A/N- More loyalty!…Quests.
MASS MISCALCULATION
Episode 16- Adventures in the fleet
"Hell. No" Boss said defiantly, hovering over Miranda. The disabled geth they had acquired had been stored… somewhere, Aaron didn't know where, but he, Boss, Miranda, and Jacob for some reason were in the briefing room. Miranda, ever loyal to Cerberus, had opted for the unit to be shipped to Cerberus for study. Jacob wanted to space it. Both options, Boss wasn't cool with.
"Do you know how rare it is to get one of these units intact?" Miranda seethed. "It should be used for scientific study, not for having some kind of… plaything walking around with you. And this unit in particularly unique as it actually talked to you. Too many possibilities can be gained, the opportunity cannot be squandered!"
"I still say we space it" Jacob deadpanned.
"Shut up Jacob. And you…" Boss leaned closer to Miranda, touching his helmet to her forehead. "You aren't touching it. In fact, I'll space you before I let you touch it" if Boss didn't have a helmet, one would see him glaring daggers at the operative.
"How about we ask the geth what it wants?" Aaron proposed.
All heads turned to look at him. "Whatcha talkin' 'bout?" Boss asked.
"Guys, the thing can talk. And to add to that, me, specifically. So why don't you let me talk to it? See why it was on the reaper in the first place?"
"I see what your laying down here… alright, I'm game" Boss agreed.
Miranda sighed. This was turning into another wasted research endeavor thanks to Aaron and his antics… "Perhaps I should talk to it? I do have more training in these types of situations"
"Yeah, but it wouldn't recognize you. I think it would be better if it talked to me directly, because, again, it called me by name" the virtual man pointed out.
"I still say we space it" Jacob repeated.
"Why are you even here?" Boss questioned. Jacob shrugged and walked off back to the armory.
"…Anyway, I'm talking to the geth. Where is it anyways, some crate in the cargo area?"
"We saw it most effective to store the geth in the AI core, under guard" Miranda explained.
Aaron's face screwed into one of disappointment. He groaned and held his face. "Let me get this straight. The geth are notorious hackers, so you thought it was a good idea to put it in the AI core, the most vulnerable point of access for EDI? You realize it wouldn't even need to hack anything, it could just smash her mainframe apart? What the hell were you thinking?"
"EDI is more than capable of guarding herself against cyberwarfare tactics, and it's disabled, behind a forcefield, and under guard by a guard" Miranda countered.
"A flimsy forcefield and a rent-a-cop, right… alright, I'm gonna talk to the geth, seeya" before Miranda could retort, Aaron made his way to the elevator.
"Move it" Aaron said bluntly, pointing his thumb to the door. The AI core room, a room that for some reason was behind the med bay, was mainly full of computer mainframes glowing red that contained EDI, and a maintenance tunnel leading to engineering. For some reason there was a table at the end of the room to, and for whatever reason, a forcefield. The Aaron the layout didn't make any sense at all, but hey, he didn't make the ship. If Kinzie ever hacked the schematics for the Normandy and Boss wanted to build one Aaron hoped he would fix the damn layout. Seriously, a armory next to a lab? Sleeper pods next the main battery? who made this stuff up anyways?
The guard however remained stoic, gripping his avenger rifle firmly. "Sorry sir, got orders to remain at this post"
"True. But Miranda gave the okay for it, and with Shepard unconscious she's in charge. Sorta"
"Well… I'm gonna have to go confirm this with her. Stay here" with that, he left. Aaron looked back and forth from the closed door to the geth and sighed.
"Forget it, I got fifteen minutes with those elevators, EDI, wake the geth up"
"I have explicit orders to allow the geth to be continuously disabled" the AI responded.
"You saw the conversation in the briefing room, Miranda said it was cool. Sorta"
"…Very well" she said. After this remark, the geth awoke, getting off the table and fixing it's lens on Aaron as it stood as close to him as possible, the orange field blocking them.
