Unna'Koris: Where do you want to begin, Lady Tali'Zorah?
Tali'Zorah: Please, Unna. Here in my home, it's just Tali.
UK: Yes, Lady Tali.
TZ: (Laughs) Close enough, I suppose the best place to start is when I met the Commander.
UK: On the old Citadel, on your pilgrimage correct?
TZ: Yes, I was about your age, and I had uncovered information from a heratic geth's memory core. I had scheduled a meeting with the shadow broker. I knew it was going to be the most important meeting of my life, but I didn't know just how much my life would change…
Chapter 1: Pilgrim
Tali checked her suit's warnings again as she walked to the meeting with the shadow broker. She still have half a dozen infections, but the patch in her suit was holding up and Dr. Michel had refilled her supply of immuno boosters and given her plenty of anti-biotics, so she only had a slight fever and a runny nose. A small price to pay for what she was about to do. In exchange for her information, Tali wanted the shadow broker to get her a small ship to take back to the migrant fleet. Combined with the data on the geth, it would be a pilgrimage gift that would make even her father proud.
Maybe. Rael'Zorah was notoriously hard to please, even if you were his only daughter. Her bosh'tet of a father hadn't even bothered to send her off on her pilgrimage in person, leaving her a message she never even finished watching. But how could he ignore the gift of an entire ship and data that could retake the homeworld?
"Maybe he will even say 'I love you.' For once." Tali muttered to herself.
She shook her head. Focus. No time to dwell.
The hallway in the wards she had chosen for the meet was poorly lit, but that was hardly an encumbrance for Tali. Her suit easily showed all the nooks and crannies, and the several well armed mercenaries waiting for her.
A turian strode up to her. "Where's the Shadow Broker?" Tali asked, "Where's Fist?"
"Oh they will be here," The turian said it too-sweet tones as he fingered Tali's suit. "Where's the evidence?"
Slapping his hand away, Tali cased the mercs. Two Salarians, and a couple of humans. And a well armed party was sneaking down the hallway behind the mercs, looked like they had a krogan with them. This could get messy, fast.
"No way, the deals off." Tali readied one of the many small explosives she kept on her person, and as the salarians drew their weapons she pushed the turian away and threw it, ducking for a corner as she drew her shotgun. But to her surprise, as the sound of gunfire and screams filled the air, she realized no one was shooting at her.
Out of the smoke stepped one of the most massive krogan Tali had ever seen, though admittedly she had not seen many krogan in the migrant fleet. This one had a large scar over his right eye. For a moment, they both stared down the barrels of their shot guns at each other, then the krogan grunted.
"All clear Shepard." The krogan holstered his gun and walked off, and a human flanked by another turian approached.
Tali stood, and the turian spoke, "That's her, Commander. The quarian from Dr. Michel's office."
They knew Dr. Michel? Perhaps they were here to help. "Fist set me up!" Tali raged, though she kept her shotgun handy. Humans were new on the galactic scene, and something of an unknown quantity to quarians. "I knew he would turn on me."
'What I get for trusting a human.' Tali thought, and wondered if this human would be any better.
To Tali's surprise, the human removed his helmet and looked her up and down. "Were you hurt in the fight?" He asked with what seemed to be genuine concern.
Taken aback, Tali put up a bold front, "I know how to look after myself, not that I don't appreciate the help. Who are you?"
The human smiled, and Tali felt herself blushing, though she tried to convince herself it was just her fever.
"My name is Commander Shepard with the Alliance, and I am looking for evidence that Saren is a traitor to the council."
"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life, but I would prefer it if we talked somewhere safer."
The turian spoke again, "We can take her to the human embassy, your ambassador will want to see this as well."
Shepard nodded. "Good idea, Garrus. Will you come with us, Miss …?"
Tali started, this human was actually asking for her name? Everyone had just called her suit-rat or quarian since she left the fleet. "Tali'Zorah nar Rayya."
The human nodded. "My turian friend here is Garrus Vakarian," Shepard gestured to the krogan," and this is Urdnot Wrex. Come on, we need to move fast."
