"Nothing stands against us." The insect-like drone spoke in a forebodingly calm voice despite the bright orange omni-blade pushed deep into its chest.
"Yeah? Well seems like I've been doing a pretty good job of it so far you fucking bastard!" Shepard yanked the blade out of the Harbinger's chest, sending the black goo that was the Collector's blood splashing across her armor.
"This form's pain is irrelevant, I am limitless," the creature gurgled, then finally stilled.
She leapt up, and took two rounds to the back that dropped her shields. The report of a rifle drowned out the beeping of her personal shield generator, and she looked up just in time to see her assailant go down with only half a head. When she turned towards Garrus she couldn't see the smug look on his face due to his helmet - but she could feel it.
Movement behind the turian caught her eye - there was a husk making for Thane's position. Shepard jumped onto a platform railing and arced blue across the open chasm, slamming into the zombied human and sending it spiraling off into the abyss.
Garrus came on the com. "More hostiles incoming."
Two more saucers came from behind the Reaper embryo and attached to the rest of the platforms around the mainframe console, offloading more drones and a few scions.
"Motherfucker, all I wanted to do was set some charges. You'd think they'd be kind enough to let me," she mumbled into her mic.
"There! The blast shielding pulled away!" Thane rumbled. All three of them yanked their weapon sights up to the tubes suspending the Human-Reaper hybrid and the last three tubes burst with a satisfying shatter in tandem. Metallic debris screeched and groaned as it tore free from the monster's body, raining down into the darkness below the platforms.
The Reaper swayed ominously, and Shepard realized immediately that the saucers nearest would be going down with it. "Move, move! Get to the rear!" She dashed in a blue streak across the gap to the next platform, not taking even a second to look back as more metal tore away from the Reaper. The crash that followed was deafening: the enormous creature broke free from its ceiling tethers and smashed through many of the platforms as it fell, taking out a multitude of drones and scions. She let out a whoop as it disappeared from sight, the cacophony of its descent continuing well past its departure from their field of view.
"Okay Garrus, see if you can get that panel open." Shepard spun towards the console and he was already there, typing. She pulled the hardshell off her back and popped it open to ready the ordinance. "Shepard to ground team, status report."
The com clicked on with Miranda's accented voice. "We're holding our own for the moment Shepard, but they're endless! We're wearing thin." The sound of gunfire around her nearly drowned her out.
"Get them the hell out of there Miri, back to the Normandy. Joker ready the engines, I'm about to blow this place into the next dimension." A handle popped up from the floor. She knelt and pulled up the computer core for the main console from the decking.
"Roger that. And uh, Commander, we've got an incoming transmission from the Illusive Man. Patching it through," Joker answered.
She rolled her eyes and began packing tubes of explosive putty into the core, blatantly ignoring the call light on her omni-tool.
Thane flicked his own tool on and a grainy, distorted holo of Tim greeted them. "Shepard, you've done the impossible," he said.
"Not quite yet I haven't. Save that for the after party." She pulled up her tool interface to synchronize the igniters.
"Wait! I've got a better option." The holo stuttered.
"Of course," she muttered, shaking her head.
"I've been looking at EDI's schematics of the station, and a timed radiation pulse would kill the remaining Collectors and leave the technology intact." Tim raised a fist. "This is our chance, Shepard. That knowledge, that framework could be our salvation against the Reapers."
"And how's that exactly? Build our own Reaper?" She spun to confront his image. "Are you fucking insane? You can't control them."
"Don't be short sighted, you can't know all the outcomes. Our best chance against the Reapers is to turn their own resources against them!" he insisted. "Who knows how much information is buried there, that base is a gift!"
"This base is nothing but indoctrination and destruction, and if you intend on building a Reaper you become no better than the Collectors - a slave doing their bidding." She bent back to continue mashing the explosives into the core.
"Shepard! Don't throw this away. I didn't throw you away, because I knew your value, and look what you've accomplished!" Desperation leaked into his words. "Miranda, don't let Shepard do this!"
