A/N: All right, and we are back with some more Mass Vexations!
And this time... Well, Art's just lost Tali's friendship, but he may get it back. How? Taking over the Alarei, of course. But his logic may be a little to reliant on coincidence. So... we'll see what happens.
Oh, and I got another commission photo to show you guys! http:/ kyletheartist. deviantart. com /#/d348vpq
It's a chibi commission of Art, Tali, and Wrex in battle poses by KyletheArtist on DA. Never mind that Art's not actually a sentinel-class, what with not having biotics and all, but it's still a cool picture. Check it out, I tell you!
Oh, and... well... since this was posted after the VGA reveal...
MASS EFFECT 3 IS COMING! YAAAAAAAAAAY!
Okay, yeah, enough of the fanboying for me. I won't say much more until they confirm Thane and Tali for ME3. So let's get going, eh, Bioware?
So for now, let's get moving!
Chapter 20: Loyalty: Red Night, Part 2
Okay... that was certainly a doozy.
I look behind me as the shuttle door opens in front of us. Okay... yeah, there were a lot of close ones.
Shepard was standing outside there, and Tali was nowhere to be seen. Neither was Shala, honestly, which caught me for a bit of a loop. I didn't see Garrus in there, either, so Shepard didn't call him. That was good for us, even if it was bad for Tali.
This only left sneaking around the Rayya to get to the shuttle. Fortunately, we all knew where we needed to go.
It was getting there that was the problem. It was a bit of a test of patience, honestly, but since Thane wasn't cloaked he had a bit of a harder time of it. We just managed to get lucky when one of the quarians went through the door that takes us to the corridor down which we're supposed to go to get to the shuttle. So we followed as closely as possible, with Thane moving very silently as Kasumi and I walked in with our cloaks.
And from there, it was a matter of dodging quarians. Thane pretty much vanished from sight as soon as we got into the hallway in question, so he had no problem, but neither me nor Kasumi had the advantage of being able to use other things. Well... at least, I don't think Kasumi did. But I know I didn't, what with being in full combat armor and all. So I had to weave around so many quarians it wasn't even funny. I almost bumped into a few people trying to get to the shuttle, actually. Somehow, I managed to get through it without bumping into anyone. I don't know what about that is more miraculous: that I actually did it, or that I managed to get to the airlock without too much of a problem.
And now, here we were in the airlock, me letting out a few pants of relief as my tactical cloak wears off. Kasumi phases into being next to me, and I see Thane nodding at the both of us as the decontamination cycle occurs.
"Well..." says Kasumi, closing her omni-tool from the hack that was performed on the door. "That was certainly a close one."
I nod. "You're telling me," I say, shaking my head. "I almost bumped into people once or twice there..." I rub my shoulder. "There was even that one point where I had to crab walk over a quarian. Can you imagine my panic when he started to rise just as I was making my way between him and another quarian? That was a really close call, I tell ya."
"Fortunately, we are inside the airlock. And soon, the shuttle."
And with this from Thane, the deconamination cycle ends, and the door opens to us. I blink, and then the three of us step inside. I look over to Kasumi as she walks over to the cockpit.
"So..." says Kasumi. "What are you hoping to find in there?"
"Honestly?" I ask, shrugging. "I'm hoping we can find Rael'Zorah alive. I did send him an extranet message telling him to take precaution on whatever he was doing. I'm sure he doesn't know about what's been happening on the Rayya yet, seeing as how I haven't mentioned it."
Kasumi manipulates the controls a little, opening her omni-tool. "Well... the good news is that it's already marked to take us to where we need to go," she says. "And I can't find any bad news, so let's get moving."
"Do you think Shepard will be angry with us for going against any orders?" asks Thane as he sits on one of the seats of the shuttle.
I shrug, following him to that seat and sitting to his left. "I definitely don't think she'll be happy about it," I say. "I mean, I did get yelled at for defying orders that one time we were on Virmire. But I think she'll be angrier with the fact that we're leaving her to deal with the fallout than she will about any actual orders. Especially if we manage to find Rael'Zorah."
I hear something come from Kasumi's end of the ship, and then I feel a slight lurch. "You are hoping Rael'Zorah will be able to save Tali from exile?" asks Thane.
I nod. "Oh yeah," I say. "He may be able to say something that can sway the Admirals to declare Tali innocent. That's my hope, anyway. It's probably nothing if Rael'Zorah isn't alive, but things have changed because of my involvement where people that weren't supposed to survive did survive."
With this, I feel the shuttle begin to move, and then I see Kasumi step out of the cockpit area. "Well, we're on our way," she says. "This is going to be exciting, going on a suicide mission."
"Hey, now, don't forget that this isn't the suicide mission," I point out. "We'll get out of this all right, I think. And hopefully, with Rael'Zorah in tow instead of just a dead weight..."
Kasumi nods as she sits across the shuttle from us. She nods, and then she looks straight at us. Yeah, this'll be fun. I'm doing a mission with Thane and Kasumi. One with my favorite assassin, the other with a pretty fun-loving thief. This will be quite a doozy when we go around the Alarei without Shepard in tow.
Hm... Speaking of Shepard and Thane...
I turn to Thane then, crossing my arms. "By the way, I notice you and Shepard have been hanging out an awful lot lately," I comment.
"We have, yes," replies the assassin. "I will admit... there is... something, growing between us. I do not know what yet, but... I admire her strength and her skill... But she is also a caring person at heart. These qualities draw me to her..."
I nod, smiling. "Yep, you're falling for her," I say, pointing a finger at him. The smile I'm giving him says it all, I think. "I knew it!"
The assassin turns to look at me, his hands resting squarely on his lap. "The human idiom for falling in love..." he says. "Intriguing."
"Just so you know, I'm behind you a hundred percent," I comment. "Kaidan, frankly, was an ass back on Horizon, so I think this time she's doing something right with her love life. So if she makes the moves on you... drop a siha somewhere along the way, will ya?"
Thane blinks. "We shall see," he says. Hm... neither denying nor confirming it. Hm. I like this guy's approach to being ship teased already. Maybe I should've just followed his example earlier.
I look over to Kasumi then as she shifts so one leg is over the other. She looks to me then, and then crosses her arms. "So..." she says. "You mentioned you changed events with Garrus."
I nod. "I guess you want the story behind that," I say, leaning forward and resting my forearms on my knees. "Okay. It's... a bit of a long story, though..."
"We've got the entire ride to the Alarei," she points out.
"True," I mention. "Well... See, Garrus had this squad when he was on Omega..."
