Twin Fates

by Tobias5

Fate played as much a role in Shepard's defeat of the Reapers as did his skill. What if fate had different plans? Did you know that the Shepard on Mindoir was born as a twin? What if both had survived the raid? How would the Reapers have dealt with TWO great heroes instead of one? It's time to find out just how much better and worse things get with TWO Shepards fighting a war.

26. Chapter 25

Twin Fates

By Belle and Tobias

Automatic Disclaimer: We do not own the rights to the Mass Effect or any other referenced copy righted material.

Toby's Note: I owe you guys an apology. I have had some bad writer's block and since this chapter was my turn to start it the delay is completely my fault. Not excusing it but I did write myself in a corner a bit. I played an entire Mass Effect trilogy play thru to try and break out of it. Plus my personal life has been…well shit is the perfect description of it. So I finally just locked myself in my home office and forced myself to write. It was a long weekend but I finally got it out. I hope you guys enjoy this. I've planned this with Tali, Legion and some other consequences for a while. No worries next chapter is Belle's and she's pretty good about keeping on schedule. It may cheer you up to know that we've sat down and hashed out the nitty gritty details of the ME3 timeline. Till then enjoy guys and I'm very sorry for this delay. I'll try to do better in the future.

Oh! *finger snap* I just remembered this chapter has a theme song! The song is Let's Just Live by Casey Lee Williams & Jeff Williams. They're a father and daughter duo and do a lot of songs for RWBY. I'm a big time fanboy of the series and I'm trying to get Belle into it. She hasn't given it a chance yet.

Belle's Note: I also contributed to the delay in this chapter, but it was more so due to the chaos caused by Covid-19. I want to give a special shout out to Hawkster94 who sent a wonderful message to us about coping. You're right, it is hard to write during this mess, but knowing people are understanding about it made me want to do my best. So while you were giving us the okay about the situation, you made me rise up to the challenge. Thank you.

As for Toby's comment above I HAVE given RWBY a "chance" I watched the whole first season, but I utterly loathe CGI animation...a fact Toby knows very well. I watched most of the Netflix show Cagaster of an Insect Cage and while I really liked the story, it was murder to watch because I hated the animation so much. Sorry guys, that CGI is sooooo painful to me. It was something that bothered me about the Beserker movies and then the newest TV show and I LOVE the Beserker story...another fact Toby knows and forgets. *insert obvious eyeroll*

TN2: I mean ignoring the fact that the animation style gets worlds better by season two and I'm not sure what the animation style is called they switch to after season 3 but man is Belle really missing out. *looks around before whispering to the readers* If any of you are RWBY fans too help me convert her!

Also on a personal note, please keep yourselves and your loved ones safe during this Covid-19 situation. I know things are rough right now folks but it will get better.

Chapter 25: Consequences of Our Actions

Earth Date: April 10th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR-2, Grissom Academy

"It's okay, David, it will be quiet here," Jane said as she stood by the door. David stared at her and then at the door. The crew had been careful to keep physical contact with David to a minimum. Jane had sat with him daily until they reached Grissom. He seemed okay with Jane, but there was no bond.

"The square root of seven thousand thirty-nine point two one is eighty-three point nine," he said calmly as he entered the main office of Grissom Academy.

"David, this is my friend, Kahlee, she's an instructor here and she will help you," Jane said. David peeked up at Kahlee before looking down, rocking slightly. It was hard to watch him still. He entered and looked around. Kahlee looked pained as she greeted him. Jane took a seat and smile at David when he looked at her. Kahlee introduced the main caretakers and soon David seemed more relaxed. He looked at Jane and she smiled.

"It's quiet," he said with a flicker of a relieved smile before turning and heading off. Jane felt part of her heart break. She should have broken his brother's jaw. She took a calming breath. No...violence wasn't right.

"I am disgusted by what was done to that poor man," Kahlee said and Jane nodded.

"I can think of precious few people who deserve that kind of treatment. But I know you can help him here," Jane said and Kahlee sighed.

"I'm glad you believe in me," she said as she sat down. "Tell me everything."

After speaking with Kahlee for a few hours Jane felt relieved to be leaving Grissom as she headed through the school back towards the dock to get to the Normandy. Her omni-tool pinged an outside message. She paused as she saw Chirum's ID.

Chirum, how are you?" Jane greeted over her headset as she walked.

"Greetings, Jane, am doing well. Wish call was for more pleasant news." Chirum said cutting right to it. "Assume you are alone?" Jane looked around and the hallway was pretty deserted. She activated an anti-spy program on her omni-tool.

"I'm in Grissom Academy right now, but I'm alone," she said. Chirum hummed.

"Not perfect, but will work for our needs, do not wish for your sibling to find out until situation has been dealt with. Council agrees that keeping him in the dark is best," Chirum stated and Jane felt irritated. This was not a social call.

"What's going on, Chirum?" Jane asked and he made the noise of a salarian not liking his job.

"Unpleasant news, I take it you have not been on the extranet lately," Chirum commented.

"I'm pretty much focused on dealing with the Collectors and all the little things between getting what I want from who I want," Jane commented. "What's going on?" Chirum did that salarian hum again.

"The recent events involving your brother's encounter with Hegemony personnel has not been well received. Hegemony has learned from your own experiences and has struck first rather than letting a fan base grow for him, as it were," Chirum explained and Jane felt her eyes narrow and her brows lower.

"What's the Hegemony up to?" Jane growled.

"Propaganda against your brother. Best if I show you," Chirum said before a vid popped up on Jane's omni-tool. "This is a small sample of the things that have begun to spread." A recording of the latest Hegemony news minister appear. His name escaped Jane at the moment but if he was anything like the ones who had proceeded him then all he did was spew Hegemony propaganda. The problem was a lot of batarians who dealt with the Hegemony believed what was reported and many of those batarians worked with Merc groups who would only hear things from those batarians. It was a useful way to smear people and governments among the less lawful, which was dangerous on all worlds.

"This is who the Council picks to serve human interests!" The batarian minister growled as the recording played. "Monsters who slaughter and kill with no regards to the bystanders! We tried to apprehend the Spectre Monster and he kills our men brutally! He embraces his human rage and covers himself in filth like a deranged animal! Then he sets traps to kill our soldiers! Then he leaves these filthy traps to kill the innocent people that find them! These are the-" Jane stopped the recording, it would go on and on as most of the Hegemony propaganda did.

"He goes on for almost an hour but I trust you get what he is doing, yes?" Chirum stated.

"God damn Hegemony," Jane muttered with more exhaustion than venom and Chirum hummed in agreement.

"The Council recognizes that your brother was targeted and his attempted assassination was thwarted. They know this is just the usual Hegemony propaganda, but the danger is in him currently working with Cerberus," Chirum stated and Jane nodded.

"Yeah, Spectres are judged based on their results, depending how good those results are, the more the Council is willing to look the other way based on their actions," Jane said.

"Your brother defended himself he did not seek out that position, Jane," Chirum stated and Jane knew he was trying to make her feel better.

"I guess I should be honored, Terror of the Hegemony sounds a hell of a lot better than the Spectre Monster," Jane groaned. "How is the public reacting to this?"

"Ah, well," Chirum sniffed, "this tactic seems to be working. We have monitored several thousand forums being worked up into a frenzy. Recent events and your brother's ties to Cerberus are not helping. One fanatic already tried to smuggle a paint bomb into the Council chambers. The Council wants John Shepard to be kept in the dark as long as possible. Preferably until after we have revealed and arrested the perpetrators of this smear campaign."Jane groaned at that. The Council was using Chirum to let her know that she was not to tell her brother.

"Chirum, we both know they are not going to be arrested any time soon," Jane stated. "They are all safe on Hegemony planets right now."

"True, but your mission is a vital one and your work over the last two years has the Council more receptive to your concerns with the Reapers," Chirum reminded her and she took a deep breath.

"That's good perspective," Jane said. "I sent a lot of good data back from that Collector ship." Chirum hummed at that.

