As Solana and Castis led Garrus out of the gun battery and back towards the elevator, Garrus' omni-tool seemed to flash almost continuously with message alerts. Most of the messages consisted of short messages along the lines of "Adamant ETA, fifteen minutes," with some team members asking if they needed to pick up anything from their current location, but a few of them seemed to be messages from other task force members whose questions required slightly more detailed responses. It was these particular messages that Garrus decided to quickly reply to by way of voice-to-text, as he had a feeling that he wouldn't have much time to get anything else after their upcoming visit to the tailor's for his new dress blues. As he answered one of his former turian shipmates on calibrating firing algorithms for a turian dreadnought currently orbiting the Citadel, his sister and father had immersed themselves in a completely unrelated conversation.

"-one of Cabals swears that her eye for color coordination with colony markings is the reason she turned so many heads on shore leave last week," Solana continued.

Must be talking about clothing again…

"And not the fact that she's a turian biotic?" Castis replied as they turned a corner.

"We're pretty good about keeping that under wraps off the ship, and no, she could've flipped every table biotically and all eyes still would've been fixed on her tunic…she looked stunning," she finished calmly as she briefly glanced back at her brother, her subvocals trilling with a slightly mischievous tone.

"Have them build another layer of redundancy into their systems," Garrus finished into his omni-tool as he hit the send button. The three of them had momentarily paused at the entrance to the ladder systems that led between decks. (The elevator was currently being utilizing for heavy cargo, and being good turians, using it to go up a few decks would have been a waste of time and resources.) "If you're trying to hook me up with her, I'm not interested," he added as Solana asked the door and ushered her brother and father through it. Mainly because I barely have time to prepare us for a Reaper invasion, and definitely not enough to start a new relationship-

"She'd be a bit too anti-human for your liking," Sol replied as she closed the door behind them while Garrus started his ascent up the ladder. "Speaking of biotics…isn't Commander Shepard one?" With the door closed, her voice seemed to echo a little too loudly within the enclosed metal space.

"Yes…and you don't want to be anywhere near her Singularity, it's on par with some asari ones I've seen," he replied as the clanking echoes of turian talons and boots on ladder rungs followed behind him.

"An asari-strength singularity? In a human?" Sol asked, her subvocals a tone of both curiosity and mild disbelief. "What asari have you served with?" she finished dismissively.

"Not even trying to conceal it, aren't you?" Garrus sighed as he briefly paused and glanced down at his sister, whose expression still matched her previous tone. While his sister had been fairly tolerant of his…relations…with Shepard, she still maintained some fairly xenophobic beliefs due to serving nearly exclusively with turians. (On the other hand, Garrus and his father had spent years of their lives working with humans during their Citadel Security days, and had eventually come to change how they viewed the Citadel's newest council race.)

"At least two, if I remember correctly," his father interjected as he stuck his head out to the side. "One of them being the daughter of an asari matriarch…"

Sol glanced down at their father before looking back up at Garrus. "I'm being serious, Little Brother, Nerva has stories from her training days where one or two young asari deployed Warp fields that destroyed an unshielded target in seconds-" she stopped when she saw the involuntary flick of Garrus' mandibles and shaking head. "Human biotics have only existed since what, the late 2170s?"

Garrus sighed loudly again, which was followed by his father clearing his throat. A gentle reminder that we need to keep moving. As Garrus started climbing again, he tried to recall his conversations with both Normandy crews regarding biotics. "Shepard told me that element zero exposures began as early as 2151, but it created more cancer patients than actual biotics…and according to one of them, they think those exposures were engineered to look like accidents." If Alenko's beliefs have any truth to them, that is.

"Interesting…so when did Shepard actually realize she had them?" she asked as they passed the first deck.

"2168…right after her 14th birthday."

A momentarily silence from Sol. "Eleven years after 314…" she muttered to herself.

"They call it the First Contact War, but yes, that's when she realized she had biotic abilities-"

"Not that…I was thinking about something Nerva mentioned…quick, can you remember when they actually started trying to develop their biotics?"

Garrus quickly racked his brains, trying to recall a number. "Early 2160s?"

