Book 3, Chapter 11 - Private Investigations
*****
"Energy signatures?" I asked.
"At least half a dozen capital ships, Commodore. Spread across Ilium orbit."
"Any near Nos Astra?"
"There are two... But there are at least two dozen friendly signatures, Commodore!"
"Read this, Shepard," Liara said, handing me a datapad. We were all by the cockpit, peering into the distance. We couldn't actually see a thing at this distance, but it made us feel better, more involved. Joker didn't mind, EDI liked the company. She'd had her body for a while but people were still a little weirded out from time to time.
Reading the report, it seemed the Illium Defence Force was more than holding its own against the Reapers. While Illium wasn't officially an asari colony world, the majority of the population was asari, so relief efforts and evacuations were already taking place. The volus, with turian assistance, were doing the same thing. As for Gianna, the last message said she was still in Nos Astra, doing what she could to help, but admitted she wasn't a soldier. That didn't mean she hadn't picked up a gun to fight though.
"Order, sir?" Vega asked over the comm.
"Your marines will secure the docking area. Liara, Garrus, Miranda and I will head into the city. Liara is returning to her old office to secure information, Miranda assisting and providing protection, just in case. Garrus and I will make for Gianna's office. If she's not there, we'll try her residence, but as soon as we're groundside, we'll try and establish communication. But just like Earth and Palaven, the Reapers have done a number on trying to contact the ground right now."
"If things get sketchy?" Joker asked, "I mean 'the ship might be attacked and blown up' sketchy?"
"You get the hell out of here and Cortez can try and extract us with the shuttle. But it looks like the Illium ships are keeping the Reapers at bay, so we head in silent, do what we need to do, then get the hell out of Dodge."
Ordering Joker to take us in, our group headed down to the armoury to get suited and booted, grabbing weapons, grenades, shield packs and anything else we might need. Garrus grabbed an assault rifle for once, figuring any fighting would be up close and personal. Liara and Miranda carried their standard SMG, though both would rely on biotics if push came to shove. Me? Shotgun, of course.
Entering the atmosphere and approaching Nos Astra, there were signs of fighting. Plenty of smoke billowing from where attacks had taken place. But there wasn't the endless destruction we'd seen on Earth and Palaven. We might have been silent, and the Reapers might have attempted to destroy all communication, but Nos Astra Traffic Control saw us coming. When they heard it was the
Normandy
, I think they believed it was a rescue mission. I had to give them the bad news that it wasn't, but we'd kill any Reaper monsters we came across. That satisfied them.
Once docked, we wasted no time equalising pressure so we could head out. Vega and his marines stepped off first, securing the docking area. He reported the area wasn't clear, but to his consternation, things looked somewhat normal. Following him outside, we looked over Nos Astra from our position and there were certainly plenty of crowds. Surprisingly, very little gunfire. We shared a glance, Vega shrugging at me.
"Liara, head straight for your office. Need anything from your apartment?"
"I would like..." She paused. "Do we have time?"
"Yes. Take anything you want, even if it's purely personal. We probably won't be back until after the war."
She smiled. "Sounds like we're going to win, Shepard?" I gave her a look that caused the smile to just light up her face. Times like that, I was reminded just how gorgeous she was, and I'd have that almost familiar pang of guilt, that I'd quickly shake off. "Come on, Miranda. No time like the present. See you back here, Shepard."
"Come on, Garrus. Gianna's office isn't that far away, but we'll need transport to her apartment."
Life might not have been exactly normal as we walked along but business still seemed to the most important aspect of life in Nos Astra. We asked more than one trader we walked by the situation, and they said that the economy had to keep functioning, but funds were being diverted where required, particularly when it came to the defence of Illium itself.
Gianna's office was only ten to fifteen minutes' walk from Liara's. I remembered other businesses had operated out of the same building, and many still seemed to be operating as normal. The lights were on behind her door, but it was locked. I knocked a couple of times, surprised when the door opened to be greeted by the friendly face of an asari.
"Shepard?" she asked in surprise.
"I'm afraid you have me at a loss, Miss..."
She smiled. "I'm Telavi. Miss Parasini took me on a few months back as an assistant. I recognise you from the pictures on her desk and on her wall."
"Ah. And where is Miss Parasini now?"
