Garrus Vakarian
Garrus had been going through what might be the longest day of his career. When he got word from his boss, Executor Pallin, that there was an investigation going into Saren he was thrilled. Garrus had a great respect for the Spectres and the authority they wielded to bend the laws to accomplish their goals. That respect didn’t make him blind though, and made him particularly hateful to those that would abuse that kind of authority. He could only imagine the good he would be able to accomplish if he wasn’t bound by C-Sec’s rules and regulations, and for someone to take that privilege for personal gain, or even worse to actively harm others? He would not stand for it.
So he jumped at the opportunity to investigate a potentially rogue Spectre. He was under strict orders to keep his investigation as secretive as possible, as the Council didn’t want to cause a stir over mere accusations. It was just another hurdle he was used to climbing over, the real problem came from the red tape surrounding information about Saren. Despite being charged with investigating the man, Saren’s files and personal information were all still classified, and he didn’t have the authority to access them. He would need to put in a formal request to the Council, through the Executor to access Saren’s files. At which point the Council would determine which files, if any, were relevant to the investigation, and he would be given temporary access for the purpose of investigation.
He didn’t have time to sit around waiting for this kind of access, so he made a separate request, hoping that with Nihlus being deceased and the victim of these supposed accusations his files would be easier to get a hold of. Except according to the Councils protocols all if Nihlus files were transferred to Saren, and held under the same classifications his own were. So once again he had a dead end that would have him waiting hours, if not days for results. With the Human hearing set for less then a day from his assignment, he didn’t have the time to be waiting around. He would have to resort to good old fashioned investigative work.
The physical investigation was as slow and beneficial as his paperwork on average. In hours of investigating he only just managed to determine a connection between Saren and Fist. Fist was one of the bigger names in the upper wards. A weapons dealer and information smuggler he often worked with the Shadow Broker and despite his frequent violations of Citadel law and acts of violence against C-Sec he still roamed free. It was another case that proved the corruption within his own organization, and how easily their laws could be circumvented. Saren dealing with him was at the very least a sign of his own shady background. The not so subtle threats he received when he tried asking questions only deepened his suspicions.
Choosing the people he asked carefully, Garrus eventually determined that Fist had been put in contact with a person seeking to deal with the Shadow Broker. They wouldn’t say who they were or what they wanted, but they laughed about how they had refused to deal with Fist himself and were demanded to meet the Shadow Broker face to face. Garrus had expected this to mean that Fist explained that the Shadow Broker never met in person, but instead was surprised to hear that he was keeping the person nearby while he ‘arranged a meeting’. The fact that Fist would ignore the Brokers protocol to keep an eye on the individual trying to meet them was odd. He pushed for more info but all he could learn was the Dr. Michels, a doctor who ran a nearby clinic, had been the one to deliver this person to Fist.
Garrus was just on his way to meet them when he was called back to Citadel Tower to present the evidence he collected, as the Council was meeting with the Humans in 30 minutes. He rushed to the tower to meet with the Executor. He was furious, not just that he didn’t have any real evidence, but that it was becoming clear something was going on. All he needed was more time, either to get approval to view Saren’s files, or dig deeper into Fist. It was what he tried to argue with Pallin, but he was shut down quickly and without any flexibility in his answer. It was in that moment of frustration he first encountered Commander Shepard and her human companions.
Shepard was the only one who truly stood out, even in Citadel Tower, she commanded the energy of the room. He could tell simply from looking at her she was skilled beyond belief, and incredibly cunning. Every question she asked him was to avoid fluff, and seek any additional information he could possibly grant her. In honesty he felt ashamed being unable to help her. He knew, knew in his gut that she was right in her accusations, but was unable to prove it. He wished her luck as her and her crew walked off, they all either disregarded him or looked at him with disappointment, and his shame grew. All except for one, a taller blonde man in the back, who simply gave him a look of sympathy before following the others off.
That look was the final straw, their annoyance was understandable but for one of them to understand his effort, and how it resulted in nothing, meant he knew exactly how little C-Sec was capable of accomplishing.
