EPISODE III

An Awakening

"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would have been swimming in molten sulfur," Joker said over the comms as everyone gathered in the comm room. It had been about half an hour since the mission on Therum and Shepard had called everyone together to discuss the mission and their next step. "The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference."

"We almost died out there and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara said incredulously.

"Joker pulled our asses out of there. I think he's earned the right to a few bad jokes," Shepard said in rebuke.

"I see. It must be a human thing. I don't have a lot of experience dealing with your species, Commander, but I am grateful to you. You saved my life back there and not just from the volcano. Those geth would have killed me or dragged me off to Saren."

"What did Saren want with you? Do you know something about the Conduit?" Kaiden asked.

"Only that it was somehow connected to the prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them."

"How old are you, exactly?" Shepard couldn't help but ask from where he was seated. His posture was slightly more relaxed than usual due to his cracked ribs.

"I hate to admit it but I am only one hundred six."

"Damn! I hope I look that good when I'm your age," Ashley said appreciatively.

"A century may seem like a long time to a short-lived species like yours but, among the asari, I am barely considered more than a child. That is why my research has not received the attention it deserves. Because of my youth, other asari scholars tend to dismiss my theories on what happened to the protheans."

"I've got my own theory about why the protheans disappeared," Shepard said.

"With all due respect, Commander, I have heard every theory out there. The problem is finding evidence to support them. The protheans left remarkably little behind. It is almost as if someone did not want the mystery to be solved. It's like someone came along after the protheans were gone and cleansed the galaxy of clues. But here is the incredible part: According to my findings, the protheans were not the first galactic civilization to mysteriously vanish. The cycle began long before them."

"Where'd you come up with this theory? I thought there wasn't any evidence."

"I have been working on this for fifty years. I have tracked down every scrap and shred of evidence. Eventually, subtle patterns start to emerge; patterns that hint at the truth. It is difficult to explain to someone else. I cannot point to one specific thing to prove my case, it is more a feeling derived from a half-century of dedicated research. But I know I'm right and, eventually, I will be able to prove it. There were other civilizations before the protheans. This cycle has repeated itself many times over."

"If the protheans weren't the first, then who was?"

"I don't know. There is barely any evidence on the protheans, even less on those who came before them. I cannot prove my theory but I know I am right! The galaxy is built on a cycle of extinction. Each time a great civilization rises up, it is suddenly and violently cast down. Only ruins survive. The protheans rose up from a single world until their empire spanned the entire galaxy yet even they climbed on the top of the remains of those who came before. Their greatest achievements— the mass relays and the Citadel— are based on the technology of those who came before. And then, like all the other forgotten civilizations throughout galactic history, the protheans disappeared. I have dedicated my life to figuring out why."

"They were wiped out by a race of sentient machines. The Reapers," Shepard told her.

"The— The Reapers? But I have never heard of— How do you know this? What evidence do you have?"

"There was a damaged prothean beacon on Eden Prime. It burned a vision into my brain. I'm still trying to sort out what it all means."

"Visions? Yes… that makes sense. The beacons were designed to transmit information directly into the mind of the user. Finding one that still works is extremely rare; no wonder the geth attacked Eden Prime. The chance to acquire a working beacon— even a badly damaged one— is worth almost any risk. But the beacons were only programmed to interact with prothean physiology. Whatever information you received would have been confused, unclear. I am amazed you were able to make sense of it at all. A lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process. You must be remarkably strong-willed, Commander."

"This isn't helping us find Saren or the Conduit," Kaiden complained.

"Of course. You are right. I am sorry. My scientific curiosity got the better of me. Unfortunately, I do not have any information that could help you find the Conduit or Saren."

"I don't know why Saren wanted you out of the picture but I think we'll be a lot better off if we bring you along," Shepard said.

"Thank you, Commander. Saren might come after me again. I cannot think of anywhere safer than here on your ship and my knowledge of the protheans might be useful later on."

"And her biotics will come in handy when the fighting starts," Wrex commented.

"Good to have you on the team, Liara," Shepard said.

"Thank you Commander. I am very gratef—" Liara stopped and grabbed her head as she swayed slightly. "I am afraid that I am feeling a bit light-headed."

"When was the last time you ate? Or slept? Dr. Chakwas should take a look at you," Kaiden said.