As they hustled through the ward, Tali tried to figure out just what she was getting into. Humans were new on the galactic scene, relatively speaking, but were already more powerful politically and economically than many races that had been on the Citadel for years. They didn't have much of a reputation on the fleet, as a levo-amino species, quarians didn't really have much reason to visit human worlds. All the briefs Tali had seem on them described them as adaptable, and neither hostile nor welcoming to quarians as a general rule. But this human, Commander Shepard, seemed to at the very least see quarians as equal beings. Something of a rarity for older council species.
As they moved, two more humans in military hardsuits joined them, jogging up alongside Shepard.
"How'd it go commander?" The female asked.
For some reason, Tali didn't really like her.
"Just fine Chief Williams. You and Lieutenant Alenko secure the clinic?"
"Yes sir, a couple more mercs came knockin', but we scared them off. Dr. Michal will be just fine."
"Good work, Williams, Alenko. Head back to the Normandy, I have a feeling after this we might have a new deployment."
"Aye, aye Commander." The two humans chorused, and as they approached the taxi docking bay they broke off and headed toward C-Sec.
Tali climbed into the taxi with Shepard and the rest, drawing a look from the turian driver.
"Suit-rat." He didn't say anything, but Tali could read his expression. He didn't seem to like the krogan either, but while turians had no problems sticking it to quarians, only well armed, suicidal turians stuck it to krogan.
"Where to sir?" He asked Shepard.
"The human embassy, and fast." Shepard said, swiping his credit chit.
The turian's eyes lit up. He might not like having a suit-rat and a krogan in his taxi, but he liked big spending humans just fine.
"Yes sir." The taxi driver said, and proved that no matter where in the galaxy you were, taxi drivers still drove like bosh'tets.
During the short ride, Tali found herself noticing that her leg was rubbing up against Shepard's as they sat across from each other. She tried to convince herself that her body temperature was just rising because of the fever, but she also studied Shepard's face.
He oozed an easy charisma, and Tali realized she had trusted him ever since he spoke to her. His words were kind, calm, and authoritative. Much like her father, he didn't get his authority from rank, but from the fact he inspired others to trust and respect him just by being present. Of course, Rael'Zorah would have never appreciated being compared to a human, but never the less it was there.
Tali also caught herself noticing how handsome the human was. His features were remarkably Quarian-like, though the square jaw and rounded ears were different, it made him seem more handsome to Tali, a bit exotic even. She mentally kicked herself, now was no time to fall for dashing alien commanders, even if they did have a strong jaw and saved her from dangerous mercs. And didn't call her suit rat, and seemed to think of her as an actual being worthy of treating with respect.
"It's just the fever." Tali muttered to herself, making sure her suits audio speakers were disabled. One convenience of living in a suit, you never looked like you were talking to yourself.
When they climbed out of the cab, Tali noticed Shepard had a cute butt too.
"Keelah, what is WRONG with me!" Tali breathed. Noticing a human had a cute butt was not something a quarian on pilgrimage was supposed to do, especially one that was Rael'Zorah's daughter.
She got plenty of looks crossing the embassy courtyard to the human embassy, though not as many as the massive, well armed Wrex. A quarian in the presidium was an oddity. A krogan in the presidium was a disaster. Tali felt for Wrex, though he seemed to be enjoying it, leering at passersby who dared stare at him. And yet Commander Shepard forged on, as if he dared the world to question his choice in companions. Several people looked like they were ready to stop this brash human and his strange group, but one look at Wrex and they thought better of it.
Going to the human embassy was a bit painful for Tali. Her own people had been tossed out of their embassy when their own synthetic servents, the geth, threw them off their planet after a long, bloody war. Most of the quarian people had died, and only a remnant of a remnant had lived on in exile. They had found no succor or help from the other races of the galaxy, cast out as an example to all those who would dare meddle with AI. It had created an insular culture, and Tali longed for the comfort of her own kind. Humans who treated her like Shepard she could get used to though.
They entered into the embassy, and Tali was impressed. It was rather large and well appointed, compared to species like the elcor or volus. Two human males stood at the balcony of the embassy. One was dark skinned and in a military uniform, the other was older and lighter skinned, and had his back to Tali.
Without turning, the lighter human spoke, "You are not making my life easy, Shepard. Firefights in the wards, and a full scale assault on Chora's Den!"
He turned, and his eyes went straight to Tali. She tried not to flinch, the daughter of Rael'Zorah shouldn't let something as simple as racism bother her. But it did. Back home, she was loved, respected, even looked up to for her engineering skills. Here, she was worse than garbage. A suit rat.
