Anderson escorted Amala and the turians back to her ship, although his focus had been more on issuing orders getting the Normandy ready for departure. If he wasn't barking something into his comm link, he was handing it off to Alenko, who took it all in stride. All too soon, they were back at the Wildcat. Amala waited at the hatch while the others boarded ahead of her.
"Thank you, Anderson. For everything."
He laughed a little. "I don't think you'll be thanking me when we drop you onto a planet in the middle of a war."
"Hell, it will be just like N7 training. A walk in the park," she said with a grin.
"You keep thinking that, Shepard. I'll forward you the coordinates to rendezvous with the Normandy."
"We'll be there, sir."
She closed the hatch behind her only to find the turians all jammed in the cockpit area. Garrus's mandibles twitched, making her think that he especially seemed to be excited by the prospect of their mission.
"Hey EDI, I hear Palaven is nice this time of year. How do you feel about a vacation there?" Amala said with a little laugh.
"I'm sure you will enjoy dodging bullets while you have a nice visit at the local spa."
"You know me; the day isn't the same without a chance of death. Seriously, though, Anderson is going to pick us up on a prototype ship. The Alliance has been working on a stealth drive and they think they can get us to Palaven in one piece."
"This QEC machine what is it? And how will it help us?" Saren asked.
"QEC stands for quantum entanglement communicator. The first machine will remain with the Alliance while we take the second to Palaven with us. With it, we will be able to have instant communication with them across the galaxy."
"They are usually very bulky, Amala. I do not see how they will get that on board the Wildcat," EDI stated.
"It's a prototype. I assume they managed to make it smaller for use in the field."
"Excellent! That will be an advantage for us," Saren said.
"Yes, and I bet my Prime Minister will want to talk with whoever is leading your people."
"It was Primarch Fedorian when I was captured, but the situation may have changed by now," Saren said.
The Wildcat left its berth on the station and headed to the coordinates Anderson had forwarded to them. Although the Wildcat was considered a corvette class, she was on the smaller size for that type. Amala had taken the ship from a drug runner and modified it for her use. Once at the rendezvous point, they sat and waited.
It was a little crowded in the cockpit, but none of them wanted to miss the first glimpse of the ship that could hopefully get them to Palaven in one piece. There was no telling how long it would be before the Normandy showed up. That ship would need to be stocked with everything they needed before it could leave the station.
A sleek silver and black frigate class ship approached where theirs waited, Normandy emblazoned on her side.
"I see her. But I thought she had a stealth drive?" Garrus asked, tearing his eyes away from the view to look at Amala.
"From what Anderson has told me, this ship is able to hide its heat signature for several hours at a time and, since most vessels rely on heat scanners to find enemy ships, it should be undetectable. That should be long enough to get us onto Palaven. Visual spotting is difficult to do to begin with, and weapons systems need a precise location, so in theory this should work. So unless she comes out of the relay right on top of another ship, we should be able to scoot past the blockade."
As they watched, the cargo hold door lowered down. Once it had opened all the way, the Wildcat began its approach. The closer they got to the bigger ship the more Amala had to stop from cringing. The fit was going to be tight, but if anyone could pull off such a crazy maneuver, it would be EDI.
"Is this ship even going to fit?" Garrus whispered.
"Of course it will. I would not risk my ship if I did not know it would," EDI stated.
True to her word, the ship fit in the cargo hold barely. Maybe five feet separated the hatch from the wall of the bay. Amala had barely got the hatch open before Anderson and Alenko were there.
"Come on, we don't have a lot of time and we need to go over last minute plans while my people load the ship up," Anderson said.
The four of them left the Wildcat and as they neared the elevator, it opened and crewmembers exited it, hauling heavy crates slung between them. They rode the elevator up and when the doors opened, they had to dodge yet more people carrying supplies. Anderson led them to his personal cabin; at the moment it was perhaps the only spot with some quiet.
"I know it's a little crowded in here, but we will be out of the way at least. I want to make sure you are aware that once the Wildcat leaves this ship, you are on your own. My orders are to get into the system, get the information, and get out. We can't provide any support. If you would rather not chance it, you are welcome to stay on board and we will drop you off after we break the blockade."
"If Shepard is willing, I need to be on the ground and let my people know that they are not alone and that your people are not simply another set of invaders. Garrus, Nihlus, perhaps you two should stay on board," Saren said.
"No," the two turians blurted out nearly simultaneously.
"If you are going, then I'm going," Nihlus growled, his eyes narrowed at Saren. "You are not leaving me behind." His sub-vocals hummed with anger at Saren's suggestion.
"Same for me," Garrus added, his arms crossed in front of him, his gaze steady on Saren.
The tension built as Saren opened his mouth as if he was about to argue with Nihlus.