"It is probably just mental exhaustion coupled with the shock of discovering the protheans' true fate. I need some time to process all this. Still, it could not hurt to be examined by a medical professional. It will give me the chance to think things over. Are we finished here, Commander?"

"We can talk again after you've seen the doctor. The rest of you… dismissed!"

As everyone started to file out, Ahsoka placed her hand on Tali's shoulder to stop her. "Shepard?" she asked.

"What is it, Ahsoka?"

"Is there some place Tali and I can talk privately?"

"You can use this room after I've made my report to the Council. Just wait outside the door until I'm done."

"Thanks, Shepard."

"No problem."

As Joker's voice came through the comms, Ahsoka and Tali stepped outside the room to wait. While Ahsoka was somewhat nervous about the conversation she was about to have, it was nothing compared to the waves of tension she felt coming off of the quarian. Even without the Force, her nerves were obvious from the way she wrung her hands together at her waist.

"So… are we going to talk about… what happened back there?" Tali asked.

"That's the plan. It's not like this is a big secret or anything but I figured that you'd appreciate the privacy."

"I do appreciate it. Privacy isn't something that we quarians get all that often back on the Flotilla but, given everything, I think it would be nice this time."

"While we wait on Shepard, do you mind if I ask you a few questions first?"

"Of course not! I'm going to be asking you a million questions in a minute so it's only fair if you ask some as well."

"Can you tell me about the quarians? I don't really know much of anything about this galaxy and you just might be one of the strangest parts about it so far. Like, what's up with that suit and helmet? I've seen species that need to wear special breathing units for various reasons but never anything like that."

"Ah. Well, it's a bit of a long story but the short of it is that every quarian needs to wear an environmental suit like mine. About three hundred years ago, we created the geth and they eventually turned on us and drove us off of our homeworld and every other world we inhabited. Ever since then, my people have been forced to live on a large series of ships called the Migrant Fleet or the Flotilla. After a while of living aboard those sterile ships, our immune systems grew weak. Now, we have to wear these suits the entire time or else any bacteria we encounter could trigger a major allergic reaction and kill us."

"So, you've worn that suit your entire life?" Ahsoka asked in a combination of shock and horror.

"More or less, yes," Tali answered, her voice soft and filled with both sorrow and resignation. "This is the punishment my people have endured for three hundred years because of the geth."

"Why not just colonize another world? The galaxy is a large place, surely you could find somewhere that works."

"We have but it's not that simple. Many times, my people have petitioned the Council to allow us to colonize a world but they always turn us down in favor of another species. We can't even join the colony of another species since nowadays most of the galaxy views us as vagabonds or thieves. No one wants us around."

"That's horrible! As terrible as the Republic could be, even they wouldn't have gone that far! But I wouldn't say no one wants you guys around. Shepard clearly does."

Tali couldn't help the small smile that crept into her voice, "Yes, I suppose he does. But Shepard is an exceptional man. I don't think he has a cruel bone in his entire body. The same can't be said for the rest of his crew, though. Most of them are cautious around all of the aliens and even the other members of the ground team can be a bit wary of me."

Ahsoka gave Tali a reassuring smile, "Well, hey, don't worry about them! You seem like a great person so I'm sure they'll warm up to you once they get to know you! And even if they don't, I'm pretty sure Shepard will always want you around given how much he compliments you."

"I appreciate that, Ahsoka. I think it'll be nice to hear your opinion on things given your unbiased perspective."

Any further conversation was halted when the door slid open and Commander Shepard stepped out. "Ladies. The room's all yours," he said as he gestured them inside.

"Thanks again, Shepard," Ahsoka said as she let Tali enter before following her.

"No problem."

Once inside, Ahsoka took one of the seats and Tali took one next to her. Ahsoka was quiet for a moment to gather her thoughts before taking a deep breath, "So, like I said before, you can use the Force."

"Right. Just what is the Force anyway?"

"The Force is an energy field produced by all living beings. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the whole galaxy together. The Force is what gives a Jedi their power."

"So, I'm a Jedi, then?"

"Well… technically," Ahsoka said uncertainly. "There's no official term for what we are since neither of us are a part of the Jedi Order but I've heard the term 'Gray Jedi' thrown around a time or two."

"Wait, you're not a Jedi? But I heard you talking to Garrus about them."

Ahsoka's face fell as she explained, "I was a Jedi but then there was an… incident. I was blamed for a crime I didn't commit and was excommunicated from the Order. When my name was cleared, they offered to let me rejoin them but I turned them down."