The operative came back over the com. "Or what? You'll replace me?"
"I gave you an order!" he bellowed.
"I noticed. Consider this my resignation." Her XO cut the channel.
Tim growled in indignation. "SHEPARD! Think about what's at stake! What Cerberus has done for you-" Thane clicked his tool closed mid-sentence.
"Oh for the love of god, thank you Thane." Shepard shook her head and resumed her task.
Her chest swelled with pride at Miranda's sudden growth. Never had she thought she'd live to see a day where she liked the woman. Though, the Commander idly wondered how many of Tim's personal calls the XO had been CC'd on as she twisted together the wiring for the detonator.
Shepard plugged in the timer and set it. "You ready over there Garrus?"
He inclined his head. "The reactor is right below us, I've set it to overclock and removed the safety parameters."
"Perfect, and with one baby Reaper laying on top of it, the fireworks should be real nice." She pushed the core back down into its slot and fiddled with her tool's interface. "Armed. We've got ten minutes, let's hotfoot it boys."
Shepard took exactly two steps before the saucer suddenly rocked hard sideways, making the three teammates stumble. A gargantuan hand reached up over their heads and slammed down on the platform, searching for purchase as it screeched along and tipped the surface. Metallic fingers clasped the lip of a platform and hauled the massive skull of the Reaper into view.
"Hoooooooly shit!" she choked out as the creature moved its other hand to a platform to their right. It opened its jaw and let out a thundering, digitized bellow. Magnified tenfold in the comparatively small space of the cavern - the sound shorted the dampers in her speakers, static filling her helmet.
Its hand reared back - quite slowly thanks to its size - and the three humanoids each had time to leap to safety on adjoining platforms before it came down. The Reaper's hefty paw tore through the saucer they'd been on like paper, dragging it out of view, a distant sound of crashing metal as it fell. She and Thane wound up on the same platform but Garrus was separated across the chasm.
Shepard yanked her useless helmet off and tossed it aside so that she could hear, then pulled her rifle from her back. She spared a quick glance across the divide at the turian who was mirroring her actions before letting a whole clip rip into the glowing core at the abominations chest, Thane's SMG screaming along as well. A well-placed shot from Garrus blew out its left optic, sending a shower of sparks across her and the assassin. The Reaper wailed and revolved its head towards the sniper.
The Commander dropped her assault rifle and dove to a knee, ripping the Cain from her back. The end petals of the weapon opened to reveal its warhead just as the monstrosity opened its mouth again. A pulsing red glow flickered to life in its throat, a sound like something rotating faster and faster accompanying it. The air pressure changed dramatically, causing her ears to pop.
It had a beam weapon.
"Shit shit shit!" Shepard whispered, willing the Cain to arm faster.
But the Reaper fired first. The light from the beam was blinding in the darkness of the cavern, churning the air like a vortex and sending her hair whipping around her. She blinked rapidly, desperately trying to clear the line from her vision. The platform Garrus was on split clean in two, arcing a second bright explosion as the beam tore through its mass core which sent shrapnel bouncing off of her and Thane's shields. Her eyes darted wildly, searching for Garrus's form.
The Cain beeped that it was ready and familiar heavy bootfalls trod up behind her. The Commander's lips stretched into a grin.
"Hey, you figured out how to duck! That's a pay raise as far as I'm concerned."
"I'll be taking you up on that offer," her sniper's flanging voice answered back.
Shepard barked a laugh. "Well, get ready to do it again!"
The Reaper turned back towards them as the Cain locked onto its chest - perfect. She pulled the trigger and let the warhead fly. She had just enough time to curl into a ball and clamp her palms around her ears before it detonated, the heat from the explosion licking at her face and hands. The blast was deafening, and the creature let out an equally loud screech as it was blown backwards, sending metal spraying from its chest and hissing across the saucers. It lost its hold on the platforms and grasped uselessly as its weight shifted, tipping them this way and that, sending Commander and team careening across the surfaces.