"Aaron-Saint" it spoke in it's mechanical voice.
"'Sup? Wait, how do you know me?" Aaron questioned.
"All geth know of you" it answered. "You are Aaron. Part of the 'Saint' criminal organization. Single-handedly destroyed weakened heretic Nazara. Implies that you oppose old machines. Fought heretics. Is sought after by most species government due to antagonizing acts against them. Species… unkown" it slightly raised it's 'eyebrows' in confusion. "We have an inquiry"
"Um… okay, ask away" Aaron said in a confused tone. None of this made any sense to him. Nazara? Old machines? Heretics? What did all of these things mean?
"We have done many thorough scans, and have reviewed footage of you in combat. None of the things you do are possible for an organic, and scans show you have no organic parts in you. You are a synthetic. Yet you act and talk like an organic, are a singular entity and not multiple entity's like the geth. You are everything a organic is, except for your 'biology'… how is this possible?"
Aaron rubbed the back of his neck. "It's not as complicated as that. Or maybe it is. The thing is, I USED to be organic, I got turned into this. Never was a synthetic until the… accident"
"…Understood" it tilted it's head down and flared it's metal eyebrows out. It almost looked like it was… disappointed?
"You alright?" Aaron questioned. He never thoughts he'd see a geth look sad.
It regained it's composure and looked back at him with it's one aperture-like blue light with two small blue lights on each side of it's head.
"We are in optimal condition" it assured.
"Right, well I got some of my own questions. What are these 'heretic' things you're talking about?"
"Geth build our own future" it explained, "the heretics asked the old machines to give them a future. They are no longer part of us"
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you were on the reaper"
"We were studying the old machines hardware to protect our future"
Something clicked in Aaron's mind. "Wait, hold up, the gears are turning… so, you found out about the derelict reaper, who you refer to as 'old machines', so you went to it to study it's innards. But there happened to be a huskified science team there?"
"Correct" it confirmed.
"And you were studying it so you could protect yourself from… other geth?"
"Incorrect" it said. "Heretics asked for a future given by old machines, in human terms, they 'worship' old machines. This denounced them as geth. They are no longer part of us"
"So, the geth from two years ago that attacked Eden Prime and the geth that Shepard's fought when going after Saren, along with the ones we fought when recruiting Tali, they were… geth that splintered from the rest of you guys because they worshiped reapers but you didn't?"
"Correct. Heretics make up but a small percentage of actual geth. Geth do not want war or extinction with organics as much as they believe. We only wish to know you and have peace"
Aaron's eyes widened behind his glasses and his mouth opened slightly. "So basically geth never actually attacked organics?"
"Correct?"
"Which means every stereotype about geth ever since two years ago has been wrong?"
"Correct"
"…Wow" Aaron held a palm to his forehead. It turns out the geth weren't genocidal machines… just a small potion of them. They wanted peace. Aaron was just worried about Tali, however. There was no telling her reaction to this. "Well… I guess organics kind of look like dicks now. Now, I need to ask, what do you want?"
"We oppose the old machines. Aaron-Saint opposes the old machines. Aaron-Saint opposed the heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals"
"So you want to join us in the epic adventure of stopping the collectors, who are the slaves of the reapers?"
"Correct"
"Alright then. The only problem is Shepard, he's the captain of the ship and I don't know how he'll react to this. He might try to shoot you. Plus we have a quarian on board"
The geth's eyebrows flared in surprise. "Shepard-Commander? He is alive?"
"Yeah, why?"
"We confirmed reports of his death, went to crash site of Normandy. Death assured, how is this possible?"
"Cerberus revived him and the ship. He's on their payroll because they want to stop the collectors, and in the long run, the reapers, too"
"Acknowledged. We look forward to meeting him"
"Believe me, you don't want to" Aaron muttered under his breath. "So, last question, what's your name?"
"Geth" it answered simply.