Below him, he could hear Solana quietly muttering under her breath, so Garrus could only decipher a few words, mainly "her uncle" and "but why us?"

"I agree, Solana, it is a bit odd that the humans would recruit a turian biotic instructor to help them rather than the asari," his father said loudly, as if he was trying to keep Garrus abreast of his sister's mutterings. Also, his hearing was ridiculously good, considering his age. "It's my understanding that humans and turians share a mutual distrust of biotics, correct?"

"Perhaps someone thought a turian instructor would better empathize with them?" Solana offered, speaking up so Garrus could actually hear her now.

"Well, if it was Vrynnus, highly doubtful. Everything I know about him from 314 suggests that he enjoyed every minute of combat until the cease-fire…" The last part of Castis' sentence sounded like Vrynnus' memory had left a bad taste in his father's mouth.

I've heard that name before…but where? Garrus thought as he continued to climb. "You knew him?"

"Never served with him, but knew another turian from C-Sec who served aboard the same ship as his Cabal unit during 314." The trio passed another deck.

"Anything significant about him?" Sol asked.

"Discussing his activities during 314 is about as well tolerated as fraternization between unequal ranks of soldiers in the Alliance military, dear daughter" Castis responded, and something tightened in Garrus' stomach at the mention of that particular Alliance taboo.

"Wait, the humans have rules against THAT?" Sol asked, clearly surprised. The sound of boots and talons moving over metal rungs ceased again. Garrus paused and locked down at his sister, who was now looking up at him with an expression of utter disbelief. "Are they THAT incapable of prioritizing the mission first?"

"Well, if there's a rule for it-" Castis began.

"-it's been an issue in the past," both Garrus and Sol answered in unison.

"Keep moving, Sol, your brother and I don't want to be late for his meeting with Corinthus," Castis said as Garrus heard the tapping of his father's talons on his sister's boot. Garrus automatically turned his attention back to the ladder and resumed his climb.

"Clearly not a problem for Shepard, though," Sol muttered in an approving sort of tone. "You're absolutely sure she wasn't raised by turians?" she added jokingly.

Garrus chuckled. "Her parents both served in the Alliance military…mother still currently serving, if I'm not mistaken."

"Father?"

Garrus paused. After Shepard had dropped him back off on Palaven, he'd reached out to his old friend Lamont in C-Sec to look into Shepard's family. (Lamont was former Alliance military, but had also unofficially promised to help Garrus out in whatever ways he could within C-Sec.) What his former human partner had found had surprised him: her father had been Alliance military as well, but had been killed during the 314 Relay Incident when Shepard was barely a toddler. Makes sense she wouldn't talk about him if she never remembered him. "KIA years ago," he answered simply.

"May his spirit watch over his widow and child," his father replied solemnly as they once more paused their climb and observed a moment of silence before continuing the rest of their ascent in silence.

From below him, Garrus heard the sound of his father's omni-tool beep. The sound of one less turian climbing below his sister meant that he had stopped briefly to check it, and sure enough, his guess proved correct when he dictated his reply: "Meet in thirty, son being refitted for dress blues."

"Another old friend of yours?" Garrus called down to his father as he continued to climb.

"Adrien Victus. Sounds like he ran into one of your task force members while they were out and about it."

"THE Adrien Victus?" Solana asked, surprised. "Spirits, you still talk to him even after that incident with the Separatists on Taetrus?"

"Separatists?" Garrus asked, his mandibles flicking as he looked down at his sister. While small groups of turians who wanted to break away from the Hierarchy weren't completely unheard of, the fact that his father or his father's friends would associate with them was about as likely as Shepard siding with the Illusive Man.

"Oh yeah, I forgot: while you were running around the galaxy hunting Collectors, Victus got himself in hot water because he let a bunch of salarians wear out some separatists on Taetrus before he moved his own men in to finish the job-" Solana began, a slight tone of disgust in her subvocals.

"-which apparently, was not the correct way to go about it, according to our Hierarchy." Castis finished. "From what he told me, they gave him an earful about sticking to established tactics, until another former turian Spectre in his unit explained that they use this strategy fairly often-"

"As do a lot of races-" Garrus added.

