They weaved in a tightly executed formation from one container to another through the cargo bay, just as they had several dozen times before. Shepard took point, with Garrus on her six and Tali on rear guard. As they reached a suitable vantage point, Shepard held up one finger in signal. Wait.
Setting up an ambush was going to be trickier than usual. The Blue Suns were aware, thanks to Garrus' earlier operation here, that Shepard had been interfering with their operations. They wouldn't know the commander's true motivation, that she had only been helping out a friend. And maybe enjoying the abuse that was heaped on Harkin a little too much. But as far as the criminal organization was concerned, it was a damn good reason to be on high alert.
For the second time, Shepard was helping Garrus with a mission, albeit a less personal one this time. And a slightly less genuine one. He had been browsing C-Sec chatter for over a week, looking for a reason to get himself and Shepard back into action. A blip about the Blue Suns and suspicion that they were kidnapping and smuggling human children and adolescents out to Omega was more than he had hoped for. The sell was easy after that.
He'd gotten into the habit of leaving the door to the main battery open. Or maybe out of the habit of keeping it shut. When Shepard had approached the first time after his data-mining, he had turned to her eagerly.
"Shepard. I'm glad you came down- I found a bulletin from C-Sec, thought you might want to take a look at it."
Her expression lightened a bit. Garrus was relieved. No knowing what she had originally come down to speak with him about, but it likely would have been less comfortable than he'd have liked. Her eyes scanned the bulletin with her signature focus.
"You think this might have something to do with the Collectors?"
What was that human phrase- ah, yes. Bingo.
"I think it couldn't hurt to check it out. Either way, I'd say it would be worth our time to take down a slave-smuggling operation."
Shepard half-smiled at him for the first time since their tussle in the cargo hold. Good sign. "Suit up, Garrus."
Now they were perched atop a platform in a dark hold somewhere in the seedier wards. After putting their lives at serious risk in the Collector base, this seemed almost relaxing. He didn't even mind Tali's presence, in fact he began to think she might come in quite useful, and not just with her drone or her shotgun.
Shepard made a gesture indicating that she'd registered some movement, and for Tali to take position at an adjacent container. Sure enough, soon Garrus caught sight of several human and turian Blue Suns mercs, heavily armed, patrolling the area. They were obviously making a sweep before the product was brought in. One had apparently brought along a rocket launcher. The three squadmates stayed patiently in cover. No use getting into a firefight, even one they were certain to come out on top of, if it caused the mercs to abort their plans.
Garrus leaned in close to Shepard, careful not to come in contact should the noise of friction between their armor give away their position. This was it. Weapon at the ready, next to his commander, ready to take on whatever the galaxy threw at them. Joker was right, and this revelation began to allay his fears- this was going to be perfect.
He caught a glimpse of Tali readying a flashbang, probably borrowed off Kasumi. He charged and locked his rifle with silence and ease. Through his scouter he watched as a train of containers finally came into view. Shepard's hand started to rise, and Garrus' heart rate rose along with it in anticipation.
Gunfire! Damn- they'd somehow missed the one scout with brains enough to crawl up through the stacked crates. Their kinetic barriers burst into glowing blue flashes of light. His rifle was in position before the scout could fire long enough to take his shields down. And Garrus had the better weapon.
Two shots was enough to send the human male ricocheting down the stacks, and Shepard and Tali were already engaging the smugglers below. Garrus began lining up concussive shots on the mercs in one of his favorite strategies- he'd take down their shields, and then his commander would blow them away. With Tali taking care of the mechs, it was a slaughter.
They moved with swift precision down to the ground floor as the remaining, smarter mercs took cover and began to retaliate with grenades and biotic attacks. Tali tossed a flashbang, followed by a beautiful, staggered pattern of headshots from Garrus and Shepard. A biotic wall slammed into him at one point, knocking him clear over. He was on his feel in time to watch Shepard pick his attacker off without hesitation. A quick glance around told him they had made a clean sweep. The whole thing had taken no more than a couple of minutes.
A quick application of medi-gel took care of the glancing wounds he'd suffered. He turned to his commander, offering the remaining pack.
"Shepard?"
"I'm good. Tali?"
"No damage to report, Shepard," the quarian replied confidently.
"Sure, way to show me up," he replied with amusement as they descended on the containers. He and Tali set to work on the largest of them as Shepard moved along the line, taking note of the number and size of the crates, along with any other identification.
"No serial numbers," Tali reported. "That's not surprising. But there's not even a manufacturer's imprint on these."
