Chapter 27 - Return to Palaven

Garrus
October 10th, 2188

"Primarch," Nyreen nodded as her hologram appeared before me. She looked significantly better since the last time we had spoken, just over two weeks ago. Her armor was clean and buffed of most of its scratches, and it looked like she could remember the last time she had a hot meal and a shower.

"Miss Kandros," I greeted back, "How are things shaping up on Omega?"

"The supplies and reinforcements you sent have been very helpful. Thank you again for that."

"Of course. Now, I wanted to ask you something, but let me first say your answer has no bearing on the Hierarchy's support. Would you come to Palaven and discuss the future of Omega with Prime Minister Stone and I?" I asked.

Nyreen's eyes narrowed almost imperceptibly, "What do you mean 'the future'?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. I'm not here to play tricks with you, and I hope my support so far has proved that. Come hear us out and make your decision. That's all I ask."

Nyreen crossed her arms, glaring at me more openly, trying to read my eyes and see if there was any deceit in them. Finding none, she relented, "Fine. When is this meeting?"

"Three days from now in Cipritine, at the Hierarchy Tower."

"Alright. I will be there. Thank you, Primarch. If you'll excuse me, I have to go," Nyreen replied, shutting down the feed.

I walked to the door, leaving my office and walking down the hall towards Sentia's new one. As I walked past the secretary's desk, I noticed a new face sitting at it, the very young turian girl, no more than twenty, busy typing at her console. "Hello," I greeted, getting her attention and holding my arm for a wrist clap, "I don't believe we've met. I'm Garrus Vakarian, and you are?"

"Primarch…. Oh Spirits, I didn't see you…. Um…. Hi. I'm Altia Bellagatus, your new secretary, and er…. Sentia's sister," The girl did a small wave of her hand before folding it nervously over the other at her waist.

"I didn't know I was getting a new secretary," I mused, trying to scare the girl more than anything. Working like a charm, Altia's green eyes darted around the room, trying to look at anything except the imposing figure in front of her.

"Did my sister…. Did Sentia not tell you? If you need, I can give you my résumé…."

I couldn't keep the wide-mandible smile off my face anymore, laughing out loud at the girl's visible discomfort, holding up both my hands in the universal 'calm down' gesture, "Don't worry, I was only teasing. I knew I'd be getting a new secretary, just not that it was her sister. I'm certain that if she says you are a fit for the job, you are. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must go talk to her."

Altia breathed out in relief, "Of course. Thank you, Primarch."

"Nice to meet you," I said, continuing down the hall. Arriving at Sentia's office, I knocked on the open doorframe.

"Good morning, Primarch," Sentia greeted with a smile, setting the box she was carrying onto the desk.

"Good morning, Sentia. Can I help you?"

"Oh, no, Sir. Your sister helped me move most of it yesterday. This was the last of it," She answered, lifting the box slightly before setting it back down again.

"How are you two getting along? Don't feel like I'd be mad at you if it didn't work out. I don't want you to feel trapped."

Sentia smiled again, her eyes drifting somewhere else, "Of course not. I've worked for you long enough now that I wouldn't think that. For a man who says he is a bad turian, you really aren't. Solana and I are doing great. We're taking it slow, seeing how things end up."

"I'm glad to hear that. And as for being a bad turian, my mate straightened me out. You should've seen me five years ago…. Let's just say I nearly punched the Executor of C-Sec in the jaw." I admitted, getting a laugh from Sentia. "Speaking of sisters, I just met yours…."

Sentia's eyes widened, and her smile dropped, realizing she didn't tell me that my new secretary was her sister. Turians generally didn't frown on nepotism; we encouraged it, actually. It was felt that if you weren't helping family, you were failing your duties. However, if by helping your family, you elevated them to a position too high, you were responsible if they failed. Before letting her worry go too far, I interceded, "I'm teasing. If you say she can do the job, I trust you."

My Chief of Staff breathed out a sigh of relief, "I'm sorry that I didn't tell you she was my sister."

I waved off her apology, "If she is even half as hard of a worker as you are, she'll be a steal for the job.

Nyreen
October 12th, 2188

I stared out the window, watching the aqili soar through the sunbleached, cloudless sky as the raptor-like creatures played. I wore a bittersweet smile on my face, remembering all my homeworld did for me, good and bad.

I stepped down the ramp, setting foot on Palaven for the first time in nearly a decade, squinting into the bright rays of Trebia and shielding my eyes from the peaking star. As they adjusted, a young turian woman approached the landing pad from inside the tower. "Ms. Kandros? Hello, I'm Altia. If you could follow me please, the Primarch wishes to see you."

The girl, Altia, was very polite, catching me off guard. I'd spent the last eight years bouncing around the Terminus systems, shredding off the obedient persona instilled in me by my parents and turian culture in general, reshaping myself and the battle-hardened woman I was today. In my world, politeness was a luxury commonly missed. I nodded to the woman, falling into step behind her as she walked into the Hierarchy tower, which loomed over the skyline.

Emerging from the elevator a few moments later, I followed Altia down the hall and into a large conference room dominated by a massive wooden table surrounded by chairs, of which only three were occupied. A male turian that she recognized as Primarch Vakarian sat at the head of the table. Two turian women sat on either side of him, one sharing the same clan markings as the Primarch and the other with the same markings as Altia.