Thane successfully jumped to another and turned, watching in horror as the previous platform went nearly vertical. Shepard was close enough to snatch the lip, but Garrus slid freely, both his gauntlets ground along the smooth metal as he tried to arrest his plummet.
"Garrus!" Shepard yelled and threw herself after him, rocketing across the floor of the disc.
They struggled to grab each other's hands as they slid. She spun and stabbed her omni-blade into the plating, sparks flying as she muscled it deeper with her shoulder and stretched her other hand to the turian. It was too many hair raising milliseconds, but their fingertips connected and she was able to get a solid grip around his wrist. She sucked in a breath as Garrus shot out over the void - this was going to hurt.
The omni-blade held, and Garrus's full armored weight yanked her shoulder from its socket as he dropped. Shepard let out a wail of pain, barely audible over the collapsing metal of the platforms as the Reaper dragged them all down with it.
"Thane," she called, her voice strained.
The saucer tipped back up as the creature slid out of view, and the assassin darted forward, and together they were able to haul the turian up. A secondary explosion detonated somewhere below them, the pressure from the blast washing hot over the three and detaching the few remaining saucers from the control panel structure. The platform they were on wobbled and dropped a foot as the mass core spluttered, and Shepard craned to see if the console with the explosives was still intact - it was there. Her sigh of relief was cut short as a vast hunk of sheared-off disc hurtled into them.
"-der!"
The N7 dragged heavy eyelids open. The image of the plate spinning toward her was fresh in her mind, causing her body to tense. Shepard tried to focus her vision. A long dark object... there was a beam on top of her. She tried to lift her right arm, but a bolt of pain shot through her neck and side that dragged a yelp from her throat. Oh, right. She grit her teeth and was able to get leverage with her left side to shimmy out from under the chunk of metal.
"Come on Shepard! Don't do this, don't leave me hanging!" Joker's distressed voice stuttered through her ear piece.
She swallowed and tried to reply, but coughed uselessly. "Joker, I copy. Did the ground team make it?"
"Yes, all survivors on board, just waiting on you. Ping us from your suit, I'm coming to get you!" He sounded frantic.
The timer. She must have only been out for a few seconds or minutes.
Her brain was slowly bringing back details from before her blackout. Shepard spun around. She was still on the platform, which had miraculously lodged itself into the side of a corridor wall.
Thane!
In the darkness she could barely see his black leathered leg sticking out from a pile of twisted debris a foot from her. The Commander bent to lift the detritus off of him. He was laying face down, unmoving. Her gut twisted painfully. Fuck. She grabbed his shoulder, turned him over and pulled his face mask off. Thane blinked up at her, dragging in rasping breaths. Alive! She pulled him to standing with a wide grin plastered to her face. Her eyes darted about as she quickly set the signal from her suit. A glint off his armor caught her eye first.
Thank whatever spirits he was always talking about.
He was there on the platform with them, just barely - one side of Garrus's body was hanging off the edge. As she rushed to him he rolled from the ledge and pushed himself to his hands and knees with a groan, tearing his helmet off. There was a great gash down the side of it that spidered out completely over the visor and a matching smear of azure blood across the already damaged side of his face and foreplates.
Damn. Shepard offered her left hand this time. "Alright boys, last one to the Normandy has to go to a Hanar poetry reading," she croaked as she dragged Garrus upright.
"It's actually, quite good you know," Thane rasped.
She took off at a sprint. "Fine, an all-elcor stage play!"
Her energy reserves were absolutely drained, but she felt light, giddy - alive. All three of them were! The absence of the weight of the Cain and the assault rifle she'd lost to the abyss helped the light feeling as well, but, they lived!
A round bounced off her shields as she ran, instantly smothering her elation. They tore past three drones who immediately pursued. The Commander slowed, trying to decide if she should take the time to gun them down.
"Come on!" Garrus darted by her, followed closely by Thane.
Right. Shepard sprinted to rejoin them.
