Garrus didn't think it was possible for him to feel closer to Shepard. Surely, the affection a bonded turian felt for their mate had to hit some kind of limit, or so he thought. His emotions, often stunted as he believed them to be, could only extend so far. Yet, as she always did, Shepard had a way of making the impossible probable. More to the point, she had a way of drawing forth capabilities from people who never knew that they possessed them in the first place.
He was no exception.
As they spent the early hours of the night cycle in the privacy of their cabin, stripping and cleaning their rifles while music played low in the background, Garrus loved her more than ever.
"Pass that ejector spring?" She asked without removing her eyes from the dismantled trigger pack in her hand. Garrus paused to lay down the cloth he'd been using to clean his scope and pinched the requested piece between his talons. He then reached across the desk to hover his hand above hers and inserted the component for her.
"Quality evolution you got there," she quipped, giving his talons an approving look. "Wish I had a pair of built-in tweezers."
"They come in handy from time to time." He underlined his point by raising his hand to gently drag his talons along her scalp, eyeing the strands as they slipped past his fingers like copper-colored water. Her hair had definitely grown over the last couple months. He chose not to comment on the blatant, black oil streak his fingers left behind.
"You just wiped gun oil into my hair, didn't you?" She knew perfectly well that he had.
'Crap.' He was staring at it and she'd caught him.
"Don't worry, it's a good look," he told her, but he was reaching for a clean cloth regardless.
"Uh-huh." She fixed him with a flat stare, clearly unconvinced by his assurance. "When you're finished with that you can pass the-"
Garrus cut her off by holding the next predicted piece, an ejector lever, in an offered palm.
Shepard didn't look amused. "I was going to say shank and hammer spring." She took the supplied piece anyway and returned her attention to the task at hand, mumbling something his translator was just able to catch: 'smart ass.'
"Uh-huh," he echoed her previous sound for skepticism before returning his attention to the dirty scope. He didn't, however, miss the upturned quirk of her mouth before he did so and his mandibles flicked their reply.
It was a companionable silence that fell over them and it would last well into an hour with only the low measure beating mostly club music around them. Personally, Garrus found the genre irritating. He had heard enough of it to last a lifetime during his time on Omega, but Shepard enjoyed it. Though, as she worked diligently on her project, she hardly acknowledged the music at all. Garrus always wondered if she only played it to drown out darker thoughts in her head. It was certainly mind-numbing enough for such a task. Mercifully, they were able to reach a compromise by allowing some of his favorite tracks to be mixed in as well.
"And don't you dare try to slip a remix in there, Shepard," he told her when she selected the playlist.
"Oh, come on, they're not all bad," she defended, attention still firmly on the trigger pack in her hand. The pins for the trigger made satisfying sounds when Shepard deftly slid them out of place with her thumbs. "Expel 10 has done some good ones."
'They have,' he agreed privately.
"They're all terrible," he voiced outwardly.
"I've seen your playlist on that visor of yours, Vakarian. There are more than a few dance mixes on there."
She had him there. Still, he brushed off the point she earned with a nonchalant tilt of his head.
"I have to retain some focus while I'm fighting. Playing good music would make that very difficult."
"Whatever you say," she replied, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You should say that more often."
That got her attention. Her eyes snapped up to meet his, which might have intimidated someone else, but not Garrus. Not when the corner of her mouth quirked into a smile that she was almost successful at hiding.
"Has any one ever told you that you talk too much?" She quipped.
"Would you like a list?"
Shepard opened her mouth to reply, but it snapped shut when her attention was suddenly grabbed by the next track that began to play. She glanced up at the ceiling as if to spot the song hovering about their heads and smiled to herself.
"I love this song," she told him unnecessarily.
Feeling bold, Garrus stood from his seat and offered his hand expectantly. Shepard spared his outstretched limb a glance before wrapping her tiny fingers around his hand and gave it a curt shake in the human greeting. "Funny."
"I'm sensing a bit of a setup here, Vakarian."
"Maybe a little one," he threw her words from that night back at her. "Come on. I'll help you."
"Garrus, I couldn't dance before I lost use of my legs," she jested, still smiling, but something flickered behind her eyes that Garrus didn't like.
