The guards posted outside the Admiralty Board's chambers sealed the doors behind Garrus as soon as he was through.

He'd done it. Really done it. Help was coming.

He hadn't used to be this prone to nerves; too much time on the sniper's perch. But it was hard not to let himself feel the giddiness.

And now he didn't know what to do but wait. He glanced back at the doors. It made sense to close the proceedings to just the military members involved, but Shepard had lost her ship protecting him; he sincerely hoped the admirals would take that into consideration, even without him there.

Vega wandered a distance away from the doors, then held position near a junction, looking in no hurry to go elsewhere.

Well, if Garrus was going to have to wait, he might as well make use of the time. The displays were interesting enough, but Shepard's watcher was looking a lot more approachable now that he was on home turf and his charge safe - relatively speaking.

Garrus figured he'd start with something nice and simple first to warm him up and hopefully get him more cooperative. At least he hoped it would; he was fairly sure he was right, but sometimes societies were odd - what he thought was a status symbol might be a source of shame. "If you don't mind me saying, you're a bit larger than other humans I've seen."

"Eh?" He looked perplexed a moment, then settled on amused. "Uh, yeah. Thanks. It took some work."

Oh dear, did I just hit on him?

"I'm sorry, was that inappropriate?"

Vega smiled. "Maybe something you shouldn't tell people randomly, yeah." He rolled his shoulders demonstratively, hardsuit creaking. "I don't mind though."

Good, situation salvageable. "Thanks. After all the excitement in there, I'd hate to find out I've been reading humans wrong all along." He knew he hadn't. He knew he was missing nuances, but he felt increasingly comfortable with the broad strokes. Not to mention happy with how they were receiving him close to what he intended. He fired up his just-a-question repertoire from years as an investigator. "If you don't mind, could I ask you something I've been curious about, completely off the record?"

Vega shrugged again. "Sure? I might not answer, but ask away."

"You and Commander Shepard. Are you guarding her to keep others away, or to keep her in?" He adopted a sheepish look, making himself seem unthreatening. "Don't worry, it's just for my personal reference."

"Hmm. A bit of both."

Garrus waited, but it seemed nothing else was forthcoming. "Because of Cerberus?"

The human paused, mouth open, looking like he was processing his answer. "Umm..."

"She told me she escaped from Cerberus," Garrus added, just in case that was the issue.

Vega nodded, apparently satisfied with that. "Yeah, Cerberus is a bit pissed that she left. She gave them a solid kick in the nuts - and took a lot of secrets with her on her way out the door. So she's got a big bullseye painted on her."

"And it's your job to make sure they fail." Knowing Cerberus had killed a Board Admiral, the guard seemed like a sensible precaution.

"Damn straight. But not everyone's convinced she left Cerberus for real, either. So I keep an eye on her to keep em happy."

Something in the way he said the last bit... some dissension in the ranks, maybe? "What do you think?"

The human snorted. "I don't think Shepard could act if her life depended on it. Bluff? Sure. Clam up? Hell yeah. She'll take a secret to the grave if she has to and nobody'll ever know. She's damn tough. Don't tell her I said that though. But act? Nah. She's Alliance through and through."

And she had one very loyal guard.

Garrus asked some more questions as they waited. Vega was a good source for random tidbits, but not much for providing answers with context.

It was closer to half an hour later when the doors finally opened again, Shepard exiting with her XO in tow. Garrus didn't have that many examples of how humans looked when they were emotionally ruffled, but was fairly sure that's what he was looking at right then. That couldn't have been an easy talk.

But then her expression changed the moment she spotted him and Vega; to what, he wasn't entirely sure. Maybe she hadn't expected them to still be waiting? She nodded and indicated the way to the elevators.

"Come on, Spectre, let's get you back to your ship so you can call your people. Anderson's given your Captain access to the comm buoy."

"Appreciated." He thought for a moment. "How did things go? If I'm allowed to ask?"

She shrugged. "No worse than usual. Besides, 'eezo miner' will look great on my résumé."

Garrus examined her face, but couldn't quite tell whether or not she was joking. Apparently her XO could though.

"That's not funny, Shepard."

"Relax, Alenko. You worry too much." She slapped his arm, and Garrus could read that bit of overly-casual body-language communiqué loud and clear; 'not in front of the alien'.

But, well, the alien was already involved. He cast about for something to say, and the idea came to him just as the elevator doors closed.

"In my excitement, I forgot to ask your admirals something. When the Citadel does multi-faction cooperative operations, we usually assign a liaison to help with coordination, and prevent misunderstandings." True, technically. "I was hoping, since you've already been on our ship, that it would be you."

"Huh." She looked surprised, then thoughtful.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Alenko said carefully, but sounding decided despite the mild wording.

"I'll ask," Shepard said, overriding him. "It's not like they're shipping me off to the mines today."