A scion shambled out of a side corridor right in front of them, and both snipers split around either side of it. It turned to engage, and Shepard gathered the last little bit of biotic power she could to half-heartedly throw herself at it with a frustrated yell. She raised her omni-blade and tore open the hump on its back, coating herself in its nasty goo - again. Shepard gagged at the smell, rounds bouncing off her shields as she ran after the snipers.
They dashed up a long winding corridor, and across a large open room she could see the black hole through a massive breach in the side of the station. She was losing steam, but then the Normandy came into view, swooping in close to the breach - they'd have to launch themselves through the station barrier and vacuum.
The airlock on the SR2 opened, revealing a suited soldier with a familiar bend to his spine, armed with the assault rifle he kept under his seat. He slammed a heat sink in and fired over their heads; their pursuers must be close.
All her energy and focus was on the airlock, every cell and neuron longing for the other side of that door. Home.
Garrus was the first one in, leaping gracefully off a half mangled beam jutting out from the ruptured flooring of the room, and Thane was only seconds behind him, bouncing off the interior bulkhead as he landed. They both turned towards her.
"Commander!" Joker bellowed.
I know.
Her legs burned, the injured knee protesting painfully, her chest heaving. Everything they'd been through here seemed to weigh her down, pulling her back. Slowing her progress. Garrus tore his assault rifle off his back and fired off two rounds into something behind her. A drone screeched. She was almost there.
The station rumbled under her feet. Shit, they were out of time. A chunk of the Collector base broke free above the ship and came crashing down through the plate Garrus had used as a launch point.
No.
The gap was that much bigger now. She steeled herself and exhaled hard - pushing all the air from her lungs and leaping as hard as she could, straining and praying for one last biotic charge -
That didn't come.
Her ribs impacted the lip of the airlock door, and she clutched desperately to the smooth flooring as the ship tipped away from the base.
But Garrus was there, as always.
He reached down and grasped both of her forearms. Her injured shoulder twisted painfully and it was all she could do to keep her mouth closed as he pulled her into his chest. The airlock sealed and sweet oxygen hissed loudly into the decon chamber as Joker hit the controls to cycle the inner door open into the cockpit. Shepard and Garrus both gasped in heavy lung fulls.
EDI's orb lit up by the pilot's chair. "Ignition of station core in 9, 8, 7-"
"Yeah I get the gist of it EDI, hang on!" Joker ripped the helmet from his head and threw himself at the ship controls, pulling the Normandy hard away from the station.
Shepard, Garrus, and Thane staggered into the cockpit as they were whirled faster than the dampeners could handle. The engines screamed, vibrating the deck as they hurtled back through the debris field and towards the relay. The only indication of the base's destruction were warning alarms on Joker's console alerting him of the blast shockwave.
"Course plotted," the AI sounded harried - she was doing the work of many crewmen at this point.
The shockwave crashed into the ship, setting off more alarms and pushing them off course. The relay swung out of sight.
"Shit," the pilot whispered under his breath. Shepard watched a bead of sweat roll into his collar as she clutched the back of his chair with her good arm, the ship bucking and vibrating in the wake of the blast. Joker managed to pull them back straight for a moment, and the relay hung heavy in view for only a second before the stars turned into lines. It hadn't been a perfect trajectory, so the ride was rough, but she couldn't remember a time where the gut flip flop of warp was so reassuring.
And just like that, the accretion disk and black hole were gone, replaced by the reassuring sight of Omega in the distance and the warm glow of the system's sun. The four of them gaped in silence at lovely, safe, empty space.
They'd done it.
"I never ever thought I'd be happy to see Omega," Garrus muttered.
He broke the spell of wonder and Shepard laughed loudly. A muffled cheer constructed of many voices went up somewhere below deck - created by a lot of ecstatically alive crewmen, no doubt.
Joker leaned his chair back and buried both hands in his hair. He still looked utterly shocked, eyes wide and mouth ajar.
"The damsel in distress was rescued by the big strapping hero, as usual," she breathed, then smiled and bent to plant a kiss on the pilot's stubbled cheek. His shock was such that he accepted it, instead of recoiling with his usual "Gross, commander." gusto.
