Notes: Some may remember in Lair of the Shadow Broker there were a few files on Garrus. These files mentioned a sick mother and a sister who wasn't too happy with Garrus. I figured why don't we meet Sol?
Or at least, she thought she could get it. It took almost the entire time they had left before arriving in Palaven orbit for her to get into her uniform. It wasn't the dress blues but damn if it wasn't hard to get into her pants and pull on her tunic. She sighed as she stared at her rank on her lapels. Sometimes it felt like just yesterday she'd been wearing Lieutenant bars. Her fingers ghosted along the coveted N7 insignia emblazoned on her chest.
She grabbed her armor as well, since it doubled as an environmental suit considering the atmosphere for Palaven.
She took in a breath then winced. Her armor while it actually helped her torso from always hurting was also painful when she breathed in too deeply. There was nothing to do about it, though other than to breath a little more shallower.
"Arriving at Palaven in 30 seconds, Commander," Joker said over the comm.
"Thanks," Shepard said. She tucked her pistol into its holster then headed off. She doubted she would need the weapon but she would feel naked otherwise.
Downstairs she and the rest of her crew going planet-side pulled on their helmets. No one commented on the odd juxtaposition of the Commander in armor and limping around with a cane.
Liara, Ashley, Shepard, and Miranda all stepped off of the loading ramp. It was the first time Shepard had stepped foot on the planet... it was strange.
"Commander Shepard, sir!" a turian soldier Shepard thought probably held the rank of sergeant called out. He hustled over, putting his gun away.
"At ease, soldier. What's your status?" Shepard asked.
"The Primarch has asked you to his quarters. He has also asked we accompany you should you need assistance," the soldier said after offering a salute.
"Just need to know how to get there," Shepard assured him.
"Of course. Right this way, ladies," the soldier said. It was then that Shepard had realized through no real fault of her own she had only kept the crew members that were female. She smirked to herself over it before following the turian with blue clan markings.
"This is not how I imagined Palaven," Ashley murmured through the private commlink in their helmets.
"It's a lot like Earth... a lot of planets are suffering the same damage Earth is. We'll get it fixed though. I wonder if Garrus if nearby," Shepard said, glancing around.
"We'll find out soon enough I reckon," Miranda remarked off to Shepard's right.
It was quite the trek before they were faced with a half bombed out building. The door looked to have been jimmied to stay open slightly, most likely because if it closed all the way they'd have a hell of a time opening it again.
Shepard tapped the side of her helmet, switching modes so that she could speak and be heard outside of a comm channel. She also changed her visor so it lightened considerably to allow her a better view of things.
"The Primarch is inside," the turian stated as he paused in front of the door then turned to look at the human and asari guests.
"Thanks," Shepard said with a nod before pushing open the doors the best she could. She slipped inside. Her crew followed after.
"Shepard, I was wondering if it was true what they said... that you escaped death once more. When I got the message I couldn't quite believe it," the familiar voice of the turian general turned Primarch drawled out from a table in the middle of the large room the dream team had stepped into.
"You know me, I'm basically immortal," Shepard said, smirking within her helmet. She made her way over to the table. She stuck her hand out. Victus rose to take her five-fingered hand in his three-fingered one. He nodded to her as they shook once then released.
"Damn good to know you didn't join the Spirits. We all still need Commander Shepard alive, whether we want to admit it or not," Victus said. His gaze swung to the women standing almost awkwardly behind Shepard.
"Doctor T'soni, a pleasure as always. And you must be Lieutenant-Commader Williams. We spoke over the comm. Garrus has spoken highly of your skills with a sniper rifle," Victus said, nodding to both in turn. Ashley gave a scant nod while Liara bowed her head.
"But... who are you?" he asked when his gaze was drawn to Miranda.
"Op- Miranda Lawson. Always wanted to see Palaven, just sorry it has to be under these circumstances," Miranda replied, correcting herself before she used 'Operative' in front of her name.
"Former Cerberus, yes... Garrus mentioned you as well. Glad you're on our side if what he says about your skills is true," the Primarch said.
