Sorry for the slower updates. My health problems are making me feel crappy in the heat.

Chapter 10: The Impossible, Again

In a few moments I will stand on Rannoch. The home of my ancestors. My home.

Even as those words echoed in her mind, Tali couldn't quite grasp them. It didn't even help that she's been on Rannoch once already. Back then it was nighttime, one half of her mind was asleep and the other one was occupied with Garrus. Before it could sink in properly, the rescue of Admiral Koris was done and she was back on the Normandy. Now, it was different. She was on the way to reclaim it back, with Teresa, EDI and Legion.

It took a long week for Legion to find the location of the Reaper base they were about to assault. After the embarrassing spectacle she made of herself, Tali mostly spent it avoiding Teresa and Garrus. She couldn't tell which was worse, the way how their relationship seemed to be completely unaffected by it, or how they've been both nice to her. It was like she attempted to break down walls of a fortress by throwing a rock at it, or something even more harmless, like crumpled tissue paper.

Liara was the one who helped her to get over it, as she offered a surprising amount of understanding and sympathy. Tali was grateful, but couldn't shake off the feeling it was just another reminder of how childish she was. Even Liara morphed from a naïve, wanna-be scientist to a full-fledged information broker who, to use her own words, could start a war if given five minutes. Tali still remained a childish machinist, trying to fill the shoes left by her father.

No. Tali shook her head. I am an admiral, not just a stand-in for my father. I will do what he never did: not only reclaim our home, but make peace with the geth too. Not so long ago she would have wanted to wipe all the geth out without a second thought, but Teresa and Legion changed her mind.

Speaking of which, the conversation between Teresa and Legion just turned into an argument. Tali barely paid attention to them, being lost in the attempt to sort her thoughts out, but Legion mentioning the Reaper upgrades left in him quickly made her attentive. Teresa didn't seem to take this well.

"Legion is on our side." Tali said sharply, convincing. It was a little surprising even for her, but after Teresa told her what she saw in the geth consensus, Tali now firmly believed in their innocence. Her people attacked first, and only because geth asked if they had a soul.

"You're right, Tali. We shouldn't be wasting our time on arguments. How did we come to this? Geth are better than that." Teresa said with a sigh. Tali knew she'll do everything in her power to unite her people and the geth.

Legion seemed to contemplate this as his flashlight plates twitched several times. Finally he said: "No. Based on the empirical evidence, we are not."

Tali smiled sadly under her helmet at his words. Geth were truly innocent. All the bad things they did were forced upon them by the organics. Their true nature was peaceful and honest. How did she ever think they were just bloodthirsty killing machines?

With a heavy feeling in her heart, Tali realized she knew the answer: all the lies told by her people. Were the organics really that much better than synthetics? Or were they better at all?

There was no time left for such thoughts as the shuttle finally touched down on Rannoch. Legion left quickly to help them gain entry to the base, and Tali was left with Teresa and EDI. She walked like in a dream, turning her head slowly, trying to absorb her surroundings as much as possible. The sky, the fabled rock formations, everything…

Rannoch. Walled garden. Home. Tali sank to her knees and touched the ground of her homeworld. Behind her, she heard Teresa saying: "Take your time." She was glad the commander understood her need to feel her home. It wasn't as real as it could be as she still wore her suit's gloves, but it was pretty damn close.

Rising, Tali looked around once more. Her own garden will be right here, with the living room window looking at it. She smiled under the helmet.

"Nice choice." She heard Teresa say behind her back.

Tali turned around quickly, as if caught doing something bad. "Did… Did I say that out loud?" Teresa nodded, smiling.

"I know it's not much, but I just claimed my land. When this is over… I'll have a home." Tali's voice was full of disbelief, even to her surprise.

Teresa crouched and picked a rock from the ground. She then handed it to Tali, saying: "Here. A foundation for your home. It's a start."

Tali received the rock and held it in her hand for a few moments before placing it carefully in one of the many pockets in her suit. "I never thought-" She began, but was interrupted by a metallic sound of clearing throat.

"Pardon me, but we came here for a mission." It was EDI. Tali had almost forgotten she was there.

"Of course, EDI. I won't reclaim my home by standing here. I'm ready to blow the Reapers off Rannoch." Tali said with a determination in her voice.

"Let's move out then!" Teresa commanded and sprinted forward.

It didn't take long and they reached the first group of geth. No, Tali corrected herself, a group of Reapers. They were nothing more but geth shells loaded with Reaper code. And soon they will be just shells.

"For Rannoch!" Tali cried out, feeling a surge of bravery. She sapped the energy out of the nearest geth, making it twitch uncontrollably. Using her shotgun, she blew it to bits then, sending the white goo splattering everywhere. It looked very much like blood, and it made Tali feel… satisfied. Then another geth went down. And another. And another. She was an unstoppable force of destruction, ready to kill anything that opposed her.

