperation. We aren't better than everyone else just because we are stronger. The majority of Palaven agrees with me, which is why we still have our seat on the Council. The point is, the havocs aren't looked upon unfavourably because they have an opposing opinion, but because they think they can disregard the system created by the majority. I did my best to teach Garrus that no matter what he thinks is right, it needs to be measured against the rest of society, lest he never be at peace with any decision he makes."


Author's Note

I'm really embarrassed this took me so long. It was just hard for me to concentrate on writing when I didn't have any real free time during the week. I'll try to do better.