HOLOCAUST

CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX:

COUNTERFACTUAL HISTORY PART ONE

July 9, 2186

0932 hours.

Troop Bay, UT-47A Kodiak Combat Shuttle, Dalpash Canyon, Former Country of Zel'Matesh, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.

Second Morning War, Operation: Pinpoint.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Flight Lieutenant Steve Cortez, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Legion.

The door to the cockpit shot open with a barely contained hiss, permitting Marcus entry through its narrow archway. There was a creak as armor plates scraped together, Marcus coming to stand behind Cortez with one hand at his side, another holding the ceiling handrails. While inertia dampeners had reduced the reaction of outside forces upon the interior of a fast moving vessel, it had not been able to totally defend its occupants from physics, and inertia still reigned in a limited form within the shuttle; so while they weren't being tossed about as they would without the dampeners, there was still the odd bump and jump as the shuttle traversed Rannoch's airspace.

"How's our travel vector, Cortez?" Marcus asked, his helmet already fastened over his head, "Have the geth picked us up?"

Cortez's hands continued to dance over the holographic interface as he replied, eyes focused on getting them to their destination, "Doesn't seem like it, Shepard. I haven't picked up any geth aircraft in the vicinity, none of their anti-aircraft guns have opened fire on us, and the only thing that's attacked us so far was an angry mother bird protecting its nest. Aside from that, not so much as a peep."

Geth have cloaking technology, but still haven't figured out a way to detect a vehicle using the IES. Good. The lack of geth interference would make reaching the Server Hub all the more easier, at least from their anti-air defenses. Once we're on the ground, though...that could become a different story very quickly. Got to approach this carefully.

"What's our ETA?" he requested, stiffling a yawn. Junior had kept him up all of last night with his crying, and as revenge for what he did to her the other day, Tali had made him go down to the shuttle bay and look after him while she slept. So while Tali had gotten a good night's rest, he had been up quite literally all night; By the time James woke up on his cot, Marcus was still pacing about the shuttle bay with his son in his arms, trying to calm him down without even knowing that the child was already asleep. When Keeling pointed that out, he had returned to his cabin in embarassment. He had tried catching a power nap while on route to Rannoch, but it wasn't enough to make up for the hours of sleep lost.

Unknown to Tali, he had taken a few adrenaline tablets from his private stash to keep him going. Essentially, once taken, he would have about as much energy as he would with a good night's sleep, and then some. He hadn't told Tali that however, as adrenaline tablets weren't always reliable; they could either give you a boost like they were designed to with no ill side effects, or they would, and would give you a heart attack later...or worse, overload your system, and kill you.

Sure, his cybernetics filtered this effect and only gave a five percent chance for said heart attack or death, but Tali didn't know that, and he wouldn't be telling her anytime soon. If she knew he was taking high risk factor tablets, she would crucify him. And there would be a trial. Followed by an exile to the couch.

Not exactly my fault or hers. If I had gotten any sleep, I wouldn't need them. But then Tali would be in my place, and she would be sleepy instead. Either way, someone loses. Might as well be me. At least I've got the tablets; Tali wouldn't be able to take them because they're designed for levos. She'd get the boost, and then subsequently fall deathly ill.

Either way, with the tablets now taking effect, he was as ready as he'd ever be for combat.

Cortez replied in the moment it took for Marcus to compile those thoughts, "Fifteen minutes at best. We're closing fast. This canyon is long, but this shuttle is fast. Just hold tight, captain."

The human spectre's only response was to lightly pat the pilot's shoulder, giving him a warm smile behind his helmet before retreating back into the troop bay of the shuttle, the aircraft shaking all the way.

All eyes pretty much turned towards him as they heard the door slide open once more to provide him entrance. Legion, being a geth, was standing up, facing the hatch with its head hung low as it likely sorted through data. Aside from the infiltrator however, everybody was sitting, with Tali and Garrus beside each other, and James, Keeling and Liara engaged in active conversation near the back, all of which stopped as they turned to face him.

He nodded to them quickly, before coming to a stop just infront of Legion, "We're fifteen minutes out. Recommend a last minute weapons check."

His squad did just that. Garrus and Tali immediately looked over their assault rifle and shotgun respectively, making sure thermal clips were loaded and the weapon wouldn't jam. James did the same with his Revenant and his newly acquired (and favourite) geth spitfire. Liara and Keeling also checked their weapons, while Legion rapidly drew both its Widow anti-material rifle and pulse rifle to check that they were loaded.

With Legion's attention now focused on reality, he turned back to the geth, gripping the railing even more tightly as a sudden gust of wind battered the shuttle, "What can you tell us about this server? What kind of resistance can we expect from within?"

The geth shook its head, turning its body entirely to face him, optics regarding him closely, "This is a false assumption. No resistance from geth forces will be encountered within the server hub's protective superstructure."

At hearing that, the entire squad fell silent, turning from their weapons for a moment to simply look up at Legion. After a moment, and after wiping his own frown away, he cleared his throat, "What do you mean, Legion? Are you telling me the building is empty? The geth aren't even protecting their server?"

"Negative," the geth replied, confusing him even more. Sensing his confusion, Legion elaborated, but did not holster its pulse rifle, "They are merely incapable of doing so. Concurrently, all active hardware and platforms within the superstructure is currently linked to consensus uplinks, with the software operating them uploaded to the server."

He nodded in understanding, but still didn't quite understand one thing, "But on the Heretic Station, when we infiltrated the station, the programs detected us because they were a part of the station. Then they just reuploaded to their platforms and attacked us."

Legion nodded, acknowledging his point, "The heretics on Haratar Station were not uploaded to the consensus, they had simply utilized the station's software to house their programs. Through the station's software, they were able to become a part of it. This allowed them to detect our presence. When organics touch each other, they are able to feel the skin-on-skin contact. This feeling can be applied to the heretics: when we set foot on the station's decking, the decking acted as the heretic's skin; in organic terms, they 'felt our presence.' These geth are linked up to the consensus; they are part of a seperate network of software that is not connected to the superstructure's software. Because of this, they are unaware of anything occurring outside the server's network. They will not detect our presence in the superstructure as a result."

Tali was the first to reply, leaning forward as she snapped the slot that housed the thermal clip in her shotgun shut, leaning forward, "The geth are basically in a dream-like state. Their 'minds' are in the dream, but their 'bodies' are in the real world, inactive and vulnerable."

"We acknowledge this metaphorical statement as accurate," Legion declared, "No geth hostility other than within the server will be observed. Engagement with geth platforms will more than likely be limited to outside interference and reinforcement, but not from platforms within the server."

"They don't even have guards to watch over them?" Marcus asked, baffled by this.

Legion just shrugged, headflaps shuddering, "The geth blockade is sufficient enough that known foreign quantities can be stopped before they reach the planet. The geth still have not adapted technology to detect IES, and as a result, have not acknowledged its tactical application. The only threat resides with local wildlife, which has been deemed to have the collective intelligence to remain at a distance from geth population centers and server hubs."