Come here, you hacked bosh'tets. I have my shotgun.

"Dad? Dad…? Come in." Garrus listened to the static in his comlink's earpiece, with his talons frozen over the main battery's computer console, as if a slightest movement on his side could disturb the already lousy connection.

"Solana's been hurt." His father's voice finally came through the earpiece, but offered no comfort.

"Hurt? How bad?" Garrus asked, feeling his throat tightening.

"A broken leg. She'll live." The static in the transmission increased.

"Dad, you have to get out of there!" Garrus felt desperation creep into his voice.

"We're trying to, Garrus, but there are so few shuttles left-" The transmission broke up completely, leaving him alone.

He breathed out a shaky breath, leaning on the console and whispering: "Spirits… please… if you exist… let me see them again."

Like all turians, he's been taught that spirits exist, and he took it for granted most of the time. However, he felt his faith was being seriously tested at this moment. Until now, he thought the humanity's loss of faith after the discovery of space travel was… inferior to say the least, but it suddenly made sense. If there was a higher power, how could it allow the arrival of the Reapers? No matter what they did, what great sins they committed, they didn't deserve this.

Garrus felt his claws trembling. When he was in battle, he could push everything aside and focus, but being alone was terrible for him. Teresa was down on Rannoch, and he was here, stuck with his constantly bubbling thoughts. Although he was glad to hear his father's voice, the call only brought more damage for his already shaken nerves. He needed a distraction.

After a moment of pondering, he decided to join Joker in the cockpit. He liked and respected the Normandy's pilot, finding his endless supply of jokes and snarky comments amusing. Also, and this thought unsettled him more than he expected, they were in the same boat here. They both had their… women they loved… down on Rannoch. It definitely sounded better than staring at the gun's console doing nothing.

Arriving at Joker's station, Garrus motioned at the co-pilot's chair, the one where EDI sat when she was on the ship. He said: "May I join you?"

"Sure. Just don't touch anything." If Joker was surprised by this visit, he didn't show it.

Garrus sat down and stared at the planet below them, sighing.

"It sucks, huh?" Joker asked knowingly.

"Yeah." Garrus agreed. "I'm not used to this, not being part of the action."

"And you can't even drown your sorrows in brandy. Your lady doesn't allow it." Joker's knowing smirk deepened.

Garrus was honestly surprised. He turned in the seat to look at Joker and asked: "How the hell do you know that?"

"My lady has eyes and ears all over the ship, remember? She knows everything and she likes to share it with me."

Garrus' eyes were horrorstricken as he continued to look at Joker: "Then she watches us during, uh…"

"Your sparring matches?" Joker had a glint of triumph in his eyes. "Sure. But I taught her it's not a nice thing to do. Besides, I'm not interested in turian-on-human action. You're safe."

Garrus was mortified. Talking to Joker suddenly seemed like a very bad idea. Finally, after several uncomfortable moments of silence, he thought of a reply: "Hah, I bet Teresa will change her opinion on the whole 'innocent as a child' thing when I tell her this."

It was now Joker's turn to look surprised, but he never got the chance to ask his question. EDI's voice rang through the comlink: "Jeff, bring the Normandy down from orbit. The commander will paint-target the Reaper base soon."

Garrus straightened in the seat as the Normandy descended, completely forgetting their previous conversation. He couldn't be with Teresa, but he could at least see what was happening. It had to be enough.

The high pitched whine of the target painter came through the cockpit's speakers. Its pitch increased until it was nearly too high to hear, then finally stabilized on an even tone. Joker fired the Normandy's guns, and Garrus hoped they were at their best. They had to be, he didn't spend the entire time until he received the call from his dad calibrating his ass off for nothing.

The projectiles hit the structure indicated by the target painter. Garrus saw the smoke and rubble, and hoped it was enough. Maybe, just once, a mission will go exactly as planned.

There was no such luck. Something rose from the smoke, and to Garrus' dismay it was the familiar squid-like shape with a glowing red eye.

"Spirits!" He gasped at the same time as Joker breathed a strained "Holy shit!"

The Reaper turned its eye on them. "Evasive maneuvers!" Joker yelled as his fingers began to work their magic on the flight control console.

The motion dampeners kicked in, but Garrus was still being thrown around in the co-pilot's seat as the Reaper's laser was cutting through the air, trying to hit the ship. "Is there something I can do to help?" He asked, although he was starting to feel dizzy.

"Yes. Shut up and keep your claws away from the controls!"

Garrus realized that was true, but still felt terrible being so helpless. His talons clenched into tight fists as he stared through the cockpit window. The quarian armada was firing at the Reaper, mostly ineffective, but then something happened. The Reaper broke off the attack for a moment, stumbling.

"EDI, do you know what did that? If we keep hitting it where it hurts maybe we can bring it down." There was a tiny bit of hope in Joker's otherwise panic stricken voice.