"Someone on the inside," Garrus suggested casually, then cleared his throat. "Tali, when we're done here I may have a favor to ask you, if you're okay with it."
Tali turned her head towards him thoughtfully. "What kind of favor?"
Garrus made short work of the lock on the crate. "Don't worry, nothing too nefarious. I just have something that needs to be picked up later, but we're also going to be tracking down the person in charge of this little trade. I'd appreciate it if you did the pick-up while Shepard and I finish the job."
"I see," Tali's tone was light and amused. "Need a little 'alone time', do you?"
Garrus coughed a laugh, his voice becoming hushed. "You could say that."
"No problem, Garrus. I understand." She opened the crate, and upon seeing the interior that was conspicuously full of contraband rather than human children, sighed. Garrus mirrored her expression.
"Well, that was anticlimactic."
Shepard, meanwhile, was moving around to the opposite side of the crates, her gaze sweeping across the room. Her cybernetically enhanced eyes had caught the briefest of movements, a flash of white and blue. She slowly lifted her pistol, her stare honing in on a lone container a few dozen feet off. Her footsteps were quick and deliberate, until she spotted a spurred, armored leg from behind the crate.
"Stand up slowly," she barked suddenly, catching her squadmates' attention.
A pair of three-fingered hands lifted into the air, followed by the rest of the turian they were attached to. She came around to get a better view of him as he rose to his feet.
"Wait," he hurriedly responded. "Caias Attean, C-Sec."
"You make a convincing merc," Shepard replied, not yet lowering her weapon. Across the way, Garrus motioned to Tali to stay near the crates, jogging quickly towards the commander.
"I know humans are entirely aware of the concept of going undercover," Caias replied snarkily. Shepard gave a quick nod.
"I got that. I'm also aware of the concept of covering one's own ass."
"You are a piece of work," the turian mused as Garrus arrived at Shepard's side. Up close, he was suddenly struck with a bolt of recognition.
"He's telling the truth," Garrus informed her, pulling off his helmet and levelling his eyes at the other turian, who suddenly flared his mandibles in a smile.
"Garrus Vakarian?" Caias laughed. "Spirits alive, you're a sight. The Hell happened to your face?"
"Friend of yours?" Shepard queried with a small, teasing smirk. Garrus shifted, suddenly uncomfortable, and Caias interrupted before he could speak.
"Garrus and I went through the academy together. Didn't surprise too many of us when he quite C-Sec. Twice," Caias directed the comment at Garrus with intent. "He was always a little more insubordinate than everyone else. Was a bit surprised that he was serving under human command, to be honest."
"Plenty of turians serve under humans," Shepard pointed out. "Your little merc band has several humans in leadership positions, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yeah, but one must consider that we were pretty well-paid," Caias sparred verbally. "You find a lot fewer turians working for humans in a less lucrative capacity. Especially someone like Officer Vakarian here."
Shepard tossed Garrus a look. He'd been standing silently, his gut churning. This was the last thing he needed right now, when everything had been going so well. His mind scrambled for a distraction, some way to salvage this outing.
"If you know all about what I've been up to you must know that Commander Shepard is no ordinary human," Garrus asserted at Caias, then turned to give Shepard a look of deep sincerity. "I wouldn't want to serve under anyone else."
He noticed Caias looking deliberately between him and the commander, the gears turning, the smile slowly returning. This was getting worse.
"So that's it," Caias grinned. "She's a 'special' human."
Garrus started to stammer, but Shepard's surprise interruption saved him. "I've been dead and back, so yeah, that's pretty unique depending on who you ask. So, what now, since we've pretty much ended your assignment for you?"
Caias returned to business mode, sighing in her direction. "Well, my six-month stint is all for nothing, but I can see that we were both wrong about what was being moved. Still, my superiors should be happy about what was seized, and you took down a lieutenant in the process. All things considered, we came out ahead. I suppose I should thank you."
"Anytime," Garrus nodded. Shepard touched his arm briefly, then meandered back to help Tali with the last of the crates. Caias sized Garrus up for a moment.
"So, Vakarian. Want to grab a drink, for old times' sake?"
Garrus grumbled internally, unable to come up with any good reason to turn Caias down that wouldn't make him suspicious. "I could go for that. Let me inform Shepard, I'll meet you wherever you want."
"I'll get switched out of this Blue Suns getup while you do that," Caias agreed. "It'll be fun to catch up."
"Yeah," Garrus muttered noncommittally.