Chapter Six: The Calm and the Storm
Garrus was tired. It was late. He knew that he should go get rest, the announcement about their approach to Ilos had come three hours earlier with an ETA of nine hours. Six hours left. Six hours. That's all there was between where they were now and finding the Conduit. There seemed to be an understanding amongst the crew that this was it. This was the point of no return. They either find what they were looking for or it would be too late. Saren would win.
Saren could not win.
He cleaned his station next to the Mako. She was ready. For whatever came her way. He laid a three-fingered hand on the side of her, "Get some rest," he whispered and then stepped away intending to follow his own advice.
Wrex grunted across the room, and he raised his brow plates in curiosity as he watched the Krogan mess with the weapons there. A slight pang of awareness hit that Wrex had taken over for Williams. Garrus walked to him slowly, as he hadn't spoken much to anyone since Virmire. No one really had been talking.
Wrex looked to him, "My hump itches."
The krogan admitted, "Yeah," Garrus agreed. "The time before a battle is always so quiet. Never found it easy to sit through."
"Normally, I'd be butting heads and finding some female to tumble with," his friend grumbled. "These humans are a strange species. They – sleep – too much."
Garrus chuckled, "Some would say not enough."
He thought of Shepard, who frequently roamed the halls of the ship at night. Even if she didn't come down to spend hours talking to him, she never quiet seemed the type to get more than a few hours of asleep before returning to work. Wrex made a noise beside him that could have been an agreement or a chuckle. He was still trying to find out the nuances of Krogan.
"You okay?" Garrus asked him, grimacing slightly at the question. He wasn't sure if asking a Krogan anything like this would warrant a headbutt or words. He supposed with Wrex, he would find out.
"The genophage cure was in that base," came the answer after a very long pause. It was a hard topic to speak of, especially to a Turian, Garrus knew. As it was his people who had teamed up with the Salarians to establish the genophage. It had been the answer to stop the Krogan Rebellion after the Rachni War. A war that had been found thousands of years ago, but had nearly wiped them out. Had it not been for the Salarians reaching out to the Krogan and lifting them up to fight along side of them all. The Turians played a heavy hand in implementing that strain of chemical that rendered the Krogan damn near infertile. Garrus had known that that was what the fight between him and Shepard had been about, the reports had come swift and when he had asked her about it, she had hardened against the question, and he never asked again.
Garrus nodded, refusing to lessen the conversation with anything he could say.
"My people are dying, Garrus," Wrex sighed heavily then, hands coming to slam onto the workbench in front of him. "One by one, death by death, body by body – soon there won't be any more of us coming to take over the place of the ones we lose. And we lose too much on petty money hungry crimes and contracts."
Again, Garrus refused to speak, just listened as Wrex reached out to finger a picture that was hanging on the wall. It was a family of four daughters, Williams was tall and young standing behind the other three and smiling at the camera. The mother and father beamed, but there was a distant look to the man's eye and a hurt in the woman's. He was looking at the Williams clan, a family he had never asked her about, Garrus frowned at that as he watched Wrex's large finger hovered over the youngest child.
"Kirrahe had called us a mistake – he called them a mistake," he corrected, speaking about the Krogan in the base. "But my people are not, if this is to be the beginning of the end for our galaxy…" The Turian watched as Wrex straightened turning his attention back to him, "Then I'm going to make sure we fight like hell to win. My people deserve a chance to get what was stolen from them. Can't do that if we all end up Reaper meat."
With those words, Garrus' subvocals flared to life. It was a sentiment, a declaration – one that another Turian would have understood and taken as warmth. Of friendship. To Wrex, it probably just sounded like a growl, a vibration under hard plates. "Your people deserve it," Garrus said. Mainly because it was the right thing to say.
Wrex punched him hard then, grinning wide, "Calm your vibrations, Turian, we're friends."
His eyes widened and he eyed Wrex with shock, "You…understood that?"
"I know a lot of things," he tapped his temple roughly. "Your first language is not lost on me."
For a moment, Garrus grinned at the statement and then bristled. That meant that Wrex had always been able to hear him. Understand, if not fully – enough. He quickly looked away form him and turned to walk away. Wrex laughed loudly and he figured that the krogan had figured out why he was shocked.
