Ok all, Enjoy


"So, the Migrant fleet huh?" Joker said as he sat up in his chair and typed away on his consoles. The ship was about to come out of FTL into some system on the very edge of the galaxy. He spoke to Tali who stood next to him with her arms crossed and a nervous look on her face, at least he thought she had a nervous look. Not that he could see past the purple visor around her face, he would just assume she had one based on the way her body fidgeted. So, it was up to the fun and loving Joker to take her mind of things.

"Yes" was all Tali said back as she started to pace slightly.

"Hey, is it really fifty thousand ships or is that just a saying?" he asked back wondering if a fleet really could work with that many of them, he pitied the one who has to worry about the logistics of it all.

Thankfully the question got her to stop pacing as she looked down at him "well... technically it's forty-nine thousand nine hundred and eighty-seven" she admitted with a small shrug "it's still the biggest fleet in the galaxy but..." she trailed off trying to find the right.

"Just cooler to say fifty, right?" he said back with a small teasing smirk.

"No... it's just..." she stuttered trying to find a way to prove him wrong "shut up" she said before turning back to the front windows.

"Hahahahaha" he laughed to himself before a warning came up on the monitor in front of him "here's we go" he said as he prepared for the entrance to the system.

"All hands, prepare for FTL exit" EDI's voice came from the ship's com.

"We here?" another voice came up behind them, he didn't need to turn in order to know who it was. The gruff voice was easily recognizable to him.

"We're about to be" he answered as Garrus came up behind him and stood opposite to Tali "In three, two, one" he pressed a handful of keys on the terminal and the windows gave a view away from blue clouds of FTL and was replaced by the bright orange light of a star "Ok. We're in system. EDI, what can you see?" he asked the A.I.

Her holographic avatar body appeared next to him and spoke "radar scans have made out thirty-seven thousand different contacts and climbing" she said.

Joker turned his head and looked at the Quarian "welcome home" he said "beginning our approach"

"Anyone else think it's weird that Clark isn't here?" Ashely's voice came from behind him, he was surprised as he didn't hear another pair steps come up.

"That is a good point" Garrus said with crossed arms "you'd think he'd want to see it for himself"

"Not that there's much to see" Joker mused, sure it will be impressive to see but as of the moment, they were on the other side of the system from the fleet so they weren't even dots in the distance yet "what were you up too anyway?" he asked.

"Reporting to Hackett" she answered "letting him know about the Reaper and what to expect onboard"

"How did he take it?" Garrus found himself asking and everyone else wanting to know the answer.

The woman tilted her head to the side before opening her mouth "err..." she tried to answer but failed for a moment "really... it was a little bit of good and bad. He's got the entire fifth fleet heading for the coordinates I gave him, he's also told that as soon as they confirm how old it is. All of the Alliance is going to into full battle readiness" she announced to them all.

Garrus nodded at the information, it was what was expected and it was a good thing in the long run "that's going to turn a lot of eyes to them" he said calmly.

"Which is the plan" she confirmed "the council will ask why they're doing it and when they're told it's the Reapers..." she trailed off.

"They'll deny it" Tali answered for him but then she looked down at the ground, like she was thinking about something and didn't like it "but... won't this raise the tension between the humans and the rest of us if they do that?" she asked the ground.

"No doubt" Ashely was quick to say "but that's part of the plan, the council won't like what the Alliance is doing. Especially if they start to ignore the farixen and build as many ships as possible"

"They'll do that?" Garrus asked first before the others. It wasn't hard to understand his surprise, the treaty of farixen was a law that existed in the Citadel that controls the number of ships any race can have at any one time. Needless to say that to many it was simply a method of control as it allowed the Turrians to have the most dreadnoughts and maintain their position as the galaxy's military might.

"If they confirm the Reapers are coming?" Ashley asked back with a raised eyebrow "they'll do it in a heartbeat" she confirmed "at the very least, the Alliance ignoring the treaty will rise tensions sure, but it might give everyone else a reason to increase their own military spending"

She finished speaking and almost everyone stopped to think about the plan, it was definitely manipulative but there was no denying it would work. None of the council races want the others to overtake them, if one started ignoring the rules the get stronger, all the others would as well.

"It's a shame we can't see the fleet yet" Joker said as he piloted the ship closer to all the signatures "wait, Clark could see this right?" he asked.

"He should be able to" Ashley said with a nod "though he wouldn't need to come down here to, he could do it from the cabin if he wanted" she added.

"Good point" Garrus said as he placed his hands on his hips "but still you'd think that he'd want to be here in person to see it without looking through a bunch of other stuff. Where is he anyway?" he asked to no one in particular.

"EDI?" Joker asked as he looked to the avatar.

"The captain is currently in the conference room with executive Lawson, Doctor Solus and Legion" the A.I informed them.

"I still can't believe that they're talking with... it" Tali said with clenched fists.

"You mean Legion?" Garrus asked with a tilted head.