"Thank you," Miranda said. She was learning a lot of new things about how people viewed her now that the war was over.
"Primarch, I can't exactly stay long. But I wanted to check in on everything here. Do you happen to know if Garrus is nearby, too?" Shepard said.
"Vakarian is organizing rescue operations. We have reason to believe there are quite a few people hiding in bunkers his task force forced us to build or simply buried under rubble but are still hanging on to life. I am sure, however, that he would love to see you," Victus replied.
"I figured that might be the case... er... for both things. Just gimmie a navpoint and I'll get outta your... hair," Shepard said, hesitating on the last word but it slipped out before she could stop it. Victus just stared at her.
Right... get out of a turian's hair. Because they have so much of it, Shepard griped to herself for the poor choice of words.
"Right. Well, here you go," Victus said, bringing up his omnitool. Shepard's own buzzed and she brought her arm up to accept the coordinates.
"When you're done with the reunion, please return here if you have time," Victus said.
"Sure," Shepard said with a nod before heading out. She tapped her helmet again to turn to private comms. She also activated her visor so it darkened a little bit more.
"That was smooth," Ashley remarked, amusement in her voice.
"Oh shut up. If I had said 'get out of your crest' I'm not sure it would sound any better," Shepard muttered as she limped along.
She checked her omnitool then sighed a little bit.
Times like this I miss my motorcycle, she thought to herself.
It was quite the walk but she managed it. She glanced around at the tents that had been hastily put up. There was equipment everywhere to help with the dig-out. Turians were scattered all over, checking omnitools and datapads.
"Commander Shepard?" a voice that the marine legitimately did not recognize called out to her. She turned her head a little to see a turian bearing Garrus's clan markings running at her. She didn't move a muscle. The turian stopped dead in front of the understandably confused human.
"Commander Shepard. I am..." the turian paused. Shepard realized that the turian in front of her had a more feminine voice than other turians she had met. Because of this, she was looking at the turian oddly.
"You've... never seen a female turian before have you?" the unnamed female asked.
"Can't... say I have. Or if I have I didn't notice," Shepard said. She cringed a little at the implications of 'all you turians look alike to me'.
"Right. Well, I'm Solana Vakarian," the turian said.
"By the goddess... it's Garrus's sister. Last I heard they weren't speaking to each other," Liara said through the private comm link fed directly to Shepard's helmet but leaving out Ashley and Miranda.
"You must be the sister that Garrus mentioned he had to leave behind," Shepard said, partially using Liara's information and partly using what Garrus had told her.
Clearing her throat she stuck her hand out to the Vakarian she had never heard the voice of much less seen. With what probably amounted to a smile for a turian, Solana took the Commander's hand in her own taloned one.
"That would be me, yes. Garrus has spoken very highly of you, though he never would say what you two were doing in the galaxy," Solana said. Her mandibles clicked with leftover irritation over that fact.
"It was..."
"Classified, I know. At any rate, he's in the tent back there. We... pulled a couple of kids out of some rubble. They died after we dragged them out. He's not taking it well," Solana said, pointing one talon to a tent behind her.
"Thanks. Does he... know I'm alive?" Shepard asked.
"No. Hell, maybe you appearing alive once again will snap him out of the depression," Solana said. She frowned a little to herself then shrugged her shoulders.
"I'll leave you to it. It was great meeting you. Maybe we can have a longer talk and you can explain why you kept my brother away for so long," the female turian said. Shepard could only nod slightly before setting off.
As Shepard entered the tent she could feel a heaviness weighing down on her. It would be three times now she had appeared out of the rubble when it was certain she had died. Garrus was one of the few who had to deal with it all three times.
"No, I'm tired of the excuses. We need to fan out further and increase the scanner strength. I'm not losing more people if I can help it," Garrus said. His back was to the group while he spoke to a few subordinates. Talons dug in to the table in front of him, stress overtaking his form.
"Vakarian, sir, even if we'd done that for those kids they still would've passed from their injuries," a soldier attempted to explain.