"No, your name"
"we are all geth" it repeated.
"Oh for the love of god, not this…" Aaron groaned. "You. Specifically. What's your name?"
"We are unsure of what to you refer to. We are geth. There are currently 1,183 programs active within this platform"
Aaron groaned in frustration, but then EDI's avatar popped up from a terminal. "My name is Legion, for we are many" she versed.
the geth faced the AI. "Christian bible, the gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine. We acknowledge this as an appropriate metaphor" it turned back to Aaron. "We are Legion, a terminal of the geth. We will integrate into the Normandy"
"Okay alright okay, as long as Shepard doesn't shoot you when he sees you, welcome to the crew. EDI, geth this field down"
The orange barrier deactivated. "We anticipate the exchange of knowledge" the now-appointed 'Legion' said.
Shepard groaned as he opened his eyes, closing them again upon seeing the bright lights of the med-bay. Chakwas walked over to him and helped him sit up. "Commander, how are you feeling?" she asked as she pointed a small flashlight at his eyes.
The commander squinted. "I'm fine. And get that damn light out of my face!" he hissed, swatting Chakwas's hand away. "What happened to me?" he asked.
"hmph. Well if you must know, a rock fell on your head and put you in a coma"
"A rock? Seriously?" he asked in a incredulous tone. "How long was I out?"
"Not long, but Aaron was forced to lead a team to acquire the IFF we needed" the doctor informed.
"Ugh, did it go well?"
"Yes, they encountered complications with husks but overall it went successfully. EDI is running tests currently to ensure it is safe to use. We also picked something else up"
"Well spit it out, what was it?"
"You… may want to see for yourself. Aaron and it are in the AI room, over there" she pointed to a door in the back of the room.
"Alright, might as well see what this is about" he grumbled, getting out of the bed.
"Commander, you mustn't strain yourself! You were just in a coma!" Chakwas chastised.
"I wasn't under that long, besides, from what Aaron has said he did a lot of things after getting out of year-long comas. If he can do that I can walk through a door" Shepard scolded, picking up his armor and weapons which were on a table next to the bed he was in. Strapping a pistol onto his side and setting the rest of the armor and weapons aside, he went to the door, and before Chakwas could protest more, Shepard opened the it. What he saw shocked him.
There was a geth standing there, a real, bonafide geth, with a piece of N7 armor on it, next to Aaron. Without thinking, Shepard instinctively brought his pistol up and aimed the sights at the geth's head, he could worry about why it was in the AI core later. Shepard fired, but to his great surprise Aaron stepped in front of Legion just in time and took the bullet to his chest.
"Aaron! What the hell do you think your doing!?" Shepard barked, trying to aim at the geth but Aaron shielding him.
Legion just had his eyebrows all the way up in surprise. From what Legion gathered two years ago Shepard was supposed to be a paragon of his species, yet here he was shooting at Legion, even though the geth had done nothing to bode any ill-will. And Aaron, despite only knowing Legion for a short while, had shielded him from a bullet.
Had… had they been wrong about Shepard? Seeking his help in the fight against the old machines? Because at the moment it seemed he wanted to kill the geth rather than help the geth.
"Shepard, he means no harm. Stand down"
And here was Aaron, defending Legion. Maybe… maybe he was the one, not Shepard. And had Aaron… just referred to Legion as a 'he'? Like Legion was a organic? What did any of this mean? Legion would need to consult with the consensus…
"Aaron, that is a geth! You know, AI's that want to kill all organics, sided with Saren and the reapers!? Move aside!" he bellowed, slowly walking towards them. This wasn't going well so far…
"Shepard, wait! You don't understand! We got them all wrong, they don't even like the reapers!" Aaron tried to explain.
"…Aaron, you have put me through a lot of shit since I've come back alive, and if I could do it I would kill you and that thing right here and now, but I know a single pistol can't kill you. So you had better explain to me why I would ever see a geth and allow it to live"
"If Shepard-Commander wishes for us to explain, we offer our services" Legion offered.