The Quarian rounded on the taller Turian "I refuse to call it that" she scowled.

"Agreed" Ashely said with crossed arms as she stood next to Tali "I hate the idea that we have one of those things on board, too much bad blood"

"It's not all bad" Joker commented "guys know Kenneth?" he asked calmly as the ship made its way past the nearby star and if you looked closely you could barely make out the many different dots of the fleet.

"The engineer?" Ashley asked "I've met him but it's not like we hang out or anything"

"well, he's been hanging out with Leigo...Geth" he quickly corrected with Tali's face rounded on him "they've been hanging out in the A.I core" he informed them.

"What have they been doing?" Garrus asked interested "talking engines or something?" he could at the very least understand why someone who works in an engine would want to talk about them with an A.I.

Though the smile on Jokers face told him otherwise "No, that's the best part" another voice joined the group and Joker jumped in his chair when Kasumi de-cloaked herself right next to him "They've been playing video games" she announced.

He suspected that it was he dumbfounded face that came onto all if their faces that stopped them from being annoyed at the thief for sneaking up on them "... what?" Ashley asked, her face full of confusion.

"Yeah, apparently that's one of the ways the Geth studied us organics. They play are games" he informed them, getting back to talking before Kasumi could.

"...You're joking right?" was all Garrus could say.

"No, he's not" Kasumi added with a giggle "and it's so much fun playing with him" she added not at all hiding the fact she seems to have played a game with the Geth herself "it's such a good team player, even sacrificed himself for me once. Lot of fun"

Before Tali could have an aneurysm at the information, EDI interrupted them "we are receiving a communications request from the fleet" she said to them.


Clark leaned forward with both hands leaning forwards on the table as he looked at the image in front of him. It was a drawing, it wasn't the best he would admit, but it would be enough to get the message across. Since he couldn't record anything of his time in the Reaper, he needed to get creative in order to tell the others of what he saw "why would a Reaper corpse have another robotic body inside of it?" Miranda asked as she crossed her arms, looking at the image closer.

"Could be any number of reasons" Mordin started as he reached up and stroked his chin "added defence? Reaper body we know of simple shell? True Reaper hidden deeper within?"

"Incorrect" Legion mussed aloud with a small shake of his head "we were able to detect multiple points of contact that could only account for an A.I core, spread throughout the Old Machines body" as he spoke the small hologram in the middle of the of the table lit up with an image of the damaged body, this one had multiple points highlighted around.

"Wait" Miranda shook her head in denial, as if she knew she must have heard that right "multiple A.I cores?" she asked.

"Correct" it confirmed.

She frowned in confusion and shook her head slightly, that was when she turned to face Clark "there's no way there's more than one A.I in a Reaper right?" she asked.

Clark gave his head a small tilt before he straightened himself up "I don't want to rule it out, it's unusual" he added with a nod "but this is a race of A.I that's been around for millions of years, they could have evolved in a thousand different ways" he added with a shrug "from what I can see, the best way to go about this would be get a much closer look of a living Reaper" he added.

"Getting to such a proximity to the Old Machine poses a great danger" Legion said back quickly before the others could.

"Agreed, seems like a needless risk" Mordin found himself agreeing "must be other courses one could take"

"Captain" EDI's voice came through the ship's com "we are approaching the Migrant fleet; you're requested on the bridge" she said.

"I'm on my way" he said aloud before he looked to Mordin and Legion "I would like it if you two could start to go over the reasons as to why and two-kilometre large A.I would need a three-hundred-meter body inside of it" he instructed before he turned to Miranda and gave her a small smirk. He reached into his pants and pulled out a vile, not just any though. It was clear to all present that the vile very far more advanced than a piece of glass, this one seemed mostly metal and was sealed heavily. It looked like it could take a rocket and hold strong. There was a small window in the middle of it and through that, there was a drop of red liquid "let's see how smart you really are" he said with a small smirk before he left the room. Leaving Miranda to stare at the vile with a determined look on her face.


Clark walked down the length of the CIC and towards the cockpit, he had to quickly sprint into the armoury in order to grab a set of sealed up armour. Not for him of course, but the Quarins did need it as even though he couldn't get sick, his body and clothing still had trace amounts of germs on them that would not do good things for the people on board the ships "After time adrift among open stars" he heard Tali speak as he moved forward, the could notice that a lot of the other crew members where there as well, no doubt wanting to see the Migrant fleet for themselves "along tides of light and through the shoals of dust, I will return to where I began" she finished.

"Well... that was nice" Joker said as he turned his head to look at her, though still following the flight path that had been given.

"Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah" a male voice said over the radio.

"We'd like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our ship is not clean" she added with a noticeable pace in her step.

"Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle 17" the voice said and when looking out of the window, Clark could see that they were approaching what must have been the live ships that he's heard so much about, the largest of the Migrant fleet ships and where most of the species civilians would spend their time. When they got closer a docking clamp extended itself from the ship and Joker was slowing down as they approached it.

