The last thing he remembered was a strange whizzing sound of a suppressed gunshot, then feeling something hard and metal careening into the side of his head, and then his body hitting the sticky clay.
Usually when those three things line up, it means you're dead.
So...why did I hear thunder afterwards? Everything faded instead of just...immediately going blank...
...If I'm dead...then...why do I have this killer headache?
His eyes flickered.
Then he breathed in to check if he was alive.
That proved to be a mistake as a musty stench filled his nose. Spirits, what is that! I guess I'm alive alright!
The smell caused him to reel his head backwards, which was also a mistake, as both his headache and his shoulders screeched in protest. The pain made him realize his arms were pinned back by something, so he held his breath and tried to free them from whatever thing was on top of them.
The clinking of metal made him realize there was nothing on top of them. In fact, he was actually on his knees, sitting upwards with his head bent forward, and his arms were pulled back and shackled to a far part of a ceiling behind him. He felt bruised and bloodied.
So I'm not in a forest...great...
He kept short breaths so he didn't have to keep smelling whatever air was around him. At the same time, he glanced around to take in his situation. A situation that made him groan.
Let's see, I don't think being kidnapped has been added to my autobiography yet, and I've already faced a galactic apocalypse...I'm going to start needing V.I.'s to keep track of these things...maybe I could get something like Glyph...nah, I wouldn't be able to handle all that floating and talking everywhere I go...anyways, what was I doing?
He peered around, the place he was in was dark and damp. Pipes were barely visible overhead and dust reflected some of the little red light that harshly shone from far away, which of course, was seen behind metal bars.
He squinted to activate his night vision view, his head still gnawing from pain, and that's when he noticed the little visor over his eye was missing, cutting him off from his normal tactical readouts and advantages.
Ugh, dammit. I haven't pulled my videos from that thing yet. These bastards better not have broken it.
The bastards...
Chimera. He fumed. He saw those ships in the sky. No doubt it wasn't anyone or anything else but Chimera.
"And here I am without my sniper," he snarled to himself angrily. Spirits, how did they find us so fast?
"Huugh?" Something groaned in gurgling pain.
He didn't expect such an unsettling response to his statement, let alone one that came from right next to him. But the darkness made it so he couldn't quite make sure of who or what was that made the noise.
It groaned again, a little quieter this time. The chain to Garrus's right arm shook following it, and the chain shook again after he tried to figure out why.
To his observation, and a couple of test tugs, he found the chain to his right arm was only kind of attached to the ceiling. In reality, the chain rose up and went through a tough metal ring and snaked back down into the darkness. Whatever was making the groaning noises was also attached to the same chain as he was.
How much do I wanna bet that it's a rabid varren to keep me scared?
"Jhhn? Grrus?"
Good thing Garrus wasn't in a position to have a real bet.
Tali?!" He hissed in surprise.
"Grrus?" The voice mumbled again. It was warped, a telling sign of his quarian friend. But she sounded tired, sick, and in a lot of pain. Most likely slipping in and out of consciousness.
Spirits! How long have I been out?!
"Tali! Are you okay?" He hissed again, hoping to get a response from her.
But a rising noise of a pair of footsteps echoed behind the bars, interrupting and drowning out any sounds Tali could've made. At the same time, Garrus gasped and instantaneously did his best to stand straight and focus.
"Don't worry, I'm going to get us out of this," he whispered the promise to his hopefully awake friend.
The footsteps grew even louder, and glowing lights could be seen getting closer, causing his mind to numb from the thudding in the back of his skull. Still, he forced himself to look forwards and see just who were the people that kidnapped him and his friends.
The glowing lights were in two pairs, dancing up and down in the dark following each boot strike on the ground, getting ever stronger until they were at the metal bars.
A pause, a sound of clinking metal, and then the bars were thrown open in a loud CRASH that split Garrus's head.
Ugh! Noise is bad, guys!
"Alright, you ready for this, man?" Came a voice from one pair of the footsteps as they entered.
"Yeah, one sec, let me psych myself up for this," came the other, followed by a sound of gibberish and shaking lights. "Alright, I'm ready."
"You're an idiot," the first voice laughed in response.
"Just wake him up, you asshole."
Goons. Garrus simply thought, disappointed.
