“this is not going to be fun”
I wonder how many times Garrus has had this thought cross his mind during his adventures with Shepard.
“a rush of cool, stale Omega air”
I wonder if one day, Garrus would return to Omega. I wish that in the Omega DLC in Mass Effect 3, it would be possible for Shepard to bring their companions along, and that if Garrus is one of them, that he would have a lot of dialogue, input and responses to Shepard’s actions and decisions.
What if Garrus, during his time as Archangel, decided to go after Aria himself and somehow succeeded?
In my opinion, if Garrus truly wanted to make a change in Omega, he should have aimed at the very top, not the middle, regardless of how much chaos and collateral damage such a decision would have led to.
“I am in horrible, unending agony, therefore I exist”
To be the one being stepped on, or the one doing the stepping. I know which I would choose for myself. If there are no heroes, you may as well be a villain than a victim.
“the way my life seems to go”
To be fair, Garrus, nobody forced you to join Shepard, nor to become a vigilante on Omega. Your choices are your own.
“That would be nice”
Learning that Shepard is alive must have made a tremendous impact on Garrus. He was ready to die in that building.
“That’s definitely bad”
He fought with Shepard, Tali, Wrex, Liara, Williams and Alenko on Therum, Feros, Noveria, Virmire, Ilos, and the Citadel.
“Pain, somehow even stronger than before”
I suspect that when he was brought aboard the Normandy SR2, Chakwas was astonished that he was somehow still breathing. Garrus goes through a LOT in this story.
“VAKARIAN!”
Now I’m imagining Sidonis showing up out of nowhere to help Garrus in either the war against the Collectors or the war against the Reapers.
“The sheer size of the gunfight that had to be going on was staggering”
If Aria is promising something to the people and/or elites of Omega, safety and security certainly isn’t it. Seriously, how the hell is she still in power? Maybe because the elites of Omega see her as a useful idiot. I need to re-read and review this story further to see if my stance on her would change over time. As it is now, I really do not find her to be all that impressive. She strikes me as more like a Don Eladio from Breaking Bad, not a Gustavo Fring.
“the sense of sleek menace”
I wonder what the Illusive Man thinks of the original Normandy. Why would he want a copy made, instead of a newly-designed ship for Shepard and his Cerberus operatives?
“a crossfire hurricane”
Everyone is shooting at everyone. Jesus.
“Someone panics, opens fire”
Even disciplined and trained mercs would be nervous and trigger-happy in a situation like this.
“Still, they’re mercs”
I don’t think Garrus would like Zaeed very much. Or maybe he would. I honestly don’t know.
“You can’t use mathematics to trump instinct”
As a Lieutenant -Commander, Shepard would likely be taught and trained in things like memorizing coordinates and code-words. I can see her relaying coordinates to Joker for not only a target area but also specific types of ammo and number of shots to be fired by the Normandy. As Joker is too far away to properly ‘see’ the target, Shepard’s coordinates must be precise. Her squad becomes nervous as they hunker down, hoping that the Normandy would not hit them by mistake.
As her squad comes under fire from an enemy gunship and is pinned down, Shepard orders Joker to attack it, even as Lieutenant Alenko warns her that bringing in the Normandy may cause the local authorities to become alarmed and to strongly respond.

‘Left side, hundred meters, take ‘em out! Heads down!’
- Sicario 2: Day of the Soldado (2018)

