Just a couple more chapters and then this story comes to an end. I won't be covering all that happens in ME2. After this chapter, the team will be completely assembled and they will prepare themselves for the suicide mission. It was a lovely run, I hope you enjoyed the ride as much as I did. Only five or so chapters to go and then I will take my bow. Reviews, as always, are greatly appreciated. Thank you!
More affected than we thought
Soft blond locks rested over his midriff. Light as the pale moon of Palaven, almost silvery, blanketing him in a fleece of silken strands.
Garrus gazed down at the lithe sleeping young woman sprawled all over him. His neck was supported by a turian pillow to give support to his neck, his feet firmly planted against the mattress, his knees bent, shielding a slumbering Dani between them. Her smooth cheek rested over his bare belly, and he could feel her soft, warm breath stir and tickle the soft hide between the smaller plates on his abdomen.
He had never seen her sleep so soundly. Nor had he ever been so at peace as when she was curled in his arms. Even with everything going to hell around them with the Collectors attacking and abducting entire human colonies, with her he found peace. She kept the demons at bay.
He twisted a lock of that strange silvery hair around his finger, it was as soft as everything else about her was soft. After they had fallen asleep, he'd only slept a couple of hours, more than content to just hold her close and patiently wait for her to wake up.
He idly wondered how she would wake up to him this time. With Dani he could never be sure.
She was a heady mixture of adult sensuality and innocent almost childlike naivety that was exhilarating and exhausting at the same time. One moment he just wanted to empty his need deep inside her and the next he wanted to protect her, shield her from harm and evil. Sometimes he just wanted to stick something in her mouth to keep her from blurting out all kinds of utterly embarrassing stuff. Sometimes he wanted to do all that all at once.
And then, out of nowhere, yesterday she had told him she loved him and he could finally admit his own feelings for her as well. She had just been a bit afflicted at the time and he wasn't sure if she'd even realized what words she'd whispered to him or if she even remembered him telling her what was in his heart.
It was probably something they needed to address along with the subject of sexual appetite.
He had no idea what was normal for a human being. All he knew was that it could differ immensely per human while turians were all pretty equal in their concupiscence.
He had so wanted to drive himself into that hot soft core during the night, but he had refrained himself. He was very aware that, though a turian female would have welcomed such intimate instigations, Dani might react entirely differently and he didn't want to scare her before discussing the subject.
As a result he'd been unable to satisfy his burning hunger for her and was waiting patiently, hoping that morning would bring with it the release he so desperately longed for.
Dani stirred and murmured unintelligibly. He could feel her lashes whisking across the sensitive hide of his abdomen in rhythmic blinking. The thought that perhaps his hours of silent torment were finally over had his plates shifting in anticipation. She frowned a bit and rousing her dozy head, her ocean blue eyes lifted to meet his and he gave her a lazy smile.
"Good morning," he whispered. She offered him a shy, half smile in return, and he chuckled softly at her new found bashfulness. With a bit of luck, she'd only need a little coaxing.
"You slept well. I didn't feel you stir in my arms all night."
A soft pink blush adorned her cheeks. She was delightfully whimsical in her temperament. He loved that about her. So candid and passionate one moment and so quiet and reserved another. She wiggled in his arms, trying to pull away from him, but the movement of her grinding body sparked even more fire into his already burning limbs.
"Garrus!" she gasped, as she found herself tumbling across the bed, her hands pinned high above her head. A look of confusion and shock quickly passed across her features. He lovingly nuzzled her forehead and positioned himself on top of her. "I've been waiting for you to wake up," he admitted softly.
"You were?" she asked him with suspicion evident in her voice.
"Yeah. Right now might actually be a good moment to broach a certain matter I'd hoped to discuss with you."
"Are you talking about that question you said you wanted to ask me?"
He released her hands and tumbled them both over again so she was now straddling him.
She looked down in surprise and Garrus chuckled when her mouth formed a startled 'O'.
"Yes. I am," he gingerly let his hands travel up over her body to softly caress those soft fleshy orbs. She didn't flinch or pull back from his touch.
"I was wondering. . . about the difference between human and turian stamina. You see, turian females are not overly fertile. When a couple wants to have a child, they have to work at it. I mean really have to work at it."
"O-kay?" she said, though she made it sound like a question.
