Conjunction is the co-op work of the two fanfiction writer squigglysquid and Horrorclown. The characters and the universe is owned by BioWare.

The three Councilors stood tall from their podiums at the far end of the Chambers in their immaculate and crispy pressed formal suits that left Garrus often questioning how they even managed to move or walk. Garrus, himself, was still in the dirty armor of his last mission, having been called in to speak with the Council after just exiting his ship onto the private Spectre docks, but he couldn't complain.

Not if this order to appear could possibly mean another assignment. He always hated the free time in between missions where he had nothing to do and no one to spend the time with the most, so any possibility of action was welcome.

"Spectre Vakarian, thank you for arriving on such a short notice," Councilor Sparatus intones with a nod.

"We understand that you had just arrived from an extensive mission out in the Traverse," Councilor Tevos adds with a slight twist to her lips. "For which we congratulate you on your success."

'Success' is a word for it, he thinks with a flick of his mandible. Definitely not the one I'd use for managing to sabotage a Batarian slaver ring by causing their main transport ship to steer straight into another, but I'm sure 'damn good job' is out of Tevos' vocabulary.

Unknowing of his inner musings, Councilor Velarn continues where the Asari Councilor left off. "It is because of your recent, and past, successes that we have determined you most capable of the delicate situation that has just come to our attention."

"As you know," Sparatus draws the conversation towards his podium, where he taps a few commands to pull up a holographic representation of Council Space. "The activation of usage of all Mass Relays is strictly monitored by the Citadel to ensure no inactive Relays are illegally accessed."

He doesn't need the Councilor to explain further, the knowledge of why a basic curriculum for every Council species growing up, basic history. The Rachni Wars nearly wiped out all of galactic civilization, forcing the Council to uplift the violent Krogan – which they then had to fight an equally brutal war against shortly thereafter – and, once defeated, the current law against relay activation was enacted. Any unauthorized activation was short of an 'act of war' and obviously something worthy of a Spectre's attention.

"We have received reports that Relay 314 has recently become active." Valern taps a few keys to highlight said relay, showing that it, in fact, manages to map to at least six other relays – making it one of the more central relays in the linked system.

"Are we fearing Rachni?" Garrus asks, folding his arms behind his back. "Do we have any possible suspects?"

"Actually, that is why we have chosen to send a Spectre," the feminine voice of the Asari says over the large expanse separating the Councilors from the Spectre. "We don't know if this is a violation of Citadel law or simply the possibility of new contact with another space-faring species. You can go in and investigate the other end of Relay 314 to determine the cause of the activation. Report back to us your findings and any possible information you may have collected."

"I think it goes without saying, Spectre, of the consequences should you not return within an ample amount of time." Valern.

"Yes. If you should drop out of contact for any reason and for too long, another Spectre will be sent in the Relay under the orders of 'retrieval at any cost' and the Relay will be forcibly closed pending your reentry into Citadel space. We can't risk a valuable Spectre to curiosity." Sparatus.

"Understood, sir," the younger Turian replies with a nod.

"We understand that you may either be forced into sporadic communications or lose contact completely with the Citadel once you pass through the Relay, so you have a total of ninety days without contact before we report you MIA, Spectre Vakarian." Valern.

"Is there any questions about your mission?" Tevos.

"No, sirs. Just point me towards the Relay." He flicks a mandible in a smirk and Tevos' smile quirks her blue lips.

The Councilors dismiss him shortly after that, explaining that he will have a short time to collect anything personal he may need and get cleaned while they make sure to restock his ship's supplies. On the way to C-Sec to check with the Requisitions Office and see if they have any new mods for his Widow, he runs into Nihlia, the young female who recently has been training under his former mentor, Saren, and is currently on the Citadel for her induction ceremony.

"Garrus," she practically screams as she runs up to him, her bright green eyes widening. "I heard you were back from the Traverse. Want to go get drinks to celebrate another Batarian ring going up in flames?" She quirks a mandible at the running joke that he always tends to perform his jobs in the most flamboyant way possible.

He thrums in apology. "Sorry, Nihlia. I just received new orders. I'm to head out immediately."

She hums in distress and drops her head. "Damn. They sure don't mess around, do they?" He rumbles in agreement and she smirks, cocking her hip and drawing a low rumble from his chest. Damn, it's been a long time in Batarian space. "So, I guess there's no chance of taking you back to my place, huh?"

He growls at that truth, damning the fact that constantly working does happen to cut into his time around the females. One of which is practically purring and wasn't too bad a partner the one time. "How about this," he purrs, lowering his head slightly to her ear and smiling when she shivers slightly. "When I get back, we go for those drinks and I make it up to you?"

"I think I might just go for that," she clicks, giving the edge of his right mandible a quick lick. He never understood why she insisted on touching that side of his face – it was practically numb thanks to the scars – but it just wasn't worth it to get into that conversation when they were only just sharing a bed on occasion.

