AUTHOR'S FOREWORD:

A quick chapter wrapping up the Citadel stuff, the next chapter will be the bonus one with codex entries on a good number of things that have come up so far. The posters will be put up with chapter ten, which will be the start of the Feros act.

For the record, I am on #TeamTali...

Enjoy.

Chapter 9: The Calm

Tali sat in the human embassy, across from the holographic projectors. She squeezed one hand with the other, waiting for what was to come. She wanted to leave, take Vakarian and get out. From the moment she had met Shepard, she had been treated like some sort of plenipotentary of the quarian people by the humans. She wasn't.

When she had asked Ambassador Udina about this, he had simply shrugged and said that the Migrant Fleet had no representative on the Citadel. He had the good grace to apologise for the inconvenience, but Tali didn't feel one bit better about the situation for it. She just wanted to help.

Shepard herself had run off to save Dr. T'soni from the clutches of General Haider, but Garrus had insisted on accompanying Tali, saying something along the lines of knowing what humans were like sometimes. The Commander had shrugged with a half-smile on her face, as if acknowledging it, and then off she went. The turian, for his part, was waiting outside the main office now for the meeting to end.

So, it would be safe to say, Tali felt somewhat sick when the holograms of three military officers popped up. It had been two hours of waiting. The young quarian stood up.

The first was an older human male in a formal uniform, the second was a middle-aged female in a set of camouflage pattern fatigues, and the third was Alice Dennison, the consul.

"Admiral, Marshal, Consul," Udina began, "This is Ambassador Zorah."

Tali's eyes opened wide, the diplomat's words hitting her hard.

"I am not an ambassador, I'm just on my pilgrimage..." she began, holding both her hands in front of her, as if to stop the title physically from touching her.

"Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, the Consuls and High Command of the Systems Alliance don't relay classified information to anyone less than an ambassador," the consul said with a smile, "It's a mere formality, accept it so we can move on. Please."

"Ah.. Okay, but..."

"Good, this will be a quick rendezvous," continued Dennison, "This is Admiral Hackett of the Fifth Fleet and Field Marshal deRuyter of Troop Command Europa, the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

The other female, deRuyter, simply nodded her greeting. The male human went further.

"It's good to meet you Miss Zorah, Commander Shepard's reports on you are glowing," said Hackett, "I hope you continue to work well with her."

Tali nodded rapidly.

"Yes, she is a wonderful commander, I hope so too," she said nervously, "Umm, so what do you need to know?"

"Do you know much about the previous attempts by the Migrant Fleet to retake your homeworld?" asked DeRuyter, "According to what we know, three times you tried to return to Rannoch, and three times you failed."

An overwhelming sadness covered Tali as if draped on her like a cloak. It was true, her people had tried desperately to go home and three times the Council had almost declared war on the flotilla themselves as the attacks were repulsed by the geth with ease. The other species wanted to avoid provoking the geth at all costs, at least until humanity came along, leaving the quarians as a broken and homeless people. She swallowed the shame as best she could, before continuing.

"Yes, we tried to retake our homeworld, twice soon after we were forced to evacuate and once more about a century ago," she said slowly, "Since then, the Conclave has decided against trying to attack and the Admiralty Board has thought it suicidal. The Council made us agree never to attack again after the third attempt failed."

"So the quarians have no intention of retaking their homeworld?" asked Hackett.

"When I left the flotilla, we didn't," said Tali, "My father has always advocated it, but he was always in the minority. We just aren't strong enough on our own."

Hackett frowned for a reason Tali couldn't figure out, while Dennison looked thoughtful for a moment. What did these humans really want?

"You seem to have highly effective electronic countermeasures against geth mechs, can those not be applied to help your cause?" asked DeRuyter.

"They only work on geth units for a small period of time, and the more units in a platform there are, the less effective hacking is," Tali explained, "Hacking ships is not possible, and even the larger classes of geth mechs cannot be successfully disrupted for more than a second or two."

"If you're willing, we'd like to see what you have anyway," asked Hackett, "Any advantage is better than no advantage."

"Does our declaration of war change things?" asked Dennison, moving the conversation back to a subject she was obviously more comfortable with.

"I don't know, it's possible," said Tali, "The flotilla has a positive attitude towards humans because of the agreement we signed, but I don't think they believe you'll fight the geth to the bitter end."

"We'll see about that," declared DeRuyter proudly, "My girls and boys won't rest until the geth are laying at our feet, shattered."

Dennison rolled her eyes, lifting Tali's spirits slightly.

"You'll have to excuse the general, she was promoted for her competence in battle, not her tact," said the consul, glancing at the officer in question as she did so, "As the batarians discovered to their cost."

Tali didn't know what to say to that. The field marshal was smiling as if she had just been complimented, but Tali didn't think what had been said was intended as that. Humans could be so strange sometimes.