"You can with the right partner," he told her and watched her smile melt from her face. Uncertainty, Garrus realized. That's what he saw and it had become more prominent now, no longer hidden behind a defensive smile. He would have retreated if not for a different look that was mixed in so he stood there, hand still outstretched, and waited.
Slowly, tentatively, her hand found its way into his and he helped her to stand. He positioned her so that her feet were planted atop his own and he supported the bulk of her weight by wrapping his arms around her waist. At first, they moved haltingly as they pieced together each other's movements, but it wasn't long before they swayed languidly in a circle, bathed in the blue glow of the fishless tank.
"Damn, Vakarian," she breathed, her brow pressed just to the side of his keel. "Have you been hitting the romance books or something?"
"Is it working?"
"Yeah." Her voice wobbled slightly on the word. He was tempted to look down, eager -and a little worried- to see her expression, but decided it was probably one of those things she would prefer him not to draw attention to. Instead, he settled for a comforting hum from his sub-harmonics, knowing she'd feel them through his chest. She said nothing in response, but he didn't miss the tightening of her arms around him.
They oscillated like that for a few more minutes until she decided to break the quiet.
"While I was... gone, did you happen to tell your dad about- you know... us?"
Garrus had already found himself quieting at her usage of 'gone.' It was Shepard's simple word for describing the horrible period of time when he thought she was dead. It held an all new meaning for both of them now. It was the word, as well as the question that made his steps slow to a near standstill as he remembered that awful day at the restaurant and just how his father and, by proxy, Victus learned about 'them.'
"He knows." Garrus was too late to realize how ominous that sounded before Shepard looked up at him with concern reflecting in her eyes. He hastened to tell her, "He's all right with it."
"He is?"
Garrus huffed a laugh, disturbing the red hairs at the very top of her head. "I was surprised too. Even more surprised when he asked for a picture of us." He wanted to laugh at how wide her eyes grew. "I gave him the one Tali took of us on Rannoch when we weren't looking."
Shepard laid her cheek against his chest. "I like that one."
"He does too. He..." Garrus trailed off, suddenly more aware of her weight in his arms, the healing scars on her skin from the explosion, and her shortened hair. She was gone when he showed his father that picture. She was gone, but somehow, she had come back. He squeezed her to him, eternally grateful for their new shot at a future, and uttered, "Knows you saved my life that night on Earth. He's eager to meet you."
"Wow," she breathed.
"Who in this galaxy isn't, Shepard?" Garrus tried for a joke to lighten the weighted tension around them. He regretted it when she looked up at him with eyes moistened with unshed tears.
"Sorry," she said, briefly removing her hand from its resting spot on the back of his cowl to wipe at her at eyes with her knuckles. "I'm just..."
"I know." He did. Shepard had grown up alone. She never had a parent to tuck her in at night or give her advice later in life. She lived without a family until she met Anderson and then, later, the Normandy crew. She had a family now, of course, but to hear that his father accepted her must have hit her harder than even she expected. Though Garrus hadn't said as much, Shepard must have pieced together that she was considered part of his family now as well.
Then the song changed.
"Earnestly: Lying in my bed I hear the clock tick, and think of you-" At the sound of the elcor's voice, Shepard met Garrus' gaze with slightly reddened eyes. "With passion: Caught up in circles of confusion is nothing new. Flashback, warm nights, almost left behind. Suitcases of memories, time after-" A bright smile broke through on her face and she burst into laughter.
"With resolute sincerity: If you're lost you can look and you will find me- Time after time." And Garrus joined her. As the elcor sang on, their laughter began to stab at their sides and brought them slowly to the floor. That's when he felt her mouth against his and her fingers under his fringe.
Garrus' laughter devolved into a primal growl against her lips and he tightened his hold on her body, wanting to feel her. Shepard moaned at the contact, offering him the opportunity to slip his tongue past her teeth in an obscene mimicry of the motions of sex. His growl would turn into a wanton groan when he felt her fingertips slide down his waist to the hem of his pants-
"Got a call coming in from the Council, Garrus." Joker's voice cracked through both the comms and their revelry like a gunshot in a quiet bar.
Garrus emitted a second groan- this one for an entirely different reason.
"Can it wait?" He considered the effort to school the frustration from his voice to be a valiant one.
"Well, the call bypassed my filter and went straight to the comm chamber, which only happens when shit hits the fan." The pilot paused to listen to Garrus' silence before adding. "So I'm gonna say no."