"Yes. The firing chamber seems to be its weak point. I am connecting the quarian armada to our targeting system. The commander will paint-target the chamber so everyone can hit it."

The commander… will paint-target… the chamber… Garrus' mind went blank as it processed this information, and the meaning behind it sank in. His eyes clamped shut, not bearing to look at the Reaper anymore. It was too much for him.

Spirits, save her. Spirits, save her. Spirits save her. Spiritssaveher. Spiritssaveher. In the blackness behind his eyelids Garrus repeated the chant. Whether there was a higher power or not, in a situation like this the only thing one could do was to pray.

The high pitched whine repeated several times, followed by detonations from various weapons. Then, it was only silence. Garrus still kept his eyes shut, afraid to find out what the silence meant.

"You can open your eyes now, Garrus. The Reaper is dead." Joker's voice was surprisingly lacking any teasing tone.

He did so, reluctantly, to see the Reaper lying on the ground, shooting off red sparks.

"Is it?" He asked. The thing looked dead, but with Reapers you never knew.

"It appears to be completely inert. I can also verify that the geth are no longer hacked." EDI chimed in with a reply happily.

"And the commander?"

"She is unharmed, as is the rest of the ground team."

Garrus breathed a great sigh of relief, unclenched his fists and slumped in the seat. She did the impossible, again, and he… he may yet to live through this day.

"Keelah, we did it. We killed a Reaper." Teresa heard Tali behind her, with awe in her voice. It sounded exactly like Teresa felt. What she… what they all did was staggering.

"They all stopped fighting. Hit them with all we've got!" Admiral Gerrel's voice came through the comlink. Teresa frowned, her feeling of triumph suddenly spoiled. This damn warmonger was about to undo any chance for unification.

"Shepard-Commander, Creator-Zorah, do we deserve death?" Legion asked, his flashlight staring at them. "If you stop attacking we will help against the Reapers."

Before Teresa could reply, Tali cut in: "No, Legion, you don't. I'll try to stop them."

She activated her omni-tool and spoke into it: "This is Admiral Tali'Zorah. All units, cease fire. The geth are our friends."

Teresa was surprised to hear the authority in Tali's voice. Although she had the title of an admiral, this was the first time she really acted like one.

"Negative. Keep firing!" Gerrel was really getting on her nerves now. How could he be so blind?

"If the creators keep attacking us, we must defend ourselves." Legion spoke. "We will upload the Reaper code to the consensus. Beginning upload."

"Legion, I beg you, do not do this. You will destroy us with the upgrades." Tali's voice sounded pleading.

"We regret the deaths of the creators, but we see no alternative. Ten percent." Legion replied, and Teresa could swear she could hear the regret in his voice.

Tali turned to look at her and said, with that same pleading voice: "Do something."

Teresa activated her comlink, addressing the entire fleet: "This is Commander Shepard. The geth are about to return to full strength. If you keep attacking you will be decimated. The geth don't want to fight you. If you can believe that for a minute this war is over and you can return to Rannoch. You have a choice. Keelah se'lai."

The silence following her speech was deafening. Finally, she heard Gerrel's voice: "All units, stop firing." Tali visibly relaxed.

"Upload complete… but it is not enough." Legion said, the inflections in his voice sounding almost like in an organic. "I must go to them personally. It's the only way."

Teresa blinked. Did Legion just say "I"?

"Legion… Do you remember the question your people asked so long ago? The answer was: 'Yes'." Tali said, her voice unusually sad.

"I know, Tali. But thank you. Keelah se'lai." As he finished speaking, Legion dropped on the floor, lifeless, his lights blinking out.

"He said: 'I'" Tali's voice was shaken. "He was a person, a real person before he died."

As Tali spoke, a geth Prime approached them. Its… His… manner was friendly enough, but Teresa couldn't help but feel slightly alarmed. "Legion?" She called out as the Prime got really close.

"No, Commander. Legion sacrificed himself so each of us could become alive." The Prime replied. "We will honor his promise and help you against the Reapers."

"And I'm sure my people will too. You deserve it." Tali added.

"Will you be alright, working with the geth?" Teresa asked. "They were your enemies until a little while ago."

"I'm not staying… I want to serve on the Normandy again… if you'll have me. I promise working with Garrus won't be a problem." Tali's voice sounded uncomfortable at the last part.

"Of course I'll have you, but what about Rannoch? Your dream house with a garden? Didn't you want this all your life?" Teresa didn't really want to tear her friend away from a life of happiness.

"The Reapers will come to Rannoch eventually. If they aren't stopped, my dream house might not last long. I want to take my part in the fight. My people have been self-serving for too long." Tali sounded certain. She pulled the rock Teresa gave her from the pocket and looked at it. "Until we're free of the Reapers, this will have to be enough."

"Then welcome back, Tali."