"No excuses! We could've helped if we'd gotten there sooner," Garrus said, bowing his head.
Shepard knew the pain Garrus was feeling, it was the same pain from when she'd lost her squad on Akuze. He was also probably feeling even more stress because in his mind he'd failed to save the kids like he'd failed to save her.
Shepard signaled to her squad to stay put. She made her visor completely transparent before walking up to the turian who was like a brother to her. As she did, the turians surrounding Garrus straightened and saluted. He paused before straightening up then turning.
"Prima-" he began to say but the word faltered on his mandibles when he saw who it really was.
"Shepard? Is that... it can't be you," Garrus corrected himself quickly.
Shepard didn't say a word as she walked closer. She brought a hand up to rest it on his shoulder.
"It's me, Garrus. I told you there was no Shepard without Vakarian and vice versa," Shepard said, offering a smile within her helmet.
"You're dismissed," Garrus said over his shoulder to his group. The other turians didn't say a word as they parted, though they gave nods of respect to the savior of the galaxy.
Once they had left he closed the distance between them before gathering her up as gingerly as he could into a hug. She blinked in surprise but hugged back, sighing softly.
"You're pretty beat up. Tell me you didn't rush here the moment you could convince everyone to let you outta the hospital," Garrus said as they parted.
"I may have wrangled my way out of the hospital AMA..." Shepard said, the patented Shepard Smirk curling on her lips. "I think a certain turian I know did the same thing..."
"Hah... heh... indeed," Garrus said. The stress seemed to disappear from his face now that he was with his best friend once again.
"But you really shouldn't have come here. You have Earth to worry about. You have yourself to worry about," the turian continued.
"And I have you and the rest of the galaxy to worry about," Shepard put in, frowning.
"I'm fine, really. Besides the setbacks and the... clean up of the Reaper carnage... I'm fine," Garrus said.
"Yeah. You're fine. Have you even come up for air since the Battle for Earth?" Shepard asked, her gauntleted hand grazing over his crest with concern in her eyes.
Her crew had vacated the tent in favor of trying to find something they could do to help. They all knew that Vakarian and Shepard needed to hash some things out in true privacy.
"Oh, now Commander Shepard is getting back at me?" Garrus said, his mandibles clicking in a way that told her he was amused.
"Quiet, Vakarian. I'm serious. Don't burn yourself out. You're no good to your people dead of exhaustion. Those kids over there, they're not your fault. Nothing you could have done would have prevented their fate," Shepard said, her gaze turning to a table nearby that housed the small turian bodies. She'd never really seen a turian child before but out of respect didn't even try to get in a better look.
Dammit. It shouldn't be this easy for me to say these fucking platitudes when I've gone through the same shit he has. I still blame myself for Akuze, what right do I have to tell him it wasn't his fault about those kids? Shepard thought angrily to herself. Garrus's eyes reflected the pain in his heart. Or hearts... Shepard had never really remembered how many hearts turians had. It was then she realized she knew so little of the aliens she had been working alongside for years now. Though, technically it had only been a year and change, perhaps considering her... death for two years. And it's not like she would be studying alien anatomy when she had other things to do, like make sure her armor was sturdy and her guns were properly maintained.
"Shepard, I'm fine. Really. I'm the least of your concerns. Besides, Tali helps... with her calls at night," Garrus said. Shepard's hand fell from the turian's crest and she gave a bit of a nod. She still couldn't wrap her head around the idea of the two people she felt were like younger siblings getting together. But, they seemed happy so she ran with it. She was sure both had been surprised when she'd gone for Liara.
"You keep telling me you're fine but somehow I can't believe it. Your eyes give you away, Garrus," Shepard said, touching the blue clan markings on the turian's face.
"Look... Shepard. It's just... I thought you died and I had to move on... again. So I threw everything into my work here on Palaven. And now you're back, appearing out of thin air just like you did when you rescued me on Omega. There's only so many times a guy can take that kind of mood whiplash," Garrus said, gently pushing the Commander's hand away.