"And what's this," the human spat, "a quarian?" Tali inwardly flinched again, "what are you up to Shepard?"
Tali melted a little when Shepard stepped between the angry human and her, as if to protect her. She had just met Shepard, but he was already ready to stand up for her against what had to be not only his superior but one of the most powerful humans in the galaxy. No wonder a powerful krogan and an arrogant turian followed him unquestioningly. Tali decided right then and there. No matter what this human was after, no matter where he was going to go, she had to go with him. Whatever he was doing, this Saren was with the geth, and that meant trouble for the migrant fleet. As a quarian, and especially as an admiral's daughter, Tali had an obligation to protect the fleet. And besides, Shepard did have a cute butt.
"I am here to make your day Ambassador. This is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, and she has important evidence that will prove our case about Saren."
There Shepard went again, treating her as if she was a real being. If he wasn't careful, Tali was going to have to come up with a new excuse for all her blushing. Once again, Tali was very grateful for her suit shielding her emotions from those around her.
"Really? Is that so?" The Ambassador turned to Tali. "Well, Miss nar Rayya, we don't see many quarians here on the citadel, what made you leave the flotilla?" He said it as if the flotilla was the only appropriate place for a quarian, and surely not in the exalted human embassy.
Tali straightened up a bit more, this human was getting her back up, but her message was important. "I was on my pilgrimage, my right of passage into adulthood."
"A pilgrimage? I've never heard of this. Is it a tradition among your people?" Shepard asked, smiling at Tali. He was probably deliberately trying to calm her down, but she didn't mind.
"It's a tradition among my people. We leave the ships of our parents and set out among the stars, searching for something of value to take back to the flotilla. We return only when we have something to bring back and prove ourselves worthy of adult hood."
The way the ambassador scowled at her, Tali was sure he had never considered that a quarian might have a legitimate reason to venture to the citadel. Or maybe he just figured Tali was here to steal something. That's what most people figured when they saw a quarian.
"What sort of things do you look for Tali?" Shepard asked, as if trying to show the ambassador that this quarian had a good reason to be here.
"Food, fuel, or even technology. Something to show we will be a productive member of society that will contribute to our limited resources instead of being a drain." She shot the "drain" part straight at the human ambassador, implying that he was a drain on the humans resources, but the human didn't seem to notice.
"Sounds like you found something valuable alright, why don't you tell the ambassador what you found." Shepard said, looking to his superior in an almost "I told you so" expression.
"During my travels I heard reports of geth activity, since the geth drove my people off of our homeworld, Rannoch, they have not ventured beyond the veil. I was curious. I tracked them down and separated one from its patrol and disabled it. I managed to salvage a data core with an audio log on it."
The dark military human spoke up. "I thought the geth fried their memory cores when they were captured, some kind of defense mechanism." He didn't seem to be as hostile as the ambassador, but he didn't seem to trust Tali either.
For the first time, the turian jumped in on the conversation, "Yes that's true, how exactly did you manage to preserve the memory core?" His tone was very respectful, even a bit jealous. Tali found herself reevaluating her opinion of him as arrogant. Most turians treated quarians like pests, but this Garrus seemed to be willing to judge Tali on her own merits.
"My people created the geth. If you are quick, careful and lucky, you can salvage some useful data before the core can wipe itself. Most of the geth's memory core was wiped clean, but I managed to salvage something from its audio banks."
Garrus nodded. "Yes, that would work. You must be a very skilled engineer, even with my C-Sec training I would have be very lucky to get anything at all."
The ambassador gestured to Tali, as if resigned to his fate. "Alright, let's hear it."
Tali pulled up the audio log on her omni tool, and Saren's voice oozed out. "Eden prime was a major victory for us, the beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the conduit."
"That's Saren's voice!" Exclaimed the human officer. "That proves he was involved in the attack on Eden Prime!"
Looking thoughtful, Shepard mused, "he said Eden Prime brought him one step closer to finding the conduit. Any ideas what that is Captain?"
The military human shook his head. "Maybe it's some kind of prothean technology. Like a weapon perhaps?"
Tali interrupted the human's, wanting to show Shepard the last bit of evidence and perhaps help solve the mystery of the Conduit. "Wait, there's more. Saren wasn't working alone."
