[video] the road that ended

[sassguard]

[ For those familiar with his face, Shepard seems ... younger, somehow. Not by much, but there are fewer lines creasing his forehead and the corners of his eyes. His posture's slightly different, too, shoulders squared and spine straight even as he almost hums with alertness. ]

I'm Commander Shepard. I've been told I've been here before, but apparently I'm missing a few things. I don't recognize most of the faces on this network.

[ His voice is scratchy, hoarse from use -- or lack of it? He's had the time to go through his communicator record -- lucky it wasn't locked -- and what he's seen has mostly added to his growing confusion. Although he conceals it well, the frustration with the inability to understand what's happening grates on him. ]

Am I the only one having issues with memory loss? Is this something that happens a lot here?

Comments

[sassguard]

[ For being only a few years ago, it feels like everyone was a lot younger aboard the Normandy ... ]

Fine, for being off a ship. [ He frowns, leaning in towards the communicator, like it'll help him see better. ]

... What happened to your face?

[calibrating]

[Garrus thumbs the scar that stretches down from his face all the way down to his neck. Or, as he liked to call it, the mark of a badass. His scar. Not his neck. Everybody has necks.]

Eh, I got bored with getting all the attention.

I thought it'd give you a chance, but, in a cruel twist of irony, it just made me even more attractive.

[sassguard]

Wow. You must have a hard time keeping people from breaking down your door.

[ He smirks, but the expression fades quickly, replaced by curiosity and a touch of concern. ]

Looks like you've been busy since the last time I remember seeing you.

[calibrating]

A bit, yeah.

[He says that with a sigh. 'Busy' has been a loaded term for the past couple of years.]

So when was the last time you remember seeing me?

[sassguard]

The last time I saw you, you said you were heading back to C-Sec.

[ To try and make a difference. He wonders how that went for him. ]

[calibrating]

Well... Uh...

[He scratches at the bridge of his nose, right where it meets his forehead plates.]

I headed back to C-Sec, and then I headed, uh, out of C-Sec.

Forcefully.

[sassguard]

[ Shepard winces, sympathetically. ]

Long story?

[calibrating]

Yeah, but I can make it pretty short.

C-Sec wanted to do things their way, didn't take what you did for the Citadel to heart, and I wasn't exactly a fan of that.

So I struck out on my own. Pissed off my dad real good in the process, but that's fixed now.

...

Mostly.

[sassguard]

[ Shepard exhale. ]

Damn. You didn't get your face rearranged by your old man, did you?

[calibrating]

What? No! Spirits, no.

Dad was pissed, but he'd never blow half my damn face off.

That was thanks to the Blue Suns.

And a rocket.

[sassguard]

Oh, mercenaries. That's more like it.

[calibrating]

Glad you think so.

To add to it, it wasn't just the Blue Suns. The Eclipse and Blood Pack got in on the fun, too.

[sassguard]

What, all at the same time?

[ He's grinning, though, despite himself. There's obviously a story there. ]

[calibrating]

Yup.

Started a group on Omega to try and clean the place up a bit, built up a name for myself, used it to strike fear and terror into the hearts of my enemies, all that good stuff.

Things, well, things went south, but we did some good work. Didn't change Omega overall, but we saved a few good people and disrupted some of the local mercenary work.

[He sounded proud before, but his voice grows a little more somber as he thinks about the group further.]

Not sure if it was worth writing all those letters to their families, but my men were top-notch at what they did.

[sassguard]

[ Shepard shakes his head slightly, expression incredulous -- but Garrus doesn't seem the type to exaggerate about this kind of thing. He doesn't miss the shift in mood, though, and he nods, acknowledging the loss. ]

Sometimes things don't work out the way we think they will. Doesn't mean it wasn't worth doing. [ He offers a crooked grin. ] Besides, it's not just anyone who can ask a group of people to give a bunch of mercs a really bad day. You must've been a hell of a leader.

[calibrating]

Yeah, well...

[He trails off. Shepard's not wrong, and Garrus can't even say he's being an asshole about it, because he's not. Quite the contrary, in fact.]

[He's not sure if that's better or worse.]

[It's been years since Archangel went belly up. He shouldn't be feeling it, still. Turian values and all that. Then again, said values placed the entire catastrophe squarely on Garrus' soldier shoulders and, despite his issues with blending in with his culture, it's an ideology with which he can firmly agree.]

[Sucks, but hey, so does being tossed into an unmarked grave because your leader couldn't get his head out of his ass long enough to not get you killed.]

[Thankfully, Shepard's optimism, a missed trait that the Reaper War managed to suck away, pulls a small flair from his mandibles.]

Thanks. I mean it.

[sassguard]

Anytime. It's not like I haven't made my share of mistakes.

[ He quirks a smile at the turian in return, encouraging the mood to lighten ... even if he's indirectly referencing letting the Ascension get blown up because he asked the fleet to focus on the Reaper. Hey, if you can't indulge in a little black humor now and then, a military career's going to drive you off the deep end with all the weight of those lives on you.

In some sense, maybe Garrus hasn't changed that much from what Shepard remembers ... he still carries that sense of responsibility under that dry sarcasm. Apparently, Shepard's missed a lot, but ... ]

So what are you doing now, when you're not getting your face blown off?

[calibrating]

Mostly vigilante work.

[It's become so commonplace for him now that he's unabashed when he brings it up.]

I mean, I have my civilian job to keep the government happy, but we both know where the real fun is that.