What Garrus did next was reckless, his investigation was over, his duty was to return to C-Sec for whatever his next assignment was. Instead he chose to ignore procedure and consider his investigation. He was close to something with this Dr. Michels, he knew that, he just had to find the proof himself. If he could then he could present to the Shepard and her crew as an anonymous tip, proving that even in C-Sec good men could still get the job done.
He was not expecting assassins to try and kill Dr. Michels while he was in the middle of talking to her, nor was he expecting Shepard's crew to arrive in time to distract them. They surprised him with their combat efficiency, and together they fought off the hitmen with ease. It was the dark haired woman and the blonde man, the one who looked at him with annoyance and the other with sympathy. They got the information he had been there to ask, and turned to leave. It was a moment of weakness, and not a very prideful showing, begging to join them like he did. But he knew in his heart that he needed to be there to get the evidence, to stop Saren. He had to help accomplish the mission that was his, if he didn’t then what point was there of even having C-Sec.
He had expected them to refuse, to turn him away. And the woman, Ashley, almost did. She was shut down though as the blonde man, Jenkins, spoke out in his defence, claiming more hands was more helpful. It was a surprise, but a pleasant one. He joined them on their mission, and was shocked by the effectiveness with which they moved. Ashley was a skilled soldier, and had trust in her comrades' tech abilities to support her in a fire fight. Jenkins was surprisingly capable as well, despite being only a Corporal. His technological skills were far beyond what he expected and the sheer scale of power outputted by his overloads was beyond anything C-Sec gear was capable of outputting.
His surprise at their attitudes only increased, as they continued travelling together. When they met the Quarian he was expecting Ashley to waste time attempting to calm her down, or earn her trust in a stressful situation, instead she focused on securing the alley way and told the Quarian to either stay put or follow them to a more secure location. She had looked ready to run before Garrus explained that the Shadow Broker never meets in person and there was a trap incoming. It seemed to calm her, and he had almost thought they would make it out of there without a fight before more of Saren’s assassins arrived, breaching the door Jenkins was guarding.
Again the man surprised him, despite a lack of cover he maintained his position, providing cover fire for the rest of his team to secure more advantageous positions. When they were in a position to provide cover fire themselves he turned to run for a better position as well, but took a shot that dropped him. The hostage situation that resulted had Garrus worried, he could tell Ashley wasn’t the type to disregard their primary mission for just one soldier, but neither of them wanted to lose a man.
Jenkins continued to surprise, taking the choice out of their hands by just shooting his attempted hostage taker the moment his focus was on Garrus and Ashley’s group. He would have died for his bravery, but at that moment Shepard arrived as well. If Garrus had thought Jenkins and Ashley were impressive, then Shepard was a monster. A monster who brought a Krogan with her.
They cleared the fight quickly, and Jenkins made it out with nothing more than the one injury to his leg. His bravery had impressed Garrus, it took a lot to risk your own life for the sake of a mission, and to do so without a sign of regret or moment of hesitation was impressive. When they met again in the Council chambers he was impressed further. Jenkins had no default respect for authority, if his superiors, be they the Ambassador or the Council themselves were acting in a way he viewed as foolish or risky, he let them know. Consequences be damned. Garrus felt respect for that viewpoint, frankly he wished he could act the same. All the times the rules and regulations he was supposed to follow got people hurt, or let bad guys get away made him want to yell and scream at the stupidity of C-Sec and their rules.
When Jenkins punched his own Ambassador to ‘find a compromise’ Garrus knew what he needed to do. He could see from how everyone in Shepard's squad reacted the moment that they supported Jenkins actions, and when Shepard's first act of Spectre was to protect her squad mate from the consequences of doing what he thought was right, that he needed to be on Shepard's team. While Shepard went shopping for new gear from the quartermaster Garrus went to see Executor Pallin and quit on the spot. He thanked the older Turian for his guidance, but said he could no longer work for C-Sec in good conscience, he knew where he was needed. Pallin didn’t try to convince Garrus to stay, his drive was visible even to anyone who could look him in the eye. Garrus was thanked for his service, and left the office, quickly rushing to find Shepard before she left. He ran into her in the lobby of C-Sec headquarters, just before the elevator that led to the embassies above.
“Shepard. Good I’m glad I could catch you before you left.” He was out of breath, and a mixture of nervous and excited. He knew if Shepard didn’t want him he would have quit his job for nothing, but whether or not he was accepted, he couldn’t work as he used to.