"Don't you dare rebuff me too. I took it once from Ashley on Horizon. I'm not going to take it from you too," Shepard said, a low growl in her voice.
Garrus frowned as he gazed at the human. He shook his head.
"That isn't what I'm doing. I'm just saying... you can't blame me for feeling like a failure over a couple of kids dying. We never had to deal with kids when we were off fighting geth, Collectors, and the Reapers. Well, except for that one kid on that shuttle," Garrus said.
"I'm not even sure he was real, Garrus. So I can't... can't exactly count him. But I honestly do understand where you're coming from. It's another version of Survivor's Guilt you've got goin' on. I know how it feels," Shepard said.
"Right. How is Liara? And Ashley? And everyone else?" Garrus asked.
"They're all alive and well. I've sent everyone you didn't see with me off to help with rebuilding efforts. Vega went to Tuchanka, Javik opted to stay on Earth, Jack and Zaeed are helping protect colonies from Cerberus..." Shepard said, shrugging her shoulders. She mentally reminded herself to find out where Samara and Kasumi were.
"Wait, hold on," Garrus said, holding up one hand. "Did you say Cerberus? Why are they still a problem?"
"Dunno, but we're gonna find out. Liara and Miranda have both put out feelers for information," Shepard said.
"I'd love to go with you, but..."
"You're needed here. I know. I wasn't even going to ask and even if you'd insisted on going I'd have to ground you. By the way, met your sister. She seems nice. Concerned about you and a little bit grumpy but... nice," Shepard said.
"That's Sol for you. I don't think she's gotten over the fact that I have had to keep my missions with you a secret. We... Turians as a whole don't like secrets," Garrus said, his eyes flickering to the floor.
"What species does? I wish we could tell our loved ones what we did but I doubt the files will be declassified anytime soon," Shepard said.
"I guess that's an advantage to having some loved ones who went on the missions with us," Garrus said with an attempt at humor.
"It does make it easier. Except... there are some things I can't tell Liara. A lot of things, really," Shepard said, looking bothered by the thought.
"You'll get a chance sooner or later. If she hasn't found out by now as Shadow Broker and simply isn't telling you," Garrus said. She saw what passed as a smirk for a turian.
"Something tells me with the things I've done she'd tell me if she knew," Shepard said mildly. "The Primarch wanted me to return to talk to him before I left the planet. You want to come with?"
"I suppose I can spare the time. Just need to remind my team to keep going at it," Garrus said.
"Of course," Shepard said before heading out shoulder-to-shoulder with the turian. They separated to join their respective teams.
"How did it go?" Liara asked.
"He's beating himself up over the kids that Solana told us about. I don't blame him but I had to gently remind him it wasn't his fault, regardless," Shepard said.
Miranda looked ready to say something but stopped dead when Garrus wandered back over.
"I'm ready to go when you are," he said.
"Great, let's get going," Shepard said. She looked at Miranda, curious about what she was going to say. She didn't bring it up, rather she turned and lead the way back to the Primarch's base of operations.
The moment they got close enough to make out actual body outlines rather than blobs Shepard noticed there was quite a crowd gathered. She frowned, caution curling in her gut. When they got closer the crowd parted, giving Shepard a good line of sight to the Primach. He seemed to be clutching a small box in his talons.
"This looks important and official," Garrus remarked. The group made their way through the opening the crowd had given them.
"Commander Shepard, I wish this was a little more formal but circumstances required this to be thrown together rather quickly," the Primarch said. Garrus's eyes were drawn to the box. He recognized it instantly: it was the type of box medals to be given to deserving soldiers were stored in.
"Don't have to explain, Primarch. Er... about why everything looks tossed together. Rather, I'd like to know what it's all for," Shepard said, holding up one armored hand.
The Primarch cleared his throat, or at least made a sound that resembled such an act.
