Chapter 24 - Nyreen

Garrus
September 17th, 2188

After leaving the office, Solana and I walked the few blocks to the restaurant, much to my security's chagrin, meeting Amelia, who was already seated at the table with Gaius and Octavia in a stroller beside her. "Sol!" Amelia said happily, getting up and hugging her, "It's good to see you."

Solana returned the embrace, "You too, Ame. How are the little ones?"

"As tiresome as ever," Amelia replied with a faux exasperated note, the smile on her face saying it wasn't an actual complaint. As Amelia's hand shifted on Solana's back, I saw the bruising on her knuckles and frowned.

She came to me next, stepping onto her tiptoes to kiss me. I gently took her hands, raising them closer to my face and examining them, asking, "What happened?"

"I got a little carried away in the gym. It's nothing to worry about. Promise," Amelia said sincerely, "You should see the other guy," She added after a second, chuckling and giving me a brilliant smile.

Satisfied with her explanation, we sat down and ordered, the conversation going through a string of frivolous topics until I eyed my sister mischievously, "So…, I saw how you looked at Sentia back at the office…." I did my best approximation of an eyebrow waggle at Amelia, clueing her in, laughing as Solana's neck turned blue from embarrassment.

"Spirits, I hate you…," Solana murmured, looking down into her food.

"Don't worry, Solana, he is just teasing. Your brother wouldn't know how to ask a woman out unless one all but slapped him in the face. It was my turn to flush blue as I spluttered on the ale I was drinking.

Solana laughed, "Now this I have to hear."

"I was flirting with him for three months, and he still didn't notice! He kept telling me about this girl on one of the ships he served on while we were sparring. They were the two best hand-to-hand experts on the ship, and they had a sparring match that ended tied, so they finished with a round nine tiebreaker in his barracks…. He still didn't get it until I asked if he wanted to have a round nine tiebreaker in my cabin! I thought he'd never get it!"

Solana put her head down on the table, her entire body shaking in silent laughter. I tried to look betrayed, but I was having trouble not laughing. "Et tu, Amelia?"

"Hell yea. Any chance I get to rib at my tall, sexy, oblivious husband I'm taking."

"Hmmm, my ego feels both bruised and rejuvenated…. I don't know how to feel about this." I hummed, causing another uproar of laughs from the women.

The rest of the meal continued until Octavia got fussy at the noise from the restaurant. Amelia went to reach for her, but Solana asked to take her instead. Solana raised her niece to her eye level as she squirmed in her hands, bringing the twelve-week-old child's face to hers so that their noses were touching. Octavia giggled a little, her small mandibles flexing as wide as they could and her unwieldy five-fingered hands trying to grab onto Solana's face. Solana used her mandible to tickle the sides of Octavia's face, extracting another giggle from the child.

I watched Solana play with his daughter for a few moments before Octavia let out a wide-mouthed yawn, so Solana lowered the child to her shoulder and quickly fell asleep. Standing and putting Octavia back into her stroller, Solana said, "I have to go; Dad's expecting me soon. When you get in contact with Nyreen, let me know. I may be able to help. Goodnight."

-0-

After leaving the restaurant, Amelia and I decided to take a sunset walk through the Victorum Gardens. I walked next to her as she pushed the double-wide stroller down the sidewalk, expertly weaving her five-fingered hand into my three-fingered one. "Mmmmm," Amelia mused, "It smells so good out here." She bent over, grabbing a small pinkish flower off the ground and bringing it to her nose, smiling contentedly. "What are these called? We used to have a tree with similar flowers on Mindoir, called cherry blossoms."

I bent over, collecting another one of the flowers and tucking the stem into her hair just above her ear, "Those are flowers from the aenean tree," I answered, pointing to the tall, stout tree a few feet away from them, "My mother used to have two of these in the backyard at our old house before we moved to Cipritine. They smell so good, but they dump all their flowers onto the ground at the end of spring. Solana and I used to have to collect all of them daily."

Amelia smiled as they continued, "Can we get on for the house? It would look so beautiful."

"Of course," I answered, smirking at her and half-jokingly saying, "But you're cleaning it all up."

A few minutes later, we made it to the lake in the center of the garden and sat down on a bench on the bank, watching Trebia recede below the horizon, sending out a stunning array of pinks, reds, oranges, and yellows interspersed with the clouds. "Palaven really is beautiful," Amelia said, leaning into my shoulder.

I wrapped an arm around her and placed a kiss atop her head. "It is, but I never really appreciated it until you came here."

Nyreen Kandros
September 17th, 2188

For the last thirty months, the Talons had been fighting tooth and talon to maintain control of Omega. I wasn't the leader of the Talons back when Cerberus first attacked, just an outcast trying to keep my head down and those I cared for safe, but the burden of leadership fell on my shoulders soon after the initial attack.

Cerberus targeted the leaders of the mercenary factions, wiping out all of them in one attack, causing Aria to flee the station along with the new leaders of the Blue Suns, Blood Pack, Eclipse, and several other groups. I took control at that point, removing anyone whose sole purpose wasn't protecting the citizens of Omega from the attacks, changing the Talons into more of a defense force than a mercenary group.