"Basically, what it comes down to, we are capable of," he cleared his throat, "Instigating multiple sexual encounters in a relatively short time. And sometimes, after several times in short succession . . . when we still want more, it can take a long time before – you know."
"I'm sorry, Garrus," Dani started and he could feel his hope plummeting from his chest.
"Wrong human to ask. Before yesterday I had no sexual experience whatsoever. With all the research you've done, you probably know more about the subject than I do."
"Probably," he conceded, relieved she wasn't shooting him down beforehand. "But, I don't want to know about what goes for some human, I want to know about what goes for you. Dani, yesterday when you took that second shower?"
"Yes?"
"You have no idea how much I wanted to join you and start all over again."
"But, we'd already . . . two times!"
"I know. That's why I didn't want to, ah, seem overeager because it would have taken hours of slow . . . well, you get the idea. I just didn't know if more of such attention would have been welcome to you."
"I see your point."
"And last night . . . Spirits, it's embarrassing to admit."
"What?"
Garrus looked up at her, wondering how she'd react and finally moved up to whisper it in her ear. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open.
"Really?" She whispered.
"Yeah, sorry."
"The only thing I'm sorry about is that I wasn't awake!" She grinned. This time it was his turn to look shocked but he quickly grinned as well.
When he moved to gather her in his arms, she wrapped her arms around him in response. Though he had longed to make love to her again for the better part of the night, this morning he enticed her with a slow seduction. Their movements together were languid, easy, and their release soft and sweet.
Afterwards they enjoyed a long shower together and they took their time exploring each other's body. Garrus showed Dani how he liked to be touched and where. She even washed the plates on his back and giggled when he started to smell like flowers and berries. He just mock glared at her and scrubbed his back with his own shower wash. He stopped moving however when he felt her foreign small hands on his body again.
He would never admit it to her, but there was a certain part in sex between turians he really missed. It was something he could never do or share with Dani. Damn, he loved the girl and would never want to make her feel like she was lacking in some way. But, her touch in certain places lacked the power of a turian female.
In other places however . . . he discovered whole new pleasure zones on his own body. She touched, kissed and licked almost every inch of his body. By the time she went down on her knees and curiously ran her tongue along the seams of his plates, he slammed his hands against the shower wall for support. He found out first hand there were certain advantages countering the disadvantages of engaging in sex with a human.
Her wicked little tongue had him soon panting and heaving like a wild varren. Every lick and lap of her tongue shocked his senses like an electrical current. He lost control over his movements and muscles and was shivering and shuddering under her ministrations. With a loud groan he felt his member slip out of hiding, eager and awaiting her attention. And by all the Spirits on Palaven, she didn't disappoint! Her touch felt exploring in nature, rather than designed to give him ultimate pleasure. In time, he was sure, she would know exactly what to do to reduce him to a puddle at her feet.
When she licked up and down his shaft it felt. . . Spirits, were there even words? When her tongue started circling and teasing his tip Garrus could feel his knees buckling under the sensation. The torture started in earnest when she suddenly closed her lips around him and pulled him inside with a sucking motion.
For Palaven's sake . . . she was sucking him!
Suddenly he was blinded by white light and stars that exploded somewhere in his mind and he couldn't prevent the keening howl escaping both sets of his vocal cords if he tried.
Dani – bless her – looked up startled, afraid she had hurt him or had done something wrong.
"No," he croaked out. "Please . . . don't stop!"
He nearly sobbed in relief when she gently sucked him inside her mouth again. His release was so sudden and powerful, it hit him completely over the head. It took him a moment before he could actually think again. He found himself on his knees, his hands and head against the shower wall and he wondered how the hell he ended up like that.
He cast an embarrassed glance at Dani, but one look at her face and he started chuckling. Her eyes were large and round in shocked surprise. She slowly discharged his load from her mouth and he felt an odd satisfaction seeing his seed trickle from her lips.
There was just one thing left to do, he was not prepared to let her dry herself before he had returned the favor. Just a few minutes later he had her crying out his name and he gently lapped at her wet folds letting her softly ride out every ripple of pleasure as she laid shivering on the shower floor.
After a while, Garrus turned off the water flow and was content to hold her in his arms for a moment, before he helped her up and wrapped a large towel around her.
"Garrus?"
"Hmm-mm?" He looked down at her large blue eyes gazing up at him with a peculiar look in them.
"I think . . . I think I just found out what Dr. Solus meant yesterday."