"Many have to agree that data makes a point for your Reaper theory and once your pet projects are up on their feet...we may have all you need to turn this back in your brother's favor," Chirum said and Jane nodded. The dominoes needed to be in place. The Hegemony was no one's friend...but then not every batarian was part of the Hegemony. Jane knew how to bide her time, just like every sniper did.

"Don't worry, Chirum, I don't like this order, but it is received," Jane said and he hummed in that irritated tone again.

"One more thing of note," Chirum said and Jane paused from hanging up. "The memorial on Mindoir for your brother has been torn down. None of the town residents know who did it and I am inclined to believe them. Yours stands alone now and your brother's has been defaced with various insults. Similar images and slogans are spreading quickly on the extranet. Recommend keeping him off the net for now."

"Think I could bribe them to rip mine down too?" Jane asked. She had hated that thing since the day it went up.

"They might clean it up if they knew it was something you and your brother didn't approved of," Chirum chuckled and Jane nodded.

"I don't know if John gives a shit about it. It was an empty grave, but I'm sure there are more than a few people on Mindoir who will be fixing it up. After all, you can't respect the Terror of the Hegemony and hate the Spectre Monster at the same time. People know I'm with John now and I know I have a rather massive fan club," Jane said and Chirum chuckled.

"Very true, forums are explosive, many have pointed out this connection. I personally suspect the Mindoir monument was defaced by a Merc team passing through and not Mindoir citizens," Chirum said and Jane nodded.

"I will try to keep John occupied with other things but as far as I know, he doesn't have a lot of time to play on the extranet anyway and neither of us have been big about searching ourselves," Jane said. "Thank you, Chirum."

"Always happy to help. Between us, your brother very impressive. Would be happy to work with him, as would many others. You should be proud." Chirum said before disconnecting.

Jane sighed as she looked at the wall for a moment. She quickly opened an extranet browser and typed in 'John Shepard Spectre Monster' after about ten minutes she closed it and tried to cool her biotics down as she walked to the Normandy. She would be calling in more than a few favors. Thank God she had made so many friends in academia, they were good with tech.

~*TF*~

"I'm sorry we didn't go right to flotilla Tali," John said as they took a break from reviewing legal procedures on Quarian trials. "We're heading there as soon we're done here." Tali nodded and opened the port on her helmet to slip the last piece of her lunch in. It closed with a snap and John watched in fascinated amusement. He was always impressed by Quarian ingenuity, to be trapped in suits but still have a way to ingest food and sanitize it in their helmets.

"I sent a message to the fleet that we would be there soon. They accepted it as my mission running longer than expected," Tali said. She glanced down at her datapad. "Do you think you have a grasp of our basics?"

"I think so but I doubt I'll need it. Captain Kar'Danna will be your advocate, right?" John confirmed and Tali nodded.

"They just may ask you to speak in witness to what I have done for you on missions." Tali noted and John grinned at her.

"What you've done is kickass, save a lot of lives and been a damn good friend." John said and Tali's head titled just a bit in what John knew was her blushing. Something he was starting to enjoy making her do.

"John, I, that is, well what I want to ask, I mean say is-" Tali was cut off as the door to John's cabin chimed. "Bosh'tet!"

"That must be Legion, I asked him to come up about now," John said, getting up to let the Geth in.

"John you asked it to come up?" Tali exclaimed as John let the Geth into his quarters.

"John-Spectre has requested our assistance in regards to Creator-Tali'Zorah's social upheaval," Legion explained.

"John how can it help save me from exile?" Tali demanded. John watched her get up and glare at the Geth platform. "What do you want to do, bring it on board the Rayya?"

"Wait, wait Tali calm down," John said stepping between them. Tali glared at him before the tension left her pose. "Look I know you're upset over what's happening but I've been talking to Legion and I've learned a lot from talking to him. I consider him a friend just like I do you and I convinced him to share something with you that may help."

"What can it tell me that might help my standing with Admiralty board?" Tali demanded. John stepped back and gestured at Legion to speak. The Geth's head panels shifted a bit before it spoke.

"John-Spectre has been talking with us about the Morning War and our actions since. We have revealed our intentions to create a megastructure. The closest analogue you have is a Dyson sphere. When completed, we will all upload to it. He also seemed excited by the prospect that we have no platforms on the creator home world other than maintenance and repair from the Morning War." Legion explained and Tali jerked.

"Wait what? You haven't settled on Rannoch?" Tali exclaimed. Legion did not move except a few twitches of its head plates.

"We reside in space stations in orbit and throughout the Perseus Veil. We mine asteroids for resources, it is most efficient for our goals," Legion explained. "We have also repaired the creator's home world. It is at approximately at ninety-five percent completion. Creator's could easily re-inhabit the home world with minimum of adjustment." Tali rocked back as if she was struck and staggered back to sit on John's couch with a loud thump.

"Would you really let us re-settle the home world?" Tali gasped. Legion nodded and gestured with its hand.

"Eventually. We request dialogue with the creators. Shepard-Commander has convinced us that merely ignoring the creators would invite conflict. Creators wish to return to their home world. Geth wish for sharing of all thought. Our goals do not need to be exclusive to our peoples. Shepard-Commander has pointed out that organic fear started the Morning War and has quoted human philosophers that 'knowledge eliminates fear'. We wish to eliminate the organic fear Creators feel. In return for our actions Shepard-Commander has agreed to help us with information we discovered while linked with the Collector ship," Legion explained. Tali stared at him before slowly looking at John.

"Tali if your people attack many of them will die. Legion and Geth know that for every Geth that dies they lose intelligence. If you take proposal from the Geth to the Admiralty Board for peace talks your people could go home without firing a single shot." John explained. "Would a traitor bring something like that to them? As a Spectre I could help mediate the talks."

"John, I, this is…I don't know what to say!" Tali exclaimed wringing her hands. John laughed and took a datapad Legion handed him with the Geth's offering. He held it out to Tali.

"You say yes Tali," John said warmly, "Legion has agreed to shut himself down as a sign of trust so he won't know where the fleet is. He left information on there for the board to contact the Geth if they want to do this."

Tali stared at John and slowly reached out to take the datapad.

~*TF*~

Grunt rushed at Jane and she used a push to send her up and over the krogan. He grabbed for her leg, but with a twist, she used his developing hump to pull herself onto his back. Her arm pressed to the back of his skull.

"Damn it!" he snarled happily as Jane clung to his back. She waited and he chuckled. "I give."

"That's right," Jane stated and he grinned.

"You were taunting me with that leg," he stated and Jane nodded.

"People who know how to take down krogan with the decapping maneuver do that if they are agile enough. Not every person who can decap can do it though, but you can probably guess those that are early in a fight. If you see a leg like that, don't go for it, drop down and try to twist, if you do that, they can't turn fast enough midair without using your body. A shotgun blast can end that," Jane explained and Grunt stared at her.

"Shot gun wouldn't stop you," he pointed out.

"But it might stop someone like Thane. My barriers are better than Thane's," Jane pointed out and Grunt nodded. This had been a good distraction from the stress of the day.

"Wanna go more?" Grunt asked and Jane laughed.

"Nah, had enough for today. I'm going to shower and get dinner," she stated as she headed to the elevator. It was relaxing to take a hot shower before heading over and getting one of Gardner's biotic friendly meals.

She was eating her "beef" stew happily when Garrus sat down across from her with his Turian friendly...

"So, come here often?" he asked and Jane nearly choked on a potato at the sudden bad pick up line.

"Joker?" Jane asked as she wiped a tear from her eye with a smile. Garrus looked flustered.

"I thought of that one on my own so you know," he stated and Jane shook her head.

"Should have blamed Joker," she said and he huffed. "Is that anywhere close to okay for you?" Garrus looked at the grey meat on his plate, the vomit green...sauce...was upsetting.

"It...doesn't look like what it is supposed to be...but the taste...is close..." Garrus stated.

"We need to get you the Turian equivalent of ketchup or hot sauce or something," Jane sighed.

