Chapter Ten
Den of Wolves
Shepard cursed. The particular resonance of turian voices was causing it to be very difficult to make anything out through the muffling door.
"I don't know…." she thought she heard Garrus say. "I've been so busy dealing with you and Dad." Shepard heard footsteps on the other side of the door and quickly stepped away from it. She walked briskly through the kitchen, trying, and probably failing, to not look incredibly guilty as she passed the chef. She slowed her pace as she entered the dining room and crossed back to her seat to Castis' right.
He eyed her. "Find… everything you were looking for?"
She nodded, thanked him, and took a large sip of wine. It was excellent.
"I can see why you chose the red, regardless of what's being served with it." she said appreciatively.
He gave her a small but very genuine smile. "Please forgive the rather personal question, Commander," he said, "But I would be a poor host and dignitary if I did not inquire if you need me to have a medic bring you any necessary antihistamines before my wayward children return and we can actually get on with the meal."
"There is nothing to forgive, Chief Vakarian," She said. "Things have already been pretty personal today," she added more gently. "And I hope that we can come to know and be comfortable with each other on a personal level. I appreciate your thoughtful offer, but I will be just fine. I was honored to have the opportunity to dine with the Quarian Admirals on some of Rannoch's first harvests. I began taking a daily antihistamine so that I could partake in what they shared." She grinned. "They have many culinary artists that are very excited about the space and opportunities now at their fingertips and they want everyone to try their creations."
"And you have continued the regime?" He asked.
"My chief medical officer and mess sergeant thought it would be a boost to the morale and health of the Normandy's crew to put everyone on the antihistamines for a while so that we could take advantage of the local food supplies and spice things up a little, particularly since Palaven was our next destination. It meant we could contribute to the growing quarian economy and make it easier for us to share some of our non-dextro resources with the human embassy here in Prometra should they need the support."
"You had a smart strategy." Castis said with a raised eyebrow.
"I have a smart crew," She corrected, "but I appreciate the flattery."
Castis actually chuckled.
"It must have been something…." he mused. "To see the quarians finally on Rannoch."
Shepard nodded. "I've honestly never experienced anything like it."
"I had a quarian partner once who was an ex-Marine." He said thoughtfully. "There is too much to do at present… but I wouldn't mind visiting Rannoch one day. And that's something I never thought I'd say."
"In a few years I bet you'd enjoy fruit from their vineyards." She said. "Your son certainly did."
Castis snorted. "Of course he did. I bet that was his favorite part."
"It was," she said, adding, "But not for the wine. It was too early for them to have anything like that. He helped them plant some vines and he found it very enjoyable."
The look Castis gave her was long and considering.
There was a sound of footsteps and Garrus entered the room, shooting Shepard an apologetic and concerned look. She smiled back reassuringly.
"Ahh, good." Castis called, seeing him. "Here they come. I'm starving. Let's hope we don't shame the Commander by serving her dry meat since you two took so long." Atala crossed the threshold and he added, "Commander, I know you two have crossed paths a bit now, but may I formally introduce my daughter Kabalim Solana Vakarian."
Both Shepard and Atala frowned at his words. The spy stopped behind the chair to her father's left and saluted the Commander.
"Commander Shepard, sir."' she said. "It's an honor to be properly introduced." Atala hesitated a moment and then said. "I do hope that you can forgive my intrusion earlier today. I hope a Commander with a service record such as yours will understand; I was only doing what I believed to be necessary for the safety of my people and family." The two females stared at each other for a long moment.
Shepard's eyes were hard, but at last she said. "Luckily, I have seen firsthand the uniquely dangerous situations that General Vakarian can get into. Being his sister is no doubt stressful.I am not, however, someone who forgives easily, especially when my ship and crew have been compromised." she added, her tone harshening. "It will certainly come at a price."
Atala's spine straightened and she calmly met Shepard's cold gaze. "Then I hope I will be able to pay it." The room was quiet and full of tension. The male Vakarians were closely watching the exchange.
