Agent Salya stood there in wild bewilderment as he had watched the Tribunal melt down in to utter disbelief, as the jury seemed tipped back in shock; as everything seemed to rush in on it self like a cosmic implosion.
Salya's own anger boiled up inside him. "A Reaper..." Is all he said as he saw the hood clad thing dragged from the chamber. "Killing it won't just be Justice; it will be a Galactic mercy..."
In an manner almost to fast to comprehend the Council ordered that Shepard be bound, hooded, and taken out of the chamber. The prosecutor was not given the opportunity to shore up her charge. No chance to make a stake in her claim. The Council simply and decisively called the day to a close. No one else called out any differently, as hysteria ruled. Any who would have supported Shepard were silent, others who condemned her even before the start of the trial, only wanted her blood even more. Others, like Captain Kaidan Alenko, just looked on with a mixture of fear and unfathomable sadness that had been bred by endless years of loss and heartache. Then just as quickly the Council disappeared and the tribunal was commanded to empty.
And so the powers go back to their ivory tower...Salya lazed in his mind as he turned over the days events.
"Agent Salya...come in." His communicator toned. The voice emotionless as always.
"Yes?"
"It is recommended that you leave the Tribunal. You will be needed for tomorrow." The Voice said.
Salya snorted as he watched the Tribunal quickly start to empty like water from a draining basin. "You don't seemed surprised by this."
"Should I be? Should you be?" The voice said airily. "What exactly were you expecting Salya? That Shepard simply would be an 'evil' human?" The voice seemed to smile in it's words. "What we are dealing with here is not some fictionally based character that you can simply slay with a stick. No my friend, what we have here is the very symbol of hunger, destruction, and oblivion."
"If I go now I could catch the shuttle, a simple explosive charge would be perfect..."
"And do what." The voice rebuked. "Stifle everything we have worked so hard to attain so far?"
"No. I would be completing my mission..."
"And in the process you would squander it all. Look around you. How many factions do you see? A splintered galaxy is not what we are working together for Agent Salya. While I appreciate your desire, you must temper your zeal for awhile longer." The Voice soothed.
"Temper my zeal! The prosecutor has shown Shepard for what it is!" Salya struck back.
"What good would killing Shepard do now? It would still leave the galaxy divided, when what we are working for is a Galaxy that can unite and work together in the prospect of peace and growth. Not under the specter of endless toil and fear. The Prosecution needs to be given more time to truly backup their claim, as striking as it may seem."
"Then what do you want me to do?" Salya gritted.
"Have you seen any trace of Vakarian, or Dr. T'Soni?"
"Nothing on Vakarian..." Salya looked over his perch and caught the view of Commander Miranda Alenko, and Matriarch Atheyta waiting as Captain Alenko mounted the steps to join them. "And I haven't seen any sign of the good Doctor, though it does look like the Matriarch is being accompanied by one of her commandos."
"Are you sure the Commando is not the Matriarch's daughter?"
"Stand by." Salya reported as we watched the group leave, paying close attention to the Matriarch.
As she moved, he counted nine steps exactly before her commando followed behind her. If the commando would have been Atheyta's daughter, by Asari custom she would have followed immediately and walked by her parent's side.
"No. No sign of Liara T'Soni." Salya reported.
"Interesting...but no matter. I will be in touch soon. And Agent Salya, you are doing good Just work." The voice soothed before it went silent.
As you keep reminding me... Salya thought sourly as he turned and fell in to step behind the rest of the tribunal sniper detail.
[][][][][]
"All squads on deck! Massani! The whole city's going fucking berserk!" Jack screamed in to Garrus' ear through the comm.
The Cantina had immediately exploded into action as the Blue Suns, Eclipse, and C-Sec rushed out to try to contain the detonating situation. The streets had once again erupted with looting, and fighting. Many people had fallen into hysterics.
Garrus had seen entire worlds burn, and he had seen unparalleled acts of heroism. But never had he witnessed how just one simple word could bring down a society.
There had no chance for the Prosecutor to even try to deliver an explanation. Her statement had immediately caused panic and revolt from the trial's spectators and uproar from the jury. Garrus knew that the Council had reached its limits with its ability to maintain any close relation to calm and control within the Tribunal. So the holo feed had been cut soon after the fallout had erupted after the Prosecutor's last statement.
But the outrage and insanity of the Tribunal assembly paled when compared to that of the Capitol. Before, the unrest had been fueled by uncertainty and frustration. Now, the Capitol, and very well every civilized standing world in the Galaxy was reliving a nightmare that had come to life all over again.
