My darling readers. I did you a great injustice and I bow my head in shame! I completely missed this little chapter! I'll try and upload it in the right place. It's a little jump back in time and is basically Archangel's mission from ME2 with of course my own little tidbits mixed in. Better late then never, right? Hope you enjoy!
An unexpected reunion
The control panel suddenly lit green. Huh, he was pretty sure the dead merc at his feet, who had been working on the control panel, had been nowhere near done hacking it. So, he was expected then. Rhyder Shepard cautioned his squad members, Miranda Lawson and Zaeed Massani, to follow his lead. They took out there guns and stepped over the threshold when the door slid open.
They found Archangel inside, crouched behind the balcony, his rifle trained on his enemies. When he made no move to turn his weapons on them, Rhyder lowered his gun. His squad members weren' t so quick to follow. Hmm, he' d have to teach them he demanded full obedience in the field.
"Archangel?" Rhyder called out to the armored and helmet sporting turian vigilante. Archangel didn't respond immediately. He just held up a finger, the universal sign requesting silence. Rhyder couldn't see what was happening, but he recognized the lining up of a shot anywhere.
There was something about Archangel s movements that triggered something deep inside him. Something... familiar. A shot rang out. Satisfied, Archangel reigned in his rifle, planted the butt to the ground and used it as leverage to haul himself upright. He turned around slowly and moved his hand behind his head to remove the helmet and placed it on a thread-bare chair nearby. His features were concealed by the shadows of the room. Rhyder took a step closer.
Archangel lowered himself on the large armrest of the chair and propped up a foot against a desk standing quite close to the chair. He planted the butt of his rifle against the floor and casually rested an arm over his knee, his hand comfortable on the muzzle of the took another step forward and when his eyes finally came to rest on Archangel s face, his scarred face split into a grin.
"Shepard", the turian greeted him. "I thought you were dead."
He stated it matter-of-factly though Rhyder did detect a hint of accusation. He decided to let that slide. Not every day you encountered a friend presumed dead. With all the Illusive Man's harping about how his old crew members were off the radar, this was a very unexpected but very welcome meeting. He needed people he could trust. These two with him? He didn't trust them. Yet.
"Garrus! You sonnuva bitch!" He spread out his arms with a smile that threatened to split his skull. "What are you doing here?"
"Just keeping my skills sharp. A little target practice," Garrus replied with a weary smile.
God but he sounded tired! And he looked like hell!
"You okay?" Rhyder asked, unable to mask his worry.
"Been better, but it sure is nice to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard work. Especially on my own." Garrus sighed.
"You nailed me good a couple of times, by the way", Rhyder said, cracking his neck.
"Concussive rounds only. No harm done. Didn't want the mercs getting suspicious."
Rhyder smiled at his friend. "Uh-huh."
"If I wanted to do more than take your shields down, I d have done it. Besides, you were taking your sweet time. I needed to get you moving," Garrus drawled. Rhyder smirked at him.
"So, tell me. Omega. What are you doing here?"
"I got fed up with all the bureaucratic crap on the Citadel. Figured I could do more good on my own. At least it s not hard to find criminals here. All I have to do is point my gun and shoot."
Rhyder couldn't help himself and smirked again. How he'd missed that dry humor of Garrys. Well, not really because he'd been dead all this time, or close to it, still... Yeah, he'd missed that.
"How the hell did you manage to piss off every major merc organization in the Terminus System?"
"It wasn't easy, Garrus said smugly. "I really had to work at it. I am amazed that they teamed up to fight me. They must really hate me."
"No shit? Since when did you start calling yourself Archangel? What's that all about?"
"Oh that, it s just a name the locals gave me for ... all my good deeds", Garrus chuckled slightly embarrassed. "I don t mind it, but please - ah - it's just Garrus to you."
"Well... Archangel, we got here but I don t think getting out will be as easy."
"No it won't", Garrus confirmed while he slid from his perch. "That bridge has saved my life... funneling all those witless idiots into scope. But it works both ways. They'll slaughter us if we try to get out that way."
"So, we just sit here and wait for them to take us out?"
Rhyder rolled his eyes at Miranda's not so subtle interruption
"It's not all that bad", Garrus countered calm and patient. "This place has held them off so far. And, with the three of you, I suggest we hold this location, wait
for a crack in their defenses, and take our chances. Assuming they're up to par with our old team", he nodded at the two others.