"As do I." Shepard said. "I am going to need two things from you, Kabalim." Atala tensed. "First of all," Shepard continued, "In the wake of the war, I find that I have more non-combative duties for the Alliance than I am usually accustomed to, and I lack the proper resources to do my job easily." Shepard picked an invisible piece of lint off the sleeve of her robes. "You proved this afternoon that you would be perfect for getting what I need. So, I am going to enlist your eye for color and your tailor in expanding my wardrobe." Atala blushed slightly, but nodded. "And, more importantly," Shepperd added, "I intend to stay sharp in these times of peace, but I'm getting pretty familiar with my current sparring partner's range of tricks." She gave Garrus a cheeky grin and he glared at her. "I would be honored if you would perhaps go a round or two with me while I'm here. And if I have any leftover hurt feelings we can settle them in the ring."
Atala's eyes shone at the offer. "It would be my pleasure, Commander." She said.
"I look forward to finding a time to see what you've got, Kabalim Solana," Shepard said.
Garrus' sister grimaced. "Please, Commander, call me Atala." She said, at last taking a seat across the table from Shepard. "I have not gone by my primnom for many years, and only those who do not truly know me, or are too in love with protocol for their own good, call me that." She scowled at her father. "I now go by my seconom, Atala."
The cook began bringing out platters bearing several differently prepared meat. Even though she was a human and not a turian, after all the vegetarian food Shepard had eaten on Rannoch, her mouth watered at the smells wafting from them. Garrus reached for a particular dish and began serving himself. Shepherd watched his knife selection carefully. "I am not familiar with primnoms." she said.
"Turians are given three names." Atala said. "Our primnom is usually the name of the individual, but then we also have a tribunom, Vakarian for us, the name of the clan you were born to, and a seconom."
"Why do you have three?" Shepard asked.
"Why do humans?" Atala asked. "Don't many of you have three names as well?"
"Yes," Shepard said slowly, using the same long, slender blade that Garrus had used to cut into a particular plate of meat. She picked up another knife with a very sharp point, but dulled sides and used it to skewer the piece of meat she had placed on her plate and bring it to her mouth. "I will be honest, however, I don't actually know why we have the middle ones… I think they might have had a religious importance once upon a time, but I don't actually know much about that kind of thing."
"Our seconoms serve a very specific purpose." Castis said between bites. "They are usually derived from the name of a clan member that will be entrusted with the child's upbringing should its parents be killed in action."
Shepard glanced at Garrus. "Is your seconum also Atala, then? Garrus Atala Vakarian?"
The Turians at the table began laughing. Shepard looked around confused.
"No, no," Garrus chuckled. "My seconum is Arcium.
"For my cousin Arcumita." Castis clarified.
Garrus continued. "If we had the same guardian what would happen if they died as well? You would have multiple children with no clear indication of who should care for them. If each child has a different guardian then there is at least a better chance one of them is alive."
"The eldest's seconom dictates the parents' first choice in caretaker." Atala said. She glared at her father. "Speaking of which, why couldn't the two of you nobly pass away? I would have gotten to grow up sailing Reefskimmers!"
"Atala!" Garrus said disapprovingly.
"I apologize that my not perishing during your early childhood deprived you of your future as a pirate, Captain Atala. Although you seem to be doing fairly well despite my still being around; boarding and pillaging Alliance vessels."
Atala suddenly became very preoccupied with cutting her meat.
"Atala," said Shepard, "Can I ask why you choose to go by your seconum?"
Atala gave her a long look. Her brother and father paused their eating, watching her. "I took it when I got the first signs of my biotics." She said at last. "My aunt Atalanta had them as well but died when I was very young. I now choose to bear her name to honor her memory.
"And she would be very proud." Said Castis softly. "I'll be back in a moment." he added, picking up the now empty red wine. "The Commander apparently shares my taste for subpar wine and we need another bottle."
As he exited into the kitchen, Atala called "I said it was a subpar pairing. Not that there was an issue with the wine itself!"
She glanced from the doorway where her father had disappeared to Garrus and held up two fingers with a questioning look on her face. Garrus shook his head and held up all three of his. Atala's eyebrows rose in surprise. She cast a concerned glance towards the door and then looked to Shepard. "What is your other name?"
Shepard shifted a little, uncomfortable in her seat. "Dawn." she said. "I have no idea why."
"Moria Dawn Shepard." Garrus murmured.
Shepard groaned. "I've never been very fond of it, to be totally honest." she said.
Garrus sniggered. "I'll have to remember that."
