A/N: So, no Ilium this time, that's for the next chapter, sorry about that. I decided to pick Tali up first, because I wanted to have her along for some of the things that will happen on Ilium. Besides, Shep can always do with one more friend she trusts explicitly. :)
Also, if there's one character I'm having trouble hearing in my head, it's Grunt. If anyone has some helpful tips on how to write him, I'll gladly listen to ideas!
As always thank you for reading and reviewing!
Chapter 16 - The Masked Beauty and the Tank-Bred Beast
During the mission debrief, Tim congratulates Shepard about what he calls a successful mission on Horizon. Morgan disagrees with Tim's definition of 'success'. Still, they both are of one mind that the Collectors have taken a hit and will be more careful now. The Illusive Man speaks of another plan to lure them in, and Shepard picks up on that word, challenging him to reveal the whole truth about Horizon.
"I might have released some rumors about you working with Cerberus and dropping the location of Horizon," Tim confesses. "I suspected that the Collectors, and by proxy the Reapers, are looking for you, or someone connected to you. Now we know for certain."
Shepard dislikes being toyed and manipulated, even if she realizes that such is the nature of Cerberus and The Illusive Man, and that she should never expect anything else. And she has to admit that Tim does have a certain point. "You might be onto something there," she agrees. "During our encounters with the Collectors, their leader spoke to me. It was... very random, but it seemed like he was... very much influenced by the Reapers. He called me by my name. 'If I must tear you apart, Shepard, I will.'"
The Illusive Man speaks about what it will take to stop the Collectors for good, to make sure no other human colonies get abducted. It will require a journey through the Omega-4 relay. And it will be a one-way trip.
"Your team will need to be strong. Keep building," he says, forwarding three more dossiers. "You will need to be strong, Shepard. Deal with your past relationships. Get some closure. Make sure the others do so as well, make sure they are fully committed."
Did he just tell me to get closure for my relationship with Liara? she thinks later, resting on the bed in her cabin. She looks at the dossiers again. Two of them lead to Ilium. I wonder if that's a hint. Question is... do I want to show up only to tell her I'm going off to die again? Can I do that to her?
She looks at the bottle of scotch on the nearby table, then at the intercom. Drink or conversation, that is the question. There's been a bit too much boozing lately, she decides, rustling up Garrus through the intercom. The turian shows up at her quarters soon afterwards.
"What's the matter, Shepard?" he asks, looking a little tired. "Can't sleep?"
"Tried and failed," Morgan admits. "Being told that you're part of a suicide mission isn't exactly sleep inductive. Though, I suppose we could be the first ones to make it back from the Omega-4 relay."
Garrus nods at that. "We're pretty good at beating the odds, Shepard."
"And the voice of that goddamn Harbinger, I keep hearing it in my dreams," she grumbles. "'You cannot escape your destiny, Shepard.' 'I am the Harbinger of your ascendance.' So creepy. It was like Sovereign all over."
"I was just thinking that," Garrus agrees.
"I wanted to ask for your advice on the dossiers," Shepard says eventually. "Tim thinks we have a shot at recruiting Tali, she's on some secret mission beyond the Far Rim. Geth space. The other two are on Ilium."
"Ah," Garrus realizes immediately. "Well... I don't know what to say, Shepard. It seems like you could always do with one more trusted friend like Tali."
"How very impartial of you," Shepard chuckles.
"Now I have -no- idea what you mean by that," Garrus looks at her sternly, but she just smiles.
"No, I guess you are right," she agrees. "Tali it is." I was looking for some sort of reason to go to Ilium. Now, when I know what it is I will have to tell Liara... I feel like delaying it for as long as I can, she thinks. But then again... if she's a good information broker, she probably already knows all about my mission and what it means... for us.
"You haven't been yourself since Horizon," Garrus remarks. I haven't been myself since waking up, she adds mentally. "Is this about Kaidan?"