“Afterlife on even more drugs”
Garrus has been inside Afterlife.
“let’s take a f-king look, shall we?”
I absolutely love Sidonis in this story. He manages to be hilarious instead of annoying.
“becoming even more intense”
The idiots and amateurs are dying or fleeing, leaving behind the more skilled, clever and/or lucky.
“what could have been any emotion in the book, and he found himself wondering again what she looked like underneath it”
Had she survived, who knows how her relationship with Garrus could have developed, as well as with the other people who would later join Garrus and Sidonis.
“Ready? No”
Sidonis is going to steal this chapter too, isn’t he?
“then Sidonis is there on the other side”
Seriously, imagine if Sidonis had decided to help Shepard in ME2. Don’t know how Garrus would respond to that after everything that had happened between them.
“She looked up at him, then down at her side”
…no.
“not one built to any standard of design he recognised”
I can only imagine how Garrus would have reacted to meeting/encountering EDI aboard the Normandy SR2.
“I really, really hope they don’t”
I grinned evilly at this.
“he’d never seen any ship that felt more alien”
I wonder if he later compared it to the Collector ship.
“trying to work three separate control panels at once”
He IS a good driver. Is he also a good pilot?
“what your average volus was to professional basketball”
I’m currently reviewing Sudden Supremacy by A Very Thirsty Megalomaniac. I love that volus are excellent and brave fighter pilots, inflicting enormous casualties on zerg forces in the Great War.
“heard about them, but I thought it was vapourware”
I love this.
“every single time anybody ever created an AI ever”
I love that this is one of the main themes of the Mass Effect series.
“Shut. Up”
Sidonis has had a very long and stressful day.
“I’m afraid that is impossible, sir”
Garrus is under a lot of stress and pain at this point, so it is understandable that he did not quickly realize that Golf was lying to and deceiving him here.
“Double-cleared system, untraceable”
I wonder how many people correctly determined that Archangel is likely a former cop.
“This is the first f-king time I’ve flown this”
Now I’m imagining Sidonis and Garrus in the Collector Base, hurling obscenities at each other as they desperately try to advance and break through enemy defenses.
Then, Garrus risks his life to save Sidonis, angrily telling him that he does not get to sacrifice himself, and that his(Sidonis’) punishment is that he must carry on living.
“to the what?”
Have I mentioned that I love this story?
“the only place I know where they have execution in place of parking fines”
Christ, Omega really is a cesspit.
“I may have dropped out of flight school. Two weeks in”
Sidonis remains my favorite character for now in my review-journey.
“I miss Joker”
So do I. I wish he had a bigger role in the games.
“Nobody’s calibrated these guns in months!”
This made me laugh so hard.
“It never ends”
That bad, huh?
“just to keep some semblance of accuracy going”
(looks at ship-to-ship combat) I’m guessing that most shots miss.
“illegally modified”
Interesting.
“With guns like these, I’ll probably do better”
Ha!
“why everyone always resorts to sarcasm when they’re in danger”
Why do I suspect that this is a turian thing?
“they are pursuing us while fighting each other”
Gotta admire their determination and tenacity.
“You’re no better than any of them. You’re worse”
TNP, I will continue to hope that one day you would write your own version of Mass Effect 2 as a sequel to this story. I would love to see how you would write characters like Lawson, Krios, Solus, Okeer (yep, really wish he was a companion instead of being unceremoniously killed off), Tali, etc.
“She has full permission to use the shuttle”
Lie. Golf could have stopped Chirin but is letting this happen instead.
“you’re right, Garrus. A merc is a merc”
I wonder if Garrus ever spoke about Chirin to anyone aboard the Normandy SR2. (looks at Zaeed) Hm.
“You weren’t going to live with me either”
Sidonis never really spoke about his time with Chirin, did he?
“I never even saw her face”
I wonder if Garrus later attempted to learn about her background and history.

