Honor's Boundary -
A Garrus Vakarian Tale
By: Kellieqd
Game: Mass Effect
Pairing: Shepard...eventually
Disclaimer: The Mass Effect universe and it's characters are the sole intellectual property of Bioware and EA. This is simply my interpretation of their story.
Chapter 4: All Aboard
He didn't think any thing could be more impressive than the ship docked before him, until he cleared the decontamination chamber and caught his very first glimpse of the marvel she really was. He wasn't alone. He could hear the quarian let out a gasp of excitement as she entered at his heels.
"Keelah! Can you believe we'll be serving on an Alliance prototype?" she squealed. "Everyone back home is going to be so jealous. I hear she has IES stealth capability!" her voice reaching a shrill level.
"That's the turian engineering," he interjected smugly. The Normandy may be under Alliance control but it was a co-developed with the help of the Turian Hierarchy and sponsored by the Council.
"Did you see that mass accelerator canon? Top notch," he added.
He hoped his enthusiasm wasn't quite as tangible as the starry eyed girl next to him, but he was giddy on the inside. Play it cool Garrus.
"I'll be watching you!" the Pilot's voice rang from the cockpit. "Nothing happens on this ship that I don't know about. I expect all of you to treat her like a lady," the red haired male proceeded to whisper something presumably to the ship itself as he stroked the area next to the controls.
"Humans!" Wrex grumbled, rolling his eyes. "Outta my way," he pushed his way past Tali and Garrus and moved toward the Command Deck.
"Don't let him upset you, he's a Krogan, he can't help it," the Pilot said reassuringly to his ship.
Talking to a ship? Were they all going to be this weird? Then again he had slipped in a few stolen words to his sniper rifle over the years, whom he lovingly called Kam in memory of his grandmother Kamira.
The pilot spun around in his chair and extended his arm. Garrus recognized the human greeting and accepted the handshake.
He introduced himself, "The name is Moreau, best damned pilot in the Milky Way! People around here call me Joker. You can call me Jeff," he said to Tali as he took her hand and brought it slowly to his mouth for a kiss. Although Garrus had never seen one like that before.
The young Quarian giggled and Garrus swore the skin beneath her mask flushed pink for a second.
"Pleased to meet you, but I really can't wait to see more of the ship, I should go" she said sheepishly turning to follow Wrex's footsteps.
"I could pencil in a private tour...if you..she's gone isn't she?" the Pilot asked, already knowing the answer. "Great," he muttered and spun his chair back around to face the controls once again. "You, well... you seem like a smart guy I'm sure you can find your own way around. I need to prepare for the FTL jump."
"Probably a good idea. It was nice to meet you Officer Moraeu," Garrus said.
"Later," was all Joker replied.
Shepard is willing to place our lives in the hands of this guy? Maybe he had signed on too hastily. He left the cockpit and made his way toward the Command Deck. There were a at least a dozen crew members manning this level. He recognized some of their faces from the Citadel. You gain a certain level of familiarity with faces while scrolling through thousands of immigration files at C-Sec.
The holographic interface on the ship's Galaxy Map was cutting edge, navigating would be a breeze. He wanted to touch it. Don't overstep, it's your first day dammit. He had already lost sight of Tali and Wrex. Wonder where they wandered off to? He was now the only nonhuman on this tier of the ship. It made him a little uneasy. Most of the crew smiled as he walked by, throwing out a cordial "hello," or "welcome aboard!" But he could tell some were apprehensive, he felt their gaze lingering. I wonder how much flack Shepard was getting for this? There was still a lot of residual tension between Turians and Humans from the First Contact War.
After beginning to feel familiar with this level, he was ready to see the rest of the ship. He made his way down the stairs and peeked around the crew quarters. The layout reminded him of Turian vessels he had been on. There wasn't much to see, just humans going about their routine duties. He wanted to see the heart of the ship. That's where he would feel at home. He signaled the elevator to take him to the Engineering Deck.
He was about to close the door when...
"Hold the elevator!" It was the young biotic from yesterday. "Thanks! Shepard wants me to check in with Engineer Adams before we leave, you know, one final inspection. She's really something isn't she?" a grin crossed his face.
"I'll say, a true marvel of engineering," he agreed.
"Engineering, really? Nah, I think she's more of the natural type. None of that modification business that everyone goes for nowadays," he replied.