"Good." Garrus tipped his head. "Because, no offence intended, but you don't look like a miner."

Shepard had a very delightful chuckle.

The humans escorted him all the way to the airlock. On the ship, Captain Cassius got his attention the moment he stepped on board.

"We've set up the comm channel to the Citadel with your Spectre encryption protocols, but it is still their buoy."

"Understood, thank you." He wasn't too concerned about the immediate secrecy, Spectre encryptions were the best in the galaxy, but the humans could very well store the communication for later. It might take them decades to acquire the key to the encryption, or they might never. But the risk was always there in the background thanks to the Shadow Broker. Garrus would just have to watch what he said, and hope the Council did the same.

Alone in the comm room, he reflected that this was the fastest they had ever replied to one of his comms before. They looked calm, but he knew from experience that their looks said very little.

"Vakarian, we've been eagerly awaiting your report."

You had to use those words."I'm sorry, Councilors, things have been very hectic, I haven't had the time to write my preliminary report yet." Truth be told, he hadn't even started the first draft. He didn't know where to begin.

"Your mission?" Sparatus rephrased impatiently. He would never be seen fidgeting, but if he would, he would've been doing it right then. "Have the humans agreed to hear our request for armed intervention against the Krogan Clans?"

Garrus smiled. "They have, Councilor, and not only that, but I have secured a promise of aid; their fifth fleet is mobilising as we speak." Had delivering good news ever felt so good?

"Good work, Spectre," Tevos said, inclining her head. "You have all our gratitude."

"The question," Valern said, "is can they defeat the Krogan fleet?"

"They seem confident of that, and I've seen their ships in combat, they pack quite a punch." Garrus took a deep breath. AI first, then stealth systems? Or other way around?

"How soon can we expect reinforcements?" Sparatus asked.

"In a few hours. I'll let you know as soon as we're ready to get underway." Stealth systems, probably?

"That is far more quickly than expected. How much are we paying for this intervention?" Valern said, changing the subject.

"They want an embassy on the Citadel, the full gift you provided, and additionally they asked for three garden-world systems. I managed to haggle it down to one." He would've loved to take credit for that, but it hadn't taken that much convincing. Giddy elation at impending assistance or not, Garrus' investigator's instincts had had time to mull things over, and had come to a worrying conclusion sometime during the elevator ride. The Admiralty Board's agreement had come too easily.

The Councilors shared a look. "An embassy is agreeable," Tevos said, exactly like Garrus had anticipated.

"Their demand for a system was not entirely unexpected," Valern picked up. "Many factions are using this temporary power vacuum to carve out edges of Citadel space. There was no reason to suspect less of the humans. We will have to see; it might be that after the ongoing power shifts in the region, it won't be as easy to relinquish the system as we had thought."

Garrus caught the underlying meaning after long experience reading between the lines. "I'd recommend against that. The humans... wouldn't take that well."

"You seem troubled," Tevos said, perceptive as ever.

He hesitated. Good news, and a mountain of bad news.

"Speak up, Vakarian," Sparatus said. "Now is not the time to develop tact."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Garrus confessed. "My impression of the humans at this point is that they're..." Ah, to hell with fancy words."They're dangerous. I don't mean that just tactically speaking, I mean as a species. The faction I spoke to are currently fighting in a multi-faction civil war that's being fought as much by underhanded methods as by arms. There doesn't seem to be any limit to the tactics they'll employ to hurt each other."

Not defeat. Hurt. The Asari Republics often frowned on the Hierarchy's tactic of blanket intervention by overwhelming force until all threat had been neutralised. But the humans, it seemed, would attack a target even though it was no threat - or even because of it. Even the krogan preferred a good fight to a curb-stomp battle. At least until they got bored.

"They have dropped multiple nukes on their own homeworld, rendering it uninhabitable," your enemy was the enemy, not the ecology, dammit. You needed the same air as they did. "They have employed planetary-scale biological warfare against an agricultural colony, and assassinations seem like everyday occurrences to them." They'd fired on escape pods.He could never hope to explain why that bothered him on a deeply personal level. "Councilors, you know as well as I do how ugly a civil war can get when neither side feels like they have anything to lose. They'll turn the clock back to a type of warfare none of us have seen in our lifetimes."

Wonder of wonders, it looked like they were actually listening to him. Tevos touched her console, then he could see them all speaking, but no audio came. Didn't seem to change anything though, when their voices returned, they were still in agreement.

"We understand your hesitation," Sparatus said, "but we don't have a choice, not any more." The Councilor's voice was stoically grim. "We lost contact with the second fleet after they reported engaging the Krogan fleet at the far side of the Palaven relay blockade, and Palaven itself shortly after. Last transmission reported home fleet ready to intercept, along with every ship that can aim a weapon. But... It looks bad. We're unsure of the Krogan's forces. Second fleet will put a dent in them, but we don't know how much. Our best estimates puts the numbers Palaven will face in the high sixties." He breathed out. "Home fleet has a third of that, and no dreadnought." He looked at Tevos and Valern.

