May 12th 2184 CE 05:36

This Is For The Ones Who Stand And Try Again

Garrus paced excitedly between the kitchen and living room. A mere twenty minutes earlier, the listening device alerted him to a hit on 1182 during a routine slave count. She was on a ship dubbed the Ubralle, and as far as he could tell it was a mining vessel stationed in the Kairvamori star system. Uwan Oche was a batarin run planet riddled with piracy. Yet, it was a well known fact that their manufacturing plants were run on slave labor. The pieces were coming together.

"What's up boss?" Ripper, flanked by the rest of the team, asked as he made his way downstairs.

"We have a hit on 1182. It's time we construct a plan and figure out how to lure this ship in."

"Where are they?" Krul practically yawned into the open air.

"The Kairvamori Star System. If I could hazard a guess, I'm betting on them orbiting Uwan Oche."

"Good guess." The batarian nodded in agreement.

"They're not far from Omega but we need to figure out how to lure them in. Krul, is there any way we could use your virus to cause a malfunction? She's on the Ubralle."

"Never heard of that one but that's not a bad idea. It shouldn't be too difficult to re-purpose my virus. However, we'll lose any ability to listen to their communications once their sensors alert them to the defects. They'll probably come to Omega but it's going to be a game of chance. The biggest concern is that they may be on Uwan Oche to sell off slaves. If she's planetside, we'll never get close. The second issue is, I can't actually cause any real damage. So, if they have a halfway decent maintenance crew, it'll be discovered as a false alarm."

"Do it. This is our only shot. We'll just have to hope that they're more concerned about their ship than selling off any slaves. Sensat, I'm hoping those darts are ready?"

"Yep. Yep. I'll paint them with the sedative momentarily." Already, the salarian's lightning fast fingers were rummaging through his fannie-pack. While it made him look absolutely ludicrous, he never left base without it.

"The rest of you, gear up. We're all on standby. When Krul is finished and we're prepped, there are things all of you need to know." Garrus wouldn't allow his men's lives to be put at risk unless they were fully aware of what they were placing themselves in peril for. It was time.


"…. I hope you can understand the need for secrecy. While I refuse to have any one of you going into this blind, I ask for your discretion. Do not use my real name outside of our home base. This will be the most dangerous mission we've been on yet. We don't know how many men are on this ship. And the vessel is unmapped – there isn't time for that. But it's a mission that will define who we are, what we stand for. Are we thugs taking out other thugs? Or are we the protectors of the helpless and the downtrodden? Today we decide our future. I have faith in each and every one of you and I know you will make me proud."

"Suspected you were using false identity, Garrus." Sensat shrugged, as if the information wasn't news to him at all. The rest of his squad was floored in one way or another. Ripper and Butler looked like someone had just told them they'd won the lottery.

"Shepard." Butler muttered incredulously. "You're saying you not only served with The Commander Shepard, the first human spectre, but today we're rescuing his long lost sister? Sign me up. A few months ago, my biggest accomplishment was polishing off an entire bottle of mezcal in one night." He slapped his beer-gut for emphasis.

"Knew you's was a big shot but this?" Ripper whistled. "This is somethin' else. Hells yea I want in on this mission!"

"That just leaves you Krul." Garrus turned to the batarian with a pang of guilt. He never would have reached this point if it weren't for him. Yet, given Shepard's history with The Batarians, he wouldn't be surprised if the man backed out.

Grundan moaned and ran a hand over his bald, four-eyed head. "If you told me a few months back that I'd be rescuing a fucking Shepard, I'd never have believed you. But what the hell? May as well get this over with, maybe earn a few points with The Alliance."

"I'll tell them, you know. The unadulterated truth. That none of this would have been possible without you." Garrus placed a hand on Krul's shoulder.

"Unless we accidentally blow her up or something. I really don't want to be remembered as The Batarian that took out Shepard's little sister. That'll probably cause a fucking generation of revenge."

"Then no one will be the wiser. Promise. Alright men, let's head to the docks. Most likely, The Ubralle will choose Omega for repairs and I want us to be waiting when they pull into port. They're only a few hours away from us and it's been 45 minutes since Krul went to town on their sensors."


So, this and the subsequent chapter were originally one. However, it's becoming way too massive so I'm splitting it up. :) Don't worry I won't leave you hanging too long... :p

Edit: Also, apparently FF doesn't like my long title. Which is weird, in the manager the full title displays but not the published doc. Ugh. Whatever, the full title is now under the date/time