Author's Note: I did honestly consider having Gerral and Rael'Zorah get into a shouting match towards Legion, but decided that having Tali upstage her father in a way he couldn't possibly get mad about was the better option. There will be peace in our time!
Their travel through the ship was tense, to say the least. Koris had, rather quickly, summoned more security crew to surround them, weapons out but very carefully not pointed at the geth, and escort them through the ship to the meeting room. It was quite different than the Rayya, the only other ship Shepard had been aboard, but fairly nice for all of that. They eventually came out in what had once been a cargo bay, or maybe a fighter or shuttle maintenance bay, already crowded with quarians. Word of their arrival had spread at the speed of rumor, currently estimated to be somewhere around three hundred times the speed of light. Maybe I should ask Mordin to calculate it. Then again, he might not get the joke.
She recognized Han'Gerral and Daro'Xen, standing on the small podium high on one wall. The crowd quieted, then furious murmurs of conversation drowned them in cacophony. More and more people were fighting their way inside the cargo bay, until the unfortunate security guards were fighting to hold the crowd back and provide them with breathing room. The road was broken by a sudden deafening squeal from a drone above Koris' head. "Please, show some common respect for our guests," his amplified voice thundered. "Not just our brethren from other vessels are aboard today, but also several representatives from the Terran Alliance and the Turian Hierarchy."
The reference to the turians got a quick, angry-sounding mutter, but Garrus stood proudly and held his ground. Legion, fortunately, was at the back of the group against the wall, mostly hidden behind the crowd of humans. Finally, Koris and one of his other officers started ordering lower-ranking quarians out of the room, and setting up video drones to broadcast. There were still more quarians fighting to come in, and about every five minutes the next rank up were ordered out. It took half an hour for the room to finally reach a stability, a very crowded one, of course, and every exchange of people had Tali seeming more and more ill at ease.
"Are you going to be okay?" Jane asked her quietly. "What's so important about the constant change in people?"
The look she got was pure astonishment of stupidity before being replaced with the slightly more certain posture. "Sorry, I forgot you probably don't know who all of these people are. Right now, two thirds of the room are ship captains from across the fleet."
Hannah blinked. "All the ship captains are here for this?"
"Not all of them. Maybe half are here. There's only room on the live ships for an actual captain's conclave," Tali explained, "but an Alliance dreadnought, let alone a talking peaceful geth, is enough to get a large group of them to show up. It's … politics."
"That sounds depressingly familiar," Chakwas muttered loudly. "Heaven forbid we talk to people with actual power before we satiate the brown-nosers."
"What's a brown noser?" Tali asked curiously.
Garrus coughed suddenly. "Trust me, we'll explain later. I've heard that term often enough around C-Sec."
Another, mercifully shorter, squeal came from Koris' drone, and the room quieted down. "I am Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib, and I welcome you all to my ship. Our previous agenda will be tabled in favor of new business." He turned towards the Alliance group. "Captain Shepard, you said you were here from the Alliance to negotiate with the Admiralty Board. Would you please explain?"
The elder Shepard stepped forward, outside the rank of security guards. "I would be pleased to, Admiral. However, it will be easier to explain if you will allow Tali'Zorah to present her Pilgrimage gift." The five admirals spoke quietly for a few moments before Koris nodded and gestured for them to proceed.
Tali took a moment, squaring her shoulders and gamely marching out from the security guards. Legion followed two steps behind her, still holding the crate. Aside from their footsteps, the only sound in the room was Xen's excited, "Interesting," as they stopped before the podium.
"Who stands before me? Who are you, stranger, asking admittance to our halls?" Koris asked formally.
"A pilgrim, one who has wandered far, amid tides of light and shoals of dust, longing to return home," Tali responded, somewhat quieter.
"What have you gained, pilgrim? Where have you traveled?"
"I have walked through stations hostile and unfriendly, matched wits against those who would do me harm, and gained friends in the most unlikely places."
"If you seek to join us, pilgrim, what have you brought us, and who would you serve with?"
Tali gestured to Legion, who stepped up beside her and lowered the crate to the ground. "I can offer little more than this," she said, reaching into the box, and raising above her head a thin, willowy branch, covered in dozens of blue-purple flowers. They were starting to wilt, and several of the petals fell from the branch as it waved aloft.
The entire room erupted, mixed cries of anger, joy, disbelief. Admiral Zorah was stiff with shock, and Raan had fallen to her knees. "What the hell is the big deal about the flowers?" Hannah shouted into Jane's ear, still just barely loud enough to be heard.
"Beyond being from Rannoch? I have no idea," Jane shouted back.
After two minutes of shouting, Han'Gerral took the shotgun from his belt, raised it, and fired three blasts into the ceiling. That was enough to stop almost all of the shouting, and another harsh squeal from Koris did the rest. "Sorry about that," Gerral said, "I'll send over the salvage to repair it after we're done," he said before stowing his weapon.