"Then it's settled we will all take our chances. Get us as close as you can and well, I think EDI will get to test her belief that she is a superior pilot to an organic," Amala interrupted.
Saren gave a brief nod, conceding defeat. Anderson released the breath he had been holding; he had been afraid that Saren was about to have his own people mutiny on him.
"Admiral Hackett has the other half of the QEC. As soon as you can, check in with him. We can keep you updated on our plans that way."
"Right. I already told Mordin and Wrex that you are their new contact as I will be out of communication range."
"Good. Any questions?"
Amala shook her head and glanced over at Saren. His mandibles were tight against his face, but after a moment they relaxed and he stood straight and tall again.
"Admiral, with whatever authority I might have left, on behalf of the Turian Hierarchy, I thank you for all your help. We may be damaged now, but when we have rebuilt we will proudly stand with the humans should you ever need us."
Anderson offered his hand and Saren looked a little perplexed at first, but placed his hand in the humans. Anderson gave him a grin and gave his hand a dignified shake.
"That's all we can ask for: that someone would come to our aid if the situation were reversed."
They had barely left Anderson's quarters when Nihlus lightly touched Saren's arm and with an angry toss of his head, he indicated for the other turian to follow him. As soon as they were out of earshot of the others, Nihlus rounded on Saren.
"After everything, how could you even suggest that I stay behind?" he hissed, his eyes flashing in anger.
Saren dipped his head down and lowered his voice so that only Nihlus could hear him. "It was because of everything. I would rather know you are safe here than risk your life on something that will in all likelihood be a suicide run."
"Palaven needs all of us! And I will stand proudly by your side through it all, or are you ashamed that I still wear the marks of my capture?"
Saren growled a little. "You know that is not true! The only shame I bear is my own. I am a general and I was captured!"
"You were caught while you tried to give your troops enough time to retreat; there is no shame there!"
"And the only reason I was never marked was because they handed me directly to Nassana." With one talon, he delicately traced the sweeping arc of one of the cream-colored lines that graced Nihlus's face. "Your mark though, it shows you are a survivor and I would never think less of you for it."
"You have no idea," Nihlus said, his voice soft. He dropped his eyes downward.
"What? You've never spoken of it before; what happened?"
"At first, we were given simple marks to signify that we had been 'processed', but when they discovered that it took a great deal to make their ink stick to our plates and that the process was excruciating for us, well, then it became an art form of torture. The first mark I was given was removed, again not a pleasant process. These marks that I now wear, they took their time placing and I refused to give them the satisfaction of crying out. After that, they thought for sure I knew something since I refused to beg them to stop. That was how I ended up with Nassana."
"All of our people are treated this way?" Saren growled out.
"They leave the children alone at least. However, they are used as hostages against their parents. In some ways, being sent to Nassana was better than staying in the camp."
"No one has ever returned from a camp before, so none of us knew. They will pay," Saren said, his voice low and menacing. He held Nihlus's face in his hands, his icy blue eyes promising retribution for Nihlus.
"Then stop trying to shield me. Sooner or later, I will be in the fight and those of us who were taken will be returned to Palaven. Each and every one of us still bearing the marks of our capture."
"And we will mourn those that were lost and celebrate those that were returned to us. And together we will find our way in this new galaxy."
Amala watched for a moment as Nihlus and Saren ducked into an out of the way spot for a chat. Perhaps chat was not quite the right word. Garrus noticed where she was looking and grinned at her look of curiosity.
"You know, I was a little surprised you two stood up for yourselves quite so vehemently. You both tend to defer to what Saren says."
"His mistake; he termed it more as a request," Garrus said with a shrug of his shoulders. "Had it been an order, well, I still would have said something. It's my life and I will return to help my people if I can."
"Ah. Well it looks as if Nihlus is going to give him an earful."
Garrus gave a rumbling laugh. "That is for sure. By asking him to stay behind it sort of indicates he doesn't think him capable."
"No, I think Saren cares about him and was just trying to protect him. After all, there is no guarantee any of us will make it to the surface."
"True, but should it not be our choice?"
Amala shrugged her shoulders and headed to the ramp that led up to the CIC. Garrus paced alongside her when he could, though they frequently had to press against the sides as humans bustled about carrying supplies.
"Where are we going?" Garrus asked.
"I thought we would go check out the cockpit while we wait."
Garrus nodded. He had noticed a few humans that stopped to gape at him. He couldn't really blame them; he wanted nothing more than to check out every last one of them and every inch of this new ship. From the pictures EDI had shown him he had expected a great variety of colors, but they seemed to be variants of the same color schemes. But he also didn't want to fall behind Amala, so he looked around when he could and kept walking.
~Thank you Mordinette for all your help! And thank you to the readers, I'm delighted you are enjoying this!~