Hey guys, so it's a few chapters away, but soon the loyalty mission part comes up. So in the reviews, sound off which loyalty missions I should do on a large scale and which missions I should just take excerpts from and turn into one chapter. One of the biggest events in the whole fanfic is coming up, so that'll be fun. REVIEW OR I SHALL DESTROY THEE.


"Death was rapidly approaching, taking a seat to watch the show before he had to go to work. For that was how this had to end. Death. With no alternative present, he prepared out his pistol to aim at the traitor before him. In all likelihood they would both die. That was fine. There was no point to living in a world where one cannot trust...whatever his opponent was to him. A friend? A meat-shield? An acquaintance? It was irrelevant. Whichever he was, death was coming to reclaim him."

Haestrom. A burning hot planet full of quarian ruins. Overall, a flaming piece of space debris crap. But there was no where else in the galaxy that Shepard would rather have been.

On the shuttle, the oh- so familiar omnipresent voice of EDI sounded out, "Shepard, our data indicates that Tali is somewhere in these ruins. There is considerable geth activity, and an environmental hazard. Solar output has-"

"EDI, I've prepared for this mission. I know all this stuff. I've read the dossier over about twenty times and done my research I'm good as far as info goes."

EDI's programming was surprisingly human. She had emotions and perfect reactions. That's probably why she sounded somewhat annoyed. "Understood Shepard. I will provide updates as the situation progresses."

The damnable sunlight would fry standard shields quickly. So sticking to the shade was the ideal solution. But it was never that easy. Something would come up. Not like that would stop him. He would barrel through walls and roundhouse kick geth to get Tali.

Grunt provided his simplistic view on the twist to this mission, "So we'll fight from the shade. But no hiding."

Shepard smiled, "Tell you what Grunt, you kick enough ass so we don't have to hide and I'll agree with you."

The krogan grunted his approval and the team stopped at a giant gate. Shepard walked in to open the gate, and an apparently quarian logbook on an automatic loop repeated: "Anyone who gets this, find Tali'Zorah. She and that data are all that matters. Keelah se'lai."

Aaaaaand, Shepard's enthusiasm was broken. Cynthia walked in and put her hand on his shoulder, "Come on John, lets go. I'm sure she's fine."

Shepard nodded and opened the gate. Once the gate was halfway down Garrus yelled, "I'm as committed to this as you are Shepard, so if I were you, I would hurry the hell up! There's a geth dropship coming!"

Shepard pulled out his pistol and initiated his omni-blade. "Damn geth. If she's hurt, there'll be hell to pay." He took aim, and as soon as the geth dropped, he scored a headshot. Anger focused him. Anger was his sword and companionship his shield.

Grunt charged, firing wildly at the geth, as well as throwing one into the sunlight. The sunlight quickly downed the geth's shields and melted the machinery into the stone. Okay, so really stay away from sunlight.

Garrus was about to finish off the last of the enemies when a Geth Prime dropped right in front of him. He barely had time to utter "Oh...shit." before he got swatted aside. Cynthia distracted the geth to prevent it from finishing Garrus off, before Grunt slammed into the giant.

Shepard swapped his assault rifle for his sniper and yelled, "Grunt! Duck!" The krogan complied, just in time for Shepard to send a bullet straight through the unprotected geth head. Cynthia, Garrus and Grunt quickly got their feet

Shepard put his sniper rifle onto his back and announced, "Alright, dust yourselves off and lets move out." "Well. Aren't we off to a good start. I hate geth."


Cynthia was dusting off a SMG she picked up from a dead quarian. Grunt and Garrus were double checking their weapons to prepare for the next geth dropship. And Shepard was leaned over a bleeding quarian. Poor bastard. All for Tali. His sacrifice wouldn't be in vain. She would live.

"Op-1, this is Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, come in, over!"

The quarian's radio was still working, apparently. Shepard picked it up and responded, "This is Commander Shepard, how can I help?"

Reegar seemed to be surprised a dead Alliance Commander was helping him on a remote geth planet. How close-minded of him. Reegar just moved past it though, "Patch your radio into Channel 617 Theta."

Shepard and team used their omni-tools and headgear to patch in, Reegar to confirm that Shepard was patched in before continuing, "We were on a stealth mission. High risk. We found what we were after, but the geth found us. They've got us pinned down. Can't get to our ship, can't transmit data through the solar radiation."

Pinned down and can't escape. That sounds good. "What's the status of your team? How many of you are left?" Code for where the hell is Tali.

