Chapter Forty-Four: Double Strike Pt. IV
"Staying alive comes down to just hoping you don't fuck up as bad as the other guy."
UNSC Marine Corp Unofficial Handbook
DOS-Class Supercruiser Jubilance
Fleetmaster R'tas Vadum' heard the chime to his private quarters ring. Sitting at his bare desk, he tapped on his datapad to key the door. He stood as the Sangheili he had summoned entered into his sparse quarters.
"Major 'Takaam," R'tas acknowledged.
Still dressed in his sleek combat flightsuit, Major 'Takaam straightened to his full height and brought a closed fist to his chest in a salute at attention. "Fleetmaster, I answer your summons."
'Vadum did not give him permission to rest, letting him stay at attention. He spoke after several seconds of staring down at the Major. "Your squadron did well with the ground attack assignments on B-1274. I am sure that Ultra 'Harum is grateful for your quick and accurate close air support."
"Thank you, Fleetmaster," Major 'Takaam responded, after a brief pause. He hadn't known what to expect when 'Vadum had summoned him.
"Tell me Major, what is the Seraph designed for?" R'tas asked innocently.
"The Seraph is a vacuum and atmosphere rated multirole fighter/bomber designed to engage and destroy comparable enemy strike craft and vulnerable ground targets," the Major recited from memory, a holdover of his flight academy days.
"Ground, air, and space…" R'tas said. "Unfortunately, Major 'Jal and First Squadron did not fare as well as your pilots did."
Major 'Takaam bowed his head in respectful resignation. Major 'Jal and eight other Seraph pilots were now space dust above B-1274. "Indeed regrettable."
"The situation was untenable. The Reapers halved his squadron before we even knew they had arrived. Circumstances out of his control led to his death and others," R'tas said. He gazed hard into the Major's eyes. "Were the circumstances on the ground — out of your control — Major?"
The Fleetmaster had turned on the ice, sending a shiver down 'Takaam's spine. "Could you elaborate on your question, Fleetmaster?"
'Vadum nodded slowly, reaching to his datapad and giving it a few presses. Leaping out of the pad and into the air just above the desk were the holographic images of five Quarian interceptors. "Do you recognize these strike craft?"
The Major nodded.
"Can you answer me why an element from your squadron was not detailed to intercept and destroy these five surviving craft?" 'Vadum pressed.
The Major took two seconds to go over his options for responding in his head. None of them were very good. "We were inundated with ground support requests."
"Ah. I see. So inundated that you couldn't task four Seraphs to intercept? Even two would have been sufficient, given how the orbital engagement went before the Reapers appeared," R'tas accused.
"No, Fleetmaster," 'Takaam said. "I should not have let them slip my attention."
"No, you should not have," 'Vadum stated with force. "Because of your failure to act, those interceptors attacked the operation's Recon team and gravely wounded a Spartan."
The Fleetmaster could see the shock and surprise play through the Squadron Leader's face, four jaws agape.
"Yes," R'tas pressed, "A Spartan. A Demon. In another time, I might be giving you praise, but you understand that things are different, do you not?"
"I — I do —"
"You believe in Her mission, do you not? You understand why the Arbiter is taking us down this path we now walk?"
"Of cou — "
R'tas cut him off. "And you understand that now not only are these Spartans now our allies, but they represent some of the greatest weapons we have to fight against the Parasite?"
"Yes."
"You know that just one of them — the Master Chief — has killed more of the Flood than any other? Than even the Arbiter himself?"
"The Reapers were who almost killed us today, Fleetmaster."
"You are correct Major," R'tas allowed. "But to me the lines are blurred between the two. Both feed upon the living and the dead. Both seek to kill us. Both threaten the sanctity of Her plan."
'Vadum stepped in towards 'Takaam, meeting his eyes not a meter away. "Do you understand, Bratus 'Takaam, why we must be perfect? Why mistakes cannot be tolerated? This task that has been given to us will test us unlike ever before. The Humans, the Prophets, the Brutes, our own brethren — those fights will pale in comparison to the struggles we will have to endure. If you let your mind slip, even for a second, comrades will die."
The pilot nodded with solemn acknowledgement.
"If we were back home I would have you grounded and sent to flight control duties for such a careless tactical error," R'tas said, letting the threat hang in the air. "Since we find ourselves amongst these unfamiliar, Ancestors-cursed stars however… First Squadron lost its highest three ranking pilots. They need a new squadron leader. Take two pilots from the Second to reinforce First's numbers, and have your best take your place."
