Tali

"Tali!"

The call snapped Tali out of her daze. She looked up from her work station to see a familiar quarian standing next to her.

"Oh, Rena. I'm sorry. I didn't see you standing there. Was there something you needed?"

Rena didn't answer. Instead, she stared at her with a curious look.

"What is it? Do I have something on my visor?" Tali asked, going cross-eyed to see whatever was there. She wiped it as well but didn't feel anything out of place.

"You were doing it again," Rena answered.

"Doing what?"

"Mooning."

"What?!" Tali exclaimed. Her face began to heat. "I-I don't moon."

Rena crossed her arms and smiled down at her smugly. "Oh yes you do. Practically every day."

"I do not. That's ridiculous. This whole idea is ridiculous."

"Uh huh. Remember when you came up with the idea about the blasting caps. You nearly got caught in the explosion because you got that look in your eyes. And when we first got here, Kal'Reegar had to stop you from wandering into direct sunlight after he just warned us about it. And how about all those times at dinner? And that one time-"

"I get it," Tali interrupted. "I've been distracted. That doesn't mean I moon. Who would I even be mooning over?"

"Well, let's see," she answered as she reached over Tali and hit the play button on her console.

The message she had been documenting and forgot to close started. The initial recording seemed benign enough. Tali had been remarking on how old the structures they used as shelters, talking about their ancestors walking between these stones walls with uncovered heads.

Even though they'd been here for weeks, now was the first time the group had time to marvel at their people's old colony. Their work was finally winding down. They had their data, their equipment was mostly packed, and their shuttle was almost ready to go. Tali and the other specialists took the downtime to study the ruins.

Slowly, the message shifted away from what they found on the Haestrom colony, and it moved to thoughts about who she wanted to share the amazing view here. Tali spoke of her family and friends, mentioning Auntie Ran by name.

Then, her mind had moved to her friends on the Normandy. Tali was talking about how Engineer Adams might have gotten a kick out of the old tech they found here. Liara would probably be salivating at all of the artefacts they found lying about. Garrus would probably be assessing the defensive capabilities of the structure.

The message was silent for nearly a minute. Tali didn't remember stopping for so long. She wondered where her mind went.

That question was quickly answered.

"I wish Shepard was here," her barely audible, recorded voice said over the speakers.

Tali quickly shut down the message, but the damage was done. Rena was looking even smugger than before. Tali didn't think that was possible.

"Sooooooo. You're old captain, huh? The one that just came back from the grave?"

Part of Tali wanted to smack Rena. Another part wanted to vehemently deny the unspoken accusation. But the majority of her wanted to run away and hide and possibly never come back out.

"Not another word," Tali said, trying to sound threatening. She didn't quite manage it.

"Oh calm down, Zorah. I'm only giving you a hard time. I've seen him on the vids. There's something about the way he holds himself. Sexy."

She nodded before she realized what she was doing. Her face heated even more, and she dropped her head into her hands.

"Hey, no need to be embarrassed," Rena continued, putting a comforting hand on Tali's shoulder. "Most of the non-compacted female quarians were jealous of you after seeing Commander Shepard." A dreamy quality came to her voice. "What I wouldn't give to see what he could show me in the clean compartment."

Tali's head shot up, and she looked at her friend wide-eyed. "Keelah, Rena! Have you no shame?"

Clean compartments were a part of every ship. They allowed two or more quarians to link their suits without the fear of other foreign contaminates infecting them. Auntie Ran did so with Tali's mother in one such room so she could be in the same sterile environment at the birth. When a man and woman go into a clean compartment together, it was understood that suits weren't the only thing that was being linked.

"What? Don't tell me you never thought about it." Rena brought her face closer to Tali's and whispered, "I heard humans have five fingers on each hand. Can you imagine what they could do with those two extra digits?"

Tali's head dropped into her hands again.

"You have, haven't you?! Oh, I bet you saw what they are capable of during your stay on that human ship. Worked their way into your fantasies, did they?"

Tali stood up and walked away from her terminal. "I'm not talking about this."

Rena, however, wouldn't give up the conversation and was quickly on her heels. "Oh, come on, Tali. Spill."

"No. If you want to find out, join a human ship, and leave me out-"

"Everyone to the safe houses," a voice over their internal comms interrupted. "Short-range scanners have picked up an incoming vessel."

Tali didn't waste any time and ran to the room deep in the colony, Rena still right behind her. She knew the likelihood of whatever was onboard that unknown ship being friendly. Snowballs had better chances in hell as Engineer Adams used to say.

When they made to the safe house, over half of their team was already there. They were quietly talking to each other, but the low murmurs suddenly stopped when she entered.

"What's going on out there? Who is coming?" one asked nervously.