"It's really not that hard to make dextro food," he sighed and Jane smiled at him.

"I know a couple recipes," Jane said and Garrus gave her a look. "Ganar mission, Aelaxos. We were stuck on sentry duty for a few days, we ended up comparing recipes. You guys have seared pullum...I switched it over into a killer fried chicken recipe." Garrus laughed.

"My mother's recipe is the best," he bragged.

"Nice try, Vakarian, Aelaxos already told me every turian says that," Jane shot back and he laughed as they had dinner together.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: April 12th, 2186 CE

Location: Vallhallan Threshold, Raheel-Leyya, Docking With the Rayya

"This is Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya requesting permission to dock with the Rayya," Tali said as Jane came up behind John as Tali paced behind Joker who was piloting towards the Quarian fleet. Jane glanced at the two wondering what was going on. John seemed to be smiling a lot and Tali had been practically walking with a bounce in her step. Jane was worried John had gotten her hopes up falsely about her trial but John was playing it pretty close to the vest. When she'd asked him what he was planning he had said it was entirely up to Tali and Tali hadn't wanted talk about it except that she was hoping it worked.

"Legion was turned off shortly before we hit the relay," Jane muttered to John and he nodded. Jane eyed her brother who seemed up beat. So far she had successfully kept him in the dark. She hoped being this far out would help. "Want to tell me about this favor he mentioned you owed him?"

"Later, after we help Tali. We're heading for it right after this," John explained and Jane frowned.

"Why won't you tell me about it?" Jane asked. John glanced at her as the Quarians responded to Tali's calls. The look he was giving her annoyed her. It was the look he shot her when he thought she was whining. She hadn't seen that in years and she didn't appreciate being kept in the dark...but she was keeping a whopper from John...so she deserved his ribbing.

"Let's just say I want to prove I can do something good for the Council," John said, turning back to Tali. "Without my little sister's help." Jane pulled back on that, he was the hero of Elysium, she was the Terror of the Hegemony, she was the one always getting her people killed. Her mind went to the extranet smear...Jacob died during that. Maybe John was feeling the weight of that loss. Jane knew about loss, but John shouldn't feel in her shadow, lord knows, her poor leadership brought more of her men to their deaths...she shook her head, she didn't need to keep going over those old wounds. Cerberus was behind Akuze and no one could lead everyone out of a Thresher Maw nest. She had accepted that, she will accept this.

"You take point, I've got your six," Jane sighed.

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and through shoals of dust, I will return to where I began," Tali said drawing Jane's attention to her.

"That was beautiful," Jane murmured and John nodded in agreement.

"Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah," The Quarian controller stated.

"We'd like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our ship is not clean," Tali explained. There was short pause.

"Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle 17." He said before comms cut off. Tali sighed and they headed for the airlock. A few minutes later they were docked and heading into the Rayya. The Quarian decon procedures were so strong John felt his skin tingle under his armor. As they headed in the captain, Kar'Danna, met them at the airlock.

"Captain Shepard. Tali'Zorah told me a lot about you. I wish we could be meeting under more pleasant circumstances," he greeted them.

"Tali helped the Normandy's crew out of many difficult situations and she's a dear friend," John said. "I'm glad to help her out in any way I can."

"I understand. As the commander of the vessel she serves on, your voice carries weight," Kar'Danna explained and John nodded remembering the brief Tali had given him as the Captain turned to face Tali. "I wish I could do more to help, Tali. The trial requires that I be officially neutral, but... I'm here, if you need to talk. They're charging you with bringing active geth into the Fleet as part of a secret project."

"That's insane!" Tali exclaimed. "I never brought active Geth onboard. I only sent parts and pieces."

"Tali would never endanger the fleet!" Jane exclaimed, surprised.

"Technically, I'm under orders to place Tali'Zorah under arrest pending the hearing. So, Tali... you're confined to this ship until this trial is over," Kar'Danna said regretfully.

"Thank you, Captain," Tali said quietly exchanging a glance with John.

"Preparations got underway as soon as you arrived. The hearing's being held in the garden plaza. Good luck," he said, stepping back to let them pass. John sighed and led the way. He overheard others whispering about Tali as they moved down the halls and John hoped she was ignoring it. As they were nearing the plaza two Quarians were talking and Tali moved ahead to greet them. One of them moved away but the other woman turned to greet them.

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. I am glad you came. I could delay them only so long," she said demurely. Tali spread her arms and hugged the woman.

"Auntie Raan! Shepard vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. She's a friend of my father's." Tali introduced them after finishing the hug. She froze as what the Admiral said sunk in. "Wait. Raan, you called me "vas Normandy."

"I'm afraid I did, Tali. The Admiralty Board moved to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema,' Raan explained and John jolted. Jane even picked that up, quarians were very specific about their names.

"They can do that?" Jane questioned, her tension high. This was bad and judging by Tali and John's body language, not according to plan.

"They stripped me of my ship name. That's as good as declaring me exiled already," Tali cried.

"So Admiral Rael excused himself I imagine. What will your role be Admiral?" John asked his mind awhirl. If Tali was Vas Normandy that meant he had to speak for her. That changed their plans a bit.

"For my part, I moderate and ensure that the rules of protocol are followed, but I have no vote in the judgment." Raan explained before turning to Tali. "It's not over yet Tali. You have friends who still know you as Tali'Zorah vas Neema... whatever we must call you legally."

"I guess we should get started. As Captain of the Normandy I reaffirm that I will speak for Tali." John said formally. Jane realized Tali had prepped John for this and he was sliding right in. Jane nodded in approval as they were shown in. He was going to either be great or turn them on heads, maybe even both.

"This Conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season. Keelah se'lai," Raan said and all the Quarians repeated the last bit before sitting. John and Tali remained standing before the Admiralty board as Jane lingered in the back. She figured the Council might appreciate a message later about current Quarian politics. "The accused, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason."

"Objection! A human has no business at a hearing involving such sensitive military matters!" The middle Admiral cried out.

"Then you should not have declared Tali crew of the Normandy, Admiral Koris. By right as Tali's captain, Shepard must stay." Admiral Raan retorted.

"Objection withdrawn," Admiral Koris bit out.

"Shepard vas Normandy, your crew member Tali'Zorah stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her?" Admiral Raan asked and John stepped forward.

"I do but in her heart she remains Tali 'Zorah vas Neema, a proud member of the Migrant Fleet. I regret that her captain is forbidden to stand at her side today." John stated. Admiral Koris jerked and glared at John.

"Nobody has been forbidden from anything! It is a simple-" Admiral Koris snarled, beginning to go into a long winded rant.

"Lie to them if you must, Zaal'Koris, but don't lie to me and expect me to stay silent! The human is right!" The other male Admiral, Admiral Gerrel if John remember his brief correctly, cut in.

"Admirals, please. Shepard's willingness to represent Tali'Zorah in this hearing is appreciated." Raan cut them off. "Tali, you are accused of bringing active geth to the Migrant Fleet. What say you?"

"How could she have brought Geth back to the fleet while serving on the Normandy?" John jumped in, trying to trip them up.

"To clarify, Shepard, Tali isn't accused of bringing back entire units - only parts that could spontaneously reactivate." The last Admiral, Admiral Xan explained.

"But I would never send active geth to the Fleet! Everything I sent was disabled and harmless!" Tali explained.

"Then explain how geth seized the lab ship where your father was working!" Admiral Koris sneered. The assembled quarians began muttering amongst themselves and John blinked.

"What are you talking about? What happened?" Tali demanded. Soon the crowd died down at Raan's calls for order before Admiral Gerrel spoke up.

"As far as we can tell Tali, the geth killed everyone on the Alarei, your father included." He said gently.

"What? Oh Keelah…" Tali moaned and John stepped forward.

"I appreciate the need for this trial Admirals, but right now our first concern must be the safety of the Migrant Fleet. The Normandy stands ready to assist in whatever capacity you need." John offered. This was getting out of hand fast.