He must have read the puzzled expression on Garrus' face. They exchanged an awkward glance.
"You were referring to the ship weren't you?" the Lieutenant said, clearing his throat and fiddling with his dark hair, clearly embarrassed.
What else would I be referring to? Maybe they really were all going to be this strange.
"Oookay. So let's try this again. I'm Kaidan," he pressed the elevator control as if it would somehow make the elevator move faster.
"I looked over your file, your records are impressive. Best sniper in your class? Says you can hit a headshot from over 3,000 meters," he said, clearly working to change topics.
"You could say sniping has become my method of choice," Garrus said, trying to play it down, but only a little. He gave his rifle bag a tug. He didn't like that he knew nothing about the human in return except what he could presume from his biotic amp.
"Amazing!" Kaidan responded. The doors swished open and the Lieutenant bolted.
"Nice seeing you again Garrus, we should meet up later in the Mess. The chef's terrible at levo-meals, so I'd hate to see what he whips up for you and Tali. I'll show you some of my tricks, makes it edible at least! Oh and don't worry about Williams, her bark is worse than her bite... I think!" he hollered unsurely over his shoulder as he headed off around the corner.
He didn't know what to make of Alenko, he seemed sincere, but not professional enough for his taste.
The cot by the M35 Mako was still available and Garrus instantly knew where he would set up camp. It was a nice quiet corner, perfect for observing the behaviors of his new crew mates. He'd always wanted to drive the human all terrain vehicle next to him. He'd have to ask Shepard if she would be ok with him making some modifications to enhance it's performance. He had heard their shock absorption was terrible and he could easily improve it's cannon's accuracy by at least 20%.
Excited to be settling in, he sat down to finally look over the dossier he and the other new recruits had been given. He was anxious to see what really happened on Eden Prime.
I knew it! I knew there was more to Nihlus' death. At C-Sec he had been locked out of all the classified files surrounding the turian's final mission. While Garrus had never met the deceased Spectre he knew him very well. Garrus had always looked to him as a role model, he was the kind of man Garrus aspired to be. Nihlus was everything his Father despised in a Turian. Born outside of Hierarchy space, he had a reputation for defying direct orders. But his skills in battle were unmatched and he got results. It wasn't long before the Council took notice and teamed him with their top agent, Saren. Saren befriended Nihlus, mentored him... and according to the datapad he head also betrayed him with a shot to the back of the head.
A knot formed in Garrus' stomach. He had always suspected foul play, but Nihlus and Saren were like brothers. Garrus considered it his personal duty to avenge his former hero's death. He would stop Saren at any cost...
He continued reading, learning how Saren had been at Eden Prime to recover some sort of Prothean artifact. Why was he looking for relics from a society who had been extinct for thousands of years? He read how the Geth had been turning innocent bystanders into "husks," as they were calling them. Somehow converting them into mindless cyborg weapons. He learned how Shepard's mind had somehow interfaced with the Prothean device they found, believing it was some sort of Beacon. She must be strong to survive something like that in tact, having ones mind exposed to something so forceful would break a lesser person.
There was a short video at the end of the log. It was a transmission that had been sent right before the squad deployed.
- *Pew pew, pew pew pew pew * bursts of light shone across the screen from the amount of shots fired.
"Get down!" a female Alliance soldier pushed the person recording into cover.
* pew pew, pew pew pew*
"We are taking heavy causalities, I repeat heavy causalities," another officer exclaims. "We can't get evac, they came out of nowher..." the audio cuts out. A reverberating noise sounds down from above. The video cuts to a marine, all color had drained from his face as he beheld whatever was coming toward them. He was frozen in place... horrified. The camera turns to face the impending threat , then the video goes black -
What in spirits name is that? It only matched the description of one thing he knew of. It's not possible.
"Hey bird brain! Keep it down over there, living through that nightmare once was enough," interrupted the young woman across the hangar. Her icy stare matched the intensity of her request.
Bird brain? Must be the "Williams" Kaiden warned me about.
"I apologize soldier. I had no idea it was so loud. To be honest, I was so wrapped up in the report I didn't see you there," he replied sincerely. He was struggling to form proper sentences after what he just watched.
"Yeah, yeah, just pay more attention next time. I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, 2nd Frontier Division. I don't know how it works on your ships, but here at the Alliance we actually try to get things done," she shot back.
Kaiden wasn't kidding.