'Takaam Howe's his head deeply in appreciation. "I will not fail you again, Fleetmaster. On my Ancestor's honor."
"Mm. See that you don't. Dismissed."
Fleetmaster 'Vadum watched as the Major saluted him, which he returned. 'Takaam spun and strode quickly out of the room to comply with R'tas's transfer orders, lucky he got off relatively lightly. Throughout the fleet 'Vadum was also not known for being very lenient.
After a couple of seconds R'tas found a wall and pressed his back against it heavily, sighing deeply. He let his head float down until his remaining two jaws were resting on his chestplate, the muscles in his long neck stretching against the strain.
He was tired.
Not so much physically, mind you. He had gotten a good amount of sleep and rest during the two-day slipspace jump to B-1274.
His was a mental fatigue, brought on by days, weeks, months… years of constant conflict. Always another enemy, always another battle, always one more struggle to surmount.
R'tas had become War itself. He fed on war. He breathed its ionized carbon, acrid gunsmoke, ripe adrenaline, and stale fear. He tasted the metallic blood, he heard the shouts and screams of the living and the dying, he felt the warmth of a Plasma Rifle in his hands or an Energy Sword grasped in his fist.
What troubled R'tas was not the thought of combat. No, that was as much second-nature to him as walking. Rather, it was the thought of what would come after all of this fighting - and all of this dying - was finally over.
Would they ever make it back to their home galaxy? What would the Sangheili do? R'tas himself already knew and believed in Her plan, where the Sangheili would seek redemption from the true Reclaimers for the atrocities they had committed against them - but what of the Sangheili at home? Did they recieve Transmittance as well? Despite the Arbiter's best efforts, the Sangheili had been embroiled in civil war ever since the Great Schism and still up until the point when they had left those distant, familiar stars.
If there was to be peace after all of this was said and done… what was he supposed to do? Would he leave the military after decades of distinguished service? Go back to his family Keep on Sanghelios? Watch the children train and play from a weathered old chair?
It was a surreal thought, when not thirty minutes ago he was thinking that his path had come to its end as the Jubilance was being scored bow to stern by Reaper weapons fire.
He grimaced as he pushed off the wall and headed for his door, turning to stride down a long hallway empty of anyone except his solitary door guard.
The Jubilance was wounded. The brief, desperate fight with the Reapers had left her scarred and beaten, forcing her to run with her tail between her legs.
Average hull integrity had stabilized at fifty-two percent. Sections of nearly two dozen decks were still sealed off from the rest of the ship, gashes and rends in armor plating and hull exposing the areas to the harshness of vacuum — praise be to his Ancestors that the energy shields still functioned, but they were not atmospheric shields, vital breathable air could still pass and escape right through them.
The Jubilance's pinch-fusion reactor was struggling to maintain a seventy-percent load capacity, a consequence of redlining the reactor to get the maximum speed possible breaking out from their unexpected encirclement above B-1274. One of the ship's three repulsor engines had taken a glancing blow from a magnetohydrodynamic shot which had sheared off the protective cowl and burned away the directed maneuvering flaps.
Reaper weapons strikes had taken out four of the six plasma torpedo batteries on the ship's starboard side, and two more on the port side, leaving only six operational in total. Both of the supercruiser's comms suites had suffered similar fates. The alignment crystals for energy projector Four had been so battered out of place that it had been written off as a loss — the ship's two Huragok were needed elsewhere anyways.
As the Fleetmaster took long strides down the dimly lit corridors of the Jubilance to his destination, he pondered giving his remaining two jaws if only to have two more Huragok on hand to help mend the ship. He had thought that as long as there were two, the Huragok could make more of themselves if needed. However, ever since the Great Schism, Huragok had stopped their reproduction completely - making them even more of a precious resource than before.
Damn the False Prophets, turning us into no more but their perfect warriors, he cursed internally. R'tas knew how to kill, but he didn't know how to fix a broken plasma torpedo battery — as was still the case with many of his fellow Sangheili.
Armor and hull repairs, power management issues, weapons batteries malfunctions and calibrations, comms repairs, engine and reactor maintenance… these were all things the Jubilance desperately needed attention towards, but his engineering team was small enough as it was.