"Anyway, we might as well get to the real point of why you're here," said Dennison finally, "I've heard enough. Hackett, brief her."

"Yes, ma'am."

The consul's image disappeared from the communicator, followed a moment later by the field marshal. The admiral hesitated for a moment.

"I apologise if my colleagues were overzealous," said Hackett, "Sometimes, I think half of the animosity humanity faces from other species is due to our own lack of manners."

"It's okay," said Tali, appreciating the thought, "I just didn't expect to be questioned about the homeworld is all."

"A sad subject for you, I'm sure, but the field marshal wasn't lying when she said we're in this for absolute victory," said Hackett, "This war will end either with humanity's destruction or the liberation of Rannoch."

Tali's hopes rose. Shepard had said the same thing, and she believed it, but it was something else entirely to hear it from the most senior Alliance officer in the galaxy. Maybe she would see the homeworld after all.

"Is that the message you want me to pass to my father?" she asked.

"Not exactly, although we don't object to it," Hackett continued, "Our message is more specific. Are you familiar with the former quarian colony of Ket'osh?"

"It was the furthest colony from Rannoch, and the last to fall to the geth," said Tali sadly, "But they abandoned it, and before we could reclaim it, pirates and corporations moved in and the Council prevented us from attacking in order to avoid a war with the Terminus Systems."

"Well, the geth have reoccupied it and the Alliance means to take it," said Hackett, "There is a sophisticated tracking array there that cannot be left in geth hands. It isn't inhabited by humans, so we can't spare the troops to hold the whole planet. We have the whole Traverse to defend and our army is still mobilising. We would like the Migrant Fleet to reoccupy it once we have eliminated the geth there, inform them they can return as soon as the news breaks that we've retaken it."

Tali was surprised. She thought the message would be a formal offer of alliance between humanity and the quarians, but it was a lot less important than that.

"You aren't going to request the flotilla's help against the geth?" asked Tali.

"Not at this time," said Hackett, "This is our fight, for now."

"I can pass your message on, Admiral," Tali said, unhappy about the lack of detail, "But why are you doing this? You could defend your worlds and leave the geth in the Veil, the Council would probably help you."

"Many reasons, Miss Zorah," said Hackett, "But if I had to choose one, I would say it was because we are human."

Tali couldn't help but grin under her helmet. Once upon a time, she would have been confused at the admiral's statement, but a week with the Commander had educated her on the subject of humanity. Their determination approached insanity, if Jane Shepard was any example. They were an all or nothing species. No wonder the Council feared them.

"I think I'm beginning to understand what people mean by that," said Tali, as her omnitool started beeping.

Liara waited quietly in the taxi as it made its way from the Presidium. The smell of old-leather drifted in the air, as Shepard leaned forward and directed the driver. The sights and smells were hypnotising. She found her eyes wandering for a moment, onto the blood red hair of the Commander. She had never laid sight on anything like it before meeting Shepard. It seemed to flow off the top of the human's head like a waterfall, splashing onto her shoulders. The colour seemed beautiful and ominous at the same time.

Shepard sat back now, and Liara scrambled to look anywhere else.

"Is something wrong?" Shepard asked, looking at Liara now with some concern.

Liara glanced at the human quickly. Almost luminous green eyes stared back. Panic began to set in. She had noticed.

"Nothing at all," Liara replied as calmly as she could muster, "I am just very glad to be away from the General and her questioning."

Shepard's expression hardened, her eyes going from open to slightly closed and her mouth tightening. Liara watched captivated. Why did this woman care so much?

"I am sorry we did not give you a good first impression," said Shepard, "But I hope you'll be more comfortable on the Normandy."

"My first impression of you was of a geth that had been trying to kill me exploding into pieces and you saving me," said Liara, the edges of her mouth lifting into a small smile, "I do not think a few hard questions are going to form an impression over than that."

Shepard grinned now, her eyes looking upwards. Liara watched them. She wondered what that meant.

"That was a good shot," said Shepard finally, her eyes returning to meet Liara's own.

Liara let out an exasperated sigh. She had almost forgot that Shepard was a soldier and so was quite at home in combat, but she sensed something else. The bravado felt hollow to her. She put the thought aside, reminding herself to ask later in a more appropriate setting, and turned her attention to the here and now.

"So, where are we going?" asked Liara.

"Zakera Ward," Shepard replied, "Lieutenant Alenko and Chief Williams are holding down the fort in a spot the Alliance Army likes with Wrex."

Liara frowned. Socialising was not her preferred activity, drinking even less so.

"Don't worry, it's a quiet enough place," Shepard said in a reassuring tone, "Cozy is how Ashley put it, I think."

Liara was not reassured however. She barely understood humans, never mind negotiating the social cues of a krogan mercenary who had been drinking. She crossed her arms and turned to watch the skyline fly by. It calmed her.

Suddenly, Shepard's omnitool started beeping, strobing red light filling the skycar's rear compartment.