"With our entrance, I'd be surprised if they aren't already, you dumbass."
The insult was followed by the appearance of another brighter light, one that shined instead of glowed. It blinded Garrus for a few seconds, causing his headache to be absolutely furious.
"Do you mind?!" Garrus spat.
"See, what'd I tell ya?"
"Shut up."
Garrus growled. The new light in the room bounced back, and he could see the goons were humans clad in old Cerberus armor, red and black instead of white and orange. Yup, definitely Chimera, and they're both just as stupid.
"Looks like our bot buddy did quite a number taking this ugly alien bastard down," said the goon with the light.
"Puh-lease," Garrus spat again, "I'm gonna be the handsome one once I get through with you two."
The goon clicked his tongue, "Shame it didn't smash his vocal cords in the process."
"Nah, he was only knocked out," the other goon chimed. "He only looks like that because he was dragged through the dirt...Now, if you want to see what the bot did a real number on...well..."
The soldier grabbed his buddy's arm and moved the light away from Garrus, shining it into the darkness next to him. "Let's just say I'm glad I'm not her."
Garrus was nowhere close to being prepared for what he saw, it nearly made him vomit.
There, in the spotlight, was the Admiral Tali'Zorah, arms held up and apart by chains like Garrus, but her head was bowed down and her legs was sprawled along the sides of her knees. She looked tired, barely clinging to life, and all the while in the most uncomfortable position possible. But that wasn't even the worst part.
Her suit was absolutely shredded, and her mask was terribly fractured. A sloppy fix of electrical tape as well as duct tape was plastered all over both, with the creases in between coated in dried, maroon blood as well as overflowing in fresh, rich blood. Her cloth wrappings were also tattered to being almost unrecognizable, and she was also covered in a thin layer of dust.
And what else, a small, minuscule box with a hilariously tiny tube of medi-gel sat in front of her, just barely out of her reach.
She looked as if only a minimal amount of effort was made to preserve her life. Needless to say, she looked far worse than she did when fighting Reapers.
WHAT IN THE-
"Hnngh?" Tali whined pitifully from the bright light.
"Oh, damn," the soldier with the light stated simply. "Yeah...that's uh...that's pretty bad."
"Yup, got thrown around like a rag doll. Heard some of the tech guys say they saw her get absolutely pummeled by a log while watching the playback."
"Huh," the soldier paused. "So they were too busy to program the...you-know-thingy so we don't have to deal with Mr. Ugly Bastard here, but they weren't too busy to watch her get creamed?"
His buddy sighed, "Guess so."
A pause.
"You said a log?"
"'Straight off a cliff, down a hill and into a river,' one of them said. Had to dispatch a couple o' guys to make sure she didn't float off."
"Wow...and a suit-rat, too? How's she alive?" He wondered aloud as he knelt down to get a better look at her. "W-why...why is she still alive, anyways?"
The friend shrugged, "Boss wants her around, just in case...and I'm actually supposed to grab a uh..."
He leaned over Tali, extending a cold glove and getting a fistful of the cloth wrappings on her head. Garrus was even more horrified when the goon didn't even hold back a little when ripping it straight off her helmet, tearing it and leaving some behind to fall around her legs.
"...This!" The soldier grunted from the effort and sent dust particles everywhere.
Tali cried painfully.
"Yeah, yeah, sweetheart, I know it hurts. Maybe the boss will kill you afterwards."
The soldier then folded up the wrappings and tucked it under his arm. "Alright, let's get Mr. Ugly over here up so we can get this over with," he said to his friend.
"Y'know," the soldier with the light interrupted, "She's a quarian, you think the boss will let us kill her?"
"Whaddya mean?"
"I mean, she would get sick and die from just being out of that suit. We could kill her by having some...fun with her."
The soldier's friend looked towards Tali and back to him, as if questioning what he implicitly proposed.
"Think about it!" The soldier continued, "Great hips, and a good way to get back at, 'The Savior of the Galaxy,' himself!" He tantalized him with a nudge.
The friend stood there in pause, still quietly questioning him as if he was insane.
"Come on! Don't tell me you never wondered what they looked like. Hell, we can keep her helmet on afterwards if she isn't to our...liking."
His buddy then snorted, and then sighed slowly, as if finally considering the cruel idea. After a few moments pause, he finally replied.