"A little bit of it, too," Shepard says. "But I understand him. It's easier for someone like you to come and work with me in this arrangement. You don't have strings attached like he has with the Alliance. And I wouldn't want to destroy his career, which is what would happen if he would join us on a Cerberus ship."
"Still. One of these things that you might understand, but it still hurts you," Garrus says, eyeing her thoughtfully.
"That's very... insightful of you, Garrus," she is genuinely surprised. "I'll be fine, though. Don't worry." They sit silent for a while. "How are the others? How bad were the injuries?"
"Nothing too bad. Most got out with only minor burns, only Jacob's being kept in the medbay for a few days. He'll be fine, though, he's tougher than he looks."
"He looks plenty tough to me," Shepard says. "Oh yes, could you tell Joker and EDI to plot our course for the Dholen System? And Garrus, remind me please that I still need to deal with that baby krogan down in the cargo hold, will you? I think I'm going to take another shot at getting some sleep..."
After a few hours of restless snoozing and one of Rupert's better meals that doesn't taste like ass, Shepard finally finds her way down to the cargo hold. Hearing the commotion, Zaeed and Jack wander over to see what the fuss is about and then decide to stay, probably hoping for a good chuckle when the released krogan 'baby' attempts to violently butcher the naive Shepard.
Having warned the amused observers not to open fire unless it is truly necessary, Shepard braces herself and pushes the buttons to drain water from the tank, opening it. The massive krogan topples out of the tank and remains on all four for a while, coughing out water from his lungs. Then he looks up and his eyes meet Shepard's. Be friendly. Please, be friendly, Shepard mentally crosses her fingers, but Lady Luck just plain old hates her. The krogan's small reptilian eyes narrow and he charges her, throwing her painfully against the wall of the cargo hold and keeping her pinned. "Human. Female," he states, having stared at her for some time. "I need a name before you die."
"...this is not a good start of our budding relationship..." Shepard croaks, looking at Zaeed and Jack for some help.
"Nice charge there," Zaeed merely remarks with a knowing nod.
"Fuck yeah," Jack agrees cheerfully. "I give you nine out of ten, big boy!"
"I know things because of the tank, but Okeer did not implant a connection," the krogan ignores the other two for now, continuing to hold Shepard pinned and staring her down. "What were the last words... warlord... legacy... grunt... yes, Grunt. It has no meaning. It will do."
"So... your name will be Grunt?" Shepard tries, hoping to distract the krogan with conversation. It is about as effective a tactic as throwing rocks at a Reaper.
"Yes. Now, if you are worthy to command me in battle, prove it by defeating me," Grunt snarls challengingly.
Shepard rapidly tries to remember all that she knows of krogan, their culture, things that someone like Okeer might have imprinted in the mind of someone he claimed to be the perfect krogan. "I have a strong ship and strong squad," she tries. "A strong clan. Join me, and you will not regret it."
Grunt's hand around her throat eases just barely. He still looks at her with mistrust and hatred, also sparing a look at Jack and Zaeed. "If your enemies are weak, and the battles are not worthy, I will destroy you," he speaks, with a definitive promise.
"Our enemies are worthy, you can be sure of that," Shepard says, and finally Grunt releases her. Hanging pinned against the wall with her feet helplessly kicking just above the floor just isn't something Morgan Shepard particularly enjoys. "We're going up against the Collectors. There aren't many greater dangers in the galaxy."
"If that is so, then I will follow you. For now," Grunt nods, satisfied for the moment.
Shepard is less than certain about this new recruit. Even though he will probably make the Collectors very unhappy on the battlefield, he also is an unbalanced, walking time-bomb, who could simply one day decide they are all unworthy to accompany him in the battle. Or maybe he'll be impressed by all this crazy stuff we get up to and will actually become loyal. That worked for Wrex, at least. Gods, I miss Wrex. I miss Wrex so much.
