In a few short hours they would reach the Mu relay. Garrus was not looking forward to the trip across space to be ejected into a hot zone, without reinforcements. In the early morning hours he found himself in the loading bay, alone with the quiet and the mako. He had a feeling they would be needing it. He replaced anything he couldn't repair. He topped off the fluids, tightened, loosened, and cleaned wherever applicable. One could almost eat off the floor.
The orange glow from this console display reflected off his metallic carapace. He lay slumped in the chair, asleep. The console beeped, announcing it's completion of systems checks and diagnostics. His mandibles fluttered, but he did not wake. A few meters away the elevator doors slid open. The sound echoed though the empty bay, but the turian continued to rest in the awkward position, exhausted and unaware.
Shepard peeked in the open hatch of the mako, drawn to the flickering orange glow. She grinned when she spotted her friend snoring softly in the navigation chair. She took a step up into the tank, noticing how clean it looked. She wondered if all turians cleaned when they were nervous, thinking of how pristine Nihlus' quarters always seemed to be.
"Garrus," She whispered.
The turian's mandibles fluttered, but there was no other response.
"Garrus," She said a little louder with a soft shake of his shoulder.
He grunted and shifted his head to a more comfortable position. It was obvious to her, that he wasn't going to wake easily. She stood up right and took a deep breath.
"Garrus Vakarian, get out of that chair, now!" Shepard shouted.
Garrus woke with a start, his eyes wide and limbs flailing. He lost his balance and fell out of the chair in a heap and loud thump to the cold floor. The sound of Sonya's belts of laughter brought his eyes up to her reddening face. Shaking his head at himself as well as her, he got up with a grunt. Everything ached. He rubbed the back of his neck.
"Does everyone get the pleasure of your wake up call, Shepard?" He asked, "Or am I just that lucky?"
When he thought about waking up to her in the morning, this was not what he had in mind.
"You're just that lucky." She smirked.
"Great. I'll have to remember that the next time I end up on the floor," He teased her at his own expense. "What are you doing down here anyway? Shouldn't you be sleeping... or something?" He shrugged.
"It's 0700, Garrus. We're hitting the Mu relay in half an hour. You'd better suit up." She said.
It wasn't exactly an answer, but it would have to do. He couldn't help but notice the way the light from the console caught her features, especially her deep brown eyes. They seemed as if they caught fire with the orange glow. He also noticed the scent of recent bond marking and, faintly, mating musk. Even after her shower he could smell it under the scent of soap. He was a little jealous she and Nihlus had someone to blow off steam with whenever they needed to.
"Yes, Commander." He nodded, clasping his talons behind his back. When she didn't leave he shifted his weight. "Did you need something else, Commander?"
"The mako looks good." She complimented.
Garrus grinned a bit, proud of his work, happy that she noticed. He puffed up his chest and nodded his thanks.
"Next time you might want to strap yourself in if you plan on sleeping in a chair again," She teased with a smile.
"Thanks for the advice." He said sarcastically.
He watched her duck out of the mako and waited for the sound of the elevator doors before relaxing his posture. This was it. He hoped they were ready. Saren would have geth, maybe even colossus. Geth ships would likely be in orbit over the planet to stop them from getting to the surface. And if Sovereign was there, they had no chance of survival. He wondered if his father would finally be proud of him if they managed to stop the invasion of the Reapers, then thought better of it. His father would side with the Council. He was a mutineer. A traitor. It wouldn't matter that he helped save the galaxy. He hadn't done it by following the rules.
The console beeped again, drawing his attention back to reality. He sat back in the chair to examine the read outs. Everything checked out. He nodded his satisfaction to the display then glanced over to the armor piled in the back of the mako next to the ammo and other supplies they may need. He sighted heavily before getting up.
Shepard stood on the opposite side of the cockpit from Kryik as the ship was spat out of the relay. The rust color sphere below them was orbited by several geth ships. He wasn't surprised.
"Uh, Spectres? We've got company." Joker said with alarm.
"Have their sensors picked us up yet?" Liara asked from behind Shepard.
"Stealth systems are engaged. Unless we get close enough for a visual, they won't have any idea we're here." Joker answered.
"I'm picking up some strange readings from the planet's surface." Pressly announced from the sensor station.
"Take us down, Joker. Lock in on the coordinates." Shepard ordered.
"Negative on that, Commander. The nearest landing zone's two clicks away." Pressly advised, studying the map of region from the sensor banks.
"We'll never make it in time on foot. There has to be somewhere closer," Vakarian insisted.
"There is no where closer! I've looked!" Pressly shouted back, continuing to scour the map.
"Drop us in the mako." Vakarian said.
Everyone looked back at him as if he were crazy.
"You need at least a hundred meters of terrain to pull off a drop like that. The most I can find near Saren is twenty." Pressly said, earnestly.
"There's no way the mako can make a drop in twenty meters." Shepard said.
"We have to try!" Liara argued.
"Find another landing zone." Shepard ordered.
"There is no other landing zone!" Pressly shouted. "The descent angle's too steep."
"It's our only option." Garrus insisted. "The mako can do this, I've made significant up grades to withstand Shepard's driving, no offense, Commander." Garrus nodded to the woman scowling at him. "She's got the best on her, plus some. Liara's right. We have to try."
Vakarian looked to Kryik, his resolve was as steel as was his gaze. The Spectre met his eyes, his brow plates knitted sternly on his face. Garrus curled his talons into fists, ready for him to give the word.
"It's not an option! It's a suicide run!" Pressly insisted.
Joker brought up the map while the crew argued behind him. Pressly was right on every count, if this was an average ship with an average helmsman. The Normandy was no more average than he was. It was a tight fit, but it just might work if everything went perfectly...
"I can do it." He said. The din behind him was immediately silenced.
"Joker?" Shepard asked as if she were warning him to stay out of the cookie jar.
"I can do it." Joker repeated, as he started punching in the vectors.
Shepard looked to Kryik, he and Vakarian were locked in a silent battle of resolve. The internal struggle was visible on the Spectre's face.
"If we don't try it's worse than if we fail." Kryik said, mostly to himself.
"Gear up and head down to the mako." He ordered. "Joker," He glanced over to the human. "Drop us right on top of that bastard!"