"Alright...If the boss lets us kill her, you'll have to clean her up first, because I ain't touching...that." He gestured to Tali and the sorry state she was in.
"Haha! Nice! I get first crack at her, though!"
"Whatever, let's just get-"
Garrus stayed in quiet horror throughout all of this, but he could no longer keep in his rage when they started talking about killing Tali in such a mind numbingly sick and twisted way.
"You even lay a finger on her!" He interrupted with a hiss.
"-Mr. Ugly Bastard," the soldier finished with a groan, in which the soldier with the light also groaned as well.
"Right...let's get him up."
The first soldier shut his light off and bent down next to Garrus with his friend, heads under his arms, and together they forcefully rose him to his feet. Garrus growled once more as his shoulders screeched again, but he did his best to ignore them as well as his sudden rush of vertigo as he struggled to find his footing.
Then his mind went white with agony. A fist had went careening into the side of his skull...
...He tasted blood.
"The hell are you doing, man?" The second soldier asked in surprise as Garrus stumbled back slightly.
"Well, I figured that with what's happening, it wouldn't hurt to get the first hit in," replied the first soldier.
"Well, yeah...but you don't want to knock him out again."
Garrus grunted in pain as he tried to refocus on the muffled words being said between the two goons, his mind now throbbing beyond any possibility of relief.
"You see, you gotta do it like this."
As if things couldn't be worse, Garrus then felt a blow to his stomach, forcing his armor in just below his ribs, knocking almost all of the wind out of him and forcing him back down on his knees. It caused the two soldiers to fall slightly under his weight.
"Nice going, dumbass," the first soldier grunted.
"Shut up, asshole," the second soldier replied. "Quick, cuff him."
Garrus was too engrossed in the process of sucking in air to stay alive that he didn't realize that he was detached from his chains. By the time his mind cleared up to realize this, his arms were already thrown forward into a pair of cuffs, the soldiers heads no longer underneath him.
Can't...see...think...clearly...anything...
Garrus grunted in pain, and was forced to his feet again, still in a woozy and breathless haze.
"Hey, Mr. Ugly Vakarian Bastard," the first soldier sneered to get his attention. "Take a look at this."
He then proceeded to turn Garrus around to Tali's place in the dark, his head bobbing around from exhaustion. The little amount of red light showed him that the chain that connected the two of them was now locked due to metal ring being retracted into the ceiling, presumably to keep the other prisoner from being able to lay down.
The soldier turned his light back on, and Garrus again had to see Tali's poor, near death looking frame.
And then he had to watch the bastard kick her in the ribs at full force.
Garrus's brain rattled once more at the sound of Tali's scream. Her body fell back but the chains kept her forward, throwing her into a pendulum motion like some sort of humiliating swing set.
He couldn't watch anymore, but the sound of her whimpers and agony ridden sobs pained him both physically and emotionally.
"Don't," she choked on tears.
Spirits, please!
The bastard then gave a sadistic laugh. "I think I did more than just, 'lay a finger on her,'" he sneered.
"Careful, man," said the second soldier. "The boss will kill us if you kill her too soon, and then you won't be able to have your fun."
"Yeah, whatever, she'll be fine."
Garrus wasn't paying attention to what they were saying, instead, he gathered what little breath he had and looked at the bastard that kicked his dear friend Tali.
"...ooh...die...FIRST!"
"Yeah, I'm lookin' forward to it, pal. Now get your ass moving," he replied with a forceful nudge while shutting off his light again.
Garrus stumbled passed the bars into the darkness, and another loud crash of metal sounded behind him. Tali's cries followed him and echoed off the walls.
Spirits...I just...need...some quiet...
He was forced forwards again, making it even harder to breathe and the darkness harder to maneuver. But these soldiers won't make it easy on him, so he kept his head down and focused on putting one foot in front of the other, closer to the red light in the far distance.
"Go faster!" The first soldier said loudly and shoved Garrus forwards, toppling him onto his sore hands. "Get up!"
"Gonna...kill you...for...this," Garrus wheezed.
"Yeah, well, I didn't ask to come down here, now get up!"