"Oh, I was long up to par when you're mommy was still wiping your arse, son", Zaeed grumbled. "Assuming turians actually wipe their arses after taking a shit."
"Good, then at least you know how to point a gun," Garrus replied dryly, not responding to the insult. "It s not a perfect plan, but it s a plan."
Rhyder pondered their situation for a moment. It was so not like Garrus to get himself in a fix like this. Well, maybe he was. A little.
"How'd you let yourself get in this position?" he finally asked.
Garrus looked away but was unable to hide the guilt flickering in and out of his eyes.
"My feelings got in the way of my better judgment. It's a long story. I'll make you a deal. You get me out of here alive, and I'll tell you the whole damn thing. And you can tell me how you managed to get back from the realm of the dead."
"I didn't like sneaking anyway. Time to spill a little merc blood!" Rhyder replied, his voice sharp with a grim edge.
"Glad to see you haven't changed. Let's see what they're up to."
Garrus grabbed his rifle and returned to his previous position near the balcony. He used his scope to watch the whereabouts of the mercs.
"Hmm... Looks like they know their infiltration team failed. Take a look. Scouts. Eclipse, I think." Garrus handed Shepard his rifle.
One look at it and Shepard realized this was not his trusted Spectre class rifle, the one Dani had upgraded for him. God, Dani! Two years had passed! Still seemed like a few weeks to him. What happened to her? Was she part of the reason Garrus had ended up on Omega? More importantly... why weren't they together?
He shook his head and looked through the scope. He saw not only Eclipse mercenaries, but also a couple of mechs trying to cross the bridge. He quickly pulled the trigger and watched the head of one of the mechs explode.
"More than scouts. One less now though."
"Indeed. We better get ready. I'll stay up here. I can do a lot of damage from this vantage point. You?" Garrus settled his uncanny predatory gaze on Rhyder. "You can do what you do best. Just like old times, Shepard. Let s give these bastards everything we've got!"
"Here grab this!" Rhyder tossed Garrus several thermal clips before he ordered Zaeed and Miranda to go with him and hustled his way back down to the entrance.
He'd be damned before he'd let one merc enter the building. He ducked below a window and quickly shot out the glass. Miranda took up cover behind a pillar and Zaeed covered the entrance. Soon mechs crossed the bridge and were easy fodder for their bullets and the occasional overload issued by Miranda.
Garrus sniped down emerging threats in the back while Rhyder and his squad concentrated fire on those who got too close. It was merciless slaughter and Rhyder couldn't help but feel a renewed respect for his friend who'd managed on his own for several days.
"Heads up," Garrus warned them via omni-tool. "They're deploying snipers."
Rhyder had to admit, he didn't really know these two people that were now fighting by his side, but apart from their slight mishap upon first meeting Archangel, they were quick to follow his commands. They made quick work of everything that was thrown at them. Until one of the merc leaders decided to use the good stuff.
"Damn it!" Garrus cursed. "They're sending out the heavy mechs!"
"That problem should take care of itself," Rhyder smirked. "Totally hacked it!"
"You're so full of yourself..."
"You know it!"
After taking down the remainder of the mercs after the heavy mech got blown up, they even managed to take down Jaroth, leader of the Eclipse. Rhyder quickly gave the command to regroup and they made their way back to Garrus.
"You re kicking ass, Shepard!" Garrus complimented when they reached him. "They barely touched me! And we got Jaroth in the process. I've been hunting that bastard for months!"
"Well, that takes care of Eclipse," Rhyder said, shrugging off the compliment. "We've still got Blood Pack and Blue Suns left. Think we can make a break for it?"
"Maybe," Garrus shrugged his shoulder. "Let's see what they re up to."
He stared down his scope again. "They've reinforced the other side... heavily. But they're not coming over the bridge yet. What are they waiting for?"
The sound of explosions and an alarm blaring shook them up.
"Well, that answers that question," Zaeed dead-panned.
"Dammit! They've breached the lower level!" Garrus swore. "Well, they had to use their brains eventually. You better head down there, Shepard. I'll keep the bridge clear."
"I didn't come all the way up here to just let you die, Garrus!" Rhyder countered. "We'll split up two and two. Miranda, stay here and keep Garrus alive!"
"Of course, Commander." She was quick to obey.
"Thanks, Shepard. You better get going! Go down a level the basement door is on the west side of the main room, behind the stairs. I'll radio directions if you need help... but you ve got to get down there quick. Good luck!"