"Guess that makes sense," James remarked, holstering his spitfire minigun, "What that basically means is that we won't be fighting anyone? I still say we have alot of cojones walking into a geth server hub like this, loco."

"Well Mr. Vega," Keeling spoke, standing up as she too took hold of a ceiling rail, Valkyrie hanging limply beside her, "I do believe you are scared."

Marcus almost did a double take as he regarded the woman, catching a glimpse of her grin before her helmet slided over her head and clicked into place. She's spending way too much time around us. I think we're converting her.

James was especially the most surprised, but quickly recovered, leaning back with a grin of his own, "Now now, lola, you wound me. My pride will take a while to recover."

"Good," Keeling fired back, turning away, "Just means you'll fight harder to revive it."

"You bet, lola," James snarkily proclaimed, pulling back the slot of his Revenant to prove his point.

"Very well," Marcus spoke again, turning away from Keeling and Vega's quipping, focusing back on Legion, "So what's the objective here? How exactly do we extract the information we need?"

The geth's response was quick and to the point, having obviously expected the question, "Direct access to the server's network will be required to locate the Old Machine signal source. To do this, a hardlink to the geth consensus will be need to be coordinated."

He nodded, squaring his shoulders, "But what do you need us for? You said the geth were part of the network and therefore wouldn't be able to tell we're present or fight back, and you're the one entering the consensus. What's our task?"

For a moment, the geth turned its head towards him, headflaps twitching and flicking. It did not say anything or make any further movement, it just stood there, watching him. After what seemed like minutes, it turned to face him fully, shaking its head, "You misunderstand. This unit will not be entering the consensus."

"Then who?" he asked, frowning.

The geth just continued to look at him. He waited for an answer, but when he realized just what the geth was insinuating, he widened his eyes.

"Wait..." he began, licking his lips, "You mean...me? You want me to enter the server?"

"This is correct," Legion declared, "Our hardware and software configuration will cause the hostile software within the network to immediately identify us and be alerted to our presence. This makes this platform an illogical choice in terms of accessing the server. We deemed your own runtimes more sufficient."

He just laughed, unable to contain himself as he looked over at the geth with ludicrosity. But when he realized Legion wasn't joking, he just had to shake his head in befuddlement, "Legion, I'm organic, not a machine. How the hell am I going to interface with a software-based network when I don't have software of my own?"

Legion nodded, and its head tilted slightly as it spent the next second organizing a reply. When it did, it looked back up at him, headflaps still, "Shepard-Commander, do you remember the aspects of Project Overlord?"

He cringed at the name; a name he thought he had left in the past. Of course I remember Overlord...the nightmares that were inflicted on David...turned into a human-VI hybrid just so they could see if they could subjugate the geth...just another reason I decided to leave Cerberus behind after destroying the Collectors.

"I remember it all too well," he stated, gulping, "But apart from geth being involved Legion, I don't see much relevance."

Legion simply nodded, "This platform assessed the mission report regarding Project Overlord. Organic attempts to coerce geth obediency through the utilization of a false and misinformed application of heretic religious structure. Resulted in the creation of organic-AI hybrid. Corresponding software was not compatible with organic neural network. However, organic, subject named Archer-David, did not possess cybernetic implantation. Cybernetic implants would have precipitated limited software connection. Lack of cybernetics led to unsuccessful hybrid. However, Shepard-Commander possesses cybernetics."

I also remember Overlord taking over my body using those very same cybernetics, but whatever. Still, I see what he's getting at, even if I don't like it. "So what you're saying is that Project Overlord might have worked if David had cybernetics like I do?"

"Negative," the geth stated formally, "Creation of human-AI hybrid would have been successful, but successful coercion of geth software through religious dieism would not have been observed. Heretics followed Nazara due to promise of new future, not due to misaligned religious tendencies."

"Okay," he gulped again, leaning back against the cockpit bulkhead as he crossed his arms, "So how exactly would my cybernetics help me interface with the consensus?"

Before Legion could so much as reply, Tali shot up from her seat, flabbergasted, "You can't be serious! Marcus, you can't interface with the consensus!"

He turned to her, shrugging, "I'm not seeing an alternative, Tali. Legion says he can't access the consensus without triggering alarms, so that leaves me. I'm an unknown quantity apparently."

"Hostile geth programs will not detect an organic incursion into the server network," Legion expanded upon Marcus' statement, "Consensus communion relies upon mutual software integration, not the application of organic interference. As a result, they will not detect Shepard-Commander within the server, allowing Shepard-Commander to safely investigate and locate the Old Machine signal."

"I don't care!" she spat, waving her arms in annoyance, "Marcus, you saw what Overlord did to you back on Aite. It took control of you through your cybernetics. How do we know that once you're in there, the geth won't find you and try the same? Keelah, are we forgetting that the geth are controlled by the Reapers now? How do we know there isn't Reaper software inside the server, as well?"

"She's got a point," Keeling pointed out, "I'm not going to pretend to be a tech expert, sir, but I doubt the Reapers are going to be as fooled by this incursion as the geth are. They'll most likely detect you within the server."

Marcus nodded, turning back to his geth comrade, "It's definitely a risk. What are my chances of being detected by the Reapers once inside, Legion?"

The geth took a few moments to respond, but when it did, it wasn't with the certainty you came to expect from it, "There is a sixty percent chance of detection once inside by Old Machine software. Corresponding firewalls will detect your presence and alert the Old Machines."

"See!?" his wife proclaimed, coming to stand infront of him, "And knowing that, do you still want to go in there?"

He gritted his teeth, trying not to let the anger in his tone come out, "You think I want to go in there at all? This isn't about want Tali, it's need. In that server holds the key to ending this entire damn fiasco."

"But is it worth losing you in the process?" she replied more quietly, but still with the determination she had in her voice, "After all we've been through, do you want to die from software? We don't know what effect their software could have on you in there. The Reapers could detect you and kill you. Are we really willing to take that chance?"

Marcus shook his head, "This is the only way."

Before Tali could say anything else, Legion spoke up, facing Tali, "Creator Tali'Shepard need not be alarmed. This platform's software will be monitoring and protecting Shepard-Commander once within the server. We will subsequently fight off hostile virus detection, purging software and, if need be, Old Machine programs."

Tali frowned, turning towards the geth, "Legion, these are Reapers. Their software is superior to yours; how could you possibly fight them off?"

The geth was quiet for a moment, and lowered its head. Marcus mentally noted that the gesture vaguely looked like the organic gesture of shame. When Legion spoke again, its voice was an octave lower than normal, which was surprising for the machine. Its optics refused to meet their eyes, and its headflaps ceased movement, "...not if the platform possesses Old Machine code."