The soldier's arm linked with his, forcing him up and around the corner. Tali's sobs were barely an echo in the distance now. They pushed him into a wider corridor where the red light was. It made the bigger corridor less dark, but a lot more red. He almost didn't realize that there were two more guards positioned on either side. Both strangely holding up a hand like they were about to give an oath.
The soldiers that dragged him out saw this, and what made it stranger, they both replied by holding up two fingers. The guards acknowledged it and put down their hands.
"Here, get this to the boss, they want it before we move her," the second soldier said to one of them, holding out Tali's torn cloth wrappings. "And make sure the tech guys are prepped...by the time we are, uh...when we get through with this guy."
The first soldier nudged the other guard, and gestured with his head back to the holding cell. "And speaking of the suit-rat, you, go back there and make sure she doesn't sniffle herself to death."
"Understood," both of them replied, and hurried off to carry out their orders.
Garrus focused angrily on getting air back into his lungs, taking deep breaths. By now he managed to get past the initial shock and past the feeling of passing out. Now his breathing was no more severe than when finishing an intense workout. But still his rage made it difficult to gain more oxygen.
"You still ready?"
The second soldier sighed. "Yup."
Garrus then felt himself get yanked down the red corridor, the suddenness of it causing him to stumble and make his lungs overwork again slightly.
This corridor they were going through was much longer, and had more red lights lining the top and maintenance shafts went out either side. At the far end, he could see a small flight of stairs with a soft blue light to contrast.
Belly of the beast. He presumed. No doubt he was being taken up top for something. An interrogation perhaps. He silently groaned at how long the journey could possibly be.
When they finally reached the stairs, the soldiers each held up a single finger this time. Garrus dismissed the strange actions until he realized there was a camera watching them.
They're telling them something, that's all I know.
He was pushed up the stairs, heading up a deck and turning around to meet a door.
"Hey buddy," the second soldier said with a nudge, "How ya feeling?"
Garrus had a bit more air in his chest, and was able to spat out a response without wheezing.
"Why...do you care?"
The two soldiers looked at each other, then nodded. They held up their hands again to a different camera, but this time there were no fingers extended, only closed fists. The doors opened and he was forced through.
Ah, crap.
The door had opened to a wide deck, and it was crowded with hostiles. Each brandished weapons that Garrus had never even seen before. Some stopped what they were doing, and their glowing eyes of their helmets following the bloodied turian war hero that was being shoved on by.
Garrus took note of what kind of deck he was on. It looked like a deployment center of sorts for foot soldiers, as there was a large table with tactical information displayed as holograms in the middle of the floor. It was similar to that of the CIC back on the Normandy.
How I'm missing the Normandy now.
He wondered where his inherited crew could possibly be now. There were too many ships in the sky before he got knocked out. All he could do was hope they got out okay. But the next question finally crawled into his mind.
What of Shepard?
He still didn't quite understand what happened. All he knew was that he got knocked out by this, "bot buddy," of Chimera, and the same critically wounded Tali. He haven't yet picked up on any clues of his hybridized brother's whereabouts.
He hated to admit it, but he wasn't too optimistic on the idea that Shepard managed to escape. For one, he was limited in terms of movement, and two, well, he wasn't the type to run away when his two closest friends were in danger.
Idiot.
He focused on figuring out where his old friend could be after the thought occurred to him. Hopefully he could overhear something in conversations.
But that wasn't the case as he was forced into an elevator on the other side. He groaned in annoyance, but was happy for another chance to steady his breathing.
The two soldiers followed him in, letting go of his arms and turning their backs towards him as they signaled the elevator to ascend. How he wanted to knock them out right then, but the next stop would probably be his final judging by the soldiers' guarding positions. He must be meeting their boss, and that would mean too many guards.
Damn, this elevator is slow...Well, Chimera technically is Cerberus with a new coat of paint, it would make sense if they can't build an elevator right...Maybe I can give their boss a few pointers...or Tali can...
The thought of Tali angered him again. He would definitely have a few words about that first.
Then afterwards, she can introduce them to her shotgun! Garrus blinked.
Or so he thought.
His vision flickered.
No, it was the lights.
Then Garrus felt momentum make him jump slightly when the elevator came to a sudden halt. The two soldiers looked up and around.
"What now?" The first soldier asked of no one.