"Commander Shepard, you have done a great service to the turians as well as the galaxy at large. For this we give you our highest honor: the Silver Nova. Your crew will also be receiving the Bronze Nova for their efforts. The people of Palaven also wish to grant you the honorary rank of Colonel in the turian armed forces," the Primach said, opening the odd box to show a row of medals, one for each crew member currently assigned to the Normandy regardless of their current mission.
Another turian stepped forward to pin the medal to Shepard's N7 armor. He did the same with Garrus's, Ashley's, Liara's, and Miranda's armor but they of course received their Bronze Novas.
"Primarch, this is... I'm flattered. Honestly. You really did not have to do any of this. I was just being a soldier doing what soldiers do," Shepard insisted.
"Regardless, Commander, you did what I think nobody else could have pulled off. For that, Palaven thanks you and the turians thank you. If you ever have need of the turian fleets in the future, we will back you one hundred percent," the Primarch said, waving away the Commander's protests.
"Primarch Victus, sir, it is an honor. And I appreciate the support. But what I need of the turian fleet is to stay at home, help rebuild, and spend time with family," Shepard said.
"We could really use some of their ships to help defend against Cerberus," Miranda murmured via the private comms.
"They're needed here. We've got it covered elsewhere. I will not ask a wounded fleet to-" Shepard began to argue.
"All of the fleets are wounded, Skipper. The asari, the turians, the salarians, the geth, the Alliance, the elcor, the volus, even the damn batarians. Everyone is hurting. But you know what happens if we're left to think too long on what we could be doing as well," Ashley interjected.
"We still have to work together, Shepard. You don't have to ask for the whole fleet. Just a couple of token ships of volunteers," Liara said, her voice the softest and most sympathetic. Miranda and Ashley were great at grounding the Commander but not so great at being the most delicate about it.
Shepard still was hesitant then sighed lightly.
"You know what, Primarch? I could use a couple ships. Not dreadnoughts or anything just a few war ships that can get in an out of systems without too much noise," Shepard said.
The Primarch knew that the Commander had been in... deliberations with her crew.
"Of course. Come into my office and we'll discuss the details. As for the ceremony..." the Primarch said. His eyes searched the crowd.
"None of us would be here if not for Commander Shepard. Children for centuries to come will have her to thank. But our fight is not yet over. We have to rebuild and retrieve the lost and the fallen. The Reapers used our own tactics against us, but we will not fall from it!" the Primarch said. A cheer erupted from the crowd.
"Thank you, all of you. But I didn't take down all of those Reapers alone. The galaxy knows the turians helped too," Shepard said, turning around to the crowd. She smiled when she caught sight of a few krogan as well, left over from being shock troops.
"As well as the krogan. And this time they will not be rewarded with a Genophage or anything worse," Shepard said, her eyes sweeping to each krogan in turn. She paused as her omnitool buzzed on her arm. She glanced down then brought her arm up, bringing up the interface.
"This isn't the best time. What is it?" she asked. Joker's face appeared on the screen.
"Uh... Admiral Hackett sent a priority message. He doesn't seem all that pleased that you left the hospital without telling him. Tried explaining to him you were only finishing what you started but he just glared. He's ordered you back to Earth, and didn't even say ASAP," Joker explained.
Shepard heaved a sigh. She forgot about that little detail... she was still Alliance regardless of any other titles she held.
"Great. Now I'm going to get yelled at. I hope you didn't make him angry," Shepard said. She would have rubbed her neck if she could.
"No way. This is Hackett we're talking about. Boss's boss's boss's boss and all. I have some common sense," Joker defended himself.
"Right, we'll be there as soon as I finish speaking with the Primarch," Shepard said.
"Sure thing, Commander," Joker said before cutting the connection. Shepard dropped her arm.
"We're going to have to make this quick, Primarch," Shepard said.
"Of course, this way," the former General said. He gestured with one taloned hand to the door behind him. She followed his lead inside while her crew stayed outside to socialize with the turians and the krogan.
"What is it that you need, Commander?" Victus asked before going to sit down at his hastily cobbled together desk.
