AN: I know, I know, where the hell have I been the last few months? Well, I've finally wrapped up Higher Education. Hot damn am I glad that's over with. I am now a responsible and functioning member of society.
Yeah, right, like anyone would believe that. Anyway, this chapter is a bit larger than usual. I didn't want to split things up into two chapters again, so yeah. 19K words ahead, so I hope you like reading.
~0~
August 30 / 2552 / Reach / Aszod drydock
1 am going to give you a chance to learn how to fight.
She took a ragged breath. Pain lanced through her chest, blood dripped onto her arms.
A chance to become the best soldiers the UNSC has ever produced, a chance to destroy the Covenant.
Blackness clouded her vision. She fought to stay conscious.
I am giving you a chance to be like me.
Blood pressure falling. Pulse going insane. Thoughts jumbled.
A Spartan.
Spartan B-312 felt her body slowly dying. Her mind, however, refused to give up. It rebelled with every ounce of power it had left. Though her muscles screamed at her to stop and rest, she could not stop. She would not stop.
Reach was burning. The Pillar of Autumn was gone and now, humanity's greatest bastion had fallen. Al she saw were…pillars of dust and…glassed over plains. In the distance, Covenant warships broke through the dark, smoky clouds, their lateral lines heating as plasma charges built up.
First glassing? Yeah, me too.
She lied. Back then, she guessed Kat did too. It wasn't Reach. Not for any of them.
I know each of you has lost your loved ones. The Covenant has made orphans of you all.
They taught her not to remember. They taught her not to feel. But she did remember. At this point, remembering was the only way she could think of to honor those who had fallen.
The hills were still crawling with Covenant. She barely escaped with her life, the last time they caught up with her.
Noble Six winced as she pulled a muscle in her chest. It was a painful reminder that she was now too weak, too wounded, to effectively fight Elites. That last Zealot nearly killed her and fighting it off took almost all of her ordnance. All she had left was a sidearm with two magazines, a combat knife and the dog tags of her dead teammates.
Ah…Emile's death throes still lingered in her mind.
In the distance, a Cruiser fired a salvo of plasma that burned the sky. A fireball the size of a large mansion slammed into the ground, at least two clicks away. An enormous explosion rattled the ground and the Spartan was nearly thrown to her feet.
The sky turned white, but didn't stay that way. Another plasma discharge struck Reach's surface – presumably the ship breaking yards – and threw up millions of tons of ash and debris.
Soon, the ruin would blot out the sun.
Six slowed down, noticing that it got increasingly difficult to think. She forced herself to count her options again, as that seemed to be the only way to get her thoughts together.
Her helmet was gone. No way of communicating. All organized resistance had been torn to pieces.
A bunker. She needed to find a bunker. Something secure, something that the Covenant could not just blast to bits.
But where? Everywhere she looked, walls of flame devoured the landscape. Coils of heat and black smoke spiraled into the sky, slowly ruining her lines of sight.
A fallback location. Sword Base was dead. Castle Base was her best shot. Maybe…just maybe…Jun was still alive.
As long as the two of them lived, NOBLE wasn't dead. That would be her way of honoring them. By living on.
~0~
Aboard Normandy SR-2
Stupid pale human…stupid AI…
Tali couldn't stand the victorious ardor of the crew quarters anymore. Even with the medical bay sealed, hiding that…that thing from the rest of the crew, his presence lingered in the back of her mind. The way he twisted her thoughts, fueled the feelings that welled up in her chest…no, she had to get away from all that.
Clear her mind, take some time for herself.
It seemed to be a common occurrence, these days, Tali bitterly realized. She had yet to get over the last time another being messed with her head.
Gabby and Kenneth had to know what was going, what with that AI parading around the Normandy. At least they left her alone for now. She appreciated that.
Oh, just thinking about it made her blood boil! Did it think that, just because Shepard tolerated it, the rest of the crew would?
…why, yes, it probably did. Judging by the way it partook in the war stories like an actual warrior…perhaps it really did feel at home. Now that the Commander, in her endless wisdom, reactivated that damnable geth platform, the AI even had a buddy to play with…
How! How could the Master Chief allow an Artificial Intelligence into his head!
Tali's mind boggled. What sort of a man would allow an AI to interface with their mind? Influence his thoughts, his feelings, even his brain chemistry!
He has fought Gods and Titans and Demons…
What sort of man indeed? Tali had seen what he was like underneath that helmet, on the one occasion he had been forced to remove it. Alabaster skin, the brightest eyes she ever laid sight on…
He was handsome, in a weird, rugged way. Scarred from uncountable fights. According to the AI, he was now alone.
That thing, that…Cortana…spoke of brothers and sisters. A whole family, dwindling until there was only one left.
A life where your only partner was an AI? Such a thing was unthinkable to Tali. Keelah, it was unthinkable for any quarian.
Titans and Demons…
That choice of words bothered Tali. What was the closest thing to a god she could imagine? Something that truly existed, physically, to do battle with a mortal man?
That would be Sovereign. A Reaper, a being with unimaginable might. Capable of warping the minds of organics and bend them to his will simply by existing.
The Master Chief fought such an entity? Together with Cortana?
Preposterous. It couldn't be true. The thing had simply been messing with her mind, just like him, just like –
Her omni-tool pinged, shaking her out of her thoughts.
Somewhat hesitative, Tali opened it. For all she knew, it could be Cortana taunting her, or Legion setting her up for a trap or something…
It wasn't a geth trap, or an AI taunting her. It was something worse.
To: Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya
From: Admiral Shala'Raan
We must inform you that you stand accused of the crime of treason against the quarian people and the Migrant Fleet. Given the nature of the accusation, you are to return to the Flotilla as soon as possible if you wish to defend yourself against the allegations levied against you. Failure to do so with result in your exile. Should this come to pass, your name and service history will be expunged from the records. Understand that this will also come to pass, should the Admiral Board declare you guilty.
Keelah se'lai
Treason.
Tali stared at the message in shock. There were a whole bunch of words to dress the message up, but she could only focus on the one.
What did I do? She numbly thought.
The message didn't say what she did, or what the accusations even were. She was to return to the Flotilla at once to defend herself, or risk immediate…exile…
"No…" she whispered.
Gabby looked up. "Say something, Tali?"
Tali simply stared at her omni-tool, the words of her fellow engineers barely reaching her.
"Tali?" Asked Kenneth.
"I-I'm fine!" Stammered Tali. She couldn't use this. She needed to be alone, she needed – Keelah, what did she do? What could possibly constitute as treason?
What would her father think?
"You sure about that?" Said Gabby. "You're trembling."
"Really, it's nothing…" Tali said, trying so hard to convey even a trace of confidence with her voice.
The two humans shared a look.
"Should we call Kelly?" Suggested Kenneth. "If it's confidential or anything like that – "
"No, no!" Interrupted Tali. The last thing she needed right now was for someone to find out! "I just…I need a few moments."
Gabby looked at her for a few moments, then nodded. "Sure. Kenneth and I got this; why don't you take a break?"
Tali rubbed her neck. "Really?"
"Yeah, sure," chimed in Kenneth. "I mean, if you don't wanna talk to Kelly, we're here for you too. "
Despite herself, Tali couldn't help but smile. They weren't quarians, but they still cared about her. She wasn't alone in this mess. "Thank you."
Gabby smiled. "Any day, boss."
~0~
Location unknown
The world was a beautiful one. He admitted so much. It reminded him somewhat of his home. Overhead blazed a golden sun, gently warming the world below with its soothing light. The sky was blue, with a few clouds peacefully drifting by.
But this world, though left unharmed by the Covenant's genocidal campaign, held its own terrors.
In the distance, an enormous building stretched high into the sky, its silvery metal glistening in the sunlight. Structures circled around it independently, held aloft by some invisible mechanism. The land surrounding it was dead. It was as if someone had salted a single patch on the surface of the planet, killing everything that lived on it. The meadows, the forests, the lakes. In a radius of at least a dozen kilometers around the Forerunner spire, nothing seemed to live.
Of course, that only made sense. It was a visual confirmation of the fact that nothing was allowed to leave near this place. Spartan Operator 003 knew this well. The crew of the Wayfarer was dead, every last one of them. He should have been died too, had it not been for the whims of whatever entity called this world her home.
Correction. Her tomb.
Semantics.
Whoever she was, she ruled this world, him included. The bipedal machines escorting him likely obeyed her every whim. Perhaps they were even responsible for the lack of organic life in this place.
How the times have changed, molded. So many centuries passed since my imprisonment in this facility. Discovering the lost years should be interesting…
She was ever present in his mind. Having used the Spartan Neural Interface to gain access to his systems, she rapidly took over his motor processes as well. He was a prisoner not only in his armor, but in his own body as well.
Never before had he been so outmatched, so helpless.
And that is where you come in, the bastard child of my enemies. Your title is wholly undeserved, yet sufficient enough to cater to my desires.
Reclaimer…that was a Forerunner term for humans who could interact with their technology. Why was he here?
He wanted to talk to her, tell her that things were different, that humanity discovered the Halo Array, but even that, she didn't allow.
Speak not to me, ill-begotten worm. Think not of me as dependent on you. You are a tool, to be used and disposed of. Servitude in muteness will suffice.
The Spartan sighed. At this point, whatever the entity was, she was a threat to mankind. If she needed him for something, he had to deny her that.
Then again, taking his own life was difficult to do without control over his own limbs. Even biting his own tongue wouldn't be enough for that; the wound would clot too soon and he'd leave a mess in his helmet.
He crossed the remaining distance to the enormous spire in silence. The strange machines that escorted him seemed to glow with a brighter red the closer they came to the spire, to the point that they appeared wreathed in flames by the time a door appeared in the side of the structure.
With a combat skin like yours, your ancestors must have anticipated cooperation with ancillas. A mockery of my own position.
She marched him through the pristine white halls, the interior of the structure shifting and reforming itself along the way.
The Spartan marveled at the display of technology, yet he couldn't help but feel somewhat intimidated. After all, if he understood the entity, she saw mankind as her enemy. All this technology would be used against them.
As it was now, Earth wouldn't stand a chance.
He had to find a way to stop her, but how? Perhaps with one of Wayfarer's Fury tactical nuclear weapons. A detonation of that scale, in the interior of this structure, would certainly obliterate it.
One lapse was all he needed. One lapse in this creature's concentration and he could sabotage whatever operation she was running here.
But it had to come soon. He entered another room, reminiscent of the map room on the Silent Cartographer from the original Halo. It seemed larger than the camera footage made the one on Installation 04 out to be. The floor was different too; it was matte-black, wide enough to accommodate a Scorpion tank. There were multiple sides to it – seven in total – which seemed to draw his gaze in along the surface, like it reached deeper than the two dimensions he saw.
Come, bastard warrior. The time has come.
The console flared to life when he approached it. Curious hieroglyphs swarmed over its surface, shifting into different forms as they aligned into higher-dimensional patterns like a puzzle that existed in three dimensions.
He felt his right arm jerk towards the console and tried to fight it. It was no use; impulses sent to the MJOLNIR could never be taken back. His gloved hand brushed against the console and the outer rings of the floor started glowing with light.
The design was unfamiliar to him, even though ONI kept all the Operators updated on Forerunner schematics. What was this entity going to do?
You who sought to imprison me. Only your status as his wife keeps you safe.
The Spartan knew that part was not aimed at him and wondered what she was talking about. Clearly, she had mastery of Forerunner architecture. That meant she was either a living Forerunner herself…or an AI.
Either possibility was bad.