He took a final step forward until he was next to Tali "ready?" he asked, his voice synthesizing slightly as he came through the helmet's speakers.

She turned to look at him before taking a deep breath "...yes" she said with a small nod.

Garrus seeing her worry placed a hand on her shoulder "it's going to be fine" he told her "Worse comes to worse, I'm sure Clark could just bribe them with something" he added.

Clark suppressed a frown behind his helmet, he really didn't like the idea of doing that and even then, he found a question coming from the back of his head. Would he do that? The only reason he wanted Tali onboard his ship was because he needed a way into the Migrant fleet, he now has that. Does he really need to help Tali now? "Let's go" he said before making his way to airlock.

The others gave Tali some final words of encouragement before she turned to follow him. The two entered the airlock and waited for the decontamination process started to work, when the doors opened, they moved down the small corridor that was made up from the clamp that held them in place. They walked side by side and turned the final corner, when another door opened, they were met with the inside of the live ship and a squad of soldiers were waiting for them.

The squad moved forward towards the two and they stopped a few feet away. There was a lot of them, that much was clear. Easily a good twenty and they were carrying a lot of heavy weapons, he was about to ask why there were so many but he got his answer when the leader of them stepped forward "... Mr Kent?" he started as he looked right at Clark, who gave a nod in return "Tali'zorah made us aware of who her captain was, it's a shame we couldn't meet under more... pleasant circumstances" he added.

He had to admit, at least this guy was trying to be civil about everything. Clark himself placed a hand on his hip and looked over the man's shoulder to all the armed guards that were standing behind him "you don't say" he simply said "are you are..."

"I'm captain Kar'Danna. This ship you are currently on board his under my charge" he informed him as he looked over his shoulder to all the soldiers behind him "sorry about this, I told them it would be pointless, but the admiralty board are... nervous about you being here" he explained.

He opened his mouth to retort but stopped himself with a small shrug "fair enough" he said "either way, when Tali told me about this trial we came as quickly as we could"

"It's good that you did. There were already people pressing to try her in absentia" he informed the two.

Upon hearing it, Tali recoiled as if struck "what? Why? They never move that quickly!"

"They're charging you with bringing active Geth into the fleet as part of a secret project" the second he finished talking, Tali started to move forward with her fists clenched. Clark himself reached forward and grabbed her arm in order to prevent her from punching the guy.

"That's insane!" she yelled "I never brought active Geth aboard. I only sent parts and pieces!" she said as Clark pulled her back a step which caused her to calm down slightly.

"Why?" Clark asked her as he turned to look at her.

When hearing the question, she turned to look at him and took a breath before answering "my father was working on a project. He needed to materials" she looked to the ground and started to speak as if talking to herself "if I sent back something that was only damaged, not permanently inactive... no. No, I was careful. Everything was checked" she added with shake of the head and turned back to the captain.

"Technically. I'm under order to place Tali'Zorah under arrest pending the hearing" Kar explained to the two of them "so, Tali... you're confined to this ship until this trial is over" he added in a softer tone.

While clearly not happy about it, she nodded back "thank you captain" she said.

He turned back to Clark "preparations got underway as soon as you arrived. The hearing's being held in the in the garden plaza. Good luck" he finished before moving the to the side allowing them to pass, the rest of the soldiers doing the same though it was clear they were still on edge about him being here. The two walked down the halls of the ship and thankfully the further in they went, the number of guards and soldiers seemed to get less and less frequent. Though as they did move, his ears couldn't help but pick up a number of different people speaking amongst themselves as they passed.

"I can't believe they're charging Tali'Zorah with such a thing"

"If Tali'Zorah can't even get a Quarian captain to stand for her, she's as good as convicted"

He didn't want to listen to all of this so, he blocked them out. A part of him did start to wonder if every Quarian spoke of each other with their full names or not. As the two opened another door and got closer inside, they could see a lot more of what he assumed were civilians or at the very least unarmed people and past them he could see some plant life, so it was a clear guess that this was the plaza he was told to go too.

Just in front of the small entrance too it though was two woman who were talking to each other. Though upon seeing them, the one on the right nodded to the other who walked away before she turned to look at both him and Tali "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. I am glad you came. I could delay them only so long" she said looking at Tali but when Clark looked closer he could see that her eyes were souly on him.

Tali however opened her arms and moved forward "auntie Raan!" she said as she hugged the older woman "Clark vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala'Rann vas Tonbay. She's a friend of my fathers" Tali introduced the two before turning back on Raan "wait. Raan, you called me 'vas Normandy'"

Raan let out a sigh "I'm afraid I did, Tali. The admiralty board moved to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema" Tali slowly started to step back as the news was being told to her and Clark couldn't help but feel sympathetic. He may not know everything about the Quarian people or their culture but he knew enough to know that that was a low blow.

