A few days later…
As the Heavy Light maneuvered her away around a passing star, another ship quietly sprang to life. Perched high above the orbital plane of the red dwarf, it was safely hidden beyond any sensors- human or alien. The sleepy ship, sensing prey, began to accelerate to relativistic speeds, intent on crossing the cruise liner's path. The comparatively slower eezo core was red-lined in order to meet the target on time. No matter. On the bridge, the captain, a barefaced turian adorned in red armor, grinned evilly as he watched sparks jump around his ship's armor plates.
A terrible rumble raced through the Heavy Light's structure and into the dimly lit cockpit, where Shepard was seated. The red hue of damage alerts popped up all over the flight console. The joystick and throttle had no give- the Heavy Light's controls were now dead in the water. Opening a terminal and navigating it to the power distributor, Shepard muttered to herself, intent on figuring this malfunction out. Then, the corner of her eye caught the answer, and it filled her with dread.
Power surge detected
All subsystems disabled
1 new contact
A groggy Chakwas popped her head out from her cabin. "Val, what's going on?"
Shepard turned around. A look of dread was on her face. "Karin, wake up the others. I think someone's approaching for a boarding action."
The white lighting of the Heavy Light shifted to a dim red. Alarms started blaring along the ship's length. Garrus watched intently as a white-orange light jutted from a wall into the ship's hallway. The light, spewing copious sparks in all directions, began to slowly move in a circle. He had only seconds to prepare.
"Camnus. Use this table for cover." The diplomat nodded in response, and the two of them unlatched the table and floated it to the ceiling. The C-Sec lieutenant positioned himself behind it, now hanging upside-down from the ceiling, and drew his own holdout sidearm: an M-6 Carnifex with a custom barrel and sight. Garrus' own weapon, an angular Tsunami assault rifle in standard military configuration, was braced and facing the hallway, prepared for the invaders.
"Give me your sniper rifle," Camnus commanded. Garrus tossed it up, and the lieutenant shouldered it, a well-tuned Naginata V. He quickly adjusted the scope's smart aiming system, and wrapped the sling around his wrist to tighten his hold on the gun. The rise and fall of his back lowered as he began to regulate his breathing.
The plasma cutter's light momentarily stopped. Suddenly, a large section of the wall flew forward, hitting the other side of the hallway with a tremendous thud. The only thing exiting the breach was the cutter's fumes, which dissipated along the freshly-cut edges. All was silent.
Garrus didn't move a muscle. The pirates were hoping for an undisciplined defense, one made of nervous fighters that that would immediately panic and pour fire into the gap. He knew doing so only led to three things: loose aim, frayed nerves, and overheated guns.
The first attacker to enter was a batarian clad in red armor. Garrus and Camnus shot at him, collapsing his shields almost instantly. Round after round riddled his body soon after, and it floated limply in the middle of the hallway, in time for another batarian to enter the fray. "Clear them out!" he commanded, before sheathing himself in the orange glow of tech armor. He then pushed past his fallen brother, intent on charging the entrenched pair.
Garrus stood firm, choosing to pepper the berserker with sporadic fire. The attackers were as clumsy in zero-gravity as he was, so the gap between them would give him enough time to break through the armor. He saw even more soldiers streamed out behind him, opting to attack the far side of the ship. The last one, a turian, entered Tali's room behind him, intent on a kill.
"Tali!"
His call was answered with a loud bang, a puff of blue mist, and the turian's corpse flying back out of the room. Tali strode out, unleashing an overload into the back of the batarian berserker. He stumbled over, his orange tech armor flickering away. A concentrated burst to his head ensured he stayed down.
"It's good to see you're safe."
"You too," Tali replied, checking the heat on her shotgun. "I think you two should push ahead. I can guard the breach in case more come through."
Garrus nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
The C-Sec members advanced down the hallway as a pair, with Garrus acting as pointman; Camnus was still under his protection, after all. The bodies of some of Shepard's crew floated around, suspended in their own blood. One of them, still strapped to his bed in a connecting room, had deep lacerations criss-crossing around his neck. "Damn."
Garrus immediately turned around, driving his rifle towards the source of the sound. It was a hologram of Shepard; Garrus notice the distinct 'fading' that indicated falseness this time.