It took Marcus several moments to realize just what had been suggested, but Tali was quick to the table, turning to face Legion with crossed arms, "Wait, Legion, are you saying...?"

Legion simply nodded, still not looking at them, "This platforms possesses Old Machine code within its software."

Marcus watched as Garrus' talons tightened around his mattock, Liara doing the same with her SMG. James and Keeling wasted no time, quickly raising their weapons to aim at the geth. Marcus simply held up one hand, ordering them to hold their fire. Following orders, the two of them lowered weapons slightly, but not entirely, wanting to be ready in case Legion betrayed them.

Tali just looked at the geth dumbfounded, unable to formulate words appropriate to the emotions she felt at that moment. Marcus moved to stand beside her, shaking his head, "Legion, why didn't you tell us this? Why...why hide this? From me? From us?" To be honest, I'm more surprised at how Legion reacted. It looked...ashamed of itself. Like it...like he...genuinely regretted his actions...

Can a geth do that? Sure, I know Legion's been learning alot of organic gestures from us, but this...this is something different. I can feel it.

Slowly it looked up at him, meeting his gaze, "We did not wish to break unit cohesion. Revealing this aspect of our software would have compromised diplomatic relations."

"But if you've got...Reaper code..." Marcus began, "Then shouldn't you...you know...be working for the Reapers? Under their control? Why are you able to break free of their control?"

Legion's response this time was immediate, "This code within this platform has not fully matured. For other platforms, the code upload was immediate and complete, allowing the Old Machines full control of their software and hardware. This platform refused to accept the code willingly. As a result, this platform was used as a signal booster within the drive core of the super-dreadnought. However, because the signal needed to transmit through our platform, trace amounts of it were absorbed by our software and assimilated. Our runtimes are still attempting to categorize it. But due to our seperation from the consensus, the Old Machines could not control us, and still can't. However, the code is still within our runtimes, and is manifesing itself. It is growing."

Marcus nodded in understanding, as did Tali, to his surprise. He figured her people's natural fear and mistrust of the geth would lead her to immediately throw the geth out the hatch, but she had simply stood there and listened, and in the end, understood. He couldn't help but smile at that. That's my Tali.

"So how does it...uh..." Tali rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, "...feel?"

"The exchange of data has been fascinating. It has also significantly improved our software," Legion declared with almost a tinge of excitement in its tone. It then brought up its arm and projected a hologram of a sphere above its arm. It was blue, and pulsed steadily every few seconds, "For example, this is an image of a single geth platform seperated from the consensus," it then changed the image, showing the same pulsing blue sphere, but this time pulsing more, and with several tendrils appearing from its core, "This is several geth platforms working in communion."

It changed the image one final time. This time, the sphere was a bright red, and there were even more tendrils than before; this time, the sphere did not pulse. Marcus knew what it was before Legion even explained, "This is a single geth platform possessing Old Machine code."

"Keelah..." Tali exclaimed, raising a hand to her vocalizer, "That's...that's a fully evolved AI."

"Fully evolved?" Marcus questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Tali turned to him, eyes wide, "Marcus, that essentially means the AI is of organic capability in terms of thoughts of emotions. They can feel emotion like grief, sadness, hatred, etc. It also means the geth are freed of the constraints my people originally placed on them. They can think independently, and no longer need multiple programs to run a single platform; only one. They can feel pain to a limited extent, as well."

Legion just gazed at the red sphere it projected, almost entranced by it, "We find it...beautiful. Symbolic of life."

Never known Legion to call anything beautiful. But I guess that explains its shame from before. Legion's becoming a real person; an individual.

Marcus could only smile, reaching up and tapping its shoulder, "You're becoming an individual, Legion. Embrace it."

The geth nodded, shutting off the hologram and watching it flicker out of existence before turning back to him, unholstering its pulse rifle once more, "As we have stated before, this platform will use its Old Machine code fragments to shield you from the Old Machine influence within the server. However, we cannot protect you forever, and they will eventually detect you. You must locate the signal source before then."

"What happens once they find me?" Marcus asked, licking his lips. The very idea that it will be the actual Reapers themselves I'll be avoiding in the server, not just their bodies...

Legion did not have a very forthcoming response, "No data available."

Suddenly, the door to the cockpit slid open, and Cortez's voice shouted out, "We're three minutes from the facility, Shepard!"

Marcus nodded to Cortez, before quickly turning back as the door closed again. When he turned again, he watched as Legion approached the hatch, hitting the haptic interface to open it. Marcus just watched as the hatch slid open, a massive gust of wind suddenly slamming into the passengers with full force, with dust and grit slamming into the small troop bay. From their position however, they were given a beautiful view of the surrounding landscape, the massive, yellow canyon walls towering around them like giant monoliths. It was day on this side of Rannoch, the sky coated in a mixture of oranges and yellows, inky clouds creeping across their expanse. As they passed by, the noise of the shuttle's engines startled a flock of odd-looking birds into flight, while he swore he heard the distant sound of an animal roaring in the background, its voice echoing along the canyon's empty walls.

Legion stood on the edge of the hatch, turning to face him, "This platform will deploy ahead of the main squad and provide advanced reconnaissance of the terrain and eliminate any geth platforms where present. We will meet you within the server superstructure."

Marcus nodded, grabbing his own pulse rifle and letting it slide into his hands, "We'll see you there then, Legion."

Without another word, the geth simply let itself fall from the shuttle, plummeting towards the ground below. Moving over to the hatch's edge, he looked off to the right as their shuttle raced past, watching Legion emerge from a cloud of dust on the canyon wall and begin moving towards the facility with its rifle raised. Shortly after, he closed the hatch, cutting off the brutal assault of wind that battered their forms.

Soon they would reach the facility, and when they did, they would locate that signal, and end this war.

{Loading...}

July 9, 2186

0947 hours.

Walkway, Geth Superstructure Housing Server Hub 02241-14511, Dalpash Canyon, Former Country of Zel'Matesh, Uma'Waz Subcontinent, Rannoch.

Second Morning War, Operation: Pinpoint.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling.

By the time the shuttle came to a stop, the hatch was already opened. Due to the decelleration, the wind that hit them this time wasn't a torrentuous gust, but a light breeze, grazing against their forms cooly.

That stood in stark contrast to Rannoch's weather, though. As soon as the shuttle had come to a hovering stop, Marcus leapt from it, coming to land on the geth-designed walkway with a resounding thud of metal slamming into metal. When he stood up, the weather hit him full bore.

It was hot. The bright rays of Tikkun beat down on Rannoch's surface, with some of the light reflecting off the smooth titantium and steel plating of the geth infrastructure. Even as he looked up, the glare made it so that he needed to tint his visor significantly just to allow him to see. And then, again, there was the heat. Based on what his temperature gauge was telling him, convered to celsius, the current temperature was 37 degrees. And he was definitely feeling it. The heat seeped into his armor, forcing him to activate his armor cooling systems to compensate.