Solana cut him off. "He let the salarians do his dirty work for him instead of charging in there and putting down the rebellion himself! What kind of turian lets a bunch of quick-talking salarians do his dirty work for them?"

"-daughter, I know I used to lecture you both about doing things 'by the book', but in this case, he still archived his mission objectives with no casualties-" his father replied

"-you told me even Corinthus called him out on it-" Solana continued, her voice rising.

"In public, yes. Privately, Corinthus admitted that he wish he had the gizzard to pull it off himself," Castis replied quietly. "Victus may be unconventional, but he has the unquestioning support of all those under him, and even Fedorian isn't foolish enough to throw a seasoned warrior like him to the wolves-"

In the middle of his father's sentence, the deck door opened above them. The head and chest of General Corinthus poked out and looked down on them before looking back behind him. "Belay that message, Valens, I found them!" he called back to someone out of sight before turning his head back down to look at Vakarian family below. "Should've known you three would take the ladders during active resupply," he chuckled.

"My children and I are perfectly capable of climbing ladders, Cor," his father called back. "And yes, I would prefer that my daughter's ship returns to battle-ready status ASAP," Castis replied as Garrus reached Corinthus.

Corinthus chuckled again in response as he held a hand out to Garrus, who took it and allowed the general to help pull him up and through the doorway. A few feet behind him, Celsus and another task force member, Tertius Valens (who preferred to go by his nickname, Tert), stood waiting with multiple packages and bags piled in their arms.

"Back from Cipritine Electronics already?" Garrus asked as Corinthus assisted his sister and father behind him.

"General allowed us the use of his skycar, sir," Tert responded as he handed Garrus one of the smaller packages. Garrus took it and tucked it away in one of his chest armor pockets. (He knew what it concealed, but didn't want to open it in front of his family and Corinthus. "Ms. Vakarian? Mission successful," he added somewhat cryptically to his sister, who now stood beside Garrus.

"Thank you, Tert," Solana replied with a nod of her head.

Tert turned to Garrus. "We'll be waiting at the general's shuttle with the rest of our gear, sir," Tert said as he and Celsus turned and headed towards the ship's exit without further formalities.

Garrus cast a sideways look at his sister. "Since when did you start giving orders to MY task force" he growled as loudly as he dared, since cryptic messages with Sol could only me she'd been scheming behind his back. Again.

"Relax, Little Brother," she whispered back calmly as she practically twirled around to face Corinthus and their father at the sound of the hatch door closing and his father and Corinthus laughing at the way of their former squad mates had polished his boots.

"…but seriously, I still can't believe he put that much effort into those…" Corinthus finished. "Cas, I take you and your son are ready for our next engagement?" Corinthus continued, his hands clasped behind his back as he looked at both Garrus and Castis in turn.

Garrus glanced at his father briefly, who responded with a slight nod of his head. "We are, sir," Garrus replied.

"Excellent. Miss Vakarian, it was a pleasure meeting you," General Corinthus said with a slight bow of his head.

"Likewise, General," Solana replied. "Take care of yourself, Little Brother," Solana added as she headed off towards the front of the ship.

"Will do, Sol," Garrus responded as he watched her disappear through a doorway, where she had already begun another conversation with another crew member regarding backup data for the Adamant's engine systems.

Corinthus turned to the two remaining male Vakarians. " Caelia Vibius contacted me just after our meeting in the gun battery and asked if I'd prefer if she met us aboard the Adamant," he began as he turned his head to look at each of them in turn as he clasped his hands behind his back. "Told me a female turian had contacted her-"

Garrus and Castis turned to face each other. "Sol," they said in unison, without hesitation. Which, with any luck, might be what her and Tert were discussing.

Corinthus nodded, seemingly unsurprised by Solana's activities. "Figured as much. At any rate, Ms. Vibius informed me that she would delighted to come to us instead, and has already set up shop in the conference room," he finished as he held out an arm towards the rear of the ship.

"They're already here?" Garrus asked as he raised his browplates and followed the general through a series of doors and passageways.

"Her shop is only a few blocks from here…and her grandchildren move quick," Corinthus answered as they approached the entrance to conference room.