His hands stilled around her.
"You know, when he said . . . don't ingest?"
He roared with laughter, he couldn't help himself and her flushed cheeks didn't help a bit.
"Spirits Dani," he finally managed. "Do you have any idea how much I love you?"
There it was, out in the broad daylight. Well, if the Normandy would've had daylight. And this time she wasn't inebriated.
The most curious thing happened to her skin. Her flush dissipated in a mere moment, she paled considerately and suddenly the hot flush was back.
"Do you?" she asked softly.
He rested his forehead against hers. "Yeah," he whispered simply.
"I love you too."
He nuzzled her. "I know."
They just stood there, gazing at each other, just two people discovering that their feelings, emotions, were perfectly mirrored in the other.
Garrus was loathe to let her go, but he already spent a large portion of the morning with her and there was work to do. Plenty of work. He gently brushed his mouth plates against her lips and then he quickly got himself dressed.
Inside the Main Battery he quickly started calibrations of the main gun stabilizer. Calibrations had to be performed at least daily, more even under conditions in which temperatures were very low, very hot or when they changed much during the day. Since they traveled from system to system and never knew what conditions they would meet, just keeping the main gun calibrated was a full time job. If the main gun wasn't calibrated properly, it couldn't be used at all.
Garrus hoped Shepard would soon have and take the time to have that Thanix gun installed. Maintaining that bitch would be even more of a chore, but at least they'd get some bad-ass teeth in return.
He took his job very serious. Every day he did what needed doing to keep the Normandy in peak fighting form.
Without regular calibration the main gun could fire before battle had fully engaged or it could discharge during rest cycles.
"Garrus, I need you to suit up." Shepard hailed him.
"I'll be ready in fifteen," he acknowledged without asking further questions.
Exactly fifteen minutes later Garrus was waiting in front of the air lock. Shortly after Shepard walked up to him accompanied by Mordin Solus.
"Shit, punctual turian!" Shepard smirked. Garrus smirked right back at him.
"Humans," he retorted. "Always late! So, Illium?"
"No, slight change of plans. We're going to the prison ship Purgatory first. Cerberus just negotiated for the release of a prisoner. Apparently the Illusive Man thinks he'd make a good addition to the crew. Illium will have to wait for a bit."
"So, we're working with Cerberus and convicted criminals now. Come to think of it, it's not that far of a leap," Garrus replied dryly.
"Are you okay with it, Dr. Solus?" Shepard asked.
"Job not to ask questions but to help. Will do what I can. Should convict prove troublesome . . . Know quick ways to dispose."
"Not really sure how that would go. The prisoner we're going to pick up goes by the name Jack and he's rumored to be the most powerful human biotic ever encountered. That's pretty much all the information I've got. Except that he's prone to violence and should be approached with care. So, just follow my orders and we should be fine."
"Sounds like a lovely addition to the crew. All we need is another krogan."
"Actually . . . after picking up Jack, that's exactly what we're gonna do. A krogan Warlord named Okeer."
"I should have known. Just putting things out here, but if we get another krogan on board, we really need a quarian and an asari too!"
"Yeah, if I find them, I'll invite Tali and Liara back to the ship."
"Good." Garrus nodded.
"Still got your sniper rifle?"
"The one Dani modded? No, I stashed it away to prevent it from falling in the wrong hands back on Omega. It was . . . destroyed when I was set up."
"I wondered what happened to it when you decided to take on that gun ship with a standard issue Mantis. Shame."
"Yeah, that it is."
"The human female made a modification? Of what kind?" Mordin asked with a curious voice.
"Phasing bullets, she called it. Bullets that could travel through cover or even a hostage, without harming them, straight into the intended mark without losing velocity."
"Sounds . . . impossible."
"Not for Dani," Shepard stated before the outer door opened and they entered the docking area of the prison ship. Shepard signaled for Mordin and Garrus to follow him.
No words passed between them as they ran up to three guards guarding the entrance.
The ship was in Blue Suns hands. After having killed a lot of Blue Suns mercenaries on Omega, Garrus had all his senses sharp and on full alert.
When they approached the guards close enough, Garrus noticed the one in the middle was a turian, flanked by two humans. He quickly scanned the area with his visor.
"Welcome to the Purgatory, Shepard," the turian greeted them with ease. "Your package is being prepped and you can claim it shortly. As this is a high security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed."