Not to mention, they hadn't even gotten to Rannoch yet to even start looking for the Key.
'Vadum hoped the Arbiter was having more success on the Asari homeworld.
He had initially balked when Thel told him of the plan to recover the Key on Thessia, but had been persuaded by his friend's arguments. He had said that it was, "By far a better option than jumping in and turning the entire Asari Home Fleet to slag."
R'tas snorted at the memory of the conversation. Maybe it was the better option, but the Fleetmaster could have gone either way. This was the government that out of all the other resident races of this galaxy, had completely abandoned the call to action against the Reapers and had drawn back into isolation.
Cowards.
R'tas did not have sympathy for those who ran from a fight.
He thought differently of the Asari that had joined them along the way, Levas and her merry band of miners that the Arbiter and Ultra 'Harum had taken under their wings. Like the rest of the Sangheili in their small group of ships, they too had been shown Her plan and had committed themselves just the same.
Levas' Asari had long since proved their worth, having saved the Arbiter's team from that first unexpected exposure to the Flood on Noveria, and the Asari in Ultra 'Harum's Talon Battalion performed admirably on B-1274.
The largest, longest standing, most prosperous race in this entire galaxy… and they had left everyone else to hang out to dry. In a way, R'tas was glad that the Arbiter was the one going to Thessia. He certainly was the more diplomatic of the pair.
'Vadum passed almost no-one on the way to his destination: a small meeting room a short distance away from the main hangar bays. Lacking in technical expertise as they may, any crew that could be spared were helping to patch up the Jubilance in any way they can, and the ground forces were resting after their harrowing escape from B-1274.
B-1274, thought R'tas.
It wasn't even a proper name, yet he knew he would never forget the moon - and what almost happened above it.
There were two Sangheili posted on either side of the door to the meeting room, and they bowed their heads respectfully as R'tas strode into the room, doors swishing open before him.
He was surprised to see that the room was already occupied. A Human was standing at the far side of the room in jet black BDU's, on the other side of the long table and simple chairs that took up the majority of the space.
His back was turned to him, as he was admiring the sole piece of wall-art in the room - a painting of the planet above which the Jubilance was built, Sanghelios. The vibrant reds and blues of the landmasses and oceans contrasted sharply with the muted purples and light blue-white of the meeting room's walls.
The man turned to face R'tas as he entered the room, hands clasped behind his back. It was ONI Captain Nathan Drake, commander of the Sahara-class Heavy Prowler Jericho.
"You nuked my ship," 'Vadum said, with veiled hostility. He didn't waste any time with pleasantries.
"I nuked around your ship," Drake corrected, matching his tone.
R'tas kept his gaze hard, unflinching, peering down his long neck at Drake from across the table. The stark difference in size between the two was very evident, even from opposite sides of the room. The ONI Captain was average-sized for a human male at around six feet tall. The Sangheili Fleetmaster, already large for a Sangheili, was nearly eight.
R'tas did not rush to say his words. "You could have killed us."
The ONI Captain didn't give an inch. "Your chances weren't very good anyways."
The two continued to stare each other down. Necessary allies now, mortal enemies years ago. The air could have been cut with an energy sword.
R'tas spread his half-jaw in a wide grin. "Captain Drake. You are a bold one."
Drake's eyes twinkled, shoulders relaxing some, and he gave a wry smile.
The Fleetmaster bowed his head towards the Captain. "Thank you. Your quick thinking saved our lives."
"Thank my Weapons Officer. He was really the one who didn't blow you all to bits," Drake said, but accepting the acknowledgement all the same. "I'm just relieved all the ground teams got off-planet — mainly your doing."
"The Normandy helped as well," R'tas said. Drake was right though, the Jubilance had picked up the vast majority of the allied forces on the planet, Ultra 'Harum's Talon Battalion, and the Quarian crew of the Kael.
On que, the door to the conference room chimed. Commander Shepard strode through, followed by Dr. T'Soni, Kal'Reegar, Captain Tali'Zorah vas Kael, and the armored bulk of the Master Chief, undoubtedly with Cortana in tow.
Leading the rear of the group was Ultra 'Harum, who despite being just a battalion commander, was the highest ranking ground officer on the Jubilance. The tactically intuitive and whip-smart Sangheili had also quickly become personal counsel to the Arbiter.