"Shepard…" Wrex began, and Garrus shot him a dangerous look. He raised his hands in mock surrender but continued anyway, "She's got eyes for that biotic human, right?"
"Kaidan. Alenko," he nodded, "They share a bond," Garrus said tightly, mandible flexing.
Wrex nodded. "Good for them, huh?"
Yes. "They're good people, Wrex, teammates, friends – I don't look much into their personal affairs, none of my business really." He would hear himself say.
"Ugh huh," was the humor filled reply. "Remember who you're talking to kid – I know things."
Garrus shook his head and chuckled, "A thinking Krogan –"
"Is a dangerous one," came the reply and Garrus agreed with that to his very core. It was true. Very true.
Two hours passed before their conversation died down. They had talked about Ilos and what they may find, about the genophage and the death toll of the children. He listened in horror as Wrex described the literal mounds of stillborns and the large holes they had to dig. He was in shock at the realization that he had been taught such a different story about what it looked like. They had simply said that couldn't conceive. Not that they did, but they couldn't bare the children easily. So many lies, so many. Toward the end of the conversation, Wrex mentioned that he was done with being on the run. He wanted to go home and take place as the Clan leader. It was time for the Krogan to have someone willing to take them into the future and not live so angrily in the past. Garrus had told him he believed he would be able to do just that and that he would support Wrex's decision to do so.
It made him sick to his stomach to think about everything he had been taught to believe was true was just from one side of a larger picture. Always blind sighted. He hated being blind. He decided then and there that he would not sit behind red tape or simple orders any longer. He would ground everything presented to him down to the last nub, all angles, all sides of the spectrum. He owed this crew that much.
The elevator door opened onto the crew quarters, and he made a slow walk towards the kitchen for a small meal before he would retire to the bunk he had been using as his own. It was in the main battery, tucked in a corner – away from the rest of the crew. Turians didn't sleep exposed, they rarely shared space, when huddled in a crew on a ship – the each at a tiny pod where they were able to shimmy in. There was an unspoken rule in his brood. They do not sleep in the open. Even amongst their own. Humans were not like them. They all slept piled on top of one another in rooms, dressed, laughed, lounged – always touching, always talking. He could try to say it was just a Turian thing, but it wasn't.
Tali had made herself her own space in engineering, down deep where it hummed constantly. Liara had taken a room in the med bay as her own, Chakwas didn't seem to mind and Wrex had been in the Cargo Bay, his corner was behind large crates that – Garrus suspected – the human crew left there specifically to give Wrex his privacy.
It was all these little things that he knew the human crew did to ensure they found bits of comfort that had slowly broken down his apprehension towards them. They knew when to leave him alone now, knew when to joke and how to make him feel less awkward when they did something or said something completely foreign to him. Hell, his food preferences had even been noted as more of what he liked had been ordered and far less of what he rarely touched. That was Chakwas doing, he knew – but he figured Kaidan played a role in that as well.
He smiled to himself as he closed the cabinet door and tore open the small box he had grabbed, reaching inside to grab the small morsel, and sliding into his mouth. The Normandy was – his home, he knew that. Ilos looming in the near future cemented that.
As he made his way up the steps towards the long hall that would take him to bed, he heard it. His brow plates shifted; his neck twisted to glance in the direction it came from. He strained to listen again. The sound new, unknown.
And again, it fluttered through the air, a moan.
It was sharp and heated and…he blinked. Standing straight. It was Shepard. Had his body known what it meant to do – it would have pinkened into a flaring blush at the realization of what he was hearing. The deep groan of a male followed, and Garrus actually tripped up the last step.
Quickly he decided to get the hell out of there.
Ilos was a tomb.
There was no other way to word what they were looking at. Rows and rows of stasis pods – dormant and ruined. Decayed. Each the grave of a Prothean that had thought these were their saving grace. They had given themselves over to the hope that they could live in a future where Reapers and Sovereign were things of the past. His blue eyes followed the long corridor. Fifty-thousand years of time had past and it was holding strong, albeit with overgrown and cracks that were caused by what he assumed was just – the passing of time. How was this in such a good state? He wondered as the curled back into the Mako.
The Mako.
