Chapter 7: Ready to Move
Seven months had passed since the Synthesis Wave had ended the war. Rebuilding on all worlds was going very well, and the mass relay network was back up and running. Now able to move on, the Normandy's crewmen were all putting their plans into action.
Ashley and Vega both requested and received orders to stay on Eden Prime. They would be in charge of training the civilian militia Hackett and Eden Prime's government agreed on. Ensign Copeland and Private Westmoreland were medically discharged with post traumatic stress disorder and were going home. Gabby was pregnant and Ken proposed. Both stayed enlisted and were both being sent back to Earth for shore duty. Traynor was being reassigned to a new R&D lab on Earth to continue her work on the Quantum Entanglement Communicator system.
Joker, EDI, Adams, Cortez, and Campbell all stayed aboard the Normandy and were being sent back into the fleet. Garrus was preparing to take up his new post on Palaven as General in charge of marksmanship training. Liara was headed back to Illium to get those businesses off the ground to help fund relief on Thessia. Javik was going to Kahje. Dr. Chakwas had finally decided to retire from the military. She had served 30 years and was ranked a Lieutenant Commander. Diana Allers had done her interviews and was getting started on her book. She was going to Earth to take a job offer to work as a TV station manager while she finished it.
That left Tali. Traynor had given her a prototype of the portable QEC she was working on, and Tali was going to put it to use planning the details of her trip. She and Admiral Shepard were putting their plan into motion to visit the Shepard family's point of origin.
She called the joint command base on Earth to speak with Quarian leadership before they took off for Rannoch. Admiral Xen answered the call.
"Tali'Zorah," Xen said plainly. This was the first time Tali had seen her out of her suit and the look on her face showed it. She was middle aged, but surprisingly young looking. She had short black hair and wore a long black skirt with an open tunic that showed off more breast than Tali thought would have been comfortable for a woman of her age.
"Admiral Xen. That's a very… different look."
"After finally getting out of my prison, I chose to wear what most appealed to my inner sense of comfort. The young human tech soldier that runs the QEC station keeps calling me Morrigan because he says I look and sound like a character from an old Earth game. I called him a little spawn of darkness and told him I would feed him to my Prime unit partner, Flemeth, but he just burst into hysterical laughter. I swear, I don't think I will ever understand humans."
Tali couldn't help but smile. "I would have to agree with you there. They have so many odd habits and mannerisms. I remember when I first found out I could get out of my suit, I called one the Normandy's engineers to show her, and she freaked out like she'd never seen anyone naked before." She and Xen enjoyed a chuckle together over that at Gabby's expense.
Turning back to her usual tech obsessed self, Xen asked, "I am curious to know Tali. Why is the signal you are transmitting to us over the QEC different than normal?"
Tali hadn't realized until then there was anything different. "Oh, well it's probably because I'm using a different kind of model. Its portable and I am actually talking to you from the kitchen in my house."
That statement elicited a gasp and glowing smile from Admiral Xen. "Oh. You simply must allow me to examine it! Can you imagine the applications of such a device if employed in…"
Tali cut her off. "It's not mine to give. It's a prototype built by one of the Normandy crew so we could all keep in contact with each other. She hasn't quite worked out all the bugs yet."
"Even so, you said so you all could keep in contact. Meaning you all got one. Meaning the one you have is yours. Meaning…"
Tali cut her off again. "No, Admiral."
"Ok. Fine," Admiral Xen relented, throwing her hands up in surrender. "By the way, what was the original purpose of this call? You know we are prepping to take off for Rannoch."
"Yes, I wanted to let you know that I would not be going back to Rannoch right away. I have plans to meet with Admiral Shepard on Earth to take care of a personal matter. I would like you to pass that on to the rest of the Admiralty."
"Is that so? What sort of personal business do you have that is more important than our victory cruise back to the home world?" Xen said, venom oozing from each word. "Admiral Shepard… This officer wouldn't happen to be any relation to your human captain? The same captain that I have heard certain rumors about. Certain rumors involving a young Quarian…"
Just then Tali saw Xen pushed out of the line of sight of the QEC camera. "That will be quite enough, Admiral." Admiral Raan had come in and pushed her out of the way. "You have the Board's permission to take this leave, child." Tali had seen her Auntie Raan out of her suit before, but never really paid attention to her features. She was an older woman with long solid white hair. Her skin was a tone of ashen grey. She wore what looked like a new dress uniform that was very similar to the ones she had seen Admirals Anderson and Hackett wear on the Citadel. Only it was black instead of dark blue. Tali noticed the black contrasted nicely against her white hair and grey skin. She looked very regal wearing it.
"Thank you, Admiral Raan. By the way, that outfit is nice."
"Yes. I put this together almost immediately after getting out of my suit. Even though it looks close enough to what the Alliance officers wear since that was the basis of it, there are enough differences to easily set us apart. We plan to make this design official for wear in our military once we get home. Admiral Gerral asked me to make him one right away."
Tali chimed in, "Indeed. I'll bet he took to it quickly. That one is military to his core. Give him my best. I'm going to get in contact with Admiral Shepard."
"All right, child. I will send you a message when we reach the home world. Keelah se'lai." The connection faded and Tali sent a text message directly to Hannah's omni-tool. They were coordinating for Tali to ride with the Normandy crew members that were bound for Earth.
The time had come for them to all go. Before leaving, she stopped to say goodbye to James, Ashley, Garrus, and Liara. With that done, she boarded the Normandy and Joker sped them toward Earth.
En route, Tali had gone up into Shepard's quarters. No one had been in there since the crash, except EDI, who had done a little housekeeping. She looked around, taking in everything around her. It all reminded her of him. Her eyes rested on the bed. The very same bed where she had ravaged him before giving him her virginity. The same bed where the two of them had laid when they confessed their undying love for each other. She started crying and nearly broke down, but then she saw it; His hooded jacket. He wore that hoodie so much around the ship that it might as well have been part of his uniform. He draped it over her naked form the night they were together before the final push against Cerberus.
She picked it up and held it close to her heart. It made her feel better. She finally had something of his that she could lay to rest with Hannah.
Author's Note: I couldn't help myself with the Morrigan reference. It's no secret that Claudia Black voiced them both, but I just had to throw in my own little twist.