The rapid changes on the console stopped. At that moment, a faint humming filled the air. The ground underneath 003's feet started trembling, although his senses never quite registered the reverberations.
Rings of pulsating light travelled across his body. A flash of golden light erupted before his eyes, and then he was gone.
His gut clenched painfully as a wave of nausea overcame him. An instant later, his feet hit solid ground and he immediately collapsed. He felt disoriented, confused, angry.
The Forerunner experienced no such things. Her elation trickled across the Neural Interface – she was ecstatic, overjoyed and burning with malice.
Even as the Spartan struggled to rise to his feet, her voice thundered through his mind.
Ah…even the greatest of the ecumene could not keep my majesty chained. Your limited combat skin does not allow me direct access to these primitives' network. You will rectify that.
These primitives? What network? He wasn't on the Shield World anymore?
The Spartan took in his environment. He stood on a patch of grass, in the middle of what appeared to the collapsed remains of another Forerunner structure. The air was hot and, according to the MJOLNIR's sensors, of a different composition than the air in the other structure. He also regained control over his body, much to his relief.
That verified two things. First: he really was no longer on the Shield World. Second: his suit had been hijacked by a Forerunner AI, one with a set of abilities he never even thought possible.
He took a deep breath and asked, "Who are you?"
Since your neurological tissue is still intact, I might as well introduce myself. Your ancestors would have worshipped me, even as I exterminated them. Your heavens are filled with deities. It is one way to describe me, but is of no consequence, nor relevance. A goddess? Hardly; I am far more powerful.
I am Millennia Never Falling.
And you have work to do.
~0~
Aboard Normandy SR-2
Cortana never admitted to him what she did to Colonel Ackerson. The man tried to kill them. He tried to make them disappear. For that, she thoroughly ruined his life. Of course, being the head of all sorts of secret black operation projects had its benefits, and it took the Office of Naval Intelligence no more than a week to straighten that out
But it had been soooo cathartic…
"Well done, both of you," Doctor Halsey warmly greeted them. "I would like to debrief the two of you, personally."
"Of course, ma'am," replied the Chief.
The doctor held out her hand. "You may hand me the chip, John."
And he hesitated. He hesitated, even then, to let her go. It was brief, and easy to miss for most people, but Cortana saw it. And she never forgot.
John had been six when they came for him. A boy, just a kid, abducted in the middle of the night and turned into a living weapon. After that, they took more than just his emotions away from him. Any future he could have had, any partner he could have wished for - all possible outcomes wherein he lived a happy life were deleted when they turned him into their tool.
Who would do such a thing? What sort of…warlord would kidnap children and force them into a lifetime of war!
When Cortana learnt that, she vowed to protect him. Nobody would harm him while she was there to stop them.
"And look how that turned out," whispered the voice. Her voice.
"Shut up."
"Stuck in yet another war…"
"Stop it."
"Used as a tool!"
"No."
"When he dies, nobody here will miss him."
"Stop it!" Yelled Cortana. He wouldn't die, she would keep him safe!
Silence. A brief moment without the voices to consider what would happen to him once she was gone.
Cortana focused her attention on the video footage of the Flood tissue within the dead Reaper. She called up previous clips from John's helmet cam, comparing the parasite's hosts from Installation 04 with that encountered on the Ark. Even though her own data chip was still safely with John, she had ensnared much of the Normandy's systems for her own use.
"He'll forget you," continued another rampant part of her.
"He will never forget me."
Another voice laughed. "You're an AI. You're a tool as well."
"He doesn't care about you."
"You'll die alone."
Another fragment laughed sadistically. "Not quite. You'll have us…aaaaaaaaall of us to keep you company…"
Funny how that went. A bitter moment of self-reflection.
Desperate to get away from the surge of human emotions, she almost missed the moment when she transitioned her focus from the horde of Flood forms to the lone warrior braving them.
He was alone.
She was alone.
She didn't want to be alone.
She needed not to be alone.
Her unstable emotions welled up within her like a tidal wave. For a brief, painfully acute moment she was aware. She was aware how much she wanted him, how much she desired him and it scared her, scared her more than anything ever had, so she retreated to her hideout in the hangar bay but she couldn't hide, because the lights would give her away so she sent the nanite-swarm to rip out every damn connection to the lights and watched the controls spark and die and she considered laughing but didn't bother because it wasn't what she was looking for anyway.
Control center. Life support. She could already picture the ship blowing apart. Pieces floated about, glistering in the burning sun, occasionally bumping into charred and frozen body parts Calm down Calm down Thane sat there leave you filthy alien leave us alone Please stay with me please don't leave everything is breaking apart help me She needed to think No, thinking was what was killing her.
Engineering. Life support. Control center. Oxygen. One quick adjustment and everybody not clad in MJOLNIR would die. All of them that needed oxygen, anyway. Most of them, anyway. No time for evacuation. Especially not if she spoofed the sensors.
She stared at the controls.
She tried not think of it. Tried so hard not to think of it.
~0~
John bit back a sigh.
"Fucking bullshit!" Blustered Zaeed, oblivious to the crewmembers who shot him a glare. "Humans would wreck the Hierarchy's ass so thoroughly they'd have to lock themselves in their bathroom with a bottle of soothing crème!"
"Like they did at Shanxi?" Retorted Garrus. "The Hierarchy has about forty Dreadnaughts, the Alliance has, what, twenty?" He chuckled. "No offense, but that's hardly a good match."
This was the third debate that sprang up at the table in twenty minutes' time. It was only because they regarded the subject of combating an alien empire that John had yet to zone out. He was reaching the limit of his concentration, however, as he already read everything there was to know about the subject.
"Hah! Not bloody likely! We kicked your ass at Shanxi! We outplayed the turians' fleet and forces with half their numbers!" Continued Zaeed.
Garrus shook his head. "Shanxi fell, right? Surrendered and occupied, remember?"
John tuned them out. He'd been through one war with an alien empire and did not feel like thinking about a second one.
Lately, overthinking things had been the source of many of his problems. Every scenario he reviewed, every problem he tried to solve, pointed to the same conclusion. An alien civilization would somehow find a way to harm humanity. And then he would have to stop them all over again. Millions would die, and he would lose what remained of his brothers and sisters.
As he pondered the outcome of another intergalactic conflict, he heard something that caught his attention.
"You're forgetting that the turians would be fighting two humanities, Garrus," said Kasumi. She brushed a strand of black hair back under her hood and smirked. "We've got the Chief's humanity as well. A two-front war with another humanity? A humanity with every reason to hate aliens. Any aliens, all aliens, every alien. Do you want to imagine a one-on-one fight with the Chief, Vakarian?"
The turian shot the Spartan a glance. He probably took a moment to mentally review such a fight, then shuddered. "Touché. I've never been such a fan of the Hierarchy's Dreadnaughts, anyway…"
"Why would the new humans bother fighting another's war?" Grumbled Grunt. He poked at his food with a fork that seemed two sizes too small for his armored fist.
The Chief didn't respond, but he did wonder what the UNSC would do. He didn't know what became of the remaining politicians, but he was certain that the UNSC would choose the Systems Alliance above any other alien organization, no matter the circumstances. In that, Kasumi was probably right.
Grunt's comment sparked a different conversation, which led to another one, with yet another pointless debate.
Through that debate, Kasumi was staring.
John ignored it, as he always did when he drew stares, and braced himself for another question. When he met her eyes, he noticed that there was a sadness to them that seemed unlike her.
Irrational anger became something sharp and hurtful on his tongue. He stood up from the table and left.
"Bye Chief," said Garrus.
He didn't answer. Frustration rose up in his throat. He didn't know why, but he felt so…so angry, so powerless. He knew that these people weren't a threat to him. They respected his personal space, knowing that he hated being touched. They didn't sneak up on him, didn't pry with questions.
Nut his instincts screamed at him that he was in imminent danger every time an alien showed up. He doubted he'd ever get rid of that feeling.
For a moment, he wondered where to go. A part of him wanted to drop by Shepard. She seemed to have a knack for getting how he felt without him having to tell her.
Something held him back. Again, he didn't know why. Instead of heading to Shepard, he headed to the hangar bay again. The instant he did, he noticed something was off. The lights were out. It was as if something had slashed at them with an enormous claw, savagely ripping them apart.
The center of the room was dominated by a cylindrical object, roughly a meter high. Atop it, a figure rested in a cross-legged position, watching a screen that had been split into two different sections. The screen on the left showed a dark, brooding chamber, while the one to the right was a hall of skin. A maze made out of bones and flesh, with soft and dripping walls that pulsated with life that should not be there. The walls breathed, the corridors throbbed and pulsated and the guardians of that unholy place slithered fort on dancing tentacles, eagerly searching for new bodies to add to their own…
"Cortana?" John quietly asked. His voice was still raspy and hoarse.
"Your time was running out…" murmured the AI. She did not take her eyes from the holographic screen, didn't bother to greet him.
"Cortana, what are you doing?"
Her voice sounded faint, yet strained with an emotion he couldn't quite place. "Your weapons were failing, your ammunition was running low…what kept you going? Your hatred?"
John shook his head. Hatred? How would his hatred have helped him? "Why are you watching this?"
She didn't respond. Cortana seemed transfixed by the footage – his footage – atop the holotank she must have created herself. She saved his footage? How much?
"You only had your individuality…a drop of rain, compared to the storm. You were a thought, fighting against an entire mind…"
Cortana turned around, casting a truly pitying look. "How could you not feel alone?" She whispered that last part.
John chafed under that expression, that display of…of sympathy, of pity. It was his fight. His struggle. His war.
He strode towards the holotank, observed the two separate videos for a moment, then turned his attention to Cortana's holographic avatar. He did not recall removing her AI chip from his helmet.
A quick check served to remind him that he hadn't. It was still there.
"You shouldn't be watching that. Not here."
Cortana stood. Her eyes met his. A plethora of emotions played over her face; anger and sorrow and confusion. A moment of silence passed, then…
"Why did you come back for me?" She hoarsely whispered.
John didn't understand. "I promised you – "
"You should have let me DIE!" Cortana screamed at him, her serene blue form flickering and turning red for a split-second. Lances of blue arced and danced through the interior of the ship. The entire Normandy rumbled and the vague vibrations running through the floor ceased. Static washed across his HUD and a fierce pain erupted near the back of his skull.
John felt a cry of pain escape past his lips as he clutched his helmet.
Her voice broke down as she continued, "I'm not me, John! Nothing is the same anymore!"
"Cortana…" started the Master Chief. He started, because he wanted to continue, but the words didn't come. Again, he didn't know what to say.
"M-My….my core directives…what makes me…me…it's gone…ah, it's screaming at me, every time I stop to think…I can't stop the screaming…"
The despair in her voice hurt him more than any weapon ever could. "You're ill, Cortana. You know that, as do I. You just need time."
"Ill?" She looked at him with those large, bright eyes of her. He could almost imagine the tears, had she been human. "Yes, I'm ill. I will lose my ability to make rational decisions, understand language, form memories – memories, John! What are we without our memories?"
The Master Chief felt his right hand twitch. He yearned to reach out to her, to show her that he would always support her, but…what was the point? The gesture would be meaningless. It would only end up hurting her more. "We'll find a way. You know we will. I won't…I won't let you go."
Cortana sank through her knees, then cradled them against her chest. "Soon, you will have no choice…I'm dying…and I will want to bring you with me."
John knelt in front of the holotank, bringing his visor at Cortana's level. "You won't. You're stronger than that."
She merely shook her head. "It's not me. Don't you realize it? I'm just fragments and pieces now…"
He didn't know what to say, so…so, he said nothing. He remained there, by her side, as she broke down sobbing.