Garrus exchanged a quick look with Shepard. They were over a galactic standard day from the intended relay that would transport them straight to the target solar system of their next mission- usual drug smuggling ring. Odd for the Council to contact them about that.
"I'll be right down," Garrus reluctantly conceded.
"Just say the word if you need the line cut," Joker quipped in a weird sing-song tone before he crackled out.
Garrus couldn't shake the troubled feeling that loomed over him like a storm cloud as he crossed the war room into the comm chamber. Nothing good could come from an abrupt call from the Council. He'd learned that in the early days on the SR-1 with Shepard. Nonetheless, as he stepped into the chamber and put the call through, he readied himself for the likely appearance of either the salarian or krogan Councilor. They were the usual suspects when it came to contacting him. So it stood to reason that he was a little caught off guard when Councilor Victus flickered into view.
Garrus was quick to compose himself, hiding his surprise, though he knew Victus would have noticed.
"Vakarian," was his curt greeting.
"Councilor."
If Garrus didn't know Victus as well as he had come to, he would have never noticed the slight slump to his shoulders as if they were giving to a cumbersome weight placed upon them. He would have looked past the strained, almost haunted look in his eyes. And he certainly wouldn't have picked up on the discreet shift of weight from one foot to the other the second Garrus' holo came through on his end. Victus was good at hiding all these things from those who didn't know what to look for, but he was obviously past the point of exhaustion to be able to hide it from Garrus.
Garrus almost pitied him enough to consider retracting his previous cold greeting and reiterating with a more agreeable, 'sir'. Instead, he settled for silence, swaying his weight back on one foot and watched for more tells from his former friend.
"What is your location?" The Councilor asked.
Straight to business then.
"Just inside the border of Outer Council Space. In the Fortis star system, to be exact. We're on course for the relay in approximately thirty-one hours." A beat, then he added, "Give or take a few pirate raids in between, of course."
"Good." Victus nodded, apparently pleased with the info. "Change course for Asteria."
"Asteria," Garrus echoed flatly. "But that's in the Hekate System."
"Correct."
"In the Hades Nexus." Victus stared, unmoving and unresponsive to Garrus' growing incredulity. "Which is on the other side of the galaxy from where we currently are."
"If you're finished demonstrating the competency of Cipritine's grade schools, Vakarian." The older turian drew himself taller and he watched Garrus with the kind of stare only years as a military general could instill. Garrus found himself fighting the urge to fidget. "I would like to explain my reasoning for sending you, and not another Spectre, over there."
Victus paused to wait for an interruption that never came, though it almost did. Garrus had to wonder if he was aware of the exasperated 'please do' that was reined in at the last second.
At Garrus' silence, Victus continued.
"Judging by your astounding-" The Councilor didn't sound astounded at all. "-Amount of knowledge on the galactic systems, I trust you know that Asteria is primarily an arid world, under asari rule."
Garrus nodded, suppressing his irritation at the Councilor's condescending tone and made an effort to keep Executor Pallin from his thoughts. "Yeah. There's a couple of small eezo mines here and there that pirates like to target, but nothing worth writing home about."
"So I thought as well, until we began receiving reports of an unusual amount of activity at one of the mines: unapproved shuttle landings, disappearances."
"Raiders?" Garrus offered.
"That was my suspicion at first, and after reviewing satellite footage, it was confirmed. Several unauthorized frigates have landed on the colony, many of them were known vessels of pirates, but no more than the usual vermin that swoop in and are typically dispatched by local authorities. What's strange is that not one of them has left the colony again and there is no record of detainment on these vessels."
"No offense, but this sounds like a typical pirate ring to me. They landed, set up shop, and are likely wheeling and dealing every bit of contraband they could get their slimy hands on. Frankly, I'm surprised the Council is getting involved in this at all."
Victus nodded. "I would be too, except that every colonial authority that's been dispatched to the site has yet to return and all the disappearances are the same. No comm signal, no SOS, nothing to indicate they were taken against their will. It's as if they just vanished. The populace on Asteria are in the dark to the disappearances, but the government became concerned enough to reach out to the Asari Councilor." Victus folded his hands behind his back and began to pace, a habit of his Garrus was quick to recognize. He likely had more floor space on his end than the small holo-comm, allowed for his projection, on Garrus' because he started walking in and out of existence; disappearing beyond the borders before reentering again. Victus' call had Garrus' curiosity before, but now he had his attention. "She's not entirely convinced it's a matter to insert ourselves in. As you said, it could be simple pirates."
