"Fancy a roll up?" Zaeed offered a twisted bit of paper with tobacco in it to him. Garrus chuckled, shaking his head, but taking the cigarette anyway. Looked at how expertly it was bound up, a neat little twist on each end.

"Rolling your own again, Massani? Already went through that box of cigars from Tuchanka?" It had been good to see Wrex again, even if he hadn't been able to come with them. Wrex was king of his mountain now, his responsibilities to his people came first. As it should be. And Garrus was glad to see what plans the krogan had for the future. It was inspiring. Garrus dragged his attention back to Zaeed as the man started talking again.

"Yeah, Gyah, those things were stout. I don't think I've ever tasted anything that awful before, and that's coming from a man who's had rat before." The mercenary spat to one side, face crinkling in disgust.

"Well, I'm told that they use pyjak droppings for fertilizer. Wouldn't be surprised if they mixed some of it in." He smiled at the wretching sound the human made. "You know, for flavor."

"Oh, you're just a barrel of laughs, you know that, Vakarian?" Massani lit his cigarette, took a deep drag and leaned against the low wall they were both crouched behind. "Think the boss needs a hand?"

Garrus looked over the wall to where Shepard was picking off geth as they came up a ramp, "Naw, she's got it."

"So, this Haestrom place is a bastard. That goddamned sun keeps popping my shields, it's getting bloody annoying." Zaeed looked up as Shepard dropped back, taking cover near them. She threw an amused glance their way.

"Little early for a victory smoke, isn't it, Zaeed? A little soon to have blown your last...heat sink?" She grinned a wicked grin as she popped up and took out a couple more geth.

Zaeed put his hands on the top of his head, interlacing his fingers as he shrugged, "Eh, before, during, after. Bugger it."

"You're such a romantic." Shepard looked up as a shadow fell over them, "And now, if you don't mind, boys, a little assistance. We got dropships inbound."

Garrus shared a sigh with Massani as they brought their weapons to bear on the new arrivals. One thing about geth is how eerily coordinated they are, they move as one, seem to think as one. Though from what Tali told him on the first Normandy, that was close to the truth. Luckily, the machines lacked the sort of irrational bursts of intuition and creativity that Shepard brought to the field. They were incapable of adapting to her strategies because her plans followed no set formulae.

But somewhere in these ruins was a good friend, trapped by these same geth and so they relentlessly pushed forward, dropping machine after machine, staying out of the dying sun's deadly rays.

Kal'reegar was an interesting fellow. As Shepard talked to him where he sat propped against a wall with his rocket launcher, it struck Garrus that Shepard must have come across Tali once already. Strange that she didn't mention it, maybe it had something to do with why Tali hadn't joined her crew then. Garrus exchanged a look with Massani and the two men looked out over the ruins at the colossus planted at the door to the structure Tali was holed up in. Damned thing had almost blown them to hell once already. Garrus turned to start paying attention to Kal'reegar as he reported the situation.

"-damn thing's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself." The quarian shook his head angrily, "I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. Tried to move in closer, but one of the bastards punched a shot clean through my suit."

"How bad is your suit damaged?" Shepard's eyes roamed over the man's suit, looking for holes.

"Combat seals have it isolated, and I'm swimming in antibiotics. The geth might get me, but I'm not gonna die of an infection in the middle of a battle. That's just insulting."

Garrus smiled wryly, admiring the man's pluck. "We need to get to Tali. Got any ideas?"

The quarian turned his mask to the turian, "Just one. I'm not moving so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher that the sun hasn't fried yet. Get your team get in close. I'll keep the colossus busy. Maybe even take down it's shields. With luck you'll be able to finish it off."

"You've done enough, Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away." She frowned, fingers tapping her lip as she assessed the battlefield.

"Wasn't asking your permission. My job is to keep Tali safe." Was Garrus imagining a note of panic in the man's voice? Might be more than a simple escort mission for Kal'reegar. Garrus understood that...need implicitly. Reegar shook his head, "This is our best shot."

When the quarian stood to take aim at the colossus, Shepard firmly pushed him back into cover, her hand on his shoulder. She leaned in close and said, in a low and dangerous voice, "We don't have enough people on our side for you to take one for the team. Stand. Down."

Kal'reegar slumped down the wall, clutching his side, "I can't just stand here while you run into enemy fire. They killed my whole squad!"

Shepard drew her air of command about her, staring the man down, "If you want to honor your squad, then watch our backs. We need you here in case they bring reinforcements."

"Alright, Shepard. We'll do it your way. Hit the bastards for me. Keelah se'lai!"

Shepard turned to her team. Garrus waited for orders and was stunned when her hand gripped his shoulder. She smiled and said, "It's your show, Vakarian. What's the plan?"

His jaw dropped, then he said almost angrily, "Tali's life is at stake. You really want to jeopardize her by switching it up like that? Not a good time for field testing."

Zaeed looked like he agreed with him, jaw clenched. It was proof to Garrus anyway that no one could have confidence in his leadership, especially given his history. But, Shepard, that obstinate woman, poked him in his chest guard. And said, her mouth in a grim line, "Time's a-wasting. Orders?"