And with this, I begin to talk about what changed with Garrus' loyalty mission, and how I was involved with changing everything about that. The two of them listen intently, and I watch Kasumi's expression shift quite a lot as I tell her the story. Honestly? It feels good to talk about it with people other than the Brotherhood. I don't know why. I wonder what would happen with Shepard if she found herself in my situation...
Hm... speaking of her, I hope the fallout from this incident isn't too harsh. Sorry, Shepard, but I'm hoping you can deal with the fall-out as well as I have. Because you'll need a lot of help to get past the fall-out, I think. And I can't provide it for you, so... But don't worry. We'll bring back something that can help Tali get out of exile. And hopefully, it won't be that something that makes you lose her loyalty should she ever find out what it is...
Tali... sit tight. I'm going to help you out here. Or at least try to. Because we've got nothing if not the ability to try.
The shuttle slows to a stop, and by this point I've drawn my shotgun. Kasumi and Thane both have the same idea, the thief pulling out her pistol as Thane grabs his sub-machine gun. I look to the two of them and nod.
"Right," I say. "Now... if memory serves me correctly... there will be geth crawling in the ship. But they won't be all over the place."
"How will we know where to look?" asks Kasumi.
I smirk. "Look for the places with a lot of chest-high scenery," I say. "If what I remember is correct, those places tend to be where the firefights are most intense."
"Interesting choice of scenery to look for," comments Thane casually as the deconamination cycle for the airlock of the Alarei begins. "Why is that?"
I smirk, seeing the door open out to a hallway soon after. "You can go back to the past and ask Yahtzee Croshaw of Zero Punctuation about that," I say. "In the meantime... I think we've got a firefight coming up in this first room, so let's get going, shall we?"
With this, we nod, and then we move ever so quickly. I look to Thane and his submachine gun, and frown. "Actually, Thane, sniper rifles might be better in this first room. They'll all come in through this door at the end, so maybe you can pick them off from there."
The assassin nods at this, taking my suggestion and swapping out his submachine gun for his sniper rifle. I look over, and then nod as I come forward.
"Okay, guys, you ready?" I ask.
"As we'll ever be," says Kasumi."
I nod. "Right," I say. "Let's do this!"
And I hit the door control as I say this. Okay... plenty of said chest-high walls... and over there, there are two geth! Right by a bunk bed, I think, and right where the kitchen counter is.
Presto!
I rush over to one of the chest-high walls, vaulting over it as Kasumi vanishes into thin air. As I quickly rush over to the second of the chest high walls for cover, I hear a sniper shot go off, and right before I can get into cover, I see one of the geth fall over.
With this, I press my back squarely against cover as I take a breath. It's all I allow myself before I hold my shotgun up to the level of my eye and spring up. I do so just in time to see Kasumi punch out a geth with that super-charged punch move she has. The geth stumbles back but it has no time to ponder what happened before Kasumi very nimbly moves into the very close bunk bed. Whoah... did she do a back flip? Man, the money I'd pay to have seen the Bioware team attempt that in-game. Then again, though, Jack was restricted to cutscenes for that kind of power, so I imagine they didn't.
But anyway... The geth stumbles back, and it's still in my view. All right! I fire my shotgun once, and then I see the geth fall to the side uselessly. Okay... I look over to the side to see quite a few geth troopers rushing in. Fortunately, Thane manages to take one out with a well-placed sniper rifle shot. I look back, and see that he's taking point just behind another bunk bed where he has a clear shot at the door. Excellent!
I lay my back against cover, and slowly inch off to the side. Sorry, Kasumi, I hope your pistol can hold them off for me. I sidle off to the side, and then come up when I have a clear shot at the door just in time to see a slightly larger geth enter the room. Right as I look at him, it cloaks, however, but not before Kasumi can get a bullet inside of it.
Oh, dear, it just cloaked. Yep, it's one of those god-damn geth hunters. God, those were annoying... well, aside Although... wait, I can still kind of see where it is... Huh, it's just like the game in that regard!
... Which I just lost. Damn it!
I fall back into cover, looking over as I see the outline of where the geth is. Okay... wait for it to get close... wait for it to get close... now!
I come out of cover, and then see the outline right in front of me. I fire my shotgun once, and then the cloak fails the geth as it stumbles back. Okay, one more shot should do the trick! I fire another shot into the geth, and it's sent falling back, the body clanking noisily against the support of the bunk bed on the other side of the kitchen counter. Kasumi seems unfased by the fact that her piece of cover was a little jilted for a second or two, and so fires into the crowd again.
I look back to see some more troopers being taken down by Thane, and before long I see an explosion of sparks come from the geth as they enter the room. All right, an overload! Thanks, Kasumi! And apparently, it's the area overload too... Hm, that will come in handy.
I come up out of cover then, firing my shotgun into the crowd. I see a few troopers fall as they clamber in, and then I see another hunter come in. He seems to stumble over to the side briefly, but I don't particularly dwell on the fact that Kasumi's still behind the bed as I fire a pair of shotgun rounds into it. Pumping my shotgun once, I see another group of about three troopers rush in, and then I fire my shotgun twice. Yeah, that manages to kill troopers pretty quickly here. Another one of them falls, probably from a sniper rifle shot, and then I look on and see that there's another geth hunter at the end.
Huh. They throw all the fucking peons here... Well, that's a little cowardly.
I look over to the geth hunter as he manages to cloak, Kasumi taking out the last remaining trooper just before this. I can still see the outline he leaves, however, so I waste no time in firing my shotgun again.
Apparently, the hunter had the same idea, and I stumble back, feeling my shields take a hit as he phases back into existence. I look in surprise, seeing the geth thing pump its shotgun again. Oh, dear...
It suddenly stumbles to the side, Kasumi appearing out of nowhere as her fist connects with its flashlight head. I hear the clatter of submachine-gun fire soon after, and then the hunter slumps to the side, the unit deactivating before suddenly going off at my feet.
I look over to Thane, where he comes out of cover holding the submachine gun in his off hand. He nods as Kasumi turns to me. I holster my shotgun then, biting my lower lip as I continue.
"Well... that's one wave of them down," she says.
I glance around, suddenly noticing the amount of quarian bodies lying around with guns in their hands. I cross my arms as I look at this. "It doesn't look like those search teams the Rayya sent out made it past this point," I comment. "I think we're making pretty good progress if that's the case."
"Indeed," agrees Thane with a short nod. "Shall we continue into the ship?"
I frown, looking over to the corner... Yes, those personal terminals are still there. "Not quite," I say, vaulting over a stove as I stride over there. "There are some logs scattered all over the ship that might give us a better idea of what's been going on. If I remember correctly, this room has the first one of those." I walk over to the terminal then, looking at it and opening my omni-tool. "Let's see..."
