(AUTHOR NOTE: In this chapter I begin to tip-toe into some head cannon/alternative universe content that I have created. I think it is kind of interesting and hope you will too. I have created my own take on the turian world, history,culture and Garru's family. If something does not align with the trilogy lore from this point forward it is likely due to a conscious choice in order to share something a little different. Happy reading! Comments and thoughts welcome!)
Shepard woke up screaming. The green eyes were burned into her mind. Her heart was pounding. She tried to push herself up, but her hand wouldn't move. She kicked at the sheets around her, hitting something hard.
"Ow! Moria!" Garrus barked. "Moria, you need to calm down." Why couldn't she move her hand? She tried to sit up again, but Garrus grabbed her arm. "Moria," he said slowly, "I'm serious. I need you to calm down. I need you to stay still." She could still see a green glow in the dark cabin, see those eyes in that crested head, hear the voice, her voice hiss, "everything you'll never be…"
"Commander, look at me!" Garrus snapped. She blinked and looked to where he lay on the bed next to her. He was still on his back, his chest rising and falling surprisingly quickly. His face was a mask of forced calm, his eyes full of concern. "I need you to stay still." He said. "I need you not to move your arm." He squeezed the arm in question gently. Shepard looked down.
She had been sleeping in the crook of his arm, as she nearly always did, her right hand resting on his chest. It was still there, lit with green strands like the rest of her. The strands! It was really her. The clone hadn't had them. She was the real Shepard. She wasn't dreaming. This was real. He was real, here with her, not in the thrall of some monstrosity. The glowing strands ran down her arm, across her hand, and onto his chest. They had spread several inches from her hand. Had dug into his carapace, winding their way into him. Her eyes went wide.
"Moria, don't -" Garrus began, but she snatched her hand back out of his grip, shrieking in pain as her hand ripped away from him. The green of the strands flashed when she severed their connection to Garrus, the long tendrils suddenly vanishing. He gasped in pain, pressing his hand to the space where hers had been. After a moment he pulled his hand a way, his fingers stained blue.
Shepared stared at her hand. It stung as if the skin had been scraped off, but was whole. A collection of strands rose from her fingers and palm in a way she had never seen before, as if they were growing out of her.
"EDI!" Garrus called out to the AI. "Get Chakwas to the Commander's cabin. Now."
/./././././././././././././././
"Well, it's going to leave a mark, but I don't believe there has been any serious damage." Chakwas said, squinting as she held her medically enhanced omni tool over Garrus' chest, inspecting the magnified view of the spider webbing grooves it now bore. "They did penetrate deep enough to reach the circulatory system, but I don't see anything major. Clotting has not been inhibited and there doesn't seem to be any structural damage to the carapace significant enough to stop it from protecting your vital organs."
Garrus looked from where he sat on the bed, being scrutinized by Chakwas, to where Shepard crouched in the corner, staring hollowly into space. Her right hand was gripped by her left, holding it a few inches out from the rest of her body, knuckles white as if the hand might unleash some new horror. Chakwas had tried to tend to her first but Shepard had whispered that she would throw the doctor off the ship if she didn't heal Garrus this minute.
"Damn it, Shepard," he said. Her eyes lifted to him, her face still expressionless. "I guess we're even now. I broke a rib, you carved up my exoskeleton." He grinned at her. "But if you were still so pissed about the rib we could have just settled it with some sparing, half an hour in the shooting range or…" he raised his eyebrows at her teasingly, "Talking about it. You know, like a nice, normal couple." She just stared at him.
"Actually, Vakarian." Chakwas said, now applying some medigel to the grooves for good measure. "Your overzealous CPR broke a rib and punctured her lung. So she still got the worst of it and has an unsettled grievance." Her eyes met Garrus' and he could tell Chakwas had a very clear understanding of the current medical and psychological needs of the Commander. "As a doctor, I believe the best course for your health would be to not provoke her." She finished, her lip twitching. "Well, I am positive you are not going to die, but when we land on Palaven I would still like you to check in with a turian physician. I am not an expert in carapace integrity and you seem to find a way to take all the chances you can which means your medical team can't take any. Make an appointment before we land or I'll do it for you and march you there myself." Garrus nodded, giving the doctor a long, thankful look.
