Chapter 15

"Okay, Miranda and Jacob I can see... but Kaidan staying to help them? That guy is by the books... I don't believe it."

Garrus stood at the bar in the Normandy's lounge, pouring himself a drink as Shepard and Liara sat on the nearby loveseat. After recounting the events that had taken place earlier Shepard wasn't surprised that Garrus was doubtful of the situation. He would have been as well.

"I know. I couldn't believe it either." Shepard took a sip of his own drink. "I must be a bad influence. You serve with me and end up quitting C-Sec to become a vigilante. Liara leaves archeology for shady information dealing."

"Part-time now, thank you," Liara corrected him with a grin.

"And I'm a respectable member of the turian military." Garrus sat down in the chair across from the others and shrugged. "Or something."

Shepard chuckled lightly. "Alright, fine. We'll call it a net even."

"In all seriousness though, it sounds like an interesting idea. I hope it works out." Garrus took a long gulp of his drink, let out a refreshed 'ahhh' as he finished.

"I agree," Liara commented. "I always felt like Kaidan was looking for something more. Hopefully he'll find it in helping those people."

"Aaand he gets to work with Miranda again." Garrus noted. "I've never been that into human women, but I think I know enough about them to say she was quiiite the looker."

"Garrus!" Liara grinned. "I don't think Tali would appreciate that."

The turian shrugged and finished off his drink in what was only his third big sip. "Well she doesn't hold a candle to Tali. Not that either of you two would know."

Shepard laughed. "Hey now, I think I saw her nose back on Rannoch."

Garrus chuckled as he pulled himself to his feet. "Well I've seen a bit more than that and I can safely say it's worth the look. Now if you'll excuse me, I should retire for the evening. It's been a long day."

Shepard nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I think I'm ready to call it as well. Liara?"

The asari had already started to stand. "One step ahead of you."

Shepard finished off the last of his drink and set the glass on the bar before turning and following Liara and Garrus into the hall. Garrus turned at the elevator and waved his hand back toward the others. Shepard and Liara called goodnight as they continued on to the lift and tapped the call button. The door parted a few seconds later and the two boarded, tapping the button for Shepard's cabin.

"So Joker has already set course for Palaven?" Liara inquired as the elevator promptly rose through the ship.

"Yep. Little over a day from now we'll be entering the Trebia System."

Shepard glanced to her with a smile as the elevator pinged and stopped at the top level of the ship. He let out an exasperated sigh as he slowly lumbered from the elevator into his cabin. Liara placed a hand gently on his shoulder as she followed close behind him.

Shepard glanced down at his sweaty under-armor fatigues. "Uggh. Long day in armor. I might take a quick shower."

Liara gave him a sideways glance and mischievous grin. "Go hop in. Maybe I'll join you."

The commander blinked and quickly rid himself of his shirt while walking toward his bathroom. "Did I say a quick shower? I meant a long, borderline irresponsible for the water supply shower."

Garrus let out a relaxed sigh as he leaned back on the couch in the starboard observation room. "So is this what peace is like? It's been so damn long I'm not sure I remember."

Shepard stood by the window, looking out into the great abyss. "You're tellin' me."

"Well technically it's been longer for me. I wasn't dead for two years, after all."

Shepard shook his head with a smirk. "So I assume you've been in contact with your father and sister?"

"Yep. And they're safe in a refugee camp in the Sorithus Valley." Garrus suddenly let his voice change to a more serious tone. "They've said that... the fighting is still pretty bad on Palaven. The Reapers that stayed behind during the Battle of Earth didn't leave."

Shepard turned back to the turian with a look of concern. "Is Palaven safe?"

"Of course. Our fleet took out the ones in orbit in a matter of hours. But the little bastards on the surface ordering the ground troops around... they've been the hard part." Garrus looked down.

"Read any of the official reports? How's the fight going?" Shepard crossed the room and dropped into a seat next to the couch.

"We're doing fine." The turian let out a sigh. "We'll get it done eventually. I just hope my people are prepared for what comes after..."

"Rebuilding?"

Garrus shook his head. "Turians are warriors. And this has been one hell of a war. I just hope our priorities are straight afterward. I don't want resources going into bolstering our fleet or armies when we need to make our own home livable again."

Shepard shrugged. "You've got a lot of pull now. Keep them in line."

"Yeah... we'll see." Garrus stood and looked to Shepard. "We're probably getting close and I want to be on the bridge when we enter orbit. Just in case there are security concerns."

