Ante Up Chapter 25: Blackwatch

The Blackwatch squads arrived when only two hours of open space lay between the Normandy and the Citadel. The turian vessel was compact enough that it easily hugged up to the Normandy while Joker slowed the engines enough for them to dock. Once the airlocks were connected, five soldiers from the main squad boarded while the rest stayed behind. Then, the turian ship pulled free of the Normandy and spiraled back into space, allowing Joker to return to optimal speed.

Shepard and Victus were both standing outside the cockpit to greet them. The men gave Victus a brisk claw salute, their battered, crimson armor gleaming as they moved. He nodded at them solemnly, then gestured towards Shepard. "Men, this is Commander Shepard. This is her ship, so I expect you to follow her orders as though they came directly from me."

"Yes, sir," the closest soldier replied. He stood taller than any turian Shepard had seen, and his cream-colored colony tattoo was so worn into his light tan plates that it was almost invisible. He extended a hand to Shepard. "Commander."

She took his hand quickly and they shared an awkward shake. The soldier apparently knew of human greetings but had never practiced it before. Shepard questioned, "Name and rank?"

"First Lieutenant Broccha," he replied roughly. "I'm currently the commanding officer of the Blackwatch operatives." He reclaimed his hand and turned back to Victus. "We're at your disposal, sir. Just tell us where you need us."

Victus chuckled. "You sound so thrilled."

Shepard quirked a brow, assuming there had been an exchange of subharmonics that she couldn't hear.

"Sorry," Broccha muttered, "but if I may speak off the record..." Victus nodded in approval. "I served under Fedorian for over twenty years. I knew him personally, would give my life for him. You, I know nothing of past the war stories that surround your name. Your life may not be worth the risk."

"It isn't," Victus scoffed. "Even I don't think my promotion was justified. I left most of my men on Menae. You think I want to be here while they're out there dying?" His undertones were erratic and Shepard could only hear fragments of the sounds when they hit audible peaks. "I'd trade places with any of them if I could."

Broccha seemed satisfied by the admission, his mandibles arching in a turian smirk. "Fair enough. Where do you want us, for the time being?"

Victus shrugged. "My men are in the hangar now. However, you may want to stop by the crew deck first. Several of Shepard's men are... anxious to meet you."

Broccha cut his eyes suspiciously but didn't question. "Crew deck?"

"Third level," Shepard offered, smiling.

_______________________________


The crew deck was bustling with Alliance soldiers and scattered aliens. Liara was at a table in the mess, reading a datapad and sipping coffee that had been loaded down with creamer to mask the awful brew. Garrus sat opposite her, installing mods on a pistol he'd snuck from Shepard's collection. Beside him, Tacita was questioning his work.

"Why would you reinforce the casing there?" she muttered.

"Because when she's out of thermal clips, she uses the damn gun as a bludgeoning weapon," Garrus replied tersely, methodically screwing a plate onto the muzzle of the pistol.

"Crude," Tacita said absently.

"Yes, but this way she won't damage the gun when she cracks a skull open with it." He picked up another piece and began attaching it to the plating. "And this... will really pack a punch if she has to use it."

"A stunner?" Tacita said, leaning in to inspect the piece.

"That's right," Garrus said pleasantly.

"I hope she won't be angry that you've modified her gun," Liara said offhandedly, not even bothering to look up from the datapad.

"She won't," Garrus snapped. "If she didn't have me around, her weapons would all be factory-fresh, useless hunks of metal."

"But aren't you just making her weapon more bulky?" Liara said, raising her clear blue eyes at him.

"I'm removing older mods before I put on new ones," Garrus defended. He slid a high caliber barrel across the table to her. "See? Took this off."

Liara plucked it up with her fingers. "Doesn't she need this?"

"Not as long as I'm there dishing out concussive fire," Garrus said smugly.

"Are you crippling her gun to make yourself more valuable?" Liara accused lightly.

"Seriously, Liara," Garrus retorted, half-offended, "when has Shepard ever not brought me along? I'm already the most valuable man she's got. I don't need any extra advantages."