Everyone now being present, R'tas motioned for the group to sit, and each found a chair. Now the debriefing could begin.
R'tas saw that all present were looking to him to start things off. So, he did.
"Well," the Fleetmaster began, "For now, we are still alive."
His opening statement got some nods of acquiescence from those around the table — because they all knew just how close they had all come to dying on that barren moon.
"Master Chief, what news of your wounded Spartan?" 'Vadum asked, with real concern.
If the armored supersoldier was surprised by R'tas's inquiry into Linda-058's status, he showed it with only a second's hesitation. "She's currently in surgery."
"I would appreciate an update regarding her condition afterwards, if possible," 'Vadum said.
"As would I," added Ultra 'Harum. It was his Rapid Response Force that had casevacced the beleaguered Recon-One to safety in the first place.
The Master Chief was grateful for the privacy of his enclosed helmet and opaque visor. Sangheili invested in the health of a Spartan — instead of the death of one — that was certainly new to him. He nodded towards the two in the affirmative.
"Status of your battalion?" 'Vadum asked 'Harum next. "Casualties?"
"Three dozen injured, varying in severity. No fatalities," he reported. The Asari were quickly becoming worth their weight in Element Zero. The tactically flexible defensive and zoning abilities that their biotics offered to the mainline Sangheili troops of Talon Battalion were extremely valuable to say the least.
So, it had been a slaughter more than a battle. Admiral Xen's Quarians, who up to that point had been mainly exposed to minor skirmishes with pirates and the Geth, stood little chance against 'Harum's battle-hardened Sangheili Rangers.
R'tas looked to Captain vas Kael, surprised somewhat to see the intensity with which the female Quarian was looking back at him, even with her eyes obscured behind her own dark visor. "Did you figure out what the Reaper fragment on the moon was?"
"Some kind of transmitter antenna. Likely serving as a staging beacon for the Reapers that jumped in."
"And what of your crew?" R'tas asked next.
"All accounted for," she replied, "All safely under armed guard by alien soldiers, in the hold of an alien ship, commanded by an alien leader. If Commander Shepard wasn't here, I would think we that we were prisoners here. Are we?"
"Not prisoners," R'tas was quick to say. "Fugitives, it would seem."
"Then why the armed soldiers watching my crew?" Tali retorted.
R'tas narrowed his eyes slightly. "To me, Captain vas Kael, you are the alien. Would you leave two hundred and fifty of me to wander around your ship unattended? Do not confuse my pragmatism with a lack of hospitality. This entire ship, its crew - everyone around this table - nearly died getting you and your people off of that moon."
Tali crossed her arms in silent acknowledgement. It was a good point. No, she wouldn't let whatever this "R'tas" was wander around her ship. If she still had a ship, that was…
"Fine," the Quarian replied, "But that still doesn't tell me anything about why we're here right now. It doesn't tell me who you are, why I've never seen a race like yours, or a ship like this. Keelah, the largest ship I've ever seen —and why Commander Shepard is working with you like you're long-time friends."
Tali looked to her left, where she saw the Master Chief sitting at the far end of the table, silently watching. "Not to mention whoever the hell those guys are."
Shepard turned his head to her, letting out a sigh. "It's a long story."
He told it to her. He told Tali everything - who the UNSC and Sangheili were, how and when they arrived above Earth, how they were pressed into a sudden, desperate alliance against the Reapers. Shepard told her how the Reapers had forced them to abandon Earth, evacuate over two-thirds of the Human colonies, and how they had burned Palaven and over half of Turian space as well.
Shepard told Tali about how the Master Chief and his artificial intelligence companion Cortana had joined the Normandy's team. Surprisingly, the Quarian Captain didn't seem phased by the revelation, saying "You've already got one AI, what's one more?"
He talked about the Battle on Tuchanka, where they had helped their old friend Urdnot Wrex take back his planet. He told Tali about the Battle of Despara, where combined allied forces had managed to successfully defend and repel a Reaper offensive, and how a counteroffensive to take back Turian worlds was currently ongoing. He talked about how Cerberus had attacked the Citadel, and how the Normandy had pursued the splinter faction across the galaxy until they were able to neutralize the source of the cancerous rot - The Illusive Man.
In a more somber tone, he talked about the friends and comrades they had lost along the way. Ashley, Thane, Miranda, likely Admiral Anderson, dead. Kaiden, wounded and still recovering on the Citadel.