Shepard turned and grabbed Garrus's collar, pulling him down to wrap her arm around his neck. "Thank you," she whispered into the hide below his ear canal. She pulled back before he had a chance to say anything.
"And now, the great Commander Shepard - destroyer of Collectors - is going to sleep. When I wake up we make for Omega."
Garrus snapped awake. He'd heard a noise, he was sure of it. He held his breath and lifted onto his elbows in his cot to peer into the darkness of the main battery. Everything seemed quiet… ah, a padding footfall. Shepard's familiar form rounded the Thannix.
He let out the breath. "Spirits, Shepard. You're supposed to be sleeping, not sneaking around your gunnery officer's quarters." He flicked his tool open and glanced at it. "You've only been asleep two hours," he grumbled.
"Hey, you're the one leaving your door unlocked. Besides, captains don't sneak on their own ships." Her bare-footed steps were impressively muted. Maybe he could see how they became the top pyjacks on their planet. If he squinted just so.
Garrus stretched and sat up, one arm propped on his knee. She was in her usual shorts and tank top, with a compression wrap around her shoulder, and a lattice-printed brace adorned her knee. She had left her fringe down, a rare circumstance - the long strands draped across her shoulders and chest. It made her look different somehow, softer? She stopped just outside his cot area, shifting her weight subtly from foot to foot, hands clasping her elbows.
He sighed. "What's wrong?"
"I… couldn't sleep," she mumbled.
He searched her face. Her brow was furrowed - but not in her usual, I'm-pissed-off way. Something seemed odd here, out of character. "Oh, so you decided to make sure I couldn't either?"
"Ha, yeah something like that." Her face hardened and she looked away from him.
That answer sounded too strained - it was a poor rendition of their typical banter. Garrus rubbed a palm over his foreplates. Not time for their usual then, his mistake. He lifted the knitted blanket off of his lap and held it open, inviting her to him. She hesitated for a few moments, then stepped forward.
Garrus got the distinct impression that, every now and then, Shepard was like a skittish wild
so'vak he was trying to tame. The Commander placed a knee on the cot and folded impressively small to settle between his legs and curl into his chest.
She also occasionally seemed more liquid than solid.
He folded the blanket around them, pulling her in close. "I'm sorry. You know I'll keep you company anytime you'd like," he rumbled into the top of her head.
"Mm, not anytime you know. Not when you're draining the axles on the mako, or when you're calibrating, or when you're cleaning your rifle-" her voice was muffled where her face was pressed into his carapace.
He chuckled. "A man's rifle time is sacred. And whoever breaks the mako doesn't get to interrupt its repairs."
She huffed a breathy laugh that caused his insides to clench. Silence passed between them as they sat.
"Hey, can you do that calming thing again?" She spoke so quietly his translator garbled part of the request. He was taken a bit aback as he looked down at her. He'd been consciously controlling his sub-vocals since Aratoht.
"Sorry. I know I snapped at you about it in the med bay, but… I just. Hm," she paused, wriggling around to drape a leg over his. "It works a bit too well, you know?"
Oh. Oh. Her small face and green eyes were turned up towards him, expectant. This… this was cute.
Garrus struggled to swallow down the uncomfortable swelling that had caused in his keel. He scooched them down the cot a bit and turned them over to tuck her in between himself and the bulkhead. "Of course. But only if you try to get some sleep."
Shepard settled her head on his arm and draped her own across his side. His sub-vocals vibrated through them both, as he scraped talons idly down her spine. They laid still, the dull hum of himself and the Thannix the only sounds in the battery.
He blinked down at her. She was so dramatically diminutive in the rare moments her ego and armor were stripped away, when just hours ago she'd grabbed all seven feet of him straight out of death's gaping maw with nothing but those little arms.
Garrus trailed fingers over the compression bandage at her shoulder. "You saved me, Shepard," he murmured into her fringe.
