AN: Here it is, chapter 3. Let's see how it goes.
Halo belongs to 343 Industries and Mass Effect to Bioware
Chapter 3: Inheriting the Mantle
"What?!" the entire group said simultaneously. "Why would you pick vagrants and thieves to be the guardians of life?" Miranda asked.
"My people are not thieves! It is because of Bosh'tets like you that we have to scrounge for scraps! It's almost impossible to a job because everyone is so racist to us!"
"Well maybe if you would just settle down on a planet that wouldn't be a problem!"
"You don't think we haven't tried?! We have tried to settle countless times, but the Council won't let us! Either that or the Turians will just swoop right in saying that they already had claims to the planet even though they didn't! My people are dying! We have tried everything short of retaking Rannoch to survive!"
"Maybe it would be best if you all did!" At that Tali looked as if she had been physically struck. She was left speechless at that statement.
"Enough! Fighting isn't going to do anyone any good! Miranda, you can either stow away those thoughts and opinions right now or leave," Shepard finally intervened. Miranda looked as if she was going to say more, but a quick glare from Shepard stopped her right in those tracks. "Good, now I don't want to hear another word from you Miranda. Lord of Admirals, uh you got a nickname? And why did you choose the Quarians, not that I'm complaining?" Shepard asked throwing another look towards Miranda.
"Yes, most people would call me Master Chief or Chief. During out time, we encountered the Quarians before we left the confines of our own galaxy. The Quarians were a very adaptable species. They were also gifted with electronics, mechanics, and engineering. They helped design and create many of our ships after we encountered them. One of the things that showed their technological expertise was the AIs they created. Our first attempts at AIs were mostly successful. After about seven years they would hit rampancy and die. The Quarians however, created very stable AIs. The Quarians also sought to help everyone they encountered. That is why we chose them. Their selflessness is what drove our decision," Chief replied to Shepard.
"No, we would never create AIs. They're too dangerous. My people learned that the hard way when the Geth rebelled and took our planets from us."
"The Geth? What are you talking about?"
Tali fiddled with her omnitool for a few seconds before an image of a Geth roper was displayed. "We created the Geth over 300 years ago. They were not AIs when we created them, but Vis. We made them to help us do many of the jobs that required lots of physical labor. We kept upgrading them until they became AIs. We never meant to create AIs. We tried to shut them down, we knew Council law prohibited the production of AIs and we didn't want to have slaves. They rebelled, took our planets and killed countless of my people. Now because of them my people are stuck in a fleet of ships with only 17 million Quarians left. And to top it all off we're stuck in these suits!"
Both Chief and Cortana were silent for a few seconds before Chief spoke up again, "then this is your test to see if your people are worthy to uphold the Mantle or not. We can talk about this further in private, but right now we need to focus on the Reapers."
"Good idea, you said that you had schematics to give us to help fight the Reapers right?" Miranda cut in.
"Yes, we have schematics for shielding systems, weapons, and ships to help the galaxy survive the Reapers," Cortana replied to Miranda.
"Good, if you give those to Cerberus we would be able-"
"Absolutely not, you are not giving those to Cerberus. Cerberus is a pro-human terrorist organization. They will use those to weaken all the other races," Shepard butted in. Miranda looked as if she was going to say more, but a look from Shepard cut her down. "How do you plan on giving out those schematics?"
"This Council we keep hearing about might be a good place to start. Maybe we could also go directly to each species military leaders. We are not sure how this galaxy operates at eh moment and what would be the best course of action."
"The Council probably wouldn't listen; they don't ever listen when it comes to the Reapers. But I also don't know of any military leaders that have listened to my warnings of the Reapers except two humans, Admiral Hackett and Councilor Anderson," Shepard responded dejectedly, "I'll have to think about that to find the best course of action."
"Do you mind if we stay with you for the time being. While our ship is being repaired there is not much for us to do. It sounds like you're after the Reapers, so it would be best if we stayed with you."
"I think that would be best as well, if you really are the best soldier the Reclaimers have ever seen, I could certainly use you. Welcome aboard Chief, Cortana. Right there is Grunt, Jack, Kasumi, Zaeed, Mordin, Jacob, and Miranda. You have already met Garrus and Tali here. Also, this ship has an AI installed, EDI. You two are free to move around the ship, just don't break anything. Everyone is dismissed. I'll be in my cabin going over everything that you just said." Everyone began to filter out of the room leaving Shepard, Cortana, and Chief.
"I would like to go exchange data with the EDI, is there somewhere private I can do that, Shepard?"
"Deck three and through the med bay is the AI core. That should do."
"Thank you."
Just as Chief was about to leave, Shepard said to him, "I want you to go to the med bay Chief. Have our doctor do a checkup and short examination on you so in case you get injured she knows what to expect from you."
"That's not necessary; if I do get injured by body should be able to heal fine on its own."
"Chief, if you're going to stay on my ship, I need you to do this."
A short pause, "understood." He then left the briefing room to go the med bay on deck three. Shepard sighed and rubbed his head. It had been a long day. He needed to go rest for a while before they reached Illium to pick up the next two recruits.