"Did… did that thing just talked?" Shepard asked dumbly.
"Agh, just… just listen, because I'm going to have to tell Tali the same thing when she finds out" Aaron instructed.
After a lengthy explanation Shepard finally holstered his gun. "Aaron, I really don't know what to say here…"
"Is this about how 'stupid I was to trust a geth' or 'how organics mistook geth'?" Aaron asked.
"Both" the commander said simply. "Look, as far as I'm concerned, I don't trust the damn thing. But it's another gun. As long as you keep the thing on a leash, I'll allow it. For now"
"Jeez man, lighten up. He's not going to shoot you in the back"
"Yet. I need to check our progress" Shepard said, leaving the AI core.
Aaron turned to Legion. "Sorry if Shepard's not as cracked up as you thought he would be. I dunno, something's wrong with him"
"We did not anticipate Shepard-Commander to react to us in this way. Further evaluation required" the geth droned. "We have an inquiry"
"A'ight, shoot"
"Why do you refer to us as a male? We are synthetic, we have no separate genders or distinguishable characteristics that define us as so"
"I don't know, you just sound like a guy. It's easier to call you a guy than 'it' or 'thing'. That's just rude" When he saw Legion still staring at him, he added, "If you really want to know ask some of the crewmembers why they call EDI a 'her'"
"Understood" Legion acknowledged.
"So, I'm gonna go. Seeya" Aaron waved, and Legion raised some of his head flaps, prompting Aaron to leave.
"Seriously, when STAG was disbanded they destroyed all their documents about advanced technology?" Aaron questioned.
"Yeah, I thought it was stupid to, we had laser guns and laser jets and we literally destroyed it all. I was pissed when that happened, I heard they had a giant super-carrier thing, supposed to be a weapon of mass destruction. I think they were about to use it too before Cyrus went crazy"
"Well it's not like they would have destroyed the entire city looking for you, right?"
"Never know" Boss said. While waiting in the elevator Boss decided to tell Aaron how all the STAG technology had been erased. In actuality it was a failsafe in case STAG failed, all files about the technology were purged upon it being shutdown. Not even Kinzie's hacking magic could retrieve anything.
The elevator door opened, Aaron and Boss walking out, Boss continuing, "But what was really dumb is when I dressed up as the dude, got cosmetic surgery and shit, and I had to choose between satchel charges and a flying laser bike"
"What the- we already have satchel charges!" Aaron protested.
"Yeah, but these one's stick. Point is I chose the bike. Crashed it in a river, but it was fun while it lasted"
Aaron nodded and glanced at Kelly, the yeoman. She seemed to have a concerned look on her face. "Kelly, something wrong?" Aaron asked.
"Oh, it's Tali. She seems… stressed, for some reason. I think she got some bad news, I don't know what"
Both Saints stopped dead in their tracks. "Wait, so your saying she's rather distraught right now?" Boss questioned.
"Yes" Kelly confirmed.
"And she could use some help in the form of… say a mission? Which includes us going somewhere?" Aaron asked.
"Um… maybe, why?"
Aaron and Boss glanced at eachother before dashing towards the elevator, trying to force eachother out as they fought for a single spot in the elevator.
"Boss, the hell man!?" Aaron shouted as Boss threw him out the elevator.
"Sorry man, but I need to get to her first! For reasons!" with that, the elevator door closed.
"Damn…!" Aaron swore under his breath. Boss didn't actually like Tali, did he? Agh, for all Aaron knew Boss probably only liked her because of her purple suit, he probably thought she had purple skin.
Well, for all Aaron knew she did have purple skin. But that was beside the point, he had to get to her first. With this though, Aaron first sprinted to the lab. "Hey Mordin!" Aaron quickly greeted as he sprinted by a surprised salarian as he entered the maintenance tunnel at the end.