She yawned, her voice lethargic. "Mmm. If you think I'm gonna let my best sniper join a baby Reaper in the abyss, you've got another thing coming, Vakarian."
"You've saved me more than just then. Saved me from a life of impotency on the Citadel, then literally on Virmire, on Noveria, on Omega..." he trailed off.
Her breathing had slowed and deepened and the peaceful look on her face was so unusual that the image was sure to be burned into his memory forever.
The scent of flowers was the first sign that he was back among the world of the conscious. Garrus inhaled deeply- the smell rattled something inside of him. A memory? Something moved under his arm. He tensed, ready to leap into action before his brain finally decided to kick in. She was still here. The smell of whatever Shepard used to bathe filled the room.
He opened bleary eyes and she was there, still tucked neatly under his arm, eyes closed. He had the feeling he had dreamed this before, sometime long past maybe. Her eyebrows drew together slightly.
"What is that smell you put in your fringe?" he rumbled, more of an enunciation in his chest than actual words.
"Shh, I'm not awake, I'm not here." She brought a finger up to her mouth but didn't open her eyes. A beat of silence passed. "You're probably smelling my shampoo. I'm not really sure what it is. Liara's been buying it for me since she found out I used two-in-one and got offended."
That answer mystified him. Two-in-one? Shampoo? "Why would Liara be offended about anything with your fringe? She doesn't even have fringe like yours."
She shrugged. "See, I said the same thing."
He raised his good mandible. "Did you sleep?"
Shepard craned her neck to look up at him. Whatever emotion was there wasn't discernible to him, but he knew he hadn't seen her show it before. Her eyes bounced back and forth between his for a beat. "Yeah, I did. Apparently all this time I just needed a gigantic vibrating bed warmer."
Garrus snorted. "As long as that doesn't become my official title around here, I'm fine with that."
"Nah, Archangel is a way cooler title. Aria might even give me street cred if I told her Archangel is my vibrating bed warmer," she huffed with quiet laugh.
He pulled her in closer, wrapping a leg over hers. "Mmm. Few problems with that. One, you assume she doesn't already know. And two, Aria doesn't give street cred."
Her omni-tool pinged quietly. "Shhh shh! Shit, see? We were talking too loud." She buried her face back into his arm. "Go back to sleep, I'm still asleep."
"Shepard, there's no way even I could hear us whispering outside the battery door."
She sighed. "I'm not ready to wake up yet. If I get up, reality resumes. I get put in prison, the Reapers come, and everyone dies, Garrus. I'd rather stay in a victorious dream."
His throat constricted. What could he say to that? There was no lie sweet enough to mask their reality, not even for a moment. He carded fingers gently through her fringe as his sub-vocals hummed. He bent to touch his head to her temple, nuzzling slightly. "So we stay inside the dream a bit longer," his voice resonated through her chest.
The Commander exhaled contentedly and threaded her arms around his neck. "That's what I like most about you Garrus. You don't feed me platitudes, you see how it is and roll with it."
She tilted her chin back, absolutely relaxed and trusting, a coy look in her eye. Even just that small gesture sent warmth down his spine and into his groin, every muscle tensing along the way.
Garrus leaned over her, his long neck curved to nip mouth plates and tongue tip along every tantalizing inch of throat. He wondered, as he moved, if she knew how much her mumbles and hums of pleasure resembled turian sounds. "Mm, because I don't see any point in that. But I could stand to hear more about what you like about me."
Shepard wrapped a leg around his ass to pull him into her, which set off the deep growling sub-vocals she so enjoyed. "The recent discovery of this noise is pretty high on my list." Small finger pads trailed up his neck plates, wandering teasingly under his fringe.
Her sniper's breathing ramped up audibly and he hooked a hand behind her knee to grind them together deliciously; slowly. "Shepard," he groaned into her neck. "I don't want to hurt you." He skirted the brace on her knee with a finger.
"All the shitty ways I've gotten hurt and this'll be the only fun one. Come on Garrus," she sighed.