As the three of them entered the officer's conference room, they were greeted by a flurry of activity: a pair of male and female brown-plated turians with white Edessan colony facial tattoos (Lorik Qui'in had born similar markings) darting about while being directed by another similar-marked elder female whose back was currently, as she was seated at the end of the conference table. In the opposite corners, two armor stands and garment bags stood semi-concealed behind portable changing screens.

"-and I hope you remembered the reinforced threads, Caelinus," the elder said as she opened a small box to her left. "I will not suffer members of the Turian Hierarchy complaining about a split seam that exposes their-"

"Slightly widening waistline?" Castis interrupted as he placed one on his own hips and pointed to it with the other.

At the sound of his father's voice, the aged female turned to face all of them, her face alight with a look of pure joy. "Spirits among us, Castis Vakarian?" she exclaimed as she rose to her feet with remarkable grace and speed. "Cori, you secretive little bastard, you didn't tell me that Aeliana's son-in-law AND grandson would be joining us today?" the turian trilled as she opened her arms and embraced his father, who returned the hug.

Shit, she knew Grandma Aeliana? Garrus thought to himself as his mandibles flicked involuntarily as he subtly attempted to catch his father's eye without success.

"General Corinthus wanted it to be a surprise, grandmother," the younger female called out from across the room while what Garrus took to be her twin brother finished with his stand and started to make his way back towards his grandmother.

"Rest assured, my sister and I brought everything that Solana's brother might need, even with her last minute instructions-" the male replied.

Last minute instructions from my sister…spirits…

"Well, I'm glad he let SOMEONE in on his plans," she trilled again, her excitement still unabated as she clasped her hands in front of her. "Caelia Vibius, of Vibius Family Tailoring," she trilled. "And my twin grandchildren, Caelina and Caelinus," she added as she motioned at each of the younger turians in turn, who nodded in affirmation at the mention of their names. Caelinus' was clad in the typical male turian causal-wear, but his outfit bore the same design as the floor-length tunics of both his sister and grandmother. "We've never met, but I've been altering your family's uniforms ever since Aeliana dragged her son-in-law into my shop to have his dress blues altered-"

"-and the rest is history," Castis finished politely but firmly. "Dearest Caelia, as much as I would love to reminisce with you, Corinthus has limited time before he must depart-"

Caelina glanced at her omni-tool and gasped. "Spirits alive, and here I am just blubbering away at the sight of one of the greatest officers in C-Sec history-" she replied as she turned on her heel, her elegant floor-length tunic twirling around her. "Cori, the screen on the left has your uniform. Garrus, yours is on the right," she said as she sat herself back down at her sewing machine. "My grandchildren will be able to assist you with any fitting concerns you might have."

"Thank you, Cae," Corinthus said with a nod as he proceeded to his changing screen. Garrus wordlessly did the same as his father seated himself near Caelina and began to engage her in conversation.

"So, Cae, what have you been up to lately?" his father began pleasantly as Garrus heard the sound of his father's body settling into a chair. "I take it that the family business is still going well?"

Garrus reached his screen in record time, and as soon as most of his body was concealed behind the screen, he quickly opened his omni-tool, set his notifications to silent, and typed,What did you tell the Vibius family?

"Oh, just tweaking some new clothing designs…-" Caelia mused as Garrus heard the sound of a stylus on a data pad. "I already have the finished product for this one-" she trilled as Garrus reached for the release button on his greaves, which released from his legs with a quiet hiss.

"Considering swapping the colors?" Castis asked as Garrus finished placing his greaves on the armor stand. Gauntlets next, he thought absentmindedly as he reached for their release button. Another hiss as he pulled away each gauntlet and placed it on the stand.

"As a matter of fact, I was-" Caelia trilled once more.

"Didn't know you had an interest in clothing design, Cas," Corinthus called over from his corner. Based on the lack of metal-on-metal noise, Garrus assumed that the general had already finished removing his armor and had now proceeded to pull on his dress blues.