“Garrus. Good to see you as well. Can I help you with anything?” She was polite, but seemed confused as to why he had run up to approach her.
“Commander, I would like to request to join you on your hunt for Saren. In the short time I worked with your team I accomplished more than I achieved after hours of work with C-Sec. I believe your fears of the Reapers, and I want to help stop them if I can, if you’ll have me.”
Shepard stared at Garrus for a while, contemplating, before a small smile appeared on her lips. She held out her hand, and as she did she spoke the words that Garrus would later quote as the most important moment in his life.
“Welcome aboard Garrus.”
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Urdnot Wrex
Wrex was having a very good day. He spent most of his time, most of his days, being annoyed beyond measure. Being a member of a dying species, one that lives for centuries would do that to you. Wrex was there, centuries ago at the end of the Krogan rebellions, he was there leading a tribe as he tried to encourage his groups not to fight a losing war, and instead focus on rebuilding and repopulating their homes. He was there when they tried to kill him for interfering with clan leaders' goals of war and conquest.
He had realized that his people let their anger, and their pride cloud their origins. They were warriors, that was supposed to mean something. A story of strength, pride and honor. Instead the members of his race that ran things were more concerned with petty grudges and fighting pointless battles. He left it behind. For the past 3 centuries he’s spent his time traveling the galaxy as a weapon. A mercenary, a gun for hire, and agent of destruction. He participated in more fights then most living beings would even see within their entire lifetimes, and earned a name as one of the last living Krogan Battlemasters.
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In the past decade he had done a lot of work for the Shadow Broker, not working as a permanent agent or anything, but a recurring mercenary. It was fun, the Shadow Broker knew what a good fight actually looked like, and only ever sent him on jobs that were worthy of his skills. So when he was told he had a job on the Citadel Wrex was thrilled. He was personally hoping for a hit on one of the Ambassadors, or maybe even a Counsellor. That would be a fight worth telling. When he learned that the job was on Fist he couldn’t help but feel a little disappointment. Sure Fist was tough, but it wouldn’t be much for Wrex to smash through his security and put an end to him. The problem was that Fist had a good portion of C-Sec on payroll, enough that they were more worried about the mess Wrex would make than the possibility of finally removing Fist.
It didn’t help that the last time Wrex had a job on the Citadel he destroyed an entire city block down in the wards. The death count was in the hundreds and he wasn’t well liked aboard the Citadel after that. Wrex personally thought that was unfair. None of the dead were actually civilians, they were just a bunch of gang members that thought they could use numbers to overwhelm a pissed off Krogan. They paid the price for their arrogance. Still that behavior left behind a reputation, and while it was great for getting work, it did mean he needed to be more careful when dealing with Citadel Security.
It was why he was in C-Sec headquarters arguing with one of their officers. He had truly tried to be polite, to be courteous. He came into Citadel Security headquarters willingly, listened to their stupid assertions that he was threatening Fist. It was ridiculous, Wrex didn’t threaten his enemies, he killed them. Fist was still alive so he clearly hadn’t been threatened yet.
He was just debating heading down to Chora’s Den to properly show the man how a threat worked when he was surprised. A group of two humans, dressed in alliance armor approached him without fear or hesitation. Well, one of them approached without fear and hesitation, the man in blue and black armor seemed wary.
Wrex was surprised to be approached, but even more so that he recognized the woman leading the group. Wrex made a habit of knowing any warriors he considered particularly interesting or capable, and Commander Shepard was one of them. He had fought, and killed an adult Thresher Maw before. So when he heard how a human squad was wiped out by one of the creatures he wasn’t surprised. However when he learned that one not only survived, but fought it off, he was very impressed.
Shepard was an N7, the human special forces, and her career was impressive. It’s the only reason he chose to stay and listen to her as she spoke to him. She explained that she spoke with Barla Von, a contact for the Shadow Broker. He had instructed her that the information she was seeking was held by Fist, and told her specifically to seek out Wrex.
He was intrigued, and in the end agreed to accompany her and the other man she introduced as Kaidan. He was unimpressive in appearance, but upon closer inspection his caution wasn’t a decision made out of fear. He just seemed wary, ready for a fight if it came to that. Wrex respected that, every man should be ready for a fight to break out, and prepared to win it if necessary.