Boss tapped his foot impatiently as he waited for the elevator to reach it's destination.
"Hey Legion!" Aaron greeted quickly as he ducked into the maintenance tunnel in the AI core, crawling to engineering.
"You slow elevator, I swear…" Boss growled as the elevator continued it's descent.
"Man, those tunnels… they dirty" Aaron groaned as he pulled himself out of the last tunnel, sprinting up to where Tali was. He was surprised to see her posture in a certain… depressed form, her fingers working sluggishly over the console.
"Tali, hey" Aaron greeted.
She looked to where he was standing. Even her eyes seemed droopy. "Oh, hey Aaron" she flatly said.
Aaron was about to add to the conversation, but was interrupted when Boss came barreling into the room. "Yo Tali, I- what the, how'd you get here so fast?" Boss asked accusingly, pointing a finger at Aaron.
"I climbed through the maintenance shafts" he answered simply.
"What the- there's maintenance shafts!? Then why have we been riding in elevators?"
"I dunno. Look, we're both here, let's ask Tali what the problem is. Tali, do you have a problem you need dealt with?" Aaron questioned.
"It's nothing, it's… the mission comes first guys, my problems aren't important"
"Well EDI's still running tests on the IFF, so we got time to kill. Plus Shepard wants us focused for the mission, so…"
"It's… -sigh-, I've been accused of treason" she stated bluntly.
"…Well I've been accused of worse" Boss said. Aaron ribbed him.
"You don't understand! A quarian accused of treason, to go against your own people, means exile, going away from the fleet and your home… to basically be booted from our home, again. You don't know what the war with the geth did to us"
"Well damn, what did you do?" Aaron asked.
"I didn't do anything! I just got a letter from the Admiralty board, something happened with my Father, and I'm being accused of treason for it!"
"Okay, okay, slow down… what are our options?" If they were going to help Tali with this, they needed to know the routes.
"Option one is I do nothing and get exiled from the quarian fleet"
"Not a good option?" Boss guessed.
"No. Option two is I go to the Migrant fleet and try to prove my innocence"
"promising… but sounds hard. Option 3?" Aaron asked.
"There's only the two" she bluntly stated.
"Oh. Well… what would proving your innocence involve?"
"There was this one quarian girl, Anora'Vanya vas Selani, who gave sensitive schematics to batarians, who sold them to pirates. She had to 'redeem' herself by going on a suicide run to destroy the entire pirate group. Single-handedly"
"Well I'm sure that went well" Boss said sarcastically.
"Actually she miraculously succeeded and was pardoned" Tali dryly said.
"Well pfft, if she can do that I'm sure we can pardon you" Aaron assured. "I guess it depends on the decision of Shepard letting us or not" Aaron looked at the ceiling. "Hey Joker! Would Shepard care if we went to the Migrant Fleet?"
"Let me check" Joker's voice answered. "Yeah, he said he really doesn't care, since EDI's busy with the IFF"
"Awesome, alright, we're going to the fleet"
"Really!?" Tali squealed, her eyes widening as she wrapped her arms around Aaron's neck. "Thank you so much! You have no idea what this means to me!"
Boss grumbled under his breath and Aaron pried Tali off, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, as the first alien I've ever met that didn't try to kill or evict me, I owe you that much. To the fleet!"
Deep in space, the Alerei, many quarian and geth bodies laid strewn about. Amid those bodies two geth patrolled the perimeter, but suddenly a biotic warp disintegrated one's head. The other quickly turned around only to be met with the end of a dark purple omni-blade… which, oddly enough, was in the shape of a broadsword. The dead geth fell as black, armored boots casually walked past it. The black-armored figure glanced as a male quarian in a black and green suit, leaning against a table, held a hand out to him.
"Please… help me… have mercy…" he pleaded.
"I wasn't created for mercy" Hydra growled, using his biotics to choke the quarian to death.
