Shepard quickly ejected a spent thermal clip and inserted a fresh one into his assault rifle. Bullets whizzed past him, forcing him to stay ducked behind cover. Shepard managed to take out a geth trooper who had gotten just a bit too confident and tried to flank his position. The mission was going just about as well as he predicted, considering the Alarei was infested with hostile geth. Shepard, Tali, and Garrus had been under fire ever since they stepped out of the airlock. Although they had only pushed through a few rooms, the carnage that had occurred here was evident. Dead quarians and geth were scattered around each room. He now understood why the quarian strike teams had failed to take the ship, the number of geth aboard was staggering.
Just what exactly was Rael doing here that required so many geth? Shepard wondered.
Garrus popped out of cover and delivered a bullet right into the glowing visual sensor of the last geth in the room, sparks flying as it fell to the floor.
"Everyone alright?" Shepard asked, already knowing the answer.
His squadmates answered positively, only some minor shield damage that replenished quickly. This mission was different from the many others the three had been on. Normally Garrus would brag and loudly keep track of his kills, but this time he was silent. Also, Tali was much more reckless than she usually was. She was normally a calm professional, but she had a sense of urgency this time around. The reason why was obvious, Tali was trying to rescue her father as fast as possible.
The team continued clearing the ship room by room, killing numerous geth troopers and the occasional cloaked geth hunter.
Sneaky bastards, Shepard especially hated them.
The mood got more somber as Tali discovered more and more videologs capturing the takeover by the geth. Each one showed a different quarian scientist trying to explain what was happening and eventually being killed. The squad found out that the scientists were testing weapons on active geth, and they had eventually broken free. One videolog showed a conversation between Rael and some scientists, in which Rael explained he was doing this because he had promised Tali a house on Rannoch.
No father, Tali thought, don't tell me you did this for me.
There was one in particular that really affected the squad. It showed a female scientist saying goodbye to her young son, yelling "Mommy loves you!" just before being killed.
Garrus let out a sad sigh, and Shepard hung his head after watching, Jesus Christ.
Tali had turned away before it ended, she couldn't bear to watch.
Shepard put a hand on Tali's shoulder, looked into her eyes and asked, "Tali, are you alright?"
"I'm fine." she responded without emotion, shrugging Shepard's hand off her shoulder.
He knew she was lying, with each videolog they saw, they realized how improbable it was that Rael was still alive.
Please, Ancestors, let him stay in this world. she pleaded.
The team had cleared most of the ship, and still no sign of Rael'Zorah. All that was left was the bridge. As the doors opened, the squad's worst fear was confirmed. Before them was the lifeless body of a quarian, his enviro-suit bore the markings of an admiral. Rael'Zorah was dead.
No...no… Shepard thought.
He had expected this, but that didn't mean he was prepared for it. Garrus crouched down and hung his head.
"Father!" Tali yelled as she pushed past Shepard, running and kneeling by her father. "No, no, no! You always had a plan. Masked life signs, or… or an onboard medical stasis program, maybe. You wouldn't…" she said, fighting back tears and barely holding in her emotions.
"Tali…", Shepard spoke softly.
Tali finally realized her father was truly dead, and gave up fighting her tears and emotions.
"They're wrong!" she cried, tearings cascading down her face. "You wouldn't just die like this! You wouldn't leave me…"
Shepard gently grabbed Tali, pulled her up, and tightly embraced her.
"Hey… come here…", comforting her as much as he could.
She hugged him back and cried into his shoulder, letting out the emotions she felt.
Why?! Why did this happen to me? Tali screamed inside. "Damn it… damn it!" she choked out between sobs.
Shepard said nothing, just held her and stroked her back, gently swaying trying to calm her down.
Tali slowly pulled away and sniffed back tears, "I'm sorry, Shepard."
"Tali… you have nothing to be sorry about." Shepard comforted, his heart breaking for her.
"Maybe… he would've known I'd come." Tali theorized. "Maybe he left a message."
She activated Rael's omnitool, and a holographic message of him played. He explained what happened, and asked Tali to recover the data of his experiments and present them to the Admirals.
"Thanks, Dad…" Tali said softly.
"He knew you'd come for him, he was trying to help you." Shepard pointed out, placing his hand on her shoulder again. "It's not perfect, it's not what you wanted, but it's the best he could do."
Tali wrapped her arms around him again, and he reciprocated.
"I don't know what's worse." she spoke, and recalled the videolog which revealed Rael's reasons for the experiments. "Thinking he never really cared, or thinking that he did, and that this was the only way he could show it. It doesn't matter, either way, I cared. And I'm here... and we're ending this."