"And your value has nothing to do with certain off-the-record factors..." Liara said quietly, grinning.

"As a matter of fact, it doesn't," Garrus insisted. "I'd like to see you hit a running target a thousand or so meters away, T'soni. That's the kind of skill that earns you a permanent place at Shepard's six."

"Oh, I seem to recall Shepard bringing someone else along all the time because her skills were exceptional," Liara said, holding out a hand as though she were examining her nails and flaring her biotics around it.

"Right," Garrus agreed. "She did bring Tali along most of the time. Damn good hacker, that one."

Tacita sang out a laugh and Liara frowned, throwing the high caliber barrel back at Garrus. "You're an ass sometimes."

"I try," Garrus said, turning the pistol to review the changes. His inspection was distracted by Sol's voice coming from the crew quarters.

"Just shut up and get some ice." Her words were followed by the brisk hissing of the doors shutting.

"I'm going to," another voice, Cami's this time, replied.

In his peripheral, Garrus saw the blur of Cami's black plates as she trudged into the mess, holding her forehead in her hand. She detoured to the med bay and began talking with Chakwas. Sol came in after and nuzzled her mother's shoulder as she joined them at the table.

"What's wrong with her?" Garrus asked as he returned his attention to the pistol.

"Says her head hurts," Sol replied. "She's convinced she has a concussion or some nonsense."

"Not nonsense!" Cami snapped as she exited the med bay with a frosty blue ice pack against her right eye. "In case you forgot, I got my head smashed into a crate this morning." She shifted the pack, pressing it more forcefully against her eye as she, too, took a seat. "I swear I feel the tissue swelling under my plates." She leaned back in her chair with a pleased sigh.

"Fringeless," Sol teased, a turian insult akin to "big baby."

"Am not," Cami snapped.

Sol laughed and pointed at Shepard's pistol. "What's all this?"

"New mods we had lying around," Garrus said.

Sol perked up. "Can you put some on mine, too?"

"Sure. Go get your gun," Garrus muttered, distracted by a screw that wasn't quite tight enough.

With a happy trill, Sol jumped up and sprinted around the wall to the crew quarters. Her disappearance was followed by the sound of the elevator sliding open and a shrill, excited squeak. Everyone in hearing range turned toward the sound as Sol began chattering on the other side of the wall. "They didn't tell us you were here yet! When did you arrive?"

She returned, backing into the mess as she spoke. Armored feet clacked against the floor as the Blackwatch operatives followed her. Broccha was the first to appear, a huge grin plastered across his face. "We just got here. Spirits, Solana, you aren't a kid anymore."

Behind him, another man with gray plates and black tattoos jeered, "You're an old man, Broccha."

"Yeah, yeah," he replied. "Sol, once all this fighting's done, why don't I introduce you to my son?"

"Absolutely not," Tacita chirped from the table. Broccha blinked with a startled click, locking eyes with his former commanding officer. She joked, "We've been over this before. I don't want your blood dirtying up mine."

"You... Tacita!" he gasped, rushing forward as she stood. He met her and gripped her arm tightly, pressing the side of his face to hers. The other soldiers were similarly shocked as they rounded the wall and all formed a circle around Tacita, chirping excitedly. Broccha drew back from her and asked, "What are you doing here? I thought you'd been hospitalized."

She was making her way around to the other four soldiers, greeting them as she had Broccha. "The Normandy's doctor is overseeing my treatment."

"But why here, a human vessel?" Broccha questioned.

Garrus gave a slight wave from where he sat. "Shepard is my commanding officer, so this is where I'm stationed. Then, Sol and Dad ended up here, so she tagged along."

Broccha quirked a brow. "And I was surprised by how much your sister had grown... Look at you, boy! You look exactly like your old man!" Garrus rose as Broccha laughed grabbed his shoulder. "Hell, the primarch said we needed to stop and say hello, but he didn't say you were all here."

"Sol," Tacita said softly. "Go get your father, would you?" Sol nodded and dashed to the observation deck where her father was resting. Once Sol escaped from sight, Tacita turned back to Broccha. "Well, then... tell me what's been going on out there. I want to hear everything."