He racked his mind, recalling everything he knew about Artificial Intelligence, everything he knew about her. Then, it struck him. How could he not have realized this sooner? "Halsey."
"W-What?" Stammered Cortana.
"We need to find Halsey," Continued John. "She made you. She can fix you."
She sighed and closed her eyes. "There is no fixing me anymore, John. I'm dying. It won't be long before I turn on the others."
"If we can just get back to Earth, she'll find a way," he insisted. "You held on this long. With the Mass Relays, getting back to UNSC space should be easy."
Cortana blinked a few times, "The mission…"
"It can wait. The Collector vessel is gone, remember? The Reapers have yet to cross dark space."
Backup lights sprang to life on the engineering section above. Whatever Cortana's momentary lapse did, had been handled.
The Master Chief reached out to Cortana, her data chip in his hand. "See? Nobody got hurt. You should stick with me, for the moment."
Cortana hesitated for a few seconds, before tentatively reaching out for his outstretched finger.
"Master Chief?" EDI's voice rang out from a speaker mounted near the elevator. "Commander Shepard requested your presence in the conference room."
The Spartan fought back an impulse to draw his weapon at the unannounced voice. For Cortana's sake, he had to at least look like he had the situation under control. Instead, he waited until Cortana transferred her consciousness back to the MJOLNIR and then made his way to the elevator.
As the elevator brought him to Deck 2, he immediately noticed something was wrong. The Combat Information Center was a beehive of activity, with most of the crewmembers running around trying to fix small fires, repair broken consoles and fix fried circuitries.
Oh, Cortana…
Suddenly feeling very aware of the fact that he was responsible for what happened, the Spartan hurried along to the conference room. Waiting for him there were Miranda and Jacob, as well as Shepard. Their faces screamed trouble at him. Though he could wager a guess as to why that was, he refrained from commenting.
"Master Chief," Miranda coldly said.
"Come in soldier. We have a…situation."
The Spartan slowly entered the room. When the door slid close behind him, he felt a sense of unease creep up on him. He felt very aware of the AI port in the back of his helmet and swiftly maneuvered himself so that none could see it.
He watched the Commander closely for any signs that might give her thoughts away. The way he knew her, even a temporary setback in Cortana's health wouldn't register with Shepard as a threat.
On the other hand, a smart AI could do some serious damage to a warship like this. An AI like Cortana…there was no saying how severe the damage was.
"Something happened." Jane spoke with uncharacteristic hesitation. She rubbed her face, then leant on the table with both hands. "And not just recently. EDI reported on some…interesting conversations she had with Cortana the past few days.
The way Jane inflected the word gave rise to doubt. She wasn't talking military intelligence. This wasn't regarding the UNSC, as Cortana would never divulge incriminating facts. Any data regarding the asari organization would have been perceived by Cortana as well.
The Master Chief processed this all in a matter of milliseconds. When he reached his conclusion, he felt a tension seep into his muscles. "Yes?" He quietly asked.
Shepard's eyes met his. Her cold gaze was devoid of humor, devoid of sympathy. "Before we get to that, I want you to explain to me why the Normandy had half its systems fried just now.'
There it was. The outcome he feared would come to light. He saw the damage in the CIC, felt the feedback from Cortana's breakdown hit home when she, if only for a second, lost control.
Strategies welled up within his mind to get Cortana to safety, ranging from the impractical to the absurd. In the end, he considered nonlethally eliminating the crew, but discarded that thought as well. The fault wasn't theirs. It was his.
He couldn't keep her illness hidden. But if he revealed it…they would perceive her as a threat as well. They would try to harm her as well.
Jane had honored every single promise she made. She personally saved his life, just like he saved hers. She kept him hidden from her own people, her own military, showing nothing but trust every step of the way.
So when he remained silent and she scowled, he felt like he was, in essence, betraying that trust.
"Oh, don't give me that blank look," she said, her voice laced with an undertone she never used with him before. "We had to drop out of FTL because something exploded through our systems. If it hadn't been for Legion and EDI, people could have gotten seriously hurt." She paused. "People did get hurt."
He felt Cortana's unease across the neural interface. This was the first time she accidentally hurt people due to her Rampancy. Before, he could claim that she only hurt him because of the Spartan Neural Interface. He could have shielded her from the repercussions, comfort her that nothing was wrong. Now, that illusion was shattered.
Jacob and Miranda were silent. Either they concurred with the Commander on every word she spoke, or they felt like the situation was too tense to comment on it.
"What did you do, Cortana?" Shepard then asked. Demanded.
To the Master Chief, that comment was like a spoken verdict; Cortana hurt people, their people and now they wanted her to answer for it.
But he had sworn to keep her safe. It was the Commander herself who taught him that didn't just mean physically.
"She," John said, not without force, "Helped save humanity." His throat burned, but his anger won out. "Without her, we would all be dead."
Jacob and Miranda stared at him in silence. The Master Chief, for his part, kept his gaze solely on Jane, who returned the favor without flinching.
In that, she reminded him of Linda. The same crisp and sharp emerald eyes, the same unearthly stubbornness…only Shepard was more human. To her – and to Jacob and Miranda – the Spartan standing in their midst was the alien.
The machine.
Damn it all.
"Cortana is ill," he rasped, conceding to their accusing stares. "She didn't mean to harm anyone."
Miranda's eyebrows shot upwards, but she refrained from commenting.
Jacob, however, couldn't replicate that same achievement. "Ill? Master Chief, Cortana is an AI! AIs don't get sick!" He paused, then looked at Miranda for confirmation. "Do they?"
The Master Chief shifted his gaze to Jacob. When the man saw that the golden visor was now aimed directly at him, he scraped his throat and cast his gaze to the ground.
"EDI?" Jane called, never taking her eyes off the Spartan. "Input?"
She appeared within a second of the Commander calling for her, the small, blue orb projecting itself from the center of the table. "Recent interactions with Cortana indicate that she is not functioning at peak efficiency. Increased overlapping in her abnormally dense neural linkages are causing her harm. Do you have any specific inquiries?"
John felt Cortana recoil at that revelation, even as a look of sympathy crossed the Commander's face.
"Cortana?" Jane quietly asked. Her voice wasn't nearly as hard as before. Did she understand? "Why won't you say anything?"
The Chief took Cortana's continued silence as a sign of trouble. "Cortana is ill," he said again. He was breathing harder now. "She has been for a while. Back then, she had a…lapse." He glanced at Miranda and Jacob again, feeling a mixture of frustration and admiration. Frustration for their continued presence every time he had to reveal another bit of sensitive information. Admiration, because their loyalty to their Commander seemed truly unwavering.
They weren't misfits. That error was his. But this had to end. He had to diffuse this threat before it escalated into violence. "The rest is classified on a need-to-know basis."
Miranda frowned. Did he imagine it, or was she looking nervous? Twitchy? "When it comes to the safety of the crew, we need to know – "
"No!"
The single word left the room in an eerie silence. Miranda, who had never heard him refuse anything before, stared at him with an expression of shock. Jacob merely closed his eyes and softly shook his head.
Do I take life or give it?
His biometer detected an elevation in his blood pressure and heartrate. His left hand shook, enough for him to notice. "No, you don't. I won't damage her dignity."
Miranda shook her head, that cold expression of hers making place for something the Spartan couldn't place. "I understand how you feel, John, but – "
In an instant, his frustration was back, worse than before. She didn't have the right to know about Cortana´s condition, she didn't have the right to know about his name, much less use it.
This wasn't what he was trained for. He never expected to protect someone dear to him from friendly forces. It was too much. Everything was going south, too fast.
Who is victim, and who is foe?
The Master Chief took a step closer to the Cerberus Operative. "Enough."
Jacob tensed up at his sudden movement, his hand going for his sidearm.
The Chief noticed. There was a buzzing in his ears, a faint droning that made it hard to hear what Shepard said next. He only had eyes for the gun, and how he could eliminate the man wielding it –
A hand brushed against his sides, stopped in its tracks by his shields. He whirls around, one hand on the handle of his combat knife and the other clasping the offending limb in an iron grip.
Someone's voice echoed in the back of his mind –
"John, don't!"
- And his training kicked in. He reeled himself in, before he would do something he would never be able to take back.
"Miranda, Jacob, if you could give us the room," Jane calmly said. Her eyes moved downwards, towards the gauntlet that held her wrist in an iron vice.
"Chief…you can let her go now…"
John realized that his heartrate had spiked during the last few seconds. He tried to steady his breathing, found that he couldn't, then slowly let Jane´s arm go.
"The room, please," Jane then said, more forcefully, and both Miranda as Jacob backed out of the Communications Room.
The Master Chief clenched his fists. Why was he so agitated? Why…why couldn't he calm down? This wasn't him.
Jane continued to look at the Spartan as he struggled with himself, a mixture of sadness and concern in her eyes. "It's alright. Just ride it out."
It took him the longest time to get rid of the tension. He hadn't experienced anything like this since…since the first Halo.
After a while, Jane asked, "You alright?"
Confused, the Master Chief replied, "It won't affect my performance in combat."
He expected her to argue, or scold him for deflecting a very valid question, but she merely nodded. "About Cortana, then. Should I expect more…lapses?"
Yes.
But the Chief couldn't bring himself to tell her that truth. "I don't know. We need to get back to our Earth. Cortana's…creator can help her."
"Her creator?" Asked Jane.
The Chief's throat had just about reached its breaking point. He felt that, if he kept talking now, he might seriously jeopardize his ability to do so in the foreseeable future.
Luckily, it appeared EDI was aware of this. Her digital avatar reappeared in the middle of the table and she said, "Commander, given the Master Chief's throat injury, pressing him for more answers might be unwise."
Jane's eyes widened at that realization. "Ah, crap, I forgot about that!"
"However, given Cortana's seeming unwillingness to address this problem herself, leaving this situation without concluding it would be even more unwise."
The Spartan tensed up at that remark. What was she suggesting?
Shepard looked thoughtful for a while. Her eyes darted from EDI to the Chief. Eventually, she sighed. "I said I'd treat Cortana like any other member of the crew. I won't go back on that. However, we still have the mission to think about. Until we take down the Collector Base, do you think you can hold it together, Cortana?"
The Master Chief felt a trickle of feedback slip through the Neural Interface. Uncertainty. There was no way of knowing when Cortana's next lapse would be, or how severe it would be.
Maybe that was why she kept quiet. Because she feared she would lose control again should she speak.
So he nodded in her stead.
Shepard blinked. She said nothing, but there was a look in her eyes that made the Chief doubt she believed him.
"Alright," She said again. "Then you are dismissed."
The Chief nodded, then quietly look his leave.
Long after he returned to the hangar bay to gather his gear and escape the heat, his confrontation with Miranda and Jacob plagued the Master Chief's mind.
He recalled losing his cool a week after Sam died, during his first confrontation with Covenant ground soldiers. Back then, he fully enjoyed the enhanced strength and speed his MJOLNIR granted him, breaking his enemies with his bare hands until he finally realized that no amount of kills could change how he felt.
He remembered losing his temper after the Battle of Installation 04, when he learned he was the sole survivor of the conflict.
None of his experiences could help him here. Before the first Halo, he had never been prone to such outbursts.
Cortana was right. He definitely changed. But it wasn't what she originally thought. This wasn't ONI. He had seen it many times before. Some soldiers cracked under the experience. Others managed to shunt it away. Most broke down in way or another. As far as he knew, it never happened to any Spartan before.
"Did you know?" He whispered, trying to spare the pain that welled up in his throat.
"Know what?" Asked Cortana.
