Tali'zorah
Despite many of her younger friends having done so on Pilgrimage, Tali'zorah had never been to ITSA space. From what she had been told after their visitations, the smallest terran nation was a peaceful one, forgiving the occasional pirate raid. The settled worlds were mostly agrarian; like her own people on Shakuras, the terrans were still starting from scratch in most respects. And, like her people, they too shared their land with another race.
"Elcor make up about a third of the population these days," Ria vas Qwib Qwib had said upon her return to Shakuras. "Sad to think about, isn't it? They lost their homeworld too, most of their people with it. It should've been the elcor welcoming in the terrans, not the other way around."
Ria had described vast fields of grain harvested by automated machinery interspersed with the surprisingly large and complex settlements the terrans had created with their famous SCVs. What I wouldn't give to take one of those apart. Many pilgrims had sworn to bring back the schematics or even an intact SCV, and all had so far been disappointed. The terrans were rightfully protective of their industrial secrets. The only non-terran race seen in the SCVs so far had been indentured batarians over in the KMC frontier. And those batarians are not going anywhere or telling anybody anything in a hurry… and a pilgrim would have to be mad to brave the KMs.
Tali sighed, watching part of her visor fog briefly from the sudden exhalation. She pushed her leg left to right on the co-pilot's seat, turning it back and forth. Zeratul watched her out of the corner of his eye, his lanky form topping her by two feet, even sitting down. From behind, the thing whirred and clicked as it surveyed the instruments.
"Might be best to tune in to ITSA channels as we make our approach," said Reegar, arms folded and standing a healthy distance from the geth. "Gives us a better idea what we're up against. If it's all business as usual, chances are we gotta dig Veetor out of some government installation and warn off other pilgrims from coming here. And if it isn't business as usual…"
"Then you'll need your rocket launcher," said Tali, pointing to a glowing green crystal attached to the monitor in front of her and tilting her head in question towards Zeratul. Zeratul inclined his head in response, and Tali twisted the device.
"…looped emergency broadcast to all Eden Prime residents," said a woman's voice, emanating from the crystal, "do not approach Constant. I repeat: do NOT approach Constant. We have confirmed the absence of the invader's ship, but an unidentified force has secured the city against all visitors. Do NOT approach. Automated security systems are compromised and self-replicating. ITSA military assets still tied up on Terra Nova, Elysium, and Benning. Stay clear and wait for an official military response. This is a looped emergency broadcast…"
"Invaders?" Tali tapped the crystal and let the faint sound of the Star Relic's engines dominate the background once more. "Prelate, can we get any kind of visual?"
Zeratul turned to his own monitor and tapped a few unseen keys. With a soft whirr, an overlay of the planet was projected into the center of the room, clipping slightly with the thing, which moved out of the way swiftly. Without being asked, Zeratul zeroed in on the capital city, Constant, from which Veetor's pip was blinking.
"Because he couldn't show up anywhere else, naturally," said Reegar, shaking his head. "At least he's still alive." He took a closer look. "City looks pretty intact for having had, uh, "invaders.""
"Prelate-Zeratul, approach may be difficult," said the thing. "Terran missile turrets have noted detection capabilities and potent guidance and tracking systems. Recommend approaching Constant on foot."
"You don't think you can sneak in?" asked Tali, ignoring the thing and addressing Zeratul. Slowly, Zeratul shook his head.
"The terrans and turians are quite diligent when it comes to fortifying their colonies," said Zeratul. "Even with my experience, even with the technologies at hand, I am afraid Legion is quite right." He shifted forward, looking at the glowing outlines of the buildings intently. "These turrets are new. I checked the orbiting observer's feed three days ago; I saw perhaps six turrets at most. The systems do indeed appear to be self-replicating."
"Tali can hack anything," said Reegar confidently, making Tali smile underneath her helmet. "If we gotta tangle with some out of control AI, VI, whatever, she can shut it down. And, if the way to the control panel ain't clear, you and me can just shoot or slice whatever's in the way."
Spoken like a marine. Tali looked to the thing and watched its head turn back and forth between the two of them.
"This platform contains 1,183 programs," said the thing. "This platform typically carries two weapons during field operations. We will assist in whatever fashion creators and Zeratul-Prelate deems us best suited."
Well, what you are best suited at is killing quarians, so I'd prefer if you stayed on the ship. Tali held her tongue, though. She still got a warning glance from Zeratul.