"Peter. He was a good guy. Met him on Efremov Vision a few months ago."
"Shepard. Are you in the cockpit? Are you alright?"
She nodded. "I deployed some automated defenses, but these guys are pushing past them quickly. I'm using these holograms to distract them, maybe divert them away from my crew."
Camnus eyed the room's exit warily. "Tell me you got a plan."
"If you move forward a bit, you'll come across a hallway that's larger than the others. That's the hallway the leads straight to the cockpit, straight to me and Chakwas. I think most of the attackers are there right now."
"What do you need us to do?"
"Remember what I told you about loose objects on my ship? Get to the junction right before the hallway. Set up a killbox. Give me the signal, and I'll accelerate. Hard."
The hologram disappeared. Only the commander's voice remained.
"Shit. They're getting close. Don't think I can get on the holo again, but I'm still watching. Trust me."
As the turians moved forward, a pair of heavies noticed their intrusion, and fired their machine guns wildly, laughing as they did so. Garrus scooted around a curved section of the wall, barely missing the torrent of incendiary rounds. Some of them ricocheted off the curve and laid waste to the main chamber, almost ignited some of the chamber's wooden walls.
Garrus grunted as he felt a stray round catching him in the torso. After a quick check, he nodded to Camnus. "It's cauterized."
"Finally, no more ghosts! You're gonna die, turian! The Marshal has paid a handsome price for your head!"
"Garrus, does that name ring a bell?" Camnus yelled as he struggled to hug their meager cover.
"Nope, would like to meet him someday though!" Garrus quipped, and he readied a concussive shot.
The airburst grenade banked off the opposite wall, landing squarely in front of the still-firing troopers. It detonated, knocking the two flat upon the nearest wall. The smoke from the burning table had collected into an opaque cloud, and the turians sprinted out of it, taking them by surprise. The incendiary troopers, struggling to reorient themselves, were pressed back down brutally. Garrus pressed his rifle to the unarmored neck of the trooper, who was now pleading.
"Please, I just need proof… we can split the money…"
Garrus squeezed the trigger. His rifle's rounds bypassed the trooper's shields and tore into his head, leaving his helmet visor smeared with blood. Camnus did the same.
The junction that Shepard described was now in sight, and the two took cover around the nearest corner. Camnus waved to the faint light in the corner."Shepard! We're in position!"
Shepard didn't answer, but the ship did with a thunderous rumble that shook some of the wall fixtures loose. The sudden acceleration came next, and it hit Garrus like a freight train, knocking him off his feet. The corner they took cover behind became a ledge to hang off of, and with the extra weight of Camnus now onto his legs, he wondered if his grip on the corner was going to last. He grunted as the ship's boost continued for a few more seconds. The edges of his vision were fading. What a funny way to die, he thought, draining the last of his consciousness- but the torment stopped just in time.
The door, which now looked like it was on the ceiling, opened. About fifteen pirates fell out, landing on top of each other and collecting into a huge pile. The sight would have been hilarious, thought Garrus, if we wasn't currently hanging on for dear life. "Give me the grenades!" he yelled hoarsely.
Garrus primed one grenade and threw the bundle into the heap of bodies.
As soon as the Heavy Light stopped accelerating, the pair of turians stumbled down the main hallway. Two figures stumbled out of an adjacent room to face them. "Shit."
"You thought flying with humans could protect you, eh, Camnus?" the leader hollered. He had his pistol, barrel red hot, next to the head of Dr. Chakwas. "Just come with me. I could still get paid."
Garrus steadied his rifle against the hostage-taker, struggling to get a clear shot. "You sure you haven't pissed somebody off?"
Camnus' mandibles tensed. "On my honor!"
"Gentlemen, please!" Chakwas pleaded.
"What's your name, pirate?" The barefaced turian snorted. "Do you think you can 'talk me down'? Maybe 'come to a compromise?' Hah. You don't know what happens if you fail one of the Marshal's contracts. You don't come back. No one ever comes back."
"There it is with that Marshal again… look, it's over for you. The best you can do is leave with your life." The barefaced said nothing, considering his options. Garrus inwardly grimaced. If he refuses, I'll have to go for a shot.