"Do you really want to be taunting me right now," she said, picking up the needle-like blade and using it, as she had seen Atala do, to extract the last very sweet flesh from the tail of some type of crustacean. After popping the meat she had skewered into her mouth she pointed the end of the blade at him. "There are so many sharp things on this table."
"I am quite impressed with your dining skills, actually." Atala said. Shepard gave her an appreciative smile. "But I have to ask if you think we are trying to poison you? I can't help but notice you only eat something after one of us has." She added with a knowing smile, the spy missing absolutely nothing.
Shepard fingered a blade. Then shot Atala a quick look. "Am I doing ok?"
Atala grinned. "Very well."
"You think your father noticed?"
"Absolutely not." She said. "And I won't expose you if you back me up on the carachi and the white wine."
"Really, Atala?" said Garrus disparagingly.
"Hey!" She snapped, "Give me a break! I didn't get a galaxy renowned super Spectre to come to dinner with me, I need something here!" She looked pleadingly at Shepard. "I'll throw in some embarrassing training stories from when he was in boot camp."
Garrus rolled his eyes at his sister and stabbed another piece of meat. "You don't know embarrassing stories about me in boot camp, you were there a year after me."
Atala grinned wickedly. "Oh brother dear," she said. "I run Bloodhound, I know everything." She eyed Shepard again, "I'll give you a sample; this genius managed to make the wrong end of a gun fire."
"You've got a deal." Shepard said instantly, holding her hand out across the table. Atala grinned and clasped it.
"Excellent!" Said Atala. She pointed to a still unsampled plate of meat. "The carachi is this one here, and you carve it with this, and remove the little bones with this!" she added, gesturing to two of the smaller knives in the set above Shepard's plate.
"Great," Garrus muttered, pouring himself a large glass of the white wine. "I survive the Reapers so that you two can be the death of me."
"Speaking of the Reapers," Atala said. "I'm surprised you don't have more scars." Her eyes roved his face. "The one by your mandible is pretty impressive, but you clearly got that before the war. Everything else just looks like cuts and bruises."
"You should see my armor." he said, eyes gleaming with the challenge.
Atala snorted, "Yeah, but that's what armor's for. If it's not scraped to hell you can tell someone's been taking too much shore leave."
Garrus chuckled, "You've never been on shore leave with Shepard."
"Hey!" Shepard snapped.
"You and Dad should be downright honored that I didn't come to dinner in armor." He cocked his head at Shepard, "Being out of armor for an extended period of time around this one usually ends badly. Trust me. I have plenty of new scars."
"Yeah?" crooned Atala. "But are they like this?" The spy slid down in her chair and propped her leg up on the table. With a few deft movements she unstrapped the supportive brace that encircled her leg from mid-thigh to several inches below her knee. She then ran a talon down the fabric of the pants she wore, similar to Shepard's own, and pushed back the fabric, exposing her knee. The carapace on that area of her leg was a deep blue instead of the silver grey of the rest of her. A dark jagged black line of scabbed carapace ran from just below the knee, over and across it, and several inches up her thigh. It was easily over a foot long and spider webbing lines of black crept out from the main body of the wound.
Shepard saw a brief expression of panic cross Garrus' face. It was gone a moment later and he raised an eyebrow at his sister.
"That's not a scar," he drawled. "That's a very, very large scab."
Atala glared at him. "Oh excuse me, Officer Scarface of the Citadel Scar Police," she said hotly. "You know as well as I do the scar will basically look the same." She grinned. "Got anything as bad as that?"
Shepard took a gulp of wine, thinking of the area on his carapace that looked worse. The area that she had accidentally blasted away while trying to get him out from under the rubble on the Citadel. He had worse. And it had kind of been her fault. Chakwas had told her that the salarian doctors had resorted to using miniature mass effect fields to maintain the pressure in his abdomen while they crafted a synthetic support for new carapace growth.
"Dad said you broke your leg?" Garrus said slowly.
"Well… I did… under a slab of concrete that got blasted into me by a building on the wrong end of a Reaper's cannon." She said. "I've had worse." She lied with a shrug.
"Well." Garrus, still trying to hide his genuine concern. "I do actually have worse, but I'm not interested in getting more of them by having Dad flay me alive for disrobing at the table."
"Commander," Atala said, turning to Shepard. "There's a human insult I heard that I'm trying to remember. It has something to do with a bird that has a very universal flavor; do you know that one?"
