So the summons sunlight thing is for warmth? Gotta say I'm getting jealous of some of you. Then again. You had to deal with moths. So maybe that balances out.
I can imagine. 220, please. [He feels a twinge of guilt for not being there.] I wanted to help, but--Armada had other plans.
[Does he sound bitter to you? He might be a little teeny bit bitter. He's the camp's prettiest lawn ornament, or something.] All the Blues had to watch over our haul, though. [His tone switches to smug. Poor bastards.] And then, well--this mission happened.
[One thing after the other. He begins mixing pancake mix, using separate sets of bowls and separate dishware. He takes his friends' health seriously.]
Most people here, most people from your world. Not most people from my world. Or galaxy. Alien 101 - gotta have a bigger perspective. One world's a tiny place, one culture's a tiny thing.
But you've got a good start. You're already working to wrap your head around things.
[He starts up the oven, already getting more than a little curious.]
What'd Armada want? And what's 'this' mission?
[Garrus makes airquotes around 'this' as he comes over to watch what Noh-Varr is doing. The separate bowls are a relief. He knows people who are used to dextro and levo who slip up.
Reaching over, Garrus grabs one of the whisks and starts stirring.]
He wanted me to keep guard in front of his and Warriorhead's rover. I'm not kidding. [He runs a hand through his hair, visibly a little annoyed. The camp's prettiest lawn ornament.] They came back--Warriorhead was single-handedly dragging along an adult frostbrood. I heard Armada was at the site, helping to rescue the recruits, so they must not have been out hunting the entire time.
[Maybe Warriorhead went alone.]
And more recently--we set up the targeting server. Ghost and Neheda took us to the mountains, east of here. Sector R. [His voice mellows out, and his expression turns a little more grim. Ajna's days are numbered. On the one hand, the sooner this frozen goes gets wiped, the happier he'll be, on the other...well. It's still planetary destruction. Nothing he's never seen before, but nothing to make him too happy, either.
On the bright side, he's finished mixing. On the oven dish, he makes two large flat discs with the mixtures, making sure they don't touch.]
[His voice is quiet as he keeps stirring. Had they turned over the other captain's head yet? Is there something else that they're keeping in there? But it's not like he has any cause to investigate. Above all, he has to worry about his world.
The other news is much more grim, though.]
And that means the mission is nearing its end.
[He doesn't give a care about Ajna. It's cold, the life isn't sentient enough to worry Garrus, and everything on the planet wants to eat him. What worries Garrus is the possibility that the next world will be inhabited by a civilization. By people. Because sooner or later it's going to come down to math, how many lives he has to sacrifice to save others, and he does not want to speed that up.
As Noh-Varr pours the stuff out, Garrus watches and crosses his arms.]
They give any sort of agenda, or timeline? Or just had you set it up?
[He scoffs, shrugging, and pops the dish in the oven.]
You think they tell us things? Funny. No, aside from giving us a deadline on getting the job done--but it's days, now, probably. How many, I can't say.
[Noh-Varr had, and is having, the same thoughts Garrus just did. How much can he put on the line for Earth?]
While we were up there, we saw something. A creature of unknown origin, presumably native to this place. Two of the hunting teams had encounters with it. [Saying-without-saying: that's an awful lot of territory for one beast to travel.]
[Of course they hadn't said. But so soon... They were efficient. Of course they were. It's a business.]
What did it look like, or seem like, this creature?
[Two teams. One sector isn't so huge, but at the same time, they spread the teams out. So it's fast-traveling. And apparently something they haven't seen before. A chill goes through Garrus. Is there actually a sentient race here, after all?]
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