"Well, their loss is our gain, I guess. What happened to them?"

"At the end of the Clone Wars, the true mastermind behind everything revealed himself and ordered all of the clones to execute the Jedi. As far as I knew, I may have been the last living Force user in that galaxy."

"I'm so sorry," Tali said as she placed a comforting hand atop of where Ahsoka's were clenching the hem of her skirt. "Even if you weren't a part of them anymore, I can't imagine what that must have been like."

"It was horrible," Ahsoka said as she started to get lost in her memories. "I could feel a disturbance in the Force unlike anything I've ever felt before or since. Around ten thousand lives, all strong with the Force, gone in an instant. It was like having my heart ripped out."

Tali gave Ahsoka's hand a gentle squeeze and held it for a few moments as she let the other girl gather herself. After a while, Tali removed her hand and asked, "So, what does this mean for me?"

Ahsoka shook her head to clear it before answering, "Well, if you were taken before the Jedi Council, they wouldn't agree to train you. You're too old."

"How am I too old? I'm only twenty-two!" Tali said incredulously.

Ahsoka gave Tali an amused smile, "Most Jedi begin their training at a very early age. Most of them are taken to the Jedi Temple shortly after birth but none are taken after a couple years."

Tali leaned back, her eyes going wide in shock and disgust, "They take children away from their parents after they're born‽ That's horrible!"

"I know it seems that way but it's a necessity. The Code forbids deep emotional bonds and few bonds are stronger than those between a parent and child."

"But why would they do that‽ What's so horrible about emotional bonds that they do something so barbaric‽"

Ahsoka felt herself becoming riled up at the insults to the Order out of habit but forced herself to calm down. "It's not that there's anything wrong with them, per se, it's just that they can be dangerous. Strong emotional attachments will naturally lead to strong emotions and strong emotions are something to be mindful of."

"So, you're telling me that the Jedi are trained to be emotionless? But you don't act anything like that."

"That's because they're not. They're not trained to not feel emotions, they're trained to be mindful of their emotions. Emotions can be very powerful, especially to a Jedi, and they can lead you down the path to the Dark Side if you're not careful. If someone you have a strong attachment to is involved in something, you're more likely to act without thought based purely on your emotions and that can be dangerous."

"I… think I understand but it still sounds horrible. What does this mean for me, then?"

"Well, like I said, the Council would refuse to train you. Even if they did allow it, I couldn't train you since I was still a Padawan when I left. But I'm not a member of the Council and I'm not even a part of the Order anymore so… I can train you, if you want. You have these powers and it's best if you at least understand them."

"I would very much appreciate that, yes. Your powers allowed you to do incredible things and mine allowed me to save Shepard's life. If I can use these powers to save more people, I want to learn all that I can."

Ahsoka smiled more fully at this declaration, "You probably would have made a wonderful Jedi. Well, if we're going to do this, the first thing you'll probably need to know is of the Dark Side."

"You've mentioned that before. What is it, exactly? Aside from something not good."

"The Dark Side is corruption. It is fear, anger, greed, envy, hatred; all of the things that take a person and twist them until they're unrecognizable from who they were before. It's why Jedi need to be mindful of their emotions. If you act in calmness and peace, you'll never have to worry about the Dark Side."

"That sounds easier said than done."

"It is. The path of the Jedi is one full of hardships. But it's not all that bad. You can stop if you start and those around you can help keep you on the right path. So long as you act with patience, compassion, love, and understanding; you'll be fine."

"So, all I have to do is not be a bosh'tet? When you put it that way, it doesn't sound hard at all."

Ahsoka didn't know what that word meant and was confused as to why it wasn't fully translated by the Force but she could guess its meaning well enough, "Essentially, but don't let that deceive you. The Dark Side of the Force is very seductive. It will start out as a small thing that seems perfectly natural and easily justifiable but then you start getting pulled deeper and deeper until you're just a shadow of who you used to be. By the time you realize that you've fallen, it's too late.

"The Dark Side of the Force is the quick and easy way. Its powers are used for offense rather than defense. Instead of talking down a misguided person who's about to hurt someone, you just kill them. Instead of peacefully interrogating a prisoner, you torture them. Instead of working together with someone who has something you want to reach a mutually beneficial agreement, you just take it. That's the allure of the Dark Side."