"Hmm, wonder what it could be," came the second soldier. "Maybe we should call-"
"Knock them out, Mr. Vakarian!" A clear woman's voice blared over the elevator's intercom suddenly.
The hell?
As confused as Garrus was, he didn't need to be told twice that his wish had came true. Almost instinctively, he lifted his cuffed arms and made a very conscious decision to grab the guard who kicked Tali first. He grabbed him by a shoulder and turned him around, at the same time kicking the second soldier back, putting him off balance so he could get a couple seconds of one-on-one time with the sick bastard.
The soldier grunted in surprise and Garrus held his arms back and, because of the cuffs, clasped his hands together to prepare a two handed punch, which he followed through with a clear strike at the soldier's helmet. The soldier fumbled back in a pained daze. The turian was in no mood to let him rest.
The soldier looked up and saw a leg coming. It caught him by the crook of his own and forced him down on his knees in the opposite direction, and in a split second he had the cuffs around his neck.
Let's get some air out of this asshole, first!
Garrus tightened his grip, choking the soldier and causing him to gasp for oxygen. The second soldier finally got back to his feet. Garrus kicked him down again.
Dammit!
He felt disappointed that he couldn't stay in that position longer, because the second soldier was a little more accustomed now and already getting back to his feet.
He released the first soldier, who fell onto his hands choking for air.
Have a little taste of how I feel!
With a couple seconds of safe time from the first soldier now, he turned his attention to the second, who was still slightly dazed. It wasn't easy with cuffed hands, but Garrus prepared for another staggering double handed blow, this time to the abdomen.
He managed to land it, and the second soldier grunted in pain. He followed through with another blow, now at the helmet.
What surprised Garrus was that the soldier didn't go to protect his front, rather he held onto the sides of his head. The soldier also moved along with his blow, attempting some sort of dodge, but still ended up with Garrus making some minor contact. Still, even from the light hit, the soldier threw his head back hard against the wall, yelling out in pain. He slid down slowly, groaning until he hit floor, silent. He didn't get up after that.
That was a little dramatic.
The first soldier was now coughing, and Garrus turned towards him to finish the job.
The soldier saw this, and rolled onto his back, surrendering. "Wait," he managed to say over his coughs.
The corner of Garrus's mouth curled into a smirk and his mandibles twitched in excitement. He had no intention at all to wait.
"No more funny ideas from you, my friend," Garrus said to him. He lifted his leg, aimed, and fired, kicking at the twisted sicko's crotch.
Just as he anticipated, the bastard screamed like the bastard he was, giving Garrus an immense sense of satisfaction. Still, he made another kick to the side of his helmet to get him to shut up.
If the blow itself didn't make him unconscious, the wall certainly helped as the kick sent his head into it, similar to that of the second soldier. Ultimately, the asshole was silenced and wasn't going to get up again anytime soon.
Garrus looked around the elevator, pleasing himself with his handiwork as he caught his breath. Speaking of which, he still needed to free his own hands, so he crouched down over the unconscious bodies to search for anything resembling a key.
"Well, that sounded brutal," the woman's voice said over the intercom.
"Trust me, they had it coming," Garrus replied with a grunt as he patted them down. It didn't take him long to find the key, for it hung loosely to the second soldier's waist in plain view.
"Anyways, what's going on? Who are you?" He asked as he freed himself and regained full range of both of his arms.
"I'm here to rescue you...and...I'm part of the real Chimera."
"...I'm sorry?"
"It's too long to explain, I'm afraid. Quick! We need to find you a way out of there. Right now you're about to hit an empty deck. It's why I had to get to you like this."
Garrus shook his head. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I have to go back and get my friends out of this hellish place."
The woman sputtered from his words. "A-are you kidding? With all the guards below you? Unarmed? That's suicide!"
He walked out of the elevator, dragging the unconscious with him. Heh, you have no idea, lady. But fair point. Still, I have to at least try.
"I'm not leaving them, that's for sure," he decided to say.
"Mr. Vakarian, you must reconsider!" Her voice's echo followed behind him. "We waited for a long time to even have a chance at something like this!"
Garrus looked around the hallway he found himself on. Like the woman said, the area was vacated. Which was strange considering there was a row of offices that lined along the sides. He figured it could be a great place to figure out how Chimera works, but that was secondary. For now...Tali first.