I manipulate the terminal from my omni-tool, and then we see the video log play. I look over to it, blinking as Thane and Kasumi come up behind me. Yep... it's the one about the lowering of the firewalls for some reason. Hm... Okay... I look at it, nodding. Okay... this is exactly as I remember it.
"Hm..." says Thane. "It seems they were on to something... disturbing."
I nod. "Oh, yeah," I say, shaking my head. "Well... this is going straight to the recycling bin." With this, I move my omni-tool around... Right, delete this, and-
"Art, are you insane?" Kasumi's voice rings out behind me in surprise. "You're deleting data on a ship without the permission of the admirals?"
"Oh yeah," I say with a decisive nod. "We'll have to erase a lot of these logs before we get off this ship, trust me. And they'll never know that something was actually missing if we're thorough. And we don't want them to find out about most of this information, believe me."
At this, Kasumi and Thane both frown. "Why?" asks Kasumi. "I don't see how destroying any evidence is going to help Tali at all!"
I look over at the thief as I close my omni-tool. "Trust me, this trial isn't about Tali, no matter how much the Admiralty board wants us to believe that," I reply, shaking my head. "You heard Daro'Xen and Zaal'Koris: as soon as the topic turned to the geth, they went right with it and basically said 'I see this as point A' and 'I see this as point B'."
"What about Han'Gerrel?" asks Thane. "He seemed to have the utmost respect for Tali."
I bite my lower lip and shrug. "Only because Han'Gerrel and Rael'Zorah are really good friends," I reply, looking at the drell as I turn around. "Even he turns the subject to the geth if you talk to him before going on the Alarei. And if you do that, he says he wants to go to war with the geth."
"So what's your point?" asks Kasumi. "I just don't get how this trial isn't relating to Tali right now..."
I frown, crossing my arms. "Their viewpoints on the geth are all different," I say. "It's like this all over the Fleet, and the tensions have been escalating lately; at the point it's at now, it just needs a spark before it all goes straight to hell." I uncross my arms, gesturing with my hands. "These tensions are coming forward with a trial about tests that were being done on the geth. That's why this trial isn't about Tali; everyone and their mother is using this trial as a way to gain a victory for their argument. The bit of evidence Tali needs to get exonerated is going to be that spark that causes everything to go to hell. And Tali's going to be even less happy about that than her being exiled. If there's one thing she hates more than being kicked out of her house, it's seeing it get divided right before her very eyes. And that's not counting the fact that her own father caused it to be divided in such a way. So yeah. There's all that."
"Damn..." says Kasumi. "I... I guess I see your point now. It's gotta suck to be in that."
I shrug, splaying my arms out. "That it does, Kasumi," I say. "That it does. Any questions?"
"I do have one," says Thane. "Is there any way to ensure Tali is not exiled without this evidence?"
I nod. "I just have to remember to bring up her history of service when I come in," I comment. "And hope that Rael'Zorah is alive somewhere to provide a testimony. If his word fails, then it's straight to the fact that she made the quarians look good to the rest of the galaxy and helped kick Saren's ass."
The assassin nods his agreement, but I can tell that the thief isn't convinced. "But it's just that one piece of evidence, right?" asks Kasumi. "So shouldn't you delete it when you get there?"
"Oh, I will, trust me," I say. "And you'll know it when you see it. But then, there's another factor, which is why I'm deleting every relevant log I find.: Daro'Xen."
I get a confused glance from Kasumi as I bring this bit up. "What does the Admiral have to do with this?" asks Thane.
"Quite a lot," I comment. "I don't know what she plans to do with her views of controlling the geth, but I know that after this mission she goes onto the Alarei to get whatever data is left here. I don't know what it was going to lead to in the future, but I already don't like it. It's why I'm going to attempt to delete every possible hypotenuse that's on the Alarei in relation to that final piece of evidnece. Trust me, deleting a lot of this stuff is going to do wonders for the future of the quarian people. Especially in relation to the geth."
Kasumi and Thane look at me skeptically. "Damn, this is complicated," says Kasumi.
I shake my head. "You're telling me this?" I ask. "There's so much that goes on in this mission it's almost insane. And there's so much that hinges on what happens at the end that it's also kind of crazy on that count. I really don't know how they were planning on doing a third part with these kinds of decisions."
The thief gives me a startled look, and then I see Thane's hands shift slightly. "Wait, there was going to be another game in this series?" she asks.
"Yeah," I reply with a nod. "Only problem is, I found myself here well before they could even announce this third game." I move towards the door. "It's a long story, and I'll tell you when we have more time. For now, we've gotta go through the rest of this bloody ship and see what else is new."
Kasumi and Thane both nod, the two of them drawing out their respective weapons. "Of course," says Thane. "Lead the way."
I nod, taking point as I take my assault rifle and hold it out in front of me. I check the sights and then nod, holding it in front of me as we advance to the door.
Okay... let's do some more exploring of the Alarei!
We fight our way through some more of the geth, and I look around me. Okay... this room... Hm... That service drone should still be here.
I motion for Thane and Kasumi to follow me beyond the geth bodies that are all over the place. Damn, are the geth everywhere at the moment... And there were a lot of 'em in that last battle. We actually could've been overwhelmed if not for the fact that Kasumi has overload and Thane has his biotics. It helps that the biotics can actually bypass shields in real life. But still... it was kind of ridiculous how many geth are here.
Just how many parts did Tali send, anyhow? I don't think it should really be enough for Rael'Zorah to be able to manufacture an entire fucking army out of these things! Either Tali got incredibly lucky on Haestrom, or she's been gathering all these parts since she returned from her Pilgrimage. As it stands right now, I don't know which of the two is more disturbing. I'll bank my money on the latter, seeing as how it supports that theory that Tali unintentionally caused all this with that Pilgrimage data. I don't want to think that, though... I mean, what are the chances? Best not think about it like that... I'll find out the truth soon enough anyhows.
The two follow me to the door of the side room, and I hit the door panel lightly. It opens at my command, and then I step inside. Okay, lab tables here... They're all clean and stuff... no geth hiding behind anything firing at us... Okay...
Hey, wait a minute! There's something missing in this picture!
"What?" I ask, letting down my assault rifle as I step into the room. "This isn't right..."
Thane and Kasumi enter soon after, and then they look at the room as I walk towards one of the tables. Jesus... "It's an empty room," says Kasumi.
"I do not see what there is in an empty room that is worth commenting on..." comments Thane.
I shrug. "That's exactly the problem," I say, gesturing to the empty table. "There was supposed to be a service drone right here on this very table! In the game, Tali would scan it to see if there was any evidence of her father doing anything on it... But it's not even here!"