He pulled back to look at her. "If I re-injure you, Dr. Chakwas will have my head removed to display in a specimen jar on her desk."
Shepard smirked. "Karen? Nah, she's been rawed by a turian before, she wouldn't even bat an eye."
Garrus propped himself above her, eyes wide. "What?!" He spluttered a garbled sentence after that that her translator mangled.
The soldier laughed. "I know what you're asking, and the answer is go ask her yourself - it's her story to tell, not mine. Now, get back down here and finish what you started Vakarian."
Aria was standing at the end of the dock before the airlock even cycled open, clad in her typical strappy, black skintex and a black leather jacket. Shepard braced herself and tried to dig up her best bartering voice, but she didn't even get the chance to use it.
"Well well, the galaxy's most popular resident survived the Omega Relay." Aria spat with her usual contention as soon as Shepard was within earshot. "I'd like to say I'm shocked, but, you know I'm really not. That would have made my life way too easy. I'm sure if you'd had any real inkling what was going on around here, you would have made sure to let the relay kill you, hm?"
The burst of emails she'd received within hours of being back had given her many inklings. She'd skimmed and mostly ignored both Kaiden and Sparatus's particularly insulting ones, but Liara's and Anderson's had been eye opening. They'd only been on the other side about 36ish hours - in total it had been about five days since Aratoht, and things were already progressing into full on shitshow by the sound of it.
Garrus and Tali were standing right behind her on the ramp, with half the rest of the ground team behind them.
She chewed her lip for a moment then turned to address them. "Jacob, Zaeed, and Jack, go with Tali to the junk dealers. Stay tight, no talking to strangers, kids. Miranda, Grunt, you're going to need to stay on the ship after all."
The latter of the two furrowed his wide brow. "But - you said noodles Shepard! Real ones!" he exclaimed.
"I know buddy. I'm sorry, I underestimated how quickly people would want to fuck me in the ass with no lube."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Charming."
Jack barked a laugh. "Yeah and with no dinner either. What is this galaxy coming to," she called over her shoulder as she and the men trailed Tali down the ramp.
The Pirate Queen crossed her arms over her ample chest and waited for the Commander's people to disappear into the dock crowds before resuming. "So you do know how bad it is. You're stupider than I thought. You should have died in there, it would have been way easier for all of us."
Shepard felt Garrus bristle and heard him growl, but didn't know what move he made behind her to make Aria step into her personal space and reach over her shoulder to stick a finger in his face. "Spare me your holy bullshit, Archangel, unless you think you can kill every politician and news reporter on the Citadel - oh, and every ranking Alliance official while you're at it."
Her usual entourage of Bray the batarian and whatever turian goons of the hour were shifting their hands on their weapons.
The N7 stuck both hands up between them before Garrus could retort. "Look, I don't disagree, but despite my best efforts I lived. You and I both know the Collectors were a problem for you too, and you being here is your version of being thankful for what I've done for you. I get it. Let's cut the bullshit and get into it. What happened exactly?"
The asari snorted. "What hasn't happened? I've had Alliance on the station, and I've had not one but two fucking Spectres here, Shepard. And I won't even bother mentioning the amount of poorly-camouflaged Cerberus that's been sniffing around. Who haven't you pissed off? Should I be expecting krogan warlords?"
"Nah, I made those ones happy. Which Spectres?"
Aria sighed. "One I haven't seen before, Kaevus something. And fucking Jondam Bau."
Garrus stepped up next to her. "I know Kaevus, he was in training when I was. Damn talented soldier, but hard though. That's what happens when you're in the Fire Brigade."
Shepard nodded. "And Jondam?"
"Not half as smart as Solus," Aria continued, "But what he lacks there he makes up for with as much zealous righteousness as Archangel." Her eyes flicked to fix Garrus with a scathing look.
"Shit. Okay." The Commander ran an agitated hand through her ginger locks.
"His description of his target didn't sound much like you honestly, but maybe he's trying not to blow his real cover. Who knows." The asari put her hands on her hips.