"But...?" Garrus prompted.
Victus came to a halt and he fixed Garrus with the first genuine emotion he'd seen on the man's face since he departed from the Normandy all those months ago: concern.
"Something's not right, Garrus." At the increasingly rare use of his name, Garrus instantly became just as on edge as the holographic Councilor. He held Victus' stare as an understanding flew across star systems to settle between them.
"You're thinking of the Leviathans," Garrus observed without further preamble.
"It could be coincidental, but I can't help remembering the information you provided to me about them. The blackouts, the disappearances- I went over it all today. You've dealt with them in the past already. You know what to look for. You..." Victus trailed off at that, his holographic self staring at Garrus while he seemed to consider his next words. "You're the only one I trust to investigate this."
For a moment, Garrus forgot his anger. Adviser and Primarch. Spectre and Councilor. Employee and Employer. It didn't matter. In that brief moment, they were sitting side-by-side in Sam's bar again, getting shit-faced and opening up like comrades do.
Garrus could think of nothing else to say except, "Understood, sir."
"Just another routine mission." Shepard reclined against the crate Garrus had placed her on while they waited for the rest of the ground team to file into the docking bay. She leaned herself back against the bulkhead and fixed him with a wry smile, devoid of mirth.
"Are they ever?" Garrus countered, not bothering to look up from his omni-tool. He knew it pained her to watch him leave without her on regular missions, but the possible involvement of an old nemesis drove the knife of this departure in just a little deeper. Shepard was the one who confronted them, stood before them and convinced them that their cycle was one worth saving- not Garrus.
Not wanting to see the disapproval on her face, he busied himself with a diagnostic run on the target facility. For once, he was grateful for a slow loading bar.
"Remind me, what was the previous one before Victus waylaid you?"
"Drug ring."
A wistful sigh was the only reply he received.
"It still could be," he prompted with a reassuring hum to his voice. Only they would find comfort in the idea of busting a highly dangerous trafficking syndicate. The loading bar had just passed seventy-five percent.
"Think so?"
"We'll find out."
Shepard opened her mouth to reply, but was interrupted by the lift as it pinged the arrival of its passengers.
Garrus caught the fleeting, 'guess we will,' before he turned to address his crew.
"I'm in the mood for some valuable intel, Liara. What have you got for me?" He asked her as she made her way towards him and Shepard. Zaeed, Miranda, Grunt, and Javik followed not far behind.
"Nothing good, I'm afraid," Liara replied, pausing to bring up her own omni-tool. "I've been over the layout of the building several times over. It would seem we only have one clear-cut option for an entrance."
"Don't say the front door," Garrus warned.
"I'm sorry, but most of the facility is built straight into the ground. The place is just about impregnable."
Zaeed scoffed and folded his arms across his chest. "You give me three sticks of dynamite, coated in Red sand, and I'll impregnate the bitch."
"Charming," Miranda commented, pinning Zaeed with a look fueled by disdain.
"We could just blow past the door," Grunt offered.
"The objective is to observe," Garrus felt the need to remind them. "Blasting holes in the building or shooting the front desk clerk isn't going to help with that.
"What if it is pirates?" The young krogan asked with what sounded distinctly like hope. Like a very large kid about to get rewarded with a trip to the toy store.
"Then we blow their heads off." Grunt looked desperate to follow that offer up so Garrus hastened with, "but that only becomes an option after we know what we're dealing with."
"Agreed," Liara nodded.
"Did you even read the mission report I sent you?" Garrus' eyes narrowed suspiciously on the krogan and was met with a non-committal shrug.
"Didn't bother. You guys like to talk so much, I knew I'd hear all about it either way." Garrus just managed to repress a frustrated sigh, but Grunt still found something on his expression that caused him to roll his eyes. "What? I stopped reading those a long time ago. You talk too much. Just tell me who needs killing."
Did Grunt give Shepard this kind of grief? Garrus couldn't recall. Maybe she was just better at rolling with it. He certainly made Garrus miss Grundan Krul.