Chakwas crossed to Shepard and to Garrus' surprise dropped to a squat before the huddled Commander. "The turian is going to live to raise hell with you for quite some time." She said brusquely, her eyes roaming Shepard's face. "Now let me have a look at that hand or I'll get Joker to send a shuttle to Tachunka for Urdnot Wrex and Grunt, explain to them that you are being an idiot, and have them pin you down in the medbay so I can do my damn job."
Shepard's green eyes stared at the doctor for a moment and then slowly, silently, she extended her hand. Chakwas took it gently in her own, palpating the skin around the strands. She held her omnitool over it, taking in the information on the display. "Are you experiencing pain?" Chakwas asked.
After a moment, Shepard said, "It stings."
"Vakarian," Chakwas called over her shoulder, "You said these were longer originally? They certainly aren't extensive enough to fill the affected area on your chest currently."
"They were longer," he confirmed. "When Shepard pulled away they vanished like they were just light or her biotics."
"They're partially biotics, that's for sure." Chakwas said, frowning at her omnitool. She brushed one of the raised strands with a finger and Shepard winced. "They seem to be acting like nerves. These protruding strands are a mixture of cellular tissue and the synthetic mesh we use for structural support in reconstructive work. They seem to be focusing your biotics." She sighed in frustration, "But I honestly can't be sure because I am not a biotic myself and that is not my specialty either. I'm going to need to diversify my team if I keep working for the two of you." She gave Shepard's blank face a slight smile. "The pain you are feeling is because they are mimicking nerves, which get pretty unhappy when exposed." She glanced from Shepard's hand to Garrus. "Was anything significant happening when they began spreading?"
Garrus eyed the silent Commander for a moment before saying. "We were both asleep but my best guess was another nightmare started it." His eyes remained on the Commander as he added, "which is completely understandable." Shepard didn't respond. She seemed lost in herself. "Her heartbeat and breathing were elevated when I woke up. She…" he paused before continuing. "She was saying 'he's mine' in her sleep." He glanced apologetically towards Shepard who continued to not acknowledge what transpired in the cabin.
Chakwas nodded. "Ok. So she was likely feeling threatened. Maybe her adrenal system sparked this… a way of extending her control." Chakwas sighed a second time. "Not that psychology is my area of expertise either." Her eyes slid to Shepard. "We are discussing expanding the medical team on this ship with the Alliance in the morning." she said under her breath. Shepard actually nodded at this.
Chakwas dropped to sitting cross legged before Shepard. "Alright Commander. We are going to try something." She said. "This plan could completely crash and burn. We really need Mordin for this kind of thing. He might have some ideas, but sadly my colleague is not available right now." Pain shone in Shepard's eyes at this. "But I'm going to try my best. Commander," she said, holding Shepard's hand in hers. "I need you to close your eyes and think of something calming and soothing. Something that makes you feel relaxed and safe. Whatever the hell that means for a nut like you." She added gently. Shepard's eyes drifted to Chakwas. Then closed.
"Take a deep breath." Chakwas said. Shepard obeyed (which Garrus marveled at slightly). He wondered if the doctor knew just how short the list of people the spitfire Commander actually listened to was. He knew that despite her respect for them, there had always been a one in three chance that she would question or challenge Anderson and Hackett when they gave an order.
Shepard took a deep breath and released it. She did this under Chakwas' instruction a few more times and eventually the glow of the strands across her body faded and her palm became smooth once again; devoid of the extended strands. "Any stinging now?" Chakwas asked softly. Shepard stared at her hand and then shook her head. Chakwas nodded approvingly and pushed herself to her feet, saying softly: "I'll be noting that I deserve a raise in my paperwork, Commander."
Shepards eyes lifted to Chakwas, a small gleam there. "Anything you need, doctor," she said softly. Chakwas chuckled and after a commiserating pat on Garrus' shoulder, left the room. After a few moments Garrus crossed the room to Shepard and reached up a hand to help her up. She flinched back from it slightly.
"No," he said, the stern tone surprising even him. Her eyes flicked to his. "I am fine." he said sternly. "I am fine. Take my damn hand, Moria." Hesitantly she did and he gently pulled her to her feet so she was standing before him. "Can you talk about what you saw?" He asked softly.