"But what about killing people in general? You didn't seem to have any problems with Shepard killing that krogan and we're almost certainly going to be fighting more of them in the future."

"Killing… is something that must only be done when there is no other option. And if it must be done then it can't be done out of hatred. If you strike someone down out of hatred, you will fall to the Dark Side."

Tali looked thoughtful for a moment before saying, "So, it's not so much what you do but rather why you do it."

"Basically."

"So, if that's the Dark Side then what is the Light Side?"

"The question itself is wrong but don't feel bad. While the presence of a Dark Side makes people naturally think there must be a Light Side, you need to remember that the Dark Side of the Force is corruption. It's unnatural. The opposite of the Dark Side is the totality of the Force itself. The Force is balance, the Dark Side is an imbalance. It may help you understand if I recite the Jedi Code.

"There is no emotion, there is peace.
"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
"There is no passion, there is serenity.
"There is no chaos, there is harmony.
"There is no death, there is the Force."

"There's a lot to unpack there," Tali commented.

"There is. A lot of a youngling's training is spent focused on understanding the Code and what it means."

"But, if we're not Jedi, doesn't that mean that the Jedi Code doesn't matter to us?"

Ahsoka paused for a moment, "Maybe, but I don't know. It feels wrong to just abandon everything I spent my entire life learning. Even though I lost faith in the Order, that doesn't mean I disagreed with them about everything.

"For example, their rule against emotional bonds. I understand why that rule was in place but, during the war, I saw so many instances where the bonds between people allowed them to do incredible things. It made them stronger, better. And I like to think that the bond I shared with my Master made me a better person. Emotions are powerful things, especially to a Jedi, but those emotions can do more than just lead to the Dark Side. That power can be used for good just as much as it can be used for evil."

"Makes sense to me. So, now what?"

"Now your training begins. In order to reliably use the Force, you must first learn to open yourself up to it and feel it. First, you must learn how to meditate."

OoOoOoO

Over two hours later, Ahsoka and Tali finally left the comm room when Ahsoka had decided that they had done enough work for the moment. Though reluctant, Tali agreed by saying that she was probably needed in engineering anyway. As her new apprentice made her way back to her job, Ahsoka decided to take a moment to actually familiarize herself with the Normandy so that way she wouldn't have to be led everywhere.

Ahsoka's first stop was the other side of the partition that separated the door to the comm room from what she was suspecting was the bridge. Stepping around it, she was surprised to find Shepard stepping away from what looked like a giant holographic representation of the galaxy.

"Oh, Ahsoka. How'd things go?" Shepard asked as he approached her.

"Pretty well, I think. Tali has a lot of potential and is a fast learner. When we were taking a break, she told me about how you found her. You made a good call by bringing her on board."

"Don't I know it," Shepard said with a faint smile. "A lot of people questioned the idea of bringing a quarian on an Alliance vessel but I don't think anyone has the right to complain now." Shepard gestured with his head for Ahsoka to follow him as he led her back around the partition to give them some privacy, "How are you holding up?"

"What?" Ahsoka asked, caught off guard by the question.

"How are you holding up? You've been through a hell of a lot recently. Running for your life from former allies just to be flung into a new galaxy you know nothing about. Not even two hours after you woke up, you're on a new planet fighting for your life for a cause you know nothing about against enemies you know nothing about with your only help being complete strangers. That's a lot for anyone to handle."

"Yeah, I… I won't insult you by saying I'm fine. But I'll be fine. While I don't really know what it is you're trying to do, I can tell from the way the Force swirls heavily around this ship that it's incredibly important. That's probably why I didn't sense that Tali was strong with the Force at first. And while you guys may be strangers, I can tell that you're all good people. You're trying to save the galaxy and are willing to help whoever you can along the way. That's something I can get behind."

"I'm glad to hear it. Still, don't try to push yourself too hard. We've got a long mission ahead of us and this crew just might be the only ones capable of doing it. If you ever need to talk about anything, I have an open door policy. Even if it's just a personal problem, I'm more than willing to do what I can to help."

"Thanks, Shepard. I really appreciate it. So, where are we headed to next?"

"Our next main objective is on the planet Feros. There've been reports of geth in the area and if geth are there then there's a chance Saren might be as well. But we're going to be taking care of a mission that Admiral Hackett of the Alliance's Fifth Fleet had for us since we're going to be in the area. It's nothing major so I'm only going to be taking Ashley and Wrex with me. You can use that time however you want."