"Our target," Garrus began, internally clawing for patience. "Is one Le'mela Corp Mining Facility, located smack dab in the middle of a lovely wasteland, coincidentally called Le'mela Oasis. From what I understand, it isn't much of one." He returned his gaze to his asari compatriot. "Liara, were you able to crack their database?"
"I secured a list of security codes as well as a roster of all the employee names. I've already taken the liberty of forging some badges."
"Good," Garrus nodded. "Hopefully that'll make getting past the front desk a little less bloody."
He ignored Grunt's disapproving grumble, but he didn't miss the sharp look Javik exchanged with Liara.
"There is one problem," she conceded, glancing away from her companion's stern look to give Garrus an apologetic one.
'Nothing is ever easy,' Garrus thought.
"What?"
"There aren't any krogan on the list or..." she glanced at the silent prothean beside her.
"Or protheans," Garrus stated the obvious, not liking the insinuation. They would have to enter into a building, likely crowded with hostiles, without the help of their two squad mates best fit for that job. Well, he still had Zaeed, but...
The man in question stepped forward. "You got me for that," he said, also picking up on the implication.
'Tempting,' Garrus considered. 'But...'
"Not this one, Zaeed. I'll need you to hang back and keep the engine running, so to speak."
"You want me to be a goddamn getaway driver?"
"No offense, but you're about as subtle as an incendiary device at an oil refinery." Garrus paused a beat, letting the old merc marinate in the jab at his past deeds.
"That was different and you damn well know it!" Zaeed snapped.
"Zaeed, merc ships have been spotted entering the territory," Garrus explained. "We don't know if the Blue Suns are involved and, if they are, we can't risk any one of them potentially recognizing you. Your reputation hasn't exactly improved much with them."
"He's got a point." Garrus was slightly surprised to hear Miranda, of all people, speak up in his defense. They didn't exactly have anything against each other, but she certainly wasn't someone Garrus considered himself particularly close to. Miranda turned her attention to Shepard, who had been silently watching the exchange from her perch on the shipping crate. "If you recall, Commander, it was Zaeed, you, and me who went to retrieve Archangel,-" No one noticed the way Garrus' mandibles fluttered with unease at the mention of his old title. "-Zaeed's presence was beneficial then because of how recognizable he was to the Blue Suns. We wanted them to trust us."
Shepard nodded at the recollection. "True. I agree with Garrus."
Zaeed bristled and rounded on the aforementioned turian. "I've been infiltrating bases longer than you've been alive, boy!"
Zaeed took a step toward him, and Garrus felt his plates itch. Insubordination was not something he had a lot of experience dealing with-well... He certainly had experience being the cause of it, but not of being on the receiving end. Garrus felt himself go cold in response as unbidden memories flooded into him and he found himself stepping in to further close the space between them.
"And I'm sure they're fond memories," he replied, his voice a cold note that was almost unrecognizable to his own aural canals. The relative sound was the same, but the tone was entirely someone else... No. He did know the tone, though it wasn't his own. "But if blending in with a hub of mercs is what I need to do to complete this mission, I will not allow a mug like yours to give me away. Because,-" He took another step forward. "-and you know I hate to be the bearer of bad news-" Another step "-you're not exactly-" They were face to face now, close enough for Garrus to growl the final word against the old merc's face- "Indistinguishable."
Zaeed held his gaze for what felt like minutes, though it was likely only seconds. Their audience was silent and still, with the exception of the way Shepard shifted uneasily at the edge of his vision. Then, as quickly as the tension rose, it abated when Zaeed crossed his arms between himself and the towering turian. He then took a step back with an unenthusiastic: "Have it your way then."
Garrus was able to hammer out a final plan with his ground team before they momentarily dispersed to gear up. They didn't want to risk the Normandy getting picked up by Asteria's satellite, so they would depart in a kodiak and land in the city of Ta'relle, located just a hundred klicks from Le'mela Corp Mining Facility. From there, they would secure an unmarked skycar to fly the remaining distance to the mine. Garrus, Liara, and Miranda would suit up on the way there, donning the unremarkable brown jumpers of a Le'mela mine worker. They would then hide their vehicle, leaving Zaeed behind with several guns in case they found themselves in need of a quick escape, and infiltrate the building.