Double-time, Vakarian, you don't want to think that you can't perform a simple task like removing your own damn armor. (Which he had rarely done aboard either Normandy, as the presence of Wrex and Grunt had made him a bit nervous, especially when he was sleeping.) He carefully extended his bare talon underneath his collar and released the heavier chest piece, which he lifted off and set on the stand.

"Retirement has left me with too much spare time, Cor…perhaps I should take up art lessons, Ms. Vibius? You could teach me the basics," he added with a laugh, which Caelia promptly joined in on. Garrus, now bare-scaled, reached for his dress blues, but as he did so, his omni-tool flashed on the table. He quietly opened it, and was greeted by two of his most desperate purchases on Omega: the green, gold, and blue causal wear suit he'd worn during his first night with Shepard, and the unopened wine bottle that had been concealed within them, followed by the following message. Green isn't your color, little brother. And I wouldn't feed this wine to the rhachni.

Crap.

"Do you require any assistance, Mr. Vakarian?" Caelina's voice suddenly from the other side of the screen, which made him jump.

He quickly shut his omni-tool and cleared his throat. "Uh, no, just trying to figure out where the zippers are on these blues," he fibbed as he quickly reached for said blues and frantically realized that said zippers they weren't where he expected them to be.

"Mmm…Cae, you might want to assist my son, it's been quite some time since he was required to wear the turian dress blues, and rumor has it you altered your zipper designs," Castis suggested, with just a hint of mischief in his subvocals.

"I completely forgot, you said he's been helping out that human Spectre for these past few years-" Caelia said as he heard her chair scrape the floor as she stood up. "'Lina, the uniform," she commanded as he heard her talons snatch something off the table.

Must be the cover story my dad's going with, Garrus thought as the younger female appeared on his side of the screen, her attention blessedly focused solely on undoing the zippers on his blues and not Garrus' bare-scaled form beside her. (Not that nudity in a mixed locker room was uncommon or cause for shame, but some warning would have been appreciated.) Seconds later, Caelia herself appeared in front of him, her eyes traveling over what felt like every inch of him.

"Well, I see that you've managed to stay fit aboard their ships," the elder Vibius commented, her subvocals humming with approval. "Cas, how has your youngest not found himself a mate yet with his coloring and waistline?"

Now, it's awkward, Garrus thought as he felt his body temperature rise. While turians didn't "blush" like other species, their body temperature would rise noticeably and any vocalizations (spoken or subvocals) would quickly reveal any of humiliation. Fortunately, his father spoke from the table before Garrus' voice was required to betray his embarrassment.

"My son takes his civic duties very seriously, Cae," Castis said, his voice growing louder as the sound of footsteps approached his changing corner while both Vibius females began manipulating his legs into the bottom half of the uniform. As he did so, Garrus heard the faint subvocal that was his cue to make direct eye contact with his father. "Chasing down Saren, hunting down his remaining geth-"

"Heard you put the final bullet in his head," Corinthus interjected as he joined Castis, now clad his own dress blues. Great, just what I wanted: my father and his general friend interrogating me about Saren while strange women treat me like a fitting dummy.

"I-" Garrus stammered, but was interrupted by the sensation of turian hands fumbling near his waistline and uncomfortably close to his groin. He looked down to the elder Vibius holding a measuring tape and taking measurements around his lower body.

"Almost exactly what your sister told us, too," Caelia muttered as she moved from limb to limb.

Garrus looked back up at the unfazed Caelina, who now held the unfastened upper half of dress blues. "Don't mind Grandmother, she just wants to make sure your second outfit fits you perfectly," she said as she gracefully sidestepped her grandmother to move behind him. "If you'd please hold your arms behind you…"

Garrus complied. As he extended his arms behind him, he met both his father's and Corinthus' gazes again and realized he'd failed to answer his earlier question. Do things right or don't do them at all, his father's words echoed in his mind. With a brief glance at his father, Garrus took a deep breath as the sleeves of the jacket slid up his arms. "To be honest, sir, Saren actually killed himself at first," he began as the garment reached his shoulders and Caelia finished measuring what seemed to be every inch of torso.

Corinthus raised his browplates, clearly surprised. "Oh?" he said with a glance at his father. Castis simply crossed his arms as his mandibles flicked, which Garrus took to mean that he was on his own now.