"I'll see you then, Nihlia." He steps back from her and turns to return on his way towards checking for new mods. "And congratulations on passing Saren's initiation. I told you you'd make it." He laughs at her frustrated response, knowing full well the crap the older Turian put her through since he lived it for nearly two years during his training.

The older man was hard to get along with, but he got the job done and he certainly wouldn't be where he was now – on his way into a newly activated Relay – without the skills the harsh training instilled in him. Granted, he definitely knows why the Council asked him to look into the Relay before going to his former mentor and it certainly wasn't because he was better looking.

His mission took him to the 4XD609-System. An unidentified Force has illegally opened the Mass Effect Relay, so he was send to investigate and find out who or what opened the relay, why and what do they want in this system.

All went well, just another mission to do. About 1 hour ago, his ship entered the system through the relay and he had started scans to, maybe find a trace or some evidence of what had happened here.

Frustration grew in him as he couldn't find anything in close proximity to the relay, so he was going to pay attention to the nearby planets, hoping to finally getting results.

Hours went by as he scanned planet after planet. One of this planets housed a sapient species, not capable of deep space flight. It was obvious that they haven't activated the relay. He sighed in frustration, rubbing the bridge of his nose. I'm a Spectre, I should hunt criminals all over the galaxy, shoot Geth and don't investigate an malfunctioning relay

Recognizing that he hadn't drunk anything in the last few hours he left the pilot seat, going for a quick walk through his ship. Sitting all the time in one place, without doing something always made him tense. With a satisfied 'hum' he let his stiff joints creak. That was necessary. His ship was bigger than those of most Spectres, almost Corvette-Class size but without the necessity of having more people aboard than him to keep it working. An advanced AI was installed and constantly working. The long corridor that went a straight way from the cockpit to the cargo area had him pass his sleeping area, with a Turian bed in it and a television which he never used, the weaponry where he kept the most important thing his life, his M-92 Mantis sniper rifle. After that he passed the airlock and entered the kitchen area. A blue and silver interior, a small table just for him. That was all he needed.

As he was on his way to the fridge, in the back of the kitchen, to grab something to drink while the AI was recalibrating the scanner, something like a heavy quake erupted the ship, causing him to stumble. He was trying to grab for the table but his hands found nothing, making him fall on the ground.

Blinking red lights were popping out of the walls stating a ship wide alarm.

'Spectre Vakarian' the synthetic voice of his AI came through all of the speakers on the ship. 'Unidentified and unexpected malfunction in the stability dampers and in the Mass Effect cores power regulation. I had to shut down the drive core per emergency protocol to prevent it from overheating.'

'Spirits be damned!' he punched the floor as he stood up.

'EDI, at least try to reconfigure the dampers' Garrus shouted as he was running back to the cockpit 'Release the pressure and reroute energy from the Mainbattery!'

It didn't took long for the AI to answer. 'That is impossible Spectre Vakarian. I am unable to find the source of the malfunction and I can't access them.'

With a jump he made it to enter his seat, almost the very same time he felt that his ship was sucked towards the planet beneath him.

‚Routine mission my ass!' An angry, deep growl erupted from Garrus' throat. 'EDI sent an S.O.S to the Council and to all Council ships in transmission range!' he hastily closed his seatbelts.

'I'm afraid this is not possible. Long range transmitter is damaged.'

'Okay EDI then at least let us try to survive this.' His fingers flew over the control panels. 'Initiate reverse thrust EDI!'

He felt an incoming headache. Like a hot knife behind his eye.

You have to stay focused!

A few seconds went by before he was pressed in his seat and felt the raw energy of the engines.

'EDI tell me something about this planet. QUICK!

'Habitable, called Earth, dominant species is intelligent, highly populated around 10 billion, capable of short range space flight. Apparently not so high developed that they know about the relay. Possible to find necessary spare parts there…!' He interrupted her

'Spirits!' he saw something that looked like an old small orbital station. And it was coming at him very fast. Unable to steer the ship he knew he would hit it. Garrus closed his eyes as he waited for the impact.

A loud bang, the screeching of metal on metal and a heavy jerk.

'Status report!'

'The starboard fuel line is ruptured. We won't make it to the ground Spectre Vakarian, survival is unlikely.'

Garrus took a deep breath trying to calm himself

'When we're back home, remember me to talk to you about motivation and this kind of pep-talk.' Another deep breath

'Ok, reroute all energy to the thermal shields and throttle the intact engine!' his hands were moving so fast they were almost invisible, in a desperate effort to keep the ship stable. 'We need the same amount of energy in both engines. This ship has to be balanced!'

As they entered the atmosphere the ship started to shake and threatened to break. 'EDI, enable short range transmission

His hands grabbed his seatbelt as he was unable to do anything else than sit back, watch and take pot luck. 'Shields at 76%.'

He closed his eyes. 'Shields at 61%.'

A deep breath. 'Shields at 47%.'

Mom 'Shields at 34%. Impact imminent!"

Dad 'Brace for impact!'

Sol…