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Chakwas heard the door to her med bay open for the second time in a few minutes. The first time a new AI, one that was very lifelike, walked in and proceeded into the AI core after having exchanged greetings with her. As she turned to look at her new guest, she caught sight of what had to be the biggest person she had ever seen. He was wearing very high tech looking armor which made him look very intimidating. "What can I help you with?" She asked.
"Shepard wanted me to come here to receive a medical examination."
"Right, let's get to it then. If you could take off your armor and put on this gown for me that would be lovely. I'll get my instruments set up."
As she was getting her tools ready, she turned to look at the new man. His armor was retracting back into nothing it seemed until he was in just a black body suit, which he then started to take off. When she finished getting her tools ready, the man was in the gown with the body suit on one of the tables. "Okay, now if you could lay down for me please. This shouldn't take too long, but I'll have to put you under."
"Do it."
"Okay here we go." She then put a mask over the man's face that let out a drug to put him to sleep. It took a lot longer than she had over done for it to actually work on him though.
She got out her x-ray and began to scan his body. "Oh my…"
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An hour later after Chakwas finished her examination Chief was back in his armor. He decided it would be best to talk to Tali. He then went to Engineering, where he was told she would be. As he stepped out of the elevator, he turned and went the starboard side door. Stepping into the Engineering department, he saw Tali working at a console in front of him. He stepped up to her and said her name to get her attention. "Tali."
Head whipping around she turned to face him. "Oh, Chief. What can I do for you?"
"I was hoping we would have a moment to talk, unless you're busy of course."
"Uh sure. Let me just… okay got it. Will the mess hall be fine?"
"Of course." The two then left Engineering to go back to deck three. As they came out, Tali went to grab a tube a nutrient paste from Gardner. "What was it you wanted to talk about?"
"Earlier I said we chose the Quarians as the inheritors of the Mantle. I also said your people's situation would be your test to see if you can uphold the Mantle. I can tell that your people don't like the Geth too much right?"
"Yes, almost all of us hate the Geth, but there are a few who think it was our mistake for losing the home world by trying to shut down the Geth."
"Right, that's the thing. You have to forgive the Geth and_"
"What!? Are you crazy!? The Geth took our home world, and condemned my people to a fleet of ships to live on! We are on the verge of extinction, we can't forgive them!"
"You have to; you have to make peace with them as your test."
"We can't do that!"
"You can."
"You don't know what it's like! My people are so close to extinction. You can't possibly know what it's like!"
"I do. When we first learned of our destiny as a species, humanity was on the verge of extinction. We had just come out of a war, it first contact for us. Over 23 billion humans were lost. Men, women, children, it didn't matter who you were or how old you were. If you were human, you had to die. Eventually we were down to just our home planet, if it fell, the few remaining colonies would too. I fought in that war, and when it was over, when we won, we signed a treaty with the all the species that had just tried to kill us. One of my best friends fought in that war, and he was responsible for over one billion human deaths. Our greatest enemies became our greatest allies."
"I-I didn't know."
"And look at me, how many other Reclaimers are left? It's just me and my friend Cortana. My entire civilization is dead. I know what it's like. Believe me, and that is why I know it is possible to make peace with the Geth. It will take time, there is no doubt about that, everyone has to want it for it to happen, but it can happen."
Tali had her head hung low. She was very conflicted at the moment. The Chief could tell. "I'm not saying you have to make peace with them at this moment, but the sooner you start reconciling with them, the better."
"I'm- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said all of that."
"It's okay, you were angry."
"I should go." Tali then got up and headed to the elevator to go back to Engineering. She had to clear her mind. She wanted to yell more at the Chief, but also say she was sorry even more. She wanted to punch the wall until it dented, yet cry at the same time. She had to clear her mind, so she did the only thing that ever worked for her, work.
Chief meanwhile still sat at the table. He was pretty pleased with himself. During the Human-Covenant War, he rarely talked, and when he did it was usually to other Spartans. However when he made the rank Lord of Admirals during the Great Expansion, it required him to talk a lot more. He was never good at talking about emotions and the like, but he was happy with how his conversation with Tali had turned out.
He could only do so much to make the Quarians make peace with the Geth. The Quarians had to do most of the work, he could really only push them along. His conversation with Tali was a good first step the thought.
Deciding there was nothing more to do at the moment, he decided to go down to the cargo bay for some privacy and research the galaxy at the moment. It would be about eight hours until they reached the ship's next destination.
Done! That was fast. It was more dialogue obviously. I tried to make it better according to your reviews, so keep them coming!
Next chapter is Illium. It will be a lot longer than previous chapters, and will take a lot longer to get out; luckily, I'm on winter break right now.
As always, review! I need to know what you think and how to make it better!
How should the Chief give out the information? Who should listen and who doesn't? Let me know!
And one more thing, pairings? I don't know, I haven't put much thought into that. I'll leave it up to you guys, so pm me or leave a review saying what you want.
Review! Review! Review!