We fought back the Cerberus army and their twisted Adjutant husks for eleven months. We were pushed back further and further, having to give up millions of civilians in the process. Aria returned shortly after, but her force was decimated by the anti-ship cannons Cerberus installed. My reinforcements were necessary, hitting Cerberus from their exposed rear and inflicting heavy casualties while taking thousands of our own.

Towards the end, the Cerberus commander got desperate, releasing the uncontrolled Adjutants as a last-ditch effort to turn the tide. Then the red wave passed over the station, vaporizing every piece of Reaper technology. The fight was over. I had succeeded. Omega was safe, or so I thought.

Drinks were passed around as the Talons and the mercenaries celebrated that night, but the peace didn't last. Aria came to see me the next day, "Good job, Nyreen. You kept Omega safe, but I'm back now, and I'm taking control."

I had looked up at the old asari, setting down the small piece of wood I was carving, meeting the stern glare with an equally cold glare of my own. "No."

Aria hesitated, looking utterly shocked, "...What?"

I stood from the step I was sitting on, pulling myself to my full height, easily taller than the asari. "I said no. Those are my men," I pointed to the Talon logo on the wall and then to a group of refugees standing nearby, "Those are my people. That is my blood in the streets. There is no way things will go back to how they were. I will not let you do that to those people again!"

Aria looked at me with a deadly glare, her biotics flaring up her arms, but I returned her gaze, "Because of our past friendship, I won't end this now. You have a day to leave the station."

-0-

I slumped down into my seat, bone-tired and ready to collapse under the weight of my choice. Wearily, I grabbed the dextro protein bar on the table, forcing myself to eat the vile thing just to have a modicum of energy.

For the last eighteen months, the Talons had been holding the combined forces of Aria and the major mercenary factions off of Omega, but things were starting to become desperate. I knew the people of Omega would go back to suffering if I failed to stop Aria, so I would fight on - to the very last man.

Aria seemed to have an infinite number of troops to throw at me, and even though my force was far superior in skill, we were heavily outnumbered and growing more so by the day. A few months prior, I had to start accepting volunteers from the civilian population to fight alongside my men to reinforce my numbers. We needed help.

"Sir?" Sergeant Helio Velilienus asked.

I raised my head from the cool table, trying to blink the tiredness out of my eyes but failing, "What is it, Velilienus?"

"There is a ship approaching from the relay, requesting to dock and to speak with you. It has a Hierarchy transponder."

"The Hierarchy? What do they want?" I asked rhetorically, begrudgingly pulling myself up out of the booth with a sigh.

Lieutenant Delinus Secna

I stepped halfway down the ramp of my small ship, eyeing the five figures in full armor waiting for me on the dock. Raising my hands, I continued down the ramp. A human and a turian stepped forward, each lightly grabbing one arm to hold me steady while a second human scanned over my body with her omnitool. "He's clean, sir." The human female called. The lone female turian in the group of five stepped forward, pulling off her helmet to reveal a face far younger than I anticipated. I studied her for a moment, seeing the tiredness pour out behind her eyes.

"Madam Kandros, I am here on behalf of Primarch Vakarian. He wishes to speak with you."

"Vakarian?" Kandros questioned no one in particular, sighing, "I supposed I should hear what he has to say. Please, follow me."

Garrus

"You aren't the Vakarian I expected to see," A female turian said from the speaker of my comm unit.

"No, I am younger and far better looking than the one you're thinking of," I answered with a smile, trying to disarm her. "Nyreen Kandros, I presume?" I asked before turning my attention to Secna, "Thank you, Lieutenant. Can you step out for a moment?"

Nyreen waited for the door to close behind her, turning back and nodding at me, "So if you aren't Castis Vakarian, who are you?"

"I am Garrus. Solana is my sister."

"So…. Why did you want to talk to me, Primarch?

"I want to offer help with your fight." I answered simply, "Both the Hierarchy and Alliance are offering to send men and supplies."

Nyreen eyed me suspiciously, "What is the catch?" I waited as her eyes inspected mine, trying to see if she was somehow being deceived. I knew the feeling. It drove away anyone close to you and left you on an island of loneliness, with no one to depend on other than yourself. It sapped the energy out of your body, leaving you tired and doubting whether or not your goal was worth the trouble.

"No catch. All I want is Aria when it is over. Dead or alive, it doesn't matter to me." I answered honestly, keeping my face bereft of emotion.

Nyreen scoffed, "I have no interest in killing Aria, just keeping her away from Omega. Why does the Hierarchy care about Aria or Omega?"

"Aria aligned herself with the asari government to retake Omega. In the process, she nearly sparked a war between the Hierarchy and the Alliance. On a more personal note, I am invested in Omega's wellbeing."

"Why does the Primarch of Palaven care about Omega?" Nyreen asked, clearly implying that I was lying.

"I was on Omega for nearly two years. I tried to make it a better place, and I failed. All I did was get ten good men killed." I lowered my head, turning it ever so slightly to the side as to reveal the scars from the rocket to the camera.

Nyreen's eyes widened, "You're Archangel."

I didn't bother confirming it, continuing, "I've read your file. Omega needs someone like you, Nyreen. You've given them hope. You've done what I couldn't, and I want to ensure you succeed."