"Nothing much, actually. As I said, just a few warships. And I only want them crewed by volunteers. We... well let's just say that the Reapers may be gone but we still have a threat. Cerberus," Shepard said, her face bearing a scowl.
"Cerberus? Yes, your Lieutenant-Commander sent me a message about them and the tension on Tuchanka. I thought we wiped Cerberus out when you killed the Illusive Man," the Primarch said, scratching at his mandibles with a talon.
"You and me both, Primarch. But they've been... doing exactly what the Collectors did and hitting colonies. Human colonies right now which is completely out of their MO. We don't know how, we don't know why," Shepard said, shaking her head helplessly.
The Primarch looked confused when she said 'MO' but the confusion cleared when his translator implant did its job.
"So what do you require of the turian fleet?"
"Simple: I need them to help patrol the colonies," Shepard said. She brought up her arm and checked a few things on her omnitool. The Primarch brought up his own omnitool.
"The Terminus Systems? Again? They just cannot catch a break can they?" the Primarch said when he got the battle update brief on his omnitool.
"Yeah... Same with Eden Prime. Colony life isn't easy but damn, it shouldn't be this hard and dangerous either," Shepard agreed, looking over the same information for a spare second.
"I will gather who I can and send them out as soon as possible, I promise you," the Primarch said.
"I really appreciate it. And... do me another favor too?" Shepard said almost hesitantly.
"Speak it."
"Please keep an eye on Garrus. Don't let him work too hard."
"Of course, Commander. We can't lose Vakarian. I will personally check up on him and make sure he's getting proper R&R."
"Thank you, Primarch. You've been nothing but helpful since we met. Unlike... other turians I've run into," Shepard said darkly.
"Ah yes, Councilor Sparatus. But, as I recall, because of him you found me," the Primarch said.
"Yeah... he finally took his head out of his cloaca when the Reapers attacked Earth," Shepard said dryly. The Primarch gave an amused look at the phrase 'took his head out of his cloaca'.
A buzzing was heard as Shepard's omnitool seemed to need her attention. She brought her arm up and tapped an invisible key.
"Commander, Hackett has sent another priority message. He's getting pretty damn impatient," Joker said. It was only his voice that came through this time.
"Fine, I'm on my way. Let him know," Shepard said.
"Right away, Commander," Joker said. The line went dead again.
"I'm sorry, Primarch. I wish I could spend more time here," Shepard said.
"No need to apologize, Commander. Unlike me, you have superiors to answer to," Victus said.
Shepard shook hands with him one last time before leaving the building.
"All right everyone, Hackett is getting impatient. Let's head back to the ship and return home," Shepard called out. She limped her way to Garrus as she spoke.
"You stay safe out there, Shepard," Garrus said. Shepard gave a smile then clasped her hand on his shoulder.
"I should say the same to you, Garrus. Stay safe, get proper rest, and don't beat yourself up over things out of your control," Shepard said.
Garrus held his hand out for a handshake. Shepard gave a wry smile before clasping his hand then jerking him closer to hug him. She rested her cheek against his armor.
"You're not going to lose me again, Garrus. Not until I die of old age. But we'll go together," Shepard murmured, glancing up at the turian. He put his arms around her, squeezing ever so gently.
"You got it, Shepard," Garrus said.
"Say hi to Tali for me, I'm not sure I'll have the time," Shepard said as she pulled out of the embrace then cleared her throat.
"Of course... And Kate?" Garrus said, using Shepard's first name which gave the Commander pause.
"Yeah?"
"You track down every last one of those Cerberus bastards and give them hell. For all of us. Snipe one for me. But most importantly keep your head down," Garrus said.
"Of course, Garrus. Good luck here," Shepard said.
"Shepard! We have to go!" Miranda called out.
"Yeah, I'm on my way!" Shepard shouted back. She shook Garrus's hand then limped off.
"Joker, set a course for Earth," Shepard said as she climbed aboard the ship.
"On it, Commander," Joker said.
"You should visit Dr. Chakwas so she can change your bandages," Liara said.
"Right," Shepard said with a nod before hobbling off.