Shepard snorted into her wine. "Yes," She said, clearing her throat. "It's easy, you just say 'chicken?' and look at them."
"Much appreciated!" Atala smirked at Garrus. "Chicken?"
"You can also add the words 'bok bok bok' if you really want to be a dick." Shepard added. "It references the sound the bird makes."
Atala threw back her head and laughed. Garrus looked at Shepard. "Why are you sharing these things with her exactly?"
"I'm building a relationship with a turian intelligence officer." Shepard said innocently.
"Bok, Bok, Bok!" Atala said enthusiastically, but in a very un-chicken like manner.
Castis appeared in the doorway with another bottle of red wine. "What the hell-" he began, then rubbed his hand across his face. "Spirits give me patience. Solana Atala Vakarian, cover up that monstrosity and get your damn leg off the table!"
Atala jumped in surprise and whisked her leg down off the table, wincing as she did. "Ow, Dad! That hurt!"
"You don't really expect sympathy," Castis said dryly, "when you had that thing out at dinner in front of a guest."
Atala was fumbling under the table as she redid the brace. "I thought the point of the Commander being at family dinner was that she was about to no longer be a guest!"
"Yes." Said Castis, tensely. "But I would have hoped that you were mature and civilized enough to not immediately begin behaving like a junkyard varren in front of someone you met this morning." He let out that long suffering Vakarian sigh. "I can see I was mistaken."
Atala grumbled something under her breath.
"This is what comes from you Kabalim running around for years without any discernible commanding officers." He grumbled. "You're nearly as bad as Justicars. But they at least have manners."
"Hey, I answer to the Primarch and Vietarus." whined Atala.
Castis gave her a long look.
"...usually." She added.
Castis snorted and sat down. He poured himself another glass of wine. While he wasn't looking, his children made eye contact. Garrus subtly pushed four of the five knives to the right of his plate a little further away from the fifth and gave his sister a meaningful raise of his brow. Atala bit her lip.
Shepard served herself some carachi and poured a glass of the white wine into the narrower, second glass set before her for that very purpose.
"Now, Commander." Said Castis. "I have to apologize that our meeting earlier today was so short and rather heated." Garrus shot an appreciative look over Shepard's shoulder toward his father. Castis continued, "So, what exactly do you need to talk with the Council about? And why, after everything you did for the Council races in the war, do you need the Primarch's help?"
Shepard was not ready for this at all. Next to her, Garrus groaned, "So much for this just being family dinner."
Castis and Atala stared at Garrus and Shepard in silence. Shepard's words and what they implied hung in the air. After a moment, Atala got up from the table and began pacing along it. She whirled at Garrus. "Did you hit your head on the Citadel? What… what… are you thinking?" She ran a hand across her forehead. "Are you intentionally jumping from one completely insane thing to another?" She stared at her brother incredulously. "You fell for a human and brought her to Palaven, and now you want to put the Reapers and geth on the Council?"
"The Ascendant." Garrus said firmly.
Atala cackled. "Oh right, sorry we're supposed to call them something different. So we don't hurt their feelings." She walked to the window and stared out at the now dark, ruined city. "This was one of the largest cities in the galaxy." She said, her back to the others at the table. "We were dealing with overcrowding and trying to balance expansion and environmental effects… and now it's empty. It's silent and dark. All because of the Reapers."
"But these aren't the Reapers." Shepard said.
Atala turned and stared at the Commander that she so deeply admired. The Commander who had just shared the details of what transpired on the Citadel. "You sound insane. I believe you, because Garrus was there and I know him, and from the data patterns Bloodhound has gathered it makes sense." She looked out the window again. "But you have to understand that the rest of them don't have that insight. The Reapers were slaughtering us. Then suddenly there was this flash... looked like an enormous EMP went off, and then they were fleeing. Marauders and Brutes seemed lost, and then ran from our troops. Those of us who were still capable pursued them and took down as many as we could before they disappeared through the relays."
Atala looked back at the table, sharing a long look with her father. "I took my Cabal after them. We'd been fighting these things for weeks and never seen them retreat. We didn't know what had them spooked but we weren't going to waste this opportunity. I told the Admirals we were going to take out as many as we could, they would receive a report every time we successfully eliminated a target and we would keep going till the last of my biotics fell. If they lost contact they were not to waste resources on a reconnaissance crew." Castis slowly topped off his wine.