A deep asari voice came out of the omnitool this time. "And one step closer to the return of the Reapers."
The ambassador listened, now taking Tali seriously, then turned to Shepard. "I don't recognize that other voice, the one talking about 'Reapers'."
Shepard turned to Tali. He really did seem to respect her opinion. "Are they some kind of new alien species?"
Happy she could answer the question, Tali pulled up the memory cores logs. "According to data I salvaged from the memory core, they were some kind of hyper advanced machine race that existed 50,000 years ago. The reapers hunted the protheans to total extinction, then vanished!" Tali realized she was sounding a bit manic, and calmed down before adding, "At least, that's what the geth believe."
The ambassador sniffed and turned away from Tali, folding his arms. "Sounds a little farfetched!"
But again, Shepard sprang to Tali's defense. " No, Tali is right, the vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now. I saw the protheans being wiped out by the Reapers!"
A vision? From the protheans? Tali had to proceed cautiously, a light that was maybe obsession, maybe madness burned in Shepard's eyes when he spoke of the vision and Eden Prime.
"The geth revere the Reapers as gods, the pinnacle of synthetic life. And the geth think Saren knows how to bring the reapers back," She explained.
The ambassador shook his head. "Oh, the council is going to love this." He said sarcastically.
But the human captain jumped in, "No matter what they think about the rest of it, those audio files prove Saren is a traitor and he was behind the attack on Eden prime!"
The ambassador seemed to reach the same conclusion. "You are right captain. We need to show the council this as soon as possible."
For the first time since rescuing her, Wrex spoke. "What about her, the quarian?"
She wanted to scream at him "I am a person!" But she just said, "My name is Tali! You saw me in the alley commander, you know what I can do! Let me come with you!" She tried to keep the pleading out of her voice, but she knew she was begging.
Instead of dismissing the idea of a quarian coming along, Shepard expressed concern for her. "What about your Pilgrimage, your people? Don't you need to worry about them?"
"The pilgrimage proves we are willing to give of ourselves for the greater good. I can't imagine a more important service to my people then stopping the geth and Saren. I can't turn my back on this."
Shepard nodded, and extended his hand. Tali grasped it. "I will take all the help I can get. Welcome aboard, Miss nar Rael."
The gesture of clasping hands was fairly universal, though it did feel odd to hold a hand with so many fingers. How did the humans ever manage to get anything done with so many extra digits getting in the way?
"Thanks! You won't regret this." Tali tried not to sound like a bubbling school girl, but touching Shepard's hand, even with all the extra fingers, made her feel giddy.
"I will call an emergency meeting with the council, and then we will head up to the tower. You head there straight away with Miss nar Rael." The ambassador said, then turned his back to make the call.
Shepard turned to the krogan and slapped his arm. "Well Wrex, it was good to have you on the mission. I'm sure you need to turn in your bounty on Fist. I don't suppose I could convince you to stick around?"
Wrex let out a deep belly laugh. "Shepard, you couldn't keep me off this mission with a gun. There's a storm building, and you're right at the center of it with Saren. There's going to be some good fights, and I want to be there for them. "
Shepard nodded. "Excellent. Pack your gear and head for the Normandy. I think it's time we bring to storm to Saren."
Turning to the turian, Shepard shook hands with him. "Well Garrus, you have been a great help in this investigation. Feel like you can handle being in front of the council again?"
"Wouldn't miss it for the world, Shepard. I want to see the look on Executor Palin's face when you get to say, 'I told you so.'"Garrus said, drawing back his mandibles in a smile.
As she followed Shepard to the citadel tower, Tali wondered aloud to herself, "What am I getting myself into? A turian? A krogan? A human? What kind of crazy mission is this going to be? I'll make you proud father."
Unna'Koris: Would you call it love at first sight?
Tali'Zorah: No, not quite. It was more respect at first sight on Shepard's part, and I was a giddy, feverish girl who had just lived through a fire fight. Love is more than just getting rescued by a handsome human with a cute butt. It was a beginning though. The seeds of love were planted then to be sure, but it took a long time for them to really bloom. Those first heady days were exciting, to be sure, but back then, Shepard didn't notice me that way.
UK: How did Shepard notice you?
TZ (smiling): As I said, with respect. He was the first alien on my pilgrimage to treat me with real respect. And as I would learn, he was far from the only one to do so.