"I will take us in slowly," said Zeratul. "Local defense forces appear to have kept their distance… hmm. Last I checked, Raynor wasn't planning on returning to Eden Prime anytime soon, so I doubt he's here. A warm reception seems unlikely. We should retrieve Veetor'nara and leave."
"What, and miss out on the warm terran hospitality?" Reegar shrugged. "If you say so, sir. I'll go get my gear. No sign of siege tanks?"
"No," said Zeratul, eyes flicking over the overlay one more time before turning back to the controls and switching them off. "Aside from Veetor, there are no signs of life. I reach out and sense only fear… and a lingering scent of agony." Zeratul said nothing more, simply brooding over his controls as the Star Relic closed the distance to Eden Prime.
Reegar gave a low whistle. "Well, on that happy note, Tali, you coming with?"
"Sure thing," said Tali, abandoning her seat and following the marine out of the small bridge. To both of their relief's, the geth did not follow.
"I'm actually a little relieved," said Reegar as they walked down the dark purple tube that was the main corridor of the ship, making a beeline for the cargo hold. "Terran siege tanks are a real bitch to deal with, 'specially if they've been fitted with kinetic barriers. Had to dig poor Razza out of a Dominion holding facility once. Damn things cratered anyone stupid enough to get even remotely close. Had to send in a Templar to deal with 'em." They reached the end of the corridor, and the entrance portal to the cargo hold slid open at their approach.
"So, you're not worried about what we might find down there?" asked Tali as the two of them parted, moving towards their own gear.
"Ma'am, "worried" is what the Admiralty Conclave officials get when voting time comes around," said Reegar, bending over and collapsing his rocket launcher into a more compact shape. "Marines don't get worried. Maybe cautious, but not worried." He hoisted an assault rifle before folding that into shape and attaching it to his back as well. "Whatever happens, I'm sure you and the Prelate will have it handled. Ma'am."
Tali gave him a quick glance, hoping he could see the appreciative smile beneath the helmet. Her own armament consisted of a simple pistol and shotgun, each loaded with armor piercing rounds. Nothing fancy. Once they were secured at her hip and back respectively, she began tapping her real weapon on her wrist. Her omnitool lit up as she checked each function, and made sure the khaydarin crystal was still secure in place. Despite her own sense of, well, worry, she could not help but hope she'd get to try out that little function on this excursion. And it should work. Zeratul checked it himself.
"Think the tin can will pull its weight?" asked Tali as the ship wobbled from the rigors of atmospheric entry. And even then it's barely noticeable. Astounding. Once again, Tali wished she had the opportunity to dissect the protoss ship. I wonder what Zeratul thinks when he reads those particular thoughts?"
"Don't see how it couldn't," said Reegar, surprising Tali. He leaned against a shaking wall and looked at Tali, shrugging. "What? I may feel the compulsion to shoot the damn thing every time it looks at me, but that don't mean I'm gonna sell the fucker short. Tali, I've seen the geth in action. We've both seen the protoss in action. Just between the two of us, I pity whatever's down there."
"You don't think we're going to contribute?" asked Tali, an edge creeping into her voice. "We made those things, and for all the faults of the Migrant Fleet, at least we haven't spent most of our recent history rendering ourselves extinct over a religious dispute!"
"What do you call our spat with the geth then?" asked Reegar. Tali began to suspect he was enjoying playing devil's advocate. He's just trying to wind me up.
"Trying to right an ancient wrong," said Tali, not quite managing real conviction. She lowered her head and closed her eyes. "You said I could hack anything."
"We'll have our part to play, Tali," said Reegar, crossing the hold and laying a heavy hand on her shoulder. "Last I checked, neither of 'em brought a rocket launcher. Or the deadliest combat drone ever conceived."
Tali chuckled at this. "Thanks, Reegar."
"Sometimes I have a hard time remembering where we're supposed to fit in the scheme of things," said Reegar, removing a hand. "Ain't many of us left, and we're at the mercy at an indecent galaxy. Doesn't mean we're helpless. Doesn't mean we're done."
Tali nodded. "Time to prove it, then. Let's get Veetor out of there."
The Star Relic touched down with nary a sound or even a bump. Zeratul and the geth emerged from the corridor, weapons already strapped on to their wrist and back respectively.