"So Grunt, I want you to meet two of your... clan mates," she then says, hoping to leave the krogan in the company of like-minded violent individuals. "This lovely young lady is Jack, and the elderly gentleman is Zaeed. He has a lot of stories about killing krogan he's probably dying to share."
"That so?" Grunt snarls in Zaeed's face.
"Shepard, you cunning bitch!" she can hear Zaeed's shouting behind her, already well on her way to the elevator. Fortunately, they manage to reach the planet of Haestrom before Zaeed, Grunt and Jack have managed to kill each other or Shepard...
A couple of hours after disembarking from Normandy, Shepard and her skeleton crew of Garrus, Grunt and Kasumi stand in a sea of geth parts, drenched in their own blood from numerous injuries, all as one panting heavily.
"Geth!" Grunt roars. "A worthy enemy, Shepard!"
"Yeah, geth," Shepard sighs, kicking her right foot free from the cold metallic grasp of a geth hunter that had managed to sneak up on her. "See, Garrus, this is where you're supposed to make your 'Just like old times, Commander,' quip."
Garrus lets out a dry chuckle, but then winces painfully, clasping his chest. "Damn it, Commander, don't make me laugh now, it is too painful."
"Why did you have to drag me through all this," Kasumi complains cheekily, pointing at her torn combat suit. "I would have preferred to remain in the medbay and nurse Jacob back to full health. Mmm, that Jacob."
"What, I thought you were still deep in mourning," Shepard remarks.
"Hey, I might be grieving, but I'm not dead!" Kasumi retorts defensively.
"Right... enough of the banter, we still need to take care of that one last door," Shepard finally decides it's about time they got back to their task. Tali's hideout is somewhere nearby, according to Kal'Reegar, the last survivor of the quarians under Tali's command. "See if you can bypass it, Kasumi."
The thief starts to work on the doors, but whether it is because she is tired and injured, Kasumi is not having a lot of luck and minutes pass by. Finally, the doors slide open on their own and reveal a very familiar fully suited figure with her face masked, standing right in front of them. "What are you doing, Shepard?" Tali asks, sounding a little exasperated.
"Uh... removing this last barrier to get to you, I guess?" Shepard tries.
"You could have tried to contact me on the comms?" Shepard can mentally imagine Tali rolling her eyes as she speaks. "Keelah, you could have even knocked on the doors!"
"I must have taken a few extra hits to the head during all the fighting, I suppose," Morgan confesses, blushing a little. "Anyway, good to see you again." They embrace in a tight hug. "By the way, don't hug Garrus, he's got a nasty chest wound," Shepard quickly adds.
"...thank you, Commander," Garrus grinds out the words.
"These others are Kasumi, our local kleptomaniac," Shepard introduces Tali to the rest of the squad. Kasumi waves back and grins. "And that's Grunt," she points to the krogan, who simply... grunts in response. "He's kind of like a surly Wrex."
"But Wrex already was surly!" Tali protests.
"Well... you know what I mean! Less... lovable!" Shepard exclaims in exasperation. "I'll introduce you to the rest of the zoo, I mean, the crew, later. You will be joining us, yes? Nobody turns me down twice in a row and walks away, you know that, right?"
Tali laughs. "Fine, fine, you've won me over. The Collectors cannot be ignored, if they are working for the Reapers like you claim." Her voice then turns bitter. "I wish I could have joined you back on Freedom's Progress. I wanted to, Shepard, I truly did."
"It's alright, Tali," Morgan says softly, putting her hand around Tali's shoulder. "I understand."
"If I had gone with you then, they would have sent someone else to Haestrom. I could not have let anyone take my place on something so risky. I would be signing their death warrant," Tali speaks quietly. "It's hard enough as it is. I just watched all of my squad die."
"Maybe you did not lose all of your squad," Shepard smiles, turning Tali around and towards Kal'Reegar, slowly hobbling towards them.
"Reegar! You're alive!" Tali exclaims with joy. "In that case, Shepard, before we leave... let me say my farewells first..."