“This was the goal, to an extent”
Ha!
“What f-king visor, man?”
I laughed again.
“an old model of computer”
Garrus is more than just a fighter; he’s got technical, engineering and computational skills as well.
“Dive! F-k you!”
Goddammit, Sidonis is going to steal every single scene he is in, isn’t he?
“ramshackle krogan buckets”
The krogan really need to design and build better ships. Does Tuchanka even have the resources that are required to build and maintain spaceships?
“every encryption program he owned”
I’d love to read a story about Garrus’ time in C-Sec.
“I’m reading…zero percent power”
There are so many freaking times in this story where Garrus (and Sidonis) should have died by all accounts.
“we’ll work it out from there”
Garrus is a tactician, not a strategist.
“the traditional Omega idea of buying out”
I really need to buy and play Cyberpunk 2077 one day.
“you acquired that sort of skill quickly enough on the Citadel, C-Sec or not”
Interesting.
“a hanar Alcoholics Anonymous group”
…what?
“every one of them reeks of lies”
Knowing how to detect BS is a basic skill in investigation. Everybody Lies.
“that can match the latest Hierarchy secret projects”
Makes sense in hindsight that the main villain of this first story arc is a turian.
“This is a weapon designed to kill in cold blood”
(looks at the Genophage) Hm. To be fair, the Council may had run out of options to stop the advance of the krogan. My main problem/issue is how they handled the matter of the Genophage after the Krogan Rebellions.
“The universe is an a-hole”
I agree. Nobody is going to give you what you want, and sitting around waiting/hoping for fortune to come your way won’t work. You have to TAKE it.
“I don’t think I can actually land this thing any more”
Poor Sidonis. He goes through SO MUCH in this story. Honestly, maybe it wasn’t the murders of civilians but all the horror and trauma accumulated throughout this entire story that finally broke him.
“whatever you’re about to say will make me want to kill myself”
Imagine how Tali feels.
“Sidonis put on his helmet in answer”
I love Sidonis. This story should be made into a TV series.

“Pain defines us, in a way”
I love this chapter already.
“all I’m enjoying is the pain being different, less severe”
This is one hundred percent a noir monologue.
“The beating had started it and the missile fanned it”
I’d be amazing if Garrus ends up dying of old age.
“his seatbelt”
Seems that in Omega, much of the technology lags behind the rest of the galaxy.
“glistening a venomous blue”
Turian biology is fascinating to me.
“Thanks for the f-king tip!”
I love that Sidonis is the comic relief of this story.
“the entire remaining top of the car detached itself from the main body”
Interesting. I wonder how Sidonis and Chirin acquired this vehicle.
“That doesn’t even make sense”
Of course Garrus would critique other people’s insults.
“I like her”
So do I. You are cruel, TNP; you took Chirin away from this story too soon. Sidonis probably thinks of her often throughout this story, long after her death.
“pulled his rifle from around his feet”
Probably makes sense that Sidonis was so reluctant to hand over his weapon. It’s something that is drilled into many soldiers; never, ever lose your primary weapon.
“customised for Sidonis’s own armour”
You need to take into consideration both your armor and your weapon before selecting either.
“He concentrated, and the adrenalin began to race”
Garrus is an absolutely amazing shot. It’s like he was born to be a marksman. I wonder how many people feel that he was wasted as a cop and should have become a mercenary.
“always taught us to aim for the centre of mass. Headshots are for showoffs”
The turians do not mess around.
“Didn’t Shepard once tell me”
Garrus loves Shepard, doesn’t he? And I mean romantically. It seems that at this point he doesn’t even realize it…or does, but refuses to acknowledge it.
“you can tell a lot about the man from the gun he shoots”
Really? Interesting.
“Kaidan never really explained that simile”
I smiled at this. Garrus has fond memories of his time serving with Shepard. Also, seriously, as a Lieutenant, Kaidan Alenko should have had his own platoon. I suppose it was due to gameplay mechanics/restrictions.
“Maybe I should introduce him to Joker”
Sidonis being among the Normandy team. That would have been amazing.
“caught sight of it in his rear camera”
Sidonis is a good driver. Wonder where he got such skill. There actually is a lot about himself that he hasn’t revealed to Garrus or the others.
“Chirin said simply”
Seriously, TNP, I HATE you for killing her off so quickly. It’s your fault that Chirin is so likable.
“I always liked her”
No friends in this game, Sidonis.
“Whoever knew my inner b-tard would be so talkative?”
Ha!
“Sidonis said brightly”
Sidonis steals this chapter for me.
“Even Shepard didn’t stay that cool”
Nice. Dammit, now I want to learn about the events of ME1 in this story.
“they wouldn’t be able to keep this up”
Correct, and their pursuers know it.
“That sort of thing only works in”
This makes me wonder how many insane and crazy moves that Shepard and her team pulled off in ME1 that somehow miraculously worked.
“I never knew you could be so attracted to a voice”
Sidonis never had a chance, did he? Of course he fell for Chirin.
“Well, I guess there was Tali”
Huh. Are there any fanfics in which Shepard, Tali and Garrus end up in a love triangle?
“remnants of whatever cycles of construction and decay had gone before”
How did Omega come to exist in the first place? Who decided to build a gigantic station on an asteroid?
“money was hard to come by on Omega”
I’m guessing that most of Omega’s population are poor/destitute, and the middle class makes up a small percentage of said population.
“didn’t even have the luxury of lights”
What are the Keys to Power in Omega, as per the Rules for Rulers video by CGPGrey?
“krogan drinks”
Are there any krogan bartenders?
“a harsh, rasping laugh from him”
Garrus uses humor to hold down his fear.
“Intriguing”
I love so much that Garrus is an ex-cop. What an interesting life he has had.
“You can’t be the paragon all the way”
In my opinion, neither Garrus nor his father are wrong. And the worst, most heated arguments are when both sides are correct.
“a murderer who thinks he’s better than all the other killers out there?”
In my opinion, Garrus IS a murderer, and a mass murderer at that. But he is not a monster.
“brings about a better world”
This is why I firmly believe that Garrus is highly vulnerable to becoming a terrible person.
“Let the hammer fall”
This scene is awesome.
“Right is right, wrong is wrong”
(shrugs) I don’t think Garrus would like me very much. I have been asked, of certain groups, factions, ideologies, etc, which one I would side with, and to all of them I replied, ‘Whoever would pay me the most.’
“Death for life”
We are all killers, Garrus. You live longer than one day, you are a killer. You cannot live without consuming something that used to be alive.
“we’re officially out of fuel”
You enjoyed writing Sidonis, didn’t you TNP?
“By not being in one”
Garrus is both brilliant and an idiot.