"My sister asked me to arrange this meeting, so I will leave you to it. If you need anything, please ask Altia, and she'll be sure to get it for you, and I'll see you tomorrow for our meeting with the Prime Minister." Garrus said, excusing himself from the room.

The female Vakarian's eyes flushed with concern as she looked at me, quickly clamping down on a keen from her subharmonics. The woman stood and asked, "Nyreen...?"

The voice awakened something from deep inside my memories. The face was almost unrecognizable with age, but the voice… "Solana?"

Solana smiled at me, closing the distance and grabbing my arm in a wrist clap, her mandibles warbling slightly, almost not enough to notice. "I don't know what to say…. It's been so long."

I felt my heart drop from my chest in guilt. When I left Palaven, I didn't give any notice to anyone in my life, thinking it would be less painful for my family and friends that way. I was so angry at the Hierarchy, angry that the future I had been groomed for was ripped from my talons, that I couldn't be around any of it anymore. It was a rash decision that I came to regret, but it felt wrong to try to reconcile after so many years. My parents probably didn't even know I was alive.

Nyreen
September 19th, 2176

I emerged from my barrack, immediately speed-walking to the piece of paper that held our posts after boot camp ended. I ran my finger down the list of military IDs, scanning the numbers to find mine, tracing it across to see I had been accepted into Officer's Training and Special Forces. My entire body relaxed as I released a breath I didn't realize I was holding. All my hard work had paid off. I got the berth I wanted.

Down the hall, Solana, my best friend, emerged from her barrack, also hurrying over to another posted sheet. I padded over to my friend, "I got it, Sol!"

Her friend's face cheered up a bit, "Congrats! You've worked your rear end off. You deserve it."

"What did you get?"

"Field Medic…." Solana's disappointment was seeping into her voice.

"Isn't that what you wanted?"

"I didn't get special forces…. My dad is going to be so disappointed…."

"Nonsense. He'll be proud of you."

"You don't know my father, Nyreen. Everyone in my family was in the special forces. He was, Garrus was, Spirits, even my mother was."

"Solana…," I put my hand on Sol's shoulder, "You gave it everything you had. No one can be disappointed in that. Does it say why you didn't make it?"

"No. But it has to be my hand-to-hand. What else could it be?" Solana paused for a second, "Can you help me with it?"

"Of course. Meet me in the sparring room after dinner."

"Thanks, Ny. It means a lot." I smiled at her, clapping her shoulder before walking off.

-0-

I planted my feet and sent a flurry of strikes at the heavy bag hanging from the ceiling, sending the bag swinging. Happy with my set, I took a moment to catch my breath.

"Hey, Ny. Thanks for doing this." Solana's voice came from behind me.

"No problem, Sol. That's what friends are for. Come on. Let's get to work."

We trained for over an hour. I guided her through several friendly sparring sessions, working our way up to full-contact fighting.

The door to the training room slid open behind us, revealing Tilius Sandos and two of his thugs. "Well, well, if it isn't Kandros and her little… pet," Tilius said, spitting out the last word with vitriol.

"What do you want, Sandos?" I demanded, straightening up to my full height.

"I don't have a problem with you, Kandros. My problem is with her. Her father locked mine up, and I'm here to get payback."

His father, Aurunis, was an arms and information dealer who didn't care who got hurt as a result of his sales. He'd been wanted for nearly a decade at that point since he first deserted the Hierarchy, stealing a convoy of military-grade weapons when he left. Apparently, he was finally apprehended on the Citadel, arrested by Castis Vakarian. I shouldn't have known any of this information, but sometimes I listened in on my father's vid calls.

"Your father deserves to rot in whatever hole he is in for the rest of time," I stated, keeping a calm demeanor.

"We'll settle our differences later, Kandros. Right now, I'm fighting her." Tilius took a step forward, causing me to step in front of Solana, who, so far, had remained silent.

"You'll have to go through me first."

"No. I'll fight him," Solana said, breaking her silence, a determined look entering her eyes.

Not wanting to doubt my friend, I acquiesced, stepping off the side of the mat, the two thugs moving with me.

The fight was short and brutal; Tilius used his far superior height and strength to smother Solana's attacks, pinning her to the ground on her stomach with a knee planted in her back. Tilius launched a hard punch into her face from this position, cracking two of the delicate plates on it.

"No!" I shouted, starting to move towards Tilius only to be grabbed by his two friends and pulled back. Tilius continued his beating, cracking even more of Solana's faceplates until something in me snapped. The next thing I knew, I was standing next to Solana, unconscious and bleeding, and there was a turian-sized hole in the training room wall, and Tilius's friends were in a pile several feet away.

I crouched next to Solana, unsure of how to treat her wounds. "...andros! Recruit Kandros! What happened?"

I turned towards the voice, seeing one of the Drill Centurions standing behind me. "Sandos attacked Vakarian, Drill Centurion." I answered, "He beat her unconscious. After that… I don't know what happened."

"Where were you when this happened?"

I pointed to Sandos's friends, who were now sitting up, also wondering what happened, "They tried to stop me from intervening. Next thing I know, I'm here, they are there, and Sandos was in the hall."

"Okay," The Centurion said, nodding understandingly, "If what you're telling me is true, they will be punished. The nurses will be here in a few minutes to collect Recruit Vakarian. For now, go back to your barrack."

"Yes, Drill Centurion."