The drop to the surface had been steep. It had needed to be precise and Joker, being the only person in the entire galaxy with the ego to pull it off, had actually pulled it off. Shepard had chosen Liara and him to go with her. At the decision, he noticed the Lieutenant approach her, almost as if to argue, but her unyielding gaze had made the man swallow his words in his throat and he nodded. Immediately, he had seen Shepard reach up and place a hand on his cheek.
It was sweet. Public. And the rest of the room noticed as well.
It wasn't unknown or even an uncommon piece of knowledge that the two shared an intimate relationship. Most of the crew's murmurings were more in hope that they would finally decide on one rather than keep denying what was so obvious to everyone else. Garrus thought maybe some of the crew should mind their damn business.
Tali had piped up once about it and he had told her in no uncertain terms that he didn't want to talk on the subject. It had caused the quarian to study him for a long moment, an eerie feel of glowing eyes casted over his features before she simply had said, "I see," and turned on her heel and left. The subject was never broached again, and he and Tali continued their easy friendship. She was sometimes a tad more emotional than he was used to – but most other species were.
Still, being chosen to be a part of her team on Ilos was something he was grateful for. He didn't know if he would have been able to rest in the Normandy looking down at the planet below waiting for word. Waiting for something. Waiting – always waiting.
When they spoke to Vigil – Garrus knew that nobody on his own planet would believe anything about this place. No one would think this tale were real and it bothered him. IF things like this were possible, how much of their brood's closed-mindedness truly affected their species continued existence? He would have to get with some people about this – scholars? Leaders – children maybe. Teach them young to ask the hard questions and stop taking orders without the right to choose which orders were worth following.
Vigil was a VI that had been set up by the Protheans. Somehow, over the last fifty-thousand years – it had stood as guardian to the halls. The station had been set up in secret, purposely disguised and kept quiet – a complete black out on the outside world as they created the Conduit and the virus needed to control commands. To keep them from establishing a connection to the Reapers mass relay far out in the deep black void that surrounded the galaxy.
Shepard took the code. Easy enough. Just needed to upload it somewhere.
The Conduit was a miniature mass relay. And it had a direct link to the miniture mass relay that was known as a stature on the Presidium Commons on the Citadel.
"The Keepers. They are the caretakers of the Citadel, built by the Reapers to tend to the Citadel – which was an alpha relay." Vigil's explaination was taking too long to connect in his brain. His brow plates pulled. "A direct link for the Reapers to come through. When the time is right, the Keepers imput the codes as scheduled and the alpha relay opens up for the Reapers to come through."
And no organic being the wiser. They had all just lived in the presences of these creatures because it was easier to allow someone else to do the heavy lifting.
Spirits. "The Citadel was going to have the entire weight of the invasion!" He had said aloud and looked to Shepard.
The sheer terror of that knowledge had them springing to action. The news that Saren had already headed towards the Citadel via the Conduit had Shepard barking orders to the Normandy. With dread Joker informed them that Saren's entire fleet had left Ilos – including Sovereign.
"Get to the Citadel. Tell the Alliance. Call the Council!"
Ilos was just on the other side of the Mu Relay, which connected to the system right next to the Widow system where the Citadel was. It only took two jumps to get there – twenty minutes – the Normandy needed to leave now to be able to even assist.
They ran back to the Mako, Liara and Shepard's wide fearful eyes the only color he seemed to be able to see as they settled in and Shepard made their way through the rest of the base. Blue and green on a backdrop of browns and gray. They had to get to the Conduit before it closed – they had to stop Saren!
She drove like any other time. Dangerous, sharp, unyielding. Shepard mowed down the Geth that were trying to stop them, and he fired the cannon at the large Collossus that stood in their way. Liara manned the machine gun and they all three knew, knew, that there was no other way. There was nothing else that could be done. The Conduit was right there – right fucking there – and…
Shepard's voice cut through the air – "In your seats!"
Garrus frowned, looking to Liara and then to Shepard as she straightened the Mako and angled the wheel. When he followed her gaze he noticed a miniature relay. Her shoulders tensed as she slammed her foot on the accelerator.
"Shepard!" Liara protested, her body easily shifting over one seat to buckle herself down into it. Garrus shifted and detangled himself from his standing position at the cannon and fell with little grace to the seat just behind Shepard.
His back to her as he strapped himself in.