"Well, you better make a plan quick, because I'm finding a way back to her!" Garrus called back. He made it very clear that nothing on the Spirits' blessed soil of Palaven would make him do anything different. So he made his way on through the deck, dropping off the soldiers into the first empty office he found.
"Vakarian! Wait!"
Garrus paused. "You got a plan?"
The woman sighed in defeat. "Something like that...Your eyepiece was taken off while you were unconscious, if you keep going, there should be a security office at the end with it in there. It'll make it easier for us to communicate."
Thanks, lady.
"Alright, talk to you again soon," he said instead.
"Hurry up! We don't have much time for this!"
Garrus scoffed but continued on his mission. He hugged along the wall, careful to listen for any signs of people coming onto the deck. He did this all the way until he found the security office the woman was talking about. Unfortunately, it was the only one that had a door, and that door was also locked.
Of course it is! He thought with a frustrated groan.
With this current situation, he would have broken the window, but given that it was a security office, it might have sensors for that kind of thing, and now was definitely not the time to risk tripping alarms. But he needed that visor. He looked around himself, hoping for some magical key of some sort to float down the hallway.
Spirits, get yourself back together! Garrus chastised himself. You relaxed for too long! Use your surroundings!
A tinge of inadequacy hit him, but he moved on and began searching the office closest to him. Garrus, the new leader of the Normandy, started to ransack it for any sort of ideas.
A gun would be of great use right now!
Garrus's wishful thinking didn't grant him any weapons or keys, though. Instead, all he found from the few offices he explored were terminals that have been shut down and blank datapads, which made him even more frustrated and confused. In all his experiences with Shepard, there's always been things like weapons, ammo, medi-gel...hell, even grenades and credits lying around. Now he can't get anything as simple as information.
Where is everyone? Even if there's no one in these offices, there should at least be someone at security, of all places...either someone's clearly not doing their job, or something isn't quite right.
He shrugged the thought off as he went to explore the next office. Again, an offline terminal. There was also a new sound.
He put his head against the wall. Footsteps.
Grunting he pressed himself against the wall inside the office, crouched down just below the window. Here he could get a clear view of whoever it was that was coming onto the deck. He hoped that they weren't bringing any friends.
Luckily for him, the door by the security office opened and revealed just one lone person in a Cerberus uniform, which was, of course, black and red. He stepped into the deck and placed himself in front of the office. Garrus had found his idea.
"Well, gotta get back to it," the person loudly sighed to himself, and opened up his omni-tool, inputting a passkey that turned the haptic controls green.
Even better. Garrus whipped himself around the doorframe, standing up so he was in the man's peripherals, and walked towards him casually. He picked up the pace when the door opened.
The man made a sidelong glance to the footsteps that grew louder towards him, saw Garrus and must've thought nothing of it, then looked back to the open door.
"Wait..." The man took another look towards the turian.
"Hello!" Garrus said and made a punching blow to the man's head, bald and shiny.
Similar to the second soldier back in the elevator, the man made a dodging blow that lead Garrus's punch, almost like he was expecting it. It gave Garrus only a minor contact, yet he still managed to hit the man's head against the doorframe. His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell down.
Damn, what's up with these guys and knocking themselves out? It's getting really unsatisfying...well except for that one guy that can no longer have kids.
Garrus stepped into the open door and started rummaging around to find his visor eyepiece. What Garrus found strange was that all the monitors in there were shut off like the terminals in the other offices. Where do the cameras lead to then?
He didn't spend too much time focusing on that when he opened one of the drawers.
Aha! He had found his eyepiece. He excitedly slapped it on his head and adjusted it over his left eye. The HUD was already giving him stats and other necessary battle info. He also gave a large sigh of relief when he found all his videos still in one place. All his memories of serving on the Normandy.
What else, Garrus was able to reactivate his own and Tali's omni-tool, once he got to her. But now he could overload systems for defense.
Speaking of which, where are the guns in this place?
"Took you long enough!" The woman's voice blared clearly in his ear. Garrus sighed in annoyance.
"Had a hiccup. How did you get into my comms anyway?"
"I didn't, it was already linked up to ours."
Garrus's eye squinted incredulously. "Well I have no idea who you are so that makes zero sense...dammit! What security office doesn't even have a lousy pistol?"