"So, she's being treated as guilty before the trail even starts" he crossed his arms and there was no hiding the frown on his face, the Cerebrus suit he was wearing had a full translucent face place that allowed all to see his face "is this how everyone treated in your fleet?" he asked the Admiral.

Raan did have the curtesy to look angry at the accusation but didn't necessarily argue against it "No, Mr Kent, it is not. But the charges are related to the Geth and when anything involves them, the situation becomes much more... potent" she explained.

"You're an Admiral" Clark said as he lowered his arms "will you be on the board acting as a judge?" he asked calmly.

She shook her head "I'm afraid not. My history with Tali and her father forced me to recuse myself"

"I imagine Farther had to do the same" Tali mused herself.

However, the skip in Raans heartbeat caused Clark to get an uneasy feeling "You'll see inside, Tali. For my part, I moderate and ensure that the rules of protocol are followed, but I have no vote in the judgment"

"Well then" Clark said as he stepped forward, moving past Raan as he did so and into the plaza. Once he stepped in he could immediately a good few dozen different people all standing around and talking to each other, though when they saw him, all conversation stopped and they all starred "Let's get started then!" his voice carried around the large room a little louder, so all could hear him "I don't have a lot of time, what with a large A.I army making its way to the galaxy to destroy all organic life and all that!"

With the not-so-subtle hint about the Reapers, the people around the hall all began to talk again to each other, this time much louder and about what he just said. Though there were groups who started to make their way to raised dais "does Tali have a defence counsellor, someone who speaker for her side?" he asked Raan as the two made their way to him.

"Reapers..." Raan mussed before she shook her head "Indeed she does... Captain Kent. She is part of your crew, now, recognized by Quarian law. And remember, an accused is always represented by his or her ship's captain"

Tali looked at him with nervous eyes and she opened her mouth to speak but Clark beat her too it "so I'd be defending her?" he asked and when Raan nodded back at him, he smirked "even better, don't worry Tali. This won't take long"

"You..." she started "you would actually speak in my defence?" she asked, a small but shocked tone in her voice.

"Sure, it's much quicker if I do it. Don't worry Tali, you're not getting exiled today" without even waiting for a thank you from her. He started to move forward towards the centre of the plaza, there was a small table bolted into the ground, where he assumed he and Tali would stand and as they did so. The seats around them started to fill quickly and the raised dais.

"Thankfully the legal rules here a much simpler than the rest of the galaxy" she whispered to him as they people started to quiet down "we don't have legal tricks or political loopholes for us to worry about. We just present the truth as best you can. It will have to be enough" giving her a final nod, Clark looked to the front of them, and he could clearly see two males and one female in front of them on the dais and behind them slightly higher was Raan as she moved above them and started to speak.

"This conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept is alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Kellah Se'lai" Raan began and as soon as she finished speaking a 'Kellah Se'lai' was echoed throughout the plaza "The accused, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason" she started.

Before she could get any further however, the male in the middle of the three spoke up loudly "Objection!" he shouted as he looked right at Clark "Captain Kent has no business at a hearing involving such sensitive military matter!" he nodded at him.

A small smirk came onto Clark's face as he heard that "then you should not have declared Tali crew of the Normandy, Admiral Koris. By right as Tali's captain, Kent must stay" Raan was quick to refute.

The man in the middle 'Koris' looked back at Raan before shaking his head and turning back forward "Objection withdrawn" he said calmly. That little outburst may have been taken back but it did a good job of telling Clark who the biggest problem among the three was.

"Clark Kent vas Normandy" Raan started as she addressed Clark "your crew member Tali'Zorah stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her?" she asked.

Taking his cue, he stepped forward and placed both his hands on the small table in front of them "of course I will" he started "though I must say I do not see the point, I was under to belief that Tali was one of the main reasons the late commander Shepard was able to put a stop to Seran and his Geth army. Yet here she is, accused of... what exactly? Aiding the Geth, seems rather counterproductive, don't you think?" he asked them all. A small wave a mummers went through the hall, some good and some bad.

The man on the right gave a nod "well said Kent. None of us should forget Tali's contributions to the fleet" he turned to his fellow judges as he said that last part, clearly sending them a message.

"Tali" Raan continued "you are accused of bringing active Geth to the Migrant fleet. What say you?" she asked.

"Nothing" Clark interrupted before Tali could "I can't help but wonder why no specifics are being involved in these statements. You say she brought active Geth to the fleet, correct?" he asked, not moving from his spot.

"Yes, Captain Kent" Raan confirmed.

"Ok, so what does that mean exactly?" he asked them and they looked to each other puzzled by the statement.

"What are you talking about?" Koris said back with crossed arms "what else could it mean?" he added.

This time Clark did let out a sigh and he dramatically through his head back for a moment "It could mean anything, did she smuggle completely operational Geth units with weapons into the fleet, was it some drones that turned themselves on or was it a few programs that managed to survive in the damaged hardware long enough to be off loaded into a ships system. Give me details" he said to them. The mummering from around the plaza got louder for a moment before Raan raised her hand to silence them.