Tali searched for who spoke in the crowd, her eyes landing on Jas'Qeal. She should have known. The male scientist had been nervous this entire trip. He had the right to be, of course. They were in geth space and in extreme danger if they were discovered. But his constant uneasiness made everyone else anxious too.

And now the worst was happening, the very event he warned everyone about.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "Let me speak with Lt. Reegar and see what's happening. Where is he?"

They pointed her toward the other exit, and Tali made her way to the door, grabbing a shotgun and pistol from the rack on the way. She found the marine quick enough. He was at a forward position, scanning the sky.

"What's the situation, Kal?"

He kept his eyes on the sky as he answered. "Not sure, ma'am. Sensors caught a blip, but the star is interfering too much to get a silhouette match, and they're not broadcasting an IFF."

"You don't think it's…" she trailed off. The task force had refrained from using the word here. It tempted fate too much.

"Can't say for sure, but there aren't many others that would come this deep into their space. I don't have much hope for it being anyone else."

They stood in silence, keeping an ever watchful eye for the ship. Finally, Tali broke the silence.

"How long do you think we have?"

"Less than five minutes." He sounded uncharacteristically worried. "I don't think the team retrieving the data will be able to get back in time."

She spun on him. "What are you talking about, Kal?"

"Jor'Shal said the data in the outpost hadn't been compiled and retrieved yet," he answered her as he kept his vigil. "I sent a team of marines with him to see it gets done. They've been gone too long."

"But that outpost has the most important information stored in it. If we don't get that data, this entire expedition was for nothing."

Kal nodded. "That's what he said. It's the only reason I let them go."

"We need to go get them," Tali said urgently.

He shook his head. "I'm not about to put more people at risk for that data. The Admiralty Board and Conclave can court martial me if they want."

Tali crossed her arms and waited for him to meet her eyes. It took a moment, but he finally relented.

"Let me rephrase that. I'm going to go get them. You're welcome to come along."

Kal looked shocked for a moment before smiling at her. "Yes, ma'am. If you will give me a few minutes, I'll get a small squad, and we'll get you there safe."

True to his word, Reegar came back with five marines in tow, and the group took off toward the observation outpost. Halfway there, a geth dropship arrived, spreading troops all around the colony. The resistance wasn't heavy, but they still had a casualty. She took a sniper bullet through the leg. She told them to leave her behind, that she would act as their rearguard. Allowing her to stay there, most likely to die, left a foul task in Tali's mouth.

When they were able to see the outpost, the situation did not look much better. Geth had surrounded it, and they recognized a few of the marines Kal had sent, their bodies motionless in pools of blood.

"We need to get over there and secure that data," Tali stated.

"Are you nuts?" one of the marines hissed. "There's over a dozen geth between us and that room. We won't make it."

Tali didn't answer, choosing to watch Kal'Reegar instead. He nodded ever so slightly.

"Listen up, people. Carm, Dorril, Loon. You three are with Tali. Keep her safe as until you get inside the outpost. Fry the door when you're in there so they can't get in."

"What if they try to blow it?" Carm asked.

"They won't get the chance," Kal answered, a smile evident on his voice. "Since Halit doesn't want to make the trip, he gets to stay out here with me and keep those damn AI's off the door. Everyone understood?"

They all nodded their heads, Halit less enthusiastically than the others. They got themselves situated. Dorril was the point man, Carm came right after him, Tali was in third, and Loon brought up the rear. Kal held up his three fingers, slowly lowering each one until he formed a fist.

The four swung out and opened fire on the unsuspecting geth while the other two covered their advancement. Initially, the plan was working. They had already made it halfway to the door, and the geth were still scrambling to organize a resistance to the sudden attack. Tali was hopefully that they just might all make it.

That's when everything went to hell.

First, Loon took a bullet through his gut. Tali wanted to stop and help, but he insisted that he was fine and they needed to press on. He only made it a few more steps before he collapsed. He told them to keep going before taking cover behind one of the 300 year old mining equipment and firing on the geth from there.

Next, a few pops indicative of more geth dropping in sounded before one final booming thud shook the ground. The impact nearly knocked Tali off her feet, and, when she turned to see what had made the noise, she saw a geth colossus beginning to unfold.

Dorril must have seen it too because he swore and rushed around the corner. The door to the outpost was only thirty meters away, but a geth juggernaut and two geth soldiers stood in the way. Dorril did his best to take down the obstacles, but a rocket from the juggernaut caught him in the chest, throwing him backwards.

Tali sent out her drone, which caught the next rocket from the advanced geth unit. The explosions destroyed all for machines. Tali didn't waste the opportunity her suicide drone gave her, taking off and hoping Carm would be just behind her.

Then, she heard a yell from behind. Tali turned, saw a geth, and put a few well-placed shots into their pursuer's power core. She noticed Carm on the ground, face down. Her rifle was thrown from her grasp, and there were two smoking holes on her back.