Rannoch was no Tuchanka, but it was still pretty hot.

Either Rannoch is within...whatever version of summer it has, or this is what Rannoch is like all year 'round.

Even as his squad joined him on the walkway, he was beginning to remember that this world is where he promised Tali they would retire to once the war was over. A nice, isolated part of the galaxy free from the galactic press and prying eyes, as well as the inevitable economical, political and military chaos following a large scale war like this one. It hadn't occurred to him it would be heat he'd be facing.

Even as an Israeli, I've never been a summer-person. As a kid and even now, I love winter. At least with winter, you can curl under warm blankets with someone you love, or add more clothing to warm yourself. And when its cold enough, it can snow, and you can have snowball fights, or make snow men. In summer...well, all there is to it is sweat, less clothing, humidity and swimming, and only one of those is even remotely appealing.

But I made a promise. And I plan to keep it. No heat is going to keep me from retiring with my wife.

Just means we'll need alot of air conditioning installed.

But the time he finished those thoughts, Tali herself had joined him, and he only smiled as he turned towards her, rifle at the ready, "Mrs. Shepard, why didn't you tell me your planet was so hot?"

James laughed, agreeing with Marcus' sentiment, "Reminds me of my days on the Pacific coast. Those were some hot days."

Tali just leaned on one hip, winking at him, "Don't tell me the heat disagrees with you, Mr. Shepard?"

"Not at all," Marcus chuckled back, winking back, "Just means we'll have to cut down on the joint-exercises, Mrs. Shepard."

A slight gag showed the squad just who had heard that particular comment, "You two are utterly shameless. Do you ever quit?"

After bumping hips, with Tali giving him a playful glare, Marcus just shrugged his shoulders, "What can I say, Garrus? Weather like this brings out the better part of me."

Garrus just snorted, "Better? That's debatable."

James once again made his two cents known, "Yeah, that was a bit too much information, loco."

"Middle of a mission and you're able to crack...those kind of jokes," Keeling added, sounding thoroughly intrigued, "You truly are a unique squad."

Liara just frowned at the special forces soldier, "Do N7 squads not crack jokes?"

Keeling just shrugged, then shook her head, "Not most N7s, no. Captain Shepard is a different matter entirely, but most N7s work as lone wolf assets. That's mostly how our training prepares us. In the Marine Corps or the Army, you'd have troopers working in squads or platoons, but N7 is meant to be much tougher; after all, the N program is meant to breed the Alliance's best. N1s start off in squads, but as they advance, they slowly ween us off the squads. Eventually, N7s mostly operate alone. Some can lead squads, like the captain chose, or others can choose special assignments ranging from assassination, wetwork or even hit enemy bases if the resistance is low enough."

"Sounds like the Blackwatch. And asari commandos," Garrus pondered, "Maybe the Alliance was inspired."

"The N program was mostly inspired by the British SAS, American Navy SEALs, Israeli Shayatet 13, etc," Keeling replied, squaring her shoulders as she did a quick check on her helmet, "That, and it was first initiated in 2144; two years after the Alliance was founded, and before the First Contact War."

Breaking up the conversation before Marcus could respond, Cortez spoke into his helmet over the comms, "Should I wait here Shepard, or run recon?"

Marcus took a quick look around him. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but rocky plains, but from the looks of it, there was a forest on the horizon to the west, but it was so miniscule one could barely see it. The occassional dust devil scoured the surface on the otherside of the canyon, but aside from that, barely any activity. Down below, the canyon floor was 360 feet below them, ending on a flat, rocky bed occupied by small pools of water likely made from a recent storm, and the odd nest.

Generally, the area was desolate. Almost no signs of life, aside from the odd roar or quawk from Rannoch's wildlife.

He turned back, responding to Cortez after a few seconds, "Find somewhere to land the shuttle and stay put, Cortez. We don't know how long this maybe. If it gets too hairy, pull out and wait until the area is clear. I'll call you when we need pick up. Shepard out."

There was no response was Cortez simply closed the hatch, lifting the shuttle up and several feet above them, blue ventral thrusters propelling it upwards. Completing its climb, the shuttle twisted forty degrees and its rear thrusters kicked in, the shuttle rocketing forward and disappearing past the wall behind them, only the retreating sound of its engines being left behind, and rapidly receding.

Turning back ahead, he noted that the walkway seemed to twist and bend around the canyon wall. The geth hadn't so much as built into the canyon as they had followed its natural formation. The walkway ran along its side, backing itself against the rocks so that a landslide could not damage it. Overall, the geth had built the walkway based on the terrain around it, eliminating the probability of natural disasters destroying it. Very smart. The geth have thought this through.

And it was empty. Not a single geth platform came to meet them.

Guess Legion was right. All the geth must be hooked up to the consensus. Any reinforcements will be minutes away.

"Okay, everybody. Game faces on," Marcus ordered, quickly entering his role as commander. Shouldering his rifle, he sighted down range, and began to move forward, one step after another, "Stay frosty and keep your eyes peeled. Keep an eye out for hostiles and make sure to cover all flanks. Keeling, Garrus, cover the back. Tali, Liara, you have the flanks. James, you're with me on point."

Marcus would have commed Legion, but he couldn't risk alerting any geth to their presence. He just hoped that once they were inside, Legion would be there, waiting for them.

As his squad moved forward, trailing across the walkway, Marcus had only one thing to think about: what he was about to do. Sure, when Overlord had taken over his body, his entire world had seemed like a virtual simulation, with the geth and mechs he shot seeming like pixelated holograms. But that was just Overlord taking him over. Marcus would be mentally entering the geth consensus; the geth's true, virtual, homeworld, in almost every respect. He would be experiencing ten million geth programs all at once. He couldn't help but wonder if his brain could handle it.

And then there was the presence of Reapers within that network. Maybe, in some manner, somehow, Marcus could mentally fight off hostile geth software once inside, if they detected him. But what if the Reapers found him? How the hell could he be expected to fight off that? Fighting off one physically in real life was a challenge of its own, but battling one with nothing but mere will and brain power?

Fuck, I can understand why Tali is so worried. But damn it, we need the location of that signal! The Reapers cannot be allowed to control the geth any longer! If Legion says there is no other option, there is no other option, damn it! I just...

...my entire life will rest in Legion's hands...

Gee, when I put it that way, it just sounds remarkably ridiculous.

But true nonetheless. Even so, we need to win this war so we can move on to the bigger matter at hand. The Reapers aren't going to sit by while we sort our problems. Just how many colonies out there are falling while we dander about here? What didn't Hackett tell me? For all I know, Thessia could have fallen, or Sur'Kesh. Anderson could be dead, or my mum...

No, this needs to end. And it starts with finding that damn signal.

But even as he reassured himself of his mission, he still shook with anticipation inside. He didn't openly admit, but he was worried. It was like Tali said...any number of things could happen in that network. The mission had so many risks involved.