"Admiral Xen?" Raan said to the sole female judge who looked at Clark before answering.

"Then in the name of clarification, captain. Tali is being accused of bringing in small parts of the Geth that were capable of spontaneously reactivating" she said calmly to the two.

Before Clark could ask any more questions about it, Tali spoke up for the first time "But I would never send active Geth to the fleet! Everything I sent was disabled and harmless" she started rubbing her hands together in a clearly nervous fashion and Clark couldn't help but feel sorry for her, she was clearly scared.

"How many units?" Clark asked quickly.

"It would be enough to overcome the soldiers on one of our own ships" Koris started "as the Geth have seized the lab ship where Tali's father was working in!" Koris said as he pointed accusingly at her.

The chatter around the room when straight back up and didn't stop for a good few minutes, but another thought entered Clark's mind as he heard that little piece of info. It either made the quarian people seem downright idiotic or it made them to be much more cutthroat when it came to politics "what are you talking about? What happened?" Tali asked as she moved forward.

The man on the right took a step forward "as far as we can tell, Tali, the Geth have killed everyone on the Alarei... your father included"

"WHAT!" she shouted before she crossed one arm over her stomach and another under chin, hunching over like she was about to fall to the ground and cry.

Clark however had his mouth open in shock, horror and just plain disappointment. Without any warning he placed his hand underneath he table he and Tali where in front of ripped it from the ground, taking the bolts and metal frames with it before slamming it into a wall on the far side of the plaza. There were a couple of screams as people ducked to the floor even though it was at least ten feet from hitting the nearest person. All the admirals looked on in shock but where able to remain at their positions "Are you out of your minds!" he shouted at them.

There was a large congregation of footsteps coming in from behind him and he could see that a line of troops was moving to circle both him and Tali "what the fuck is wrong with you people?" he said to the Admiralty board "I was under the impression that the Quarian people valued family and what that meant. She even called you 'auntie Raan'" he added pointing at Raan "and you just think 'oh it's fine that her father's dead, we'll use that for evidence'" he looked at Koris, with an angry glare "what the hell happened on the ship her father was working on?" he asked them

None of the Admirals spoke for a moment, each of them looking to each other for what to do next. Clearly, they hadn't had expected him to lose his cool the way he just did. Being honest with himself he's surprised he lost it himself. The Admiral on the right spoke up with a slight hitch in his voice, still clearly afraid of him but most likely knowing that it would be up to him and the others to bring back some order "We don't know" he admitted "we've yet to launch an attack to take the ship back from the..." he stopped talking when Clark raised his hand signalling him to stop.

"Let me see if I understand this correctly" Clark began as he started to pace back and forth, going behind Tali as he did so who was only just recovering from the news that her father many very well be dead "You receive word that one of your experimental lab ships that I assume requested the Geth components to work on is attack by Geth, correct?" he asked them.

The woman, Xen who only just recovered from the surprise display of power from Clark nodded "yes that is, the ship was working on different methods of dealing with the Geth in an attempt to equip ourselves against them in the future" she informed.

He nodded back at her "now, these Geth components are brought in by a team who is led by the daughter of an Admiral who not only has a reputation of being a proud patriot of the Migrant fleet but also a woman who on a pilgrimage" he stressed that last part "was able to be a large part of halting an entire Geth fleet from taking over the citadel and not to mention really doing a good job of improving the Quarians reputation galaxy wide" he stopped pacing and looked at the admiral "and you all think it's her fault that the Geth took over the ship and not the fault of oh... I don't know, Maybe the ones who were EXPERIMENTING ON THEM!" he shouted again and his eyes adopted a red hue that made everyone tense.

He turned around and placed his hands on his hips, lowering his head and letting out a long sigh, he doesn't think he's been this disappointed in a government for a while "and this is my favourite part, instead of dealing with it immediately, you think 'nah, we'll leave the ship in the Geths hands while we wait for this trial. I mean it's not like the entire trail is about the Geth being active in the fleet or anything like that'" he started to laugh a little which caught everyone off guard "it's completely ridicules" he said to himself more than anyone else "that's not even getting into the fact said ship probably has all the evidence you could possibly need in order to find out what happened!"

It was completely quite for a moment as he finished speaking, while there were no mummers around the room like the last time, people clearly still on edge after his little outburst but based on the way they all glanced at each other, including the soldiers who all looked at him "You know, I dared hope that because you where admirals you would be smarter than the politicians. But no, you're all as stupid as each other. All of you" he said pointing to the leaders "don't move, I'm going to see this ship and find out what evidence I can find on it" he turned halfway to and faced Tali "wait here Tali, I'll be back soon. Spend sometimes with your aunt" he turned his head to look at Raan "if she cares about you that is"

With that said he turned and made his way out of the plaza the soldiers that surrounded him while not being told to move or allow him to leave, quickly stepped out of the way when he got close enough they quickly stepped out of the way. As he walked down the corridor he came from, he caught sight of the captain of the ship who no doubt heard everything but didn't go in himself, Clark didn't know why but assumed that it was for a good reason, like it would be pointless for him to "Captain Kar'Danna" he started as the man looked at him "would you be willing to give me the coordinates for the ship the Geth took. The Alarei I believe"

"Sure thing" Danna said as the two turned on their Omni-tools "take it things aren't going well" he started as he looked through his files to get him the info.