Her lips tightened and she said hoarsely, "No."
"That's fine." He said gently. "But you are coming to bed with me and you are sleeping in my arms. I do not care what happened tonight Moria Shepard, or what happens any night…" his piercing blue eyes held hers, "You do not scare me." He gently ran a thumb across her face. She shuddered at it for some reason, but he pulled her closer. "I am going to keep you as close to me as I possibly can, for as long as I possibly can," he said gently, "because I love you." His eyes trailed over her face. "And the rest of the time I hope I can watch you through the scope of my rifle and will fill anything that sets off my boyfriend alarms with bullets."
Her nose crinkled slightly and he raised an eyebrow.
"Boyfriend." She said. It was actually the first thing she had said to him since she woke from the nightmare. "It… it just never feels… big enough. It doesn't feel… worthy of you." she said softly.
He cocked his head to the side. "Well then," he said. "Let's see if we can do something about that on Palaven," and swept her into his arms and crossed to the bed.
/././././././././././././././././.
Shepard paced her cabin, silhouetted against the light reflected off the scarred face of the Turian homeworld below. She swore in frustration and poured a measure of the strong Quarian liqueur into one of the elegant green-blue glasses and drained it in one gulp. Garrus had blessedly stored the bottle in her cabin rather than take it back to his rarely used one. She crossed to her closet and stared inside once again.
She would give almost anything for a Reaper attack right now. Ok, maybe not a Reaper attack, but a Collector attack or a Cerberus attack certainly. She closed her eyes, part of her begging the sound of alarms to fill the ship and drag her to do something, anything apart from the impossible task at hand. She was the Commander of the best known warship in the galaxy. She had loyal friends of almost every race, had brokered peace, killed Reapers, outshot Archangel and received several mating requests on Tuchanka. How the hell did she have nothing to wear?
She stared at the stupid cocktail dress she had been sent by some citadel fashion company, the base layers for several different sets of armor, slightly revealing gear for extremely warm planets and her dress uniform.
The dress uniform. It's what she would have picked to land on Palaven. What she would have worn to mix for the first time with service-minded Turians on their homeworld. But after last night… the thought of touching it made her want to vomit. She couldn't even look at the buttons on the sleeves without seeing those green eyes and that crested head. She pulled out several less used garments, placed them in front of the dress uniform and then shoved the mass of fabric towards the back of the closet with all her might.
She stepped away from the closet and entered the bathroom, the only mirror left to her after she had broken the glass in her room during a nightmare. She stared at her slightly tangled hair and dragged a comb through it. It was getting long, longer than it had been in her whole career. She didn't mind though. It made her feel different. It almost made her feel like a different person than the one who had died twice. Who had faced Reapers and the Council's ignorance every day. She didn't really know the long haired woman yet, but she knew she had hope, a bed that wasn't empty when she came back to her cabin late at night, and thought the Council could suck a Krogan testicle. The long haired woman also had nothing to wear. Maybe something would come to her once she had dealt with her hair. Braids were neat and efficient, which seemed rather Turian. She divided the hair and began weaving the strands together when the motion of her hands in the mirror brought the motion of another pair of hands to mind. She froze, feeling sick again and tore at the beginning of the braid till her hair once again lay loose. She swore, threw it up in a tousled bun and marched stubbornly back to her closet.
She pulled on her favorite suit of armor. It was silver, with raised shoulders and a red streak that stretched across her chest. It was scratched and charred in a few places, but so was she, and you know what she thought, I'm Commander Shepard. I was fighting to protect them long before any of them knew what was going on, and I'm still fighting now. The end of the thought made her feel tired. They can take what they get. She stared down at the planet, desperately wishing that at the end of the hour she would be meeting Primarch Adrian Victus instead of Castus Vakarian.
The doors to her cabin slid open and she turned to see Garrus step inside. She saw no dress uniform on him either. Garrus too wore armor. Old armor, that bore scratches, burns and was partially blasted away on his left side where the rocket that had scarred his face had hit. He smiled at her slightly and read the unspoken question in her eyes.