"Thank you. Quarian strike teams have attempted to retake the ship, so far without success." Admiral Raan explained.

"Shepard, we have to take back the Alarei!" Tali pleaded and John nodded in agreement.

"The safest course would be to simply destroy the ship. But if you are looking for an honorable death instead of exile..." Admiral Koris chimed in.

"I'm looking for my father, you bosh'tet!" Tali shouted at him and Jane smirked at that, glad her helmet made her mouth less than visible.

"Easy, easy," John murmured placing hand on Tali's arm.

"You intend to retake the Alarei from the geth? This proposal is extremely dangerous." Raan said.

"With your permission Admirals, yes. The good of the fleet must come first, and Tali needs to find her father." John explained.

"Agreed. And if you die on this worthy mission, Tali, we will see that your name is cleared of these charges," Admiral Gerrel exclaimed.

"We can discuss that later," Admiral Koris said.

"Then it is decided. You will attempt to retake the Alarei." Admiral Raan said. "You are hereby given leave to depart the Rayya. A shuttle will be waiting at the secondary docking hangar. Be safe, Tali. This hearing will resume upon your return, or upon determination that you have been killed in action."

John exchanged a look with Tali and they immediately headed off. That had so not gone according to plan.

~*TF*~

"Wait, don't leave just yet," Jane stated and the two paused. "Work the room."

"You don't play politics..." John started.

"I had to get better since my more charismatic brother left. While I'm no social butterfly, I know when to tip my hat to my allies," Jane pointed out some familiar suits. "That's the kid you got the first evidence of Collectors from right?

"How did you know that?" John asked and Jane gave him a look.

"I read the Cerberus report. I felt guilty, I asked Tali and the Fleet to send their kids to our colonies on a hunch. It was my fault the kid got messed up, I should know his damn name," Jane said and John nodded at that logic.

"Making a good point, but how did you know?" John asked.

"Not gonna lie, put a program on my Kuwashii," Jane said pointing at her visor. "Gives me name tags if the users are actively tied to extranet, lucky for me, almost all quarians are when on their ships." Tali seemed stunned. "Why are you looking surprised, you were the one the recommended the program to me?"

"I thought you weren't listening," Tali confessed.

"We need to work the room," Jane stated and they went to talk to Victor who was clearly on Team Tali. It made Jane's skin crawl to see Admiral Xen more into the politics than the future of the individuals. Not a quarian Jane wanted to encounter much. As much as Xen was a disappointment, it was a pleasure to see Kal'Reegar again.

"Kal, nice to see you alive," Jane said after Tali greeted him.

"Ma'am, still living risky?" he asked and Jane winced.

"Comms stay on," she confessed and he nodded.

"You watching Tali's back?" he asked and Jane looked to John.

"I'm not the captain of the Normandy, but I'm watching out for her. She's one of the few friends I've kept over the last couple years, can't let her down when she needs me," Jane said and Kal seemed pleased.

"She needs friends now," he said and John and Tali started to walk away. Jane noticed the angle of Kal's head.

"If you don't mind me saying, Kal, you miss 100% of the shots you never take," Jane stated and Kal's head jerked up.

"Don't know what you mean, ma'am," he said and Jane chuckled.

"Don't try to play it off on a sniper who knows angles, soldier," Jane shot back and the little button on his helmet flickered. "Between the two of us. Tali's going to need a good friend...romantically even...relatively soon." Kal was looking at how Tali and John were speaking to Admiral Raan.

"She looks like she has one chosen," he stated and Jane shook her head.

"I thought you knew body posture better than that," she replied and Kal stared. "She's going to be heartbroken relatively soon."

"Is he..." Kal started sounding agitated and Jane held up a hand.

"Humans males have this problem, they will tell a person that they have no romantic feelings while performing actions that give the impression of romantic feelings," Jane explained, really hoping she was right about her brother and Tali. "John is in a very serious relationship with an asari." Kal looked at her and then seemed thoughtful.

"I think I understand," he said.

"I'll be there for Tali, but a quarian friend might go further than a human related to the id...the offending gentleman," Jane explained and Kal nodded.

"I'm reading you, ma'am," he said and Jane nodded as she headed after Tali and John who were moving towards Admiral Gerrel, who turned out to be Team Tali as well. Jane couldn't help liking Admiral Gerrel, he sounded like someone she could be friends with.

"You believe I'm innocent, don't you, Admiral?" Tali asked Gerrel and it was clear from his body posture that he was confident.

"I know you and your father. You've put too much of yourselves into this fleet to do anything to jeopardize our safety. And you're both smart enough not to make mistakes like the ones they're saying you made," Gerrel said before giving them a good run down on the situation. He didn't expect survivors and Tali took exception to that. As she barked at Gerrel, John went to move towards, Tali and Jane moved in his way. Jane wanted to see Gerrel's reactions. "I know that, Tali. But if Shala hadn't suggested you might volunteer, we'd already have destroyed the Alarei. That's where we stand." Jane and John shared a look. Shala and Gerrel had allowed this to be a path for Tali to clear her name. The twins' eyes narrowed, they were going to take that opportunity.

"How did you know Rael?" John asked and Gerrel chuckled.

"We served together on the gunship Yaska during a bad batarian raid. We were kids, serving pre-Pilgrimage as trainees. A crew of ten, and six were dead. Kinetic barriers were down. Rael and I were alone on the bridge, and the batarians had drawn off a tramp fighter," Gerrel said in the way of an old soldier telling a good story.

"Did you save the freighter?" Jane asked.

"Our ship was under order to hold position. But Rael looked at me and said, 'We're underage. They can't charge us for breaking formation.' He took the helm, I took the weapons, and we brought that freighter back. The crew called us heroes. The brass called us idiots. They slapped medals on our suits, then kicked us off to Pilgrimage a bit earlier than usual. That's Rael for you," Gerrel chuckled.

"Sounds like you two were a hell of a team," Jane commented and Gerrel chuckled. There was little humor, both Jane and Gerrel suspected that Rael was gone...Tali had hope and John was supporting her, so he wouldn't reveal his thoughts at all.

"Thank you, Admiral," Tali said before they headed over to Koris. Jane avoided speaking to the man...she found him unpleasant.

The shuttle ride over to the Alarei was quick and as soon as they exited hatch corpses and the signs of battle were evident.

John and Tali stayed close and Jane kept the six as they entered the first room. A living chamber with beds and kitchen. Two geth were active and quickly taken out. Not fast enough as more units entered, but it was easy to take them out. Jane put singularities in the only entrance and any geth with shielding high enough were quickly met with either Tali's drone or John's shotgun. The previous marines had probably dropped the numbers of geth, but the geth could probably use old units to make functional ones. The onslaught paused.

"They'll want us to move into a different place to try again," Tali theorized and the Shepards nodded. It was a likely result. "There's a log here." As Tali played it, the story of the Alarei began.

"Something's slowing down the systems. We're taking down the firewalls to rebalance load distribution. Rael'Zorah ordered us to bypass standard safeties. Following security protocols will take too long," the quarian on the log explained and Tali shook her head.

"Dangerous..." she whispered and Jane worried about what else they would learn. The hallway was empty and they entered room to see a storage unit.

"This is one of the storage units I sent to Father," Tali explained. John and Jane shared a look, if this was the standard unit size of what Tali was sending back...there was no way she was sending a full geth unit, even when they retracted into their smaller sizes like what Benezia had used on Noveria. "Looks like parts from a disabled repair drone, plus a reflex algorithm that I didn't recognize. I got this on Haestrom."

"What made a part worth sending back to your father?" Jane asked.

"It had to be in working order. Something that could be analyzed and integrated into other technology," Tali said. Nothing new for quarian operating procedure. "Anything new had priority. Technology the geth had developed themselves. Signs of modification, clues to their thinking."

"Does that salvaged gear give you a clue as to what happened here?" John asked and Tali shook her head.