"Oh..." says Kasumi, moving towards the table. "That would explain a lot. Do you have any idea why it's not there?"
I shake my head. "That's the crazy part," I reply. "I don't know why the hell it wouldn't be here. It's just a service drone, meant to do repairs... Tali had salvaged it on Haestrom, and sent it right to the fleet. So there's no reason it shouldn't be here..."
Thane looks over at me then, holding his hands behind his back. "Do you believe someone may have repurposed that drone?" he asks.
Wait, what? I frown, looking to the assassin. "Why do you ask?" I reply.
"Perhaps we can arrive at an explanation if we think about it in such terms," he replies.
I shake my head, frowning slightly. "I don't know," I say. "On the one hand, it's plausible that he could have done that. But on the other..." I walk away from the table where the service drone is not. "I'm very sure that nobody on the ship would have seen the point of repurposing something like a service drone to be something else. It was meant to repair the geth. Why would he have someone repurpose...?" My question suddenly dies as I think of something.
Wait... Why would he repurpose it... except as heeding a warning? Maybe... Yes, that could be it, he might have repurposed it as a protective combat drone. The quarians know enough about the geth to do something like that, I might think... Yeah, that could be what happened... Could it?
I blink at this, my surprise eminent as I look to them. "Unless..." I say. "Yes, that makes sense... Maybe he took my warning via the extranet seriously..."
"It certainly sounds like it would be a good idea," Kasumi says as she crosses her arms. "You try to find a way to heed someone's warning, so you work with a geth drone. But..."
I shake my head, biting my lower lip. Well, hold on... the repurposed drone... "I don't know," I say. "There's no guarantee that the repurposed drone didn't turn on him when the rest of the geth turned on the crew of the Alarei." And then there are other things... "Besides, even if it didn't turn, it would make it so much harder for him to hide from the geth..."
"Perhaps he began a second neural network," suggests Thane.
I shrug. "Possibly," I say. "But I still don't know if it would actually work. And even if it did work, there's no guarantee Rael'Zorah is still alive at this point if this was his only plan."
"A man of his intellect should be able to plan things well in advance, yes?" asks Thane.
I nod. "Too true, Thane," I comment. "I... I guess I need to stop worrying right now. Hopefully he won't be dead by the time we find him."
"Well, we'll find out about what happened to him later, right?" asks Kasumi.
I nod. "Yeah," I comment. "In the game, we're supposed to be able to find Rael'Zorah's body just before we go into the final fight of the mission. If it's not there, then we'll talk about this again. If it is..." I give them a shrug, splaying my arms out. "The less I say about that, the better."
"We should get moving, then," says the thief, holding her pistol up. "He's not going to survive much longer without our help, I don't think."
I shake my head. "Me neither, Kasumi," I reply. "Come on."
With this, I hold my assault rifle back up, and work back into the hallway. Kasumi comes in soon after, with Thane following us as he holds his submachine gun out. Okay... so the service drone wasn't there... Now if I remember correctly, we've still got a ways before we see the spot where Rael's body is supposed to be. And we're supposed to come up on some kind of staircase leading down into an area that's absolutely swimming with geth. Yeah... I'll wait until we get to that point to make any judgements on Rael'Zorah's fate.
Okay... there's another room of geth taken down... Right. Man, it's been in quite a few closed quarters as of late. Kasumi's had to tech-punch quite a few geth lately, and Thane's biotics have been seeing plenty of use. I'm just glad I have a shotgun: I'm sure it would downright suck to not have one during a mission like this. Honestly, I feel bad for whoever didn't get to the Collector ship before doing this mission. Learning a new weapon is always a nice thing, I think.
Especially when fighting gets up close and personal. That shotgun sure came in handy for those geth hunters. I don't know what'll happen when we fight on the two-level battlefield, but... there's that there.
But either way, there aren't any more geth here for us to worry about, so I think I better check this room... Hm... Isn't this that console that starts that conversation with Tali?
I walk towards it, Thane and Kasumi following behind as I come to a stop in front of it. I open up my omni-tool... Yes, this is that console! Okay... I don't remember what we find here, but I imagine it won't be that good. I look through the data... yeah, there isn't much on this console. But hey, it's better than nothing, right?
I turn back to Thane and Kasumi with a shrug. "There's nothing," I say, I say, shaking my head. "But... this console is of a little sentimental value for me."
The assassin tilts his head to the side, Kasumi crossing her arms. "Really?" he asks. "Why might this be?"
I glance back at the console before nodding to Thane. "Well, in the game, this console doubled as a prompt to start a rather testy conversation with Tali," I say, beginning to pace around the console. "It's... brought on by quite a lot of things between Tali and her father."
"Really?" asks Kasumi. "Like what?"
I bite my lower lip as I lean against a wall, facing the thief and the assassin as I continue. "Tali's father was definitely not the best parent in the galaxy," I comment. "He pushed Tali to be her best for basically as long as she could remember, you know? But it was always about what he needed, not what Tali wanted." I shrug. "Hell, if we find his dead body, then all it'll have on him is a message directed at Tali ordering her around to do stuff. Not even an 'I love you'."
Thane blinks at this, his head hanging slightly. Hm... Well... Thane isn't the best father in the galaxy either, now that I think about it. So this must hit a little closer to him than it does to Tali. I watch him as he lets out a breath, crossing his arms. Yeah, can't say I blame you there, Thane. Don't worry. You'll get your chance.
"Well, that's harsh," says Kasumi. "I know I wouldn't like to be ordered around like that."
I nod. "I know what you mean," I say. "Tali and I both have pretty big daddy issues. Honestly, the big difference is that I have the perspective to realize my father intended the best for me." I give them a sad smile that they can't see. "Being in different dimensions can do that to your mind. I don't think Tali has that perspective. But I think it's something similar."
"Let me guess," begins the thief, crossing her arms. "Tali's father decided he would make a promise to his daughter about something, and this is how he felt he could keep it."
My smile becomes a smirk, and then I cross my arms. "That's pretty much it," I reply. "Rael promised Tali he would build a house on their homeworld. This is the way he felt he could express it."
"I see," says Thane. "Is this what Tali herself wants?"
I frown then, pushing off of the wall before shaking my head. "No, it's not," I say. "Tali... didn't want this of her father. She wanted a father who would take sick time to let her see his face. She wanted a father who actually expressed that he cared for her." I look around the Alarei. "Instead... she kind of got screwed over by her father's attempts to keep his promise to her. Now there's an admiralty board who thinks she'd betray the fleet at the blink of an eye. It's really quite unsettling, the more you think about it."