"This is crazy!" He heard Liara, but all he could do was reach out and tug on Shepard's harness, making sure she had buckled it – she had. He keened his approval before he twisted back around and looked to Liara. She was terrified.
Hell – he wasn't feeling any better.
"Alright – Garrus –" he heard Shepard say, "Let's see if you've treated this girl right!"
And then the Mako was airborne flying towards the small relay and the brilliant beam of light that shouldn't be there, they shouldn't be there, the Mako definitely shouldn't be there.
Liara made a strangled noise in front of him, Shepard cursed under her breath, and he sat so far into his seat trying to ground himself he was sure he'd disappear into it. And then – sound came.
Loud and angry and painful. His hands flew to the sides of his head, he noticed vaguely that Liara was doing the same. The pressure that followed was intense and caused his entire body to tense and groan against it. He felt as if he were being squeezed. Every nerve ending felt it, every plate and bone and talon felt like he was being flattened to death. He let a low groan as he heard Liara's scream and Shepard's as well.
There was little they could do but let it out. He groaned outward, less of a scream, more of a grimace, and right when he felt that this was it – there was no way he would make it through it – no way the two women much softer in physique as he was would make it….a heavy thud rocketed them forward, back, to the side and his arms and legs shifted up and out and around before they came to a quick and painful rest.
He realized not too quickly, that he was upside down.
Garrus groaned as his eyes struggled to focus. The vibration in his ears wasn't helping and the world around him ebbed and flowed from black to images and back again before he saw vibrant blue, and his mind came to life. Liara!
"Liara!" He called out, his hand trying to reach her. She was hanging limp in her harness, eyes closed – mouth slightly open. "Shepard!" He called and strained to turn in his seat. When he couldn't manage any movement, he grumbled and forcefully undid his harness. He fell quickly and with a painful crack to his shoulder onto the roof of the Mako. He looked towards the driver seat and noticed Shepard's limp arms hanging above her head. Looking back to Liara he noticed her face pull to a pained frown and her eyes blinked open. Good. Good.
He crawled as quickly as he could to the Commander. "Shepard," he said her name softly, he reached up to cradle her face before maneuvering enough to position himself under her before he undid her harness and she slipped easy over him with no jostle or thud. "Shepard," he repeated and heard Liara release her own harness and grunt as she landed just a few feet away.
"Is she breathing?" Liara's voice broke his panic.
"I don't know, come look," he told her, demanded her.
She did, crawling over and helping Shepard's legs free and completely down then slowly off Garrus before checking her neck for a pulse. "She's good," Liara sighed in relief, "We haven't much time!"
"Commander Shepard," he barked, and the red head's feature jarred at the tone. "Commander!"
Green eyes snapped open, and she tried to sit up immediately, but then she groaned in pain and reached for her right shoulder, "Did we make it? "
It was the question that caused Liara and him to look at each other before Liara opened the small hatch door and eyed their destination. "Looks like were just down the hall from the tower," came her smooth reply.
"Garrus," Shepard reached up to him as she righted herself, pulling herself over and then up to her knees. "Set my shoulder, its dislocated."
He nodded, letting her put one of his hands on the front side of her shoulder, the other slipping to twist her arm before he jolted up then back before she had time to brace herself. A loud pop and an annoyed slur of curses followed before she gave him a withering glare and mumbled a thank you.
"Anytime, Shepard." He grinned and the three of them slowly crawled out of the Mako.
They looked around after standing, all three of them harboring sore bodies that protested the movement. He stretched his neck – grimacing. Fuck he was hurting. When he looked at the Mako a small keen of sorrow found him. She was….
"Sorry," Shepard said and pulled her gun up to her normal stance. "She was a good member of the team."
He cleared his throat, "Yeah, she would have liked going out like that."
Liara looked at them both as if they had lost their minds, "It's a truck."
"Hey!" Garrus said and Shepard gasped. "Calm down, T'Soni!"
"Show some respect," Shepard would say as they lined themselves up in formation and started towards the tower. Liara grumbled and it didn't sound like an apology, and he thought he heard a 'talk to Chakwas' and 'brain injury' before their banter died down and they entered the towers.
