MASS EFFECT ANDROMEDA SERIES II: CHAPTER 15
Hours passed since they left the Citadel and Garrus found himself staring at the screen to run a final check on the Mako's diagnostics. However, his mind was not on his work. He kept checking the terminal comm application to see if they were near a buoy so he could try to get a message to Andromeda back on the Citadel. They left in such haste due to the lockdown override, that he didn't get a chance to tell her what would happen next. He still wondered what all she encountered while Saren's captive, but he knew that now she was at least safe on the Citadel. The station was so heavily fortified by ships and C-Sec that Saren would not be able to get there without being detected. It wasn't remote like Feros. The only problem would be if they reached the conduit and had to follow Saren through it, where would it lead them? To all he knew, the entire Reaper fleet could be on the other side waiting for them. The one they talked to on Virmire, Sovereign, didn't seem to be too concerned about their interfering.
His mind wandered back to Saren. They encountered blockade after blockade from the Council on their mission to find the rogue agent. Something just didn't feel right about the situation. "Garrus, you busy?" Shepard's voice broke away his concentration.
"Sure, Commander." The Turian turned around to address his commanding officer.
"You look like something's bothering you. Speak your mind, Garrus. I want you to have a clear mind when we land on Ilos. I need you and Wrex to go with me. After all, you were after Saren before me." Shepard smiled at him.
"I appreciate it, Commander. Would definitely put my mind at ease knowing that we finally get the bastard. I was just musing over what already has transpired with the Council in dealing with him. Something just bothers me."
"Like what?"
"What if we find Saren, take him back to the Council, and they simply let him go? I mean he was their top agent, uh, no offense, Commander."
"None taken," Shepard chuckled. It was good to hear the man in front of him laugh for once. Things were so tense lately.
"He's too dangerous to be kept alive. He could escape; he has lots of contacts out there. I mean look what happened to Fist?"
"Agreed or the Council may let him go," Shepard added.
"Glad to see you have similar thoughts, Shepard. When we find him, if we find him, I say we stop him. Permanently." The Turian clenched his fists as the idea of killing Saren personally entered his mind.
"Relax, Garrus. I don't have any intentions of capturing that murderous son-of-a bitch alive. When I see him, he dies."
Garrus' face lightened up. "You see this is why I want to be a Spectre. You never have to worry about the bureaucrats making a mess of everything. I wanted to thank you anyways so I'm glad you came down here."
"Thank me?"
"For everything. Taking me with you and letting me a part of this. I've learned a lot. You were right about Dr. Saleon. Killing him was the only situation. I think once we are done with this, I'm going to re-enlist into Spectre training."
"Sounds good. I'll put in the recommendation. Just be ready when we get to Saren. I don't want any hesitation. Remember, annihilate the threat regardless of the cost."
"You won't have to worry, Shepard."
Garrus followed Shepard's eyes and the man's attention deflected over to where Ash was at her work bench. "Excuse me," Shepard sidestepped and headed over to where she was. Garrus watched for a bit with interest seeing the dark haired man engaging into a more casual conversation with Williams before he returned his attention back to the Mako. His blue avian eyes studied the armored vessel over.
With a sigh, he stepped back. "Let's hope this thing holds up to whatever we go against."
A few hours later, Garrus and Wrex were called up to the cockpit of the Normandy. Already there were Shepard and Ash. Garrus noticed that the pair was standing rather close to one another as if they were almost afraid of separating on this mission. Looking at the radar screen, Garrus noticed several blips indicating vessels up ahead making a blockade near the planet's surface. Their call signature indicated that they were Geth. "Um, Commander, we have company." Joker called back to the group as he slowed the ship down after exiting from the Mass Relay.
"They picked us up?" Wrex asked.
"No, stealth system is engaged."
"There are some strange readings from the planet surface," Ash commented behind them as she viewed another monitor.
"Take us in, Joker," Shepard ordered from behind the ball capped pilot.
"Uh, negative, Commander. The nearing last zone is two clicks away," Ash called out from her screen.