Rhyder nodded at his friend and rushed down the stairs toward the basement door, Zaeed following right behind him. They quickly slipped through when the door slid open and made their way through the basement. At the far end Shepard could see enemies appearing through a whole they blasted in the wall. They had to seal of the basement with the large shutter doors, and fast!
"Get to the console and close that shutter before they can get through!" Garrus instructed over the omni-tool.
"Already on it, big guy!" Rhyder replied while jogging towards it.
"Commencing shut down," the VI announced when Rhyder activated the shutter. Now they just had to hold position until the shutter was all the way down. Mercs were already approaching but before they could spill through, the shutter clamped down.
"Shutter secured," the VI announced.
"There's two more shutters," Garrus piped in. "Get them closed fast."
"On it," Rhyder acknowledged, then turned and nodded at Zaeed. "Nice work out there."
"Of course!" Zaeed grumbled as if he'd just been insulted instead of complimented.
After shooting a shit load of vorcha, a few krogan and the odd varren, they finally succeeded in securing the remaining shutters. As soon as the last one came shuddering down, Garrus requested their help.
"Get back here, Shepard! They re coming in through the doors!"
"Never a dull day, right Garrus? Hang in tight, we're on our way!"
Rhyder ignored the burning feeling in his scars and how bruised and battered his body felt. He pressed on. Just one last push and they'd get the hell out of here!
They reached the main room about the same time as the mean looking Garm, krogan leader of the Blood Pack.
"Rip them to shreds!" Garm roared but before his cronies could make a move, a bullet from Garrus' rifle dropped one of them.
"Watch my back!" Garm sneered. "I'll deal with Archangel!"
Rhyder took out one of the other vorcha and for a moment he locked eyes with Garm across the far side of the room. The next moment they were under heavy fire by attacking vorcha, while Garm quickly made his way towards the stairs leading up to Garrus and Miranda.
Zaeed did a great job fending off the mercs while Rhyder rushed up after Garm. Garm was nearly upon Garrus and Miranda. Rhyder knew there weren't many options to take cover inside the room but one of them was just coming into view. Rhyder made a dash for it, slid behind the large stone structure in which plants were kept, and pulled out his shot gun.
"Miranda, overload his ass!" Rhyder bellowed. "Garrus, fire a loaded concussive shot!"
They obeyed as one and while Miranda's overload made quick work of Garm's shield, Garrus' concussive shot burned through his armor, leaving him wide open for Rhyder. Rhyder emptied his shot gun on the mother fucker and he finally went down with a thud.
Miranda and Garrus left their cover once the tough bastard spilled his blood over the floor.
"Thanks, Shepard," Garrus panted slightly. "They hardly got through to me. And we took out Garm and his Blood Pack. This day just gets better and better. He was one tough son of a bitch."
"You fought with him before?" Rhyder asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
"Yeah, we tangled once." Garrus nodded. "Caught him alone. None of his gang to help him. I still couldn't take him out. I've never seen a krogan regen that fast. He's a freak of nature!"
"Well, not anymore he ain't! Zaeed grumbled while prodding the dead krogan with his sturdy boot.
"He just kept at it until his vorcha showed up," Garrus continued, watching Zaeed keep prodding at the body. "It was close, but I had to let him go. Not this time...
Do you mind? He's already dead!"
"Well, sorry me, sunshine! Didn't realize I just stepped on your dick. Do you guys even have dicks?"
"Okay guys," Rhyder took on his cloak of command again. "Only the Blue Suns are left. I say we take our chances and fight our way out."
"I think you're right," Garrus agreed. "Tarak's got the toughest group, but nothing we haven't faced before. Besides, he won't be expecting us to meet him head on."
Suddenly a large gunship loomed in front of the window.
"Take cover!" Rhyder yelled.
"Dammit! I thought I took that thing out already!" Garrus cursed.
"They fixed it, but not completely. I made sure of that," Rhyder shouted at him over the sound of gunfire coming from the gunship while troops filed in through the window. The troops were all fortified with armor and shields while Rhyder's team was running low on ammunition. Plus, Rhyder could tell he was not on his old game yet. Fatigue and pain settled in his bones quicker than usual, even with his cybernetic grafts and enhanced muscles. He shook his head a couple of times to get rid of the blurry vision before he could take proper aim. More troops entered the main level and soon they had to diverge their fire on several threats at once.