After what seemed like forever, the leader's hand began to tremble. "…spirits-damn it. You're right. Just let me back to my ship. I need to disappear."
"Not a chance!" a voice rang out.
A figure flew from the end of the hallway onto the back of the raider's leader, taking him by surprise. It was Shepard, and her surprise tackle caused the turian to stumble, allowing Chakwas to break free. As the pair fought, she managed to get her hands on the turian's pistol.
Garrus could only wince inwardly as he watched everything unfold. Instead of firing, the pistol, which was loaded with a faulty heat clip, went into an emergency vent, and opened. A burst of hot air scorched Shepard's face, causing her to yelp. That instant was enough for the turian to gain the upper hand, who threw Shepard over his shoulder and onto the ceiling.
"Duck!"
Almost immediately, the doctor dove out of the way. Before the turian, now seething angry, could pick up his sidearm, Camnus pushed Garrus to the side and opened fire. The first few rounds were deflected by the captain's shields, bouncing off and chewing up the already loosened wall paneling. The next few rounds tore straight through his chest. His body hung in the middle of the hallway with arms out to his side, and his eyes still open.
"What were you thinking? You could have died," Chakwas said as she treated Shepard's injuries. The commander sat on the bench scowling, like someone waiting for a needle.
"You could have died. Besides, it could have worked if these damn alien guns just worked like normal," Shepard said, while shaking the pistol that Garrus had wisely disarmed. He and Chakwas could only shake their heads at that.
"Let's face the facts," Garrus started. He was nursing his own wounds. Luckily, well applied bandages were universally appreciated, and Chakwas proved her competence as a doctor. "These weren't just any pirates. They knew who we were, and they were here for Camnus. Not only that, they knew precisely the weaknesses of your ship, when most of the wider galaxy hasn't even seen a human yet."
That was an extremely disturbing thought. The most plausible explanation for the attack was that there were already human and citadel criminal elements working together. No doubt that the Marshal figure was spearheading it all.
"All we can do is get Camnus to Sol as fast as possible. Once we're there, we can start looking for answers," Chakwas concluded.
Father,
By now, I'm sure word of my disappearance has reached you. I'm sure Kutor and Zunna are saying things like 'abduction' and 'murder'. Not you. I know you would've kept a more level head.
I know you pulled a lot of strings to get me a work visa on the Citadel, and that my escape has squandered all of your efforts. I will not apologize- only explain. Simply put, I found a better opportunity. Has news of a new race reached the fleet yet? They are called 'humans', and they look a lot like asari- it's quite peculiar. What excites me, however, is their ships, and their technology.
As of now, I work for a human pilot named Shepard. We flew from the citadel to the human home system without going through a single relay. I'm sure that you are well aware of the astronomical price of element zero needed for such a trip. We went through the calculations when I was a child. But guess what: humans don't need eezo to travel between stars.
On multiple occasions, Shepard showed me the use of an ingenious invention. It's called a fuel scoop, and with it, a pilot can refuel their ship by simply flying their ship closely around a star for a few hours. I've been told that only main-sequence stars can provide fuel, but still! Think of the possibilities.
To begin with, the amount of element zero that the fleet would need to purchase would drastically reduce, if not outright disappear. Those credits could be spent elsewhere. Human FTL tech is also faster, more efficient, and doesn't develop a charge on a ship's hull, so it would be much easier to avoid pirates and Terminus fleets.
I don't have enough information to fully grasp how working with the humans could help us, but I have high hopes. And, if you're worried about my safety, don't. As far as I could tell, they don't seem to be violent in the slightest. Not yet, at least.
Please tell Kutor I said hello. And Zunna, if she still works on the Uryah Sel's kitchen. And Caal, if he's still around.
Keelah Selai,
Tali
"Ahh, good old Mars," Chakwas said, looking up at the red, green and blue marble. The whole group was staring out the window, save for Shepard, who was in the cockpit overseeing the Heavy Light's final approach. "The Federation's government used to be on Earth, but once it was completely terraformed, Mars was the nicer place for the wealthy to live. Once the Empire successfully broke off from the Federation during the Battle of Achenar, political fallout forced all of Congress to relocate here."