Garrus looked down and spotted something that looked like a zipper near the base of his torso. He clasped it between his talons as he glanced briefly at Caelina, who gave a slight nod. Garrus returned with his own nod of thanks before bringing the zipper up to just below the collar. "Right after we cornered him in the Presidium, Shepard attempted to talk him into handing over control to her," Garrus continued as Caelina slowly walked around him in what he assumed was an inspection of the uniform. "She told him that he could still redeem himself." As he finished, Caelina disappeared out of view behind him, where he could hear two sets of approving subvocals. I'll take that as a good sign, he thought as Caelina emerged in front of him again and motioned for him to lift his arms as she scanned his body with her omni-tool. Garrus obeyed.

Corinthus glanced over at his father before returning his attention to Garrus. "Saren's response?"

"Pressed the barrel of his own pistol to his head-"

"And pulled the trigger," Caelia finished with a heavy sigh.

In short order, Garrus dropped his arms, shot a confused look at his father (who appeared utterly unsurprised at Caelia's comment) before turning around to face the elder Vibius who appeared to be quietly contemplating the garment in her hands with a forlorn expression.

"How do you know that?" he asked curiously. In the aftermath of Sovereign's attack on the Citadel, the "official" story had been that the geth were responsible, and that Saren was nothing more than a rouge Spectre working in conjunction with them, as only three individuals had witnessed Saren's suicide: him, Kaidan Alenko, and Shepard.

"I told her," Castis answered in his matter-of-fact tone.

Garrus shot another look at his father and began to open his mouth to ask why, but as he did so, Caelinus appeared next to his grandmother and placed his hands gently upon his grandmother's shoulders. As he leaned in, placed his forehead on hers, and began to make soothing subvocalizations as she continued to stare at the suit in her talons…and as he did so, Garrus noticed that her grandson's rather pronounced cheek plates "cheek crests" bore an unmistakable scar pattern of being surgically reduced. Come to think of it, I've seen that cheek plate structure before-oh, spirits, they can't be-

"I thought she deserved to know the truth of how her beloved great-nephew died," his father answered. "As you've hopefully deduced by Caelinus' altered faceplates…"

Garrus closed his mouth as his mandibles flicked involuntarily. "I…Ms. Vibius, I had no idea-" he began, but was halted

"Nor would we expect you to, Mr. Vakarian," Caelinus replied as he turned from his grandmother. "My twin and I used to be ashamed that we were Arterius in blood only, but when Saren was denounced by the Council and attacked the Citadel…well, our grandmother's maiden name became a lot less desirable," he finished as he busied himself with

"'Ren was never the same after the death of his brother at Temple Palaven," Caelia began sadly, he attention still focused on the garment as she began tracing a design with her talon. "And it was so soon after Relay 314…"

"Temple Palaven? That place that blew up when I was young?" Garrus asked as he looked at his father for confirmation.

Castis nodded. "Official reports say it was an accident…" he began as shot Corinthus a disbelieving sideways glance.

Corinthus sighed. "…but some less-trusting turians have speculated that we were experimenting with some sort of hybrid turian/robotic technology, and that we simply destroyed the place to cover our tracks, given that we'd already agreed to the Council's ceasefire-" he finished with a grumble. "Again with this conspiracy theory?"

"Valeria heard stories from other mothers, Cor…stories that worried even her," his father retorted.

As Castis and Corinthus began what sounded like a quiet argument over Relay 314 Incident history, Garrus took a moment to process this information as he recalled his own research on Saren during his days at C-Sec. Robotic tech? While pictures of Saren were few and far between, Garrus had been able to uncover a photo from the days of the First Contact War, and he definitely looked far less robotic-looking in those pictures than he did when the trouble with Eden Prime started. Sovereign's influence, most likely. Garrus decided to test a theory as he approached Caelia, who was still staring at the article of clothing, oblivious to the cool disagreement of Castis and Corinthus in front of them. "Ms. Vibius…" Garrus began as he gently laid his gloved talons over Caelia's bare one, "You know about Sovereign then, don't you?"