Kasumi shifts her feet slightly, and I notice they're splayed farther apart than before. "Damn," she says. "Tali's really got it bad."
I nod. "That she does," I say, walking towards them as I gesture with my hands. "But Rael'Zorah does care about his daughter. I know that if we find him alive, he'll testify for her without a moment's hesitation. I'm very sure of that."
"You seem awfully certain about something a father you have never met even tangentially," says Thane, looking over as I walk over to the door. "Are you certain he will react in such a way?"
I glance over to the assassin. "Not certain, so much as hopeful," I reply. "And we've got nothing in this situation if not hope."
Kasumi nods. "Then let's get going," she comments. "I think the less time we spend here, the better."
I nod. "Yeah, let's get moving," I say, taking out my shotgun. "We still have quite a few geth to fight through before the end of the day."
With this, I walk over to the door, Kasumi and Thane both drawing their weapons as I arrive in front of the portal to the next room. My hand touches the door control panel, and as it turns green it opens.
...
Okay... This is a major set-piece of the chapter. I walk out, and then look towards the steps leading to a lower level. I pump my shotgun, looking at Thane and Kasumi. I gesture for them to get into cover, and then I do the same as the door of the lower level opens. Okay, here goes two-floor set-pieces!
I see geth pour out, although for now it's exclusive to the troopers. Excellent.
I see Thane and Kasumi pepper them with pistol and submachine gun fire, one of them even going down as I sidle over to the edge of the stairs. I look down, cocking my shotgun...
Okay, that trooper is too close for comfort. I peer out and shoot at it with my shotgun, sending it tumbling back down the staircase. It crashes straight into another geth trooper as it falls, and I nod as both units come to a stop at the bottom of the stairs. Okay, that should take care of that for a while.
I look up then, seeing a geth hunter come in. Okay... Crap... And it's got a few geth troopers with it as well... And a rocket trooper!
Crap!
I see the rocket trooper shoot at us, and then I duck back behind cover just as a rocket flies past the spot where I used to be a mere second ago. It impacts against the wall behind me, and when I turn to look, I see the geth hunter is gone. And now I don't know where it is. Oh, Jesus Christ on a pikestaff!
"Kasumi, overload!" I shout, turning to the thief.
"On it!" With this, she brings her omni-tool out, and then I see the tell-tale shower of sparks rain from the geth. I don't see anyone decloaking, though...
Wait... if it's not decloaking...
I glance to the side then, and then I see the outline of the hunter climbing up the wall.
...
"Jesus Christ on a pikestaff!"
I raise my shotgun and fire at the thing. It decloaks as soon as I fire my first shot, but it seems not to notice anything as it continues climbing. I shoot it again, and see it stumble slightly as it climbs up. Oh, damn it, I'm gonna have to do this the hard way, aren't I? I look over to the geth and then run out of cover. I rush over to the spot where the hunter is climbing up just as he gets there.
All right, you sneaky bastard, how do you like this?
I raise my shotgun, butt-down as I look at it. Without so much as a warning, I bring it down with all my might on the flashlight head. It resounds with a rather loud chinking sound, and it loosens its grip, but it's not enough. Oh, down you son of a bitch! I hit it twice more, the flashlight head crinkling under my melee attack. Okay... I bring it down one last time, and then the hunter finally loses its grip, falling back to the lower level. I pump my shotgun for good measure, and shoot it on its way down. It falls to the floor loudly, and then it sputters out, its life gone.
Okay, that takes care of that. Thank Jesus.
I look back on the battle that's taking place to see the geth gaining on Thane and Kasumi. I watch as the assassin comes out of his cover, his hand glowing blue with biotics. Okay... I see Kasumi raise her omni-tool as well, and then they both strike.
The results... are nothing short of spectacular. The group of geth troopers that was ascending the staircase suddenly finds themselves flying back, and they're all knocked over like fucking bowling pins. At the same time, they explode in another shower of sparks, and I look up as a lot of them crash against the floor decidedly. The sound of their monumental hitting of the ground afterwards rang in my ears for a little bit. My eyes widen in awe as I watch them slowly attempt to get up. It's all for naught, though as the geth there are instantly peppered with all sorts of small-arms fire from Thane and Kasumi. I see almost all of them go back down.
Wow, we're really coming together as a team now. I wouldn't have thought of ourselves that way, but here we are... I think the Collector base will come together beautifully when we get there...
Okay, so I look at the mess of troopers that are being pelted by fire...
And then back down to see a juggernaut walking into the room.
...
Oh, crap.
"Guys, look out!" I shout as I dive behind cover incredibly quickly. A stream of rounds flies over my head almost immediately after, impacting on the wall across from me. God damn... My shields took quite a beating from the troopers when I meleed that hunter... Crap, they haven't recharged.
But... I peer out at the scenery again... Hm... Yes, that might just work... Okay, I think I know what I'll do.
I quickly rush under cover to the edge of the staircase, and then look to Kasumi and Thane as they both look at the juggernaut. I nod, and then cock my shotgun again.
"Kasumi, go invisible and punch this motherfucker," I say. "Thane, switch to your sniper rifle. We're gonna try something crazy."
The two of them nod. Okay... I guess they aren't questioning me because of the juggernaut. Well... I just hope this idea works as well as I think it will... Because if it does, that will be fucking awesome. And it will be fairly effective. Okay... the juggernaut is almost at the stairs.
"Falcon Punch!" I shout out. It takes a second of hesitation, but then Kasumi comes out of cover and punches the juggernaut. A whole shower of sparks emanates from where her fist impacted with the geth, and it stumbles back a little bit as she rushes back up the stairs with her pistol. Okay, there's my cue!
Without so much as a second thought, I vault over the railing, feeling myself land squarely on the railing of the staircase. I fire two shotgun blasts at the juggernaut as I slide down, and then I feel myself lose my balance on the railing and fall back. Before this, though, I see the first one take its shields out, and then the second making the juggernaut stumble back. As I roll in the ground, I hear the loud report of a sniper rifle go off twice in quick succession. I hear a few more pistol shots go off, but I can't see it as my view is partly obscured by my own body. Okay... yeah, that definitely wasn't as climactic as I was hoping on account of not landing in the right place, but I think I got my point across anyways. Okay...
I sit up then, pulling myself back up as I look at the juggernaut. Kasumi fires a couple more pistol rounds into the bloody thing, and then I nod as it stops moving.
Okay... I think that was that for the geth here. I slowly stand up as I look to Kasumi, who is standing against the stairs panting lightly. I see Thane deftly descend as he places his sniper rifle on his back. He looks to the juggernaut before turning his gaze to me.