They moved as one, taking out and poising their weapons. Everyone in the room suddenly found themselves staring down the barrel of a gun.
"I'll relinquish one bullet," Shepard replied dryly. "Where do you want it?"
Suddenly another turian appeared behind the mercenaries, also sporting the Blue Suns armor. He was big, muscular and had a well-defined body. Garrus quickly monitored his bio stats and determined this one could be a problem should things turn sour. Ever the pessimist, or optimist, depending your point of view, Garrus always counted on things to turn sour.
"Everyone stand down!" The turian spoke loudly, his voice carrying the natural charisma of a leader.
"Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship."
The way the Kuril carried himself rubbed Garrus the wrong way. He didn't like the guy.
"Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is just a standard procedure."
"It's my standard procedure to keep my gun," Shepard retorted.
The two men stared each other down for a moment and Garrus detected some – glint – in Kuril's eyes he really didn't like.
"Let them proceed," Kuril finally acquiesced. "Our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests."
There was something off the way this statement was brought. Almost as if the warden expected a fight.
"We're bringing Jack out of cryo," Kuril proceeded in the same level manner. "As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way."
Garrus didn't buy it for one minute. Something was up, he could just feel it!
"If you'll follow me to Outprocessing for the pickup, Commander."
"Let's go," Shepard agreed and they followed Kuril deeper inside the Purgatory.
"Cell block two," Kuril spread out his arms, indicating the area they were in. Just rows and rows of cells.
"As you can see, we keep tight control over the population."
Garrus watched as large robotic arms moved around to rearrange certain individual cells.
"Each prisoner's cell is a self-contained, modular unit. I've blown a few out the air locks as an example."
Garrus made sure to betray no emotion. Son of a bitch!
"The ship is made up of thirty cell blocks identical to this one. We house thousands of criminals," Kuril informed them casually. "We can put the whole place in lockdown on a moment's notice. Nothing goes wrong here."
"Yeah, yeah, inescapable prison and so on and so forth," Shepard replied unimpressed. "Can you tell me anything about Jack?"
Kuril seemed taken aback just a bit. "Cerberus hasn't told you? Jack is the meanest handful of violence and hate I've ever encountered. Dangerous, crazy and very powerful. You'll see soon enough."
Shepard studied the man in front of him and asked the question that Garrus too had on his mind.
"How did you end up running this ship?"
Kuril cast a sideway glance in Garrus' direction. "I was in law enforcement on Palaven, and got sick of seeing criminals escape out into the galaxy to carry on with their crimes. Bounty hunters aren't dependable. Eventually I hit upon this idea. Keep the criminals in space and the galaxy is a safer place."
"So, you do this because you think it's necessary?"
"Every day I see the worst sapient life has to offer. Governments are soft, unwilling to make the hard choices. Someone had to stand up and make the galaxy safe."
Sure, he was doing this all out of the goodness of his heart.
"Maintaining a population this size in space can't be cheap," Shepard subtly voiced Garrus' concerns.
"We can cut corners that governments can't," Kuril explained with caution. "And each prisoner brings a fee from his home world. These individuals are violent, and their home planets pay well to keep them here."
"And if the home world doesn't want to pay?"
"We explain we can't maintain the prisoner without their help, so we'll be force to release the prisoner onto his home world. At an unspecified place and time."
"So it's an extortion racket," Garrus surmised.
"You don't have to agree with my methods," Kuril said defensively. "But don't question my motives. These are despicable people and I'm keeping them locked up."
He turned around and walked further down the cell block.
"Suppose escape attempts are minimal in number," Mordin stated.
"We're in space," Kuril stated flatly. "They have nowhere to go – and they know it."
"But still, we exercise extreme caution," he added quickly. "These are dangerous individuals."
Garrus looked down a level beneath them. There were two prisoners on their free exercise time who got into a little skirmish. The guard nearby activated two biotic fields to contain the prisoners. Though it seemed the biotic fields did more than just contain.
"We have many ways to control the population," Kuril said, watching Garrus looking down at the rough handling of the prisoners.
Outside a side room Kuril excused himself. "I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerberus cleared. Outprocessing is straight down this hallway. Just keep going past the interrogation rooms and the supermax wing. I'll catch up with you later . . . Shepard."
Garrus watched Kuril turn around and walk back.