Rhyder ordered Garrus and Zaeed to take out any threats emerging on the top level while he and Miranda made their way down to secure the main level. They kept shooting until no more mercs remained but the already dead ones on the floor. Rhyder called back Miranda and they swept their surroundings, looking for more threats. They reached top floor and Rhyder saw Garrus cautiously sweeping the top floor. Suddenly the gunship loomed into view and Garrus was still out in the open.
"Garrus, watch it!" Rhyder yelled while at the same time the pilot screamed for Archangel.
Garrus turned on the spot, lining up a shot.
"Garrus, no take cover!" Rhyder shouted. But it was too late. Tarak opened fire and riddled Garrus' armor with bullets. Garrus crawled behind one of the large plant pots, his blue blood coating the floor. It was poor cover, even Rhyder could see that. Garrus was a sitting duck.
Rhyder tried to reach him, haul his ass out of the fire, but Garrus steeled himself and tried to line another shot.
"No, Garrus! Rhyder yelled as Garrus swerved out of cover and was immediately blown back by one of the gun ship's missiles. Rhyder ducked to cover and took a quick glance at his friend. Blood started to pool beneath him. Things didn't look too well.
"Miranda, overload the bastard. Zaeed, fire an impact shot!"
Rhyder pulled out his own heavy gun, the Arc Projector, a small gift from the Illusive Man. It was still a prototype and needed field testing. There were also just three more shots left. While the gun ship was distracted by Zaeed and Miranda, Rhyder fried its circuits and systems with a well-aimed shot.
"Miranda, Zaeed. Repeat!"
His second shot caused the inner works of the gunship to flare up in a cloud of sparks and smoke started to emit from inside it.
"Just one more! Don't fuck this up!" He thought to himself. He shook his head again before ordering Miranda and Zaeed again to repeat their actions. His final shot was a beauty. The gun ship went down with a blast of fire and smoke. It was finally over.
Rhyder wasted no more time and skidded towards Garrus. Damn, it looked really, really bad! For a moment Rhyder thought he was too late but suddenly Garrus took a shuddering gasping breath of air. His eyes flew open and darted around in panic.
"Garrus!" Rhyder called out as Garrus desperately tried to clutch his gun to him. Rhyder slowly eased his friend on his back and felt sick at the sight of the large pool of blood beneath him.
"We're getting you out of here, Garrus. Just hold on!" Rhyder implored.
Garrus tried to answer but was only able to produce an awful gurgling sound as his throat filled up with blood.
"Radio Joker!" Rhyder yelled near frantic. "Make sure they're ready for us!"
"He's not gonna make it," Zaeed remarked. Rhyder gazed down at Garrus and saw the fight had not yet left his eyes.
"Shut up, Massani! He's gonna make it. You'll see. He has to!"
Doctors and scientists worked on Garrus for hours. After that, all Rhyder could do was wait. He hated everything Cerberus stood for, but this was one perk he was glad to have gained through their temporary arrangement. Almost unlimited resources! Still, he was afraid this time it might not be enough. Garrus remained unresponsive for weeks and finally Jacob Taylor, another Cerberus operative, requested a meeting in the briefing room.
"Commander, we've done what we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit. The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but..."
Rhyder closed his eyes, not wanting to hear the next words. But, right at that moment, before Jacob could continue, the door slid open. Both Jacob and Rhyder turned their heads and they both gasped in equal surprise when Garrus came sauntering through the door with all his usual cocky bravado.
"Shepard," he greeted with a smirk. Rhyder cringed seeing his friend. The right side of his face was a raw, bloody and mangled mess, barely kept together by a sturdy protective bandage.
"Tough son of a bitch!" Jacob exclaimed. "Didn't think he'd be up yet!"
Rhyder beamed at his friend.
"Nobody would give me a mirror," Garrus complained. Shepard noticed he was wearing his shot-to-pieces armor again.
"How bad is it?" Garrus wanted to know.
"Hell Garrus," Rhyder said with a smirk. "You were always ugly. Slap some face-paint on there, and no one will even notice."
Garrus erupted in laughter. "Ha ah!" His laugh changed into a pained moan.
"Don t make me laugh, damn it. My face is barely holding together as it is. Ah, probably for the best. Everyone was always ignoring you and hitting on me. Time for you to get a fair shot at it."
Rhyder rolled his eyes and smirked again. He then gave Jacob a pointed look, who immediately saluted and excused himself.
"Frankly, I'm more worried about you. I've hear bad things about Cerberus these past few years. Not to even mention our own fair share of accounts with them."
"That's why I m glad you're here, Garrus," Rhyder admitted to his friend. "If I'm walking into hell, I want someone I trust at my side."