Tali took several long seconds to process everything. "I'd heard that things were bad outside of the Migrant Fleet, but…"
She looked back towards Fleetmaster 'Vadum. "Well that explains who you are, but not why you're here. Why did you come to rescue us? Split off from the rest of your group? It couldn't have just been Shepard's insistence."
R'tas shook his head in the negative. He took a small holo-pedestal out of a compartment in his armor and placed in on the table. Activating it, a three-dimensional image of a plain, grey cylinder hovered in the air. "We are searching for these."
Tali cocked her head, not knowing if she should be impressed or not. "And that is… what exactly? Other than a cylinder?"
"It is a Key."
"A key to what?"
"If I knew, I would tell you."
"So you've been prancing around the galaxy embroiled in war collecting alien cylinders, and you don't even know what they do? How important could something as boring as that really be?"
R'tas pressed his remaining two jaws together in irritation. "Does 'the fate of the entire galaxy' sound important enough to you?"
Tali raised up her hands in defensive acquiescence.
'Vadum stayed himself. She would not know the importance of their task. She had not been exposed to the Transmittance like he had. "We have recovered three already. The rest of my Fleet is collecting one on Thessia. It was my job to scout the next Key location - your homeworld of Rannoch."
"I thought you'd said you only had six ships?" Tali said. "Not much of a 'fleet' where I come from."
The room went quiet.
R'tas glared into the Quarian's tinted visor with intensity, his eyes smoldering orange-red torpedo batteries on the verge of firing.
"I am the Imperial Admiral of the Swords of Sanghelios Navy. There are hundreds of warships under my command." When he spoke his voice was a deep, low growl. "I have won more victories than you have spent years alive. Where I come from, six warships is a fleet. That is what I command, therefor that is what I am called."
"Right," Tali said, nonchalantly. She leaned back in her chair a bit, then added, "From what I saw on the way over here, it looks like you hardly command half a ship."
R'tas was speaking through gritted half-jaws. "This half a ship destroyed ten of your own in an instant. This half a ship killed thirty-seven Reapers — surrounded on all sides. This half a ship is the only reason why any of us here are not meeting with our Ancestors in the afterlife!"
'Vadum felt a strong hand pressing on his thigh, the move obscured underneath the table. It was Ultra 'Harum, sending him a clear signal to tone it down.
Captain vas Kael leaned inwards, towards the glowing weapons batteries of the Sanghieli's gaze. "You think I'm supposed to laud your slaughtering of my people?"
"They were going to kill you," R'tas stated bluntly. "And your crew."
"And because of you, Fleetmaster 'Vadum, that didn't happen. For that, I truly am grateful," Tali said. The sincerity behind her thanks was real. "You were right — they were going to kill me. They had the gun pointed right at my head. I had my moment when I thought I'd be meeting my own Ancestors, just like you did."
The Quarian held up her left arm, activating her omni-tool. "Before I was taken prisoner I created a medical diagnostic that detects Indoctrination. You may be an expert on killing Reapers, but this is something else entirely. The Reapers change your brain chemistry. Their infectious thoughts erode your neural pathways so they can spread their voices further — faster, contorting you into something you were never supposed to be. A tool. A tool, to be used in their name, and cast aside."
R'tas spoke softly enough that the Master Chief's low-volume audio enhancers kicked in. "Do not mistake me as someone unfamiliar with infection."
The Fleetmaster's long-since severed left jaws twinged in phantom pain. The Quarian Captain seemed to notice this.
Everyone else in the room didn't quite know how this debriefing had turned into some kind of verbal sparring match between Fleetmaster 'Vadum and Captain vas Kael.
What they did know was at this point, they had all silently and unanimously decided not to intercede.
Commander Shepard didn't remember Tali being this… unapologetically bold before. Her sudden devious betrayal by a trusted superior followed by a close encounter with death probably contributed to that.
Although they had shared a crushing hug on the Normandy after escaping B-1274, Shepard had hardly spent much time with his friend. Other than a quick "We've got to stop meeting like this," from her, Tali had been so occupied analyzing data from the Reaper fragment and trying to find out about her crew that they had hardly talked at all, even on the shuttle-ride over to the Jubilance.
Gods he had missed her.