"I don't trust him Shepard," he muttered under his breath. "Too many inconsistencies in his story and the evidence I see with my own eyes."
"I know. I don't trust him either."
They continued down the hallway by themselves but Shepard stopped in his tracks when he saw a prisoner inside a cell getting beat to a pulp by a guard. The guard outside was idly looking on.
"Inhumane,"Mordin muttered. "Unacceptable. Violation of basic organic dignity."
"You don't even get good information that way," Garrus thought back to his days with C-Sec. Though he 'd never shied away from putting a little pressure on his suspects, he'd never let things go this out of hand.
"After a point, victims admit to anything to make the pain stop."
Shepard merely nodded and went to stand next to the guard.
"Is there something I can do for you?" The guard asked while hardly acknowledging Shepard's presence.
"There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back."
"This is a massage compared to what his victims went through."
"This degrades you as much as him. In what way does this make you better than him?"
"We have orders," the guard defended.
"What, you're not important enough to make your own decisions?" Shepard huffed.
The guard shrugged his shoulders. "I admit. . . I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get us anything useful?"
"No," Shepard answered his question. "Stop this. For your own sake."
The guard looked on for a short moment before averting his eyes. "Yeah. You're right," he finally conceded. "Call it off," he ordered the guard inside. "At least for now."
They made their way further down the hallway until one of the prisoners called Shepard over.
"Hey! Hey guys, over here. Let me ask you something!"
When Shepard approached the cell, Garrus recognized the look of desperation. There were numerous signs of malnutrition and maltreatment visible in the scrawny figure of the man trapped in his cell. Not for the first time Garrus wondered exactly what kind of establishment this Kuril was running.
"Listen, if you're buying prisoners, can you buy me? Man, I don't care where you take me or what you do to me, it's got to be better than this."
"We're here for Jack," Garrus had no intention of getting more criminals on board the Normandy – near Dani – than necessary. It was comical to see the prisoner's reaction to the name, if a bid foreboding.
"Jack? Forget what I just said. I don't want to go nowhere with you."
Shepard shot a look at Garrus, he nodded back in understanding.
"I thought this ship was a prison," Shepard fished for information. "Not a market."
"Sometimes people buy cons so they can do some punishing of their own, if you understand. Warden sells us to whoever can pay enough."
"That prisoner back there, why were they interrogating him? He knows something?"
"Nah, that's Bimmey – he don't know nothing. He offed someone in the showers yesterday, I think. Guy he killed was worth a lot to the warden. Yeah, sucks to be Bimmey right now."
"They were going at it pretty hard," Shepard pressed the subject. "Do they ever kill prisoners by accident?"
"Haven't heard of anyone dying. Warden can't make money off us if we're dead. Funny thing though – the more a guard does it, the meaner he gets. So they rotate them through."
Yeah, Garrus was no stranger to that either. It never happened to himself. He'd never crossed that line. But he'd seen it happen.
"And you? What are you in for?" Shepard continued his questions.
"I killed a few people," the prisoner stated casually. "Only twenty or so. And I blew up that one habitat. Small-time compared to most of the guys here."
Okay, that man was definitely not going with them! The casual way he mentioned his victims made Garrus want to punch him in the face.
"So where does Jack fit in that scale?"
"The worst trouble you ever saw, mixed with some crazy and way too much biotic power. That's all I'm saying" the prisoner said with respect . . . or fear.
"Okay, fair enough. What's it like here then. Wanna tell me something about that?"
"It's bad," the prisoner admitted. "And you got to watch out – damn, but someone's always after your stuff. Your smokes, your clothes, your . . . pride," the prisoner looked uncomfortable admitting to that. "I haven't taken a shower in three months."
Garrus shook his head and followed Shepard out. He couldn't say the prisoner didn't deserve it, but damn!
"This place is as corrupt as Omega, Shepard," he commented while they stalked down the remainder of the hallway and entered the Outprocessing area. As soon as they activated the door control, they heard Kuril over the intercom.
"My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable as a prisoner than a customer."
When the door hissed open, they saw there was no Outprocessing area, just an empty cell.
Shepard turned around slowly with a scowl on his face.
"Drop your weapons and proceed into this open cell. You will not be harmed."
"Go the hell!" Shepard shouted into the still empty room. "Better yet, I'll send you there myself!"
"Activate the systems!" Kuril ordered over the intercom.