Reegar explained, "We were a small squad. Dozen marines, plus the science team. We're down to half strength now. Made the synthetic bastards pay for it though."

Shepard rapidly responded, "We'll be there in a few minutes."

Reegar objected, "Take it slow and careful. Direct sunlight fries your shields all to hell."

Shepard smiled, "Yeah, it fries the geth straight to hell too."

Reegar sarcastically remarked, "Well, once all the geth are fried, we're bunkered down at base camp across the valley. I left Tali'Zorah at a secure shelter, then doubled back to hold the checkpoint. Getting Tali out safely is our top priority. If you can extract her, we'll keep them off you."

Instead of commenting about Tali or how Reegar was going to die for research, Shepard just said, "Hold position. We'll hit their back ranks."

Reegar suddenly yelled, "Wait! Watch your ass! We've got a dropship coming in!"

The dropship just stopped, fired a few choice shots at a massive pillar, and flew away. The pillar was going to drop. Shepard motioned with his hand for the team to run, but none of them got there in time before the pillar slammed down on the whole entrance.

There wasn't even a small hole they could squeeze through, the whole entrance was obstructed.

Oh. Fan-fuckin-tastic. Like he said, something always went wrong. Reegar provided a solution, "Crap. Doorway's blocked! Grab the demo charges in the building nearby! Use them to clear a path! They're coming in through the side. I've got to fall back!"

EDI added one of the status updates she had promised, "Shepard, I have scanned the area and located the demolition charges the quarian commander mentioned. I'll put it on your radar. You'll need both sets of charges to clear the rubble."

Shepard rolled his eyes. Nothing could ever be simple. If he was lucky, Tali wouldn't denounce him as a traitorous monster like Ashley. Too bad he was only lucky when it came to dodging bullets. That would do for now.


Shepard picked up the first demolition charge, halfway to the halfway point to Tali. Greaaaat. There was an audio-log on the same table. Shepard hit play, because why the hell not. It was Tali's Journal!

"We need a core sample to get a timeline on the rate of radiation increase, but our equipment keeps dying on us. Shepard once used a mining laser to clear some rubble back on Therum."

Oh yeah. That was something. The day he met Liara. It had been so much time since he had seen her. More time for that later, now he needed to see Tali. The Journal went on briefly. "Maybe I can do something similar with demolition charges."

Huh, good thing she didn't use them all. Or something really terrible might have happened...Like a bunch of geth not getting blown to pieces.


"Unless you wanna get blasted, get back!" Shepard slammed the demolition charges onto the stone and set the timer. Fifteen seconds. Everyone ran behind the cover of some mining equipment, per Shepard's orders.

Once inside, there were dozens of dead geth scattered around, along with a few quarians. A damaged geth was trying to crawl away. It was terrible. Shepard put the synthetic attacker out of its misery with a headshot.

The stone around them was archaic by modern standards. "Quarian architecture. Those are two words you don't expect to hear together." Garrus muttered.

Cynthia looked around, "Yeah, tell me about it."

"Our ancestors walked these halls with uncovered heads. The sun must have been normal back then."

What the hell? A quick search determined the source of the sound. It was another one of Tali's journals.

"So much space. Walls of stone...It's amazing. I wish my friends could see it. I wish Shepard was here."

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

It was Tali, but the current Tali. She was talking through the console next to the door. Shepard hit the respond button and reported, "Tali, it's Shepard. I'm sorry. Everyone here is dead. Any survivors must have fallen back."

Tali looked down in a moment of mourning before responding. "We knew this mission was high-risk. Damn it. And what are you doing here Shepard? We're in the middle of geth space!"

Shepard looked around, "I happened to be in the neighborhood shopping for apartments and I thought you might need a hand."

Tali smiled. Or got pissed that he was wasting time. Hard to tell when you can't see someones face. "Thanks for coming, Shepard. It means a lot to hear your voice."

Garrus walked into the picture, "Yeah? How about hearing mine?"

Tali looked at Garrus, "Garrus? You too? Next your going to tell me you have Wrex, Ashley, and Liara there."

Cynthia put her head in and commented, "Nah, they can afford therapists. We just punch geth to solve our issues."

Tali was in disbelief, this time her emotions were obvious. "Thanks for coming, Shepard, Garrus...Cynthia I think. It means a lot to hear your voices. Kal'Reegar and what's left of the marines got me into the observatory. From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. I got the data I needed, and I'm safe for now, but I've got a lot of geth outside and- oh keelah. This is bad. John, please hurry!

She was one of the few people who called him John on a regular basis. The only exception was when there were people she wasn't familiar with around.