"Alright. Just tell me if you need my help with anything."

"Will do. Oh, Liara wants to talk to you. You can find her in the room behind the med bay. I should go."

"See you later."

OoOoOoO

Garrus Vakarian found himself in a pretty interesting situation. The last thing he expected when he woke up on that fateful day was to be tasked with investigating the possibility of a rogue Spectre before joining up with the first human Spectre to go chasing after him across the galaxy on a human ship made with the help of turians with a gaggle of other aliens. If someone had told him this was going to happen a little over a week ago now, he would have laughed.

But it's not like he was complaining. Garrus had already seen more action in the week he had spent on the Normandy than in pretty much his entire time at C-Sec. Even better, it was liberating. Since Shepard was a Spectre, that meant that they didn't have to bother with any red tape or regulations. If something needed to be done, they just did it. Of course, Shepard had made a point in the couple times they talked about those regulations being there for a reason and that just because they could do something doesn't mean that they should but still. It was nice.

Of course, then there was the matter of all of the aliens. Garrus wasn't xenophobic in the slightest but he certainly felt a tad out of place as the only turian on board. The only real comfort he had was that at least he wasn't the only one in that position. Most of the humans kept a respectable distance from him, the memory of the Relay Incident no doubt still fresh in their minds coupled with turians being apex predators provoking an instinctual fear, but they seemed nice enough. While it was clear that most of them didn't trust him on a personal level, they all seemed to trust him on a professional level and that was good enough.

As for the other aliens, they were a bit of a mixed bag. Wrex was perhaps the most dangerous krogan alive and that was saying something. His name had come up a number of times during Garrus' stint at C-Sec and the SOP was to just stay out of his way. Wrex basically never did anything overtly illegal but no one at C-Sec was a real fan of his and Garrus was included in that. Still, when it came to hunting down one of the top Spectres, having Wrex on their side was a major advantage. Krogans in general were tough as hell and Wrex was tough even by krogan standards.

Tali was an interesting case. Garrus thought that Shepard was insane by agreeing to let a young quarian onto a military vessel but he was starting to reevaluate his initial opinion. She was a great mechanic— that much was basically a given— but her skills were impressive even by quarian standards. He had made her mad during one of the first days and that night he had discovered that she had somehow hacked into his omnitool and made it play elcor opera on loop. It took him three hours to get it to stop and he had been left between wanting to strangle her and wanting to congratulate her. He was pretty good as far as technical expertise went and his omnitool's security was something he had designed himself. The fact that she had gotten in without any of his alarms going off was more than impressive.

Then there was Tali's surprising proficiency in combat. She had done a surprisingly good job in the firefight against the thugs Fisk had hired to kill her using the pistol Shepard had tossed her and then there was her performance on Therum. While her skill with that shotgun wasn't much compared to Wrex, she was no slouch with it and her reflexes were incredibly sharp. Then there was the fact that she's apparently a Jedi or something and that Shepard would probably be dead if it weren't for her.

Speaking of Jedi, that left the only other alien that had been on the ship long enough for Garrus to form a bit of an opinion about. Ahsoka was beyond strange. Shepard had introduced her as something called a togruta and basically nothing about her made any sense. Even with all of the evidence staring him in the face, Garrus still had to fight the instinct to dismiss everything she said. It sounded more like something from one of those old human sci-fi vids he had heard some of the crew talking about than actual reality. Of course, the same could be said about their current mission so that was probably a bad metric to judge by.

Regardless of all that, the most important thing to Garrus right now was that this alien brought new guns to play with and new guns made for a happy Garrus. That's why he was in the cargo hold checking out Ahsoka's ship rather than tinkering with the Mako like he usually did in his spare time. The fact that the fighter craft used laser-based weaponry fascinated him. He had always wanted to play with laser guns as a kid and the fact that they were deemed impractical had left him more than a little disappointed as he grew older. But now he had the chance to live that dream. While it was a ship-mounted laser cannon rather than an actual laser gun, it would do. He wouldn't be picky.

Garrus was peering through the canopy into the cockpit, debating with himself if he'd get in any trouble if he opened it up, when a voice from behind nearly made him jump out of his scales.