Garrus smirked at Shepard. "Just like old times, eh?"
They took cover in the room and quickly disposed of the guards pouring in.
"Guess this means we'll have to take Jack out of cryo ourselves!"
"I think you guess right. Let's try that supermax wing!"
Surprisingly, Mordin was a valuable addition, as he cryo-blasted the guards so Garrus could easily pop them off. It was kind of beautiful in a way.
More guards assaulted them in the hallway that led to the supermax wing. The moment they entered, a lonely Technician near his station alerted the other guards to their presence.
"Shepard is on the loose! Repeat, Shepard is on the loose! Get security down here!"
Garrus didn't miss a beat and put a bullet between his eyes. That shut him up.
"Damn, sorry Shepard. I wasn't fast enough. He managed to get out an alert," Garrus apologized for his failure.
"Forget about it, Vakarian. The alert was out the moment we entered the room. No one is that fast. Not even you."
Shepard walked up to the computer console on the station. Garrus joined him and looked through the enormous glass panel lining the wall, giving a full view over the area below them.
"Shepard, if you hack that control, every door on the cell block opens. It's none or all in this case. Just a heads up," Garrus said, watching the commander run his fingers lightly across the controls.
"However, required if we want to get Jack out of Stasis," Mordin piped in.
"Whatever they throw at us, we kill and destroy. I'm doing it," Shepard said terse. "Be ready!"
Garrus watched how a large robotic arm in the room below them sprang to life. The moment it moved to pick up a cell suspended in the floor, it managed to attract the attention of two heavy mechs. The deadlocks hissed and soon the cell was lifted from the floor. Garrus nearly felt his mandibles drop down to his knees when he saw the figure inside the cell.
It was a young woman; her neck, arms and legs were trapped down in metal clamps. Her head was shaved, what was visible of her body was covered in tattoos. A thin strip of leather across her breasts and then two more strips from her breasts to behind her neck, was all she wore on her upper body.
It left very little to the imagination.
"That's Jack?" Mordin voiced Garrus' exact sentiments.
The moment she opened her eyes, all hell broke loose. She tore from her confinements with ease and was met with three heavy mechs stomping her way. Jack just snarled at them. Blue biotics flared around her and with a cry she just launched herself straight through the mech.
"We have to get down there!" Mordin called out when they saw Jack fleeing from the scene.
They hustled through the door leading to the supermax wing. All they really needed to do by now was follow the trail of destruction left in the wake of Jack.
"All guards: restore order!" Kuril yelled over the intercom. "Lethal force authorized! But don't kill Jack! Techs: lockdown! Lockdown!"
Machines were short-circuiting all over the place and the ships VI alerted them that sectors seven, nine and eleven had lost life support. No survivors. They moved into an area that was set ablaze.
"Prisoner went berserk," Mordin mused, taking in all the damage done. "Impressive biotic ability. Could be problem on Normandy."
"This girl is powerful," Garrus agreed. "But she lacks subtlety."
He'd barely said the words when a large robotic arm that crashed from the ceiling had him diving for cover. Shepard looked around to get his bearings. There were sounds of fighting and shooting fire all around them.
"All prisoners: return to your cells immediately," Kuril cried out enraged. "Or I'll open every airlock on this ship!"
A heavy mech on the level below them started opening fire. Not only on them, but also any loose prisoner or guard in sight. They quickly moved down to that level and took cover. It took a bit of strategic planning but the heavy mech fell after a decent bit of heavy fire, Garrus' overloads and Mordin's cryo-blasts. They had no fucking clue as to where to go so they just continued following the fallout of Jack's rampage.
The warden wasn't making things any easier as EDI informed them that Kuril had locked down a certain area so they were forced to find a different exit route. Plus, the ships VI almost cheerily informed them that damage to the power plant had led to overload and Core systems were about to fail.
They saw a few bodies of guards strewn around the place. One was riddled with ammo from improvised guns. "He never stood a chance," Shepard shook his head.
"Shows you what kind of people these criminals are," Garrus commented. "I don't agree with everything they do here, but it's in the galaxy's best interest. This guard kept maniacs away from innocent people." He was mainly thinking of Dani.
It was silent for a moment before Shepard finally replied with a steely edge to his voice.
"If you believe that, Garrus, maybe you should apply for a job here. A prison should be just that, a prison, not an excuse to torture people or make a profit of their misfortune. This place was run by gangsters!"