"Not for them, no" he confirmed "I can't help but think that they're just using this trail as an excuse for something" he spoke calmly but there was a note of anger in his voice.

"Their end games no doubt" the captain said back as he transferred the data to him "there you go" he said as both lowered their arms.

"thanks" Clark said with a nod "do you know what their end games are?" he asked the man calmly.

"Everyone does. Koris wants to go to the Geth in peace and build some real relations with them. Garrel wants to wipe them out completely, Xen wants to hack them and bring them back under our direct control and Raan is stuck in the middle trying to keep things civil" he told him with a shrug and not a care, despite it being very useful information Clark could use.

"You don't say" he said to himself for then anyone else "thanks. Oh, is there an air lock I can use to get outside?" he asked.

"Outside?" Danna said surprised before looked at him and nodded "right, forgot who you were for a minute then. Yeah, just through that door and to the left"

"thanks" Clark said before he headed in the direction.


Clark closed the first door of the airlock behind him before he brought up his Omni-Tool and called the Normandy "Hey Clark, how's it going?" Garrus's voice came in through the com.

"Not great" he said quickly "hey listen, I'm going to need you to come on board" he let out a sad sigh and looked to the ground "Tali just found out that her father may very well be dead and she not taking it well. She could use some friends right now" he informed them.

"... I'm on my way" he responded before he quickly hung up before Clark could.

At least that should help Tali a little bit since he doubted Raan's condolences would mean much to her after what she did, he scowled again, he still couldn't believe they would do something like that. He could see whatever reason they would have, every possible excuse went through his head but it changed nothing. Everyone had the right to know when their parent was gone. He shook his head, letting it go for now as he moved to the final door. Pushing a button next to it the small screen above all the buttons and keys gave a dozen different warnings that he didn't pay attention to and pressed the button again. The door opened with a hiss and a rattle as he didn't wait for the pressurization to take place.

He swung the door open and stepped out onto the small ledge, standing calmly in the vacuum of space, he brought up his Omni-tool and looked at the coordinates he was given. Committing them to memory he lowered his arm and stepped off the edge, he floated there for a moment before flying forward. placing both his hands in front of him, he made his way through the thousands of different ships before he found the one he wanted, it only took him a few minutes.

To be fair, he may not have needed to ask for help as while all the ships looked the same, the formation was easy to see and there was one part of it that stood out. There was a regular ship like all the others, only this one was surrounded on all sides by other ships who had all their weapons trained on it.

He shook his head again 'did they just not want to risk their own soldiers or something?' he asked himself as he flew past the barricade of ships and moved towards the ship he was looking for, he landed next to an air lock but before he opened it he looked closer at the ship. It had a few dozen different Geth units on board and on the bridge he could see one Geth Prime. He lowered his head and let out a sigh as he saw that every Quarian on board was laying on the ground, dead.

"Shit" he said to himself as he reached for the door and forced it open, the entire ship went into alert and a red warning light started flashing. He entered the ship proper and kicked open the inner door of the air lock. The first thing he saw a lab of some type but he didn't have a moment to think about it before he was being fired at by Geth units, three of them but before their optics could register that he was moving, he was already standing over their shattered robotic bodies.

Though he didn't get a moment to look through some of ships computes before a door leading out of the room opened and more units started to make their way in. Led by a Geth hunter who had limited cloaking available to it. Not that it would make a difference to him, of course. He simply ran over towards them and ripped them apart, their weapons doing nothing to halt him or his progress.

Even though he could hear more Geth making their way towards him, he knew he had time so Clark made his way over towards one of the computers that looked like it was still working, moving over towards it, he pressed one of the keys and an audio log started to play "something's slowing down the systems. We're taking down the firewalls to rebalance load distribution" a male's voice started to play "Rael'Zorah ordered us to bypass standard safeties. Following security protocols will take too long" with log ended with that.

"Ok" he said to himself "one point the fault being Tali's dad" he said to himself before he turned away and made his way out of the room, going deeper into the ship. He moved into a corridor and saw a medical bay and he sighed as he saw what was inside. Opening the door he could see three different Quarians in there, two on beds with mass round wounds. Looks like the medic tried to help who she could before she was gunned down. Knowing that there was nothing to be done, all he did was moving forward and picked up the woman on the ground, picking her up he gently placed her on the final bed. It was all he could do.