"Reckless, but effective," says Thane.
I nod. "Hey, it worked," I say, gesturing to the juggernaut. "That's all that matters."
Kasumi nods, joining us at the bottom of the stairs. "I don't get something, though," she says. "What the hell is a Falcon Punch?"
... I blink. "You mean you haven't heard of that one extranet meme?" I ask.
"Uh..."
Oh, Jesus Christ. "Oh, man, I'm gonna have to find something to demonstrate it with!" I say, throwing my arms up. "But we'll get that later. For now... it's the moment of truth."
I glance at the door, my gaze hardening. There's that blasted hallway. I glance back to Thane and Kasumi. Neither are saying anything; I think they know what I mean by 'moment of truth' anyhow. I walk forward, not bothering to take out my weapon yet. We won't run into any geth during that cutscene, I don't think. I walk forward, hearing the footsteps of my two companions behind me as we advance into the Alarei. Okay... down the corridor we go... Okay, that door is where we face off with the Geth Prime and its lackeys...
And in front of the door...
...
Jesus Christ on a pikestaff!
"There's nothing here!"
I rush forward, kneeling on the ground where Rael'Zorah's body should be...
...and where there isn't anything on the ground. Oh my God... the body's not here! It's not where it should be!
"Art?" asks Kasumi.
I turn to them. Finally, some hope! "There's nothing here!" I say, gesturing to the space in front of me. Oh, man, this is incredible! I... I can't believe my luck! "There's nothing here!"
"I do not understand what the significance of this is," comments Thane.
I stand up then, turning to them with my arms wide open. "This is where we were supposed to find Rael'Zorah's body in the game!" I reply. "But it's not there!" I gesture back to where his body was supposed to be. "There's nothing here!"
Kasumi raises an eyebrow at this. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" she asks.
"Hell if I know," I reply with a shrug. "But it gives me hope that he's still on this ship somewhere, and it gives me hope that he's still alive!"
Thane nods. "If he is alive, do you know where he would be?"
I frown, crossing my arms as I look around the hallway. "To be honest?" I ask. "The way things have been going lately, I wouldn't be surprised if we bumped into him right as we were leaving, you know? Or immediately after we do what he would have told Tali to do in his message, there could be something that happens that's because of him. So... if his dead body isn't anywhere else on the Alarei, and it's not here... either we'll find his body in the next room, or he's still alive."
Kasumi nods. "This is looking up for us already," she say.
I nod, smiling again. "That it is," I say. "If nothing else, we'll be able to find him."
"I imagine you will want a word or two with him before we leave," mentions Thane, clasping his hands behind his back as he shifts his posture.
I blink. "Honestly?" I ask. "Yes, I do plan on having a word or two with him. It's his fault that Tali's in this situation, and I intend to let him know about that no matter what. That, and I know he'll want to save Tali from exile. I need to convince him that showing that evidence to the Admiralty board will be the worst thing for her in the world. And especially since it'll put him in trouble, and will stir up enough controversy in the Fleet to cause ships to break away."
Kasumi crosses her arms. "Well, I don't think it'll be that easy to convince him," she tells me. "Besides, you can't tell him that you knew all this before you even came on, right?"
I shrug, glancing off to the side before continuing. "Doesn't mean I won't try," I say. "And I have my ways to navigate around talking about things because I know them from the game. You'll see..."
"I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with," she says, smirking. Soon after, the thief nods, looking to the door behind me. "So what's in the next room?"
I nod. "The next room has a geth hub," I say, "Rael asks Tali to destroy it and retrieve some data from the console. He then wanted her to turn it in to Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen, but we're not gonna do that as it's a one-way ticket to losing Tali's loyalty. So... we're gonna destroy the geth hub."
I draw out my shotgun as I look at the door. "Once we're in, we have to be careful," I say. "There's a geth prime in that room, and it will not be easy to take it down. So Kasumi, prepare your overload, Thane, prepare any biotics you might need, and stay behind cover as much as possible. And I should warn you that there isn't much cover apart from one glass wall that you can't use tech or biotics through. Got that?"
"Sounds easy enough," says Kasumi. "Go in, break the hub, get out. Got it."
I nod. "Okay, then," I say, cocking it again as I walk up to the door. "Let's get this party started."
Before I can do anything, though, I look back to see Thane and Kasumi both looking at me... oh, dear, that's a mischievous glint in her eye, isn't it? "You know, you're awfully cheery right now," says the thief. "I guess it's just good to see you're not getting all blubbery about Tali right now."
Oh, okay. "I've got hope we can stop her from being exiled now," I reply. "And I'm feeling better about it all in general now that Rael'Zorah's alive. She's going to be fairly happy when I get back, I think. We should get going. Now, let's really get this party started!"
With this, I touch the panel, and then see the scene laid out for us. Okay, glass wall, check... Geth prime, along with the hunter and the two troopers... All right, everything is in its right place. I come towards the wall as soon as I see them, sidling up against it as Kasumi and Thane do the same, the both of them taking out their best close-range weapons. I look to them, smirking slightly and nodding.
Okay, time to kick some more ass!
I quickly move to cover, holding my shotgun. I see one of the troopers standing listlessly around. Okay... This shouldn't be so hard to take out the troopers. It's the hunter and the prime that cause trouble for us all. This should be fairly simple before that. So I move beyond cover, and then peer out to get a good aim at the trooper. Okay...
I don't wait for Kasumi or Thane to make a move before I lean out of cover and fire a shotgun blast at the trooper. It's caught off guard and doesn't get an opportunity to fire back, and so it stumbles back, the programming lost. A split-second later, I hear Kasumi and Thane fire their own firearms at something I can't see. I'm assuming it's the other trooper, as I then see the hunter and the prime turn. Okay... The hunter is coming towards me, and the prime is heading towards them. Hm... I better make sure they're close when Kasumi unleashes the overload.
Okay, might as well, then.
I rush out of cover then, leaping as I get close to the hunter. Before it can fire its shotgun to take out my shields, my foot comes out in a kick, and... Okay, ow, that kinda hurt! But... it did send the hunter flying back. It does get to fire its shotgun, though, and then I feel a round barely graze my shoulder as my shields die quickly. Fortunately, I land a distance away, and so I manage to find a piece of cover close by. I quickly crab walk over to it, nodding in relief as I take in a few breaths.
Two seconds later, I hear the loud hiss of an explosion of sparks going off. I spare myself a second of peering over the edge as I see the hunter and the prime both stumble back slightly. Okay... the overload worked! And things are okay. All right, that will-
And right before I can celebrate, I see the both of them biotically glow blue for a fraction of a second, and then I see the prime crash against the far wall. The hunter also crashes against the wall, but manages to get caught by the pillar first. I instantly see the prime move...