Quickly making work of the Geth there they climbed the steps quietly and with haste to find Saren standing at the edge of the podium, his back turned to him as he inputted the code to make the connection with the Reapers. Shepard took off after him only for him to jump off the ledge. She stopped and took a tentative step forward – Saren came hovering up and threw a grenade towards them. He grabbed Liara and pulled her to the right and Shepard jumped towards the left. The flames inching up against this armor and onto Liara's skin. He padded her clothes to get it out as she curled behind cover.
"I was afraid you wouldn't make it in time, Shepard." Saren said.
"In time?"
"You've lost you know that don't you?" He sneered, "In a few minutes Sovereign will have control of all Citadel systems, the relay will open, and the Reapers will return."
"I've still got a few tricks up my sleeve!" Shepard called out; Garrus peaked around the cover to see that she was pulling herself into a crouch from having thrown herself out of the way of the grenade.
"You've survived our encounter on Virmire, but I've changed since then – improved – Sovereign has upgraded me."
"You let Sovereign upgrade you? Are you insane?"
"I suppose I should thank you, Shepard," Saren continued, "After Virmire I couldn't stop thinking about what you said – about Sovereign manipulating me. About indoctrinating me. The doubts started eating away at me. Sovereign sensed my hesitation. I was – implanted to strengthen my resolve," he curled his fist in the air and looked wildly down to where Shepard was covered. "Now my doubts are gone, I believe in Sovereign completely – I understand that Sovereign will find a place for organics, join us and Sovereign will find a place for you too."
"Sovereign is controlling you through your implants," Shepard said almost shocked that Saren couldn't figure this out on his own. "Don't you see that?"
"The relationship is symbiotic. Flesh and steel blend with bone – the strength of both, the weaknesses of neither. I am the vision of the future, Shepard, the evolution of all organic life. This is our destiny. Join Sovereign and experience a true rebirth." Saren sounded so convinced in this. Garrus shook his head and looked to Liara who was staring at the rouge Spectre through the sight of her pistol.
"Sovereign hasn't won yet," Shepard pushed, "I can stop it from taking control of the station! Step aside and the invasion will never happen!
"We can't stop it," Saren sliced and arm through the air, "You saw the vision, you saw what happened to the Protheans – the Reapers are too powerful."
Shepard sighed, "Some part of you must still realize this is wrong. You can fight this!"
"Maybe you're right –" Saren said, and Garrus strained to look at him, "Maybe there is still a chance for…for…" he gripped his head and strangled a painful cry. "The…the implants…" he grunted and breathed out, "Sovereign is too strong…." Saren straightened and looked at Shepard, "I am sorry – it is too late for me."
Shepard jumped from cover, "Its not over yet!"
Garrus snarled at her action and flew to her side, ready to throw her out of harms way if need be.
Shepard continued, "You can still redeem yourself!"
"Goodbye, Shepard," Saren would say, and it was the first time in nearly three years that he sounded like the Spectre Garrus had met upon taking position on the Citadel. He looked up to the man and watched as he brought his own gun to the side of his head, "Thank you."
The sound of his pistol slammed through the air as his head jolted to the side, his body tumbled to the ground beneath. Shepard ran forward and Garrus followed. When they reached the edge of the platform, they looked to the body below. She frowned heavily and turned to move to the console to input the code.
"The codes in," she said softly, "We have control."
"Hurry, open the arms – so we can take down Sovereign." He told her and she went to work on it.
"Open a communications channel!" They heard Liara as she came up to them.
Shepard clicked a few buttons and live chatter flew through.
"…the Destiny Ascension…we are hit! Kinetic barrier is down to 40% The council is on board! I repeat, the council is on board!" Came a panicked voice over the comms. Shepard frowned deep and looked to the grand window just on the other side of the room. Sovereign was perched as the arms of the Citadel slowly opened around it. Its fighters flew this way and that as a few lone Alliance fighters and a few Turian fighters tried to make a difference.
"Normandy to the Citadel…. Normandy to the Citadel…" Joker's voice came over the comm. "Please tell me that's you, Commander."
"I'm here, Joker.."
"I'm sitting here in the Aturies system with the entire Artueris fleet. We saw the distress call, just unlock the relays around the Citadel and we'll send the calvary in."
"Are you sure about this?" Liara's voice came through… "So many humans will die."