"I wore this armor on the day that I patched things up with my father." he said, walking to the bar and pouring himself a drink. "When I was pinned down on Omega, before you showed up… I called him. I didn't think I was going to get another chance…" He gave her a long look. "You showed up and saved my sorry ass about an hour later." He drained the glass and placed it gently back on the bar. "I don't want to forget that today."
"You look like someone who knows the cost of his duty." she said softly, choosing the words carefully. His eyes gleamed.
"And you," he said, stepping close and brushing back a stray lock of her hair, "look perfect."
Shepard and Garrus heard the comm crackle, "Commander Shepard," said Joker tensely. "We have a situation here and we might need General Vakarian…." Shepard and Garrus exchanged a bemused look.
"I'm gonna need a few more details, Joker." Shepard said, starting towards the door.
"And what exactly makes you think you need my help?" asked Garrus tensely.
"Well, General." Joker said, his voice sounding strained. "Your sister has stormed our ship." An unfamiliar voice let out a stream of curses. "And she's pointing a gun at me."
/././././././././././././././.
Echoes from Shepard and Garrus' pounding feet rang through the corridor of the Normandy as the pair dashed for the bridge. Just out of sight Shepard heard a resonant female voice snarl, "Order your VI to turn operation controls over to Bloodhound now."
She could hear EDI answer back, "I am not a VI and I only accept orders from Commander Shepard."
"I don't care what you are," the new female voice laughed. "Put that thing down. If you try and shoot me the pilot will be dead."
"What the hell is your deal? Your brother is my friend." Shepard heard Joker yell. "Would you please stop pointing that thing at me?"
"Jeff," said EDI, "I feel it is important for you to know that I am feeling frustrated. If you had been amenable to my recommendations on taking a firearms course you would have the skills to disarm this turian and assist me in defending the ship."
"Not the time, ED," snapped Joker.
"I am perfectly aware." Continued the turian voice, "That pilots on human ships have override privileges. If you don't comply and transfer operational controls over to Bloodhound now I am authorized by the turian military to shoot you."
Shepard and Garrus finally emerged from the corridor and slid to a halt at the bridge. A slim female turian was standing by the pilot's chair. The muzzle of her pistol a few inches from the pilot's skull. She wore sleek dark armor with a molted pattern that suggested it was designed for stealth assignments, although strange support structures ran up the exterior of the turian's left leg. A program VI in the shape of a horned and scaled dog-like creature composed of bright aqua light stood beside her, emitting growling sounds. The turian had the same soft silvery gray exoskeleton as Garrus and bore identical clan tattoos. The crest of horns atop her head were less pronounced than those on a male turian and two graceful horns swept back from the line of her temple and cheekbones. Gleaming turquoise eyes snapped to them as they came into view, she raised a hand, and shot a blast of biotics at them.
Without thinking, Shepard's shields flashed into life, covering herself and Garrus.
"What the hell do you think you're doing Atala?" Garrus snapped.
The female turian frowned at Garrus, her eyes darting between him and Shepard.
"I'm doing my damn job, Garrus. What the hell are you doing on a Cerberus ship?" She eyed Shepard again. "We knew you would be returning to Palaven with Commander Shepard, but no one said anything about Cerberus tech and a Cerberus vessel."
"The Normandy's no longer a Cerberus vessel. And it hasn't been for some time." Shepard said, eyes narrowing at Atala.
"The Normand's crew were the ones who stopped Cerberus and uncovered what was happening on Sanctuary. We're the ones who destroyed them." Garrus said.
Atala snorted. "You took out the Illusive Man. You know very well that if you cut off the head of a cadian spitter a new one grows back in its place."
Shepard frowned. "No one would work for Cerberus again after hearing what they did on Horizon." She said darkly.
"Right," Atala said. "Just like no one would work with them after they mutated and brainwashed innocent turians during the first contact war." Her eyes were hollow.
Shepherd's heart pounded. She'd never heard about that. It absolutely would have affected her feelings about working with Cerberus, and would have totally affected her decision to not destroy the Collector base. She tried not to look at Garrus. How the hell had he felt about her cooperating with them if they had that kind of a history?