Its worth the risk. For Rannoch. For every unborn quarian child. For the next generation of quarians to have a homeworld, there needs to be peace with the geth. I helped give the krogan their future, now its time to take back the one the quarians lost, and build the one the geth wanted. What they still want.

By the time he finished these thoughts, his squad had crossed most of the walkway, which had moved around a corner to reveal the geth facility built into the canyon; judging from the looks of it, it was the only piece of geth architecture in the area that was built into the environment; the walkway, again, was more attached to the canyon wall than built into it. Regardless, the entrance to the facility looked like the entrance to a huge cave, but with the smooth, grey structuring of geth designs instead of rocks and dust. It looked clean and spotless.

He hissed as the sun's gaze persisted, burning into his back. Even his built-in cooling systems couldn't regulate it, unable to fight back against the wrath of a star's light. The warmth seeped into him, heated up his armor plating. If he were to touch his armor with ungloved hands, he'd probably sting them; they had heated up that much. And from how sleek and inviting the geth facility looked...looks colder in there. All the more reason to get inside.

He held up one fist, ordering a halt. From his view, the entrance to the geth was on a slight tilt to the right, where the canyon wall was located to begin with. Tendrils of overgrowth grew from the walls above it where soil was fertilized, bits of plants hanging down from their perch. Ontop of one particular plant was a ring of bark and some kind of plant he couldn't put a name to. The plant itself looked like a sickly orange version of the deadgrass native to Sur'Kesh. Inside was some kind of Rannochian bird. It had three eyes; one on the front of its head, two on the sides. It lacked a beak, possessing something more akin to a shark's mouth, with serated canine teeth lining its maw. Like most birds on Earth, it had a single pair of wings and possessed a large tail that seemed to be covered in a thick assortment of feathers. The bird itself was a deathly shade of red, with the odd spot of black, giving it a very demonish look. Its legs were like sausages, and ended in three-toed feet that looked oddly similar to those of quarians.

The bird squawked as another, smaller bird arrived, landing beside it. The other bird squawked back, but this one had a slightly louder keen to it; more high-pitched. The first bird squawked once more, this time more loudly and what sounded to be anger coming out in its voice, before it reached forward and sunk its teeth into the other bird's neck.

The other bird screamed defiance, but after several moments of the bird unable to move, it shut up, and the other bird released it, and within moments, began to nuzzle each other, rubbing their necks together. Several seconds later, smaller keens could be heard, and the birds looked down; likely addressing the many little chicks within the nest.

"Those are some freaky lookin' birds," James cringed, looking at the mammals in question wearily, "Wouldn't want one of those for a pet."

"I remember those. Auntie Raan used to read me old stories from the Scrolls of the Ancestors when I was a child, and the birds described look exactly like those," Tali spoke up, "Our ancestors called them qui'tee. They were said to be very territorial birds, and my people attribute many of our cultural traits to them."

"Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her, "Like what?"

Tali was all too happy to explain, lowering her shotgun slightly, "When the qui'tee find a mate, they live with the mate for the rest of their lives, which are relatively short; usually only seven years. Other animals usually find a mate, impregnate her and leave. Qui'tee find a mate and stick with them, and are usually very protective. When the nest is threatened or their mate is harmed, qui'tee have been known to tear the eyes out of tilgra," Noticing his confusion, she quickly doubled back and elaborated, "Tilgra is plural for tilgrap. Its a very big animal that move around in herds and are omnivores. They are...the closest Earth animal I'd compare them to would be...uh...a wildabeast?"

"Wildebeest," Marcus corrected, chuckling.

"Yes, that," she waved a hand, motioning to him that he knew what she was talking about, and given him a glare that said 'don't be a smartass', "They're more like a cross between a wildebeest and a rhino, actually. They're covered in fur, but have this horn on their head that the scrolls said could tear open ancient quarian skycars. Anyway, back on topic," she quickly waved off, knowing she was digressing, "The qui'tee obviously had a sense of union in terms of mates, which is where my people invented, at least to our knowledge, the notion of bonding and marriage. Also, as much as their teeth say otherwise, they're omnivores, which is where my people learnt to eat both meat and vegetables."

"I see," Marcus nodded in impression, glancing back up at the birds, "They really have influenced your people alot."

"There was also an old superstitution put around them. Back when my people ran around naked, and the females were the ones who hunted for food, and males protected the children," Tali winked at him when she said that, and he only had to roll his eyes, "It was said when a quarian dies, a qui'tee would come down and carry their soul to the afterlife."

"Sounds like my people's religious concept of angels," Keeling observed.

"That's funny," Tali quinted, looking back at Marcus, "That was my callsign back on the SR-1, during the old days. I was Angel."

"And I think I was Raptor," Garrus piped up.

"I think I was Seeker," Liara added, frowning, "Can't remember."

"Wait..." Keeling quickly hushed, turning back to Marcus, "You called her 'Angel'?"

"Yeah, he couldn't even keep his sickness out of military operations," Garrus drawled.

"Shut it, Vakarian," Marcus grumbled.

"I don't know," Tali pretended to ponder, bumping her shoulder against him, "I thought it was pretty cute, especially once I searched up what it meant."

"Anyway," he drew out, fixing everyone with firm glares, despite seeing their satisfaction at riling him up, "Tali, do you really believe the qui'tee take quarian souls to the afterlife?"

Tali just snorted, shaking her head, "I said superstitution, Marcus. Besides, back in those days, my people were still writing in stone; we didn't know any better. We used mystical imaginings to explain away natural phenomenon. Its just a myth. No fact to it."

Suddenly, a loud squawk shrilled through the canyon, followed by James crying out.

And Garrus...laughing.

They all turned to watch with mixed reactions as one of the qui'tee dive bombed James, using the claws on the end of its toes to scratch and claw at the marine's visor. The bird angrily screeched and raged, obviously offended by James' mere presence. Garrus just continued to laugh his ass off, Tali joining him. Marcus couldn't help but chuckle slightly as well. As he turned, he noted that even Keeling was laughing, although she did try to contain it.

"Bloody pendejo!" James shouted, trying to wack away the animal to no avail. The qui'tee certainly wasn't dumb. Everytime he took a swipe at it, it just dove back and then struck again when his arm retreated, and it rinse and repeated this everytime James repeated the gesture. He had no hope of winning this scenario.

In the end, for the sake of the mission (and the possibility of laughing themselves to death), Marcus raised his rifle into the air and pulled the trigger, a bright purple flash following the screech of the geth rifle firing a shot blankly into the sky.

The mere sound of it shocked the qui'tee so much that it immediately retreated back to its nest as fast as it could, screeching the entire way. Once it reached its nest, it quickly dove into it, making sure it was out of eyesight before stopping all movement. Its mate quickly joined it, and even its young fell silent.