"At home. She received word of your arrival and figured our rather quickly while you're here."
"She's gone home to pack?" She nodded. "What will you do?"
"Oh, I'll be fine, Shepard. Illium is safe, and if things get worse, Thessia has promised to evacuate us. And if not, then I can whip out the old commando leathers and fight the bastards off."
"Surprised you're not inviting her now, Shepard," Garrus joked.
Telavi smiled again. "Miss Parasini will be ever so excited when you knock on her door, Shepard. I'll not let her know you've arrived here."
"Thanks, Telavi. Stay safe."
"You too, Shepard. Everyone is watching the news and those articles being written by those journalists you seem to work with. Giving all of us hope we can win this."
Jogging towards the nearest taxi rank, I remembered her address, the taxi getting us there rather quickly. I'll admit, I felt a little nervous when stepping onto the elevator and riding it up. I hadn't seen her in months. I still loved her to bits, assumed her feelings hadn't changed, but I couldn't really be sure until I'd seen her.
The doors opened and I walked towards her apartment door, glancing to see Garrus hanging well back. I nodded my appreciation as he leaned against the wall. Knocking on her door, I heard her footsteps approach before the door slowly opened. Our eyes met and the grin that formed...
We stepped forward at the same time as I hugged her tightly, feeling her arms wrap around and hug me tightly in return. "God, it's so good to see you," she whispered.
"Sorry it's been so long."
"Missed you like crazy but I knew you'd show up." She made sure the next thing we did was kiss. And it was one hell of a kiss, enough that I almost growled into her mouth. When we finally broke apart, she asked, "You've come to get me?"
"If you're prepared to leave."
"Go to the office?" I nodded. "Telavi will keep things in order until she either has to leave or things improve. But I've told her not to put her life in any danger. But I'm not a soldier, Shepard. I can't..."
"We'll figure something out. Kelly is with me now, and she's barely Alliance herself."
"Shiala?"
"Still on Feros. She is a soldier, but if things get bad, I'm going to get her too."
She kissed me again. Normally, I'd have kicked the door shut and led us towards the couch, or more than likely, the bedroom. But while time wasn't exactly of the essence, while no doubt we wanted to be intimate immediately, we both knew we'd have to wait just a little longer. She eventually broke the kiss again, noticing the colour in her cheeks, and definitely that look in her eyes I loved to see. She took my hand and led me towards the bedroom, showing me what she'd packed.
"Wasn't sure how much I could bring. Where will I sleep?"
"In our cabin."
"Our?"
"Well, it'll be you, me, Kelly. I don't sleep all that much, to be honest, so you'll probably spend more time sleeping beside Kelly."
"Kelly won't mind?"
"Kelly will love it, Gianna. And she'll love it even more when Shiala eventually joins us. Trust me, this will work between us."
"Good, because I've spent long enough without you in my life. I promised myself, the next time you showed up at my door, I wouldn't stay behind."
She had two bags. I made sure I picked up the heavier one as she took a last look around her apartment. Even I remembered it fondly as I'd spent quite a few night's there, and we had enjoyed sexual relations in every room possible. Our eyes met again and she giggled, causing me to chuckle, no doubt both of us thinking the same thing.
Joining Garrus outside, he offered to take the other bag as we made our return towards the ship. Messaging Liara, she was at her apartment but wrapping thing up there, stating she'd be back at the ship within half an hour. All I told her to do was not weigh herself down, but assured me she was only bringing a few mementoes that meant the world to her.
Vega and his marines were kicking back next to the ship. They all looked worried upon seeing me, noticing they relaxed when all I did was return their salutes. Letting Vega know Liara would only be a few minutes behind us, I told Joker to ready the ship for immediate departure once they were on board, leading Gianna down into the CIC.
Kelly almost screamed with delight upon seeing Gianna, the two women sharing a long embrace. They'd established quite a friendship; one I didn't quite expect. The two were still chatting away when Liara and Miranda appeared, the pair making sure they also hugged Gianna. I felt the ship start to move as Vega led his marines towards the elevator.
The five of us headed down to the lounge a few minutes later, making sure we all had a drink before we sat down, noticing that even Kelly sat apart as Gianna perched herself next to me. "So I'm obviously going to sleep somewhere else the first couple of nights," Kelly said.