Shepard stood as well and the two walked to the door. "You're forgetting the benefits of traveling with a Spectre. Benefits you could have if you really wanted them."

"What are you, a Spectre recruiter now?" Garrus gave him a joking glance.

"Sorry, sorry." Shepard grinned as they stepped in front of the elevator, waiting for the car to arrive.

"I'm just messing around. I'll return their calls eventually," Garrus mused as they entered the elevator.

"I hope so. Someone's gotta take on the crazy stuff after I retire." Shepard leaned back against the wall of the elevator as it began to ascend to the CIC.

"Retire?" Garrus glanced to him questioningly.

Shepard shrugged. "I mean, I'm going to have to eventually. I can only die so many times."

The two exited the elevator as the door opened to reveal the CIC and began their walk up to the bridge. Shepard looked to the each member of the crew that they passed by, nodding and smiling occasionally. He hoped Garrus wasn't reading too much into his mention of retirement. He wasn't about to start thinking about that yet. He still had a mission to finish. Shepard and Garrus made their way up to the cockpit, stopping behind Joker's chair.

Joker glanced over his shoulder as he heard them approaching. "Hey Commander. Garrus."

Outside the viewports Shepard could see Palaven rapidly approaching. The space around the planet, while not as bad as Earth, was littered with dead turian warships and Reaper corpses alike. The surface of the planet itself also still wore a few dots of orange and red conflagration that burned away at whatever city had been unfortunate enough to host them. Shepard glanced to Garrus. The turian barely seemed phased by the utter devastation of his own homeworld. Garrus either knew how to suppress his emotions well or had already mourned the loss of his planet months ago.

"Any word from Palaven?" Garrus inquired.

"Just an ID request. They seemed satisfied with the response." Joker smirked as he checked over the engine coolant levels.

"Good. I've got the coordinates for the refugee camp where my family's staying." Garrus pulled up his omnitool. "Sending it now."

"Received. Thank you, Garrus." EDI's voice emanated from seemingly nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

Joker looked over to the navigation console with the updated waypoint and nodded. "Alright, looks like we'll be within range of a shuttle launch in about ten minutes."

Garrus turned to Shepard. "You should probably suit up. Palaven has radiation levels that I don't think humans can handle."

The commander nodded. "Will do. I'll meet you in the shuttle bay."

Garrus said while putting a hand on Shepard's shoulder. "Thank you for doing this for me, by the way. You didn't have to fly us all the way out here."

Shepard smiled. "You'd have done it for me."

"Damn right I would have."

Shepard and Liara stepped out of the elevator fully suited, helmets at their sides. Garrus waved them over to the idling Kodiak as Cortez leapt inside and prepared for departure. Shepard smiled as he approached Garrus.

"Liara, you coming too?" Garrus looked to his friends with appreciation.

"Of course." Liara smiled to the turian.

Garrus turned and jumped up into the Kodiak, offering a helping hand up to both of his friends. Liara took the hand, followed by Shepard and the trio quickly seated themselves after shutting the hatch.

"Hey Cortez!" Garrus called into the cockpit. "Let's get this over with!"

"Can do!"

The Kodiak quickly disembarked from the Normandy and began its descent to the surface of Palaven. Shepard and Liara both watched Garrus as he looked to the floor, muttering under his breath.

Shepard cleared his throat slightly. "Garrus... everything okay?"

The turian looked up. "Huh? Oh.. sorry. Just a little... nervous I guess."

Liara raised a brow. "Garrus Vakarian... nervous? I didn't think it was possible."

"I've never had the best relationship with my father and my sister is just a big old bundle of emotions. So yeah, just a little nervous."

Shepard looked down to his helmet. "Well if makes you feel any better we'll be right there with you."

Garrus chuckled slightly. "Relax. I can handle it."

Shepard and Liara donned their helmets as the Kodiak entered the atmosphere and looked to the vid feed of the rapidly approaching surface. Shepard recalled Liara's mention of the mountains on Palaven and quickly saw why she had such a specific memory. The mountain range the Sorithus Valley was nestled in was breathtaking. Given the apparent lack of a significant population, Shepard guessed the mountains on Palaven made up some of the only land not annihilated by the Reapers.

"Be in the refuge camp in about one minute," Cortez called from the cockpit.