"What the hell were you thinking, Atala?" Garrus said, leaning towards her across the table. "You had a broken leg! There was no way you could walk at that point."
Atala's face was completely calm as she looked at her brother. "I don't need to be able to walk to fly my ship or command my men."
Going to the Collector base had been a suicide mission. Shepard had taken Garrus and her team into the arms of certain death. They had gone in knowing that no one would be able to come get them if things went sideways. They had known that the lives of the rest of her crew depended on them. It had been insanely risky. But what Atala described… that was a different kind of suicide mission. A mission where the best possible outcome was a higher kill count than one's dead soldiers and the hope that it made a difference to those you would never see again.
It wasn't even a quick end. A pursuit like that; Atala likely would have lost ships slowly, one or two at a time. She would have watched the numbers in her Cabal dwindle, likely not stopping to mourn the lost. If she was taken out, her men would cycle through the line of succession, maybe till there was only one of them left? And what was that lone biotic supposed to do against a Reaper or any of the twisted monstrosities it made from the creatures in their galaxy? Shepard figured the only option would be to try and take out as many smaller threats as possible till that last turian was overwhelmed, or try to turn their ship into a bomb and try to take out a Reaper by flying into it.
After getting to know Atala through the evening, and from how well she knew Garrus, she could picture those last moments. See Atala at the helm of her ship, fingers deftly skipping over the controls. Proud crested head with chin uplifted. Those turquoise eyes fixed on her target. The strong tattoo lines of the valiant Clan Vakarian shifting as her face contorted into a snarl as she roared with the rage of every fallen turian and in a blaze of light departed from their world, taking yet another Reaper with her.
'We took down three in the first two days." Atala continued. "Three of the big guys, like the ones that landed in the middle of Palaven and knocked down our buildings like they were stalks of wheat." She picked up a knife from her father's dining set and began fiddling with it absentmindedly. He offered no reprimand. "They were less organized… less aware. The ones we had fought for weeks all across the turian systems were smart. You could never get the jump on them. They always seemed to know where you would be." She laughed. "After I lost a third of my Cabal we drew a map of our system on the floor of my ship's bridge, carved it into six segments and each day rolled a dice to see where we would go and fight."
"That's crazy." Garrus said.
Atala shrugged. "I lost fewer men." She grinned at Shepard. "One of my lieutenants had been doing undercover work on Earth for awhile, and she told us about your own human game, "Russian Roulette" - we thought it sounded brilliant, so we started calling what we did Reaper Roulette. I tried to tell the Admirals that I was pretty sure someone was leaking information to the Reapers, but no one seemed to have the time to hunt down a leak. The whole damn military was just trying to make it to the next day."
"But after the Crucible fired we could finally get the jump on them. They were just as big and deadly when they fired on us or moved those damn huge limbs, but now that they didn't seem to know we were coming we at least had a shot at getting a rocket to the right spot and lighting one of those bastards up."
"The fourth one was smarter. We caught up to it at the edge of our colonies the third morning after we left Earth."
Garrus looked up at her again. "You weren't at Earth." He said. "I was in charge of those fleet assignments. Your Cabal wasn't on the manifest. You hadn't been assigned to that operation."
"Assignments were getting my people killed too quickly." Atala said. Her father let out a long breath and the two of them made tense eye contact for a moment. She directed her next comment to Castis. "I was losing too many people without getting any results." She looked back at Garrus. "When we weren't assigned to assist with the offense on Earth we scribbled out Palaven in the sixth segment of our map and put Earth there instead. It was like the spirits blew on my dice." Castis rubbed the bridge of his nose but Atala was unflinching. "I rolled a six that morning."
Garrus had a haunted look on his face.
"The fourth Reaper took out two ships from my Cabal." Atala continued. "It was nearing another relay and we were angling to try to get between it and it's escape route when we got a call from the Primarch that we were to ceasefire and return to Palaven. I told him there was no way in hell that was happening. That I was not about to let that thing get away." She stood at the window again, looking back at the table. Castis had his back to her and was eating very slowly. "But then they told me they couldn't find Dad." Garrus looked alarmed. "A lot of the leadership had been wiped out and they needed someone they could trust for security. There were no actively serving candidates left alive so they needed to pull him from retirement. They wanted him but no one had any information on where he was. Apparently Vietarus lied to me and said they'd had a signal from Dad earlier which turned to static suddenly. She just thought giving me a scare would make me hunt faster."