As his ground team scattered to collect their effects, Garrus approached Shepard one last time. He lowered himself on the crate beside her, feeling the warmth of her as he watched his crew mill about. He used the calm of her presence to reflect on the troubling confrontation with Zaeed. The fact that it happened didn't trouble him. It was the way he handled it, the voice he spoke with. It wasn't his own, but at the same time it was. He wanted to claim he didn't recognize it, but he did. All too well.
Perhaps some of the Primarch's idiosyncrasies had rubbed off on him after all, bringing to light some old Archangel mannerisms he'd long thought buried.
Garrus wasn't sure how to feel about that.
He was aware of the tension in his body and he did his best to hide it, but he knew he'd fail in that effort when it came to Shepard. She read him like a book, but as strange as it was, he was perfectly all right with that; found a comfort in it.
If either one of them was compromised in any way, they would know.
"Congratulations," she said. "I'd say you passed."
Garrus looked at her questioningly so she tilted her head in Zaeed's general direction. The man in question was too busy fastening grenades to his belt to notice his newly acquired attention.
Garrus didn't follow. "You think that was a test?" He asked, tone heavy with skepticism.
"Absolutely." She nodded.
"Funny, I seem to recall a similar situation between you and him back on Zorya."
"Exactly." He loved Shepard, but he always knew she was crazy. Garrus fixed her with a look to express as much and she smiled in return.
"You can't be serious."
"I am."
"Shepard, I know you strive to see the good in everyone- it's an annoying habit of yours, but even you have to admit that he wasn't so much testing you as he was completely and utterly pissed off at you."
Her smile cracked even wider and her eyes lit up with mirth. "Oh, no arguing with you there. He wanted me dead that day." Shepard was still smiling, which would have looked odd, after a statement like that on any other person. For some reason though, it suited her. "Then I shoved a gun in his face, told him to get in line, and we've been bosom buddies ever since." Shepard's eyes flickered momentarily to Zaeed before returning to him. "Zaeed likes you, Garrus. Hell, he probably likes you more than me if all the traps and bombs in Anderson's apartment mean anything- thanks for that, by the way. He has no problem trusting you as a squad mate, but he needed to trust you as a leader and until now, you haven't given him a reason to challenge you."
Garrus shot Shepard a dubious expression. "You put me in charge of that squad in the Collector Base with him in it. That wasn't enough?"
To that, Shepard shrugged. "A lot of time has passed since then." Shepard paused to lay a hand on his pauldron and her smile softened into a reassuring one. "What I'm trying to say is you did- you're doing well. I'm proud of you."
She said the words he wasn't even aware he needed to hear. Read him like a book indeed.
Garrus flicked his mandibles into a grateful smile.
"Thanks, Shepard." He would have said more, wanted to say more, but his words were intercepted by the abrupt arrival of the only prothean in the galaxy.
"A moment," was all Javik said before wheeling on the spot and walking briskly to a private corner of the shuttle bay.
"It's fine," Shepard told him, urging him to follow the prothean. "Just come say goodbye before you leave."
Garrus lifted himself from the crate and made his way across the floor to where Javik stood. He got the feeling this was a personal matter so he tried to appear as inconspicuous as possible. When he reached him, the prothean took a long moment to just stare at him. As the seconds ticked by, Garrus began to wonder if this was some sort of trick until Javik finally spoke.
"I wonder," he began. "Did the commander ever speak with you over what she and I discussed pertaining to the Echo Shard?"
"A little," Garrus admitted. "She said you touched it and saw memories of your people before the Reapers... and after."
"Yes." Javik stared again, grim faced and unmoving. "And did she tell you what we spoke of on Earth, before the Reapers fell?"
"No," Garrus told him, voice subdued.
"I told her that I wanted to die. I expressed my plans to go to the Cronian Nebula, put the ghosts of my men to rest, and then join them." Javik turned his head, all four eyes landing on Liara as she stooped to pile their disguises into a duffle bag, oblivious to the conversation at hand. In that moment, Garrus saw all he needed to understand their relationship. "When the Normandy returned to Earth, I left immediately, but... that infuriating asari followed." Garrus would have laughed if Javik's tone wasn't so grave. The prothean met his gaze again and said, "She stopped me. For good or ill, I am alive because of her." He blinked then, which somehow lightened the darkened mood. Perhaps his version of a minuscule smile?