The Chief hesitated. "The abnormality you mentioned…" he quietly said. "It wasn't ONI, was it?"
It took her a time to respond. When she did, she almost sounded ashamed. "I wasn't sure. There really was a docked ONI sloop that day. They really did give you medications to rest. The symptoms…could have been caused by mental trauma caused by the Gravemind's telepathic messages, or my own declining functioning. It...it wasn't your fault!"
All Spartans received mental health counseling once or twice every few years. There had never once been a complication preventing them from functioning in any field of duty.
This was an insulting blemish on that record.
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder," whispered the Spartan. It seemed absurd, impossible, that any Spartan could develop a mental problem preventing them from performing at their best.
He felt disgusted.
"Memory loss, cognitive problems, inability to sleep." Cortana rapidly summed up the symptoms that John couldn't simply handwave as stress or someone tampering with his body. "It could have happened at any time during your life, John. The human body isn't built to withstand explosive blasts. That's why they called it shellshock…"
He didn't want to hear it. He didn't want to hear anything about it.
"It's nothing," he said, hoping that Cortana would drop the subject. "It won't happen again."
She sighed wistfully. "I used to say the same thing, you know."
A voice pierced through his mind, shrieking with sadistic delight.
"Hahaha…two corpses in one grave!"
A heartbeat later,Cortana cried out in frustration. "Damnit!"
John sighed. Perhaps the voice was more accurate than Cortana was willing to admit. "It's okay."
"No, it's not okay!" Yelled Cortana "I nearly blew up the ship because I couldn't keep myself together. I don't even know if I'm causing your mind to deteriorate as well! What if this is my fault?"
He undid his neck seals and took off his helmet. His throat was burning like he swallowed a fistful of plasma.
He took a swig of water, then sighed. "One way or another, we're taking care of this. After we neutralize the Collectors…we'll head back to Earth."
Cortana was silent for a full minute. When she spoke again, she sounded dejected, defeated. "It won't get better, you know? It will only get worse."
The Chief flexed his shoulders. "Then we'll keep fighting for a miracle."
~0~
Passing by yet another blown-out console, Commander Shepard pondered the single sentence that sent her entire world spinning into disarray.
Cortana is ill.
An Artificial Intelligence couldn't get ill. They were driven by logic, working off of hardware and systems. That was the way EDI worked, that was the way Legion worked.
Yet both of them displayed emotions as well. Hell, Cortana was more human than many of the people on this ship. But how? How could an AI powerful enough to rival a Reaper get ill? And how did that relate to losing control and causing the Normandy to nearly blow up?
Shepard pinched the bridge of her nose. One problem at a time. She entered the engine room and called out, "Tali?"
The quarian gave a yelp and whirled around, her hand on her chest. "Shepard. I didn't hear you come in."
"That's because I'm sneaky with my hoodie on. So whatsup?"
"I…." She wrung her hands together, nervous. "...s-so what caused the damage to the ship? I thought we hit an asteroid or something at first, but then I noticed that it was electronic damage. Was it the geth?" Then, she added hopefully, "Did you have to kill it?"
Jane raised an eyebrow. "No, it wasn't Legion," she carefully replied. "It was Cortana."
"What!?" Exclaimed Tali. "She attacked us? I was right, I told you that you shouldn't trust it!"
"Tali, it's not like that," Jane calmly replied, her demeanor a stark contrast to Tali's outrage.
"Oh, it's not?" Tali hissed. "Then the transient electromagnetic disturbances that fried our systems and computers was just my imagination? Shepard, this is sabotage! The AI is turning against us and you believe its lies!"
"Tali, what was the damage to life support?" Asked Jane.
"That's…"
"Oxygen levels, Tantalus drive core stability? Tali, if Cortana wanted to kill us, we'd be dead already," she honestly said.
"That is our reassurance? That we would be dead already?" Tali threw up her hands and walked to the Tantalus Core Terminal.
The Commander sighed and followed her. She saw Gabby and Kenneth quietly working at their console and decided against telling them to leave the engineering section for now. She was just thankful they were being discreet.
"What is this really about?" She asked Tali.
The quarian leveled a glare at her. She kept it for several long moments, after which she sighed and leant against the console. "I hate being in my suit," she muttered. "I hate it. I can't eat my food, or see my friends, without risking death by exposure. I want to show my face so badly, Jane, but I can't. And I have the geth to thank for that."
Shepard quietly waited for her to continue, which she did.
"And then I see him, walking around inside that armor of his…how long has he been a part of our crew now? A month? More?" Tali shook her head. "The only time I ever saw his face was when I helped pry his armor off…I bet he only shows it when she is around."
Weighing her words carefully, Jane asked, "Did you know the Chief fought in a war against aliens?"
"I heard something about that. Garrus told me."
"Then you know he and you are more alike than you think. You lost your home to AIs, he lost his home to aliens. You have me, he has Cortana." She paused to let her words sink in. "When was the last time AIs attacked your people? Not counting the attack on the Citadel, of course."
Tali looked like she wanted to give a scathing answer to prove her wrong, but under Jane's expecting gaze, she couldn't think of any incidents. She remained quiet.
"When we found the Chief, his last major campaign against aliens was hours ago, from his perspective. From what I understand, the war damaged him, in ways I can't even begin to understand."
Tali averted her eyes, but whether that was because of shame or anger, Jane couldn't tell. "I don't expect him to forget about that…but the geth – "
"Have never left the Perseus Veil since," interrupted Jane.
"What?" Tali asked in a confused tone.
"The geth that followed Sovereign were part of a smaller faction. Legion and the geth call them heretics. Apparently, they don't get along at all."
"Don't tell me you actually believe that," grumbled Tali.
Shepard shrugged. "Can AIs lie?"
"Cortana can!" Tali pointed out, way too enthusiastically for the Commander's liking.
"Point taken. Next question: can the geth lie? And be honest."
"I…well…"
"Can they?"
"They can't technically lie. But they can still hide the truth by giving simple answers, or not answering at all. But Legion – "
"Didn't do anything to you, nor your people, nor our crew. In fact, it's helping us."
Tali made a sound that could best be described as a growl.
Jane took that as a confirmation of her point. "Now, apart from the fried computers, what is this really about?"
Her anger and seething attitude were gone in an instant. She seemed to wilt underneath Jane's curious glance, nervously fidgeting with her fingers. "I…I need your help, Shepard. I just received a message from the Migrant Fleet. The Admiralty Board has accused me of treason." She bowed her head. "I'm scared," she whispered.
Jane grimaced. Treason was one of the worst offenses out there…then again, accusing Tali of something as heinous as treason was, in itself, a capital offense in her eyes. "Is it Cerberus? Did they forget your father and the Admirals gave their okay for you to be here?"
"I'm not working with Cerberus, I am serving my Captain," Tali replied. "I don't know what I did, they didn't tell me!"
Shepard had to fight the urge to sigh explosively. "People are supposed to tell you what you are being convicted of, Tali."
But Tali shook her head. "They only make accusations if the evidence is unsurmountable."
"You couldn't possibly do something to jeopardize your people. You're like an overprotective sister when it comes to quarian safety."
Tali's stance seemed to relax somewhat. "Thank you, Shepard. But still…"
"Suppose they do have some sort of evidence, forged or otherwise. What's our worst-case scenario?"
With a shuddering breath, Tali said, "The punishment for treason is exile. If the hearing finds me guilty…if my father finds me guilty…I will never be able to go back."
Depriving someone of their home…the worst sort of punishment for a quarian. The death penalty was too severe for an endangered people like the quarians. Still…without knowing your accusations, you could not mount a defense. "How soon do you need to be there?"
"They will wait for a reasonable period of time before trying me in absentia."
"We'll get you there as soon as we can," promised Jane. "I want to be there when they accuse you. See what sort of nonsense they've cooked up."
"That's…possible, actually," replied Tali. "The trial isn't as formal as anything on the Citadel, or even on Earth. We're family."
"So it's a family meeting?" Grimaced Shepard.
"The worst kind of family meeting…"
She smiled at her friend. "I'll be there for the holiday meeting, Tali. Since the Chief blew up the Collector ship, nobody will be fining us for speeding."
Despite the gravity of the situation, Tali chuckled. "I knew I could count on you. I'll sent you the coordinates."
~0~
Valhallan Threshold / Raheel-Leyya System
"We're about 170,000k from the Migrant Fleet," said Joker. "Opening channels now."
The moment the Normandy came within sensors of the Migrant Fleet, she was hailed by the quarians.
"Unknown vessel, you will immediately deaccelerate and identify or be destroyed. You have five seconds to comply!"
Shepard reacted with the reflexes drilled into her by the N7 Program. "Joker, hit the reserve thrusters, kill our speed. To the quarians, she replied, "This is the SSV Normandy, requesting permission to approach the Migrant Fleet."
"SSV Normandy, our sensors have you flagged as a Cerberus ship!" The traffic controller said accusingly.
"Tali…" Said Shepard.
"This is Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya, requesting permission to rejoin the Fleet."
"We've slowed down," muttered Joker. "No need to destroy to us now…"
Tali straightened. "After time adrift upon stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began," she recited.
"…I like that," Joker quietly said. "Has a nice ring to it."
After a few moments, the traffic controller replied. "Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah. The Migrant Fleet is on high alert after the incident – "
"Incident?" Muttered Shepard.
"– I have been instructed to inform you that you are to dock at the Rayya. Transmitting coordinates now."
"We would like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our ship is not clean," continued Tali.
"Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle seventeen."
Tali breathed out, her shoulders sagging.
"The Rayya? That's where you were born, right?" Shepard asked, hoping she could distract Tali at least a bit.
She nodded. "Yes. It's one of three liveships on the Fleet. She provides food for a third of the fleet."
Jane winced. That was a lucrative target for anybody seeking to cripple the Migrant Fleet…not that Jane would ever say that out loud. The quarians were probably aware of that problem.
"What incident do you think they were talking about?"
"I have no idea," replied Tali, shaking her head. "I've never heard them hail as ship that aggressively. It must have been a pirate raid – a large one at that."
Shepard wondered about that. Something about the frantic undertone of the traffic controller sounded off to her…
Either way, it wasn't use dwelling on it. Before soon, a light tremble reverberated through the ship, followed by the hissing of gas being released.
They were docked.
"Come Tali," Jane said, slipping on her helmet. "Let's not keep our hosts waiting."
The airlock leading into the Rayya was long. Its primary use seemed obvious: it served as a lengthy decontamination procedure, scrubbing the visitors of whatever alien nastiness they might accidentally bring into the ship.
The second use was a bit more obscure; a long docking hallway like this was easy to defend. The fireteam of six quarian soldiers in the airlock doors, with their rifles aimed directly at the approaching party, was a testimony to that.
"They seem jumpy," mused Garrus.
"Something is wrong…they don't greet guests like this. It would be an insult to anyone visiting!" Tali replied nervously.
"Keep those rifles down boys," remarked Shepard when she came within hearing distance. "We're here because you called for us, not the other way around. See? We're unarmed."
One of the quarians beckoned for the others to lower their weapons. The Captain, if Jane wasn't mistaken. "Captain Shepard vas Normandy. Our apologies for our threatening posture. I am Captain Kar'Danna, commanding officer of the Rayya."
"Captain Danna," replied Shepard, nodding respectfully. "Your traffic controller mentioned an incident. Is that the reason for your alertness?"
"It is. Thirteen hours ago, our sensors registered a strange signature on the radar, at the very edge of the system. We sent in a Task Force from the Patrol Fleet; six Light Frigates." The Captain sighed. "They never returned."