"It's because we have Shepard, Mr. Vakarian."
"...What?!"
"We managed to rescue him shortl-"
"Well, put him on!"
"Mr. Vakarian, please...he's resting."
Garrus was in no mood for excuses. "Then wake his ass up! I need to talk to him!"
"Mr. Vakarian...he needs his rest."
"What are you..." Oh.
Garrus paused. He tried not to imagine it. He's already seen Tali. But Shepard? He wasn't so...sure...about how-
"...H-how is he?"
"He's perfectly fine, he's just busy resting."
"Alright," he mumbled. He then began fumbling with the wires to the consoles and monitors that were in the office. "Well, tell him I'm bringing his life—er, engineer, back to him once he wakes up. Right now I gotta go get her, and that means I need a weapon. Do you think you can access some of Chimera's monitoring systems from here?"
"Mr. Vakarian, I'm part of the real Chimera, remember?"
"Right...I've been meaning to ask about that. But first I need to know where an armory is." Garrus continued trying to get the console working, and it was starting to irritate him. Things wouldn't be this hard if Tali was actually with me!
The woman groaned. "You can stop with that. I have access to the ship's lower deck schematics, I can lead you straight out of there."
"So now you tell me...Fine, which way to a place with some damn guns?"
The woman groaned again. "The ship you're on has three columns of main decks and two sub-decks on either side of them. You were held in a maintenance sub-deck to the foot soldier deployment bay which is at the very rear of the ship. Right now, you're in the intelligence and security sub-deck to the main Armory. Just walk up the stairs that one guy came from and you should be right there."
"Could've just told me to go up the stairs from the get-go," Garrus grumbled, strolling out of the office door and taking the steps next to him. "Still, where did Chimera find the resources to build a ship like this?"
"Chimera is ex-Cerberus. We had access to plenty of resources. After The Illusive Man's indoctrination, however, I sought to rebrand ourselves. Cerberus became the Reaper's puppets, Chimera would not let the same fate happen to them."
Garrus got to the top of the stairs to the Armory deck and planted himself along the wall next to the door that was there. He listened for any footsteps. "So you are the leader? How did you know The Illusive Man was indoctrinated?"
The woman surprisingly gave a halfhearted laugh. "...I'm the one that stuck it in his head in the first place."
Say what?
"I performed surgery on him," the woman continued to explain remorsefully. "He made me put an implant in his mind that would allow him to, 'control,' Reaper forces...heh, look where that got him."
"I remember," Garrus replied, "Shepard and Tali told me about it from some logs they saw back when we raided the Cerberus base." He then opened the door after a few minutes of silence, and slithered his way onto the Armory floor. He found that similar to the offices below, it was mostly just hallways that went around. The center of the deck however was encased with reinforced walls, presumably to make a room for the heavy weapons.
"So what happened?" Garrus asked when the woman said nothing. "Why is Chimera wanting to kill us now?"
"They are not Chimera," the woman instantly replied, with even more bitterness in her voice. "There was a mutiny when we broke off. Not many liked me as their leader...So they took off with most of our ships and took a lot of our people as prisoners. Their goal was now to...kill the people they believed started our entire downfall."
"Us," Garrus answered simply, referring to the Normandy crew. He tiptoed along the hall, looking for a door in the reinforced walls. "So...Chimera is ex-Cerberus, and you're the, 'real,' Chimera." Garrus started to whisper. "Tell me, why are you helping an alien like me?"
"Please, Mr. Vakarian, you're useful."
"Doesn't exactly make me feel any better," Garrus responded quietly. "I know how Cerberus works. I'm just another soldier to get you back on top of your organization."
"Well, when you say it like that it makes it sound bad...There's a door around the corner by the way."
Garrus nodded, and inched himself forwards. So far he hasn't found anyone else on the deck, but still he kept quiet.
Sure enough, when he took the corner there was another door. He quickly hit the haptic controls and backed into the room watching his back to see if anyone followed him in. "Sorry lady, it's just what I know," he finally responded once the door closed.
He turned around excitedly to see the glorious amount of experimental weapons he could finally get his hands on, but instead...he was disappointed to see tubes lined up in an incline, with pipes overhead and consoles jutting out in front of them. They looked different, yet still similar to...