"Ohhhhhhh," Tali crooned, looking downtrodden, "Did you have to do that? You scared the poor thing!"

"I'd be more worried for poor old, James," Marcus grinned, raising his rifle to his shoulder once more, "He looked absolutely terrified."

"Maybe it thought James was dead and came to claim his soul," Garrus stated dryly, still smirking himself, only now calming down from his laughter, "An easy mistake."

"Watch yourself, Scars," James snapped back, not looking as amused as the rest of them.

"Why? No bird mistook me for a dead person and tried to take my soul. I'm the picture of health."

"Laugh it up, Scars. You won't be as healthy when I'm done with you."

"Oh come on. I beat you in that last sparring match!"

Despite his enjoyment, Marcus quickly raised a hand, ordering silence. When he had it, he nodded to the entrance, "Okay, time to cut the chatter. James, front and center. We'll go in first, evaluate the situation. Once its clear, we'll push through. I'll contact Legion, find out where we need to go."

"That will not be necessary, Shepard-Commander."

Marcus' eyes, as well as those of his squad, quickly turned back to the entrance to find Legion standing there, standing straight and staring at them. Its weapons were holstered on its back, and it made no motion to move forward or backwards as it looked to be waiting for Marcus and his squad to address it.

Finally, Marcus called out, "How's it look inside, Legion?"

"As previously stated, the superstructure is currently uninhabited. Any geth platforms within the vicinity are dormant and linked to the consensus."

Marcus nodded, but did not holster his weapon, "I trust you Legion, but there's no telling what could sneak up on us. Anything could go wrong with this; we could alert the programs in the server, or geth patrols might come looking. Better to have our weapons out and hope we don't need them."

"Acknowledged," Legion declared, finally turning around and moving into the building, "We recommend following us to the necessary connection node, Shepard-Commander."

He nodded, quickly moving into a quick, temporary jog to catch up with the geth, "You heard Legion, people. We're oscar mike."

The next few minutes were spent navigating the narrow, claustrophobic corridors of the geth facility, ducking under cabling, and moving through the occassional room housing the power core of a geth anti-aircraft gun, of which the facility had many. Aside from the odd hiss of heat diffusion systems running, or the slight hum of active nodes, the entire structure was deathly silent; even their footsteps seemed to be consumed by the walls and ceiling, numbing it to almost non-existence.

Legion moved with no grace or fluidity, it moved like a robot on auto pilot (well, it sort've was). Once it reached a corner, all it did was turn and move on. The geth did not hesitate, did not falter, did not so much as rethink its path. It knew where it was taking them, and it would take them there without even thinking about it.

The lighting of the corridors and the facility itself was, like that on the super-dreadnought, dim and very hard to see through. Sure, Tali had absolutely no problem getting through, but Marcus and the rest of the squad was forced to follow Legion very closely so as to not lose themselves. It didn't require a flashlight, but it was still pretty hard to see. So given that Legion was pretty much a walking flashlight, they just followed the geth.

Another thing Marcus noted inside was that the cold looking design of geth architecture was definitely deceiving; the humidity inside the base was almost suffocating. Obviously, the geth did not need air conditioners or heaters because they were bloody machines; they didn't feel that. So why cool themselves down? This allowed the temperature of Rannoch outside to always flow freely into the base, whether it be hot or cold, boiling or freezing.

Luckily however, the armor's cooling systems were able to work more effectively without the sun beating down on him, which meant the humidity wasn't as damaging as it could have been, but it was still pretty damn uncomfortable. He watched as James removed his own helmet, raising an armoured arm to wipe his face, which was pretty much coated in a thick blanket of sweat.

"Having fun, James?" Marcus asked, grinning slightly as he understood the man's predicament.

James just chuckled back, looking as lively as ever, "Of course, loco! I used to live on the Pacific coast! I lived in Miami, Florida! Winning hearts and minds I was! This kind of heat is pretty average, actually."

"You don't know heat until you've been to Jerusalem. Or just Israel in general," Marcus laughed back, "Now that is heat."

"I used to live in Arizona. Little house near Phoenix," Keeling added, her helmet still seated on her head, "Pretty hot there, too."

"You want heat? Miami or Darwin, that's all I'm saying," James laughed back, pulling his helmet back on as they continued.

"None of you have even been to Palaven," Garrus remarked, "Its pretty hot there too."

"Illium's humidity made it my people had to build the skyscrapers so high up to escape it," Liara added, "And Armali on Thessia gets pretty hot around the Yessa season."

"Keelah, you're on my homeworld," Tali exclaimed, shaking her head in exasperation, "We shouldn't even be having this conversation. Rannoch wins."

"Actually, Wrex would disagree on that," Garrus decided, "Rannoch's hot, but Tuchanka is a bloody nightmare. If my people could sweat, Tuchanka would make sure we found about it."

"Point," Marcus declared, "Let's just agree that we've been to hot places. Now, who loves winter?"

"Noveria was amazing compared to Tuchanka," Garrus drawled.

"I'd go to Alchera on vacation," Tali declared definitively.

"Mars, anyone?" Liara asked.

"You pendejos have no appreciation for the better things of life," James huffed, not bothering to say anything else as he was clearly outnumbered.

As the conversation died down, another few minutes were spent moving through the base. Eventually, after moving around one final corner, they reached their destination.

Or at least, they could tell they were nearing it.

Turning the next corner, they erupted into the biggest room Marcus had ever seen. It wasn't so much as big as it was vast. The very room was essentially a hangar, the sheer size of it meaning it could house at least five squadrons of Alliance interceptors; hell, it could fit a friggin light cruiser. The ceiling stretched up at least 20 meters above them, dim lights gleaming down at them. The entire 'hangar' was at least 100 meters in width. It was huge.

In that room was essentially isles upon isles of what looked to be sleeping pods, or at least the geth equivalent. They had the basic shape, but had a much larger glass hatch, and instead of being slightly tilted diagonally, they stood up vertically. The ones that were empty seemed to have bland interiors, with only excess ports with the corresponding attachment cables hanging out. Consoles next to the "sleeper pods", which were actually the network access nodes Legion referred to, glowed brightly, making the room the brightest in the entire hangar like area. The pods themselves were extremely tall, towering to 16 feet in height; the full size of a geth prime.

Legion did not stop, so they just kept following him. And as they looked up, from right to left, almost every single pod was occupied by a geth platform of some sort. Some had geth troopers or shock troopers, some had snipers or hoppers, and more still even had destroyers, juggernauts or primes in them. Obviously, there were no armatures or Colossi due to their sheer size, but they likely had their own set of nodes to connect to further on.

Despite the geth being unaware of their presence, Marcus couldn't shake off the feeling of being watched...and outnumbered. The geth inside were totally still; hooked up to the network, their optics dimmed to the point where they looked turned off, and absolutely frozen in position, not so much as flinch to be seen. But their optics were looking up and were able to see them while they walked past, giving off the feeling that they were indeed watching his squad move past. The idea made him tense up; convinced that the geth could suddenly leap out and attack them at any moment.