"I only detect a single sign of life," said Zeratul, resting his hand on the control that would open the Star Relic to the world. "The thoughts are feverish, fixated on the image of a single ship." Zeratul shuddered. "I think… no, I know something terrible has happened here. These defenses… I think Veetor is afraid. Afraid of something coming back." Zeratul looked to his three assorted companions, his bearing suddenly uncertain. And that… that makes me worried. The same way a Conclave official would be worried come voting time. "It is clear he set up these defenses. For both his own safety, and the safety of the people living here, we need to find him and remove him from this planet." Zeratul looked to the hatch, almost as if trying to see through the metal and into the city. "And, if we can, I would like to discover what happened here. There is curiously little wreckage, especially given the violent nature of the terrans. The only force that could have entered the city and removed everyone without causing such damage…" It would have to be a protoss force. And none of us would want that to be true. Not when Aiur's wounds are only just being bound. Tali was starting to feel guilty about the "extinction through religious war" comment from earlier.
"Adun toridas, my friends," said Zeratul firmly, tapping the control and letting the hatch drop. Sunlight streamed in from the world beyond, and Tali gasped at how green it was. Haven't seen this amount of life since my Pilgrimage. Tali didn't have time to admire it for too long, however. She exited the craft on the heels of Reegar, who had produced his assault rifle and immediately began scanning once they had exited the Star Relic. Beyond them were the fields of Eden Prime. Behind them, Tali saw the vast expanse of steel that was the Eden Prime capital, Constant. It's… quite a bit grungier than the structures I saw on Umoja.
"Noting large numbers of AA turrets," said the geth. "Irregular pattern, but no obvious gaps in defensive line. Consistent with described paranoia and irrational mindset. Recommend caution."
"Do you have any idea what could have done this?" asked Tali, leaving the implication unsaid.
"We have just reached consensus," said the geth. "Twenty-seven percent of programs suspect some kind of protoss involvement given known protoss religious schisms and disregard for lesser life. Seventy percent of programs suspect Reaper or Reaper asset involvement, given known interest in Koprulu species and advanced technology. Three percent undecided."
"Reaper assets – like Heretic geth?" asked Zeratul. "I thought the purging of those programs was near complete?"
"Deciphered data indicates potential for other existing assets within the galaxy," said the geth while Tali and Reegar looked to each other in confusion. "Data is irrelevant at this time. Recommend pressing forward with current task to achieve group consensus on laying blame."
Tali couldn't help but snort at the bluntness at that, and didn't even feel guilty for doing so. Probably because that sort of thing reminds me of Reegar.
They entered the city through the main road. The checkpoint's barriers were down, but there was no one manning the booths. The missile turrets seated on top of many of the outer buildings span and span, the only movement to be seen. Buildings filled their vision on either side of them, and the green very quickly gave way to the steel gray.
The ground underneath them was damp, and judging by the amount of detritus strewn about the streets (tree branches, parts of old signs, the odd piece of furniture) it became quite clear that there had been some kind of massive storm recently. I wonder if any blood got washed away in the flood? They invaded and let the storm cover their tracks…
"This don't feel like a battlefield," said Reegar, almost making Tali jump. "You feel it, Zeratul? When a battle's done, the air's thick with nasty smells and all kinds of emotion, a right stew of misery. Lasts for days afterward. This… this reminds me of the time I stumbled into the ship's morgue by accident. All quiet. All sterilized. You sure Veetor's out there?"
"That way," said Zeratul, extending a long finger in the direction of the rising sun. "He is here. But yes… your words resonate. I would dearly like to know what happened here."
"Shells," said Tali, pointing to a street corner. They moved quickly towards it, and Tali crouched, running her fingers over the length of the massive casings. Keelah, the terrans like their guns big. "They fought." Her eyes caught a dull streak of brown and followed it. It stretched for about three feet and disappeared. "I think they, whoever they were, took the marine down and dragged him on to some kind of stretcher. The blood smear just ends, right there. Look."
"Observational evidence corroborates this theory," said the geth. "Alert: examination of recent events on the extranet reveals string of attacks in ITSA space, all in a line bearing for turian space. Extreme likelihood of a single force being responsible."
"Targeting terrans? Or the ITSA?" Zeratul sounded quite weary. "I am sure we will find out. Come – I am sure Veetor will be eager to leave this nightmare."