Escape pods?
"Lady!" Garrus shouted in rage when he realized what was going on.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Vakarian! But we need to get you out of there now! I'm not taking any risks with this!"
Garrus was beyond furious. There was no way he was leaving the quarian engineer on the brink of death a couple decks below him behind. "I told you that I was not leaving without my friend!"
Anger laced his voice, and the idea of what could happen to Tali if he left made him want to kick someone in the balls again.
"Please!" The woman begged.
"No! Now tell me where the armory actually is!" He shouted once more and stepped back to open the door back onto the hallways of the deck.
Which was a terrible mistake.
When Garrus opened the doors, he didn't expect a flood of soldiers to come crashing through, barging right into him and almost knocking the wind out of him again.
"Mr. Vakarian! No!"
Garrus felt a hit to his head and an arm sweeping his feet, and for a brief moment, he actually left the ground.
"Restrain him!" Came from one of the soldiers. Garrus felt himself get caught by his arms but they ended up being pulled apart by a chain of human hands. He tried to fight but was dizzy and couldn't focus. "Get the console!" The same soldier shouted.
Where the hell did they come from?!
He then heard some hissing come from right behind him, and only barely managed to get one arm free to throw a single punch before it was restrained again. Then he was picked up fully off the ground.
What the hell is going on?!
"Get him in there!" Another soldier shouted. Garrus was beyond confused now.
Are they trying to get me to escape?!
He felt himself get shoved into one of the tubes, laying down in an inclined position, which was strange for an escape pod. He tried to throw more fists out, but they were held back until something snapped around his wrists.
"Gotta get out of here!" He shouted to himself and switched gears, starting to kick instead. "Got to get to Tali!"
The soldiers backed off now but he kept kicking, only managing to land one on one soldier's chest that only pushed him away. He began to get really anxious when he could see the lid to the pod start to close. Shit! Stop!
"Wait! Mr. Vakarian! It's not actually an escape pod!"
What the hell?! What the hell?!
Garrus looked around, looking for any weaknesses inside to stop whatever is happening from happening. He kicked again and again but the pod kept closing.
Nononono NO!
The doors hissed shut and the window to the outside room started to fog up, the air inside the pod started to get increasingly cold and his worst fears were starting to manifest. I'm trapped! What are they doing?!
He wasn't sure but he knew it was nothing good. How did they find me?!
He shut his eyes and took a shallow breath. Dammit! I have to figure this out!
His eyes reopened an he looked out on the frosty window of this pod thing that he wasn't quite sure was exactly what. Looking upon the window, he could see shifting colors of red and black from the soldier's armor being diffracted through the ice, and only a sliver of the window was clear. All it showed him was the center console that a soldier stepped away from.
Oh no...this isn't cryogenics is it? Please tell me I'm not being frozen!
Then silver boots began to fill up the sliver of space on the window.
It was followed by bulky torso and shoulder armor. A recognizable sniper held in the arms.
Then the soldier's face filled it. Pale except for a red and black Cerberus logo on the cheek, and long red hair that only took up one half of his head. He smiled. Then lifted his hand to his ear. He was saying something.
SPIRITS! HOW-
Then Garrus felt the base of his skull tingle. His eyes rolled slightly but he didn't close them.
He felt pulled by his stomach, and it almost made him vomit. His vision of the frosty window began to ebb away into black triangles and hexagons. The last words he heard was of the woman in his head.
"Going under?"
Then absolute silence.
Garrus was confused.
He regained focus, but all around him was blackness. His vision felt muddy, but he couldn't quite understand why. He also realized that he was on his feet, and that his arms were free. He looked at them.
Despite the black, he could see himself clearly as if he was in the midday sun.
He touched his arms. He could feel them. And he could feel pain when he pinched them.
He took a step in his surroundings, and his footstep let loose an ear shattering echo as if he was in one massive building.
He shut his eyes. Maybe he was just freaking out. Some kind of sensory overload. It'll all clear up once he gave himself a couple moments. He waited until the echo died down.
But the blackness had stayed when he reopened his eyes.
It was just him. Him and another sound.
A quiet high pitched noise that began to grow.
What the hell?
Then the noise grew louder until it became a scream.
Then he heard gunshots.