"We did what we had to in order to beat the Reapers," Shepard managed. It was true. Sometimes it was all she could cling to…. "My crew and I were never quiet about what we were fighting and how dire the need for allies was," she added. "Our warnings fell on deaf ears and I had to take the only resources offered. I made no secret of what I was doing."
"Then why," asked Atala, "Has Cerberus' name been scrubbed from most of your crew's service records? That definitely seems like you are trying to keep something secret."
"Because," said Shepard, "as you are perfectly demonstrating, Cerberus tends to leave a bad taste in people's mouths and make them jumpy, especially after Sanctuary. The Alliance chose to thank those who served with me by removing that piece of information. These people risked a lot so that they and the rest of the galaxy could still live their lives, and they deserve to do that and further their careers without being connected to the very monsters they fought to destroy. Some of us," she added, pointing to herself, "are a little too high profile to get a break from that kind of thing, but it doesn't mean the rest of them shouldn't. How the hell did you get access to those records anyway?" she asked with a glower.
"Kabalim Vakarian," EDI said, nodding towards Atala, "Has hacked all the Normandy's computer systems with the exception of myself and operational controls." Shepard's eyes widened. "It happened very quickly." EDI added, sounding very human and pissed.
"How the hell-" began Shepard.
Garrus interrupted with a hand on Shepard's arm, and a pointed look at his sister. "It's kind of her job," he said, clearly feeling uncomfortable.
Atala's mouth curled into a very satisfied smile that Shepard recognized. "And I'm very good at it." She said. Smug egos clearly ran in the Vakarian family.
"Miss Vakarian," said Joker tensely, "I feel like Shepard and your freaking brother have very clearly explained that we are not working for Cerberus, so could you please stop holding a gun to my head?"
Atala gave the pilot a sideways look that shut him up and then eyed Shepard and Garrus for a moment. "There are too many red flags here. There is no way this ship is landing on Palaven or staying in orbit without being under turian control. You have to relinquish control to Bloodhound," she said, nodding towards the horned-dog-VI, "And she will land the ship for you." The VI growled and seemed to shake its head as if dislodging a fly.
"The hell I will." spat Shepard. "I'm the one who got the Krogan to save your sorry ass planet, so I should be able to land on it if I damn well please." Spirits, she hated politics. She was here to help people, her damn ship had been boarded, she was yelling at her possible future sister in law, who was holding a gun to her pilot's head and telling her she had to hand over her ship so that she could go meet the computer-hacking, ship-hijacking female's father. The whole damn reason she was in this mess was so she could ask him to please help her hold onto the peace she had, you know, died for. She could barely think about the fact that she was maybe about to be related to this new host turian and the father that she had only ever heard discussed in tones that made him sound rather intimidating, as her gun and omniblade would not be appropriate methods of settling disputes with him. The temptation to shoot his daughter was mounting by the minute. "There is no-" she continued but stopped when Garrus put a hand on her arm. There was a pained and apologetic look on his face.
"Commander," he said, "with all due respect, this is actually the best diplomatic option." Shepard frowned and he continued. "Via Bloodhound. The Normandy will be exclusively under Atala's jurisdiction, because that's part of her job. And," he added, now glaring at Atala, "despite this very very bad first impression," he paused for good measure. Atala scowled back. "She can be trusted. Apart from you, she's the only person I would want on my six."
A strange expression crossed Atala's face at these last words.
"Commander," said EDI, "It surprises me, but I second General Vakarian's advice. Kabalim Vakarian has an exemplary service record, and her personal communications do not demonstrate any signs of any alarming personality traits-"
"Nothing alarming about putting a gun to my head…" EDI and Atala shushed the pilot simultaneously. He squawked in outrage.
EDI continued, "Or alarming political ideologies. She does indeed have exclusive control over the Bloodhound VI."
Atala's head snapped towards the AI. "How the hell did you get a hold of that kind of information?" She spat.
"I have hacked everything but operational controls of your VI and ship, as you did to us. I believe organics refer to this as 'payback'." EDI said blandly. Joker cackled.
Shepard clenched her jaw. She had lost control of her ship or nearly had it stolen too many times. It might be an Alliance-owned vessel, but really… it was hers. She shared with Joker because he was Joker and she trusted him but otherwise…
Slowly, she growled, "EDI, transition Normandy controls to Bloodhound."