The squad pushed into the bridge, and neutralized the last of the geth onboard. Tali had attacked the geth with an immense rage, seeking revenge for her father's death. When it was all said and done, she had killed most of the geth on the bridge herself. Tali discovered the full data on the experiments on the main console. It showed that Rael was responsible for activating the geth for his experiments, not a mistake on Tali's part.
This data can prove she's innocent, Shepard thought.
"Shepard, we can't tell anyone what we found here." Tali pleaded.
"Tali, without this evidence, you're looking at exile." Shepard replied, surprised.
"You think I don't know that!" she snapped. "You think I want to live knowing I can never see the Fleet again? I can't go back into that room, and say that my father was the worst war criminal in our people's history!"
Shepard was taken aback, sad that she snapped at him like that. Tali realized what she had done, and apologized.
"I'm sorry, Shepard. It's just… If the Admirals find out, he'd be worse than a exile. He'd be a traitor to our people. It's your decision, but please, don't destroy what my father was."
Shepard, Tali, and Garrus returned to the Rayya, just as the admirals were about to begin without them. As Tali and Shepard stepped to the podium, everyone was surprised to see them alive.
Shepard spoke to the admirals, "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy saved the Alarei. I hope this proves her loyalty to the quarian people."
"Her loyalty was never in doubt, only her judgement." Koris retorted.
Gerrel asked, "Did you find anything on the Alarei that could clarify what happened there?"
Shepard and Tali looked at each other, her eyes begging him to say no.
"Shepard...please…" she pleaded.
Shepard was at an impasse. He could show the evidence and clear her name, but he would lose Tali's trust. Or he could lie and keep her trust, but she would be exiled. All of a sudden, Shepard found a third option. He remembered what he discovered after speaking to the admirals, and decided to expose their ploy.
He gave her a look that said, "Trust me."
Tali watched nervously as the man she loved was about to decide her fate.
Oh Keelah, Shepard. Do the right thing.
Shepard spoke confidently, "Tali helped me defeat Saren and the geth on the Citadel. That should be all the evidence you need."
Koris interjected "I fail to see what relevance…"
"You're not really interested in Tali, are you?" Shepard interrupted. "This trial isn't about her, it's about the geth."
Koris was shocked, "This hearing has nothing to do with the geth!"
Shepard smiled, the admirals had fallen into his trap.
"You want people to sympathize with the geth. Han'Gerrel wants to go to war. None of you care about Tali. She knows more about the geth than any other quarian alive. You should be listening to her, not putting her on trial!"
Tali couldn't believe what she was hearing, Shepard was going to save her and her father's name.
"Tali'Zorah saved the Citadel! She saved the Alarei!" Shepard continued, a fiery passion in his words. "She showed the galaxy the value of the quarian people! I can't think of stronger evidence than that."
With their plot exposed, the admirals had no choice but to acquit Tali.
Raan read the verdict, "Tali'Zorah, in light of your history of service, we do not find sufficient evidence to convict. You are cleared of all charges."
The crowd erupted with cheers, and Tali jumped into Shepard's arms.
"Shepard! You did it!", if she wasn't wearing her visor she would've kissed him.
Shepard hugged her back tightly and spun her around.
"You know I would never let anything bad happen to you!" he proclaimed loudly.
Raan spoke up, "Commander Shepard!"
He put Tali down, and the crowd quieted.
Raan continued, "Please accept these gifts in appreciation for you taking the time to represent one of our people."
"With all due respect Admiral, I didn't represent one of your people. I represented one of mine." Shepard responded, looking straight into Tali's eyes.
The crowd began to disperse, and Tali pulled Shepard off to the side.
"I can't believe you pulled that off." She said with a smile. "What you said, I've never had anyone speak like that on my behalf." Her eyes looked lovingly into his. "Thank you for being there for my father and me."
"No need to thank me Tali, I know you'd have done the same for me. Besides, we can still go back in there and get you exiled if you want." Shepard said, adding some humor Tali desperately needed after all that stress.
Tali laughed, finally able to relax after all she had been through.
"Thanks, but I'm fine with things like this. It's fun watching you shout." she said, a little flirtation in her voice.
Shepard looked over to where the admirals had been standing, "They shouldn't have put you through this, Tali. You deserve better."
Tali subconsciously reached out and grabbed Shepard's hand, "I got better, Shepard. I got you."
When she realized what she had just done, she quickly released his hand, her cheeks turned a deep red.
She just held my hand, does that mean…
"Well… uh… the rest of the crew… we should probably get going." Tali stammered, her hands wringing.
Shepard couldn't believe how cute she was.
"Come on, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." Shepard said happily. "Let's get back to our ship."
He turned and started heading back, but Tali momentarily paused.
"Thank you, Captain." she whispered affectionately.