He turned to leave and moved deeper, he only turned a corner before he saw another computer that looked like it was working, like before he moved forward and pressed a key, turning it on. He didn't need to do anything else before a video feed played from an angle that looked like it came from a camera, it looked like a man and woman from what he could see "Who's running this system diagnostic? I didn't authorize... oh, Keelah. How many Geth are networked?" she asked with a scared voice.

"All of them. Rael'Zorah..." the man started.

"Shut it down!" the woman shouted interrupting him "shut everything down! They're in the system!" then the video ended.

"Ok, that's two for it being the dad's fault" he said to himself. The door at the far end of the hall quickly opened up and another grouping of Geth made their way inside and came to him with their weapons raised. In the span two milliseconds and Clark was standing over their broken bodies. Moving forward he entered another lab, he only spent a few moments looking around and unfortunately, he couldn't see a terminal, computer or even a laptop that was in working order. In other words, nothing he could use.

Stepping out of the lab, further into the ship, he was met with a set of stairs going upwards. Though the second he reached the top he saw a set of creates that looked like it had some type of Quarian resting on it. Sure enough, this one did have something to play, pressing a couple of keys like he did before and a video showing a woman started to play "we 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 get this, be strong for daddy. Mommy loves you very much!" was all she could say before there was a blast coming from the side of her and she fell off screen as the sound of Geth rifles could be heard.

Once he heard that, he reached out and closed the computer and let out a sigh "pointless waste of life" he said to himself, quoting Solus as he did so. He then turned and moved further inwards. Unsurprisingly he found himself in another lab and more Geth waiting for him, as he moved to destroy the Geth units he couldn't help but notice that this lab was more torn up and there were a lot of robotic machinery about the place, he assumed that this was where the team worked on the Geth units. Though he still doesn't know how these guys would rebuild the units to the point where they could not only turn themselves on but be capable of taking over the ship.

Turning around, stepping over the broken bodies of the Geth he moved further in, nearing the bridge now. On the wall was what looked like a research terminal, hopefully that would be able to tell him what happened here. Walking over towards it, he started to go through the data. There was no audio logs or anything like that, just a couple of dates and reports about how their work was doing. From what he could see they were performing experiments on Geth systems, looking for new ways to overcome Geth resistance to reprogramming 'did Tali know what her father was doing I wonder' he thought to himself.

Closing the terminal, he moved back forward and started to get back on track, as he walked though he couldn't help but think that he may already have enough to clear Tali's name but this would place the blame on her father, would she be alright with that? Probably not, but better her father be decreased then her. He almost didn't notice the Geth firing at him, though that didn't stop him from killing them like he had the others.

Just before he left the third lab he found himself in, he stopped walking in front of the empty doorway as just beyond that was the body of a male Quarian who was lying on the ground, dead. He already knew who it was when he neared, his suit was much more decorated than the others he's seen and if that wasn't enough, all he had to do was look through the mask and he could see the similarity between him and Tali.

Kneeling down next to the man, he grabbed his wrist and looked at the Omni-tool. Since this was Tali's dad, he could at least check to see if there was anything he left that could be brought back to her or something of that nature at least. Thankfully, that was what he found. As he found the message in the tool, he brought it to his own before he stood up and activated it "Tali. If you are listening, then I am dead. The Geth have gone active. I don't have much time" a voice started to play "their main hub will be on the bridge. You'll need to destroy it to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links. Make sure Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen see the data. They must..." that was as far as it got before the sound a heavy door being forced open was heard and it cut off.

He stood still for a moment before moving onwards, so two of the admirals knew what was going on. Or at the very least, would be interested in it. Nothing said about Korris though, he really was outnumbered in his ways of wanting peace. That was a real shame, based on what he's heard from Legion, he's the most likely to get what he wants... he stopped mid step. Why the hell didn't he think of this earlier? When he gets back, he's going to need to bring Koris to Legion or vice versa. That might be all that needs to happen for the beginning process of peace to be achieved.

When he opened the door the bridge, he saw the three Geth and much like those before, they didn't even process him being there before they were destroyed. He was grateful that he listened to the recording that Tali's dad made as he knew that he would need to deal with the central terminal in order to stop any Geth that he missed or any programs that would be in the system. Before he did though, he started to look through that data so he could try and find out what happened. It didn't take more than a few seconds before another audio log was found, he didn't even think before he played it "Yes, the new shipment from your daughter will let us add two more Geth to the network" a voice sounded, male, that was easy to tell.

"we're nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the admiralty board, just to be safe" another said, this one was a woman.

"No" that was Tali's dad, he was easy to recognize "we're too close. I promised to build my daughter a house on the homeworld. I'm not going to sit and wait while the Politian's argue"

"Fucking idiot" Clark said out loud to himself.

"We'd have an easier time to it if Tali'Zorah could send back more working material" the male countered.

"Absolutely not. I don't want Tali exposed to any political blowback. Leave Tali out of this. Assemble new Geth with what we have. Bypass security protocols if need be" with that the log ended.