"Yes, Commander." EDI said with a nod.
There was a very short, very tense pause and then the VI Bloodhound growled in a low female voice. "Operational controls successfully transferred."
"See, that wasn't so hard." said Atala. Garrus gave his sister a withering stare. "I'll let your pilot do the actual landing when you're ready as a reward for good behavior." She said, finally lowering her gun from Joker's head. He breathed a long sigh and shifted in his seat as far away from her as he could. "You can proceed to your meeting in Prometra. Chief Vakarian has been notified of your delayed arrival." She gave Garrus a slightly apologetic look at the mention of their father. "Bloodhound, initiate departure protocols." Garrus continued to scowl at her and with a smirk she added. "See you at dinner."
The Normandy plunged into darkness.
"The fuck?!:" Shepard roared, finally losing it. A second later the lights flickered back on, Atala and Bloodhound nowhere to be seen. Garrus released a long suffering sigh.
"All systems normal and functional." said EDI. "The turian stealth vessel is currently uncoupling from the Normandy. I apologize, Bloodhound temporarily extinguished lighting on this level."
Shepard whirled to face Garrus and opened her mouth to begin shouting.
"I know, I know, I know!" he said hastily, raising his hands before him. Shepard glared. "I have a lot of explaining to do."
/./././././././././././././././././
"And she's a biotic?" Shepard asked incredulously. Garrus had just explained, for the first time in the years they had known each other and the months that they had really gotten to know each other, that his sister was one of the top spies for the turian military.
Garrus sighed. He had been doing that a lot in the last half hour. "Yes," he said, "they're pretty rare and most turians don't trust them. Outside of their assignments and combat they tend to keep their abilities under wraps. They're assigned to a special branch of the military, usually used as spies like Atala, but also have a rank and position that is purely a well-maintained cover. Outside of families and the very top of the empire no one has a clue."
Shepard squinted at him. "Are you a biotic?"
"No." Garrus told her. "And turian biotics might need to lay low, but with all the hell I've followed you through you definitely would know by now. If I could create shields you would have a few less bullet holes and I certainly wouldn't have taken a rocket to my face."
Shepard raised an eyebrow. "You're sure you didn't let it hit you so you could play damsel in distress and worm your way into my heart and crew?" Her lip twitched.
Now she was on the end of his withering stare.
"No. No, I did not. I had plenty of other ways of getting into you."
Joker coughed loudly from his seat a few feet away where he was bringing the Normandy through Palaven's atmosphere.
"Ahhh… sorry." Garrus groaned and rubbed his face. Shepard laughed. "But no. I am not a biotic."
"So you're telling me I'm dating the boring Vakarian sibling?"
Garrus glared. Shepard grinned.
"But seriously," she said. "Being a biotic and a spy doesn't explain how she was able to seize so much of the Normandy that quickly, or why she was so surprised and upset by the Cerberus connection."
"She's not just a spy." Garrus said. "She's a Kabalim."
Shepard still looked confused. Garrus rubbed his face again. "It's hard to explain in terms of the human military. They're… they're the most effective soldiers in our military, and almost exclusively assigned to covert or impossibly difficult ops."
Shepard frowned. It sounded like the Salarian Special Tasks Group that Mordin used to be a part of.
"Biotic turians," Garrus continued, "get assigned to specialist teams called Cabals. Every member of a Cabal has a cover rank and position but also works with their unit on special missions. And Atala's a Kabalim. She's the commanding officer of her Cabal. They're specially trained to be extremely proficient in hack and slash operations."
"Hack and slash?" Shepard asked.
"It's slang." he clarified. "She's literally an expert in taking down just about any computer system and also killing anything that tries to stop her. They like biotics for that kind of work because they don't necessarily need their hands to hold a weapon in order to go on the offensive. It also means they can take a shortcut in their combat training to make extra room for technical learning, but still end up with something very deadly in a short amount of time." He smiled slightly. "It does mean that there are some small holes in their training. I'm definitely a better shot than she is."
She swore. "Are all the females in your family this much damn trouble?" Garrus opened his mouth to reply, stopped to consider the question again, then shrugged and answered, "yes, actually."
"Oh, excellent." Shepard growled.