"No. I don't know. Shepard, I checked everything I sent here. I passed up great finds because they might be too dangerous, prone to uncontrolled reactivation or self-repair," Tali explained and John placed a hand on her shoulder. Tali visibly relaxed and Jane bit her tongue. "I don't know which possibility is worse; that I got sloppy and sent something dangerous, or that Father actually did all this." They continued on to find another log.

"Who's running this system diagnostic? I didn't authorize...oh, Keelah. How many geth are networked?" a female quarian asked.

"All of them, Rael'Zorah-" the male replied.

"Shut it down! Shut everything down! They're in the system!" the female cried before the log ended and the group shared a look.

"Keelah..." Tali whispered. It did not look good for Rael. They continued on and the geth tried to get the team again, but a fortunate choke point allowed the team to confront the geth on a stair way. Jane's singularities worked as a great stopping and slowing point while Tali and John kept them back. Jane played the next log.

"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!" the female quarian confessed before the sounds of geth and gunfire. Jane stared at the screen before downloading the log onto her omni-tool.

"We don't have to do that you know," John said and Jane gave him a look.

"Jona and his father don't need to wait for the Alarei to be cleaned before knowing," Jane said.

"You don't mean to..." John said and Jane gave him a look.

"I was planning on giving this directly to the Admirals," Jane explained and John nodded.

They ended up in a research area when geth entered through two doors.

"Tali and I have left!" John shouted and Jane focused on the right. Singularity in the door and then sniper fire through the units. They were decimating the units. If they could get choke points like this, it would be easy. Thankfully the earlier waves of marines probably brought the number of functional units down. The primes made the fight a little harder, but it was a good sign that they were only seeing the primes now, the geth were desperate. Once they left the room they found a console.

"This console might have something. Most of the data is corrupted, but a few bits are left," Tali commented before working on her omni-tool. "They were performing experiments on geth systems, looking for new ways to overcome geth resistance to reprogramming."

"Did you know what kind of tests your father was running?" John asked and Tali shook her head.

"No. Father just told me to send back any geth technology I could find that wasn't a direct danger to the Fleet. I suspected he might be testing weapons, but I thought he was just working on new ways to bypass shields or armor," Tali said, sounding so confused. It hurt Jane to her the uncertainty in her friend's voice.

"Could any of that data clear your name?" John asked.

"Doubtful. This is mostly results data. Effects of different disruptive hacking techniques. I don't understand all of it. But...they may have been activating the geth deliberately. I don't know. Nothing here says specifically. But if they were...then Father was doing something terrible," Tali said, staring at the screen. "What was all this, Father? You promised you'd build me a house on the homeworld. Was this going to bring us back home?" John moved to comfort Tali, but Jane backed up, looking down the hallway in case geth came. Now would be the worse time for an ambush.

The next room was awful, too open, a desperate wave of geth. It was bad and their shields were the only thing protecting the group from falling. After what felt like hours, they headed down. Another log.

"First entry: Our hacking attempts failed. The geth have an adaptive consciousness. Hack one process, and the others auto-correct. Still, we're making progress. Rael'Zorah is convinced we'll have a viable system in less than a year. This weapon will put our people back on the homeworld. And it's all because of Rael'Zorah," the female quarian said happily. She was probably somewhere on the ship dead now. Jane shook her head as they entered the next area to find a quarian body. Tali cried out and Jane's heart dropped even though she was prepared for this.

"Father!" Tali cried kneeling by the body. "No, no, no! You always had a plan. Masked life signs, or, or an onboard medical stasis program, maybe. You! You wouldn't...They're wrong! You wouldn't just die like this! You wouldn't leave me to clean up your mess! You can't!" Tears pricked at Jane's eyes. She knew the feeling of seeing your parents dead in a horrible mess. Too familiar and the pain hit hard.

"Hey. Hey, come here." John said, helping Tali up and hugged her tightly. "It's alright, I'm here. I'll always be here." Jane closed her eyes at that, John used to say that to her when she woke in their room in the middle of the night when they were kids. Her nightmares had always seemed so bad but with her brother he seemed like he could keep them away. It had been a hard lesson to learn that people leave...even if said brother had come back.

"Damn it! Damn it I'm sorry," Tali cried and John rubbed her back.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about." John soothed. Tali took a deep breath and sniffled before pulling away.

"Maybe... He would have known I'd come. Maybe he left a message," Tali said moving toward her father and checking his omni-tool. After working she got a message from him to play.

"Tali. If you are listening, then I am dead. The geth have gone active. I don't have much time. 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-" the message cut off with a crackle.

"Thanks Dad," Tali whispered.

"He knew you'd come for him. He was trying to help you. It's not perfect. It's not what you wanted. But it's the best he could do." John said coming up next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder Tali sniffed but got up.

"I don't know what's worse: thinking he never really cared, or thinking that he did, and that this was the only way he could show it." Tali bit out. She pulled her shotgun free and checked the heat sink. "It doesn't matter. One way or the other, I cared. And I'm here. And we're ending this."

The team headed up the stairs they found a precious few geth units still standing and these guys had the shields. Jane was quick to wear them down, throwing warps. John and Tali kept up the firing while Jane's biotics came down full force. Hopefully all the training with Jack, Grunt, and Samara was paying off as Jane slammed the prime into the floor, knocking parts off with the force. They approached the console the geth were monitoring.

"This console is linked to the main hub Father mentioned. Disabling it shut down any geth we missed. It looks like some of the recordings remained intact. They'll tell us how this happened, what father did.

"You sound like you don't really want to hear it," Jane stated, a hand on Tali's shoulder.

"No. We have to, I know. I just...this is terrible, Shepard. I don't want to know what he was part of this," Tali confessed before she activated the log.

"Do we have enough parts to bring more online?" Rael asked.

"Yes. The new shipment from your daughter will let us add two more geth to the network," a male quarian said.

"We're nearing a breakthrough on system viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the Admiralty Board, just to be safe," a female quarian proposed.

"No. 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 politicians argue," Rael said.

"We'd have an easier time of it if Tali'Zorah could send back more working material," the male quarian added.

"Absolutely not. I don't want Tali exposed to any political blowback," Rael demanded. "Leave Tali'Zorah out of this. Assemble new geth with what we have. Bypass security protocols if need be." The video ended.

"It sounds like he was doing this for you," John stated and Jane fought the urge to smack her brother. Yeah, exactly what Tali wanted to hear right now.

"I never wanted this, Shepard. Keelah, I never wanted this," Tali said in a tone that spoke of pure heartbreak. "Everything here is his fault! I tried to pretend it didn't point to him, but this...When this comes up in the trial, they'll...We can't tell them, not the admirals, not anyone."

"Tali, without this evidence, you're looking at exile!" John whispered.

"You think I don't know that? You think I want to live knowing that I can never see the Fleet again?" Tali asked. "But I can't go back into that room and say that my father was the worst war criminal in our people's history. I cannot."

"We're not going to decide anything here. Let's see what the admirals say once we get back," Jane interjected.

"You're my captain in this hearing, Shepard. It's your decision. But please. Don't destroy what my father was," Tali said to John. "Come on. If we wait too long, they'll decide we're already dead, and none of this will matter."

"It's be a shame if a wiping program was lose on the Alarei when we go," Jane said on her comm, switched to private to Tali. As Jane took lead with John behind her, Tali paused before playing on her omni-tool and quickly following the two Shepards.

~*TF*~

"Jesus Christ!" Jane exclaimed as they entered the airlock and they heard the Admirals meeting echoing down the halls. "They already resumed the trial. We've only been gone four hours!"

"Come on, let's move," John said moving them down the halls at a brisk pace. They headed quickly into the garden plaza and Tali strode up to the dais. Jane moved to take a seat at the top of the steps for the show.

"Sorry we're late," Tali drawled and John smirked.

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy saved the Alarei. She just proved her loyalty to the Quarian people." John said.

"Her loyalty was never in doubt. Only her judgment." Admiral Koris noted.

"Perhaps Tali'Zorah can offer something to encourage more trust in her judgment." Admiral Raan noted.