"One of my guards tested positive for indoctrination. That means that he was an absolute risk to the Migrant Fleet, and is why I don't mourn him," Tali continued. She deactivated her omni-tool with a quick gesture of a finger. "But was every one of those Quarians on that moon indoctrinated? I'll never know, because now they're all dead."
The stubborn Sangheili wouldn't be talked down to like this. "I did what had to be done. I need not defend my actions to you."
"So you did, and no, you don't," vas Kael said. "But that one ship you let escape? The Moreh? That's Admiral Xen's ship. She's flying back to the Migrant Fleet at top speed, and if there is even a shred of a chance that someone in an Admiralty position could be indoctrinated, my entire people are at risk."
"It is a good thing we are headed to Rannoch then," R'tas replied.
Tali shook her head. "No, not yet. Going straight to Rannoch, alone, would be a death sentence. That's where the Reaper armada that ambushed us is going."
"The Key…" R'tas growled, in clear irritation. The Reapers had tried to hinder their acquisition of the Keys before.
"No," Tali said again. "One weird space cylinder? I wouldn't think so. Gaining control of forty-thousand Geth warships, and more than a billion ground troops? That, on the other hand, terrifies me. Indoctrination is not limited to organics, synthetics can be just as affected. If the Reapers sway the Geth to their side any hope we have of winning this war will vanish before our very eyes."
R'tas grimaced. He didn't like the thought of forty-thousand new enemy warships any more than Captain vas Kael, but he could tell the Quarian had a plan. "What is your suggestion?"
"We go to the Migrant Fleet," Tali responded without pause. "No matter what Admiral Xen has said about what happened, no matter how much she tries to drag me under the engine cowls of a starship, we have to go and confront her."
"And how do you expect to do that?" R'tas asked. "You've been branded a traitor. Your ship is nowhere to be found. Likely launched into B-1274's gas giant."
Tali's shoulders sagged a little. "I know. Losing your ship is one of the most shameful things that can happen to a Quarian. It represents a severe loss of trust, and a trial is often held to determine the extent of the Captain's blame in the loss of one of the Fleet's precious ships."
She took a deep breath in preparation for what she was about to say. "That is why I'm going to come back in command of another ship. This ship."
Fleetmaster 'Vadum struggled for a few seconds to find a response to what Captain vas Kael had just said. "Excuse me? This ship? My ship?"
Tali nodded. "Yep. First I'll do you a favor though and have my people fix it - for free. If we're going to show up to the Migrant Fleet and present ourselves from a position of strength, I can't come in at the helm of a ship that so obviously looks like it's just been shot to shit."
'Vadum's personal pinch-fusion reactor was at a large risk of overloading.
"Hold," he hissed at her with such quiet venom that aside from the Master Chief, the other 'participants' of the briefing sunk back into their chairs defensively. "You have been on this warship for not even a half hour and already you are demanding to usurp my command and use my ship for you own gain?"
"Stow your pride Fleetmaster," Tali retorted hotly. "Think! If you go to Rannoch now, alone, you will die. There's only one force in this entire galaxy that has the numbers and the capability to oppose the Geth — the Migrant Fleet. And guess what? We're on their shit list, because like you reminded me, I'm a traitor in their eyes. I'm sure that Admiral Xen will do her best to reinforce that, while at the same time telling of you, the bloodthirsty alien menace who slaughtered her entire task force. The only way we're going to get the audience we need - the rest of the Admiralty Board - is by forcing them into parlay by having them look down the barrel of a giant gun. This giant gun."
"I understand what you say," R'tas said, "What I do not understand is why you need to be in command."
"It's Migrant Fleet law. Only a Quarian Captain can call for a parlay, and last time I checked, you're a little too tall to make a convincing Quarian."
The Fleetmaster leaned back heavily in his chair, letting out an exasperated breath. As much as this woman's… insolence towards him bristled his skin, he knew that she was right. Tens of thousands of Geth ships on Rannoch, hundreds of Reapers, and no matter how deadly the Jubilance was, she was only one ship. Internally, he snorted. Well, half a ship.
"If I allow you to go through with this plan, you said yourself that it would not work if your Migrant Fleet sees how bad of a condition the Jubilance is really in," 'Vadum said. Four hundred Reapers may have not quite been able to silence the supercruiser… but several thousand more Quarian ships certainly could.
"Yes. If the more aggressive Captains and Admirals see weakness, then they will pounce on us like a pack of hungry Varren," Tali said. "Until we can convince them otherwise, they'll think that we are the enemy."