"By the spirits," Camnus said, still trying to fathom that the planet before them was once desolate and completely rust-red. "Did you grow up here, doctor? You seem quite knowledgeable."
Chakwas shook her head. "I grew up on another planet. Reagan's Legacy, in the Delta Pavonis system. It's actually not too far from here. But I did come to Mars as part of my education. I'd be lying if I didn't feel a sense of pride whenever I see her."
Garrus nodded in understanding. "I grew up on Palaven, the turian capital. Every time I return, it seems like everything has changed. The buildings, the clothing, even accents and figures of speech. But watching the planet from space? It's like seeing an old friend."
In a few minutes, the Heavy Light would dock with Mars High, one of the busiest space stations in all of human space. The structure of the orbital platform was essentially a spinning chalice or wine glass, with a few habitation rings surrounding the neck. The 'cup' of the station was hollow, and the interior surface was lined on all sides with landing pads, buildings, and many domed sports stadiums and parks.
The Heavy Light's began spinning to match the station's rotation. It slipped past the "mail slot", the small shielded opening at the top of the station that kept the atmosphere in and allows ships through. The ship then touched down with an audible groan, as the landing gear shifted to hold her immense weight. The landing pad lowered itself into an 'underground' hangar, freeing the space for another ship.
As the five walked down the ramp, Garrus noticed Tali scanning everything with an intense curiosity. "Hey Shepard, I heard that humanity is split under two nations. Is that true? Basically every other species out there operates under a single government."
Shepard stopped and stretched her arms out wide, relishing the freedom. "Actually, they're split into three governments. There's the Federation, the oldest superpower, which has lasted for over a thousand years. It's been around since before we had even gone to space. Then, there's the Empire of Achenar, which broke off from the Federation. I think Chakwas has mentioned them to you so far. I'm from there."
"Lastly, there's the Alliance, which formed when a bunch of systems fought off both the Federation and the Empire. And of course, there are countless independent factions that live separately from the Big Three."
"Why?" Tali continued. "It looks like humans are hopelessly fractured. If they were all united under one banner, they would instantly be a major power on the galactic stage. They would probably be on the fast-track for a seat on the Council."
"Well, I'm glad that I know a quarian who's looking out for us," Shepard joked. "But honestly, I can't see humans acting any other way. We rebel, we split. It's in our nature. Those traits make us fickle, and prone to manipulation, but if we remove them, we lose our greatest strength."
"Your greatest strength?"
"Diversity. Every human today lives their life the way they do because someone said 'fuck that' to a previous method of doing things. It's a messy, convoluted process, but it ensures that no belief goes unchallenged. Only the best ones remain, and they are often a combination of the old ideas."
"… I really can't fathom how that's an advantage."
Shepard shrugged. "Maybe you'll understand when you get a better grasp of our history. For now, I think we have company."
A man flanked by two armed guards approached the group. He wore a crisply pressed suit with a red tie and accents. The two guards obscured their faces with menacing black masks and tan tactical webbing. On their shoulders was the red ancient insignia of the Federation- a single star, surrounded by Sol's four terrestrial planets. Outside lay more stars in a curve, which represented the Orion arm.
"Esteemed Lieutenant Camnus of the Citadel," the man began, "On behalf of the Federation, her members, the President, the Congress, and the Sirius Corporation, I welcome you."
Shepard rolled her eyes at that. "Typical Feds. Even during diplomacy, company loyalty comes first," she muttered.
"My name Ismail Voight. I am your representative to this station. I hope to facilitate all the information you need to complete your mission. These gentlemen here," motioning to his guards, "will be your security for the duration of your stay."
Garrus piped up. "Excuse me-"
"It's alright, Garrus. Pallin warned me that this might happen," Camnus said. "Just enjoy yourself here until I'm done."
The entourage left Garrus, who was still standing on the landing pad. The cold and turbulent air in the station was making him shiver.
He strode toward Shepard, Chakwas and Tali. The quarian was pestering the dock workers in charge of refueling, who were reluctant to answer. Shepard was standing back with a beverage in her hand, looking amused. Chakwas was busy on a datapad.
"Well, I guess I'm stuck with you guys for the time being."