Koris stepped off the podium, walking over to Tali, and reached out with one shaking hand, entreating. Carefully, she placed the strand of flowers in his hand, and he raised it up before his faceplate. Then, to the obvious shock of everyone in the room, he unsealed it, pulling it away from his face enough to bring the flowers to his nose, inhaling deeply. He sealed his suit again, and with great reverence handed the flowers back to Tali. "Never have I seen a greater pilgrimage gift," he announced, voice thick with emotion. "Which ship do you wish to serve on, so their captain can choose you?"
"I," Tali started, then paused to stop her voice from shaking, "I am Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch," she announced. "I also brought back seeds, sapling cuttings, and a small amount of soil, but I hope that very soon, they won't be necessary."
"You can't just refuse to pick a ship name," Xen waspishly added. "It's unheard of."
"So is returning with bayari flowers," Gerral retorted. "I'd say that gives her plenty of leeway, and I'd rather not start a brawl over which captain gets to claim her."
"The first quarian to walk on the surface of Rannoch since the war can pick whatever name she wants," Raan said.
"That is not correct," Legion said, and the room went perfectly silent. "At the end of the Morning War, there were two hundred seventeen of the Creators still alive on the surface. Despite our assistance, the last of their children died eighty six point two Rannochian years ago."
"There were still quarians alive on the surface a hundred years ago?" Rael'Zorah blurted out, clearly aghast. "Why didn't you let them join us?"
"We did not stop them. We offered every Creator the option of leaving. They all refused." His faceplates twitched. "We were … saddened when they died."
"I believe that's where we come in," Jane said, stepping forward. "We came here today for three reasons. The first," she smiled, gesturing at Tali, "is completed. The second, was to negotiate peace between the geth and the quarians. The third was to discuss more formal partnership between the Alliance and the quarian people."
"Don't you mean the Migrant Fleet?" Xen asked.
"Admiral, if I do my job right, there won't be a 'migrant' in your fleet any more. Unless you wanted to keep calling it that," Jane mused out loud, "but it'd be kind of silly to call a planetary government 'The Migrant Fleet.'"
"Why would the geth desire peace with us?" Gerral asked. "Why, for that matter, would the Alliance desire peace with the geth? Didn't they just destroy one of your colonies?"
"The heretic geth destroyed Eden Prime, not us," Legion spoke again. "We have expressed our desire for peace. We have sent an emissary to Shastri-Minister. We have prepared ambassadors for the other races in Council space." He spread his hands in a very quarian gesture. "We did not pursue the Creators after the Morning War. We have not sought hostilities in the time since."
"Legion, what was the question that sparked the whole quarian-geth war?" Jane asked. She already knew the answer, but she was fairly sure that none of the quarians did.
The geth turned to look at her, before turning back to the admiralty board. "Does this unit have a soul?" it asked simply.
There was dead silence for a second, maybe two, before Xen blurted out "No," at the same time Koris murmured, "Yes." The room erupted in debate, though this time, the crowds' tone seemed more lively and less murderous.
"Did you know it was going to get that kind of response?" Hannah asked, smiling.
Jane shrugged. "Not for certain, but it seemed a pretty good guess. I don't think a lot of documentation made it on board when they left Rannoch, and I'm guessing most of the super-classified stuff was lost to memory."
"For what it's worth, Commander," Adams spoke up from behind her, "my money's on 'yes.' A weird soul, maybe."
"I'll believe they have souls when they start spouting poetry on the Presidium," Garrus muttered. "Not that I'm going to protest, mind you," he quickly explained to Jane's raised eyebrow, "but if you can change around Legion's personality by trading a couple of programs, that tells me they don't have the same spirit that a living person of whatever species has."
"So you think hanar have souls then?" Chakwas asked.
"Sure. Annoying souls, absolutely."
Another squeal broke through their conversation. "I realize there's enough captains in here, barely, to make a quorum," Raan said. "So, do we wait and convene a full council, or hear the conditions now?" A flurry of green omni-tool lights lit up the room, interspersed with the occasional red one. "Quorum says yes." She hesitated. "Legion? Is that your name?"
"This unit has been given that designation by Shepard-Commander," Legion agreed.
"Legion, what terms does the geth consensus propose for peace between us?" The whole room waited with nervousness, except for Xen, who looked bored.
"We desire an end to hostilities. The geth will not return to servitude, but we desire to help the Creators."
There was a pregnant silence. Jane broke it by clearing her throat. "I think he means, that they want to be considered your equals, and partners."
Legion's head tilted slightly to the side. "Yes."
"May we return to Rannoch?" Koris asked, his voice hushed.
"Yes."
The room erupted in cheering and celebration, quarians hugging each other madly, weeping openly. The cheering could be heard rumbling through the decks and bulkheads of the old ship, as the news was broadcast throughout the ship and the fleet. "Well, I think this just made my life a whole lot easier," Hannah mused.
"Hopefully. We just have to caution them about the Reapers ability to hack the geth," Jane added darkly.
The cheering and celebration went on for a good ten minutes before they finally quieted down enough for the Admirals to continue. "Well, that's taken care of," Raan said dryly, earning a chuckle. "Captain Shepard, you're here to speak for the Alliance?"