Castis shook his head disapprovingly.
"Hey," said Atala, "It worked."
"And you were a wreck when you showed up on that colony, threatening people for information because you hadn't slept in three days."
"It took me a hundred and two hours to find you." She said sternly. "I was working on a tight schedule. If you were pinned somewhere without water I had about a hundred and twenty hours till you croaked. I worked hard and ended up with eighteen hours to spare."
"And, you know," said Castis. "I was shooting down Brutes, not stuck in some pile of debris."
Atala shrugged. "You know what they say, plan for the worst and then have a drink."
Shepard frowned. That certainly was a different version than the one she was used to. "But then you knew the Reapers weren't hostile?"
"No." Atala said. "That information trickled out in the next few days. But hardly anyone believed it. The asari and quarian on your crew were yelling at everyone they could get a hold of, telling them the Reapers were no longer a threat. Most didn't believe them. The asari, T'soni, had an indoctrinated family member and half the time the quarian got bogged down in trying to convince people to believe that the Geth were truly working with the quarians." Atala shook her head. "I didn't believe things had truly changed with the Geth until I saw them first hand."
"A ship from my Cabal went down, some of our strongest people were on it, and survived the crash. Bloodhound's data suggested survival rates in the air were a lot higher than on the ground so we went down to retrieve them. A wave of Husks showed up out of nowhere and had us pinned down for a while, then a quarian cruiser did a fly by and dropped off a bunch of Geth. I thought we were done for sure until the Geth started firing on the Husks instead of us. They stayed on the ground, clearing out the area till the last Geth got hit with a Reaper rocket. My second accused me of taking head trauma when I told her what I'd seen and ordered her to consider any Geth they came across as non-hostile."
Castis turned to Shepard and Garrus: "It was hard enough for us to believe that the Reapers were real and a threat. Minds do not change easily. Most still do not believe that they or the Geth are 'peaceful' - they're more focused on rebuilding and grateful to be thinking of nothing else. The enemy is no longer bearing down on them...and so they have moved on."
"Not to mention," Atala added, "the governments of most systems are in disarray. There are a lot of dead. The Reapers took out most major infrastructure and cities first; lines of communication are scattered. It's still hard to get word out about anything but it was almost impossible in those first few days. The losses for everyone during the Crucible offensive were catastrophic. My team keeps coming across enclaves of people in hiding who don't even know the war is over. It seems like others got the feeling I did, that it wasn't safe to be communicating with anyone unless they were standing right in front of you. They built shelters and went dark. It actually kept some safe in the really hot spots."
It was the same approach the protheans had begun to take. The effort that had preserved only Javik from the harvest in his cycle.
Atala continued, "Most of the leftover large Reapers-"
"Large Ascendent." Shepard said softly but sternly.
Atala snorted. "Most of them have vanished. I have one team out looking for them but they have clearly scattered pretty far. We think they can still communicate with each other somehow. We'll get a report that one is on a planet, and we usually find a few others in the area, but we're not seeing the same kind of numbers as during the war."
"Some are helping with rebuilding on Rannoch." Garrus said.
Atala and Castis looked to him in surprise.
"What?" Atala laughed. "Did the quarian tech experts manage to build them a huge hammer and construction belt so they could lend a laser?
"You can't be serious," said Castis.
"I am," said Garrus. "There are two Destoyer class Ascendent that have taken up residence on Rannoch."
"Residence?!" Atala spat.
Garrus ignored the interruption. His eyes fixed onto his father. "Everyone's seen how strong they are. The quarians have them lifting enormous walls of steel salvaged from damaged ships to build the towers of their new settlement, just like we do with our dreadnaughts. The Geth found a way to communicate with them to organize the effort and they have followed architecture schematics brought to them by Admiral Ra'an."
He looked pleadingly to his father, "You could be doing the same thing here." he said.
"They could bring Prometra back."
"We will bring Prometra back." Atala snapped. "They destroyed our city, there's no way we are going to risk them finishing off the last of us."