"Its bigger than that," Garrus cut her off. "Sovereign and the Reapers are bigger than any one species. They're a threat to this entire galaxy and everyone inside it!"
"I know, but to throw lives away…" Liara responded. "For the council?"
Shepard looked at them both when Joker asked, "What's the order, Commander. Come in now and save the Ascension or wait?"
"I'm opening the relays now – we need to save the Council no matter what the cost." Shepard said firmly.
"I hope the council realizes this trade," Liara bit the rest of her statement off when Garrus glared at her angrily. This was no time to debate. The decision had been made.
Shepard turned and stepped towards them, but movement from below caught all of their attention. Saren's dead body lifted into the air – red immitted from every crack in his skin as his body shifted, broke, and twisted into a horrible machine that wore the dead Spectre's face. It hurled itself at them, the strength of its attack breaking the platform they were standing on and they fell the full twenty feet to the room below. Garrus had no time to react and fell hard on his side, somewhere to the right Liara had landed and wasn't moving. Shepard grunted and somehow had curled herself to land – even if not completely right – in a tumble. Her hiss of pain the only indication that she had missed a step and had either broken or sprained something in the landing.
He had to get up, had to help. He groaned as he tried to move his body. Breath had escaped him and he felt his lungs tight under his chest as if they were crushed. He knew they weren't, he just had to force himself to move.
Shepard was standing in front of him and Liara – legs wide, gun raised – glancing back and the both of them briefly before she opens fired on the monster before them. Finally, Garrus was able to draw breath and he felt himself able to move his arms and legs as he pulled himself up to stand beside her. Gun drawn they moved slowly – tight against one another but remained close by as Liara was finally stirring.
A singularity found the beast as it mounted on the wall – giving them just enough time to go to Liara and pull her upright. She had blood coming from a deep cut on her temple, but otherwise those bright blue eyes looked at them, narrowed in determination and ready to fight.
The building shook around them. Loud bangs heard in the distance, each second felt like an eternity as the three of them struggled to find a latch on this quick and dangerous foe. It had seared a wound into Liara's leg, she had cried out and slammed it with a warp to get it to jump away from her, Garrus had been thrown – literally – when it curled around his form and tossed him easily up and onto the wall several feet away. Shepard was steady. Shifting and dodging, her biotics and her bullets all flaring to slowly bring down the barrier that sat between their defeat and their victory. Finally – at long last – it was clear that their attacks were finally doing damage.
Something about that caused all three of them to stand taller, his shots came quicker – hit deeper, Shepard's combinations kept the monster from getting too far away from them and Liara's biotics finally grounded it to one spot before they all open fired. They unleased a thunderstorm of various metals into its body and when a shrill cry came from it, Garrus pointed his rifled dead into its face and silenced it.
Shepard's breath came as a pant, she pointed, "Make sure its dead."
Liara nodded, limping just slightly as she walked to the downed figure and put a bullet right through its eyes.
The three of them didn't say anything as they walked away, Garrus helped them climb up from the pit and they both helped pull him up. All at once, the noises from outside came back to their awareness – the two soldiers tensed ready to go join the fight, but they stopped short when they saw Liara gasp and look out the window.
Following her gaze, they saw the Normandy coming straight down towards them, fear gripped his insides at the sight – surely he wasn't seeing what his brain was screaming at him to see – and thankfully he didn't. Instead of crashing into the Citadel, the Normandy twisted in a way that no other ship could do and fired. The light blinded the three of them and they shielded their eyes, cowering their faces away from the glass and then blinked back towards the view in front of them. Sovereign was falling backwards. Fire erupted from seams along is sides and the Alliance open fired. Shot by shot it was clear that Sovereign was going down.
The rumble under their feet brought Shepard's eyes to his own. The building sways and all at once Sovereign exploded right there outside the window. Debris flew every which way and Shepard didn't even have to bark the word before he had grabbed Liara's injured form and pulled her quickly – damn near throwing her – down onto the stairwell to the lower levels of the tower and away from the window.
"Go!" Shepard said again and the sound of glass and brick exploding all around them drowned out her voice. His large frame curled around the small asari, and he pivoted them both down the steps, twisting her under his form as the building around them gave way to whatever had decided to break through. The last thought he had before a heavy beam fell on top of him, knocking him unconscious was: "Shepard!"