"It's why you'll fit right in." he added with a grin that she did not return.
He looked from Shepard to Joker and Edi, his expression showing some concern. "I know that she didn't exactly introduce herself in an ingratiating fashion, but I am going to have to ask you to keep this incident and information about her position quiet. She's excellent at her job. Proportionally the Cabals had the highest fatality rates in the war, and we need everyone we can hold onto. Our military can't afford to lose any of them, much less a Kabalim, just because their cover was blown."
"If they're so secret how do you know so much about them?"
"Well, both my parents were pretty far up the command chain and now that I'm 'General Vakarian' I've been read in on the finer points of the Cabal so I could help them be effective against the Reapers. Frankly, I think part of why they were willing to give me the position and command I had in the war was because of her. I already had some information on the Cabals and I had a vested interest in keeping that information under wraps. I was convenient in a variety of ways." He stared pensively down at the slowly sharpening terrain of Palaven below. "Her position is part of why it's been so hard to get information on where and how my family was doing during the war in the past few months. Her movements are almost always classified." He gave Joker an apologetic look. "For example, I had no idea she would be involved in monitoring the ships and tech that entered Palaven. That's not usually her kind of position."
Shepard was still silently seething from her interaction with Atala, but she could see strain in Garrus' face, a type of strain he rarely showed. "I'm sorry," she said, "it must be hard to know that she's the go-to officer for tough assignments and not know where or how she is doing."
He gave her a soft, grateful smile. "Yeah, well, she's got sharp horns, she can take care of herself. Turns out it's good practice for falling for you. Although, from now on I plan on knowing exactly what kind of a hot mess you are getting yourself into because I'll be covering your back every step of the way."
Shepard snorted. "Do you know why she was so alarmed at the Normandy's Cerberus connection?"
Garrus' jaw was tight for a moment and EDI actually interjected. "On our flight plan and docking requests the Normandy is simply listed as an Alliance vessel. Information on its Cerberus construction is not included in our docking request data. In hacking Bloodhound, I was able to access data on the scans performed prior to Atala's pursuit and boarding of the Normandy."
A slow grin slid across Shepards face. "EDI, right now, you are my favorite. Remind me to give you a raise."
"Actually Shepard, as an AI and an extension of Normandy's operating systems I do not earn any salary. Your crew does, but in financial terms I am the equivalent of the galley. I provide a variety of services but am not paid for them as others are."
Shepard blinked. "Oh damn. I'm sorry EDI, I told you at Andersons I would get you on the payroll."
"It is ok Shepard. In the immediate aftermath of that promise you fought the Reapers and then were in a coma for several weeks. I do not believe your lack of followthrough was due to lack of intent." EDI said.
"Still," said Shepard, looking pained. "Please send me a memo tomorrow to discuss changing that with Traynor and send an impassioned statement to payroll for good measure." EDI cocked her head to the side, looking a little bemused, but nodded. "So what did you discover from hacking Bloodhound?"
"Bloodhound was running scans on the tech and programming of all ships entering and leaving turian space, using a variety of sources. That search included anything with Cerberus markings." The AI shifted as if uncomfortable for a moment. "It was looking for very remote and small traces such as espionage malware or tracking programs. I was detected by the scans and set off every alarm in the scan's programing. Bloodhound then accessed the crew and ship manifest and did extensive digging into files pertaining to General Vakarian's presence on the Normandy. Kabalim Atala then docked her stealth craft and boarded the ship."
"And held me at gunpoint demanding Garrus' location and what the hell he was doing on this ship." Joker added dryly.
"Shit," Garrus said, rubbing the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"Why was she so freaked out about you being on the Normandy?" Shepard asked.
"My family kind of has a personal history with Cerberus." Garrus said, his voice tense. "The turian military has always been wary of them. Their humanist agenda and politics don't exactly endear them to my people. I'm not too surprised that anything Cerberus related has them on edge right now. From the little I've heard from Palaven, what the Illusive Man was doing to control innocent people on Sanctuary reopened wounds from their work to control turians during the First Contact War." His expression was dark. "It was the first thing I thought about when we were uncovering what was going on."
"You never said anything." Shepard said softly.