Two clicks? Garrus shook his head. If they did that, Saren could find the conduit well before they had a visual on him. "We would never get him in time. Find us something else." Garrus tensed up. They were too close and he was not going to let Saren get away.
"There is nothing else!" Ash yelled in frustration as she desperately scanned the screen.
"Drop us in the Mako," The commander replied coolly.
"Sounds like fun," Wrex smiled.
"You would need to have a bigger drop zone for that, Commander," Ash worriedly looked over to him. "I can't find anything for that."
"I can get you in there, Commander." Joker stared hard at the controls as he continued to pilot the ship closer.
"Are you sure?" Shepard looked down at his pilot.
"Yes," Joker said with confidence. "Just get ready because it's going to be tight."
"Garrus, Wrex, go get your gear ready. I'll be heading down." The commander turned to follow them but then stopped to catch an eye glance to Ash who looked at Shepard fearfully.
"Come back safe, Shepard," Garrus overheard Ash say.
Climbing into the Mako, Garrus adjusted his armor suit as he did a double check on his weapons. "This is going to be fun," Wrex leaned casually back against the vehicle's wall.
Garrus slipped over the vehicle's passenger restraint. "Definitely will be a wild ride. Something to tell the kids back home?" Wrex gave him a hard glare, and then Garrus realized the poor choice of words. "Sorry."
"Just don't scream like a young pup, Vakarian," Wrex sat calmly as Shepard entered the Mako to take his place at the pilot controls.
Shepard began to flip the switches to engage all the necessary systems including the ship's shields. Garrus let out a soft sigh of relief as he heard so far no signs of mechanical issues. At least his diagnostics came back positive. "Preparing for the drop. You two better hang on back there." The Normandy's indoor klaxon sounded as the cargo door began to open.
Taking a gulp, Garrus tried to save face from his fear as he sat up straighter, looking across at Wrex who sat quietly with a smirk; almost waiting for the Turian to flinch. He shifted his seat some as he felt the Mako releasing its brake to roll towards the door opening.
Punching the throttle, Shepard raced the Mako out the door without a notice to its passengers to drop into the landing zone. Garrus felt his stomach bounce up into his throat from the sudden drop and he tensed his talons around the butt of his rifle. Wrex continued to look at him with a straight face, not even flinching, with a huge smirk on his face. Seconds later, the Mako struck the ground and the vehicle bounced hard. Shepard decreased the throttle and engaged the braking system. "Let's move!" He barged out the vehicle's doors and Wrex scrambled out first. Catching his breath, Garrus followed behind him.
Instead of meeting Geth troopers, they were met by a solid door that blocked their path to follow Saren. There was no indication of any mechanism that would open the door nearby. "That sucks," Wrex began to use his rifle to move away plant life that had taken root nearby to see if there was any hidden lever.
"Saren found a way to get into the bunker so we can too," Garrus scanned the area to see distance structures.
"Let's head in that direction," Shepard pointed to a building to their left. Just as they stepped forward, they heard the familiar clicks of Geth troopers approaching.
Raising his assault rifle up, Garrus got in his sights one of the Geth and he squeezed the trigger. The rounds ripped through the mech's armor and it crumbled into a disabled heap. Wrex took out the other. Shepard motioned them ahead and he stopped suddenly and ducked behind a square pillar that was in the complex's main yard.
Wrex and Garrus ducked behind the second pillar, confused by what Shepard may have seen. Nodding to Wrex, Garrus sidestepped slowly around to get a visual. There up ahead were two armatures. One spotted Garrus and turned its bright light head quickly on the Turian. "Fantastic…well I knew this wasn't going to be easy." He turned and hid behind the pillar as the armature launched a hard blast towards them that impacted against the pillar.
"Saren's soft. I would have brought a Colossus at least against my enemies," Wrex moved around Garrus to fire at the armature's shields.
"Make sure you give him that recommendation when we see him, Wrex," Garrus chuckled.