Before they set out together he warned Shepard that his mission was to kill Fist. Not subdue, not capture. Kill. If she had a problem with that then she was better off leaving him behind. She didn’t even hesitate, saying she would rather be able to assess the situation before resorting straight to killing, but understood it was his job. As long as he let her get the information she needed the what he did with Fist was between them.
Wrex knew he was going to like her. She responded to new information and resources quickly and without hesitation. A natural leader to be sure. Wrex told her what he knew, why the Shadow Broker wanted Fist dead so badly. She used the walk to Chora’s Den as an opportunity to call the rest of her team, who had apparently just reached their objective as well. They would be joining the fight as soon as they verified the Intel they were searching for. Although Wrex was happy to hear that one of the Commander’s crew left a surprise behind for them on site. His hopes weren’t high, but the Krogan have a preferred method of surprise.
When they reached the entrance to Chora’s Den, and saw the catwalk outside of the building was held securely by enemies waiting for their arrival, Wrex cursed under his breath. The C-Sec officer he spoke to must have warned them they were coming. He knew they were dirty, but figured they still wouldn’t have had time to prepare this much. Still there were worse things than a challenging fight.
Shame it wasn’t challenging at all.
If Wrex was storming the bar alone then it was likely it would have been a tough fight. But he wasn’t alone, and the two humans alongside him were appropriately skilled. Both were talented in biotics as well, which didn’t help the enemies that had secured themselves on the catwalk. When the first two fell several stories to severe injuries at least, the rest backed off inside of the bar itself. The single door entrance was a kill zone and would be hell to try and walk through.
Thankfully Wrex was surprised once more by the usefulness of these humans as Shepard gave a ping to signal the surprise from her ally. A surprise that had Wrex wondering if Shepard already had a Krogan on crew. The blast that went off shook the ground even outside of the bar, and the smoke that filled the air poured out of the doorway. It made for perfect cover as they stormed the building. The explosive itself caused decent damage, but less than the sound or smoke would have indicated. Likely caught a couple in the blast, but mostly just helped in having everyone look away as the biotic front liners smashed through their rickety defenses. They cleared the bar in moments, nobody even managing to get past their barriers.
Walking to the back rooms of the bar they encountered a few casual workers Wrex was ready to put down as well. To his mild disappointment Shepard simply encouraged them to seek a new line of work, and the two guards decided to cut their losses and leave. It would have been easier to just shoot them, but he supposed he couldn’t expect a bunch of humans to be the best at this side of things.
Fist was secured in the room past this, and had two large turrets set up to defend his position behind the desk at the back of the room. It was the first time Wrex had felt ammunition actually scratch his armor, but that was all it did. Scratch some red paint. The turrets were designed to defend against a potential C-Sec push. Unfortunately for Fist, Shepard and Wrex were built just a little more durable than those pansy ass cops. The machines were smashed into sparking messes in no time at all.
Despite his name and reputation, Fist surrendered quickly once his defenses were destroyed. He was quick to resort to groveling, begging for mercy and promising to tell the group whatever he knew. Wrex held off on killing the man right away, let him divulge the information the Commander was searching for. However the more he spoke, the angrier the Commander was getting. Fist showed zero regard for the lives of his men, or care for the life he put in danger selling out this Quarian to Sarin. Eventually there was a moment where Fist turned, begged to be let go. The commander merely turned to leave, giving Wrex a nod and telling him all he wanted to hear.
“Do it.”
Wrex did the job he was hired to do, but would be lying if he said he wanted to simply go home and collect his pay now. This fight was one of the most interesting battles he got to experience in years, and he wasn’t calling it quits early. Besides, it sounded like that Quarian was gonna be in a fight too, so rescue was the name of the game.
It wasn’t easy, on their way out of the bar there was heavy resistance, they got a message from the other half of Shepard's team, they were on route and would be there shortly to provide back. To Wrex’s personal delight however, Shepard ordered them to meet the Quarian instead, as that mission was a priority. Wrex was just happy no one was interrupting their fight.