They continued onward, leaving the shells where they found them. The silence descended once more. They reached the center of the city without encountering anything else. The command center loomed before them, and for some reason Tali could not help but feel a chill.
"Another sign of conflict," said Tali, pointing to a street adjacent to the command center. There, lying forsaken in the street, was one of the enormous gauss rifles the terrans were so fond of. Carved crudely on to its side were a series of terran letters.
"Jessie," said Zeratul, grasping the weapon and raising it up to his eyes. "Odd. I detect a lingering emotional attachment to this weapon." He laid it carefully back down on the ground before looking around sharply, as if he had seen something startling. "This plaza… I wish to leave it. Now."
They did not question the Prelate, following him away from the command center. Tali cast longing eyes back at it, knowing quite well the treasure trove of information that lay within. That's not what we're here for, Tali'zorah. We're not scavengers.
"Hey, I hate to be the one to bring this up," said Reegar, "but them terrans said the defenses were automated and self-replicating. Now, I'm willing to believe Zeratul when he says Veetor's responsible, but how are a bunch of missile turrets keepin' the terrans out? Shouldn't there be…?" Reegar froze as a low droning filled the air. "I had to be the one to bring it up."
Zeratul faded from sight while Tali took cover behind a set of stairs leading into what she guessed was an apartment complex. Reegar had ducked into an alley, while the geth had doubtlessly achieved consensus and found the most efficient piece of cover like the soulless number cruncher it was. Tali couldn't see it and didn't care.
Rounding the buildings up ahead came a strange sight, one Tali had not seen before. It looked like a series of wings strapped to a chassis that bore a single engine. Lights shone from the chassis and the ship stopped, apparently scanning the area. Tali kept her head down.
"Scanning battlefield conditions." The voice, halting and mechanical, came from the ship. A sharp klaxon followed its statement, making Tali jump. "Alert. Unknown presence detected. Profile registers as: protoss. Dark. Templar. Awaiting order." Tali's heart froze as she awaited the verdict. Keelah! How the hell did it spot Zeratul? She looked across the way to Reegar, who was now shouldering his rocket launcher.
"Command authority acknowledged. Engaging." There was an audible clunk followed by the popping of gunfire. Tali rose, waving her hands at the ship and yelling Veetor's name.
"Auto-turrets engaged. Additional profiles detected: unknown. Unknown. Geth. Command authority registered. Engaging." The ship's chassis flared, and a small metal sphere covered in spikes emerged from the ship. Tali's suit pinged as it registered the system now tracking it.
"Get out of here!" called out Reegar, his launcher flaring and leaving Tali's ears ringing. She backed away, tapping her omnitool all the while. The ship deployed another device, this time a spinning metal object. It flared, and the rocket burst, filling the air with orange and showering the ground with debris.
Tali backed up, tapped a few final keys on her omnitool, and held it steady before her. The sphere finally locked on completely and launched, bearing directly for her. A neat flick of the wrist sent a burst of flame in its direction, and the two projectiles collided and filled the sky with thunder.
Tali felt a sensation like a hard slap against her arm and fell back behind a nearby alley, checking her barriers. Bosh'tet. Stupid oversized terran rounds. Her barriers regenerated quickly, but did little to dull the hammering of her heart. Reegar was yelling expletives at the automated ship as the auto turrets continued to chug. A quick peek around the corner revealed the damned thing plopping out another one, which began to shower the buildings around Reegar with slugs. Reegar's gaze met with Tali's, and he motioned her to move back before vanishing further down the alley. Tali did not hesitate to comply with his suggestion, moving farther down the street away from the automated vessel. It didn't register us as quarian. Why? Despite her fear, she could not help but feel sorry for Veetor, who was probably quaking in his suit at the mention of unknown profiles.
The vessel remained locked where it was, and Tali rounded a street corner and vanished from sight. She suspected it was locked in place and looking for Zeratul but could not be sure. There was no sign of l-
The damned geth lurched from an alleyway, a massive boxy rifle clasped in its hands. It stared at Tali, light flickering.
"Creator Zorah, Creator Nara has turned the colony's defense systems upon us," said the geth, demonstrating a masterful grasp of the obvious. "Alert: all terran systems known to possess link to command center. Recommend retreat to central plaza to infiltrate and manipulate Constant command center."