"Did you find anything on the Alarei that could clarify what happened there?" Admiral Gerrel inquired and Tali shot John a pleading look.

"John, please…" Tali begged as he moved forward.

"Does Captain Shepard have any new evidence to submit to this hearing?" Admiral Raan asked.

"Tali helped me defeat Saren and the geth at the Citadel. That should be all the evidence you need. But if you want more, I can present the Normandy, which Tali also saved from geth forces, even though it's too quiet for her to sleep well." John snarked.

"We still don't know what happened on the Alarei!" Admiral Koris snapped.

"No, Admiral, you don't. But you gave her my name. I'm her captain. I trust her with my life, and I'm telling you that she's innocent." John snapped back. "You're not really interested in Tali, are you? This trial isn't about her. It's about the geth."

"How dare you-" Admiral Koris snarled but John cut him off.

"You want people to sympathize with them! Han'Gerrel wants to go to war! None of you care about Tali! Tali'Zorah saved the Citadel! She saved the Alarei! She showed the galaxy the value of the quarian people. I can't think of stronger evidence than that!" John snapped and the crowd cheered. As he stepped back the Admirals all exchanged glances with one another.

"Are the Admirals prepared to render their judgement?" Admiral Raan asked. John watched as they each inputted their decision into their omni-tools and Raan's screen lit up with the results.

"Tali'Zorah, in light of your history of service, we do not find sufficient evidence to convict. You are cleared of all charges." Admiral Raan declared and Tali breathed a deep sigh of relief. "Shepard vas Normandy, the Fleet appreciates the passion and honor with which you represented one of our people."

"With all due respect Admirals I didn't represent one of your people, I represented one of mine." John stated.

"This hearing is concluded. Go in peace, Tali-Zorah vas Normandy. Keelah se'lai." Admiral Raan said and the crowd began to break up.

'Now,' John thought and moved forward.

"Admirals," John spoke loudly. They paused as they were leaving the dias. "Under my authority as a Spectre for the Citadel Council I request to brief you regarding security of your fleet with Tali-Zorah vas Normandy as my technical advisor. Spectre Jane Shepard will witness such." The Captains began to chatter excitedly amongst themselves.

"You have no authority to request such from us!" Admiral Koris exclaimed.

"He said as a Spectre not as a captain Admiral," Admiral Raan stated. "Under that title he does."

"Very well. There is a secure conference room not far from here. Follow us," Admiral Xen said and lead the way. Jane hurried to catch up and as she followed she watch Tali reach out and take John's hand. He squeezed it reassuringly as they followed the Admirals into the conference room. Guards took up position outside and they entered. The Admirals positioned themselves on one side so John stood across from them. He withdrew five datapads from his belt pouch and placed them on the table before them.

"Please read this Admirals and everything will become clear as to the purpose to this meeting." John explained. Jane took the extra pad obviously meant for Tali's father. As she read she felt shock and surprise fill her but that couldn't keep her from grinning.

"This is outrageous!" Admiral Gerrel exclaimed tossing the datapad onto the conference table. "Geth terms of peace? Board boundaries? Trade proposals?! TERMS OF RESUMING SERVICE AND ASSOCIATED PAY?!"

"Fascinating. They seem to evolving themselves into a singular body." Admiral Xen noted.

"How is this possible?" Admiral Raan said in awe.

"During one of our earlier mission we ran into a Geth unit," John explained. "One of my crewmen is that Geth platform. He is designated as Legion. I have spoken to him when I get the chance, gotten to know him. I believe they genuinely want peace with you."

"This, why did you not present this during your trial?" Admiral Koris and Tali huffed.

"I was being accused of bringing active Geth back to the fleet and endangering your all. What would you have done if we presented this now in an open conclave? I would have been exiled on the spot!"

"Admirals, I realize after recent events this is huge shock but think about this. You could have Rannoch back without firing a shot, without a single lost ship. By this time next month you could be home." Jane spoke up shooting her brother a proud look.

"I don't think we will move that fast Spectre Jane Shepard. We shall discuss this with all serious thought. Thank you for bringing this to our attention Spectre Shepard." Admiral Raan said. "If there's nothing more we'd like to discuss this in private and I'm sure you have a mission to resume."

"We do Admirals," John acknowledged. "I hope you make the right decision." As they were leaving Raan stopped Tali and John noticed Jane speaking to Gerrel before sending him something from her omni-tool. Tali hugged the woman to her tightly and John grinned at what he heard.

"You are wonderful, my dear girl. Thank you."

"I love you, Auntie."

~*TF*~

"Pretty sneaky there," Jane stated as they sat in the transport shuttle and John smirked.

"Thank you," he said and Jane smiled, looking at nothing.

"You may have ended a two hundred year war," Jane stated with a smile. While she couldn't tell John about this, she was damn sure going to let the Council know that if this happened, it was fully done by Spectre John Shepard and her name wasn't going anywhere on the fucking record. She looked at John as he and Tali spoke. However, Tali needed to be talked to, this was going to be fucking awkward.

A few minutes late they were exiting the shuttle and in the elevator. Tali exited first in Engineering before Jane stopped John from hitting her floor. She hit his room.

"What?" he asked.

"We need to talk," Jane said and he gave her a look. Once the elevator was moving again she spoke. "It's about Tali."

"We did a great job, she's safe," John said and Jane sighed.

"John, you know how some men say one thing but because they are naturally protective and kind and supportive, people sometimes don't believe them when they say they have no romantic feelings?" Jane stated and he stared at her. The door opened and they entered. John started to remove his armor as Jane leaned against the wall.

"Be blunt, you're better at that," John said and Jane rolled her eyes.

"Does Tali know you and Liara are still going strong?" Jane asked and John blinked.

"I broke it to her," he said.

"Did you?" Jane asked before pulling up some of her footage from her visor onto her omni-tool. It was John and Tali speaking to Raan. Tali was leaning into John and his shoulder was bumping into hers. It was supporting, but with her body posture looked different.

"Oh..." John said and Jane nodded.

"And you just saved her from exile while keeping her father from being labeled a war criminal," Jane said, putting down her cards and John looked thoughtful. "I'm not saying you're the bad guy or you are doing anything wrong. You are being you, however, you are a kind, supportive, heroic man who has a woman he is madly in love with not on the ship and you just played the role of a very heroic captain in the eyes of a young quarian woman...who is very clearly infatuated with you. I know I'm blindsiding you with this, so I'll leave it at that. You need to break it to Tali clearly the truth between you."

"Thanks, Jane," John said and Jane nodded as she headed to the elevator. "It's good to have my baby sister watching out for me."

"Only by fourteen minutes," Jane shot back as the elevator closed.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: April 13th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR-2, Mid-Transit

"Do you think they'll vote for it?" John asked Tali and she sighed. Jane noticed that Tali was still chipper a clear sign she and John had not had a bitter talk.

"Keelah, I hope so," Tali mused. "The problem is the board in unbalanced after my father died. It take months to appoint another. Auntie Raan is admiral of the Patrol Fleet, Koris is in charge of the Civilian Fleet, Gerrel of the Heavy Fleet and Xen is in charge of the Special Projects ships. My father was Admiral of Mediation. He was formerly Admiral of the Special Projects but after Admiral Koolat retired he took his place. In the events of arguments and ties he would be the deciding factor."

"And without that the Admirals have no guidance," John noted and Tali sighed.

"It's actually worse than that, John. The heavy fleet makes up forty percent of the fleet and only the civilian fleet comes close. So if the heavy fleet decides against the board to do something it could drag the others along." Tali noted.

"And Han'Gerrel wants war," Jane said leaning back in her chair. "Shit."

"That about sums it up," Tali agreed.

"So where are we heading, John?" Jane asked and John sighed.

"Legion discovered when they were interfaced with the Collector ship the Heretic Geth are working on a virus to rewrite the Geth to agree with them with Reaper codes. We're heading for a Heretic station to destroy the virus." John said the ladies stared at him.

"What?" Tali exclaimed and Jane rubbed her temples.