Shepard smiled, "You couldn't fathom how good it is to hear your voice to me. It looks like somebody sealed the door against the geth, and the console is damaged. Can you get it open on your end?"

Tali inspected her console and slowly muttered, "Let me see...Yes, I can do it. Should be unlocked now. Be careful, Shepard. And please do what you can to keep Reegar alive."

The hologram faded and the door's red interface turned green to represent it being unlocked. "I won't let you down Tali. Not again." He had left her (well, he died, but same thing) and let her whole squad die before. Not again.


He was so close, just a small field away. Shepard opened the shutters to reveal a courtyard, including a giant geth colossus. Grunt gave it a typical krogan spin, "This is why I follow you Shepard, big things!"

Everyone dove for cover as the colossus sent a shot through the window. The team ran down the stairs, towards the voice of Kal'Reegar saying, "Over here! Get to cover!"

Once everyone was behind cover, Reegar formally introduced himself. "Squad Leader Kal'Reegar, Migrant Fleet Marines. We talked on the radio before that dropship arrived. Still got no idea why you're here, but this isn't the time to be picky."

Another blast hit the cover, almost throwing Reegar onto the ground. "Tali's inside over there. The geth killed the rest of my squad and they're trying to get to her. Best I've been able to do is draw their attention."

If the answer was no, Shepard would just drop his gun and jump over the cover. "Are you sure she's still alive?"

Reegar sounded doubtful when he explained, "The observatory is reinforced. At the bare minimum, it'll be a few minutes before the geth get through. And it's hard to hack a door when someone's firing rockets at you."

Cynthia looked over the barrier and commented, "I wouldn't put it past the geth."

"True enough. The geth are near platoon strength, but the colossus is the worst part. It's got a repair protocol. Huddles up and fixes itself."

As if to prove Reegar right, the colossus crunched down to repair. After his evidence was presented, Reegar continued, "I can't get a clear shot while it's down like that. I tried to move in closer, and one of the bastards punched a shot clean through my suit."

It took a minute for Reegar to explain the layout of the battlefield, but then Shepard had a plan. But Reegar had an argument.

"I'm not doing so well, but I can still pull a trigger, and I've got a rocket launcher the sun hasn't fried yet. You move in close, I'll keep the colossus busy, maybe even drop its shields. With any luck you'll be able to finish it off."

Great. Another suicidal soldier. Shepard already filled that role. Besides, he couldn't have another death on his consciousness. "You've done enough Reegar. You don't need to throw your life away."

Reegar was a soldier, he followed orders and did his job. Too bad soldiers were a pain in the ass, so he resisted. "Wasn't asking your permission-"

Shepard lightly pushed him back against the wall as he tried to get up. "No. We have enough people on our side that you don't have to take one for the team. If I have to, I'll make Grunt here sit on you until the colossus is dead."

Grunt did the only thing he did besides killing and talking. He grunted. Reegar lightly laughed, "Alright, if you insist. But what's your plan?"

"Garrus, run right and snipe what you can down. Grunt, go with him and cut down any geth that get too close. Cynthia, go left and do what we both do best. Reegar, you're best off here. Just fire as many rockets at the colossus as you can. Try and cover me, all of you."

Garrus did the turian equivalent of a smirk and asked, "Another suicide mission?"

Shepard pulled out his assault rifle and explained, "Not for you."

Cynthia grabbed Shepard's shoulder, "Stop trying to get yourself killed! What if you die this close to Tali?"

Shepard looked down before saying, "Ha! I died once and all it did was get me more guns!"

His humor fixed the situation, but he was as worried as Cynthia. This was stupid, insane, and going to get him killed. But it was the best chance they had.

"Alright, I'll distract them, you get into your positions. On my mark...go!"

He jumped over the cover and ran like hell was following him. Actually, hell was right in front of him. The geth colossus immediately sent a bolt at him, which he barely dodged by rolling under it.

Garrus reached his sniper perch, just in time to blow the head off a geth that was about to fry Shepard.

Grunt was just obliterating geth on the right side. They didn't even touch Garrus. Cynthia was doing the same on her side. Her SMG precisely ripped through three geth before one of them got close enough that she had to get out her omni-blade and stab it.

Shepard jumped on top of a giant stone block and ducked, the blast almost singed his hair. Or rather, his helmet. Then, he jumped down and used his omni-blade to decapitate a geth unit that was about to shoot him. A rocket from Reegar just barely saved his life by hitting the geth colossus with just enough force to knock it off target.

