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When he was stationed with C-Sec, all Garrus had ever wanted was to get out of it. He had climbed aboard the Normandy with a song in his heart and had never looked back.

So it surprised him how angry it made him to see the carnage at C-Sec headquarters. Cerberus had attacked fast and hard and from the inside, and the betrayal by people he had once counted on to have his back absolutely enraged Garrus.

Their old friend Commander Bailey had survived the initial attack. He was wounded, but he waved away Shepard's attempts to see how badly, saying it was nothing a little medi-gel couldn't cure. Garrus couldn't help but wonder how much medi-gel there was on the Citadel at the moment, given the numbers of wounded refugees pouring in every day. Bailey asked them to go in and retake C-Sec headquarters so that he could network together all the officers scattered over the Citadel, try to coordinate counter-attacks, and make a real stand against Cerberus.

"My pleasure," Garrus growled.

"Sticks in your craw, doesn't it?" Bailey looked ten years older than the last time Garrus had seen him. "You train with these guys, you fight with 'em, you eat with 'em … and all the time they're waiting for their chance to attack."

"The Reapers have this effect on every cycle," Javik remarked. "It is easier to defeat your opponents if they have lost heart from frequent betrayals by their own people."

"Not in this cycle, we won't," Shepard said, popping another heat sink into her gun. "Let's go make that point."

Bailey keyed in his access code and stood back while Shepard and her team went in, securing the main office. He limped in and settled himself behind a terminal, tapping away at the keys.

Garrus asked, "Do you know if the councilors are still alive? I imagine they'd be a prime target."

"Last I heard, they split up. Let me take a look here." He squinted at the screen. "Hello."

"What have you got?" Shepard peered over his shoulder.

"This is from Councilor Valern. He's supposed to be here, meeting with the executor."

"Valern's the one who called me," Shepard said. "He was warning me, something about Udina."

"That would fit—meeting with the executor usually means someone high up is about to get the chop. I'm guessing this someone had Cerberus friends." Bailey read from the report on his screen. "'Be on guard—the likelihood of betrayal from within is high.' Well, he got that right."

"How does Udina have this kind of pull?" Garrus asked.

"I think only the councilor could tell you that one."

"Let's go get him, then." Shepard looked at Garrus. "You know where we're going?"

"If the executor hasn't changed offices, I do."

"He hasn't." Bailey tapped on his omni-tool. "We should be able to communicate with these now. Good luck, Shepard."

She nodded at him. "Stay safe. We need you."

"Don't worry about me, I know when to duck." He winced and gingerly touched the wound at his side. "Most of the time."

Shepard's team moved out, making their way slowly through the warren of offices. Garrus was surprised how easily the layout came back to him. He remembered often being confused by it even when he worked here every day, but now he was certain, every turn decisive.

The door to the executor's office was half-open, unable to close due to two Cerberus bodies stuck in it, which gave Garrus hope they would find survivors within … but no such luck. The executor was down, and two salarians.

"Bodyguards," Shepard said tersely after looking them over. Then, over her omni-tool, she added, "Bailey, they got the executor and the bodyguards, but there's no sign of the councilor. You don't think they might have taken him, do they?"

"Cerberus take prisoners? Not usually. Keep searching—the salarian councilor's a wily one."

Garrus moved to the window that looked out onto the offices below, trying to gather himself together after all the familiar faces he had seen today—most of them past all help. He hadn't been aware that he still knew so many people in C-Sec. Shepard followed him, one hand on his arm, but before she could speak, they both saw a chair move and a form emerge from under one of the desks in the room below. The salarian councilor!

Shepard lifted her omni-tool, saying softly into it, "Found him. He looks unharmed."

"Get him somewhere safe!" was Bailey's reply.

Then, a man in black, moving lightly, dropped from the ceiling in front of the councilor, who immediately put his hands up. Shepard was on the move at the same time, shooting through the glass and leaping through the window, landing easily and pointing her gun at the man in black.

"Shepard?" the councilor asked.

"Yes. I'm here."

"Udina's going to kill us all. He's staging a coup. He has the other councilors and is going to hand them over to Cerberus."

"Not if I have anything to say about it." Garrus and Javik had jumped down next to her now, and Shepard said to the man in black, "Three against one now. Time to give up."

"On the contrary. Time to have some fun," he replied.

Garrus hated the type of person who thought other people's pain was fun. He lifted his gun, sighting down the scope—and saw that another gun was leveled at the man in black's temple. Thane had made it, and was breathing easily, despite his exertions.

The two of them seemed to have similar skill sets, and it was a fairly even contest between them, despite Thane's illness. Shepard directed Javik to remove the councilor out of harm's way while she and Garrus tried to find an opening to kill the man in black without harming Thane. But the two men were moving so fast it was impossible to get a clean shot.

And then Thane made a miscalculation in movement, just enough, and the man in black ran him through with a sword.

"Thane!" Shepard cried out as the sword slid out of the drell's body and he hit the floor. But the man in black was on the move, and she had to follow. Garrus knelt by their former companion, who gently but firmly pushed his hands away and got to his feet, limping to the door. Garrus hurried past him, only to discover that the man in black had already gotten away.

Unable to stand any longer, Thane slid down the doorjamb to the floor. Shepard ran to him. "How bad is it?"

"I have time," he assured her. "Go after him. Save the Council and the Citadel."

Bailey's voice came through Shepard's omni-tool. "What's going on up there?"

"Thane's been hurt. He needs medical attention. We're going after the Council. Get the word out—Udina's trying to seize power. He isn't to be trusted." Switching off her omni-tool, she looked at Garrus, and at Javik who had just returned from escorting the salarian councilor to the relative safety of Bailey's position. "I never trusted Udina, but I didn't think even he would go this far."

She led them to a line of shuttles parked nearby. When she would have gotten behind the wheel, Garrus pushed her aside. "I'll drive. I know this place better than you do—and have a better chance of getting us there in one piece."

"Just get us there fast."

"Oh, I will. I have a few things to say to Udina. I'm hoping to let my fists do the talking."