Garrus took a deep breath and pull himself to his feet, grabbing hold of a rail on the ceiling for balance. Shepard and Liara soon joined him as the Kodiak grew closer and closer to the ground. Shepard felt the landing thrusters kick in as the green light on the door panel illuminated. Garrus tapped the panel, opening the hatch and presenting the trio with a staggering sight. Miles upon miles of prefab units filled their view as far as the eye could see. Shepard estimated they extended all the way to the edge of the valley some five kilometers away. The Kodiak was descending into a field of landing pads blanketed in shuttles loading and unloading cargo and refugees. Hundreds of people moved about the maze of supplies and vessels, all seemingly with a destination in mind. As the dropship touched down Garrus immediately leapt to the ground and waved Shepard an Liara after him.

"Come on!" Garrus had to shout to be heard over the dozens of nearby dropships and shuttles. "They said they would meet me at the processing facility nearby!"

Shepard and Liara dropped down and followed close behind Garrus as he began moving. Shepard looked to Liara and activated their personal comms.

"What do you think a 'processing facility' consists of in this place?"

The asari glanced back to him. "I suppose we'll find out."

"Cortez, keep the engines running," Shepard transmitted.

"Affirmative, sir."

The crowd of refugees was tough to walk through at times. Shepard could clearly identify the groups of civilians that were missing one or more of those who would have normally been together. He tore his eyes away after only a minute or two and focused on Garrus as he lead them to a large prefab building at the edge of the field of landing pads. A huge line made up mostly of turians snaked out of the large double doors at the entrance. Garrus marched by them, never breaking from his stride toward the doors. As he stepped into the building with Shepard and Liara in tow he began scanning the room. Half of the massive hall was filled with benches for what Shepard guessed were the many hours long waits that occurred inside.

"There..." Garrus nodded to the corner of the room.

Shepard looked to see a visibly older looking turian sitting with his head lowered. Standing beside him was a turian female, her gaze aimlessly drifting until happening upon Garrus. Garrus quickly began pushing his way through the crowd as his sister leaned down and began rustling his father from his slumber. Shepard and Liara made their way through the line but stopped to watch as the Vakarian family was reunited. The commander smiled under his helmet as the three turians broke down into either tears, laughter or both, embracing each other lovingly. After a minute or so Garrus glanced back to his friends and waved them over.

As Shepard and Liara approached them Garrus stood to the side. "Solana, dad... these are my friends. John Shepard and Liara T'Soni."

Solana wiped a few tears from her eyes and stepped forward, taking Shepard's hand. "It's an honor to meet you, Commander Shepard."

"The pleasure is all mine, Ms. Vakarian," Shepard stated sincerely.

Solana looked to Liara and extended a hand to her as well. "And it's a pleasure meeting you as well, Doctor T'Soni. My brother has told me about your research."

"Not that I really understood any of it," Garrus quickly added.

Liara chuckled softly and shook Solana's hand gently. "A pleasure to meet you as well."

As Solana stepped back the elder Vakarian, leaning on a silver cane, moved forward and looked Shepard directly in the eye. The commander straightened up as the turian C-Sec veteran snapped a salute. Shepard saluted sharply in return before the turian extended a hand.

"Commander Shepard... when my son told me he had left C-Sec to join your crew three years ago I thought he had thrown his whole life away."

Shepard reached out and took his hand, shaking firmly.

"I'm glad I was proven wrong," the old turian finished.

The commander smiled and drew his hand back to his side. "Garrus is the finest soldier I've ever served with, sir. It's an honor to call him my friend."

Garrus looked down and then over to Shepard. "Hey, Shepard... if it's okay I'd like to have a few hours here. We've got a lot to catch up on."

Shepard smiled as the three Vakarians stood beside one another for the first time in what he guessed was years. "Of course, Garrus. Take as long as you need. Liara and I can head back to the ship if you'd like the time alone."

Garrus glanced to his father and sister, then back to Liara and Shepard. "That'd probably be best. Wouldn't wanna see your old pal cry, would you?"

SUPER SPECIAL AUTHOR'S NOTE!

Once again I must apologize for the late chapter, but this time it's for a valid reason! Just as I was inspired to get back into writing by the ending of Mass Effect 3 I was inspired by this alternate ending FF (god that sounds pretentious, sorry) to write a full narrative. I just posted the first three chapters of a brand new story set in the Mass Effect universe by the name of Contingent Absolution. It's set a few years before the events of Mass Effect and features all original characters (plus maybe a cameo or two at some point... we'll see). So if you like Mass Effect and/or this story you should totally check it out on my author page. Alright, no more shameless self promotion. Thanks for reading, see you next week!