"Well then, how exactly do you propose to fix my ship?" 'Vadum asked.
Tali wagged a slender finger at him. "My ship, remember?"
R'tas's nostrils flared. "It will not be 'your' ship until we are five minutes from exiting FTL."
Tali shrugged. "Fine, as long as you let my crew go where they need to and do what they need to. Luckily for you Fleetmaster, you just rescued two-hundred and fifty extremely qualified and capable engineers and technicians. Fixing and maintaining ships is what we do. When you spend your entire life on one, you have to know how to repair what's broken. Even the Marine bucketheads like Reeger here know their way around a workbench."
Sitting just to the left of Tali, Kal'Reegar shrugged in quiet acknowledgement. He was best with a rifle, but still very good with an omni-tool.
"Your people do not know our technology," 'Vadum rightly said.
"We're quick learners. Just have your people close by to hold the tools," Tali countered.
'Vadum looked briefly to the ceiling in annoyance. He couldn't even get the satisfaction of boring into Captain vas Kael's eyes, hidden as they were behind her visor.
Finally someone other than R'tas or Tali spoke: Commander Shepard. "What should the Normandy do?"
It was a question for Tali, and she answered. "Stay right next to us and don't hide. The Fleet remembers what you've done to help them in the past. You will help give us credibility. Or, maybe at least keep them from shooting at us for a little bit."
Captain Drake spoke next. "And the Jericho?"
"How good is your stealth?" Tali asked.
It was clear to all that the dynamic in the room had shifted. Captain Tali'Zorah vas Kael, not Fleetmaster R'tas 'Vadum, was running this meeting now.
"The best. Sorry Commander, but you know I'm right," Drake said, giving Shepard a conciliatory shrug.
"We'll need eyes on Rannoch," reasoned Tali. "Good intel on what the Geth and Reapers are doing will be invaluable. Can you communicate with the Jubilance after you get there?"
"If you get her comms fixed, yes," Drake replied.
"Alright then," Tali said, standing up suddenly. "I've got some work to do. Fleetmaster 'Vadum, I'll start sending you progress reports as soon as my repair parties get established."
She spun and made for the door. A good Marine, Reegar followed his Captain out.
R'tas turned his head to follow the Quarians as they exited the room, door sliding shut behind them with a soft swish.
R'tas looked to Commander Shepard. "Are all Quarians like her?"
"No," Shepard said, brow raised in slight amusement. "Captain vas Jubilance is an exception."
The Fleetmaster exhaled loudly, then just shook his head, long neck swaying tiredly. He stood and made for the door as well, followed by Ultra 'Harum.
Liara nudged Shepard with her elbow, and he leaned his head into her to hear her soft words. "I didn't even get to say anything."
"Be honest, did you really want to?"
A pause. "Not really."
"C'mon, let's head back," Shepard said. "Master Chief, see you on the Normandy. Captain Drake."
Shepard and Liara made their own ways out next, followed silently by Captain Drake, who nodded respectfully at the Master Chief.
The Spartan found himself alone now. He got up, taking quiet steps over to the wall-painting of Sanghelios. He pictured Earth in his mind to compare the painting to, noting the stark contrast between the reds of the Sangheili homeworld and the greens of Humanity's.
"You were quiet," John said to Cortana within the privacy of their internal comms channel. It was unlike her, the AI almost always had something to add in any conversation, yet she had been silent the entire debriefing.
"I was working," she responded. "Decrypting data from B-1274."
"From the Reaper staging beacon?"
"It was far more than that," Cortana said. Her voice was monochrome, void of color or emotion. That was also unlike her. "That was an advanced long-range quantum communication array — just one in a network of hundreds, spread all throughout the galaxy. It has to be how the Reapers communicate."
Chief knew there was more. "And?"
"And, it's taken me until now to tunnel through all the firewalls and break all the encryption. The Reapers put a huge deal of effort in protecting this data."
"Intel? Force deployments? Assault plans?"
"No John, no," Cortana said. There was now an urgentness to her tone. Chief didn't like it. "That's what I would have expected, but no."
"Instead?"
"Two small data-packets broadcasted throughout the entire Reaper network, flashed every five minutes."
"What's in them?"
"The first packet is a set of coordinates - Earth. Systems Alliance Earth. The second is just a single word… Run."