He gave her a slight smile. "There were plenty of more immediate problems. I didn't want to spend time stirring up old fears."
"What exactly did Cerberus do during the war?" She asked.
It took a moment for Garrus to continue. "See if this sounds familiar." he said darkly. "The group of mercenaries that gave birth to Cerberus intended to use some ancient artifact to transform turians into super soldiers that were completely under their control." Garrus swallowed, seeming to struggle to continue.
"They intended to release them on civilians." EDI said, prompting Garrus. He was still quiet and merely nodded for her to continue. "They did not proceed past the beta stage of the project. The captured crew of the Starspear, a turian warship, were used as an initial test population. After investigating a distress signal from the missing ship a covert turian team was sent to rescue or euthanize the captives. None of the few surviving test subjects were capable of normal function, and several attacked the team sent to retrieve them. The remaining captives were terminated."
"The Starspear captain was a Vakarian." Garrus said softly.
Shepard wanted to be sick. "I'm sorry." She whispered.
Garrus merely shrugged. "I'm not sure if Atala would have known that I was working for Cerberus under you. I didn't exactly broadcast the information at home, and she may have been on a covert op and not updated. I'm guessing that was the case. Seeing my name on a ship with incredibly advanced Cerberus tech," Garrus said, nodding to EDI, "probably scared the hell out of her." He gave Shepard an apologetic look and added. "Her position as a Kabalim also gives her the jurisdiction to overpower and kill just about anything that happens to scare the hell out of her."
He stared out the windows at the bank of clouds that obscured the planet beneath. "The other thing you have to keep in mind is that all my people are jumpy right now." His eyes roamed the cloud-obscured sky as if he could see through to the ground below. "Most of our colonies were badly compromised and the Reapers had almost as much time to wreak havoc here as they did on Earth. Our fleet was decimated. I… I don't think we've ever been this vulnerable as a species. We're also taught to serve the empire first and ourselves second." He nodded at the ground below. "There are a lot of people down there who feel helpless, powerless, and that wears on all of us. We can't afford to play nice. In an emergency circumstance like this the Kabalim don't really have any orders or restrictions. They are to do what they feel they must do."
"That's a lot of power for one individual." Shepard said, "kind of like a Spectre."
Garrus nodded. "A lot of our Spectres were Kabalim or at least a part of a Cabal once upon a time."
"Can I ask how your father feels about all this? I just… I remember you saying he hated Spectres and would have hated me." Shepard asked.
Garrus chuckled, "Oh he hates it. Don't get me wrong, he's proud of her and how well she's served the turian people, but he's never liked or trusted the Cabals.He was not happy when her abilities started showing and she was transitioned to the Cabal. You should see him at a formal dinner, bragging about how she's high up in the Krogan Relations and Response Corps, that's her cover position. It's hilarious because he's very convincing but you can tell it's killing him because he always needs a third glass of wine." A slight smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "He's always been disappointed in me for resigning from C-Sec and exasperated with how much Atala loves being a Kabalim. It'll be interesting to see if the Reaper War has made those feelings a little less potent.
"I'm sure he'll be proud of both of you." Shepard said.
"Appreciated, Shepard," he said softly. He straightened and addressed Joker and EDI again: "Speaking of which, he doesn't know anything about Archangel and what I was doing on Omega." Garrus looked a little nervous, in a way she had never seen before. She had watched him face down just about every nasty thing in the galaxy without losing his smirk or swagger, but right now he looked very young and unsure. "And I would very very much like to keep it that way." He gave Shepard a long look and then added, "if you rat me out I will kill you."
Shepard couldn't help the taunting smirk sliding across her face. She leaned against the back of Joker's chair, staring directly at Garrus. "Oh really? And… what exactly do I get if I keep your secret? Archangel is the best shot in the galaxy, and a turian, shouldn't Commander Shepard be winning the hearts of local officials by sharing how much she admired him as a fighter?"
Garrus narrowed his eyes at her, "you are a mean little human."
"Surely they need to know," continued Shepard, grinning, "that he is a much better shot than the great Commander Shepard."
"Alright, now you're asking for it. I can't believe you just-" but he stopped suddenly, his mouth open, face frozen in horror at what came into view behind Shepard.