"Like what you see?" Ahsoka said with a hint of amusement in her voice. Garrus spun around to see her staring at him with a hand on her hip. The fact that she had actually managed to sneak up on him was a testament to how engrossed he had been.

"Oh, Ahsoka! Um… yeah, I was just… checking out your ship," he said somewhat awkwardly, gesturing to the craft with his thumb.

"I can see that," Ahsoka said with a slight chuckle. "I was actually coming down here to work on it. You can help me out, if you want."

It was like someone had just told him that all of his birthdays had come at once and it took every ounce of his self control to not let anything show. "Well, if you could use a spare set of talons, I happen to have two right here," he tried to say nonchalantly. Judging by the way Ahsoka's smirk just grew made him think that she had somehow seen through his act.

What followed was a very interesting learning experience for both of them. Ahsoka was clearly pretty knowledgeable about how her ship worked and was more than willing to share that knowledge with him. A lot of the technology behind it was simply incredible and Garrus could already feel the gears turning in his mind as he considered all of the ways to make a virtually unstoppable fleet if they could just reverse engineer it. If they could take the hyperdrive system and combine it with the Normandy's stealth systems, you would have a fleet that was undetectable by scanners and could arrive at any destination of their choosing without having to even approach a mass relay. They could throw basically all of the conventional military tactics out the window.

Of course, as soon as Garrus voiced that idea, Ahsoka put a bit of a damper on it by explaining exactly how hyperspace worked. While it was less restricted than the relays, the dangers of running into a celestial body's mass shadow were still very much real. A bit of digging into the subject revealed that Ahsoka's galaxy was oddly cluttered, though, and as such blindly using a hyperdrive in the Milky Way would prove to be a lot less dangerous than she thought.

It wasn't just Garrus that was learning things. As they went making what repairs they could, Garrus explained to Ahsoka what he knew about the basics of how their ships worked and of the mass relays. While the hyperdrives were less restrictive and much faster than any other FLT drive, they were still slower than the nigh-instantaneous transportation of the relays. He also took the chance to inform her about other subjects of interest like how to properly use her omnitool, what the Citadel was, and even about his own species. After some time, they had stopped working on the ship completely and had just started talking; Ahsoka sitting on the hull of her ship while Garrus leaned against the Mako.

"So, you're training Tali to be a Jedi, huh?" Garrus said after a brief lull.

"More or less," Ahsoka replied. It was an odd response but then Garrus recalled what she had said about the Jedi Order on Therum and decided against pressing it.

"I knew she had sharp reflexes but to think that she can move things with her mind without mass effect fields or any kind of implant is crazy."

"It's a lot more than just moving things. Take those reflexes for example. It's not necessarily that she can react to things quickly, it's that she can react to things almost before they happen."

"Wait, are you telling me that Jedi can see the future?"

"Yup. It's not perfect, though. Like, I can't tell you what you're going to say next or who's going to walk out of engineering next or anything like that. It's like how Tali described it on Therum— a sixth sense for danger. Not that it applies to just danger, though. It's kind of hard to explain. You just kinda know something is going to happen a split second before it does."

"Really? That's certainly a handy ability to have. Even outside of combat, it could probably be used for all sorts of things!" As he ended the statement, he quickly tossed the wrench that had been in his hand toward her. He had specifically aimed so that it would just miss her, not wanting to accidentally hurt her in case she was bluffing, but it turned out to be a wasted effort. Pretty much as soon as he began his throwing motion, as quick as it had been, Ahsoka's hand was shooting up and she effortlessly caught the thrown tool.

"See?" Ahsoka said with a smirk and raised brow as she slowly twirled the wrench in her fingers.

"I'll be damned. You weren't bluffing. The reaction speed needed to catch that thing was greater than what most organics are capable of."

"How'd you know that?" Ahsoka asked with a look of confusion.

Garrus chuckled as he tapped the earpiece of his visor. "This thing isn't just to make me look cool. I used to be a detective, ya know. It can give me all sorts of handy information."

"Now that sounds like it'd be handy for all sorts of things."

"Maybe but it's not really worth much when the only thing you're trying to figure out is how to kill something before it kills you. But it makes me look cool so I still wear it."

"If you say so," Ahsoka said with a chuckle before stretching. "Man, I'm starving. I can't even remember the last time I ate."

"Come on, I'll take you to the mess hall. The food on a military vessel isn't great but it gets the job done."

"Oh, don't I know it. Lead the way."