"You didn't mention it earlier because if the Quarians learned of it they would attack immediately," Jane reasoned and John nodded.

'It's Legion's price. If we help them, it proves peace with the Quarians is possible." John said and Jane nodded.

"It's good to know even the Geth know tit for tat," Jane mused.

~*TF*~

The Normandy approached the geth station. This time it was the Shepards and Legion on the bridge with Joker. The pilot was not pleased.

"You know it's just our heat emissions that are hidden, right? They can look out a window and see us coming," Joker pointed out and Jane nodded at that assessment.

"Windows are structural weaknesses. Geth do not use them. Approach the hull at these coordinates," Legion explained, entering the coordinates onto a console while Joker mocked the AI behind his back. "Access achieved. We may proceed." Jane shook her head in amusement of Joker. John gave Joker a look and Jane felt sympathy for the pilot. John gave Jane a look.

"I'm not his commander," Jane stated and John rolled his eyes.

"Let's go," John said and the three headed to the shuttle. In only minutes they were cutting through the airlock of the ship and entering.

"Alert. This facility has little air or gravity. Geth require neither," Legion explained and Jane rolled her eyes as she looked around.

"Won't we be detected? Don't they have intrusion alarms?" John asked and Jane looked at Legion.

"Sensors have been reduced. We have infiltrated their wireless network and filled the data storage with random bits," Legion explained. The twins shared a look, nope, that meant nothing to either of them.

"And that helps us...how?" Jane asked.

"The heretics must scrub this "junk" data. They have partitioned themselves into local networks, working in parallel," Legion explained. "Any alarm we trigger will not go beyond the room we are in. Only accessing the main core will trigger a station-wide alert."

"Oh...that's good," Jane sighed. "Maybe we can go room by room destroying all the units before we hit the main core?"

"Not logical, it will take hours, even over a day to clear each room in this station," Legion said and Jane shot John a look. He returned it with one that said 'what did you expect?' She sighed and they headed in.

"Shepard-Commander, Shepard-Spectre. We concluded that destruction of this station was the only resolution to the heretic question. There is now a second option," Legion said. "Their virus can be repurposed. If released into the station's network, the heretics will be rewritten to accept our truth." Jane's skin crawled at that.

"Legion...that sounds...unethical..." Jane stated.

"We were planning to blow them up," John pointed out and Jane shrugged.

"Why didn't you mention this before we came aboard?" Jane asked.

"We did not know the virus was complete. It is. It can be used against the true geth at any time. Our arrival was timely," Legion explained.

"They're your people, Legion. You must have an opinion," John said.

"This is new data. We have not yet reached consensus," Legion stated.

"I wouldn't brainwash an organic race. I can't see treating the geth differently," Jane commented.

"The question is irrelevant. If we do not rewrite them, we destroy them. That is why we are here. Do not hesitate now. They will exterminate your species because their gods tell them to. You cannot negotiate with them. They do not share your pity, remorse, or fear," Legion explained and Jane nodded at that. The team slowly moved through the ship until they reached a room with lights on the floor.

"Interrupting data streams will alert local network. We recommend preemptive strikes against the hardlink routers," Legion stated as they entered the room and noticed the geth units around hubs.

"Grenades sure would be nice right about now," John sighed and Jane nodded.

"They would," Jane stated. "Blow it and I'll put up a singularity," Jane said.

"Affirmative," Legion added. It was quick to blow the hub up and then take out the geth.

Legion was quick to hack turrets so the team to cake on more geth. John took point, Legion middle, and Jane took six again. Each time they came to hubs it was easy for the team to split, blow the hub and pick off the geth. There were few units in the hallways of the maze like ship.

"Legion, I have to point out, this ship is not very...logically set up," Jane pointed out after they fought in a massive chamber. Legion's optics flared.

"We do not comprehend, this structure is designed with optimal efficiency for geth," he said and Jane nodded.

"Did you think it would really make sense?" John asked.

"Yes?" Jane stated while shaking her head. "I should have known it wouldn't cross the synthetic organic lines."

After more time in the maze like hallways and more confrontation with the geth, the team was in a hallway with windows exposing a room with strange containers.

"Legion...what are those?" Jane asked and the unit looked.

"Processors. Each contains thousands of geth," Legion explained.

"And they can't detect us?" John asked.

"They are no more aware of use than you are of cells in your bloodstream," Legion explained, Jane felt immediate comfort from that.

"This isn't like the other hubs we've seen here," John pointed out.

"This is a database. It contains a portion of the heretics' accumulated memories," Legion explained before his optics widened almost in comical shock. "Wait. We discovered copies of our current patrol routes in this database. This suggests the heretics have runtimes within our networks."

"We wouldn't be here if the heretics wanted to be friends with the geth. Why wouldn't they spy on you?" Jane asked.

"You do not understand. Organics do not know each other's minds. Geth do. We are not suspicious. We accept each other. The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us," Legion stated.

"And Cain slew Abel," Jane muttered.

"It couldn't have lasted forever. You disagreed about what path your race should take," John explained.

"Human history is a litany of blood shed over differing ideals of rulership and afterlife. Geth have no such history. We shared consensus on such things. How could we have become so different? Why can we no longer understand each other? What did we do wrong?" Legion said and for once, Jane felt pity for the geth.

"When individuals are separated, they develop in different ways. When they get back together, they don't always get along," Jane said. "I didn't trust my brother when he first returned."

"If this is the individuality you value, we question your judgment," Legion shot back and Jane wondered if that was a joke. "This topic is irrelevant. We must return to the mission." It was a relief to make it to the main core.

"This is it?" John asked.

"Yes. We will upload a copy of our runtime into the core. It will delete all copies of the virus. When complete it will notify us," Legion explained. "The indexing operation will take time. The heretics will respond with force to our upload we must hold this room."

As Legion started the process the Shepards took positions above either stairs.

"Jane, singularity!" John cried and the two kept the geth low. After a long point the console beeped.

"Datamine and analysis complete," Legion stated. "It is time to choose. Do we rewrite the heretics, or delete them?"

"Why are you letting me make this decision? They're you people," John said.

"We are conflicted. There is no consensus among our higher-order runtimes: 573 favor rewrite, and 571 favor destruction. You have fought the heretics. You have perspective we lack. The geth grant their fate to you," Legion said and John and Jane shared a look.

"If they're...rewritten. Your people will accept them back? Will they even want to go back?"

"They will agree with our judgments and return. We will integrate their experiences. All will be stronger," Legion explained. John looked at Jane.

"I have nothing to say. I'm the one that spared the Rachni remember. How about you be the one who spares the geth?" Jane muttered and John chuckled as he nodded.

"Take them, then. When we get control of the core, release the virus," John said.

"Acknowledged," Legion stated as it took to the panel. "Releasing virus. Note: Remote access via high gain transmission required."

"What does that mean?" John asked.

"The virus will be sent to heretics in nearby star systems. This station will broadcast a powerful electromagnetic pulse through FTL channels," Legion explained.

"How...powerful?" Jane asked.

"Yield in excess of 1.21 petawatts. Alert: EM flux will be hazardous to unshielded organic forms. Addendum: the interior of this station is not shielded," Legion stated and the twins shared a look.

"It is never easy!" Jane groaned as the team took off. More geth appeared.

"Nope...no time!" John cried with a charge as Jane threw singularities. Of course geth after geth got in the way all the way to the Normandy.

~*TF*~

Earth Date: April 14th, 2186 CE

Location: Normandy SR-2, Mid-Transit

"Uh John Tali just went to have a chat with Legion. You better get to the AI Core," Joker called out. John scowled.

"I'm on it, Joker," John snapped turning around from heading for the gun battery and heading for the AI core. He walked in just in time to see Tali pointing a gun at Legion's head.

"John, I'm glad you're here. I found out Legion scanned my omni-tool. It was going to send data about the flotilla back to the Geth!" Tali exclaimed.

"Creators performed weapons tests and were discussing plans to attack us. We believe is necessary to warn our people!" Legion protested.