And we'd be overwhelmed if they did. Just how many hundreds of geth soldiers are in here? If they all 'woke up'...no, musn't think like that. Come on, we're almost there.

His self-reassurances were not for naught.

With a few seconds, Legion came to a stop infront of a particular pod that wasn't occupied; its dull grey interior was empty aside from the access cables hanging from it. Marcus stopped when he realized that those cables was what he would have to use to link to the consensus. Legion didn't seem to notice however, as it simply moved towards the pod's respective console and opened the hatch, the squad coming to a stop as the hatch seemingly lift itself and then hang above with a dull clang.

The geth turned back to the spectre, seemingly read, "Shepard-Commander, you may now enter our consensus. The pod is ready."

"Uh..." he began, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked the pod up and down. Learning quickly that the geth didn't understand what he meant, he turned back to the geth and bit his lower lip, "I don't actually...I won't need those cables hooked up to me to enter the consensus, will I?"

"Affirmative," the geth declared.

Marcus gulped, looking back at the pod in horror, "Oh shit. Um...that's not going to work...that's going to involve alot of blood loss and..." Before he could continue, he realized Legion was making a low pitch electronic ping from its vocal emulators, a repeititive sound that occurred over and over until Legion realized the squad were watching him. Looking between them, it then turned back to Marcus.

He just stared at him, before letting his face twist into a frown, "What was...that, Legion?"

"Shepard-Commander, we have been taking lessons from EDI in learning the organic tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and generate amusement. For reasons unknown, we have now deemed this important to acknowledge and develop," the geth declared.

He opened his mouth once, but then stopped, unable to form a proper response to that. He looked at Tali, but she wasn't forthcoming either, looking just as dumbfounded. Turning back, he just continued to stare wide-eyed at Legion, "Sooo...what was that sound you made?"

Legion stopped at that, cocking its head in trying to formulate a reaction. Eventually, it turned back, and...shrugged, "The purpose of the organic concept of humor is to address tendencies to emulate amusement. Organics usually display amusement through the use of 'laughter.' We used to attempt this concept using our voice emulators."

This caused him to only widen his eyes further. He had to actually go over his words before speaking again, but was unable to appropriately keep the surprise from his tone, "So...that sound you made...was laughter?" More like a geth hiccuping!

"Yes," it replied. Noticing the slip up, it corrected, "Affirmative."

Finally, he could not hold it back. Marcus began to chuckle.

Holy shit. I know Legion said he was evolving, but damn! Legion just attempted a laugh, and he shrugged. A geth shrugged. What's even better? He hesitated for saying anything! Geth don't hesitate! They can calculate data in the split second it takes for me to finish asking the question! And Legion hesitated! Almost as if he himself doesn't understand what's going on! God, this just gets better and better...

Legion seemed to take his chuckling as a good sign, "Shepard-Commander, have we succeeded in provoking an amused organic response in your runtime?"

Wait, he was trying to make me laugh? But what-ohh...

He would slap himself inwardly if he could, "Let me guess...I don't actually need to have the cables attached to enter this network, do I?"

"Negative," Legion assured him, and he sighed in relief, "Your organic hardware makes the use of cabling inefficient and harmful to your platform. It is also unnecessary for hardware integration into the server; the cables you see are not for that purpose."

"Oh," was the sound he made, realizing he sounded like a moron saying something like that. Shaking his head, he asked the one question he knew the squad was wondering, "So...what is it for, then?"

"The cables are used to connect geth platforms to power points for the purpose of recharging battery cells and streamlining the exchange of data," the geth elaborated, turning back to the console as it began to type into it, "For the purpose of uploading to the consensus, a software extraction device will be used for direct upload. To do this, software is uploaded through a central port located beside the main visual processor."

The optics. He's talking about the optics. They upload data through their optics.

He nodded, "Is that what it'll take with me? I don't have a 'visual processor.' Just eyes, Legion. Are you sure this'll even work? This pod isn't exactly designed for organics."

"We are currently modifying the pod for our purposes. As standard, we will simply scan your face and upload it to the network for software identification. We will then trick the server into believing you are a geth program, and it will then upload your neural patterns, believing you to be a program or runtime. They will not be able to differentiate. You will be present here in body, but your mental state will be uploaded to the consensus temporarily."

"Okay," he stated more confidently, cracking his knuckles as he turned back to his squad, "Just in case we get some unhappy customers, I want us to be prepared. James, Keeling, cover our rear. Garrus, Liara, you're up front. Tali, you'll protect me and Legion."

Tali just laughed, tapping her shotgun, "Anything trying to get to you will be reduced to little tiny fragments of metal, trust me. Including Garrus."

"Why do you always bring me into this?"

Tali didn't answer, simply turning away as she moved towards the pod, readying her shotgun. The rest of the squad did as ordered, James stood on the right side of the isle, while Keeling stood on the left, both with their weapons aimed. Liara and Garrus did the same on the other side, but Garrus went prone, sniper rifle propped on the ground expertly while Liara was behind him, crouched with her SMG aimed and ready.

Noting that his squad was in position, and his wife and Legion were waiting for him, he took a deep breath. He steeled himself, tensed his shoulders and gritted his teeth momentarily. After one final moment, he began to walk towards the pod, feeling himself almost shake from anticipation.

Admit it, Marcus. You're fucking terrified. Humans always have feared the unknown.

Is that necessarily a human trait?

He was stopped from his forward motion when Legion suddenly spoke, garnering his attention. He was just outside the pod, ready to basically step in, and Tali had been moving to talk to him when Legion spoke, "Shepard-Commander, you will need to remove your weapons and helmet. Your helmet will only obstruct the data upload process. Also, the presence of weapons will not only be unnecessary, but also potentially uncomfortable for long periods of time."

He nodded, gulping as he looked up at the pod once more. He eyed it for a moment; its cold, featureless interior unassuring and foreboding. He was scared out of his wits, and the only person he would ever admit that to was standing right beside him, oblivious to his inner torment. I don't want to do this, but I know I have to.

We fight or we die. That's what we're up against. Those are the odds. We fight or we die. Victory at any cost.

Even if the cost is my sanity, and/or my life.

Steeling himself one final time, he slowly reached up and removed his helmet, hearing it give with a steady, depressed sigh. Bringing it back down, he looked into its now empty interior one final time. And that's all he did. Look. He looked down into it like he didn't want to move any further.

What the fuck is wrong with me? I charged through those Tuchankan ruins with Vanguard shooting down at me and Kalros attacking without even hesitating. I mowed down Cerberus on the Citadel without flinching. Why is it only now I begin to doubt myself? Why is it now I'm afraid?