They blasted their way out of the bar, its defensible position working to their advantage on the way out, as it was clear none of the reinforcements Fist must have called were actually prepared to be fighting like this. They moved quickly, trying to cover ground to the meeting point that they had been informed about, and arrived just as the fighting was getting good.
One of Shepard's men was injured, a rather weak and spindly looking man compared to the rest of her unit, but someone Shepard clearly cared for as her roar of anger could rival a Krogan battle cry. In a display of biotics that almost left Wrex stunned, key word being almost he was far too experienced to be startled mid battle, Shepard ripped away a chunk of ceiling to protect her comrade from enemy fire.
Wrex took the opportunity as a distraction to raise hell and quickly smashed his way through said barricade, surprising the enemy on the other side. The metal ceiling crumpled like tissue paper under the biotically enhanced mass of the Krogan Battle Master, and the enemies behind suffered the same fate. He didn’t even notice until the battle ended that Shepard had followed him through the opening he had made, carving up her own little slice of hell. He just gave her a grin and complemented her fighting style.
Wrex thought the fun of his day was over there. They secured the Quarian, patched up the injured soldier, whose name was apparently Jenkins and moved on with their day. They went their separate ways as Wrex contacted the Shadow Broker that the job was done. With credits flowing freely into his account once more Wrex should have gotten a ship and moved on in search of more work. It was what any good Krogan mercenary would do.
But Wrex kept replaying the battles of the day through his head, how exciting, liberating it was to fight alongside allies who didn’t slow him down or try to use him as a weapon. It was thrilling, it was fun, and most importantly it felt good. It was one of the few times in a mission Wrex could truly say everyone who died deserved it. He wanted to chase that feeling, and he could tell from fighting alongside Shepard she wasn’t done. She would continue hunting down Saren, and he decided he wanted in.
He couldn’t just come out and say that though, no that would ruin his reputation as a mercenary, as the Urdnot Wrex. Instead he would come up with a believable lie. The Shadow Broker wants the job completed, Saren needs to be made an example of. Yes, that would definitely work. Waiting to tell Shepard this story, and hopefully earn a spot on her mission he actually ran into Jenkins again.
At first he just assumed he was another one of those pansy engineers. Like the Salarians Wrex hated on principle. He spoke in a similar way, asking all these questions about his race and their abilities. He had clearly heard of the name Urdnot Wrex before, but that was unsurprising, he had a hell of a reputation. No, what surprised him was that the man showed no fear. He behaved as though a child had been handed his first shotgun. Interest and fascination with none of the fear or caution that should follow someone with more experience. He answered his question, mostly because he found the fascination entertaining, but wrote the man off as uninteresting overall.
When Shepard accepted him to the crew and invited him to join in on the hearing Wrex was prepared to write the rest of the day off as uninteresting. He was pleasantly surprised to find his assessment of both the blonde man and the day to be wrong.
He showed no fear or hesitation towards anything. Directly speaking out against the Council time and time again, willing to even imply insults directly to their face. He chalked it up to sheer foolishness, or recklessness. Certain young Krogan would behave this way, believing themselves invincible as they don’t know any better. When he punched his own Ambassador Wrex was certain this was the case. He was entertaining, and certainly far more enjoyable to be around then Wrex expected, but overall just a reckless fool. He wouldn’t be reliable.
When Shepard was made a Spectre however, that assessment changed. Wrex felt a tingle in the back of his spine, the same that appears whenever he gets excited about a dangerous enemy or good fight. This Jenkins man acted as though he knew all of this would happen. Played the scenario to get what he wanted and steered the conversation how he wanted it to go, without actually risking any of the consequences. If that was the case, then he was far more interesting, and possibly more dangerous then Wrex had initially guessed.
Were his earlier questions truly fascinations, or was he probing for weaknesses in Wrex’s combat abilities. Wrex openly shared information not worrying about the small man at the time. Now he was beginning to regret that carefree attitude. He would keep an eye on this Jenkins. He seemed to be an ally, on Shepard's side. But Wrex knew from the Salarians that those that focused on calculating values, summarizing risk and swaying battlefields often had their own sides. He wondered what Jenkins’ side was.
Only time would tell, and as Wrex followed Shepard through the Citadel, preparing for the journeys ahead, he wondered if he had perhaps gotten a little ahead of himself in rushing into this fight.