"You know, it's rare that I think people deserve what comes to them" he said aloud to himself "but you! You definitely do" with that he reached forward and pressed a couple of keys on the ships primary control hub, bypassing the warnings and security protocols he shut down everything. He took a moment as he stood in darkness, thinking about the best way to go about this. He really did want this guy to be punished for what he did, he just didn't know the way to go about it.

One could argue that Tali's no doubt going to be disappointed in him when she finds out the truth and he is dead along with his entire crew. He may be able to clear Tali's name with the other audio logs, yes it may not paint Tali's dad in a good light, but it would be better they would blame him then her. From what he's seen and heard, her dad would want the same as well.


Clark reached forward and closed the door behind him, waiting a few moments for everything to pressurize, he stepped forward quickly and opened the other door of the air lock. Upon opening it, he was met with the full squad of soldiers, all of which quickly aimed their weapons at him. Expect for Danna who stood at the back with his head in his hands, looking very much disappointed in the situation, he didn't know if it were the soldiers, what they were doing or what he was ordered to do but didn't because he knew how much of a terrible idea it was.

Clark let out a small sigh before he started moving forward, not even bothering to try and calm them down. Thankfully, just like before when he neared the line they quickly separated as they allowed him to pass. He was eighty percent sure that they were just there because he was ordered too.

Once again he entered the plaza to see many different people in conversation. The crowds of civilians seemed to have gotten bigger as time went on, as did the security, all the Admirals were standing on the pedestals talking to each other in hushed whispers. Not that it would work on him of course but he really didn't care about this, he knew why he was here. He needed to get that lot to listen to him about the Reapers so they could better prepare for them, fighting with the Geth would not help with that at all so at the moment it felt that he was in Koris's corner of the political stalemate.

But his eyes couldn't stop from landing on his crew mates, Tali was standing with a slight hunch, one arm placed across her stomach and the other resting on that and her hand just placed under her chin, holding her head up. She was talking to Garrus but also Ashely who came out with him as well. It was good to know she had good friends, though it didn't help that much, he knows and he guesses that Williams did as well, losing a parent wasn't something that just went away with friends talking to you.

But much like last time, when he stepped inside all conversation ceased. All heads turned to him but Clark just kept looking at Tali for a moment before stepping forward, making his decision. Upon seeing him move forward, the Admirals moved back to their old positions and all waited for him to speak "Tali's innocent of the crimes being charged against her" he spoke calmly as he listened to the shocked whispers around the room "The Alarei has been cleared of all Geth units and the data centre wiped clean" his eyes lowered slightly before he turned to look over his shoulder, towards Tali who was looking at him with Garrus and Ashely "there were no survivors" he said softly and Tali's last hope was gone.

She turned around and Garrus wrapped his arms around her while Ashely placed a hand on her shoulder. Turning back around her continued "as I went through the ship, I found numerus data logs and research reports that heavily indicated the only person at fault are the Geth as the proved more difficult to control then the team initially thought and they were overwhelmed" he reached up with his Omni-tool and sent those logs to the Admirals, though he did leave out the one that directly proved that it was the fathers fault. It was the least he could do for Tali.

Each of the Admirals took a moment to go through all the data and the logs, it was three minutes of intense silence and Clark could tell that people were starting to get fidgety, but he could tell that Tali didn't feel anything, no nervous or anything, just emotionally spent and no doubt dead on the inside. The sort of numbness that comes when loosing family, it'll be a couple of days of mourning before she starts to come around.

"Are the admirals prepared to render judgment?" Raan said loud enough for all to hear.

They were all quite for a moment before they moved, Xen was first as she lifted her arm and typed into her Omni-Tool. Garrel was next and finally Koris looked over to Tali before casting his own judgement.

Tali stayed where she was and Clark had no intention of moving her, it seemed Raan knew that as well based on the way she kept speaking as if she was still at the front next to him "Tali'Zorah, in light of the evidence provided and the accounting of your recent history. We do not find sufficient evidence to convict. You are hereby cleared of all charges" she didn't have even the smallest reaction to the news "Captain Kent, please accept these gifts in appreciation for you taking the time to represent one of our people" she continued to say as she lifted up her Omni-Tool and Clark got a ping on his own.

Money. They sent him some money.

He rolled his eyes slightly before he looked over his shoulder towards Tali "head back to the ship" he spoke before turning around to the admirals, none of which moved from their spot as it was clear he didn't either "if you appreciate me then do yourselves a favour and listen to what I'm about to tell you" the tone of his face made it clear that this would be something they want to listen too.


Right everyone, let's leave it there. Tali's been cleared and this time she doesn't even know about what really happened, as far as she's concerned her father didn't do anything wrong. Next chapter we'll finally see Gensis up close and in person which will be the point of the next chapter. Anyway, let me know what you all thought and I'll see you in the next chapter.

Next update: Project Atlas