“the Kalendis Novembris club”
Nice name.
“the kind you got from recycling the same artificial gas ten thousand times”
Now I want to find a Noir-genre game or movie in which Brandon Keener voices or portrays the protagonist.
“the pulsing pain in his head”
It’s a miracle that Garrus is still alive by the time he is reunited with Shepard.
“Not that there are really any other kind with our species”
I would love to read a story that focuses mainly on turian society.
“Oh, there will”
This makes me wonder…what sort of life can Garrus possibly have, should he survive the Reaper War?
“Shut up, brain. I knew I couldn’t trust you”
I smiled at this. Garrus is a snarky jerk even to himself.
“F-k you”
Sidonis has quite a vocabulary.
“She didn’t appear to be joking”
Chirin is not messing around here.
“voice weighed down by the universally recognisable burden of experience”
Awesome line here.
“Sidonis said brightly”
Sidonis is so likable in this story that it makes his inevitable betrayal all the more heart-breaking.
“in the U-War”
Turian on turian. Jesus. That war must have been beyond brutal.
“at least eight identified parties after that ship”
Jesus Christ…
I like that this story drops us right into this point of the saga.
“every damn merc group in the Terminus Systems is hanging around that ship”
This is inevitably going to explode into all-out violence. It is never going to end peacefully.
“her tone still unchanging”
I love Chirin, and already wish she had survived.
“Must make a note of that”
Detective Vakarian.
“A normal day up in the Sunwise district…open warfare”
Aria is really not good for stability or peace on Omega. It seems that all she can do is to try to prevent things from becoming even worse. Omega will need better leadership than her in order to truly improve.
“It had looked fun”
This made me want to lean away from Garrus. He enjoys combat.
“it wasn’t going to stay”
I still want to find and read a story in which Garrus becomes a terrible person.
“Garrus punched him”
Garrus just gave away something about himself when he instantly attacked Sidonis for insulting Shepard.
“What the hell do you want?”
Good question.
“if Shepard hadn’t been there on the Citadel”
I want Sidonis to meet Shepard, and not just briefly.
“have absolutely no ulterior motives regarding”
I would be frightened if I were Garrus; realizing that Chirin and Sidonis actually have no idea what they are doing.
“Black ops. Well, grey ops”
So it seems that Vult’s main draw was discretion. Violence can be bought from countless parties, but subtle and untraceable violence is much more difficult to find and fire.
“I know pride when I hear it”
I love so much that Garrus is a former cop.
“Then don’t act like one”
This dialogue is great.
“She was a hero”
I disagree, Garrus. No such thing.
“With enough people, we can make a difference”
Garrus’ overall strategy for the Archangel group guaranteed – in my opinion – that they were ultimately never going to make a significant difference to Omega.
“an Omega without crime”
Killing criminals and destroying crime syndicates in my opinion was never truly the answer.
“I can’t trust them”
In the Terminus Systems, trust is just something that gets you killed.
“You’re doing this for yourself”
I love this story.
“a few shots fired from the window of one of them”
Jesus…
“Sidonis was still saying something”
In situations like this, staying calm and in control of yourself is critical. Lose your head figuratively and you’ll likely then lose it literally.