...and he's too close to where I am.
"Damn it, Thane!" I scream as I scramble onto my feet. "At least knock first!"
I don't give him time to reply, though, as the Prime is getting up fast. Crap! Get to a new piece of cover! Get to new cover! I end up sprinting clear across the room, diving behind a pillar and planting my back against it just as gunfire rips into the wall where I was barely a split second earlier. I watch the accelerator rounds punch holes in the wall, and when I see this I take in a very shaky breath.
Jesus Christ on a pikestaff, I almost got shot. Fatally. By a geth. That was way too close a call, I think. I let out a breath as I turn to look at Thane and Kasumi as they fire at the prime from the opposite side of the room. I take in another breath, and then I hear a beep. Okay... my shields are back up, it seems. Good, good. At least I won't get my ass killed.
Although... to be perfectly honest, Thane was probably just doing the same thing for himself and Kasumi. And since we can't exactly hit that console there... I'm just thankful this room is as small as it is, or my ass would have been grass. Like, big time.
I cock my shotgun then, peering over to look at the prime as it rushes towards us. It's already taken some heavy damage, with a few holes from where the rounds must have punctured through the metal. As I see the frayed wires spark a little bit, I frown. Well, you son of a bitch, let's take care of your fraying problem now while we still can.
I frown, aiming my shotgun.
...
Ah, what the hell.
"You're terminated, motherfucker!"
With this, I fire two shotgun blasts at the thing, the first one causing it to stumble back. The second one proves fatal for our geth friend, and then it falls back, its neck snapping as Kasumi adds a couple of pistol rounds for good measure. It falls to the ground with a rather massive crash of metal, and then all is silent in the small space we've just had our confrontation in. I take another breath, and then stand up, looking right at the geth. I turn to Kasumi and Thane then, nodding as they both stand up.
"Well, that's the last of these things," I comment, crossing my arms.
The two of them approach, and then I see Kasumi squarely place her hands on her hips, giving me a raised eyebrow. "A Terminator refernce?" she asks. "And it wasn't even one of the clever ones!"
I shrug. "And?" I ask. "I needed an action one-liner. It was the first thing that came to mind, you know?"
The thief apparently isn't amused by this. "Still, you could've done a bit better, I think," she comments.
"Oh, hush," I reply, gesturing with my arms as I turn to Thane. "I'm just thankful I didn't get a hail of mass accelerator rounds in my face from when the prime landed next to me."
"Apologies," replies Thane. "I did not see you cross to the other side of the room."
"No hard feelings," I reply, gesturing with my arms as I look over there. "At least I'm not dead, and honestly, I think that's more important than one little mistake. Just be a little more careful next time and we'll be good." I turn over to the panel where things happen. "In the meantime, we've got evidence to destroy."
With this, I walk over to the center of the room, Kasumi and Thane both following close behind as I walk up to the console. "Is it disabled yet?" asks Thane.
"It should be," I reply. "When this console got disabled, it pretty much ensured it killed any geth we might have missed. So the Alarei is safe."
"I'll bet the admirals will be happy to hear that," says the thief from behind me. "What about the evidence?"
I frown, looking at the console. "There should still be a few files," I say. "We got a holo vid of one such thing in the game. That's the evidence I'm looking for... and it's the evidence I'll make sure the admirals get no chance to even hear about."
With this, I turn back to the console, frowning slightly as I work on it. Okay... video files... where are my video files...? Hm... This actually isn't so hard. There's almost nothing on the console here, probably because it needed a hell of a lot of space to run an entire geth neural network. Well... either way, there's not much... Hm, I'll try that file over here... Okay... move the hand over... and...
Presto! A video comes up onscreen, and then I see a female quarian and a male quarian off on the sides of the shot. The middle is empty... Okay, this is it!
I nod, smiling as I look at the video.
"Do we have enough parts to bring more online?" asks Rael'Zorah's voice from off-camera. Yay! I'm hearing that voice in real life now! Although... I have to admit, his Slavic accent isn't as thick as I thought it would be. Oh, well.
"Yes," the male scientist replies. "The new shipment we got from your daughter will let us add two more geth to the network."
I can almost feel Kasumi take a step behind me in shock as I nod. Yep... I don't get anything from Thane's side of the room, but my concentration doesn't waver from the video. "We're nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks," says the female scientest. "We should inform the Admiralty Board, just to be safe." Hm... I don't know how well that would've turned out, dear. On the one hand, you all could've been exiled. On the other, it probably could've prevented all this. But then, Tali wouldn't have a loyalty mission, and I wouldn't be here, so...
"No." Rael's voice is assertive here. "I promised to build my daughter a house on the homeworld. I'm not going to sit and wait while the politicians argue."
This time, I get something from Thane's side of the room. Maybe shock? Yep, definitely sounds like it. "We'd have an easier time of it if Tali'Zorah could send back more working material," says the male scientist.
"Absolutely not," says Rael's voice from behind the camera. "I don't want Tali exposed to any political blowback." Well... you're a bit late for that one, dear. "Leave Tali out of this. Assemble new geth with what we have. Bypass security protocols if need be."
I nod as the video cuts out. Before I can turn to my friends, however, I hear a sound, and then see an OSD pop out. A final line of text scrolls over the console, and then I see the console reboot. After it does so... hey, there's no files here!
... Huh. It must have been programmed to format the hard drive and give us this OSD when Tali came over. I pick up the object and hold it in between my hands. I raise my eyebrows at the thing. All the evidence is right here... and it's not going anywhere but hell. I turn back to Kasumi and Thane, then, beholding the thief's astonished expression.
"And there's why we can't show this evidence," I say.
"Damn," says Kasumi. "Just... damn... I didn't think a father would go so far to keep a promise like that."
"Even I never would have gone to such... extremes... for Kolyat," adds Thane, his voice betraying his surprise. Huh, Thane, surprised. That doesn't happen often. "Would Tali'Zorah have wanted it?"
I shake my head, crossing my arms as I look to my companions. "She wouldn't," I comment. "It's his fault she's in this situation, after all. But when it comes up in the trial..." I chew on my upper lip for a second, beginning to pace around the console. "It's enough to get him exiled. And... worse. Basically, if this gets out, Tali's father becomes the worst war criminal in the history of her people." I pause, standing closer to Thane than Kasumi. "And that's not a good thing for her."
The other two occupants of the room nod. "Right," says Kasumi, rubbing her chin. "So what do you plan on doing about the OSD?"