She did a quick assessment of the situation. The outpost was only ten meters away. Tali could drag the marine inside. There, they could both be safe. She holstered her pistol and reached for her. But when she tried to grab onto Carm's suit, the woman knocked her hand away.

"There's no time!" the injured marine yelled. "Go!"

Tali didn't listen and tried to grab her again. Carm knocked her hand away a second time and grabbed her pistol off her hip, aiming it at Tali.

"Go right now, you bosh'tet, or, Keelah, I will shoot you myself."

She didn't try again. The door closed behind her as she entered, nearly blotting out all light. She didn't fry the internal door mechanism, hoping Carm might be able to make her way inside as well. But it sparked anyway, letting Tali know that the marine must have overloaded it from the outside.

A large explosion sounded from just outside the door. She heard that telltale sound before. It was the colossus' main cannon. It was highly unlikely that Carm survived the blast. And since the geth that shot her in the back came from the same direction they did, Loon had likely been overran as well.

Tali wouldn't waste the opportunity they gave her. She would complete this mission even if the cost was her life.

She turned around, turned on her suits external lights, and let out a high pitched squeal. On the floor in front of her were a sparking juggernaut and a much larger geth prime with a hole in its middle. Just beyond them laid three quarians. One was scorched like he had been set on fire. The other was riddled with bullets. The last one, Jor'Shal, had a single bullet hole through his helmet.

Tali couldn't let their gruesome fates get the better of her. She had a job to do here. She can deal with the fallout later.

She typed furiously on the console. Shal had compressed about 50% of the data. She just had to finish the rest and transfer it to her suit's computer. It shouldn't take too long… she hoped.

As Tali worked, she was occasionally jarred by explosions. Tiny pieces of the ceiling bounced off her suit and helmet, and she had to wipe the dust off her visor so she could see clearly.

After what seemed like hours, she was almost done with the data. Tali decided to check on the safe house since the heavy walls blocked all short-ranged communication tech that wasn't on a hardline. While the thick stone saved them from Dholen's harsh radiation, it also made their personal communicators useless, cutting her off from Reegar and Halit.

"Safe house, this is Tali'Zorah. Come in, safe house."

There was no answer.

"Safe house, this is Tali'Zorah. I'm in the outpost. Please come in."

Again there was nothing. Fear began to creep in.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Finally, there was a crackled of life, and hope rose that she wasn't the last one alive on Haestrom. The voice that came back, however, wasn't one she expected.

"Tali, it's Shepard. I'm sorry. Everyone here is dead. Any survivors must have fallen back."

She knew that the safe house was their last fall back point. If there was no one there, they were likely all dead.

"We knew this mission was high risk," she explained, trying to make herself feel better. Still, the loss of life stung. "Damn it."

Then there was the more persistent question. "And what are you doing here?" Tali asked. "We're in the middle of geth space!"

"I was in the neighborhood. Thought you could use some help," he answered.

Tali could tell his response was an attempt at lightening the mood. She appreciated it, even if it wasn't very effective.

"Thanks for coming, Shepard. It means a lot to hear your voice." Usually, she wouldn't say something so bold to him, but it had been an exhausting day already, and it wasn't even over. She didn't have the energy to hide anything from him right now.

"Where are you? Are you safe?" the human asked.

"Kal'Reegar and a few marines got me into the observatory to finish collecting the data we came here for. I'm behind some pretty thick walls, and I think there are a few left out there giving the geth a hard time. I should be safe for the moment."

"How do we get to you?"

"From where you are, it's through the door and across the field. Be careful, Shepard. There's a colossus out there."

"Please, Tali. You know me," he said, the smile evident in his voice. After a moment, he came back. "Ummm, it looks like they sealed the door to prevent geth from getting in. I can't get through it."

"What? The big, tech-expert Shepard can't get through a simple door?" she asked jokingly.

Keelah, she thought once she realized what she was doing. My entire team is potentially gone, and I'm joking with Shepard. What am I doing?

Tali realized later it was Shepard that had brought it out of her. Whenever he was around, the galaxy felt safer. The impossible turned into the probable.

"Taliiiiii," he admonished. "Just get me through the door."

She tapped a few commands, and the door displayed that it was unlocked.

"Thank you."

"I'm serious, Shepard," Tali told him. "Please be careful. And do what you can to save anyone you come across."

"Of course. See you in a few, Tali'Zorah."

The comm channeled closed, and Tali got back to work. She felt lighter now, knowing that Shepard was here. Not long after, gunfire erupted outside her door. A few moments later, a large explosion threw her, and she had to steady herself against the wall.

Tali figured the detonation meant Shepard had just finished the colossus, so she unlocked the door to let him in. Sure enough, she heard very organic footsteps behind her.

