**Garrus POV**
Garrus was running on the treadmill when the news of the shuttle being destroyed came through the channels. He got off the treadmill and immediately headed toward the Command Center, leaving his bag behind him. Garrus hoped that the information was incorrect. He had been overly excited when the interference coming from Juxhi subsided a bit, allowing for communication to go through.
He had heard Dr. Lang and her assistant were requesting a pick-up, and Garrus had volunteered to go, but Nihlus had asked Maenia to fly the shuttle instead. At this point, it didn't matter who went to pick up the doctor and the assistant; Garrus was just glad that they were being picked up.
He was a bit upset because he wanted to see Aster again after not seeing her for so long. While there had been no communication coming from Juhix, Garrus did a bit of digging and found the true reason why Nihlus had asked him to join him and why Aster and the asari were on board.
It turned out that the Aster was the undercover agent and was sent to investigate a possible A.I allegation against a known Alliance Hero. The identity of the Hero or the agents was not named anywhere in the files Garrus was able to find. He could only assume it was to protect the identity of the agents in the event that the files fell into the wrong hands.
"What happened?" Garrus barged into the Command Center. "What did they say?"
"Not much," Nihlus replied, glancing at him. "Shuttle went down."
"Impossible," Garrus stated, outraged. "That shuttle was in top shape. It-"
"I know," Nihlus said in a tight voice. "Maenia took my personal shuttle."
Garrus was speechless. He hadn't realized Nihlus had sent Maenia with his shuttle; he rarely let anyone touch his prized possession.
"Has the Council been notified?" Garrus asked, going over to the console. "They would want to know-"
"Garrus," Nihlus said, drawing Garrus's attention to him. "I know how to do my job."
"I-I didn't-" Garrus couldn't believe what he had said.
Of course, Nihlus knew how to do his job. He was a Spectre and a Captain. Garrus was just worried about Aster.
Nihlus dismissed what Garrus was able to say; he knew Garrus didn't mean anything about it.
"The Council wants us to pick up the survivors," Nihlus replied, nonchalantly. "Their exact words were 'bring back the intel,' they don't care much about anything else."
"Doesn't matter who has the intel," Garrus interpreted. "As long as they have it."
"Exactly," Nihlus replied. "How hard can that be?"
It turned out to be harder than Garrus and Nihlus had expected. The two of them took the spare shuttle down to Juxhi and were met by the wannabe security "investigating" the crime scene. Most of the security personnel were asari and humans, no turians, or any other species.
"Sir," an asari said as the pair of them disembarked near the crash site. "You're not allowed to be here."
"Who's in charge?" Nihlus asked, ignoring her statement.
"Sergeant Salas," replied an asari, pointing to the Sergeant who was speaking with a human and another asari.
"Over there," Nihlus said to Garrus, indicating to the direction where the Sergeant was. "Let me do the talking."
As they approached, Ms. Ka'li said something to the Sergeant, who immediately turned in their direction.
"You here for them?" the Sergeant asked, not waiting for an introduction.
'She must be part Krogan, ' Garrus thought, following Nihlus's lead.
"Captain Kryik," Nihlus introduced himself. "I'm hoping you can tell me what happened."
"Shuttle had a malfunction," she replied. "These two are lucky to be alive."
"What of the third passenger?" Nihlus asked. "My manifest confirmed three individuals had departed. I only see two."
"Unknown," the Sergeant replied, not elaborating. "The crash is under investigation."
"If that's the case," Nihlus began, not liking where the conversation was going. "I will be taking my people with me."
"Well-"
"Thank you for your help," Nihlus interrupted. "If you have any further questions, send a request through the proper channels."
Nihlus beckoned Ms. Ka'li and Maenia to follow them as they headed back to the shuttle. No one spoke until they had departed and docked on the battlecruiser.
"What happened?" Nihlus asked, his subvocal voice angry.
"I don't know," Maenia replied. "Everything was fine until we got up in the air. The shuttle wasn't responding to any commands."
"Where is Dr. Lang?" he asked. "She was on board when you departed."
"She didn't jump," Ms. Ka'li answered. "She ordered us to leave. She knew they were after her."
Nihlus stayed silent for a bit, deep in thought.
"Don't speak to anyone about what happened," Nihlus ordered. "I'll let you know when the Council wants to speak with you."