"We already made the Geth stronger by rewriting the ones that worshipped the Reapers! I won't let Legion endanger the Fleet by giving them more information!" Tali countered.

"Creator-Tali'Zorah acts out of loyalty to her people. She was willing to be exiled to protect them. We must also protect our people from the Creator threat if they do not accept our proposal." Legion noted.

"You can't let this happen John! I trusted you, I trusted this platform but this is too much!"

"Enough! Tali your father was running brutal experiments! If the subjects had been human, I'd damn well be telling the Alliance about it." John snapped.

"I know John but if the Geth find out…" Tali trailed off.

"They'd attack. Which would destroy any chance of peace and leave both sides vulnerable to the Reapers. Do you want that Legion?" John asked turning to the Geth. Legion shifted.

"We believe it was necessary to relay the information." Legion explained.

"Sooner or later you both have to stop fighting this war. You're on the verge of peace." John stressed. "The Geth have reached out a hand and the Quarians just have to take it but if you do this those hands will be pointing guns at the other. For just one minute trust the other. Mistakes have been made on both sides, don't continue those mistakes." He watched them and Legion finally spoke up.

"To facilitate cohesion between our people we will not transmit data regarding creator plans." John breathed out a sigh of relief as Tali lowered the gun.

"Thank you Legion…I understand your intentions. What if I gave you non-classified data to send?" Tali offered.

"We would be grateful." Legion said. John smiled and walked away satisfied they wouldn't do anything rash.

~*TF*~

Toby's Note: I don't know how many of you talk to Legion a lot given the small amount of time you get him near the end of the game. I have a very, very odd Shepard play through. Titan Shepard is paragon but let's people die for the greater good. I had him rush through everything and leave ALL extra missions for till after your get Legion. Horrible I know but Titan took Legion everywhere after that. Tuchanka, Citadel, Illium, everywhere. I saw some great scenes especially if you take him to Tali's trial. The best was talking to him. I learned so much from those talks. The Dyson Sphere, the early Geth asking about a soul, all of it. One of the reasons I wanted Legion early was so John would have had those talks. If you don't want to do that yourselves look on YouTube for Mass Effect Trilogy: Legion All Scenes Complete(ME2, ME3) by Jagur550. I use their videos for scene watching to type out lines correctly but they have all of Legions' dialogue.

Belle's Note: So fun note. Toby started this chapter long before Covid. I got it the week Covid shut down my job. My job shut down early, so don't think this is recent. I can work from home. It was super weird. It was awful writing and at the time of me making this note, it is almost a straight month since my job went weird and I got all discombobulated. I have to say this. Do not be afraid, do not be scared. Worried and concerned, sure, but the truth is, we live in a time where medicine is at its best ever. Right now across the world medical teams are coming up with ways to fight and protect life. I got really nasty with Toby during this and snapped at him and was a right c*nt because, well, it is getting to me. However, I'm not afraid something bad will happen. Everyone I know is doing the right thing and staying safe. I ask all of you, do the right thing and stay safe. We will get through this together. The best way I've seen it said as "I feel like a kindergartener who is waiting for recess but because some idiots are still misbehaving we have to stay inside that much longer." Don't be an idiot, just do what you're supposed to and more of us will get through this.

~*TF*~

OMAKE 1

"John..." Jane warned and John looked back at her.

"What?" he asked as he rubbed Tali's shoulders while they watched the movie in his room.

"How is this not a mixed message?!" Jane cried and he blinked.

"Don't you give your friends' deep tissue massages?" he asked.

"Yeah, Jane, where's my deep tissue massage?" Jack chirped.

"Shut up!" Jane snapped.

OMAKE 2

Jane and John rested in the entry way while Tali caught up with Raan and Gerrel to go over what she was responsible for regarding her father's passing. Each of the twins' would swivel their heads now and again.

"Their suits..." John started.

"...are pretty nice," Jane finished.

"Do you think they know that they have nice..." John started and Jane hissed.

"Keep it down, otherwise they're gonna start dressing like female krogans around humans," Jane shushed as Kal walked by and Jane's eyes went low. "But I think they know and they're teasing each other."

"Probably," John snickered as a male and female quarian walked by and both twins twisted their heads sideways to watch the shapely posteriors.

Belle: So...not gonna lie. I really have always thought the male quarians were super cute, specifically their body shape with those great suits. And while I love Kal, that Admiral Gerrel *sighs*...what a silver fox! *giggles* My favorite scene with him is that story about Rael and him as kids. Fun fact: He is voiced by the same actor as Teyrn Loghain and it KILLED me the first time I played this scene because I was like "I know this voice." That actor Simon Templeman also starred in one of my FAVORITE sitcom comedies The Neighbors. It only made it like two seasons but it made me laugh so hard. I should see if I can stream it...

OMAKE 3

Inspired by scenes from Gregg Landsman's Glorious Shotgun Princess series (pure crack fanfiction, great for a laugh!), for your viewing pleasure here is scene from the future of Twin Fates during the Geth and Quarian peace talks!

*cue dissolve special effect*

"Now that the Creators have agreed to make reimbursement in monetary or goods for services provided by the Geth, Geth wish for clarification of services that they shall be called upon to perform," the Prime unit designated Wotton asked.

"Why do you need such distinctions?" Raan inquired. "Are all Geth units capable of performing all physical tasks?"

"All Geth units are capable of basic physical tasks," Wotton began. "However some tasks maybe better addressed by a Prime unit rather than a typical unit. Also after the creators left we altered our frames to remove the services only needed to please the Creators."

"What kinds of equipment would that be? Please us how?" Xen inquired and Jane watched in amusement as the Prime unit shifted uncomfortably.

"Geth units do not have phallic or yonic devices for Creator intimacy at this time and we also currently do not oscillate, vibrate or have lubrication that the Creators would find edible. Installing such measures would need to be discussed."

"…" Raan said.

"…" Gerrel said.

"…" Korris said.

"…" Tali said.

"…" John said.

"…" Jane said.

"…fascinating." Xen said. "Tell me are you capable of manipulating our Nerve Stim programs as well?"

"We are, Creator-Xen." Wotton replied.

"Please demonstrate!"

"Wait, what?" Jane exclaimed as all of the Prime unit's head panels extended and the light on its head increased in intensity.

"Access firewalls of encounter suit for Creator-Xen. Accessing program Nerve Stim Pro Platinum Edition. Setting: A Weekend on Palaven. Species: Turian. Sex: Male."

Xen did a whole body shiver but not much else besides cocking her head on at the Geth unit. John wondered if he should stop this or record it for Fornax.

"That was a nice warm up, however I consider that foreplay on a Friday night. What are you truly capable of?" Xen drawled and Raan buried her face into her hands.

"We had not anticipated these negotiations going in this direction," Ambassador Wotton noted. "We have accessed our consensus and downloaded all files needed. Note, a human phrase comes to mind. You asked and now you shall receive. Accessing program Nerve Stim Pro Platinum Edition. Setting: Purging the Fevah! Species: Krogan. Sex: Male." To the shock of everyone Xen shuddered and stretched her arms above her head.

"My you are inventive," she purred, "but if you were to check my program's history you would see my most used scenario is Legend of the Overfiend."

"Oh dear God!" Jane exclaimed in horror.

"I'm right there with you sis." John said. It was like a train wreck. You could not look away. The Geth seemed to take this as a challenge.

"Acknowledged Creator-Xen. We have placed an enquiry on restricted areas of the extranet. One moment, scenario received. Response from Geth program, 693451875: Try this on for size. Uploading new scenario. Accessing program Nerve Stim Pro Platinum Edition. Setting: The Bride of Kalros. Species: Thresher Maw. Sex: Unknown."

"Holy shit!" Jane exclaimed.

"Hold on do not-!" John shouted but it was too late. Xen bucked in her seat and slid bonelessly to the floor. Before anyone could see if she was alive she let out a deep, throaty moan that stopped anyone from going near her.

"Oh yes, this will work just fine." She mewled.

"Fornax will not believe this."