That – I suppose that would work. Tali was not as familiar with the more rudimentary aspects of terran systems as she might have liked; her own work with the Umojans had mostly revolved around cultural exchange and working with particle physicists on improving omnitools and tech armor. Never stopped to ask them about their command centers.
"Follow me," snapped Tali, grabbing the handle of her shotgun and letting it unfold in her arms in a manner she found disturbingly relieving. Let's try to shut down these systems before things get any worse. Gunshots echoed in the distance, and Tali got a glimpse of an automated vessel down the street, tracking them as they rounded another corner. She wasn't sure it was the same one as before.
Tali knew she was getting close as that familiar and horrible sense of dread descended upon her. What the hell happened here? Tali did not have long to fixate on that question, however, as the air filled with roaring engines. An automated vessel flew overhead before rounding on them. Two more missiles shot out of its chassis and hovered.
"Scatter!" called out Tali, diving away from the geth and running full pelt in the opposite direction and back round the corner she had just come. The geth easily kept pace.
"Creator Zorah, this weapon was designed to pierce heavy armor," said the geth, lifting its massive gun slightly. Tali ignored it for the moment, peering behind the corner just in time to see the two missiles fall to the ground, having lost the trajectory. The vessel, undeterred, shot out another pair of turrets and began to elevate itself and move in their direction. "Creator Zorah, if you can distract the vessel, we can cripple it with a well-placed round."
Tali, quite aware that her main armament consisted of a shotgun and an omnitool, was not opposed to those idea in principle. In execution, however, should would be staring down an AI or VI or whatever that had been instructed by a paranoid lunatic to kill her. Bosh'tet! Reegar would have agreed already! She gave the geth a nod and stood in the middle of the street, omnitool prepped. She did not have to wait long.
The vessel lowered itself before her, hovering about fifteen feet over her head. The front of the chassis, the "eye" that opened only to deploy more irritating toys, seemed to meet with hers. She raised her omnitool and flicked it once. Flames burst in front of the chassis, scorching the metal and causing sparks to fly. Parts of the machine seemed to sag and bubble, but the vessel did not have any difficulty responding. The eye opened-
Tali had never heard Legion's gun report before. It went off with a deafening boom, louder than even Reegar's launcher. The chassis sparked and then vanished in a wave of red and orange – Tali guessed the geth had shot it directly in the missile it was about to load.
Tali backed up as quickly as she could, feet padding against the concrete as the vessel's metal twisted, deformed, and sagged. When it lost altitude, however, it was still a slow process; whatever intelligence that governed the machine was still fighting to survive and stop them. It was only when it finally crashed in a hellish storm of fire and shrieking steel that the bosh'tet machine went still.
"Good shot," said Tali, not feeling anything beyond a slight sense of relief. The number of murderous machine intelligences that I have to put up with just went down by one. More pops in the distance indicated that this number was still nowhere high enough for Tali's liking. Saying nothing else, they continued on back towards the command center.
"Zeratul vanished the moment that first ship arrived," said Tali. "I hope he's alright."
"Zeratul-Prelate survived Char, Thessia, and the Protoss Civil War," said the geth. "No programs dissent: Zeratul-Prelate lives, and likely knows where we are."
Dread filled Tali again, making her wonder if her reaction was a pathological response, or that perhaps all beings were psionic to some degree. She tried to ignore the further chatter of gunfire in the distance, particularly as she realized it was most likely Reegar that they were shooting at. He's been through worse.
Tali entered the command center first, almost tripping over the vast numbers of casings coating the entrance on the way in. Her shotgun trained on every dancing shadow, she checked each room and found nothing. Empty. Good. The geth followed briefly before setting on its own course – straight for the main console and adjutant. No, that's mine. I can hack anything. Tali followed, trying to ignore the way the debris was scattered everywhere. It looked like there had been a panic. A brief one.
"We will brute force this adjutant," said the geth, its own omnitool appearing on its metallic wrist. "Firewalls will be overridden. Creator Zorah, you will need to perform the manual override. Suggest deactivating all available systems for sake of mission completion and eventual colonial reclamation."
"Right," said Tali, tapping the keys on the haptic keyboard before the console. "Do it."
The adjutant briefly stirred to life before fading again with a cry distorted by heavy static. Tali logged in without difficulty, only to find that the console had access to the command center's flight capabilities and that was about it.