Garrus didn't speak during the whole ordeal. He had become too emotional, which was something unheard of for him. Even though he had only spent a few moments with her, it felt like they had formed a deep connection in such a short time. He couldn't explain it.
After Nihlus contacted the Council, Garrus went into the Command Center and set up his scanner to pick up any traces of Dr. Lang's DNA signature. As his scanners, auto-search Juxhi, Garrus started looking for anything related to Dr. Lang's mission. He wasn't told much about the mission, but now was the perfect time to start asking questions.
Garris knew that the Council always turned to the Spectres for help when a covert operation needed to take place. He just wondered what had changed for them to send Aster to retrieve information.
The next couple of days were a blur. Garrus spent most of his time in the Command Center, calibrating the scanner to pick up anything remotely similar to Dr. Lang's signature.
Maenia stopped by many times to try to draw him into a conversation, but he just ignored her and went back to his task. He had to find Dr. Lang; he promised her that they would come and get her. Nihlus even began to ask him questions about his behavior, but Garrus wouldn't tell him.
On the fifth day of searching, Garrus decided to take a nap when his monitor began beeping, startling him awake. It took him a moment to recognize where the noise was coming from. Upon further inspection, Garrus saw that one of the tracking monitors had found a surge in energy. This energy was being recognized by the scanners as Dr. Lang's signature.
Garrus ran the energy again, getting a matching percentage of 85. He would have preferred a 100 percent match, but at this point, anything was useful.
"Nihlus," Garrus said after dialing the Captain through his omni-tool.
Nihlus's face soon appeared; he didn't look happy. "What?"
"I found something," Garrus replied, containing his excitement. "85% match."
"On my way," he replied, ending the call.
While he waited, Garrus reran the scanner for the third time just in case. The matching sequence was completed when Nihlus walked in, a cup of coffee in hand.
"What's the diagnostics?" He asked, walking closer.
"Still 85% percent," Garrus replied as the sequence finished. "Ran it three times already."
"Get a shuttle ready," He ordered. "Bring Banria with you."
"Yes, sir," Garrus replied.
Once the shuttle was ready to depart, Dr. Banria and Garrus waited for Nihlus to brief them.
"We don't know what we'll find down there," Nihlus said boarding the shuttle. "Stay alert, it could be a trap."
"Shouldn't we bring back up?" Dr. Banria asked.
"We don't want to alert anyone," he replied. "The three of us should be more than enough to handle whatever the humans throw at us."
The ride to Juxhi was quiet except for the occasional chatter from the pilot. Garrus was surprised that there was no security swarming the apparent explosion site.
"What could have caused this?" Garrus asked as the shuttle touched down as close as it could. "There was no indication of an explosion. This looks new."
The three of them drew their weapons and disembarked the shuttle. They did a quick perimeter check and followed Nihlus to the center of the explosion. The smoke wasn't as dense as it seemed from the air, but the smell of burning gasoline was obvious. This was no accident; someone had deliberately set the gasoline off.
"You picking up anything?" Nihlus asked, sweeping the area.
"Nothing," Garrus replied. "Just traces of gasoline."
"Spread out," Nihlus ordered. "Keep moving forward, but stay within seeing range."
"Yes, sir," Garrus and the doctor replied.
Garrus made his way further into the main area of the explosion. There was debris everywhere, piles of metal, wires, pipes, and charred rock.
'Where was the signal coming from?' Nihlus asked over the comms.
'By the center of the crater,' Garrus replied, moving closer to the location. 'I don't see how anyone could have survived.'
'That's what I'm afraid of,' Nihlus said. 'Nothing human would have survived.'
The three of them cautiously made their way deeper into the explosion site, sweeping as they went.
'I heard something,' Dr. Banria said, slowing down a bit.
'Lead the way,' Nihlus replied, letting her take the lead. 'Stay alert.'
"Over there," Garrus called out, noticing an object jutting out from behind a pile of rubble.
The doctor rushed over to where Garrus had indicated while the two of them stood guard.
"It's human," Dr. Banria replied. "I need help getting this off of it."
"Garrus, help the doctor," Nihlus ordered. "I'll stand guard."
Garrus holstered his weapon and helped the doctor move the pile of rubble away from the arm. A few moments went by before the body attached started to appear. Garrus wasn't sure what to expect given the circumstances, but it was nowhere near what began to emerge as the doctor, and he moved the rubble away. He wasn't sure if it was even human anymore.