I shrug, holding it in my hand. "I'm not going to keep this thing any longer than I have to," I say, holding it up in the air. "I promised myself I would help Tali in her time of need two years ago after Virmire. I intend to keep that promise."
With this, I let go of the OSD. It falls to the ground, laying there in one piece as I hear the slight clink of it. Okay. The OSD is there...
Should I keep the OSD just in case to show it to Tali? I mean... it would help her understand... and...
I shake my head. No, Rael'Zorah is probably still alive. We're better off destroying the OSD here and now than holding on to it just to give Tali something to think about. This ends here.
I bring my right foot up in the air, looking down at the drive as I frown. With only a split-second of indecision, I slam my foot on the OSD, the rather loud boom of my foot against the ground resonating loudly within the small chamber. I feel the crunch of the OSD breaking under my foot, and I take my foot away to get a good look. When I get this look, I find that the OSD is in several pieces from where my foot impacted against it, the light refracting off of the small thing as I nod.
"Okay," I say, bending down in front of the OSD. "That takes care of that."
I begin gathering the pieces of the OSD in my hands, being careful to pick them up... well, as careful as I can, given the circumstances. "Clearing the evidence?" asks Kasumi.
I nod. "Daro'Xen looks through the ship when we're done," I say. "It would suck to destroy the piece of evidence that would prove Tali's father a traitor, only to have her find it and continue his experiments. Or... possibly use them as blackmail against us. You know?"
The other two occuppants of the room nod. "I must admit... I am now firmly of the believe you were telling the truth on the Rayya," replies Thane.
I glance up in surprise, feeling the pieces of the OSD in my hand as I stand up. "Really?" I ask as I store the broken thing in a different pocket from the one I stored Orange in.
"Well, it's kind of hard not to believe that something's strange when you pretty much knew exactly what was going on here," replies Kasumi. "I can see plenty of other explanations for you knowing what's going on, but really, they're all just as likely as what you told us." She shrugs, her hands splayed out with the gesture. "It's like you said. We found our proof here."
Okay, good, they got it. With the price of meat what it... Gaaaah!
"And aside from this, we know you know things about the future," adds Thane. "This is unusual in and of itself. We have every reason to believe what you say."
I nod. "Glad you see it that way," I say as I begin to walk back towards the door. The two of them follow close by. "Speaking of which... I've gathered the people that know about me into a small group so we can help keep track of each other's secrets, you know? So... I'd like to extend an invitation to you to come to the next meeting."
"A support group," says Thane. Hm... I can tell the faintest hint of a smile comes to his face. "Intriguing. I shall see if I cannot make this next 'meeting', as you call it."
I nod. "Of course," I say, walking towards the door. "Anyway, that's enough about that. We should go find-"
There's a very loud hiss that suddenly sounds, and then the lights pulse for the briefest of seconds. No sooner do I see this, then the consoles we were just at explode in an array of white light. The sparks fly off the console screen, and then one of the lights does the same, showering sparks on a different area of the room. My eyes widen and shock, and before I know what's happened, the lights in the room go out. This leaves me standing in the middle of the room for a few seconds, dazed at the incredibly sudden darkness that's overtaken the room. Like, it's completely dark in here. No ceiling lights, no lights from the door, from the console, just plain darkness. And there are no windows outside, so yeah. I blink at this, but right before I can say anything the lights go back on, with the exception of the one that exploded in the shower of sparks. And then, everything is back to normal.
...
"What the hell was that?" I ask, looking around.
Kasumi looks up at the ceiling before turning to face the two of us. "I don't know about you, but that sounded like a power surge to me," she says. "Art. Do you know any places where we can access the power grid?"
... "Honestly? I really don't know," I say. "We'd have to know where things are, and the only people who know where something like that would be..."
Wait a minute. Rael'Zorah's body wasn't there, the drone wasn't there, and now there's this inexplicable power surge.
... Could it be? Maybe...
I bring my hand up to my head, right where the comm unit on my helmet is. "This is Serviceman Art*** ********* broadcasting to all people on the Alarei," I say, turning to Thane and Kasumi. I see the drell nod in approval, and then I go on. "I am broadcasting this throughout the entire ship. If any of you are still alive, reply immediately on this comm channel so you can tell me what the fuck just happened. I repeat, if you hear this, reply immediately on the comm channel I'm on."
I see Kasumi frown at this. "Vulgar language?" she asks. "In a transmission? Hopefully they won't take too much offense to that."
I glare at her. "Oh, come on, Kasumi," I say. "If there's anyone who's alive, they've been through hell and back. What's there in one word that's to be taken as an-"
"Serviceman *********? This is Rael'Zorah vas Alarei, the captain of this ship. I have just caused a ship-wide power surge in an attempt to mask what has happened here. Where are you?"
...
Holy shit on a shit sandwich!
"He's alive!" I scream this out as loud as I can, jumping higher than I've ever jumped before.
Yes! He's alive! He's alive! Tali's father is alive! That message I sent wasn't in vain!
As soon as I land, I start doing a silly little dance and chanting "I did it" several times. Yes! He's alive! Thank God, he's alive! Now we won't have to rely on Tali having been on the Alarei. Now we can have her father's testimony to help out! And now Tali won't be a complete orphan like I... kind of am, now. And hopefully, he'll be more open to coming onto the Normandy to speak with her a little more! Yes! Yes yes yes yes yes!
After a few seconds of doing my little victory dance, I quickly snap out of it and bring my hand up to my helmet. "We're in the room where the main hub was," I reply. "We were just leaving, as a matter of fact. Are you all right?"
"I have seen... better days," says Rael'Zorah. "But I'll be all right with some rest. The hub is destroyed, and my daughter should be safe from exile. That's all that matters." Oh... so even when talking to others he still cares. Well, that's nice to know. "I'm somewhere in the science labs at the moment."
I nod. "Okay, stay put," I say. "We're coming for you. Just sit tight and we'll get you off this fucking ship."
"Very well," he says. "Keelah se'lai."
And with this, he cuts the transmission. I turn to Thane and Kasumi then, my arms shaking in my excitement.
"He's alive!" I exclaim again, gesturing towards the door wildly in my excitement. "Come on! We've gotta go over to him, see how the fuck he managed to survive all this!"
"Yeah, I'd be interested in hearing that too," comments Kasumi. "Right behind ya!"
And the three of us rush towards the door of the room we're in, breaking into a run as we go through the Alarei.
Jesus... he's still alive! I didn't send that message for nothing after all! I guess a part of me told me he was already lost, but... but that part was wrong! He's alive, god damn it, and the fact that he's still alive in real life instead of being dead is so damn good it's... well... I don't know what it is.
Rael'Zorah is alive.
I think Tali will be really happy about that.