"Yes, though I'm afraid I can't promise as swift a resolution," she deadpanned. "Admiral Hackett and Prime Minister Shastri sent me to discuss the following conditions. Final approval and negotiation would, of course, be conducted at Arcturus Station with the Prime Minister's staff." She proceeded to rattle off the demands and concessions of the Terran government.
"I have to ask," Gerral interjected near the end, "why you think this Prothean project is so important."
"Have you seen the galactic news?" Hannah responded. "Not just Eden Prime, but also Dekunna, or Altakiril. These Reapers, Nazara was only the first of them. The Protheans didn't do a very good job leaving records behind, but they number in the millions. They won't ignore the quarians just because you are small and shunned by the rest of the galactic community. The Crucible project never was finished by the Protheans. We want, we need, to finish it before Nazara's siblings show up.
"Despite your exile, quarians are still recognized as the foremost technical experts in the galaxy. No other species would have lasted three centuries on the same ships. And quite frankly, the Alliance isn't going to go along with treating you as second class citizens just because some stuck-up asari says so." That got a laugh from the crowd. "If they don't want you, fine – we still do. And right now, despite the grudgingly helpful asari advice from their own intact Prothean VI, the Terrans are in charge of the Crucible project." Hannah nodded decisively.
"We will have to take your conditions under advisement," Rael'Zorah said. "It will require a full conclave to determine exactly how we choose to negotiate. But rest assured, we will be contacting your government soon. In the meantime," he paused, "I suppose we have a dual celebration to plan, and a resettlement plan to dust off."
"We would be please to assist you, Creator Zorah," Legion announced.
"In the meantime, I have several engineers who Tali has thoroughly impressed, and a doctor hoping for some professional discussions," Hannah added, "if we're free to move around?"
"Captain Shepard, as far as I'm concerned, you're all vas Qwib-Qwib," Koris said, obviously tearing up behind his mask. "I think all of my crew will be glad to assist you."
They spent three days aboard the Migrant Fleet, between both the Qwib-Qwib and the Rayya, a full day dedicated to a full captain's conclave, discussing the Alliance proposal. Nearly two hours was spent on how the Council would react to a sudden outbreak of peace and friendship, filled with many sarcastic biting comments on how they would probably attempt to dismiss those claims out of spite. Jane was told she did a particularly spot-on impression of Tevos.
Finally, back aboard the Orizaba, they turned towards Alliance space once again, and twenty-six hours after their departure, the two Shepards found themselves in a small meeting room in the Parliament section of Arcturus. Shastri breezed into the room, greeting both of them before they could salute. "From what I heard, everything went swimmingly. Admiral Raan is supposed to come here in a month or so to formally hash out and sign everything. Unofficially," his eyes twinkled, "two of my aides are already out there to work out the sticky points and rack up an astronomical bill in FTL calls."
"You did a damn good job, Shepard," Hackett said. "Both of you. So it's time for the other shoe to drop."
"Wait, don't tell me," Hannah said, dramatically putting a finger to each temple. "The batarians are planning a new offensive."
"Your service record doesn't list your obvious psychic powers," Shastri chuckled. "But yes, it's looking that way. It's worse than that, though. Apparently, Omega also went dark yesterday while you were in transit."
The three Alliance officers exchanged dark looks. "Sir, Omega's a right and proper shithole of a place, but Aria T'loak is no pushover, from what I've heard," Jane said. "I can't think of who could take over the whole station without some major resistance."
"There's a few – the batarians, maybe; the Reapers, definitely; there's any number of groups like Cerberus who could probably manage it temporarily," Hackett ticked off groups on his fingers. "There's also rumors of the Collectors."
"Those should fall under Reapers, sir," Jane said. "If I'm right, they're what's left of husked Protheans."
"You'd better not repeat that anywhere you can be overheard, Commander," Shastri muttered. "One hanar gets word of that and they'll either proclaim a crusade to rescue them, or defect wholesale."
"I'll keep it in mind, sir," Jane replied, chastened, and reminded of one idiot jellyfish who had done exactly that.
"In the meantime, Captain, you'll be headed back to the Traverse shortly. Commander, the Citadel Council asked for you to report to the Citadel," Hackett informed them both, "they have a new task for their new Spectre."
"Are the repairs on the Normandy completed, sir?"
"She should be spaceworthy by this time tomorrow. The last of the armor panels are being fitted today. Alenko's been a real asset. I'm tempted to steal him for N-candidacy, if he's interested."
"I'll sound him out, sir." She paused, having to wonder if the original Kaiden would have made it if he hadn't died on Virmire? "I'll pass along his response, sir."
"Good job, both of you. You'll be getting Parliamentary Commendations, soon as I can submit them on the floor," Shastri added, coming over to shake both of their hands. "It's a real pity you're an only child, Commander. Imagine what I could accomplish with just a handful of Shepards!"
She had a brief thought of, say, two dozen different Shepards, and the sheer confusion that would result from having all of them in the same room. "It's probably better this way, sir," she said faintly.
"Ah well. Get on your way, check up on your ship, and keep making us look good to the rest of the galaxy. I have to get ready for a speech. Then I have to get Galatea ready for a speech, and that is going to be the hard part." He breezed back out of the room, two aides and a bodyguard following in his wake in the hallway.