Garrus gave her a long look, jaw clenched. "And how are we going to do that? Make ourselves completely vulnerable so that we can use the handful of dreadnaughts left to do the heavy lifting? Have the injured work in shifts so that we at least have a shot at having enough heated, sealed shelters before the snows come in a few months? We have our Primarchs bickering about whether we clear rubble or rebuild because we don't have the time or the manpower to do both before the weather and temperature becomes an issue."
He looked to his father again, saying softly. "I've seen that it works." Castis' expression revealed nothing. He only listened. Garrus pressed. "It's not just the best option, I think it's the only option. And if we offer to support a synthetic seat on the Council we can ask for their help rebuilding in return."
"They shouldn't be on the Council or helping us rebuild." Atala said hotly. "Just because they're not attacking doesn't mean they can be automatically trusted with everything!"
"Maybe." Garrus said, "But maybe we have a unique opportunity here to begin developing a trusted, equally dependant relationship that will stop hostilities from developing down the road!"
"And what?" Pressed Atala. "We're just going to put a handful of Geth on every planet with the Reapers-
"The Ascendent." Garrus said.
Atala ignored him, "-and just trust that they are going to build what we ask them to?"
"In exchange for representation on the Council, maybe!" Said Garrus.
"And just trust that they mean well?" Atala spat now, standing before Garrus' chair and glaring down at him. "No one else can communicate with them!"
"Shepard can." Said Garrus, then froze. That particular piece of information hadn't been disclosed yet. Shepard, her crew and the team on Rannoch had all agreed that it was probably best to keep that to themselves, seeing as the reason Shepard could communicate with them was a lot harder to explain than why asari and Geth could. But now the other Vakarians knew. All turian eyes were on Shepard now.
"I can." She said with forced calm.
"How?" demanded Atala, brow furrowed.
"The people who brought me back the first time," Shepard said, purposely avoiding referencing Cerberus by name in the turian home, "They had to be pretty heavy handed with synthetics in order to do it. It's what let me control the Crucible and override its programming with the help of our AI friend EDI. She stopped the Reaper attack and woke up the Ascendent as much as I did." Shepard added.
Castis was watching Shepard closely. His eyes studying her face and hands.
Shepard looked to Atala. "EDI has fought beside us for a long time. She thinks and feels as you and I do." Her lip twitched. "She has fought with your brother and I for months, covered us no matter what we go into, and was willing to be destroyed by the Crucible because she didn't want the pilot you were threatening today to 'reach non-functionality. She would do anything for Joker, just like Garrus would do anything for you." Atala shifted uncomfortably, her eyes flicking to Garrus. "A synthetic seat on the Council means she has someone to represent her just like you or I do. Ascendent, Geth, AI - they're alive and deserve a voice just like turians, humans and asari." Shepard sighed as she took a moment to stab at a bit of cold meat and take a sip of wine, then continued. "If you ask me and Admiral Ra'an, each race deserves a seat on the Council, as well as a few for the synthetic forms of life. But she pointed out that it would be too much change too fast. The Reapers appeared in the first place because there kept being conflicts between synthetic and organic life, and that conflict is the biggest threat to all races. Giving the synthetics a seat at the table is our best chance of keeping this peace." Her green eyes met Atala's turquoise ones. "Of making sure those people who followed you to hunt down the Reapers didn't die for nothing."
Atala swallowed hard, snatched her wine glass off the table and crossed back to the window. She leaned against an elegant column that stood before them, staring out into the dark and stars.
Shepard turned to Castis. "I'm a human. I'm a Spectre. I died and got put back together by mass murderers. I have a very… unorthodox service record." Castis snorted. "But I'm also honest and realistic. I know that the Council won't listen to me. But they might listen to one of their own."
"Dad," said Garrus, leaning forward in his seat, "I've been with Shepard through all of this since the beginning. I was asked to pick and choose which of our fleets would be wiped out to give others a chance. I've seen children safe in the company of Geth and the Ascendent. Please bring this to the Primarch." He took a deep breath. "I know you and Victus go back quite a ways. We were there on Tuchanka when his son sacrificed himself so the krogan would come to Palaven's aid." Garrus smiled softly, "Somehow your idiot children made it out in one piece." He ran a hand over his scarred mandible and glanced to where Atala still stood with her back to them. He grinned slightly. "Well, almost one piece." He looked to his father again. "You owe it to Adrien to bring this to him. To make sure his son didn't die in vain."