"It's not linked to anything!" said Tali, slamming a fist against the side of the console. "Dammit, Veetor!" She checked the history and found that nearly everything had been downloaded and then deleted. Veetor. What the hell has the poor thing seen to make him do this? Tali turned off the console and stepped away. The geth looked back at her and cocked its head.
"Conclusion of hostilities should preferably be swift," said the geth. "Creator Zorah, we should locate Creator Veetor and convince him of our benign intentions."
"That might be difficult with you around," said Tali, not actually meaning offense this time. "I mean – we all have lost friends to the geth. Without Zeratul, I'm not sure how to go about this."
"Creator Veetor has been constructing missile turrets with great obsession," said the geth. "Following the line of them should-" The geth stopped. "Audio sensors picking up large disturbance. Creator Zorah, we suspect we should have asked a relevant question earlier. How has Creator Veetor been constructing missile turrets?"
"What?" Tali paled underneath her suit. "Oh. Oh keelah." They ran, together, their feet pounding the metal of the command center in a great racket. They emerged, one of them blinking, into the sunlight. Before them was the answer to their question.
Hulking and enormous at about twenty feet of solid steel, the SCV was scooting about the plaza, its engines whining and its drill buzzing. Inside her suit, Tali felt her teeth vibrate with the noise. Slowly, the SCV turned, its pilot apparently having noticed them. Over the din, Veetor issued a sharp crackle.
"You came back!" he said, and if it wasn't for the fearful tone in his voice, Tali would have rejoiced. "No! No closer! Not again. Never again! Did you come back for me? In the ship? WHY DIDN'T YOU HELP US?!"
The SCV began to creep forward slowly in their direction, the massive drill pointed in their direction. Tali swore under her breath, and then over it.
"Legion, we can't hurt him!" she said. "We need to find some way to either get him to calm down or disable the SCV." She waved her hands at the cockpit, still backing away slowly all the while. "Veetor! Veetor'Nara nar Halfax! It's me, Tali'zorah! Do you remember? I was at your Exodus Ceremony!" If anything, the SCV only seemed to pick up in speed at that. Keelah.
"Don't aim for the cockpit!" yelled Tali, firing her shotgun afterward before promptly sprinting off for the side. The whining grew louder; it seemed she was Veetor's first target. She fired another incineration blast from her omnitool, cursing herself as she forgot to look back and aim away from the cockpit. Tali dived over a small stone wall and took cover behind the strange statue that dominated the plaza. Veetor had turned away from her and focused on the geth, who had summoned a drone and ducked back into the command center. Veetor advanced on the building and began to drill, sparks flying from the entrance as he widened it. Madness. Just as Tali caught her breath and the drone began to zap the out-of-control machine, a dull roar from overhead announced yet further problems.
Two automated craft descended from the heavens and promptly plonked down a pair of turrets each. Tali ducked behind the statue as heavy slugs ripped through the legs of the monument, showering the ground around her with hot shrapnel as she cursed to herself.
"Go get 'em Chikita," said Tali, tapping her omnitool to summon the little purple drone. "Go! Go!" The drone vanished in the direction of one of the slug throwers, and the fire suddenly stopped as they acquired their new target. Then Tali's suit pinged twice, acknowledging the fresh set of missile locks.
"Ah." Tali ran, but knew it was not fast enough, knew she couldn't make it into the command center because of stupid Veetor, knew her barriers wouldn't hold-
A sudden blast of heat and sound hit Tali's back, pushing her forward and making her stumble. She turned and saw a great fireball where one of the vessels and all of the auto turrets had been. Striding through the flames, looking as unperturbed as ever, was Kal'Reegar, brandishing a smoking rocket launcher. He fired it again, and the missile lock lifted as the second vessel shifted, inadvertently knocking its missile out of the sky.
"Is Veetor in that SCV?!" yelled Reegar over the cacophony, ducking behind the now shredded statue Tali had just left behind. "Shit. Zeratul, how we get him out of that?"
Zeratul appeared in a haze of smoke beside Reegar, a finger extended towards the vessel. The vessel, tilting sideways and focusing on the new pair of hostiles, suddenly froze, its chassis enveloped in scintillating purple light. When Reegar fired upon it, there was no reaction from it beyond noisy destruction.
Veetor, paranoid and delusional but not deaf, turned his SCV around at this commotion. What he must have thought, to be confronted by another two "hostiles," one a protoss and the other a quarian carrying a rocket launcher, Tali had no idea but could not feel any pity at this stage. Legion's drone still danced over the hull, burning through patches of it and leaving scorched metal in its wake.
