Chapter 4 – Brain Damage

Arcturus Station, Arcturus System, 2178 C.E.

Major Bonaventure sat in her office, watching the young man before her shake uncontrollably. She didn’t want to see him like this; tears slowly dripping out from between his fingers. Viktor made no sounds as he cried; head buried hard in the palms of his hands. The Major knew all too well the grim reality of war and made it a point to tell the young soldiers under her command this, reminding them that it was not all romanticism and glamour. However, it was moments like these that made her heartsick, reminding her that under the façade of being a soldier... they were all human.

The Alliance Military was still in a collective shock as well. Although they was won Torfan and drove the batarians away from the Skyllian Verge, it was a victory they felt wasn’t truly earned. In seeking revenge for Elysium, they sacrificed far too many innocent soldiers, driven by a soldier who let blind prejudice get the better of him; all at the expense of his men. For Bonaventure, she felt that Ludovico’s suicide was the worst that came out of this, for he would never pay the proper price for his actions.

Yet now was not the time to stew on what could –and should- have been.

She stood up from her chair and walked over to Viktor, pulling up another chair beside him. When it seemed like he had calmed down, he only started back up again. He then took a very large sniff, coughing for a brief second afterwards. When his eyes met Bonaventure, she saw that his were puffy and a sickly shade of reddish-pink; the only hint of color being his brown irises. His cheeks, tear-stained, were red as well and his hair a complete mess.

“Viktor,” she said. She rarely called anyone by their first names, yet this was a special circumstance. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

It was a futile question, she knew. Even still, she decided that having him know she was listening and cared was better than not showing any compassion at all.

“B-b-b-bring back Ana,” he said, his voice wavering again. “But I k-n-n-n-now you cannot do such a thing…”

With that, Viktor broke into another round of sobbing.

“I know this is incredibly hard on you,” she began. “As it is for all of us today here at the station.”

Bonaventure took in a deep sigh, patting the young man on his back.

“I am sorry for your loss, Viktor, truly I Am.” she said.

For a brief moment, Viktor stopped his tears and sat up. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a bright blue handkerchief and stared at it. The Major was curious as to what this was, but said nothing out of respect. He clutched it tightly in his fist, staring off into space with his sore, red eyes. It was now he remembered that he made a promise. It was one that, for better or for worse, he had to keep.

“I must go home,” he said quietly. “And tell mother and father.”

“We actually have some of our men going to the homes of the deceased,” Bonaventure pointed out. “I don’t think there’d be any need for you…”

“I MUST go home,” he sniffed. “I made promise to Ana before she go to Torfan. Mother and father will know what happened if I go home.”

He fell back into his chair and began to cry once more.

For the first time in his entire life, Viktor was now dreading going home.

Arcturus Station, Arcturus System, 2184 C.E. (Present Day)

As the Normandy docked in the hangar, Admiral Hackett and General Bonaventure stood on the observation deck, waiting for Shepard and her crew to emerge from the vessel. Hackett could sense uneasiness in Bonaventure, knowing very well she had a vested interest in the mission at hand. He knew that she blamed herself for not being able to help the ex-Major Kyle, despite the fact that many of her superiors tried to convince her she wasn’t to blame. But this was not the time to think of such things, Hackett decided.

“Greetings, Commander Shepard,” Hackett approached the dock. “Good to see you arrived sooner than expected.”

Shepard and Viktor saluted the Admiral, while Garrus stood back a bit and did nothing. Not that this bothered the Alliance in the slightest, as they were aware of the fact that the turian was not bound to Alliance protocol. It was often a running joke at Arcturus that, considering he’d been on the Normandy for a little over a year, they may as well make him an honorary member.

“Greetings, Admiral,” Shepard nodded. “It’s been a long time since I’ve last set foot in here.”

“It has, hasn’t it?” Hackett said dryly. “Shepard, I appreciate you lending us one of your men.”

“It is the least I can do,” Viktor bowed. “For Ana and for Alliance.”

Hackett nodded to Bonaventure, who then took the young serviceman away from the dock and headed into a nearby building. Shepard watched as the door closed behind them, before she turned back to look at the Admiral.

“So what exactly is the plan, Admiral?” She asked.

“As I mentioned to you before your arrival, we’re sending Viktor and two negotiators to see if they can reason with Kyle and have him dissolve his cult,” Hackett explained. “It’s bad enough we’ve got mentally unstable biotic terrorists out there, but a whole commune of them spells danger.”

“Why not have I go and negotiate, sir?” Shepard then asked. “I’m a Spectre, after all. Surely that would carry some weight with him.”

The admiral rubbed the bridge of his nose, which he was prone to do when agitated.