The look Castis had been giving his son became disapproving at these last words.
In the silence Shepard took a bite of the carachi and a sip of the white wine.
"I'm not a very good turian." Garrus sighed. His father frowned and his sister snorted from the window. Garrus shrugged. "I'm not." he said. "And frankly neither are you." he said to his sister. She made a rude hand gesture over her shoulder at him. "If orders are bad there is no way I am going to follow them. If an idea is bad I'm not going to stay silent." He looked to his father again. "I've served under Shepard on the Normandy in a very un-turian like fashion. If something is a bad idea I tell her or I don't follow it." His eyes gleamed. "Her ideas are usually stupid, almost always dangerous, but on her ship the best idea wins. No matter who brought it to her. She is a great leader. One I would be proud to follow regardless of what form our relationship took. And others sense it too. Asari listen to her, a freakin' prothean takes orders from her; hell, even krogan will follow her. They do it because if someone brings her a better idea then that's what she goes with. She listens to them, all of them. It's what makes people look to her to lead them." He bowed his head slowly to his father, "It's what made our Admirals look to you to lead us in rebuilding." Garrus let out a long sigh. "We would never ask if it wasn't vital."
The room was very quiet. The food was going cold and a knife was still missing from Castis' dining set. Shepard wondered if Atala had pocketed it for some reason. The nearly empty wine glasses sparkled in the soft lights of the dining room's chandelier. Shepard could hear the cook cleaning things up in the kitchen. They were no doubt paid a great deal and had pretty high clearance to serve this family in the way they did.
Castis drained the last of his wine and set the empty glass on the table. "The Primarch is on Epios discussing resource allocation." He said slowly. "But you're in luck, he is going to be in Venatura later this week. Your sister and I are heading there tomorrow to make preparations for a Council summit that will take place there in a few weeks."
Garrus looked surprised. "The Council is coming to Palaven, but not to Prometra?"
"The Citadel is still in too much disarray for anyone to try and use it, much less the Council. The salarian engineers aren't even sure if it will be possible to make it habitable again. It's too soon to tell. The Council has been shifting location every few weeks in secret for their safety. All the races are still a little jumpy. Our military might be decimated, but Palaven is still likely the most secure option for them to have a lengthy summit. But Prometra isn't in any shape to house them."
Atala turned from the window at last and said, "The Reapers took no interest in Venatura. It's old, but it's one of the safer places in the wake of the war." She gave Garrus a slight smile and Shepard saw a strangely wistful look cross his face.
"You two should come home with us." Castis said softly. "And I will think about what you've asked."
Garrus looked to Shepard. "We would be honored." She said.
"Good." Castis replied, rising from his seat. "Atala, Garrus, take these plates into Maximus and give him a hand cleaning up. I need a word with the Commander."
Garrus frowned and opened his mouth to say something but Castis cut him off.
"Alone."
Shepard followed Castis into a room that he must be using as a personal study. It was as elegant as the rest of the apartment but she noticed that he had hung a slightly burned and scraped C-Sec logo on the wall.
Castis caught her eyeing it and said, "I found that digging through the crater of ash where our home used to be. I'm sure Garrus would find it deeply ironic that it's all that seemed to be left."
"I am so sorry that you lost your home. " Shepard said softly.
Castis shrugged. "My family survived. I'm a lot luckier than most, so I don't have anything to complain about."
Shepard placed her hands behind her back and squared her shoulders. "I am deeply honored by your invitation to stay with your family until the Primarch arrives." Shepard said.
"I actually wanted to ask you a few questions about that." Castis said, looking out the windows of his office for a moment.
"Of course." Shepard said. "Asking the tough questions is your job."
Castis raised his eyebrows at her. "A shrewd response."
Shepard met his gaze calmly, relaxing her posture. "I meant it genuinely."
Castis skimmed through something on a holo screen on his desk. "You made a great sacrifice for all of us in the Reaper war… it changed all of us." He crossed to his desk to stand in front of Shepard. "However, if you are going to be staying in our home… and continuing to spend time with my son…" he tapped something on the screen and some of the data he had been looking through was projected in a larger fashion for both of them to see. A full body scan of Shepard. The strands running through her body, blazing in the blue light of the hologram, hung in the air before her with a column of shifting vital information. "You are going to have to tell me what the hell you are."