“Wondering if what I’m doing is right, if it’s worth it”
Just started re-reading and I’m already grinning from ear to ear.
Imagine reading this entire 55-chapter story with the mindset that Garrus is the villain.
“Is it right to go after the scum of the galaxy and put them out of our misery?”
Why didn’t you aim higher, Garrus? Why only street criminals?
“Kill, get killed”
I disagree. There are numerous cases of people who do terrible things and died old and fat with smiles on their faces.
“I’ve spent all my life in service to one law to another”
I don’t think I’ve seen another fanfic that writes Garrus better than this one.
“when you don’t have a law to turn to”
Nothing to fall back on. No one else to blame. You are in charge of what is ‘right’ or ‘wrong’, what is allowed or forbidden.
And yet for some reason, Garrus chose to become a follower and subordinate to Shepard instead of an equal partner…at least in the games. I’m curious to find and read a story in which he gains equal footing with Shepard and no longer takes orders from them.
“a room that stank of old blood and stared down the barrel of a pistol”
I think that at this point, after everything he has gone through in ME1, he is no longer afraid to die. If he was, he’d never have come to Omega.
“You’re building up all sorts of dirt around the barrel”
I love Garrus.
“tell me where the f-k the codes are”

‘The First Rule of Interrogation: Keep the subject in the dark. Make him think you already know everything.’
- Narcos: Mexico

“Genius”
Ha!
“Probably the fact that he was a bartender”
Garrus is a fun character to write, isn’t he? Seriously, where does he get his sardonic and sarcastic side from? Imagine him narrating audio books.
“Is it really stealing if you stole it first?”
Actually, yes Garrus, it is. You ARE a criminal.
“Seems unusual to see”
Garrus can never stop being a detective.
“this time under the chin”

‘Never start with the head. The victim gets all fuzzy.’
- The Dark Knight (2008)

“he passed out for a few seconds”
Great. Now how are they supposed to get him to talk? These two mercs are idiots.
“kicked the batarian in the face”
He’s trying to get them to kill him quickly.
“iron-hard sole of his boot”
I would have had Garrus stripped and properly restrained. These guys are amateurs. Also, I wouldn’t bring firearms into the interrogation room.
“Nice kick”
I love krogan.
“I want a personalised battle-dreadnought”
Who knows, Garrus? You might just get your own ship one day.
“Besides, I want that ship”
I grinned evilly at this.
“The krogan considered this. A lot of money”
Is it wrong that I like him?
“The krogan sighed”
He likes Garrus. A pity their circumstances are like this.
“Most of them would try that first”
Because he likes you, Garrus. Honestly, Garrus is a very dangerous person, and not just for his combat skills.
“Codes, or I blow off a leg”

