The quarian people find themselves in a dark hour, the military governing body having failed them—myself not excepted. It is because of this sweeping failure that I appeal to you, the quarian people.
I humbly ask, as a woman who has made grievous errors in judgement, that the Conclave convene, and the captains exercise whatever authority, ability, or influence they may have to effect removals among the Admiralty.
Perhaps you feel that all of us should be removed from our offices. Remove us. We have demonstrated an inability to safeguard our Fleet and our people. As the first law of the Flotilla is that nothing may endanger it, we all five stand condemned.
I myself, personally failed to stand my ground when the decision to go to war with the geth came about. I travelled personally with a geth, was given evidence that, perhaps, time and bitterness clouded the events of history. That we lost control of the geth, that we lost our homeworld to the geth, I do not argue. But there is the possibility that we also acted against them first. A pattern it seems we, the descendants of those ancient survivors, have perpetuated. I failed to stand by my principles and say 'no' to this war. I put a unified front for the Admiralty Board before anything else, and in so doing have failed singularly. I am also responsible for failing to uphold the Council directive prohibiting anyone from agitating the geth. More than that, I failed to lobby hard enough to keep the civilians out of the fighting. More deaths than I would like to count lie at my doorstep. Therefore, all I can do is admit myself unworthy of my post, and should the Conclave require my resignation, the paperwork simply needs to be signed, and will be signed immediately.
During my Pilgrimage, and later, I had the honor of traveling with Captain Shepard of the Normandy. These travels left me with certain insights, one of which is that leaders who are excellent in peacetime are not necessarily excellent in wartime. And some don't know when to let go, step down, and let a more energetic, less worn-down individual take over for them. In this case, I feel Admiral Raan has failed in her position simply because she has grown old, and tired, worn down by the continual bickering among the Admirals, burdened past her strength by concern for the Fleet and—in this troublous time—unable to act with decision or resilience. I humbly ask that she might be given the option to simply retire. Some would say that a leader who refuses to make decisions or take stands is as guilty as the ones coming up with bad ideas. Perhaps those people would be right. But in this case, I ask that her past service, which with only a few exceptions has been good and dedicated, be considered.
Admiral Koris is, unfortunately, a casualty of our mass bad decision making. He opposed this war, argued long and hard against it, with a tenacity that can only be described as 'eminently praiseworthy.' He hoped for reconciliation, or at least understanding, with the geth. We made them what they were, therefore we must be responsible for what they have done—to others and to us. If one Admiral should be spared any sweeping actions, I would beg that it be Admiral Koris, who hopes for peace, and believes it is obtainable.
Admiral Xen is a potential liability for the Flotilla, in that she is unable or unwilling to recognize that while the Fleet is migrant, we are still a part of this galaxy, even if we have no voice in the central governing body. While it cannot be denied that her weaponry ideas have aided our assault against the geth, it must also be recognized that weapons alone are not enough. Nor did she argue against the arming of the Liveships (resolution passed, 3-2). In the presence of two Council Spectres, she confirmed a scant respect for Council Treaties (specifically, the Treaty of Frixen, limiting dreadnaught production), in spite of the fact that we spend a great deal of time in or around Council space, thereby making us subject to Council law. The truth is that Xen is more interested in testing her weaponry than in considering the wellbeing of the Fleet. Her antipathy towards anything but her corner of research and development can be easily tracked in records of how she has voted in the past.
I request an immediate suspension of Admiral Gerrel, who has demonstrated himself unfit for duty. A mission involving Council Spectres Shepard and Alenko was contrived, the end result of which was to disable the geth dreadnaught so that the Civilian Fleet could withdraw. I'm sure that this information has not been passed down, but I enclose the necessary transcripts to prove its authenticity. The dreadnaught having been successfully disabled, Admiral Gerrel took it upon himself to change the mission objective to destroying the dreadnaught, rather than focusing on the Civilian Fleet's withdrawal. He maneuvered his Heavy Fleet unilaterally, forcing Admiral Raan to commit her fleet, lest his be decimated by the geth. In so doing, he nearly killed two Council Spectres, one quarian Admiral, one highly-placed turian advisor, and the last living Prothean, without concern for the repercussions of cavalierly assaulting such personages.
Very soon, we will have the Council asking why we tried to kill their personnel (on top of the aforementioned questions they will be asking). In our weakened condition, it is better to be in advance with tokens of proof that when a handful of people begin making stupid decisions, those people are appropriately handled.
A war is no time to undergo a governmental overhaul, but clearly the government as it stands has failed. It is therefore up to you, to the civilian government and to the captains who guide us through the stars, to affect the necessary changes.
Keelah se'lai,
Tali'Zorah vas Normandy