Reaper.
A name synonymous with oblivion. With the end of times. With the end of all. The memory of the titanic sized monstrosities that had swallowed entire cities, raped whole worlds, and twisted friends and families in to mindless killing machines was still very much in the forefront of every living person's nightmares. Waking and otherwise.
Ever since the end of the Six Year War the Council had been exceedingly careful to not use the term, Reaper in an effort to keep the general calm. The member races had followed suite, as had most of their media outlets.
The Council had been right and wise to be careful with it, because now he and everyone else were seeing the result of its use. No longer was Reaper used for childhood fantasy stories. It was now the cause of unbridled insanity.
As Garrus got up to charge forth; Zaeed's hand suddenly clamped down on his shoulder.
"Where the hell do you think your going?" Zaeed said as Garrus turned his head to look at him.
"You said you needed help..." Garrus offered.
"After what you did to that god damn glass?" Zaeed's eyes pointed down to Garrus' left hand, and Garrus's eyes followed. The remnants of crushed glass shards shone back at him as he clutched in his hand what appeared to be like the stems of a bouquet of sheered off flowers.
"If I let you lose, how can I be sure that you're not going to screw this up?" Zaeed asked.
Garrus growled menacingly at the veteran Mercenary. "Then why did you bring me along?"
Zaeed grabbed Garrus's collar and dragged him close. "You have work to do. I heard someone was very busy in the executor's office a few days ago."
Garrus froze.
"This shit isn't going to stop tonight. You and I both know that." Zaeed said venomously. "My job is to just limit the damage. Your job is to figure out what the hell is really going on. Besides, you don't want to disappoint Aria, do you 'Archangel?'" He finished with a grin.
"Aria..." Garrus' eyes narrowed as Zaeed released him.
"Just make sure this piss pour excuse for a cantina is still standing later on. The place is still too fucking clean, but it's starting to grow on me." Zaeed laughed as he turned on his heel and rushed out of the cantina in to the roaring streets.
"Damn Asari..." Garrus breathed as he reluctantly sat back in to his seat. He looked at the bar stand before him and could see not a single bar tender insight. He exhaled a little as he took his seat again. "Service!" He bellowed rapping a fist on the counter.
One of two Salarian's popped up his head.
"Humph. Thought you were going to go rushing out into the streets like everyone else..."
Garrus' just gleamed at him. "I am running logistics, but I need a drink."
The Salarian shot him a sour, disapproving look. "What will it be? Palavan 2184? Dextro based Chianti..."
"Water." Garrus replied with ease.
"That's all you have been drinking. You can go anywhere else to get that..."
All of the sudden a Batarian came stumbling in. "Death to the Council! Death to the Reaper!" He yelled.
He was greeted by a blue laser sight aimed right at his head. As the Batarian saw his reflection in the Cantina mirror, he also took note that a Turian with red face paint was looking in to the same reflection, while holding the rifle outstretched in his hand.
"Ah...I should go..." The Batarian sheepishly responded, then darted back in to the dusky street.
Garrus looked over to the thunderstruck Salarian. "I like this place." Garrus replied with a chuckle.
The Salarian shook his head in surprise and held up his hands. "Ooookay. Whatever you say, whatever you want. Just don't shoot me." The Salarian reasoned as he walked over and retrieved a clean glass and filled it with water. He set it down in front of the Turian Rebel.
At the same time Garrus was already bringing Shomon's records up on his omni tool. He looked through the encryption and immediately knew that there would be no way he could break it in time to help Shepard. He was good, but he even doubted a Quarian hacker would be able to work through it any faster.
He needed help. A lot of help.
He quickly brought up an old frequency the Normandy SR2 had used during the Six Year War. "EDI, can you hear me?" He asked.
"Acknowledged...Archangel." EDI responded in his ear, her voice bringing a slight smile to his face.
"Are you busy?" He asked.
"My mainline processors are currently 78.897 percent free. Sub system processors are currently 34.521 percent free. Why do you ask?" EDI responded.
"I need a little help. Care to give me a hand with a file package?"
"Not a problem. Use secure routine Theta Epsilon sixty five for hardened secure access."
"Understood." Garrus quickly ran across his omni tool.
"Processing." EDI responded.
As Garrus sat back letting the AI run the show he took up the glass of water and looked at the contents.
After every mission; every engagement, Garrus could remember always sharing the drink with Shepard. Some would have called it strange. To some, comradeship. For others, simply two Soldiers sharing a drink. Besides it was just water...