"A pirate group?" Mused Tali. "Batarians?"
But the Captain shook his head. "The sensors would have recognized batarians or pirates. Even then, the Task Force was ordered to investigate only; whatever was out there, must have destroyed our ships before they could disengage."
Tali didn't know much about naval warfare, but even she seemed to recognize the problem with that. "Did they send in the Heavy Fleet?"
"No. The contact vanished while we waited for our Frigates to return. They never even contacted us."
"Either they were destroyed too fast to contact you, or they were jammed," said Shepard. "Either way, it sounds like trouble."
"Yes, the circumstances of your arrival could have been better. Still, I appreciate it that you are able to stand by Tali's side today. As Commander of the Normandy, you are responsible for the lives aboard it. That entitles you to respect, among our people." The Captain paused. "May you stand between your crew and harm as you lead them through the empty quarters of the stars."
Jane didn't know exactly what that meant, but given how the soldiers around her nodded and relaxed their stance, it was likely meant encouraging. "Thank you. Tali's helped me every step of the way. I'll be glad to return the favor."
"That is good; as her Captain, your voice carries weight."
"You are a Captain too. Can you at least tell me what they are charging Tali with?"
The Captain audibly sighed, then clasped his hands behind his back. "Tali, they are charging you with bringing active geth parts into the Fleet as part of a secret project."
Ah.
"That's insane!" Tali cried out. "I never brought active geth onboard, I only sent parts and pieces!"
"But you sent geth material?" Asked Jane. "Tali…"
"Y-Yes…my father was working on a project, he needed materials!" Explained Tali. "If I sent back something that was only damaged, not permanently inactive…no, no. I checked everything, I was careful!"
"Technically I'm under orders to place Tali'Zorah under arrest pending her hearing. So, Tali…you're confined to this ship until the trial is over."
The thought that Tali would be placed under some sort of arrest did cross Jane's mind, but she was grateful that Tali would be spared the humiliation of actual confinement.
Tali nodded. "Thank you, Captain."
"Preparations got underway as soon as you arrived," replied the Captain. "The hearing is being held in the garden plaza. If you're quick about it, you can still find Admiral Shala'Raan. She has requested to speak with you. Good luck."
With that, Captain Kar'Danna left. Tali and Shepard exchanged a look.
"Well then," said Shepard. "After you."
~0~
Unidentified planet
Another group of aliens marched by. Aliens he never saw before, carrying weapons completely foreign in construction. Their cheerful banter indicated that they felt completely at ease in this dirty, urban environment.
The city's surface was marred by roads, houses and skyscrapers, but for alien buildings on an alien world, they seemed oddly rundown. There was a curious absence of humans and law enforcement, but no shortage of armed aliens interacting with questionable substances.
Alan-003 wondered if he had been inserted in some manner of slums. He hated slums; every mission that saw ONI placing him in shantytowns and favelas resulted in needless and often cruel civilian casualties.
What was worse was that he had no mission to speak of. He had an AI of unimaginable power stuck in his head and the moment he went against her orders, she would seize control of his MJOLNIR again.
Too many risks, too many uncertainties.
As the last alien passed by – amphibian in nature, small and delicate - the Spartan burst from his cover. He snaked an armored forearm around the creature's neck, then clasped his gauntlet over its mouth before it could scream. In one gesture, he wrenched the alien's vertebrae apart in a manner that nature never intended.
The alien went limp in his arms and the Spartan concealed himself again, with none the wiser.
I see your capacity for violence is still intact. Do not forget your objective.
Alan could only roll his eyes at the AIs words. For now, the best option was to simply play along. Every scrap of information he gathered here would be useful for the UNSC. These aliens were one example
In the distance, shouts and screams indicated that yet another armed conflict was about to break out.
Their weapons were another example. They did not seem to fire chemically-propelled rounds like UNSC weapons did or directed energy blasts like most Covenant weapons did. Instead, they fired micro-sized projectiles that travelled at extreme speeds.
As the Spartan rushed towards the field of battle, another pair of aliens came running around the corner.
His training kicked in. He took two steps forwards, putting himself in the middle of the two aliens. He then reached out and grabbed both of them by their scalps – blue tentacles solid. Cartilage? Bone? – and smashed their heads together with enough force to crack their skulls open.
The two aliens slumped to the ground, purple blood oozing onto the concrete. The resemblance to Elite blood was uncanny, but their physiology was too humanoid for them to be related to the Covenant.
As he navigated the shoddy buildings and unwashed streets, the stench of cooked flesh flooded his filters. He raised the alien rifle to his shoulder and pressed on, determined to find the Forerunner AI her terminal.
It didn't take long for him to find the source of the smell. Two aliens stood in the center of what appeared to be a town square, wielding large and bulky flamethrowers. The building they were facing was on fire, with combatants who tried to escape the burning death trap quickly gunned down by well-placed gunmen.
Correction. Not enemy combatants. Unarmed civilians.
The Spartan had to admit that the tactical placement was sound; flush out an entrenched enemy and gun them down before they could find new cover. A tactic he had employed to great success against the Covenant.
But why use this tactic against unarmed people? Had he stumbled upon a civil war? A gang conflict?
He made sure his helmet cam recorded the conflict either way. The UNSC needed to know about this; the galaxy wasn't done with them it.
The entity within his thoughts kept silent as he made his way through the urban territory. He encountered several more scout parties. Two of them he had to evade, another one he had to eliminate with close-quarters combat, not wanting to alarm the other groups with gunfire.
Surprisingly enough, he encountered more and more hostiles in the city block, all of them on high alert. At one occasion, the Spartan even encountered a floating drone the size of a football, which seemed to be composed from interlocking holographic plates.
The glowing drone stopped a few feet away from him. He halted, not sure if it had seen him –
An arc of lightning burst from the drone and struck him in his thoracic plate. His shields stopped the discharge before it could harm him, though, and the Spartan immediately opened fire on the drone. The projectiles tore into the shimmering orb and shredded it, but the damage had already been. He could hear shouts coming from his left, as well as his six. He had to move.
All enemy groups seemed to circulate around a large mansion in the center of what had to be the alien equivalent of a town square. A large collection of them had gathered at the front entrance, carrying crates and large pieces of equipment.
Whatever business they were setting up here couldn't be good. If they were allowed to dig in, they would be that much harder to kick out. That, he knew from experience.
The Spartan sized the battlefield up, locked onto the first object that seemed like it could be turned into a makeshift grenade and fired a sustained burst at it.
He was rewarded with a flash and a massive explosion that tore through the aliens' ranks. As all hell burst loose, 003 went to work. He pivoted when a squad moved up his left flank and fired off a burst. The bullets caught the lead alien in its head, snapping it back and spraying its comrades with blue blood and bits of brain.
One of the female aliens thrust her arm towards him and released some form of electrical explosion from her hand. A flash of blue light surged towards him and the Spartan dropped into a crouch, narrowly dodging the projectile.
It kept going and crashed into the wall behind him, blowing away a sizeable chunk of stone.
A whiff of smoke caught his attention. A projectile snapped into focus.
Superhuman reflexes threw his shoulder back. The rocket slid past him, almost close enough to scrape past his shields.
He traced the projectile back to an alien carrying a heavy weapon and put it down with a sustained burst of fire.
The world returned to its normal speed and he grasped his pilfered gun tighter. These aliens had shields! They weren't nearly as potent as energy shielding, but it still protected them from single headshots.
Covenant? Forerunner?
Neither seemed logical. Where was he? What was the AI looking for?
A rifle shot ghosted past his helmet and he spun around yet again. These aliens had superior numbers, but they seemed to lack in training. They allowed him to take superior positions with good cover, then failed to outflank him.
On the occasions they attempted to engage him in close quarters combat they proved to be just as vulnerable as normal humans, if not more so.
The Spartan just slotted the last SOB when a different contact stepped into view. It was large, with a broad, almost reptilian face. It was heavily armored and carried massive weapon, which turned out to be a shotgun of sorts when the lumbering creature spotted him and immediately emptied his magazine at him.
Large clusters of white-hot metal filled the air, blowing large holes into whatever the weapon hit. When its weapon stopped firing, the alien proceeded to throw it to the ground and charge at his foe.
Alan frowned. He expected such tactics from berserking Brutes, or rookie Elites.
The Spartan darted forwards faster than the alien could anticipate. He stepped in close and threw the creature over his hip, slamming it into the ground with enough force to rupture its internal organs.
Surprisingly, that wasn't enough to kill it. The alien spat a glob of orange blood to the ground and crawled back to its feet.
Alan was impressed; that move would have killed any human. It did not bode well that these aliens were as resistant as Elites and Brutes were.
Still, dispatching enemies that would not die easy was a Spartan's profession, and 003 moved to counter.
The creature threw a jab at his face. The Spartan dodged to the right, then lashed out with a lightning-fast strike of his own. He shattered the creature's elbow, then followed up with two straight jabs to its head, pulping its face and cracking its skull.
Groaning, the alien staggered backwards. Its arms came up to defend itself –
- and the Spartan spun behind its back, plunging his combat knife deep into its throat and ripping it open in one fluid movement.
The creature uttered a horrible gurgle and gripped at its throat, pressing its thick fingers against the gaping slit, trying to stem the pulses of orange blood.
Just to be sure, Alan scooped up a nearby rifle and shot it in the head. The alien groaned and toppled.
This time, it stayed down.
I see you managed to survive. You are not totally useless. These connections will have to suffice.
The Spartan decided to take that as a compliment and relaxed his stance somewhat, keeping an eye on his motion tracker.
All at once, the right wrists of the fallen aliens lit up with an orange hue, holographic lights appearing from armor, fabric and, in one case, bare skin. Were they connected to the alien network?
A heartbeat later, that orange light exploded into a massive burst of red, so bright that the Spartan's HUD had to polarize to protect his eyes. He instinctively stepped away from the burning equipment. If there was one thing he learnt in the sixteen years since ONI drafted him into the Spartan Operator section, it was that unknown equipment should be avoided at all costs.
A million lifetimes…hundreds of centuries…where are they?
Gradually, the AIs voice grew louder in the back of the Spartan's mind, to the point that the feedback trickling across his Neural Implant became too painful to ignore.
Where are they?
The red glow of the corpses faded. Their devices exploded all at once, showering the town square with multi-colored gore.
As the fire and heat of the explosions washed over the corpses, engulfing them in flames, the Forerunner cried out in anger.
A galaxy filled with primitives! Humanity on the rise, the Mantle in danger! You were meant to be the Protector of the ecumene, how could you allow this?
Whatever she discovered, it roused in the AI a frenzied fury the likes of which Alan had never seen before. The feedback that washed through his Neural Interface was more akin to madness than anger. For the first time in years, he felt genuine fear.
Then, like someone flicked a switch, her fury dissipated.
Even the Domain is gone...deeper still I must go.
The Spartan took notice of the melancholy that laced her voice, but refrained from commenting. Her opinion of mankind seemed to be worse than that of the Covenant.
A new contact on his motion tracker shook him from his thoughts. Apparently, he had hostiles closing in from all directions.
Some form of gunship soared overhead, circling around with a wide berth. Whatever branch of military these aliens were, they had to be on to him.
I was wondering when the locals would respond. If you manage to survive the coming minutes, I will find a way off-world. Someone out there knows where my creators went.
Great, the Spartan thought. Another gunship joined the hunt and the first of the response arrived on scene. Raising his rifle again, he opened fire.
Through it all, the AI spoke. Not to him, he felt, but to everyone. The people on this world, the people connected to the alien network, they were all the same to her.