_________________________

Shepard checked in at her terminal, as she prepared a mental checklist of things she needed to do on the Citadel. They would be there for two days, just enough time to refuel and stock up on supplies before heading for the war summit rendezvous point.

Garrus was planning on searching the refugee camps for his late squadmate's daughter. Shepard decided that would be as good a time as any to get Aria's business out of the way. No need in forcing Garrus to meet with the Omega gangs. New leadership or not, there was still a bounty on Archangel's head, and some of the higher ranking mercs might recognize him.

Scanning over her messages, Shepard found something from Ashley, who was apparently well enough for rehabilitative exercises, according to the e-mail. There was also a message from Thane, a request to meet at Huerta Memorial, and...

"I'll be damned," Shepard spat as she hovered over an e-mail from Miranda, of all people. Her message was short, beginning with an apology and ending with a plea to meet privately in the docking bay.

Shepard's to-do list was getting ridiculous. On top of meeting with her old squadmates, she had to sort out Aria's mess and try to locate people from Liara's dossiers. She sighed, knowing the next two days would be a pain in the ass. Before she could exit the terminal, a new message popped up.

A live chat request from Jack.

Shepard quickly accepted the invite, grinning as Jack's face appeared in a window on the screen. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail and several strands fell loose to frame her tired eyes.

[You hear me okay on that end?] Jack asked, tapping off-screen at a microphone.

"I hear you," Shepard said.

[Good. Didn't you get my message?]

She meant the message she'd sent saying she'd arrived at Grissom. Shepard nodded. "Sorry I didn't respond. There's a lot going on right now."

[In over your head yet?] Jack laughed.

"When am I not?" Shepard groaned. "How about you? Sick of being a responsible adult yet?"

[Yes,] she deadpanned. She lowered her voice, glancing nervously to the side [Sanders makes me mop the whole goddamn mess hall every time I say fuck. Says I shouldn't expose the kids to foul language.]

"Bet you could eat off those floors," Shepard said with a laugh.

[Fuck you,] Jack grumbled. [Where are you guys?]

"Headed for the Citadel," Shepard replied. "We're docking in a couple of hours."

[Oh yeah?] Jack quirked a brow, studying Shepard. She laughed and pointed to her eye. [Nice face, by the way.]

Shepard mimicked the motion, covering her black eye with one hand. "Yeah... funny story actually." She glanced around, making sure no one was close enough to hear her. Traynor was at her station, but seemed engrossed in something on her own screen, and no one else was within hearing range. She lowered her voice, just to be safe. "Do you remember that, ah, joke I sometimes bring up to embarrass Garrus?"

[Heat sinks?] Jack snickered.

"No, the other one," Shepard sighed, trying her best not to grin.

Jack deepened her voice, giving her impression of Garrus. [By the way, your waist is looking really supportive today.]

Shepard choked on a laugh. Traynor glanced over, a questioning look on her face. Shepard returned a nervous smile, quietly urging her not to ask. "I need to stop telling you things, Jack."

[Nah, he just needs to stop sayin' stupid shit,] Jack said.

"I was talking about the reach and flexibility conversation," Shepard said quickly.

[Oh, right! I forgot about that one!]

"Yeah, well, she's on the ship," Shepard muttered.

[She who?] Jack froze as soon as she asked, and the biggest shit-eating grin crossed her face. [Miss Flexibility is there?]

"Yes," Shepard said bluntly. "And she's the one who gave me this." She gestured at her eye.

[You fuckin' kidding?] Jack jeered. [Hope you won, at least.]

"Oh, I did," Shepard said smugly.

[Good. Who the fuck's she think she is?]

"Well, actually, I challenged..." Shepard paused.

Jack's attention had turned to something off-screen. She snarled and surged up from her chair, filling the screen with a cut-off shot of her stomach. She began yelling to someone on her end. [No one can even hear me! What? No! I'm not mopping the fucking floor again, Sanders! You...] Jack ducked down into view again, looking frazzled. [Shep, we'll talk later. I gotta go.]

"Say hi to the mop for me."