"No! No more of you! No!" Veetor was babbling continually to himself now. "Protoss? Why? Are you with them?" Veetor advanced again, drill whirring, part menacing but mostly pathetic. "No more monsters."
From the now badly damaged command center came a familiar deafening boom. Tali's natural immediate instinct was fear and rage that the geth could open fire on Veetor with a weapon of that caliber, but it was quickly followed by relief. The drill stopped. Veetor stopped. The whirr of the SCV died down to a dull thrum. And Tali, Tali tapped her omnitool and shot a cryo blast at the cockpit.
The composite froze over quickly, its surface becoming brittle. Tali, more tired and scared for the wellbeing of herself and her friends than Veetor at this stage, produced her pistol and fired a single round at the cockpit.
When it shattered, Tali was almost surprised at how unceremonious it was. It simply fell away, revealing the huddled form of Veetor underneath, looking at the very least physically unharmed.
"Unknown organism?" he said, looking down at all of them and then at the console before him. "Unknown organism. No. Not unknown. Oh. Oh no. Protoss and geth and and… quarian. Oh. I'm so sorry." Veetor half slid, half simply dropped from the smoking remnants of his SCV, landing in an awkward heap. He stood quickly, limping towards the three of them while the geth emerged from the twisted entrance of the command center.
"Terran database incomplete," he said, sounding partially sheepish, but mostly feverish and exhausted. "Taught them to recognize protoss profiles. Terran. Elcor. Turian. Not quarian. Didn't think to." He shivered. "Suit disrupts sensors. Did you come for me?" He sunk to his knees. "I activated the beacon. I didn't think… I didn't think anyone would come."
"Veetor… of course we'd come," said Tali, the fear and anger disappearing in the face of Veetor's utter misery and confusion. She sunk to his level, taking a hold of his hands. "You're safe now. We're bringing you home."
"Home?" Veetor's eyes blinked under the visor. "But… I'm not done. I needed… I needed to bring something back."
"That'll do," said Reegar bluntly, nodding toward the steaming wreck of the SCV. "It's still got most of its parts. 'Bout time we got our hands on one of those, anyway. Think of the repairs we could get done with a few of those things!"
"Would that count?" asked Veetor before shuddering once. "Oh. I am so, so sorry. I- I haven't slept. I couldn't. Did you see them?"
"Let's get you back to the ship, and then we can talk," said Tali, before turning to Zeratul. "Is he making any more sense in his head, Zeratul?"
"No," said Zeratul gently, reaching forward and lightly placing his palm on Veetor's visor. The young quarian went limp immediately, his hands slackening in Tali's grasp. "I think it is time he slept… and time we leave." He gestured toward the SCV. "I will pick that up on the way out. Follow."
Carrying Veetor between them, Tali and Reegar followed Zeratul through the deserted winding streets, shadowed all the while by the now silent geth. When they reached the Star Relic, Tali found the bizarre ship more comforting than she ever had before, practically falling on her knees at the sight of it.
They placed Veetor carefully on the softest bit of cargo they could find before taking ahold of his omnitool. Tali carefully copied everything from the last week on to her own before meeting the rest of her team on the bridge. Zeratul began take off as she sat down. There was an unfamiliar thunk about halfway up.
"We are now housing an SCV," said Zeratul before rounding on Tali. "And you have in your possession data I think will answer any lingering questions running through our minds."
It took them about an hour and a half to see it all. The first two days seemed normal; Veetor had apparently been working with ITSA engineers on repurposing the automated NOMAD workhorse vessels (the damned ships that had caused them so much trouble) into impromptu military drones. By the sound of it, Veetor had used his own knowledge of omnitools and particle science to weaponized the internal nanite systems into producing disgustingly potent explosives and point defense systems. Keelah… once you strip away the neuroses and madness, he's a damned genius.
Past that, things, for lack of a better term, went to utter hell. They received reports of the other colonies coming under attack and tried to hire a mercenary force to stop the invaders that they suspected were coming. The mercs didn't arrive on time… and would not have been able to help anyway.
"Khas naradahk!" swore Zeratul as a massive hive-like ship appeared on the dark horizon. As Eden Prime flooded and gunshots lit the night, Veetor hid in a bunker on the outskirts and recorded it all, muttering half-coherent prayers to himself the entire time.