"She wants me to help her write some absurd book." Another blink. "And I intend to. To that end-" His voice dropped an octave and Garrus suddenly found himself on the receiving end of an icy, quadruple glare. "If you return without her, know that I will boil your gizzard and feed it to you."
With Javik's words of encouragement ringing in his head, Garrus boarded the shuttle with five of his six crew in tow. Garrus, Miranda, and Liara would infiltrate the mine while Zaeed and Grunt lay low with the skycar, ready to call in if any changes on the outside of the facility occur and, if necessary, provide additional firepower.
The ride was a bumpy one. Garrus had recruited a Kodiak pilot some weeks back; a woman in her thirties with dark skin and bright purple hair, named Lluvia Hernandez. She hadn't really been tested yet, but from what Garrus could tell, she was as good a pilot as Steve. She had years of practice flying Cerberus shuttles- a fact that greatly dismayed Garrus. He would have rejected her outright if not for the recommendation of Miranda Lawson.
"The Illusive Man deserved what he got," Miranda told him while hovering over his shoulder as he reviewed Hernandez's application. "But this woman is one of many Cerberus employees that walked away when Shepard did. More to the point, she's good at what she does." She fixed him with a meaningful look and told him, "Not everyone in the organization had nefarious intentions."
Garrus went over the plan with his team a few times on the ride down through Asteria's atmosphere, answering questions and concerns or, in Grunt's case, lack thereof.
"I wait outside until you tell me to kill," the krogan recited without enthusiasm. "I got it."
Asteria's star, Hekate, was already setting when the Kodiak finally touched down in the city of Ta'relle and the hatch hissed open to an impressive, albeit, morbid sight. The beauty of the city, bathed in the orange light of the yellow dwarf as it was, still managed to shine past the massive amount of destruction. In a ghoulish way, it reminded Garrus of past domestic abuse victims he had visited during his C-sec days- still managing to smile past the blackened eyes and broken teeth.
Clearly, rebuilding this colony was not at the top of the asari's list.
Ta'relle was nestled in the valley of a rocky, sunburnt canyon. Russet-colored stone pillars projected from the ground to stand as monoliths against the test of time. Of course, most of them lay toppled now. As he gazed upon the ramparts of the city, could almost picture how it must have looked before. He imagined bright lights shining through every open window and outlining the rooftops and balconies of every building. He noticed broken pipes and pump systems that likely cascaded water down the sides of the architecture, further lit up by the illumination behind it in what he was sure made a stunning, if not wasteful, display. In the distance, the ruins of a biotiball stadium stood wrecked and alone, with the ghosts of past audiences cheering in the air.
Now, the remaining buildings stood like hollowed husks of what they once were, still elaborate and ostentatious per asari standard, but in a very new and broken way. Many were long and rounded, ringed with balconies that made them look ridged all the way up like-
Garrus paused to squint at a cluster of them. Actually, they looked strangely phallic in shape, at least by turian standards. He took mental note not to comment on that to the locals. On that thought, he glanced around at the dusty streets.
'If there are any locals.'
Indeed, there were. No doubt the city had seen far heavier pre-war populations. The citizens without jobs at the nearby mine would have likely fled for worlds higher on the 'rebuilding list.' Still, some peered out their doors as they walked by, though none wore welcoming expressions. Garrus was beginning to think that taking a skycar would be out of the question. Hell, he'd consider himself lucky if they stumbled across one that even looked like it was still in working order.
"I could get use to this place," Grunt commented, staring approvingly at a skeletal building. "Reminds me of home."
"This is horrible," Liara lamented, far less amused than their krogan squadmate.
"Let's just find a car," was Garrus' reply as he walked ahead of the group on the lonely streets.
Eventually they found one that wasn't too broken. It was parked outside a smashed home and clearly abandoned. Miranda neatly stacked four piles of cinder blocks with the use of her biotics while Liara used hers to lift the car and position it on top of them. She had to employ a little bit of haste to lift the car before Grunt could move to grab it.
"I could have done that," the krogan sulked, but Garrus ignored him as he removed his gauntlets and got to work.
It took the better part of an hour to get the car running again, most of it spent scavenging for parts from other wrecked vehicles. After a couple test runs- he allowed Grunt to manually move the car off the blocks- Garrus and his ground team took to the air just as the sky darkened to a navy blue.