"Prisoners helpless. Guards had power. Perhaps abused it? Violence here could be retribution," Mordin put in his take on the situation.
"Shepard! I . . ." Garrus tried, finally realizing how cold his comment must have sounded.
"Shut up, we need to find Jack."
They reached another large open area and the ship's VI informed them there were several hull breeches. More guards flooded the area to take them out and another lovely heavy mech decided to grace them with its presence. This one proved a lot more difficult to take out as they had to divide strategies between the guards and the heavy mechs.
Garrus got nailed good a couple of times but he ignored his with bullets riddled armor, the throbbing pain in his chest, shoulder and back and the blue blood trickling from different holes. Nothing a quick slap of medi-gel couldn't fix.
When they finally made their escape from the area, they were blocked by no other then Kuril himself. He was taking out prisoners like he was dispensing himself of vermin.
"You're valuable, Shepard!" Kuril hissed when he noticed their approach. "I could've sold you and lived like a king! But you're too much trouble! At least I can recapture Jack!"
Garrus warily eyed the protective shielding of Kuril. It was powerful, bound to be powered by external sources. He used his visor to locate the offenders.
"Not happening!" Shepard sneered. "You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for it!"
"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to! This is for the good of the galaxy!"
"This is only for the good of yourself!" Shepard spat as he rolled out of cover to take a shot at Kuril.
Garrus decided to forego Kuril and went on a hunt for the power sources. Of course more guards tried to flank them but Mordin did a good job of getting rid of them. Garrus signaled Shepard, alerting him to the power sources right before he took down the first. Shepard nodded in appreciation and quickly took down a second and a third. When all the power sources were down, they made quick work of Kuril and hurried back to the docking area, the only logical and remaining area were Jack could have gone.
Sure enough, they found her there, having a fit over the Cerberus logo she spotted on the Normandy. She was so angry she didn't notice the guard lining up a shot for her. Shepard took him down with a clean shot. That got her attention.
"What the hell do you want?" she spat at him.
"I just saved your ass."
"It was already dead!" she retorted. "It just didn't know it. Now, what the hell do you want?"
"My name is Shepard and I'm here to get you off this ship."
"Well, I'm not going anywhere with you! You're Cerberus!"
"I'm offering to be a friend," Shepard replied with a slight threatening tone. "You don't want to be my enemy!"
"Shepard's combat ability impressive," Mordin offered. "Determination equally impressive. Enemies don't last long."
"They have a way of dying," Garrus agreed.
"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"
"Yeah, I kind of do. This ship is going up in flames. I've got the only way out. I'm offering to take you with me and you're arguing.
"We could knock her out and take her," Garrus suggested.
"I'd like to see you try," Jack hissed.
"Keep this up and it might just come to that."
"You'll have to kill me!" Jack turned away and eyed the Normandy. "Look, you want me to come with you? Make it worth my while!"
"Tell me what you're thinking."
"I bet your ship's got lot of Cerberus databases. I want to look at those files. See what Cerberus has got on me. You want me on your team? Let me go through those databases."
"I'll give you full access," Shepard promised.
"You better be straight-up with me!" Jack warned him. Shepard just nodded.
"So why the hell are we standing here?" With a shrug of her shoulders she turned around, waiting for Shepard to take the lead.
The moment Joker took off, Garrus watched the Purgatory go down in flames. It was kind of poetical really. He only got a short time to ponder its fate though because Shepard took Garrus aside in the briefing room.
"Garrus, you were bit of a renegade when you first joined the Normandy and I tried to make you see a different path even though I'm no pushover myself. I got through to you, I know it. And when you and Dani got closer, it had a positive effect on you. Now I see you lost that somewhere on Omega. I suggest you find that back."
"What, you're saying you no longer trust me because of some comment I made?" Garrus asked him angrily.
"No Garrus, I'm saying this because I care about you and about Dani. Seeing you become this cold and calculated will break her heart and in the end, you'll only lose her all over again. It's up to you. Now, go and see Dr. Chakwas first. You're nearly falling apart. Guess I took you out on a mission a bit too soon."
"I'm good to go, Shepard!"
"No, Garrus. No you're not! Quit trying to prove something. Go and see the doc. Take it easy for a while . . . You're sitting out the next few missions. And work things out. I meant what I said!"