‘You know, I could just pull you apart. Limb by limb. Make you tell me.’
‘Nah, that’d be worthless. Victim always goes into shock. You gotta start small. Fingers, toenails, ears…’
- The Boys S03E01

“Fair enough”
Man, now I wish this krogan hadn’t died. Oh well.
“his head exploded”
If you’re going to shoot a krogan, you better hit them somewhere vital.
“Free him. Quickly”
Garrus did not spend enough time around Chirin to really get to know her, and I suspect that Lantar did not know her all that well either.
“hard enough to tell apart the turian genders even without the armor”
Turian physiology is fascinating.
“Sidonis snapped”
The guy lacks discipline, and in my opinion Garrus failed to instil enough of it in him by the time Lantar got himself shot aboard the Eclipse ship.
“those guns were expensive”
Come to think of it, how much money did Garrus have at the start of ME1?
“He couldn’t help but notice”
Really, Garrus?
Still, it makes sense that Lantar would be attracted to her, both physically and emotionally. In a way, Chirin was probably his Shepard.
“No attraction until you know this isn’t a trap”
How effective would the honey trap be on Garrus?
“still about twenty people”
Jesus. Chirin must be a fearsome sight on the battlefield.
“killing two dozen mercs between them”
This may had been when the legend of Archangel started to grow.
“You don’t know what they want with you”
In Omega, trust is just something that gets you killed.
“give up this whole vigilante shtick”
In my opinion, Garrus throughout this entire story – from beginning to end – is a lost person. He does not know what it is that he wants.

Well done. Really well done. This was a great read start to finish and adds more to an already great character in Garrus.

One of the best fics I've ever read, your story lingers in my imagination long after I've closed the browser. You've done an astounding job fleshing out the characters, and they're all so special in their own way I couldn't help but feel sad as I read, knowing what will happen to all of them. Absolute epic, Interregnum is canon for me.

This chapter punched me in the gut. Fantastic arc. Butler and Ripper were choice PoVs for it.

I've loved watching the team grow and each member has such rich personality. Knowing how it all ends makes every banter and interaction that much more meaningful.

Hot damn that was amazing and so well written. A and gold stars all the way around.

I can practically hear Brandon Keener while I'm reading this. You've got Garrus down pat and this was a great action-packed introductory arc. Really looking forward to diving into the rest of this fic.

headcannon. Accepted.

Read this for the first time a few years back. Just got done reading it again and honestly, I'd quite happily accept it as canon at this point.

Love it

Love this! A lit of thought went into it!

This was, by far, the most detailed and heart-wrenching story of Archangel. The philosophical ponderings, the banter, the villains, the outrageous-yet-perfectly-plausible technology like Melenis' suit... It's all perfect. This is, for all intents and purposes, my headcanon for what went down.

A song comes to mind: 'What Makes a Good Man?' by the Heavy. And also 'Short Change Hero' by the same. I felt so satisfied, yet so... *perturbed* when Garrus finally caught up with Harga. I could practically hear the despair in Garrus' voice when he was pouring his heart out. Man.

I love your work. I finished this last night, but all day long, my thoughts kept drifting back to your story. Sensat. Monteague. Vortash. Before, they were just names. Just names on a visor, meaningless names which I felt somewhat bad for. But now? I can feel Garrus' pain. As stupid as that might sound.

I had to immediately start ME2 when I finished. I did the Archangel recruitment on my latest playthrough before I found your story, but after binging it I just had to do it again. Seeing the base...

Man. This story stays with you. I can't properly describe what it was like to read this, and your other two Archangel stories. I heard it was good, but MAN.

Archangelus Sumus. Rest in peace.