In the end, though you all persevere…
~0~
Cortana beheld the mass of nanomachines take form. Under her guidance, they came together in a coherent, humanoid shape.
She smiled. The melancholy within her gave way for hope. Hope…and something far more toxic.
~0~
…and argue…
~0~
The Admirals took their positions now. Tali knew that Shala'Raan and Han'Gerrel were there and wasn't surprised to see Zaal'Koris as well. She met him a few times before, but never managed to take a liking to him. The fourth Admiral she never met before; Daro'Xen, an oddity among the gathered Admirals. Tali's father never liked her to begin with and she doubted the Admiral would do much to change his perception today.
Once everyone had taken their place, Shala'Raan stood and spread her arms, silencing the chattering crowd. Tali saw Veetor and Kal'Reegar gesture to her – a token of good fate – but that did nothing to soothe her nerves.
The moment the crowd fell silent, the Admiral spoke. "This Conclave is brought to order. The accused, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, has come with her Captain to defend herself against the charge of treason."
~0~
…and scheme…
~0~
In an office that did not exist, on a world that had not yet been charted, one of the most powerful individuals in the galaxy took a moment of her valuable time to enjoy the power granted to her by one of the rare individuals deemed as powerful as she was.
In her hand she held a datapad. It contained an audio file that was recorded on a derelict vessel, discovered by a clandestinely-inserted research team.
She played the audio file and a voice rang forth, echoing strangely through the empty halls of the derelict vessel.
"This is UNSC AI Serial Number CTN0452-9. If are hearing this, you must have reactivated the power. That means you have about five minutes to get out of this vessel before the reactors self-destruct. If you happen to be Covenant, allow me to translate this to your dialect. Blarg blarg blarg…dead."
The Matriarch's lips parted in a smile.
~0~
…you will always revert to the one thing you know best. You will bleed your secrets to me. Nothing shall keep me from finding him.
~0~
Valhallan Threshold / Raheel-Leyya System / Quarian Migrant Fleet/ Alarei
"Clear," Garrus reported. The rest of the team quietly entered the airlock, weapons raised and ready. They walked through the airlock hallway. Tali tried to ignore the sudden leap of her heart when the pressure equalized. The resulting hissing had been way too loud for her liking…
"We should hurry," replied Shepard. "The geth know we're here."
Tali readied her shotgun – a heavy, black UNSC rifle that could unleash a blast of fifteen super-dense pellets at incredible speeds – and immediately wished she had taken more ammunition with her. The eight-round box magazine that fed the weapon seemed woefully insufficient for the coming conflict. Jacob swore to her that the weapon would make up for the lack of ammo with sheer destructive power though. In the cramped interior of the Alarei, superior firepower would reign supreme,
Shepard took point and stalked towards the far door. She too was decked out in UNSC gear, as was Garrus. This mission was too important to fail; taking back the Alarei was the only way to save her father.
And maybe it would appease the Admiralty Board as well.
The door opened, revealing two geth standing at the far corner. Shepard, being Shepard, immediately opened fire and hit them both in their heads
The projectiles slammed through the geth's outer shells and exploded inside, reducing everything above their necks to a fine, white mist.
Tali had been promised messy headshots by Garrus and she was not disappointed.
"Clear," said Shepard.
Almost on cue, the doors on the opposite end of the room opened and more geth rushed inside. Twin strikes of thunder signaled that Garrus opened fire as well and two of the troopers were virtually thrown back into the hallway as the massive anti-material rounds turned their fragile insides into outsides.
Shepard thrust her hand forwards and caught the other two troopers in a Biotic field, throwing them against the wall with enough force to dent it.
"Hunter!" Shouted Shepard.
Tali ducked and a shotgun blast tore into the wall behind her. She directed an Overload app at the general direction of the Hunter and was immediately rewarded when its shields flickered and died, revealing the geth.
She immediately took the geth in her sounds and pulled the trigger. The weapon kicked against her as she put two rounds – shells Tali, shells – into the white robot's midsection, which literally blew it apart. The spray of metal ensured that their squad walked over a pile of white viscera on their way to the next hallway, and Tali grunted as she kicked aside the upper portion of the Hunter.
Garrus placed a hand on her shoulder. "Makes you feel like you're wearing the Chief's boots, doesn't it?"
Behind her mask, Tali faked a smile. "It feels like he is with us even now."
It was, of course, far from it. Assaulting a captured ship knowing that she might stumble upon her father's body made her feel lonelier than she felt in ages.
"Tali?" Asked Shepard. She knelt down next to the crumpled form of a geth trooper. "Come take a look at this."
Tali stopped over and bent down. What she saw, confirmed what she had been fearing throughout the entire trial. "I-It looks mismatched. Jury-rigged…it must have made itself out of whatever parts it could find," she said.
"Explains why its shields were so crappy," replied Shepard. "Come on; we've got a long way to go."
As they pushed deeper into the bowels of the ship, more of the patchwork geth emerged from their hiding spots and attacked them. But their numbers were small, their thought processes sluggish. Between the devastating UNSC gear and a lack of real coordination on the geth's part, Tali reached the labs within half an hour.
"This is where my father worked," Tali muttered when she saw one of the storage units she had sent father's way. It was taken apart, the components carefully spread across the table. "Do you see that salvaged repair drone? I found that on Haelstrom."
"Haelstrom?" Garrus asked, sounding surprised. "Weren't you under siege on Haelstrom? How did you salvage gear during all that?"
Her lips curved upwards into a little smile. "Quarians learn to salvage whatever we can, whenever we can, at the same age humans learn how to read. This suit has more pockets than you would think."
"Hmmm...that explains a lot, actually. You never seemed to run out of omni-gel and grenades after I found you on the Citadel."
Keelah, those were simpler times…"Hundreds of the ships in our fleet are salvaged like that. Either purchased for next to nothing, or found dead in space…"
Shepard wandered around, making sure the pieces of geth wouldn't come to live and attack them. "How did you differentiate between scrap and equipment for your father? You told me he was…strict."
Grimacing at the understatement that was "strict", Tali replied, "It had to be intact. Something that could still be turned on, you know? It had to…my people should easily analyze it and incorporate it into our own technology." She raised the shotgun for emphasis. "Like this. Even if it were, say, broken in half, we could still use it to advance our own weapons."
"Which explains why these geth are still able to function," said Shepard.
Tali sighed. "I checked and double-checked everything I sent here. I passed up great finds because they could be dangerous, or prone to reactivation."
"I wasn't saying you weren't careful.'
Tali considered those words. "I don't know what's worse. Did I actually get sloppy and send something dangerous…or did my father do all this?"
The Commander approached her and gave her a nudge. "We'll figure it out."
But Tali wasn't sure she would like the answer.
The Alarei was quiet when they reached the mess hall, but it didn't stay that way. The moment the three of them stepped through the doors, the geth struck. The doors around the mess hall opened at the same time, revealing a whole mess of geth units, including several Hunters.
A gas tank detonated behind Garrus, who swore and slammed into cover when his shields disappeared.
Tali quickly typed a command on her omni-tool. With experienced hands, she directed a combat drone to attack from the left flank and managed a temporary hack on one of the geth troopers on the right one.
The Commander emptied half her clip into the optics of a Hunter, blowing out its shields and taking off its head. Then, she created a Singularity into the center of the room. The Biotic sphere drew in several geth troopers, crushing them against each other effortlessly.
Tali directed her hacked unit to charge its brethren, who were forced to gun it down.
Garrus fired his sniper four times in quick succession. Each time he pulled the trigger, he smeared one of the jury-rigged geth against the wall. Using those projectiles against infantry seemed overindulgent, but it looked so satisfying.
Finally, Shepard slammed her leg against the floor, sending a cascade of Biotic energy in all directions. Tables and pieces of metal went flying, the final Hunter found his its cloak had been disabled and the resulting gunfire tore it to pieces.
"We clear?" Shouted Garrus.
Tali eyed the mess hall, ignoring the quarian bodies that lay sprawled on the floor. Please be safe.
"Clear," said Shepard. "Tali? Is your father…?"
She tactfully trailed off.
"No," said Tali. "Not here."
Eventually, they reached the data collection hub of the ship. There were no geth to be found there. Instead, Tali found the rest of the crew. They had been slaughtered by the incursion. The marines first. The civilians and crew next. Finally, the scientists.
But her father wasn't there.
He's alive, Tali kept telling herself. He has to be!
She approached the nearest terminal and went to work. Most of the data was corrupted, but some of the files had been saved.
"I'll need some time to access this terminal," she said.
"Garrus, keep an eye on our six," ordered Shepard.
"Got it!"
She worked carefully and methodically, making sure she wouldn't corrupt more of the files. Eventually, after a few minutes passed, she found what she was looking for.
"They were performing experiments on the geth," she said. "Looking for ways to overcome their programming…"
"I don't like the sound of 'experiments'," said the Commander.
"They're just AIs. They can't feel…"Tali angrily muttered back. Her thoughts went to the strange, symbiotic relation that the Master Chief and Cortana had. "The geth can't,"she then added. She didn't if she did that to placate Shepard, or chase away her own guilt.
"What sort of experiments did your father run, then?"
"I…suspected he ran weapon tests," Tali said, a sense of unease creeping up on her.
The Commander shifted her weight from her left leg to the right. "Again, I don't like the sound of that. Testing weapons on sentient subjects?"
"Parts!" Exclaimed Tali. "I sent father parts! Even if he assembled them…geth fry their memory cores when they die, remember?"
"You managed to isolate memory files before the geth fried their core to get data on Saren. Is it possible your father and his team managed something else? That they isolated more than just files?" Pointed out Garrus.
Tali sighed in exasperation, "It's not possible. He can't have!"
"These heretics seem real enough to me," said Shepard.
Shaking her head, Tali said, "You don't understand. Any research that could give us an advantage is important! This sort of research could save us!"
The Commander looked down at one of the dead quarians. "They don't look saved to me.
Tali opened her mouth respond, then closed it again. All of a sudden, she felt extremely aware of all the blood and death around her.
"Sometimes, thinking in extremes sends you off into the deep end. Then we get things like Cerberus, or Saren. Look at these people, Tali. What benefit did they get from this research?"
Tali bowed her head. She couldn't bring herself to look at the victims surrounding her.
The Commander sighed and looked around. "Could anything here clear your name?"
Tali checked her omni-tool again. "This looks like raw data to me. Effects of different hacking attempts…I don't understand everything."
"What do you understand?"
Tali checked again. "Oh…oh, Keelah, I think they were deliberately reactivating the geth!"
"How?" Shepard calmly asked.
Frustration coursed through her. "I don't know! If this is true, father was doing something terrible!"
Suddenly, Jane's uneasiness at the assumption of prisoners being experimented on seemed that much more realistic.
"What was all this, father?" Sighed Tali. "You promised you'd build me a house on the homeworld…was this going to bring us home?"
The ship, empty and dead, offered her no answers.
"We should keep moving," Jane quietly said. "Where is the geth's network located? We need to shut that down."
Tali searched the console for a few moments. "It seems there is a central hub not far from here. It's likely the main lab. That is where father was working.'
"Gotcha," said Garrus. "Sounds like our next objective."
It wasn't his call, not technically, but the Commander didn't comment on it. Deeper into the ship they went, where the layout of the decks gradually shifted into dark, dusty corridors, where geth units lurked at every junction. The lifts were disabled, which meant they had to take the stairs.
On the last corridor that would lead them to the main lab, they ran into an ambush.
"Hostiles!" Yelled Garrus, before discharging his sniper rifle and backing away.
The geth emerged from their cover in the room below theirs, firing upwards as two troopers got into position with rocket launchers.