"Just let me finish this download," she said without turning around. Tali watched as the counter on her suit slowly grew to 100% before turning to see Shepard standing there, waiting for her.

He had changed in the time since Freedom's Progress. His hair returned to its close cropped length he had before. His armor and weapons were different and showed telltale signs of personal upgrades. Best of all, the angry and glowing red scars had all but disappeared. All he needed was his distinct scar, and he would be her Shepard again.

"Thank you, Shepard. If not for you, I probably wouldn't have made it out of this room again."

A voice next to Shepard spoke. "What? No attention to the handsome turian that pulled Shepard's ass out of the fire?"

Tali looked over to see Garrus grinning at her. He hadn't changed much except for the medical mesh attached to his face. She would have to ask him what happened later.

"I knew he got here too fast. It makes sense now I know that you were with him."

Then, she caught sight of the three dead quarians she had been sharing the room with, and the jovial mood came crashing down.

"This whole mission has been a disaster," Tali told Shepard. "I wish I joined you back on Freedom's Progress, but I couldn't let anyone take my place on something this risky."

Shepard walked to the console and looked over the local copy of the data. "What were you doing here?" He quickly added, "I mean, if you are allowed to tell me. I don't want you getting in trouble for letting an associate of Cerberus know-"

"We were here to study this system's sun," she answered without a second thought. "It's aging at an alarming rate, and the Admiralty Board wanted to know why."

Her frankness seemed to shock Shepard. "I thought the mission was too secret for Cerberus to know about it."

She shrugged. "I'm not convinced you are a part of Cerberus. And if the admirals don't like me telling you about it, they can suck on my waste port. My entire team just died over some piece of potentially useless data."

"Maybe not the whole rest of your team, ma'am," a familiar voice said from the doorway.

Tali looked past Shepard to see Kal'Reegar limping toward them. "Kal! You made it."

He nodded. "Only because of your old captain. He's as good as you said. Damn colossus didn't stand a chance."

"We couldn't have done it without you, Reegar," Shepard said.

"Yes, you could have. I'm a good marine, but you're something else, Shepard."

The human coughed, obviously made a little bit uncomfortable by the compliment. Shepard, the always humble marine.

"If you need transportation, we can get you and the rest of the squad back to the Flotilla," Shepard offered. "Get you patched up while we're at it."

"It's possible the geth didn't damage our ship. They seemed to be too focused on the personnel to attack our ride. We should be fine as long as we get out of here before reinforcements arrive."

Tali realized Kal was expecting her to go back with him. That wasn't going to happen.

"Actually, I'm going with Shepard. I made a promise to him that I would join after this mission. It's over, and I'm going to keep my promise."

Kal nodded, not bothering to argue. "I'll pass along the data to the Admiralty Board and let them know what happened." He turned toward Shepard. "She's all yours now. Keep her safe."

"I will," Shepard answered. "Come on. We'll help you get your team on board so you can take them home."

Being a part of the Normandy SR-2 crew resulted in her feeling an odd combination of foreignness yet familiarity. There were only a few old faces, and, even though the new crew treated her better than she thought Cerberus operatives would, they still watched her warily. Some would even put their hands in their pockets in some vain attempt to prevent her from stealing their credits. They made her feel like she was on her Pilgrimage again.

Even with all the initial distrust (she knew once they spent some time with her, only the most bigoted would continue to suspect her; it was that way on the first Normandy after all), the ship was still ran the same way. Even with all of the upgrades, the style was uniquely human and operated much differently than a quarian vessel. She found comfort in that consistency.

The easiness she found on this alien ship also scared her. She was quarian. Her place was among her people, with the Migrant Fleet. Yet she felt more relaxed here with Shepard and on the Normandy. Tali didn't have to guard herself against people who would attempt to use her to influence her father. She didn't have to watch her every word to keep her father's reputation from deteriorating. She didn't have to suffer under the expectations her father and others placed on her.

And she didn't have to turn off her external auditory pickups just to get a good night of sleep.

At the end of the cycle, Tali was too terrified to admit that, deep down, she felt more at home here than she ever had in the Migrant Fleet.

"Tali'Zorah vas Neema, I would like to inquire why you adjusted the capacitors on the shield generators," EDI asked, breaking Tali's rapidly spiraling thought process.

She sighed in annoyance even though she was glad for the distraction. Maybe one day she would get over the fact that the new Normandy had an AI onboard, but today was not that day.

Author's Note:

I didn't forget about this story. There was too much stuff going on last week that kept me from working on another chapter, and this site wouldn't let me post this chapter until today. Oh well. Things have calmed down now, so I'll try to get back to the two chapters a week.

Not much to say here. Tali is still one of my favorites to write, and I'm excited to really start her conflict I think she had to face over Mass Effect 2.

Thanks for reading, and please review.