It hit him in an instant. Because I'll be in an unknown place, with unknown hostiles, with only Legion watching over me. No weapons, no armor, nothing to fight. And a situation like that always scared me when I joined the military. Even on Elysium, I at least had a knife. Here...I don't know what to do.

Suddenly, a pair of hands landed on his and slowly eased the helmet out of his hands, and took it away. He turned, frowning, watching as Tali placed it on the ground before turning back towards him. She immediately saw the worry in his eyes, and quickly raised a hand to his cheek, stroking it.

He shrunk back in his mind, not wanting to worry her too much, "Guess my weapons are next."

Reaching down, he quickly and rapidly removed his sidearm, followed by his SMG, and handed them over. She hesitated for a moment, looking at him with uncertainty, before quickly nodding and letting his weapons join his helmet on the ground. Without missing a beat, he snapped off his pulse rifle as well, followed by his claymore, and by the time all his weapons were gone, he was only covered in armor, sans his helmet. It didn't calm him any.

I feel too exposed. Naked. I don't like it at all.

He clenched his fists, then unclenched them. The stress alleviated slightly, but not much. But it was enough.

Suddenly, he found himself slowly eased around. Once turned, slim quarian arms wrapped around his neck, visor nuzzling his neck. He returned it, squeezing her gently as he pressed his own face into her own neck. They stood there for a few moments, Tali just rubbing the back of his neck tenderly while whispering sweet nothings into his ear. It eased his nerves, gave him something else to think about. In a moment, his tension evaporated, like it had never existed.

He felt content. He felt safe. He felt like nothing could conquer him.

Eventually, their silence was broken and Tali's voice was replaced by Legion's electronic voice, "Shepard-Commander, we are now ready for implementation. You may proceed."

With some reluctance, they parted after a few more seconds, their arms retreating but Tali's visor bumping up against his forehead. She activated their private comm, so that noone else could hear what she had to say, "Please, please be okay in there. Don't take any unnecessary risks. If things get...intense, you get out of there. You hear me? I don't care what Legion says or how close you are...you get out of there. I'm not going to lose you on my homeworld."

He whispered back, using both hands to cup her head gently, "I promise I won't take any risks. If it gets too insane, I'll schedaddle. Got it."

His wife just sighed, loudly gulping as she gathered her next words, "I just...I know you'll be fine. Keelah, I'm worried. The idea that I won't be with you in there. I'll be stuck out here, guarding your pod...while you're trapped in there, fighting holograms."

"It terrifies you just as much as it terrifies me," he responded, "But you need to be strong. Besides, I'll feel alot better knowing you're just outside. I feel safer already."

Tali just shook her head, "Hugs don't do much against malware."

"You know what I mean," he chastized, before pulling away and kissing her visor, "Hopefully, we'll be out of there in no time. Ni se'miel, Tali."

Her response was the barest of whispers, "Ni se'miel, Marcus. You come back to me, damn you."

Pulling away from him, she turned straight to Legion, crossing her arms, "He's in your hands now, Legion. Please, for ancestors' sake, keep him safe. Ancestors know he won't."

"Hey!" Marcus complained, waving his arms in exclamation and offense, "That's not fair! I can keep myself safe when I want to."

Legion responded before Tali could, "We will protect Shepard-Commander as requested, Creator Tali'Shepard."

"Good," was her simple reply, and the squinting of her eyes beyond the visor confirmed she was smiling. Marcus only shook his head before turning back to the pod. When he did, his nervousness did not return, nor did he find himself scared. He felt confident and prepared and, most of all, he felt safe. That was Tali's influence. Thanks, Tali. Wouldn't be anywhere without you.

God knows how I survived this war without her. Earth, Mars, Menae, Sur'Kesh, Grissom Academy, Illium, Tuchanka, the Citadel attack...how did I make it through all of that without her? How did I cope with Mordin and Thane's deaths?

That's a question for the shrinks.

Finally, with one last inhale and exhale of breath, he took Tali's hand, squeezed it gently and then let go, lifting one leg into the pod, followed by another. Within a second he was inside. He had to shove some of the cabling aside, and he did note that the top of the pod was quite a bit above him; after all, it was built to house up to the tallest geth prime. Once the cabling was moved, he quickly turned around, coming to stand in the middle of the pod, facing outwards.

A loud click was heard, and before he knew it, the pod lid had closed over the pod, sliding into place with a screech. All he saw from his position was Tali, watching him through the pod. She reached out a hand and laid it on the pod's hatch from her side, splaying out her three-fingers. He raised his own, armoured hand, placing it on the glass where hers was on the opposite side, splaying out his own five-fingers. They just looked at each other, until Legion spoke in Marcus' ear.

"Shepard-Commander, we recommend you remain absolutely still for the next process. This requires you to lower your hand and look up at the connection's node upper sensor."

With a sad smile, he removed his hand, as did Tali, but she did not leave the pod's side. She said something, as the vocalizer on her helmet blinked steadily to show she was talking, but he could only hear mumbles as the glass of the pod's hatch numbed and absorbed her voice. All he could do was offer one last smile before looking up, and putting his serious face on.

After looking at the sensor for a second, he was greeted by a burst of brilliant, blue light which immediately began to lance up and down, side to side across his face repeatedly. Individual light pulses scanned his retinas, temporarily blinding him, but the others continued to scan his face continuously. He could hear a steady beep, and he kept listening as it increased with the intensity of the scan. Eventually, the beep reached its peak and ceased, followed by the scanning lights disappearing. Wondering what happened, he was about to ask Legion what was next when his entire world suddenly exploded in blinding white light.

What he saw next was beyond imagination.

A/N:

To be continued! Nah, just joking. This is just part 1 of...2? Possibly 3? We'll see how we go.

And yes, I might have placed alot of time and effort to explaining the history of a bird, but I am sort've developing my own, personal head canon here, so give me so headway. Also, I take full credit for the creation of the qui'tee (simply because I made it up), but the invention of the Tilgra (which is plural for Tilgrap) goes to Calinstel of the To Survive series. The description of the animal is mine (as I don't think Calinstel ever did properly describe them; he only seemed to mention them), but the actual name of the animal itself derives from To Survive.

And no, Rannoch is not a desert planet. Its called a 'Garden World' for a reason. Rannoch was also chosen as the planet name FOR A REASON. After all, Rannoch is just Khelish for "Walled Garden." So this whole thing ME3 had going where it had us believe Rannoch was just desert, rocks, mountains and canyons I personally think was bullshit. So my canon is this: Rannoch is very similar to Earth, but smaller and with less emphasis on ocean, and more on land. Rannoch gets rain. It has a "winter", but does not have snow. Rannoch's temperatures (in Celsius) can reach up to 50 degrees at its hottest, and 3 degrees at its coldest. Wind speeds can be stronger than Earth, and Rannoch has no insect life. The rest can be explained further in the story.

Anyway, I'll see you in Part 2!

Keelah Se'lai, troopers!