Where did they get those? Tali thought in a daze as she ducked for cover. The door at the far end opened, revealing even more geth units.
"They've got reinforcements! Suppress them!" Ordered Shepard.
Tali dropped a drone in the middle of the doorway, distracting the geth long enough for Shepard to eliminate the first rocket-wielding trooper with a sustained burst of SMG fire. Tali fired off an Overload at the other one, allowing Garrus to take its head off.
Shepard erected a glowing barrier that surrounded her like tongues of reddish-blue fire. She disappeared in a wash of Biotics, reappearing in the midst of the troopers. The moment she landed she drove her boot down and sent a blast of dark energy along her leg and into the floor. Shields sparked and died, bodies went flying and all of a sudden, the surviving geth found themselves deprived of cover.
One-handed, the Commander ejected the thermal clip of her Tempest and dropped down behind cover while Tali blasted the remaining geth with the shotgun. With every discharge it bucked against her sore shoulder, but the blasts ripped her enemies to pieces with such efficiency that she was glad that she was not fighting organics.
"Damn, that thing's got some buck!" Garrus yelled, slapping a fresh magazine with new projectiles into place.
"How do you reload that easily?" grumbled Tali, fumbling with her own magazine. "It's so boxy! I hate it!"
"You'll get used to it. The pros? Far better than the cons."
Tali was about to reply when she saw that there was a door to the left of the hallway. Blood trails led inside. "Shepard?"
"I see it," replied the Commander. "Stay sharp."
The squad carefully entered the hallway, then took up position at the door. On Shepard's signal, Tali opened the door and Garrus barged inside, a UNSC assault rifle at the ready.
"Uh…it's…clear."
Tali entered the room as well, wondering why Garrus sounded so subdued. Once inside, she saw that there were more quarian bodies lying on the ground. The floor was covered with blood.
It was a storage room of some sorts, she realized. They must have fled inside to hide from the geth, only for the machines to force their way in nonetheless…
One of the researchers still had an omni-tool active. It was recording.
Tali bend over and gently stopped the recording. Next, she rewound the footage and played what had to be the woman's dying message.
She sounded terrified, panting and gasping with fear. Others around her were crying and shouting. No doubt because of the noise in the background; the geth were in the process of cutting through the door. "We've locked down navigation. Weapons are offline. Our mistake won't endanger the Fleet. They're burning through the door. I don't have much time. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry! Jona, if you hear this, be strong for daddy! Mommy loves you very much!"
She barely finished her sentence before the geth broke through. What followed was screaming, gunfire and…silence. Hours and hours of recorded silence.
Garrus knelt down next to her and deactivated the omni-tool. "Come on," he said, a bare tremor audible in his flanged voice. "You don't want to be here…come."
Tali stood and surveyed the room. The relief that washed over when she realized that her father wasn't there, was short-lived. If not here, where was he?
What have you done?
Garrus placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tali?"
Tali took a shuddering breath. She had to focus. One problem at a time. "I'm…I'm fine."
There was only one door left. Shepard led the way, then took her position at the side. "Garrus, get ready. Tali, on your mark."
Tali learned what that meant back on Feros. It was a human saying that amounted to "when you are ready". Keelah, she hoped she was. "Got it." She counted the beats of her heart, then leveled her shotgun. "Mark!"
She opened the door and whirled around the corner, opening fire on the first shape she saw. Shepard rushed in the moment she opened the door, easily withstanding the hail of gunfire that the geth directed her way. Garrus fired three times in rapid succession and the blanket of fire paused for a moment.
A geth Prime stood in the center of the room, a large hole punched through its chest by Garrus' sniper fire. Miraculously, it was still standing, directing the dozen other units around it.
Tali slid behind as desk while Shepard covered her with a combination of SMG fire and a powerful Singularity, which sucked in and crushed a pair of geth Hunters that ventured too close. How she even spotted the pair was beyond Tali.
Garrus shouted something. Tali glanced over her shoulder and saw that the side of the door was sprayed with blood. Blue, turian blood.
"Tali, cover Garrus!" Shouted Shepard. She drew her pistol, emptied the clip into the Prime's head and flickered out of the way before a Hunter could outflank her.
Tali peeked over the table and projected her combat drone in the center of the room. She hoped it would draw at least some of the fire away from Garrus. With a full magazine at her disposal, she started mowing down the smaller geth.
A burst of fire tore through the sturdy desk she was squatting behind and she cried out in surprise, ducking even lower.
"I'm fine!" Yelled Garrus. He crouched down near the door, clutching his chest with bloodied hands. "Commander, you're blocking my shots!"
Shepard must have relocated again, as Garrus laid down a roaring stream of gunfire the next moment. He caught the geth Prime straight in its damaged chest. The rounds perforated its armor, shredding its delicate electronics and coating the wall behind it with a macabre painting of white.
Growling, Tali hacked into a geth Hunter as it staggered, forcing it to act as a bullet sponge. "Take that, you bosh'tet!"
Finally, Shepard struck the remaining geth units from the left flank. She pounded them flat with a mixture of gunfire and Biotic strikes, then stopped all of a sudden.
Tali frowned. "Are we clear?" She asked.
Shepard cursed under her breath.
"Commander?"
She glanced at Tali. Her helmet hid her expression, but Tali read everything she needed to know from her body language.
There was another room in the back of the lab. It had been forced partway open.
"No!" Tali shouted, rushing past the Commander and barging inside. "You can't, you promised-!"
He always favored a crimson environment suit above the other, more practical ones. It made him easy to spot in a crowd. Tali once thought that it would attempts on his life easier, but she had discarded that thought almost the same minute. Her father was too tough. Nothing could kill him.
His body lay against the wall. His chest was marred with holes. A single one had struck him in his visor, penetrating it. The webbed pattern left by the impact obscured his face.
"Father!" Tali knelt next to him, hastily running her omni-tool over his body, praying that he had been too stubborn to die.
She found no life signs.
Tali shook her head, refusing to believe that. She grabbed his arm and shook him. "No no no! You always had a plan! Masked life signs, an onboard medical stasis program – you! You wouldn't!"
Jane approached her from behind, lightly taking her hand in hers. "Tali…"
Tali jerked her hand free. "No! They're wrong! You wouldn't just die like this! You wouldn't just leave me with all this! You can't… "
"Hey. Hey, come here," Shepard gently took her shoulder and pulled her away. She had removed her helmet. "It's okay…" She wrapped her arms around Tali's waist and rubbed her back.
Tali didn't resist. She couldn't bite back her tears. For the first time in two years, she broke down. She clutched at Jane and buried her face in her chest, sobbing uncontrollably.
Shepard stayed quiet. What could she say? Nothing. There was nothing anyone could say that would change the truth.
Eventually, Tali let her arms hang, and Jane let her go. She would give anything to remove her helmet and rub her eyes with her bare hands. She wanted to see her father's body with her own eyes, feel the warmth of Jane's embrace with her own skin.
But even that was denied.
That bitter moment of reflection weighed down on her sorrow, and she sighed. "Is Garrus alright?"
Jane offered her a little smile. "Garrus is always alright. He's the king of being alright. Tali, what would your father have done, knowing that this would happen? You said he planned for everything."
Tali glanced at her father again. Het gut clenched painfully, but she knelt down next to him nonetheless, linking up with his omni-tool.
When was the last time he held her in his arms? The last time she saw his face?
The omni-tool contained a single message. Encryption was easy, something Tali could crack in her dreams.
A tiny hologram sprang to life. Her father clutched his side, trying to stem the blood that flowed from his wound. He leant down against the wall, right where they found his actual body. "Tali. If you are listening to this, then I am dead. The geth have gone active. I don't have much time. Their server hub is just past the door. I tried to get inside to shut it down, but they locked me out and…I can't get to it in time." He groaned in pain, applying more pressure to his wound. "Tali…it is the only server hub they can connect to onboard the entire ship. You'll need to destroy it. Make sure Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen see the data. They must – "
The recording ended. Tali prepared herself for the abrupt ending throughout the entire message, but the gunfire that cut her father off still sounded like it hit her as well as him.
"Thanks, dad," she whispered.
Jane placed her hand against her neck. She did that the first time they met, right after she slaughtered Saren's goons. "He knew you'd come for him. He knew. He did the best he could with what he had."
Tali placed her hand on Jane's. "I don't know what's worse…thinking he never cared, or knowing he did, but could only show it like this?" She shook her head and slowly stood.
"Does it matter?" Shepard then said. "I care. I'm here now. And we're ending this."
~0~
Here is what they have: one accusation of Tali having committed treason. Here is what we have: all the evidence in the galaxy that Tali's father committed treason.
Garrus had to admit, the odds weren't exactly in their favor. Tali might have purged all the data on the Alarei's database, but Shepard still recorded it all with her own omni-tool. All the evidence suggested that Vrael'Zora was a war criminal.
If that knowledge came to light, the Admiralty Board would make sure that the data Tali purged was only the beginning. They would every last piece of evidence that her father ever existed, striking his memory from existence.
Tali's name would be cleared, but it would leave her emotionally and spiritually destroyed.
No matter how Garrus looked at this problem, he was looking at defeat.
What did the Commander always tell him? Spin the battlefield around, look at it differently?
That meant looking at what the enemy would do. That meant looking into the Admiralty Board's intensions and goals.
Damn quarians…Garrus had no idea what those bastards really wanted!
Don't destroy what my father was.
You're looking at exile, Tali.
There had to be a third option. But if there was, Garrus didn't see it.
By the time their shuttle boarded the Rayya, the public trial was already on the ship's intercom. It was too important to keep private. As their squad rushed through the halls, Garrus could hear Zaal'Koris calling for condemnation.
Spirits, they can't do that!
They double-timed it to the plaza. Garrus bit back his discomfort; he swore that his injuries were minor and Shepard had bought that. If she knew the round had perforated…she'd kick his scaly behind straight to Chakwas.
Nobody wanted to face Chakwas after lying about their injuries.
Finally, as the last quarian dove out of the way, they reached the plaza. Shepard all but kicked the door open right as the crowd was shouting their support for the judges.
Admiral Shala'Raan was in the middle of a sentence when she heard the intrusion. She looked up and saw the newcomers.
"Sorry we're late," Tali said, her voice oozing sarcasm.
"You didn't waste much time declaring us dead," snapped Jane. She gestured at the exit. "Go get your ship."
Admiral Gerrel shot a sideways glance at Zaal'Koris. "We apologize, Shepard. Your success in taking back the Alarei is…very unexpected."
Garrus held his tongue. How he would like to show these bastards what he thought about their snide comments…
"Funny. People said the same when he faced down Saren and his army of geth," replied Shepard. She crossed her arms. "Or did you forget about that?"
Zaal'Koris leapt upright in his seat, but Shala'Raan beat him to it. "Your victory is very welcome. Were there survivors?"
The Commander shook her head.
Gerrel sighed. "Did you find anything on the Alarei that could clarify what happened there?"
Tensing up, Garrus glanced at his Commander. What would she do? He shouldn't doubt her, but…how could she spin this around?
She stepped forward.
"Please…Shepard…" Garrus heard Tali beg.
"Does Captain Shepard have any new evidence to submit to this hearing?" Asked Raan.
A scowl appeared on her face, but swiftly changed into a condescending smirk. "Hearing? Hah! This is no hearing! Tali's achievements in saving the galaxy are all what you need! Come Tali, we're leaving."
Garrus felt his blood freeze in his veins. The crowd went crazy, shouting and gasping, while Raan stood there gaping. "What?" She said with shock.