"You do realize this plan has me walking into hell, too? Hah, just like old times. Well, I'm fit for duty whenever you need me, Shepard. I'll settle in and see what I can do at the forward batteries."
"Sure thing, Garrus."
After that, Rhyder decided to give Garrus some time and space to settle in. But, since his was just the third familiar face on his new and improved Normandy, Rhyder couldn't stay away for too long. He'd had a nice chat with Joker though Jeff hadn't felt very comfortable sharing details about what happened after the attack on the Normandy. Dr. Chakwas was onboard as well and they'd had fun regaling some past adventures. Now he just wanted to know what has friend had been up to these past two years. More importantly, how the hell had he ended up on Omega and why wasn't he with Dani?
Rhyder stalked towards the Main Battery and stepped through. Garrus was dutifully checking the systems. Rhyder felt relieved to know the Normandy's weapon system was in good hands.
Garrus noticed his entrance and turned around to acknowledge his presence.
"Shepard. Need me for something?"
"Just wanted to talk. Got a minute?"
"Sure. Just checking the weapons system. You can never be too careful. I thought I'd seen every weapon in the galaxy in our fight against Saren. Mercenary work showed me otherwise.
Rhyder walked past Garrus to lean against the metal railing.
"And now Cerberus rebuilds the Normandy with a few upgrades to boot. I wish we'd joined up with them sooner," he joked.
Wrong joke to make at the wrong time.
"We haven't joined Cerberus. They're funding our mission. That's all," Rhyder said tersely.
"Relax, Shepard," Garrus raised his hand in defense. "Just a figure of speech. Trust me. I haven't forgotten. Plus, I can't exactly doubt your judgment. Not after I got my own squad killed."
Rhyder sighed deeply and nodded.
"What did your merc squad do anyway? It didn't sound like you were available for hire."
"You saw Omega. It was full of thugs kicking the helpless. I formed my team to kick back. We weren't mercenaries. At least, nobody was paying us. We made money by taking down slavers, pirates, or gangs that went too far."
Rhyder scoffed. "Sounds like you were just another gang. "
"Then I'm saying it wrong," Garrus tried to explain. "We didn't shake anyone down. No civilian casualties. That was our rule. Every member of my team had lost someone to Omega s gangs. We weren't out to get rich. We were out to make those bastards think twice before murdering someone in the street."
"Fair enough. So how did those mercenary gangs take down your team?"
Garrus turned away, apparently riddled with feelings of guilt and remorse.
"It was my own damn fault," he admitted softly. "One of my people betrayed me. A turian named Sidonis. He drew me away just before the mercs attacked my squad, then he disappeared. Everyone except me is dead because of him. And because I didn't see it coming."
"I'm not sure I understand," Rhyder said. "What happened, exactly?"
"Sidonis asked for my help on a job. When I got to the meeting point, nobody was there. By the time I got back to our hideout, the mercs had killed all but one of my squad. And he didn't last long. Died in my arms."
"Do you know where Sidonis is now?" Rhyder gently pressed on.
"No, his trail vanishes after he leaves Omega. But I'll keep hunting. I lost my whole team, except for Sidonis. One day I ll find him... and correct that."
After that it was silent for a bit. Shepard waited and waited, but Garrus remained silent and didn't touch the one subject Shepard was the most curious about.
"You know what puzzles me, Garrus?" Rhyder finally decided to broach the subject himself. "You go on and on about Omega and Sidonis and your team. And I'm sure that must have been tough.
Garrus whirled around, his eyes blazing fiercely, but Rhyder raised his hand to silence him.
"Don t interrupt me, Garrus! It's my turn now! In all your talk, you never mention her. Not even once. So why is that? After all we went through. . . We scoured the universe for a trace, any trace of her. And now you don't even mention her name? What the hell happened?'
"Shepard, I - " Garrus started but Rhyder cut him off.
"Still talking, Garrus... But when you explain yourself, please keep in mind that two years may have passed for you, but for me it has only been a couple of weeks. Just a couple of weeks, Garrus! Just two weeks after we dropped her off on Earth, after I dropped you off at the Citadel, the Normandy got blasted down and I got spaced. And then I woke up in a Cerberus lab and I learned two years have passed."
Shepard shook his head and took a deep breath.