"-we dropped rocks on them, Cor. Bit overkill, considering how long it took us to do so for the krogan-"

"His secret alien ship," she confirmed with a nod. "Capable of some sort of mind control?" she asked as she looked up at him with a curious look.

"-we had no idea what their intentions were-"

"Not exactly," Garrus corrected with a shake of his head while a spirited debate regarding the ethics of weapons development after a cease-fire continued behind him. "They more or less…influence you…over time, and it can take years for it to reach full effect."

"-they were protecting their assets, it makes sense that they sent a fleet that size through-"

Caelia dropped her gaze back to the outfit. "Our family never questioned him when he told us he was busy with Council work…but every so often, I wondered if he had been up to something more nefarious…" she finished with a final sort of sigh. "And there's more of them out there?"

Garrus nodded, his gray talons still resting upon the elder's brown ones. "Shepard's managed to delay them twice," he began as he instinctively crossed his arms over his chest. "But it took everything the Citadel had just to defeat Sovereign." And even then, we still couldn't convince the galaxy that the Reapers were an actual threat-

"Spirits watch over us all," Caelia sighed as she hugged the outfit close to her chest. "Well, as much as I wanted to see this on you," she sighed as she extended her arms out to him and motioned for him to take the outfit in her outstretched arms, "I sense that you and the general have important work to return to."

Garrus examined the upper portion: The design consisted of nothing more than simple gold lines and two strips of dark blue down the front of the torso. "Sol had you make this, didn't she?"

Caelia nodded. "The blue and gold will bring out your eyes and your shape quite nicely," Caelia said. "It'll be sure to turn the heads of any females you might encounter while wearing it," she finished as her voiced trilled a bit at the end.

Garrus closed his eyes and hugged the garment close to his chest, Shepard…if we ever lay eyes on each other again, this will be the next thing I let you see me in if I'm out of my armor, he half thought, half-prayed as he opened his eyes and nodded his thanks at Caelia. "I promise I'll save it for someone special, Ms. Vibius," he said. At this moment, Garrus' omni-tool began beeping loudly, three short tones, followed by three longer tones, which finished with the same three short tones.

Crap, he thought. The ancient human emergency tones had been specifically reserved for one particular message subject

All eyes were on Garrus as he shifted the outfit under one arm and brought up his omni-tool with the other, the orange glow illuminating the space between him and Caelia. "Report," Garrus began as a knot formed somewhere in the pit of his stomach.

"All comms from Taetrus have gone dark, sir" Celsus' voice crackled. Garrus glanced at Corinthus, who immediately opened his own omni-tool…and whatever the general was reading, it wasn't good, as his browplates furrowed together and his mandibles began flicking.

Garrus' heart sank. "Source?"

"A scouting patrol saw Reapers coming through just before they entered the relay," Celsus continued." "We've been trying to raise them without success."

Crap. Garrus heard the sound of Corinthus typing on his omni-tool.

"Any other reports?"

"Possibly invasion into batarian space? Tert just found human reports of massive batarian movements into their Exodus Cluster."

Corinthus positioned himself next to Garrus. "My shuttle. Now," Corinthus ordered calmly while systematically began removing his dress blues and handing them to Caelina, who quickly folded them as they were handed off and stowed them in a small bag.

"Aye, sir," Celsus answered as Garrus closed his omni-tool and began following Corinthus' example. As he began removing the upper part of his dress blues, he noticed that Corinthus had already completely shed his blues and had pulled on his greaves before Garrus had time to remove his own upper half. Damn, he's quick.

Castis brought up his own omni-tool. "One of us should tell Fedorian," he suggested calmly as the Vibius twins continued to pack away outfits.

"Already did, and I told him we'll be on Menae in ten," Corinthus said as he started on his boots next.

"Are they here?" Caelia asked as she dropped to one knee to retrieve Garrus' outfit, which had fallen from his arms in the tumult.

Garrus, half-naked, looked at the half-armored General Corinthus, who answered his unasked question with a nod. "They are," he answered her.

Just as she warned us.

A/N: I am making all efforts to work on both stories, and I will alternate which one gets updated as my scant free time allows. For those of you still reading, seriously, thank you…and for newcomers, welcome!