The invaders sent out some kind of homing insect in the initial stages, one that froze anyone not wearing a suit. Means all quarians are exempt I suppose. Made Tali, for once, quite happy to be living in a suit perpetually. What did not make Tali happy, however, were the glimpses of the "monsters" Veetor had mentioned.
Hulking, insectoid, and bearing power armor to match the terran's, the invaders were unlike anything Tali had ever seen before. Checking in with Zeratul and the geth, it quickly became clear that no one knew what the hell they were.
"More Koprulu aliens?" suggested Reegar, but Zeratul irritably shook his head.
"We would know if they had traveled from the Koprulu Sector, young Reegar," said Zeratul. "Those creatures… I have never seen their like before." His hands clenched and unclenched. "But by Adun, if I have my way I will see one in person, and I will plunder every last thought from its vile mind. A sickening harvest." He pointed a long finger towards the glistening display projected from Tali's wrist, to the storage devices they put the terrans in.
Tali let the recording play on, and felt sickened at doing so. The gunshots in the distance began to die as the storm raged on and resistance thinned. Then, just as hope seemed lost, floodlights shone overhead. Veetor gasped and looked up, his prayers dying on his hidden lips. There, floating high, was salvation. A terran battlecruiser, surveying the besieged city and doubtless about to take action. Tali held her breath, wondering if the battlecruiser, too, was abducted, for she saw no sign of it at the colony. What happened instead, drove even Reegar into a choking rage.
The battlecruiser held in place for several minutes, floodlights scanning. The aliens below stared back up at it, evidently as surprised as the hidden Veetor was, all wondering what action the terrans would take. Instead, a short while after arriving, the floodlights turned off with a clunk, and the battlecruiser pushed its way back into the heavens, leaving Veetor a gibbering wreck while the invaders likely did their best imitation of a mental shrug and continued their grisly harvest. They finished not soon after. The next few days were simple madness as Veetor fortified the colony against further attack, automating as many systems as possible. They saw no need to see any more.
"Rewind to the terrans," said Zeratul, voice clipped. Tali did so, trying to remember to breathe. She held over the image of the battlecruiser leaving, flying directly over the bunker.
"That is not any battlecruiser that I recognize," said Zeratul, eyes glinting. "This one is new."
"New?" Reegar sounded skeptical. "Them terrans know how to improve on and modify their designs, but all the cruisers I've seen have been based off that familiar hammerhead shape. So is this one. What makes it different?"
"Size," said Zeratul. "Shape of the engines. Armament. Things only a trained eye would see." He shook his head. "Adun, Razagal… Tassadar… save us. Something has gone very wrong, and we are not the people to decide what to do with this information."
"We are aware that the protoss and geth delegations should arrive at the Citadel shorty," said the geth, which had been mercifully quiet during the recordings. "Prelate-Zeratul, Eden Prime is a Council world. We have video evidence of an unprovoked attack. We should show this to them."
"And even if they don't take action, you can bet the Consensus and the protoss will," said Reegar, chuckling. Tali shot him a dark look from under her helmet, but Reegar only shrugged, as if to say, "What? I'm only telling the truth."
Tali looked back to the display, hunting for the differences in the battlecruiser. For the life of her, she could not truthfully state she could see them. Furthermore, she had no idea who the hell they could be. Couldn't be Dominion. They don't leave the Sector if they can help it. Umojan? No, Umojan cruisers can't be spared out of their space, they have a small enough fleet as it is. ITSA? If it was ITSA, why didn't it help anyone? KMC? That's the only one I can think of. Maybe stopped in for a pirate raid and got scared off.
Whoever the ship belonged to, it was clear to Tali that they meant the people below no good will. And, if she had her way, she would see that colony avenged one way or another. The terrans and bug men both. For Veetor. For the innocent lives lost, taken away to who-knows-where to be… enslaved? Experimented on? Eaten?
"Setting a course for the Citadel," said Zeratul, making Tali's heart leap. Heh. Always wanted to see it. "It… has been some time. Then-" Zeratul cast a look back towards the cargo hold where Veetor slept, "home."
The Star Relic slunk through the heavens, the mangled SCV rattling within the hull.
Next Chapter: Garrus
A/N: We'll get back to Valerian soon enough, never fear.