This was going nowhere fast. He decided to play along, but later they were going to have words. Garrus surveyed the area quickly, pointing at the right most route, "I'm going to higher ground, you and Massani take the middle. I'll pick the geth on the left off before they can flank you."

He didn't have to tell them to stay out of the colossus' line of sight or out of the sun's radiating light. Massani looked unsure, and Shepard kept her implacable expressionless mask on. Garrus hoped to hell she knew what she was doing. Taking point, he led the group to the right, gesturing for them to break off as he stormed the ramp, his assault rifle blazing away, taking out four geth who stood in his way. He rolled into cover behind a small crate and unslung his sniper rifle, bringing it up quickly to headshot the wave of geth that were running up the left side of this arena. He flicked open his comm channel, "Massani, drop an inferno grenade, at your 10 o'clock, six meters out."

The resulting explosion took out one of the flamethrowing geth, and he watched Zaeed drop back into cover as the colossus opened up on their location. They were pinned for the moment until Garrus could move up to cover them. Garrus threw an overload and a concussive shot at the colossus, drawing its fire so they could make headway. A rocket from Kal'Reegar took the pressure off him and he sent a thanks to the quarian over his commlink. Assault rifle out, he advanced. There were a few geth up here with him and he took them out quickly before finding the perfect place to set up his sniper rifle. Garrus' gaze swept over the battlefield, tracking all the enemy numbers in his mind's eye as he cleaned house. It was a heady feeling, leading his team against such great numbers. It was actually kind of exhilarating.

Shepard and Massani had the whole center clear so he sent them around the left to get ready for the final assault on the colossus. Meanwhile, he scoped and dropped all the remaining mobile geth on the right. The ladder led him down to the back wall where the colossus waited. It was huddled for the moment, rebuilding itself. But its head popped up and turned in his direction as soon as he came around the corner. In desperation, he leapt for cover just as it opened fire. The ordinance pounded on the steel crate he was hiding behind. Smaller gunfire reports behind the monstrosity told him that Shepard and Massani were in position and unloading on its rear.

Slowly, it turned to bring its arsenal to bear on this new threat. That's when he let loose on its back. The giant geth seemed undecided where it wanted to point its guns and sensing an opportunity, Garrus whispered to Massani over the comm, "Can you put a delay on those grenades of yours?"

"Up to twenty seconds, boss." came the reply. Garrus smiled savagely.

"Can you roll one gently under the thing? I would be ever so grateful." A laugh came over the comm, making his grin even wider.

"On it." Garrus brought everything to bear on the colossus, knowing that soon, soon it would drop down and try to repair itself. Just as the legs started to fold under it, he saw a small object with a blinking red light fly perfectly into the space between them. And then the whole machine plummeted to the ground, hiding that deceptively small device under it.

"3...2...1-" With a soft 'whoomph', the whole thing lifted off the ground about a meter, it didn't seem like much, but the damage was done. The bomb had torn it up on the inside, far beyond the ability of its backup systems to repair. He watched the light of its one eye blink out, plates over it fluttering in a way that to him seemed almost perplexed. With a loud whoop, Zaeed ran up and booted it in the side, making it fall away from him slowly, creaking and groaning.

Garrus stood fluidly, pleasure at a job well done flowing through his body. He took that roll up Massani had handed him some time ago and stuck one end in his mouth. He sauntered up to where the other two were waiting and snarked, "Anyone got a light?"

Zaeed handed him a lighter wordlessly, only wordless because he was laughing so hard. Shepard clapped him on the shoulder, her face blazing with approval. Garrus tipped his imaginary cap to her, then lit the smoke, coughing a bit on the first few inhales. This was a little more difficult to do without proper lips, hard to get enough suction, but with the help of his mouthplates, he could just about manage. Eventually, he left off trying to smoke it and just left it hanging out of his mouth at a jaunty angle.

"The galaxy's first smoking turian. " Laughed Massani as they all turned to the door. It slid open to reveal a room full of dead geth. Tali stood with her back to them at the far end, her hands still flying over the keyboard under a monitor. Massani nudged him in the ribs, whispering conspiritorially, "Cor, she's got one hell of an ass."

Garrus looked down at the man, saying in mock anger, "That was crude. You are a crude little man."

"You speak the truth, turian. Anyway, that was fun back there. Wasn't too sure at the beginning, but hell you pulled it off. Almost as good as her." Massani jabbed a thumb in Shepard's direction. Garrus shook his head in denial. No one was as good as Shepard, war was her bailiwick. All he'd done was a classic pincer attack, with a dash of ordinance.

"Remind me to tell you about the apples, Zaeed. No one'll ever be as good as Shepard." Now he moved closer to where Shepard and Tali were talking, tossing back a last rejoinder, "Now I have to go greet my friend and tell her you like her ass."

Muttered words followed him as he reached out to embrace Tali, lifting her off her feet and swinging her round, much to her consternation.