But to him it held a much deeper meaning.
Living for another moment. Celebrating life. Remembering their trials and the fallen. Remembering friends and family long since gone.
He brought the cool glass to his mouth and tipped it up letting some of the cold liquid run into his mouth and delightfully slither down his throat. To him it was a feeling of thirst being quenched, of justice truly served.
Justice...
He sat back, ruminating on the thought.
Garrus knew that many would see the Trial as some form of Justice. There would have been a time when he would have thought that the Trial it was justice. Then he remembered thinking that at one time he really understood what Justice was.
He had been wrong again. And again it had taken Shepard to show him. how ironic...that I used nearly the same tactic years later... he thought.
He took another drink as he remembered the heat of his plates. The rush of adrenaline pumping through his blood and the Anger that surged through him as he lashed out in the Normandy's shuttle bay all those years ago.
The hanging bag shook and bucked with every punch and strike. Sweat streaked down his face, and his heart raged away. But the intensity of the fire that was burning in his soul did not abate. He roved in a circles, punching kicking, growling like a predator of old.
He just wanted to burn.
"Are you right Garrus?" The question came from behind him.
He lashed out with a vicious punch in to the bag as a response.
"Chambers said it sounded like you were throwing dumbbells around."
He tore with a kick to the bag's side imagining the human standing it its place before him.
The small creature walked around and grabbed the bag, holding it steady for him. He couldn't help the predatory growl that emanated from him as his instincts reacted to the invasion of his territory. But for the moment he pushed it aside and continued to beat away at the bag.
"This is about Sidonis."
Another hard hit went into the bag. Then another. As he moved around, the human mirrored him. Him; beating away at the object, her always stabilizing it. She was making his work easier, and it only intensified his anger.
"Sooner or later your going to have to talk Garrus..." She said.
He heel kicked the bag sending it into her, but her footing never changed, she didn't move. It infuriated him.
"Your not angry at him." She stated calmly. "Your angry because you had to listen."
Garrus stopped and took a few steps away. He didn't feeling this getting in to it. He didn't want talk after letting Sidonis go. He didn't want to talk now.
"You wanted to simply execute him without knowing every aspect of the situation." Her voice was both smooth and cutting as she stepped out from the cover of the punching bag. "But listening to the honest truth changes things."
He growled a warning at her, though he doubted she knew the meaning. No matter how long Turians had been apart of galactic civil society, they would always be predators at heart with a need to hunt, and to protect their territory.
This human woman; this alien, had entered his territory. Part of his mind told him that she was his Commander, but even still, he felt that she had no right to be there.
Part of his mind whispered seductively that she was weak...
"You just wanted your form of justice." She said with a short smile on her face. Her eyes firing up like beacons.
Part of his mind goaded him. Faint whispers he could barely hear, but knew they were there none the less. Telling him to strike.
Garrus snapped. He rushed her wanting to catch her, slam her in to he nearest bulkhead. But in his blind rage, he had miss judged poorly as she simply spun away from his charge. He quickly stopped and spun around, realigning his bearings.
He was greeted by a quick strike to the left side of his face. It wasn't heavy, it was demeaning.
"C'mon Vakarian. Is that the best you can give me? I expect a Krogan to charge me blind." Shepard taunted.
He closed with her and started to viciously storm away at her with sets of punches and kicks. She blocked each of them. He watched at the fire in her eyes only grew deeper.
He swung at her again, yet this time instead of blocking she grabbed his arm and pulled him in to her as she reached up with her knee and belted his torso in to it knocking his wind out from him. She let go, letting him stagger back.
As he took a knee catching, heaving his breath she stalked up to him. "Have you even thought that just maybe most of the things that happen in this galaxy are shades of gray Garrus? That pure black and white are so opposite the norm, so extreme that they virtually don't exist?"
The idea, the very notion that he didn't know the difference between right and wrong insulted him. Garrus' eyes snapped up and light a flash he was on his feet and struck at the left side of her face. He was satisfied to feel the contact and watched as she took the hit, her head snapping to absorb the blow. Unlike her's, his was heavy, rebuking.
Mechanically she turned her head to face him. Her face was stoic. He could tell that she was scrutinizing his moves. Her ruby eyes telling him that she was...
...unimpressed...
"You...You of all people." He growled. "What makes you the authority of Justice here?" He crouched back into his stance; his head was a little clearer. "What was Torfan? You may be opinionated, strong willed, and resilient. You may be a damn good tactician and Soldier. You may even have bouts of compassion every so often, but don't try to tell me that you know anything about Justice, Shepard."