[Oh, fuck you sideways, Shepard.]

Shepard grinned. "Later, Jack."

_________________________

Once they had docked at the Citadel, everyone seemed to drift off on their own, each crewmember having business to attend to. Victus had wrangled in a few of the Blackwatch operatives to escort him to the Council chambers. His plan was to try to persuade Tevos, one final time, to send a request to Thessia for asari presence at the War Summit. Shepard felt that the meeting wouldn't be very productive, but bid Victus goodbye and good luck anyway.

Tacita and Aetius had disappeared the moment the doors opened. Presumably, they were going to speak with Pallin and would, no doubt, meet up with Garrus and Sol sometime before departure. Most of the other crew were out shortly after them. Vega, with many of the men aboard, including Joker, Cortez, and Ken, went to plant themselves inside Purgatory. Traynor, accompanied by Gabby, Liara, and EDI's new body, set out to pick up supplies. Sol had exited quietly, an overnight bag gripped in her claws-going to see Chellick, no doubt.

That left Shepard, Garrus, and Cami standing awkwardly in the CIC, alone save for a few stragglers who had yet to leave. Shepard keyed a checklist into her Omni-tool, feeling a little overwhelmed by the tasks she had to try to accomplish in so little time.

Garrus had imported a map of the camps and had highlighted areas that were most readily accessible, hoping that Mierin's daughter would be in one of the places. Cami, who had been sitting atop one of the consoles, slid down and chirped, "I'm following you to the camps, I think." When Garrus quirked a browplate at her, she continued, "Sol's going to be busy. Gotta find something to keep me occupied."

Shepard suppressed the pang of suspicion that threatened to rise up. We've worked this out. It's nothing. It's nothing...

Garrus muttered, "I have things to do, Cami. I don't have time to babysit."

She crossed her arms haughtily. "I just need to know how to get there. Figured tagging along with you was the easiest way. Gonna hit up the directory."

"Oh," Garrus said. "You're looking for someone."

Shepard turned as Cami spoke again. "My mother. I haven't heard from her since I left for Menae. Don't know if she's still planetside or not."

"Sorry," Garrus mumbled. His subharmonics were an audible frequency and caused a static hiss over Shepard's translator. She wondered if he was saying something sympathetic. "I can get you where you need to go as long as you can get back."

"Think it'll take a while to find the girl?" Shepard asked.

"Maybe," Garrus replied. "There are a few obvious places where see may go. I'll have to check in at all of them."

"I'd start with any area that is more asari-friendly," Cami offered.

"Actually," Garrus said, "her father was batarian. I'd expect her to find shelter among them."

"Batarian?" Shepard echoed.

"Yeah, a merchant. He ran a parts shop on Omega," Garrus explained. "Met him a few times myself. Reasonable guy. You probably would've liked him."

"It's a shame," Shepard muttered, scuffing the floor with her boot. "Omega was a shitty place, but Aria managed to keep it alive. Cerberus will wipe out everyone they can if something doesn't change soon."

"Maybe after all the Reaper business is over, I'll pull out the old Archangel gear and go knocking on their door," Garrus laughed.

"I scrapped that armor," Shepard said smugly.

"Heartless," Garrus replied, feigning shock. He adjusted his gun on the back of his armor and made his way to the airlock. "I'll have my comms open if you need me."

"Right," Shepard called back as Cami followed him out. "Oh, and one last thing!" Garrus craned his head back to listen. "If you have a chance, ask around about that Minkab guy."

"The batarian from Liara's dossiers?" Garrus asked.

"Yeah," Shepard confirmed. "He's somewhere on the Citadel. See if you can get any leads in the camps."

"Right," Garrus groaned. "Because asking around for a terrorist will look really good."

"We don't know that he's a terrorist," Shepard hissed.

"An explosives expert with his hands in the slave trade?" Garrus said incredulously. "What part of that says upright citizen to you?"

"Never said he wasn't a scumbag," Shepard muttered. "Just keep an ear open, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," Garrus called back as he disappeared into the airlock. Cami waved goodbye and slipped out, too.

Shepard sighed and followed, readying her list.