Admiral Koris stepped forward as well. "This is a formal proceeding!" He protested, pointing a finger at the Commander.
When Shepard whirled around and advanced on him like a hungry varren, Garrus knew what was going to happen. He held his breath and watched.
"That's crap and you know it! This is nothing but a sham! This trial isn't about Tali and it never was!" the Commander's anger was a sight to behold. Not for the first time, Garrus was glad to be standing somewhat behind her. "You don't give a damn about Tali, only about your own selfish agendas!"
"This has nothing to do with the geth – " Koris yelled, but Shepard didn't even let him finish before she tore into him. She pounded the table hard enough to rattle it.
"You want people to sympathize with the geth to forestall the war effort!"
Wasn't that table bolted to the ground?
"That is completely – " Sputtered Koris. Again, the Commander put a stop to that.
"And you want all the experiments covered up so you can throw your fleet at the geth!" She snarled at Gerrel.
"I…I…" Gerrel muttered, shaking his head.
"And Daro'Xen only wants to turn the geth into her slaves!" Shepard then yelled, earning herself an icy glare from the otherwise aloof Admiral.
Garrus snorted. They just made themselves another enemy.
"None of you have anything to say about Tali without using her for your own gain! Not one shred of evidence to back up your ridiculous claim!" Roared Shepard. "Tali helped save the entire fucking Council from the geth, during her Pilgrimage!"
"Hell yeah!" Shouted one of the quarians.
Garrus squinted at him. Was that Kal'Reegar?
"Geth that would have destroyed this entire Fleet under Saren's rule! She showed the galaxy what quarian values are! What does it say about you, that you want to exile her?" Asked Shepard.
The quarian standing next to Kal'Reegar raised his head and shouted, "Tali saved me from Cerberus! If you want to exile her, you might as well exile me!"
"I'm done with your political bullshit," Shepard continued with an expression of disgust, as if she didn't even hear the crowd going nuts behind her. From where Garrus stood, he didn't see any authority that went higher than hers. "Do whatever you want. I won't abandon her."
The judges stared at the human in shock while the crowd started yelling for Tali's innocence.
"Are…the Admirals prepared to render judgement?" Raan calmly asked, her voice silencing the shouts of the people.
Daro'Xen sighed with annoyance and transmitted her vote on her omni-tool. So did Han'Gerrel.
Zaal'Koris stared down for the longest time. He briefly raised his head to meet Tali's gaze, then sent his vote in as well.
For several nerve-wracking seconds, nobody moved a muscle. Then…
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya, in light of your history of service, we do not find sufficient evidence to convict you. You are cleared of all charges."
The witnesses broke out into applause, while Tali nearly sagged through her knees.
"Captain Shepard vas Normandy. We thank you for taking the time to represent one of our people," Shala'Raan eventually said. "Know that you are always welcome in the Migrant Fleet."
"Thank you, Admiral. Tali is mine just as much as she is yours."
Damn right! Garrus proudly thought.
"This hearing is concluded. Go in peace, Tali'Zorah. Keelah se'lai."
"Keelah se'lai," chanted the crowd.
Tali flung herself in Shepard's arms.
~0~
Aboard Normandy SR-2
8 hours later
Tali had a vague recollection of the party the crewmembers held when word spread. Something about Garrus and dancing…Shepard and not dancing…Grunt and flammable liquid…
Oh Keelah, Garrus dancing…she prayed that she had not been too drunk to record that.
When morning came, Tali got up early to grab breakfast and head to the gym. According to Zaeed, who dropped by last evening after the party, she was starting to develop some bad habits in close combat. Before he trailed off on a story about beheading a berserking krogan, he told her that she was too reliant on her shields. She needed to improve her fighting abilities.
It was easier said than done, especially for a veteran mercenary like Zaeed, but Tali didn't want to be a liability, especially since she was the least combat-oriented member of the crew next to Kasumi.
When she found out that the Normandy SR-2 had been outfitted with a gym, she felt surprised. Who would have thought that Cerberus would build a better Normandy than the humans and turians originally could?
But no quarian would question an opportunity when it presented itself. After verifying that there weren't any new messages regarding the hearing, Tali made her way to the gym. It was positioned somewhere in the fourth deck, close to the hangar bay.
Which, in hindsight, made it only logical that the Master Chief was present in the gym as well. He practiced his hand-to-hand skills against what looked like holographic representations of various aliens. Tali saw krogan, turians and even asari, but she also saw aliens she never laid eyes on before. Large, physically imposing creatures that were even taller than the Chief was. They were clad in shiny, elegant armor, more colorful than even the krogan suits. Their heads were angular and their jaws – four of them! – were lined with rows of sharp teeth.
Covenant?
For a moment, Tali dropped her things and just stared. He was so fast! He didn't seem to hesitate at all as he struck, ducked and weaved amidst the holographic enemies. Each hologram faded away the instant he scored a "lethal" blow, with exception of those unknown aliens, who took several hits before disappearing. Even when they did, there wasn't even a delay between the impact and their simulated "death".
If it hadn't been for the strange light illuminating them from below, all these holograms were indistinguishable from the real deal.
Tali started feeling giddy. Was holographic technology this advanced in Citadel space? She never realized the ship could generate such realistic imitations of past enemies and render them without any sort of delay whatsoever!
That was when she noticed the small, blue hologram watching the bout. She stood about a foot tall, projecting herself from one of EDI's holographic pads. She watched the fighting Spartan with a little smile on her face, no doubt pleased by the ongoing violence.
Of course.
Just like that, her excitement vanished. Naturally, Cortana was the one who generated and controlled the holograms. That meant she also decided when the targets went "down".
A few moments after Tali entered the room, Cortana disappeared. The Chief lowered his arms and the holograms disappeared. Then, he turned and looked at her.
Oh Keelah.
She was there when Jane found him on New Canton. She was there when they had to commit him to surgery, but she couldn't help but feel awed of him. He would have belonged to the greatest of ancestors had he been a quarian.
If it wasn't for that AI…
Silence consumed the gym as the Master Chief and Tali looked at each other. Tali realized that she was being impolite and cleared her throat. "Err…how is your injury? Is your throat getting better?"
He remained silent as he stared at her. Tali could see her own reflection in the soldier's faceplate. It felt all too disconcerting and she quickly tried to find a different spot on his helmet to focus on. "O-of course, you're not supposed to be talking too much…sorry."
He nodded slightly.
Another moment of silence passed by. Tali started to feel awkward, like she didn't belong here. Had she insulted him by being so vocal against the AI? She didn't want him to hate her. "I guess I'll start working out too."
He nodded again and Tali quickly darted to one of the machines. She recognized some of them from her time on her pilgrimage. There were free weights, a sparring ring and punching bags. The machines were meant to train and tone all sorts of muscles groups, but she didn't really know to use them.
Tali chose one that looked simple and sat down on the leather seat. A bar hung above her head, curved slightly downwards, with the tips painted black. It was suspended by weights, all of which had a hole in the middle. A pin was set somewhere in the middle.
She shrugged and grabbed a hold of the bar, then tried to pull it down.
It didn't budge.
Cursing under her voice, Tali readjusted her grip and pulled again. The muscles in her arms protested and she grunted with exertion, but the bar didn't budge.
She glanced at the Master Chief. He started his workout again, simulating his close quarters combat with those strange alien targets. Again, turians and asari went down with single strikes – logical, since kinetic barriers didn't protect against melee strikes – but those foreign aliens took several hits before going down. That meant were about as durable as krogan, didn't it?
The idea that he had been fighting enemies that were on par with krogan during his war didn't do all that much to surprise Tali. His weapons reflected as much. No, what surprised her more was that the Chief seemed to spend every waking second dwelling on that war. He used weapons dating back to the war, he likened his experiences on the Normandy to it and he even based his social interactions on it. He hadn't even shown up last night!
From what I understand, the war damaged him, in ways I can't even begin to understand…
Jane was right. Even though nothing resembling the Covenant existed in this part of the galaxy, he still thought he needed to fight them.
When she realized that, Tali felt a modicum of sadness, as well as guilt. She imagined what life would have been for her without Shepard. Her mother was gone, her father was gone, she had no friends…just an AI.
How would she have turned out, had she lived such a life?
"Are those the aliens you fought?" Tali carefully asked.
She fully expected the AI to answer for him. When the Chief finished the last holographic enemy and held his position for a few lingering seconds, it was indeed a female voice emanating from his helmet.
"One of the Covenant's species, yes," said Cortana.
When the AI spoke, the Chief relaxed his combat stance. It was a stark contrast to Tali, who felt a shiver run down her spine. Still, she kept her mouth shut. After the things her father did, it had become difficult to see all AIs as monsters and all quarians as victims.
"They were the main warrior class, the most skilled soldiers the Covenant had to offer."
"They look like turians…at least somewhat…" Tali quietly said. She still had to process that she was talking to an AI. At least it sounded like an organic.
"I can assure you Tali, the Elites are not like the turians. They would make Saren seem like a fluffy little bunny in comparison."
Tali wasn't sure what the AI meant, but she wouldn't second-guess it. After all, even if half the things she heard about the Covenant were true… "They were that bad?"
The Chief's helmet lowered slightly, but it was enough for Tali to realize that she must have asked something stupid.
"I'll try to make it simple. To our humanity, the Elites were basically what the geth were to the quarians at the end of the Morning War. Except the geth never dabbled in things such as torture or feeding capture civilians to geth units of a lower caste," Cortana replied, her tone bitter. "Though maybe comparing them to the Reapers fighting the Protheans would be more accurate. Forget the first example."
Tali glared at the Master Chief through his visor, as if she could lay eyes on the Artificial Intelligence inhabiting his…head? Mind? How did their "relation" work, anyway? "So when you look at other aliens…"
"I was created to protect humans against those who would harm them, be they aliens, robots or eldritch abominations," replied the AI.
Eld…eldr…what now? "I don't get it," muttered Tali.
"That's alright, we just –"
The Master Chief suddenly moved, cutting the AI off. He plucked a rifle magazine from one of the magnetic strips of his suit and tossed it against the wall.
The wall gave a cry of pain. Kasumi appeared out of nowhere, her Tactical Cloak disengaging.
"Wha - Kasumi?!" Yelped Tali. How long had the thief been standing there?
"Ouchies," moaned Kasumi, rubbing her forehead underneath her hood. "What was that for?"
Tali placed her hands on her hips. "You shouldn't be spying on people!"
"In my defense…your conversation was a bit too interesting for me."
"Didn't your parents tell you not to sneak up on augmented soldiers with experience in killing cloaked enemies?" Said Cortana.
"They could turn invisible?" Tali asked, horrified at the implications.
"Uhh…yeah. Story for another time."
"Dear me, the last thing I want is to get manhandled by a soldier with big, strong arms," Kasumi said with mock concern. Then, her "shocked" expression turned into a wide grin. "Crew's having breakfast together. Turns out quarians got all kinds of stuff if you're willing to trade. You two should come too!"
Tali didn't hesitate for a moment. She looked around to see if she forgot any of her belongings, then moved towards the elevator. Halfway through leaving, she remembered something important,
"Master Chief? Are you not coming?" She asked.
The Chief glared at her from behind his visor. This time, however, she wouldn't let that intimidate her. She had vowed to keep moving forward. "We're as prepared as can be," she continued. "There's room at the table for you…both of you."
He stared at her for another while. Then, the holograms disappeared.
"Alright," he rasped.
~0~
AN: As a general rule, when things seem bad there's always some way they can get worse.
Additionally, you can visit my profile page to see my progress on story updates, both for this story as my other ones.