Shepard's lips tugged up into a smirk. "Well, sounds like I've had Spectredom thoroughly revoked. A bet's a bet." She dug through a pocket in her bomber jacket and pressed a credit chit into her azure hand.
The Queen mirrored her smile. "Happy to take you for all you're worth anytime, Shepard."
"Your faith in me is truly inspiring, Aria. Now I'm not going to be making trouble for you here, my intention is to get the necessities we need to get our sublight core back up and running and we will be out of your...er… hair tentacles in no time."
The asari rolled her eyes. "Uh huh. You've got four hours and neither of you leaves your ship." She pointed a finger at both Shepard and Garrus.
"Deal." The Commander inclined her chin in thanks before turning to head back to the Normandy.
"Oh, and Shepard?"
"Hm?"
Aria glanced around her and lowered her voice. "I know the value of someone who gets shit done, unlike some people. I've got an identity and some jobs ready for you. It might require a bit of… work-" the asari motioned to her face and her hair "- but just say the word."
Aw, would you just look at this hard ass bitch.
Shepard twitched a grin. "Thanks Aria. I'll shoot you a message if I get interested in plastic surgery and playing merc." She reached out a hand that the pirate actually took. They clasped forearms for a brief moment before Aria turned and stormed off, and she and Garrus walked back up the ramp and through the airlock.
"Wow, record time shopping trip," Joker called as they rounded the airlock into the cockpit.
"Haha. Change of plans, seems we aren't about to be welcomed anywhere we go from here on out." Shepard sighed.
The pilot balked. "So how will we handle repairs? We are limping around here at best."
The Commander crossed her arms. "I sent Tali out for the sublight parts. We've got four hours to install and get out of here."
Jeff leaned forward, resting his head in his hands. "You know, the movies make this whole saving the galaxy thing a lot more glamorous. Where is the party full of booze and asari maidens? We just get ignored, written off as crazy, and court martialed."
EDI's orb popped up. "Humans are not the only ones with a long history of denying change and singling out those who are different. All sentient races have struggled with these issues."
"Yeah, and apparently our time honored traditions of ignoring cold hard facts and evidence are still alive and well too. Fucking bastards," Shepard growled. "Maybe Jack's right, we should just take the Normandy and go pirate."
Garrus grunted. "Please don't ever let her find out you said she was right about something."
"Just say the word Commander. I'd be a devilishly handsome pirate eh? Lookit this beard!" Joker ran a hand through his facial hair.
She leaned forward and rested her head on the arms she had propped on the back of the pilot's chair. "Fuck. FUCK," she breathed. "As much as I'd like to entertain that thought -" she paused. "We need to prepare for my surrender."
Joker lept from the seat. A movement so fast it caught her off guard, considering his disability. "What?! Shepard, no! This is fucking bullshit!"
But Garrus's intake of breath and quieter voice caused her to turn towards him, and their eyes locked. "What did you say?"
"I said, come to Palaven with me," he murmured.
"Garrus-"
"I'm not joking," he interrupted. "We can protect you, I'll speak with my father - if we show all of our information to the Primarch, he'd have to listen-"
"Garrus, I-"
"No! You don't know that it wouldn't work!" he snapped. The cockpit descended into silence. The three of them blinked at one another, all three surprised by his outburst.
Shepard exhaled. "Dammit Garrus. You know as well as I do that the Hierarchy isn't going to harbor a war criminal. Sparatus has personally laughed right in my face, the chances that the Primarch would react any differently to our evidence is slim to none. Even if I didn't consider all of that, I'd be putting your family in danger! You heard Aria - the Council, the Alliance, and Cerberus are all gunning for me now. Look, you're both sweet, really, but we've got to live in reality. EDI, alert the crew of my intentions to surrender. If anyone wants to jump ship while we're on Omega they've got four hours to do it. They can come speak to me if they wish, but there's no questions asked."
With that she spun on her heel and picked her way carefully down the wrecked gangway, leaving both men looking miserably at the floor.