He had a plan this time. Strike at her head, as Shepard would move to block the blow and then he would aim for her left shoulder, a weak point. After he made contact he would continue to press in till she would submit and leave his territory.
He had given his agreement to help her on her mission to stop the Collectors, even the Reapers. But he had found himself questioning why he followed her. He didn't need her questioning his methods or his motives.
...she had done both...
Garrus rushed in, sure of his mark and course of action. He had his attack loaded and his prey in his sights.
But he didn't know what he was dealing with...
...it backfired...
...all of it.
As he unleashed his 'faint', he lost his quarry. Shepard simply ceased to exist where he had seen her not but a moment ago. As he tumbled plowing forward unable to check his movement, Shepard appeared to the corner of his left eye. It was as it he had started his attack in completely the wrong direction. A nanosecond later he felt her fist drive in to his torso again, stopping him cold. Then another fist followed up crashing into the left side of his face.
His body slammed down to the shuttle bay floor, and for a moment he was dazed. Yet even in his pummeled state he rolled over to sit on his knees he could tell that she was standing over him, phalanx in hand, safety off, aiming it at his head.
As his vision cleared he looked up at her. Her pupils were as cold as the laser that shone from the weapon. Her stare told him that she was looking through him rather then at him. As if she was tumbling through a memory.
"So you want to know if there was Justice at Torfan?" She asked nonchalantly. "Do you know what it is like to hold a gun in your hand, have someone on their knees in front of you looking up at you? I'm not talking about aiming down the sight of a rifle. I'm talking about holding a gun that is just centimeters away from your target's head."
His mouth had gone dry. The word, 'No', plastered all over his face.
"They see you as a God." She said coldly. "Nothing else matters. Not what good they have done, good or evil. White and black doesn't matter. Only you do."
Garrus could only hold his breath. His combat training was screaming at him to disarm her, to get the gun away from her. But something held his arms in place. Rooted him to the floor; commanded that he listen.
"They look up at you, pleading for you to not pull the trigger." Shepard spoke as her face twisted in to a snarl. "You have them begging on their knees for you not to do it."
Garrus opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out.
"Maybe they are the worst criminal you have ever met. Maybe they are simply a soldier fighting for the country you are fighting against. Maybe they are just a kid. Perhaps if you let them live they would become a beacon for hope, or maybe they would go on killing. But was does it matter. You have your own idea of Justice. You have them on their knees pleading for you not to pull the trigger. But they deserved to be in the situation that they are in before you right? This is Justice, right?"
Garrus' mind raced comprehending that everything she was telling him right now was beyond theory and simulation. She had seen it. She had done it.
"No!" Is all he could force out. It was the only word that the presence would let slip past his mouth.
The laser danced away from his head, and he was allowed to breathe.
"You're a good man Garrus. You're a better person than me." She said as she offered a hand to him and she hauled him back to his feet. "Don't let your soul be consumed by empty and needless hate. Save it for those who are truly worth your ire. Don't cast judgment without knowing every thing you can. Only then can you truly be objective in your decision." She finished as she then turned on her heel to left a battered and wiser Turian to commiserate on her words.
Even years later, the lessons were still fresh as Garrus set the glass down. The cold water rocked gently in the container.
"Files decrypted." EDI whispered in his comm.
"Didn't take you long." Garrus chided.
"Of course not, but strangely enough the encryption protocols were Salarian in origin and highly advanced. I haven't ran across anything like this outside clandestine Salarian STG communications that I have been tracking recently." EDI responded.
"Your keeping tabs on the STG? I didn't think that the STG were inclined to share their recent protocols outside their organization." Garrus responded as he started scanning through the unlocked files. It was an information paradise, but it would take him time to fit the pieces.
"They don't, and a girl always has to have a hobby right?" EDI retorted. "Need anything else?"
"No, thank you. Now I just have to get to work." Garrus stated as he smiled a little. He would never say it, but the idea of EDI referring to itself as anything other then an AI was still odd to him.
"Understood. Disconnecting you." EDI said before her voice died away.
The bartender wordlessly came by and refilled his glass as Garrus set about starting to connect the dots.
Author's Note: Yes Yes I am still very much alive. I know it has been a month, but I have a lot more of this story fleshed out. Also I have started to update the earlier chapters. Minor things. I am hoping your enjoying this story, and enjoying the little break. But don't expect it to last. We still have a trial to finish you know.