"I was overjoyed to find you on Omega. Finally a familiar face. Someone I can trust. After you decided to get up close and personal with a missile, I started thinking. How did you end up on Omega? Why weren't you with her? So, I thought, let's have a talk and he can bring it up himself. And then you don't even mention her name... There, your turn. Now you can start explaining."
Suddenly there was silence. Garrus had turned away again from Rhyder. He had braced himself against the railing, his head bent. Not so keen anymore to talk.
"You're right, Shepard," he started after a long moment of thick silence. "I didn't mention her name. Haven't talked about her in a long time. Doesn't mean I forgot or that she isn't still with me every day of this forsaken life. Why do you think I went to Omega, Shepard? There was nothing left for me! Nothing! I did exactly what I did the first time I lost her. Bury myself in a job in a fight. Anything. Anything to keep my mind from thinking of her."
Rhyder suddenly felt sorry for his harsh words. He felt stupid for assuming Garrus had just moved on. He wouldn't have. Never in a million years. Not unless...
"Is she... I mean... Did she die?" Rhyder finally asked, dreading the answer. Garrus chuckled without humor. His chuckle turned into a mirthless laugh before altering to a pained moan.
"I don't know, Shepard," he finally whispered. "I have no idea what became of her. Of Dani. At first there was the accident with the Normandy. Like you said, just two weeks after we left her. Just two weeks after you first contacted me with the first news. Remember that?"
"Yeah," Shepard said quietly. "Yeah, situation was still the same. They did some surgeries and got her stabilized a bit more and that was about it."
"Yeah. Exactly. That was about it. And I never learnt more. It was weeks after I got over the shock of learning what had happened to the Normandy. I had no idea how to contact Dr. Torque but I kept searching for a way to communicate. I left messages on his public accounts. I left messages on lesser known private accounts.
I placed a lot of calls to the comm address I saw you use, but none of them were never answered."
"Did you try Captain Anderson?" Rhyder frowned his eyebrows learning this bit of information.
"What do you think?" Garrus scoffed. "I tried to set up appointments at the Citadel but all I ever heard was that he wasn' t available right now. I even went as far as going to Earth myself. Trust me, travelling with a known Spectre opens a lot of doors. Once you use regular transport however... Let's just say humans still don't trust turians an awful lot. I got to Earth and made it passed Port Hanover. After that it was one grueling nightmare after the other. I didn't even get within ten miles of the facility."
"What happened then?"
"It was useless. No matter what I tried, every door got slammed in my face. One message. Alex Wright deemed me worthy enough to send me one message.
A message that could be taken either way. It told me to forget about her. To move on with my life. Since no reply ever came to my questions, in the end I did just that."
"That was it? Just. . . forget about her and move on?" Rhyder was fuming.
"That was it. I don't know if I got the message because they wanted me to stop trying to get into contact or because she had died. I just went to Omega. I wanted to purge it. Wanted to forget, really. But I never did. Never could."
"You know, Dani did promise Joker she would work on a tactical cloak for the Normandy. And this new Normandy is no-where near running as smoothly as the first one, what with all her tweaks and twiddling. It's got potential, I'll freely admit. But, it could be so much better with our Technical Advisor back, don't you think?"
Garrus could only stare at Rhyder and for a moment, Rhyder noticed the brief flicker of hope in his eyes.
"We're not going in with civilian transport. We're going in with the Normandy and baby's got some teeth now. Also, I've been reinstated as a Spectre. How many doors do you think it will open?"
"I - I don't know Shepard," Garrus suddenly sounded very insecure. "It's been a long time. What if - what if she did die? What if she moved on and forgot? She may not want to come."
"Well, there's only one way to find out. Look, if you don't want to go, we'll forget about it. I just thought that..."
"Oh, we're going, Shepard! If only for the satisfaction of punching Wright square in the face!"
"That's more like it, Vakarian!" Rhyder smirked. I'll have Joker plot a course to Earth immediately. In the meantime, I'm sure our favorite helmsman would love to have a chat with you. He's probably dying to try out his new bad jokes on you. I'm sure Dr. Chakwas would love to have an actual conversation with you this time and we have these lovely new additions on board, Rhyder flashed Garrus a broad grin.
"Zaeed Massani and Miranda Lawson you already met. You met Jacob Taylor, no matter how briefly that was. We have a sneaky little Master thief on board so be weary of your pockets. Plus, we have our own scientist on board. A salarian named Mordin Solus. He was a resident on Omega as well. You might have heard of him."
"Mordin Solus?" Garrus spluttered. "Mordin Solus on board the Normandy? Spirits help us all!"