“Kyle never liked the Spectres,” he said. “He thought they were a bunch of ‘lawless interlopers’. Even though you’re a human Spectre, I don’t think he’d be willing to listen to you. This issue is also between the military and him. You may have saved Elysium, but you weren’t there at Torfan either,” Hackett took another look at the Spectre. “Besides, the last time you attempted a negotiation, it ended rather poorly.”

Having sat on the sidelines long enough the entire time they were there, Garrus finally spoke up.

“With all due respect Admiral, it wasn’t completely the Commander’s fault,” he pointed out. “Even if she were to have reasoned with Darius successfully, he probably would have tried to kill her and the others anyways.”

“Garrus…” Shepard hissed under her breath.

There was a brief, if uncomfortable silence between the three. At that moment, Shepard felt like she wanted to crawl into a hole and stay there. Hackett, however, considered Garrus’ words with thoughtful consideration. He also mused on the fact that with Darius dead, the region was free for the Alliance to mine Element Zero without anyone getting in the way or any red tape to go through. That was quite a side ‘benefit’, indeed.

“You do make a good point, Vakarian,” the admiral said. “Regardless of the circumstances, I’d rather let the Alliance sort this mess out first,” he looked at his omni-tool. “If we need your assistance, then we’ll contact you, Shepard.”

Shepard and Garrus watched as Hackett walked away, quickly surrounded by several other Rear Admirals and Generals until he was out of sight. The pair looked at each other, an overwhelming sense of dread lingering in the air. The spectre didn’t like this at all, let alone having one of her men being put in an extremely high risk situation. Something about this just didn’t feel right at all.

They said nothing as they entered the Normandy, greeted by Pressely, who had overheard most of the conversation while he was chatting away with an old friend on the docks. As Garrus headed back down to maintenance, Shepard approached Joker in the cabin; leaning over the back of his chair in a very sullen manner.

“Do I even want to know?” Joker asked.

“Army politics hurt my head more than regular politics,” she mumbled. “Patch me through to Liara in the comm. room. I’ve got some serious apologizing I need to do.”

Citadel, Serpent Nebula, 2184 C.E. (Present Day)

“So what you are telling me is that there was truth to the mailing?” Liara attempted to wrap her brain around what Shepard had just told her. “That it is really a front for a biotic cult run by a mentally unstable ex-Alliance officer?”

“For the most part,” said Shepard. “Other than that, I honestly don’t know that much about it. Nobody does, really. That’s why the Alliance sent a couple negotiators to speak with the man running it,” her holographic figure folded her arms across her chest. “Not that this concerns you in the long run, but I figured since you originally brought this to my attention, you ought to know.”

Liara was surprised that Shepard had deemed necessary to keep her informed of such matters. Usually the Alliance in general was fairly hush-hush when it came to discussing matters with other species. Or maybe it was because she’d become a valuble member of the spectre’s crew, she couldn’t quite tell.

“I appreciate that, Shepard, thank you,” Liara bowed slightly. “Are you still planning on coming over here at some point soon?”

She could see Shepard biting her lower lip. It was a small habit that was the commander’s way of showing that she was about to say something rather unpleasant.

“Not for a while yet,” said Shepard. “As part of our detour to Arcturus Station, I had to hand Zoran over to the Alliance for a special mission. Garrus and I are staying here on Arcturus for the next couple days until we hear something from them.”

“What?!” Liara gasped. “Why?”

The holographic Shepard shrugged her shoulders.

“Damned if I know the whole story behind it,” she said with a hint of frustration. “All I know is that his dead sister had ties to the guy running the place. I have an incredibly bad feeling about this whole thing. My gut instinct is telling me that they don’t know what they’re getting themselves into.”

“Can’t you use your Spectre status to go there and help?” Liara was beginning to sound quite worried.

“Believe me, I tried. Less said about that attempt the better,” Shepard groaned. “Whatever happens, I’m sure he’ll be okay, if that’s what you’re wondering,” she couldn’t see the faint blush on Liara’s cheeks. “Just stay where you are and I’ll keep you posted.”

After a few more additional words, Shepard closed the link from her end. Liara, on the other hand, stood there with her hands to her face. Everything seemed to come to a grinding halt around her, anxiety creeping into the back of her head like a parasite. Was she responsible for this, she wondered to herself, or was it just a cruel coincidence from Athame?

Although she attempted to resume work on indexing a few prothean artifacts that had been lying on her desk for some time, Liara found she couldn’t stay focused on research at all. Normally research was her means of escape from such matters and feelings, but this time it wasn’t. And that scared her greatly. Gazing at the worn toy before her, the asari’s eyebrows furrowed; her lips contorted into a frown.

She rose from her chair, leaning over the workbench and staring out the window. There was a look of determination, one the likes even she had never seen on herself before.

Liara then vowed to herself that some way, somehow, she’d make it to Arcturus.