"Understood, I won't bother you again," he said hoping to smooth things over. But he was met with cold silence as she returned to the console she had been working on.
- All new recruits and senior officer's report to the Comm Room for a mission planning conference, an automated voice chimed from the intercom.-
Oh Spirits thank you! Garrus was grateful for the way out of the tense atmosphere that had developed in the room.
"Now that you should all be up to speed, I want your input," started Shepard.
The room was assembled like a round table of sorts, minus the table. The Commander didn't stand elevated above the rest, but rather sat amongst them, as if they were equals. Garrus had never been called to a meeting of his Superiors while serving in the military. He felt deeply honored to be asked his opinion.
Shepard continued...
"Together the Alliance and the Council have provided us with three leads as a jumping off point; One, there is an Asari archaeologist by the name of Liara T'Soni at a dig site in the Artemis Tau cluster. She is a renowned expert in the field of Prothean study, it is likely she would be able to help decipher the message I received from the Beacon on Eden Prime. Her knowledge could prove invaluable. Second, a human colony on Feros, home to an ancient Prothean metropolis, came under attack by the Geth. We need to supply emergency support to the colonists and find out what the Geth were looking for. Lastly, an Asari Matriarch, presumably the one from Tali's disc, was spotted on Noveria, where our sources say Saren is an investor in several privately funded Research Labs. The decision is ultimately my own, but I value your opinions. Where should we start?" she asked, opening the subject for discussion.
Alenko was the first to jump in.
"Commander, I think we should pick up Dr. T'soni. I saw what that Beacon did to you, it would have been me if you hadn't intervened. I think we'd all feel better if she had a look at you, made sure you were ok and clarified what you saw," he suggested, concern permeating his voice.
"Thank you Kaidan, I feel fine, but I will take that into account," replied Shepard.
"Commander, I think we should head to Feros. I couldn't help the colonists at Eden Prime," she paused and took a breath, "if there is any chance we can help save human lives there... well then that's what we're here for," said Chief Williams.
"Valid point Ashley, I know this has been difficult for you. But we have to remember that there is a bigger picture here, if Saren gets away countless more lives could be at stake. We can't let that happen and we have to prioritize accordingly," she said thoughtfully.
Are they blind? There should be no debating here, it is obvious which mission should take priority.
"Commander Shepard. As you said, we are here to stop Saren. We can't afford to waste time with missions that may not bring us any closer to our goal! The only thing we know for sure is that Saren is working with the Asari matriarch on Noveria, we need to apprehend her before she gets away. She can lead us right to him," he said adamantly.
He was met with mixed reactions from the room, but he saw a few shake their head in agreement.
"Garrus, you make a good case. But if what we saw on Eden Prime really was a Reaper -" Reaper, his instinct before had been right, but he never expected it could be true - "then there is a possibility Saren is being controlled. We are going to need all the information we can get and I think the images I saw may hold the key," she answered.
"I appreciate all of your input, it has been a big help in aiding my decision," she opened the Comm and established a connection with Joker.
"Jeff, Take us to the Artemis Tau cluster, planet Therum. We have an archaeologist to pick up! Everyone else, dismissed."
Garrus couldn't help but the notice the smile on Kaiden's face. It fueled his irritation.
"For what it's worth I think you made the right decision Quinn," he said, giving her a pat on the arm and then following the rest of the crowd out of the room.
Quinn? Did he have no decency calling his superior by their first name.
Garrus stayed behind after the room had cleared. Drawing Shepard's attention.
"Something the matter Garrus?" she asked.
"Permission to speak freely Sir," he remembered she preferred Sir over Ma'am.
"Granted, I know it's not the case on a Turian ship, but you can always speak candidly with me Garrus," she affirmed.
"I think you're making a mistake! I know it's your decision, but I have been watching Saren and I know what he is capable of, he can't get away. You don't want that on your head!" he was losing his composure.
"You really think I don't know that? I was there on Eden Prime, I saw what he did to those colonists, to Nihlus. I want him more than anyone, but you didn't see what I saw. The Reapers are back, and that puts EVERYTHING we know at risk. Do you understand? I appreciate your recommendation, but we're going to Therum. There will be no more discussion," she said firmly.
At that Garrus clenched his teeth, holding back the snarl creeping up his throat.
"Yes Ma'am, " he replied after pausing to restrain himself, and with that he left the room.