The first thing Garrus noticed when he woke up was the pain. Not a single square inch of his body lacked a burn, cut or sore. Considering He'd been nearly hit by a flying tank, he was lucky to have got off this easy. The Mako had landed not ten feet in front of him, showering him with a dense cloud of heat and shrapnel. Garrus had been hurt bad, but he would heal in a week or two.
He was far more worried about Tali. She'd been much closer, and even her armored suit wasn't designed to take that much damage. He remembered Shepard handing her too him, hood torn, mask cracked, suit covered in blood. Their goodbye had been one of the hardest things to watch in Garrus's life. When the shuttle doors closed, Tali had sobbed until the blood loss put her to sleep. Had he tear ducts he would have joined her. Along with her, he'd been with Shepard since the beginning. The man was practically his brother.
He longed to return to slumber, drown out the pain from his memories as well as the physical wounds. He had a promise to keep first. "Keep her safe." Slowly and with great effort, he pushed himself upright and opened his eyes. Looking down, he could see much of his upper body covered in gauze, the wrappings stained with cobalt. He suspected his lower half looked much the same under the white sheets.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty!" The sudden voice fell like a knife in Garrus's skull. "Well, beautiful's really pushing it, but at least I have a bandage pal now." Only one man could act so infuriatingly cheerful at a time like this.
"Joker?" Garrus rasped, turning to face the voice. Sure enough, the pilot sat on the the opposite bed, grinning despite the cast covering his arm and chest. "What the hell happened to you?"
"Turns out ship crashes and Vrolik Syndrome aren't a good combo. Still, could've been a lot worse. Chakwas is checking the rest of the crew." Joker's voice became slightly more serious. "And before you get worried, Doc says Tali should be ok. She and EDI hit the decontamination unit and performed surgery in the AI core, since it's probably the cleanest place on the ship. Glass and shrapnel's been taken care of and they stopped the bleeding, but without a transfusion she'll be out for a few days until her body can replace some of the blood. Probably for the best, really. Doc said the antibiotic cocktail they pumped in doesn't mix well with anesthetics. After she's done with the crew Chakwas'll grab her normal suit from the CO's quarters. Armored one's useless now,and she'll need to be wearing one before she can leave. EDI's still in the core room, she'll let us know if any thing new happens."
"That's good to hear," Garrus replied with sincerity and relief. "But when did we crash? " The turian rubbed his aching forehead. He tried to remember what happened after entering the med bay, but all he could recall was a flash of blue.
"I believe I am the best qualified to explain the situation," EDI's voice called out from the intercom. "When the Crucible was activated, it released a wave of energy. When this wave came into contact with the Reapers, they began to follow us to the Charon Relay. While we were able to reach it several minutes ahead of the machines, we were only seconds ahead of the energy pulse. It also traveled through the relay, causing it to explode.
"Exploding mass relays?" Garrus Interjected. "Didn't that take out a whole star system last time?"
"Based on my logs," the AI explained, "it appears a single, critical component was destroyed as opposed to the complete annihilation of the Bahak Relay. The blast was still incredibly violent, but much more localized. It is my theory that this is how the Crucible was intended to destroy the Reapers, sending a signal that somehow lured them to the nearest mass relay before detonating it."
"Wait, question," Joker cut in, raising his good hand. "Wouldn't that also disable intergalactic travel? Even if it's only damaged and not gone, I don't think anyone has the know-how to fix a dead relay. And if this thing was supposed to kill all the Reapers, it probably also took out all the relays."
"You are correct, Jeff," EDI replied. "It is possible whatever cycle initially designed the Crucible had a better understanding of the technology and felt they could make repairs. Alternatively, it may have simply been deemed an acceptable alternative to extinction."
"Fair enough," the pilot said, "but that still doesn't explain where we are now or why no one seems to remember any of this but you."
"While we escaped the heart of the blast, it still knocked us off course. Contrary to all laws of probability, our new trajectory took us close enough to a planet that I was able to make corrections and land the Normandy relatively safely. Our communications, navigation, drive core and QEC are down, but our hull is intact. We are currently on Eden Prime, though by my estimates we are far from the colony. As for the second part, The Crucible pulse seems to have had the secondary effect of rendering organics unconscious, though I have yet to arrive at a satisfying answer why this is."
Eden prime, Garrus thought, mandibles twitching with amusement. It's almost like the Normandy has a natural attraction to this place. His eyes grew darker as a new realization rose to mind.
"I assume no comms means no word on Shepard." It wasn't really a question, but Garrus got an answer anyway. It did not inspire confidence.
"No word on him, or anything else for that matter." Joker slowly shook his head, not even bothering to pretend to be happy. "We're completely in the dark about anything past the air locks."
"While it is reasonable to assume that the Crucible caused similar relay damage and bouts of unconsciousness in other systems," EDI added, "the more specific state of the galaxy and Sol in particular is unknown. Shepard's fate is even more ambiguous."
"Spirits," Garrus breathed, gazing at the AI core. "What are we going to tell her?
Five Days Later
Tali stood in stood in the elevator, barely even noticing that it moved even slower than usual. Her mind was numb to her senses, even the pain of the fresh scars and burns under her suit. Yesterday had not been a good day, and she was still feeling it's effects.
She had awoken from a nearly week-long coma, only to learn that they were stranded with no way to contact help. Even worse had been the news that Shepard had not returned to the Normandy. While he was far from confirmed dead, the fact that his fate was one small piece in an entire jigsaw puzzle of unknowns was hardly more comforting.
The memorial wall service hadn't helped. The small monument bore two new names: Admiral David Anderson (MIA), Commander David Shepard (MIA). The crew had insisted she be the one to place his name. Those final three letters should have given her hope. Instead, as she had attached the plaque to the wall, it felt almost as though she were the one killing him. Several of the crew had tried to talk to her afterwards, even Javik appearing concerned, but she simply walked past them all.
She'd spent the rest of the night in their cabin on deck one. This turned out to be a poor decision on her part. The room was far more organized than it had been the night before Cronos Station, meaning things had shifted in the crash and EDI had tidied up. It only made the room seem unnatural, almost fake. The bed had been even worse. Without David, it felt cold and uncomfortably large, almost as if it were trying to swallow her. She doubted she had got even an hour of true sleep.
The elevator chimed, signalling her arrival on deck two. She moved silently through the empty deck to the airlock. Joker was still in the med bay, and many of the human crew had left in the shuttles to try to find the main colony and get help with repairs. Liara and Javik had gone with them, hoping to find something useful at the dig site.
Stepping through the inner door and locking it, the Decontamination cycle started. Tali gripped her toolbox tightly. The day was going to be long, and she needed something to keep her busy. She had killed Geth, mercenaries, terrorists, and even Reapers. She'd hacked impregnable systems and improved a supposedly perfect ship. She had even helped take back the homeworld, without resorting to genocide. But now, Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy faced the one challenge she could not bear to even think about.
She was alone.
True, there was the rest of the crew, but she could tell they were broken as well, even if not to the same extent. Garrus had looked in far to much pain last night to blame it solely on his healing burns.
Keelah, David, where have you gone? She asked silently. We're all so lost without you. Come back to us. Come back to me. I need my home.
The outer door beeped twice and opened, signalling Tali was clear to leave. She stepped of the ship and down the ramp, looking for work.
Chapter 2 marks the end of explanation and the beginning of plot! hopefully I can stay on this once a week schedule and make some longer chapters coming up. Let me know what you thought, and have a wonderful day.