Shepard finally reached the incline up to the colossus, he grabbed a geth and threw it in the way of yet another colossus blast. He continued to run up, with a minor motivation. Tali's shelter door opened. Shepard kept running, finally reaching the colossus.

Just as it was about to fire on him, he slid under it and used his omni-blade to rip a hole across its bottom. He jumped up and tackled a geth about to enter the shelter. Reegar's rocket hit the colossus and forced it into repair mode.

Using the opportunity, Garrus, Cynthia, and Grunt combined fire onto the colossus. Just as Shepard finished off the geth entering Tali's shelter, the colossus rose again.

Another rocket hit it, and the rapid fire of the four Normandy crew members hit a weak spot apparently, because it started flaming. Everyone ducked for cover, and then the geth exploded, sending pieces of it raining all around.

Shepard looked up to see the most beautiful woman in the world offering him a hand up. Tali helped him up and hugged him; "Thank you, Shepard. If not for you, I would never have made it out of this room."

Shepard let Tali go and looked into her glowing eyes. "It's been too long Tali. And you wouldn't have stayed in this room for that long. After a few minutes, you would have converted it into a spaceship and flown it back to the Migrant Fleet.

Tali lightly laughed as Garrus, Cynthia, and Grunt walked in. "This whole mission has been a disaster. I wish I'd joined you back on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."

Shepard's grin just kept growing. "Whatever the reason, I'm glad I could help. Once you deliver the data, I could use you on the Normandy."

Tali seemed happy with an alternative, "I promised to see this mission through. I did. I can leave with you and send the data to the Fleet. And if the admirals have a problem with it, they can go to hell. I just watched the rest of my team die."

He must have taken it as his cue, because Kal'Reegar limped in and added, "Maybe not the whole rest of your team, ma'am."

Tali happily noted, "Reegar! You made it!"

Shepard cast a glare at Tali, "You sound surprised."

Reegar gestured at Shepard and commented, "Your old captain's as good as you said. Damn colossus never stood a chance."

Shepard took a look at Reegar, he wasn't in good condition. "If need be, the Normandy can get you out of here, Reegar."

It was just an act of good faith. If Reegar was too proud to not die without convincing, he was too proud to take a ride back to his ship. "The geth didn't damage our ship. Long as we get out of here before reinforcements show up, we'll be fine."

Tali was quick to correct him, "Actually, I won't be going with you. I'm joining Commander Shepard."

Reegar took it better than he could have. "I'll pass the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened. She's all yours now, Shepard. Keep her safe."

Shepard grinned, "Trust me, I will."


Miranda demanded that Shepard brief all the recruits in the Conference Room. Jacob broke the ice, "Cerberus saw footage of you in action, Tali'Zorah. We're looking forward to having you on the team. Your engineering expertise will really benefit the mission."

Tali refroze the ice and put a layer of water on to boot. "I don't know who you are, but Cerberus threatened the security of the Migrant Fleet. Don't make nice."

That was a little far, "Tali, Cerberus is a bunch of ignorant terrorist bastards. But Jacob is a good man."

Jacob added to Shepard's defense, "I wasn't part of what happened to the Migrant Fleet, but I understand your distrust. I hope we'll get past that as we work together."

Tali the one of Shepard's closest friends, so her next words were like a mix of venom and honey. "I assumed that you were undercover, Shepard. Maybe even planning to blow Cerberus up. If that's the case, I'll loan you a grenade. Otherwise I'm here for you. Not for them."

Shepard smiled, at least she was here for him. "If it helps Tali, check out the Normandy while you're here. We've gotten a few significant upgrades."

Jacob added, "I'll get Tali'Zorah the necessary security clearance to access our systems."

Tali icily replied, "Please do. I can't be a part of your team if I don't know how the ship works."

As she began to walk out she insisted, "Just remember Shepard, Cerberus wasn't our friend when we went up against Saren. I'll be in engineering."

Then Jacob decided to do something stupid. He brought up EDI. "Don't forgot to introduce yourself to EDI, the ship's new artificial intelligence."

Tali was in the doorway when she turned and aimed a glare at Jacob.

Jacob just looked at Shepard, "What did I do?"

Shepard sighed and left the room. He needed to sleep for a bit. His head still felt warm from the colossus' shots. Then he would talk to Tali and make his rounds.


Why the hell is it that I only get inspiration at four in the morning? I swear to god, at this rate by the end of the summer my eyes are going to look like I got punched in the face twenty times. The bags under my eyes are that big. Anyway, tell me what loyalty missions you want me to do, and how I did in the combat scenes.