"We can't rule out a surprise attack against the Citadel, not with so limited intel," Valern said, for once sounding as sorry as Garrus had ever heard him.

So no reinforcements from the Citadel's defence force. Sixty or seventy ships. Against twenty something. Those were bad odds, especially without a dreadnought to coordinate the fleet. The Hierarchy's heavy cruisers were large and powerful, but not quite as solid on the line of battle as a dreadnought, which were designed from the keel out to be at the center of any given fleet.

Tonne for tonne, a Hierarchy ship would reliably take out its Krogan counterpart; thousands of years of space warfare experience couldn't be easily trained in the brief span of time the new Krogan fleet had existed. But three on one were just as crappy odds in space as they were in a bar brawl.

"We're left with the best of bad alternatives," Sparatus concluded. "Bring in the human fleet. If we are still alive at the end of the day, we can reassess. Until then, good luck."

The comm channel closed.

When Garrus exited the comm-room after taking a few moments to himself, Captain Cassius nodded in the direction of the airlock, where Vega was standing, helmet back on, still like a statue.

"We received the liaison approval while you were speaking to the Council. The Commander is coming; she's out in the docking bay taking care of business."

"Thank you, Captain." He wouldn't mind talking to her a little more before they left dock. So many thoughts, so little clarity. He wanted to trust her, but her people...

He found her just outside, involved in conversation with her XO. Neither of them had noticed him coming, intent on each other.

"This is a bad idea, Shepard, and you know it."

"I thought you'd be happy. Get out of my shadow, get your own command."

"Yeah but not like this. I'm worried about you. If you go on that ship, when things get tense, you might not..."

She put a firm hand on his shoulder. "I'll be fine, Kaidan. I know what I'm doing, and Anderson agrees with me."

"Yeah, but you have the most rotten luck in the galaxy, and when..." He broke off suddenly and they both turned at once, realising Garrus was there. He'd clearly interrupted something, though he wasn't entirely sure what.

"I'll be fine," she repeated to him, then turned to Garrus properly. "Won't I be safe on your ship, Spectre Vakarian?"

"You'll be safe with me," he promised, wondering why he was promising it since she'd already been on their ship and it hadn't been a problem.

"See? I'll be fine. You worry too much. Go on, Admiral Anderson is waiting for you."

Alenko sighed, clearly not happy, but discipline held. At least until he passed by Garrus on his way to the exit, and met his measuring look calmly. "She's more valuable than you know."

"Kaidan!" Shepard snapped after him.

He spun and lowered his head deeply, that still managed to looked arrogant to Garrus despite being followed by an apology. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I don't know what came over me. By your leave, Commander." He turned without waiting for an answer and continued out of the docking bay.

Well now.

Curious. Valuable... to who? In what way? Clearly he meant to make Garrus take keeping her safe more seriously, but he would've loved to know why. Had he meant it professionally, or politically; or maybe even personally important to him? It surprised him how much that thought annoyed him.

"Dissension in the ranks?" he asked, smooth by long practice.

"It's nothing."

Except she was still looking down the access corridor her now-former XO had left.

He remembered Alenko's silent insistence the guard accompany Shepard on the Unconquerable, the short disagreement in the elevator, and now this. "He doesn't seem to have much confidence in you."

She shrugged. "He's a good Alliance soldier; he trusts me with his life, but not with mine."

"Why not? He's not sure you are?" You're asking touchy questions, Garrus.

Shepard sighed. "He warned me about Cerberus. Said they were no good, not to be trusted. But I thought it would be a great opportunity; more resources under my command, better tech, better gear. I thought the risk was worth working with them, so I went anyway." The lights in her eyes flared and she fixed him with a sudden glare. "And then I woke up with a control chip in my head. So, yeah, he questions my judgement, but don't you dare question him for my mistakes. Some people hold me up like some paragon of perfection, but I worked willingly for Cerberus, and then they turned on us."

Garrus blinked, taken aback by the sudden drop in her tone, and didn't quite know what to say. To his relief, she started stalking off towards Vega and the Unconquerable's airlock rather than change her mind about accompanying the ship. Garrus caught up with her in a few quick strides. "I apologise, I meant no disrespect. To either of you."

She exhaled, and nodded, calmer. "I know. Don't worry about it. Just accept that he means well, even when he's an ass." She lowered her voice as they stepped into Unconquerable's airlock, and he was just able to hear her mutter, "Because he's an ass who's usually right."

Not this time, Garrus decided. Shepard would be perfectly safe on his ship.