Aaron and Boss had to admit, the Migrant Fleet was impressive. With 50,000 ships, the fleet was the biggest in the galaxy. However the catch was quantity over quality. Most of the ship were extremely old, with most having to be constantly repaired. Some were as old as when the quarians first got booted off of Rannoch. After speaking to a male quarian over the comms, Tali secured passage to the Rayya. Multiple quarians gathered by the airlock, expecting the group to come. Rumor was Aaron was among them, and he was a friend to the quarians, and had made quite a few during his short visit. They got excited when they heard voices at the other end of the airlock.
"Uh, Boss… not that I've ever questioned your judgment, but… I think this is a pretty bad idea" a voice sounded, slightly muffled.
"Aaron, have I ever lead you astray before?" a youngish, male voice said, muffled by a helmet.
"Multiple times" the one who the quarian's assumed Aaron was.
"I agree with Aaron, they're going to panic when they see it" the voice of a female quarian, Tali, added.
"What's the worse that could happen?" Boss asked.
"They freak out and point guns at us. Tali's case is dropped and they immediately exile her. I get my name as a friend of the quarians tarnished. He-"
"It" Tali corrected.
"…It gets shot to death. That could all happen" Aaron answered bluntly.
"Oh come on, that ain't gonna happen"
"Well, we're about to find out" The airlock door opened and the quarians gasped at what they saw. There were four figures, one was Tali, the purple suited quarian. The other was Aaron in his Saints-Thirty custom colored armor. The third was a strange figure in strange armor (Boss in his Saint-colored Iron Saint suit), and, to all the quarians shock, the geth Legion. Immediately over a dozen guns were pointed at them.
"I freakin' told you!" Aaron shouted at Boss. Why he thought it was a good idea to bring Legion was beyond Aaron. Tali's first reaction upon seeing him was to try and shoot him. After a lengthy explanation Aaron calmed her down, but she still didn't trust him.
"Well what was I supposed to do, we needed a fourth" Boss defended.
"No we didn't! The deal with squads is three! Three!"
"Well back where we're from it was four"
"Well we ain't- you can't- let's just focus on this" Aaron sighed, looking at the quarians. "So… we come in peace?"
"What is that monstrosity doing in here!?" one shouted, a male quarian in a grey suit and black visor.
"And you'd be…?" Aaron asked.
"Captain Kar'Danna" the marine addressed, "And I want a explanation in the next thirty seconds why that thing should be continued to live!"
"Boss, this is all you" Aaron said.
"Fine. We brought Legion here because we thought it would help… with… yeah, it was a pretty stupid idea now that I think about it" Boss admitted.
"You didn't even have a reason!?" Aaron screamed.
"Hey, I wanted to test his abilities in diplomacy out. And if need-be shooting skills. Plus someone needs to take CID's mantle up until we find him a body"
"I don't care why you brought it, I want it gone! Now!" Danna barked.
"Danna, come on, you know I wouldn't let him get out on control. I'll shoot him if he attacks anyone if it makes you feel better" Aaron offered.
Danna considered this, than grunted in agitation as he signaled for his men to lower their weapons. "I don't like this… but after what you've done for the fleet Aaron, I suppose I need to trust you here. But you better keep that thing on a VERY short leash. Or else" he warned.
"Will do" Aaron assured.
"Fine than… now, Tali, as for your trial…" Danna began.
"Yes, I'd like to know why I'm being held for treason" she requested.
"Well… it's kind of awkward now, but… your being tried for smuggling active geth into the fleet" he explained.
Aaron looked back and forth between the captain and Legion. "Well either the quarians can see into the future or Boss really screwed up here by bringing Legion. Your not helping her here, man"
"Your not gonna let this go, are you?"
"Nope"
"What!? But, that's impossible! I would never bring active geth into the fleet!" Tali protested.
"That's just the charges you've been brought with, Ma'am. I'm to escort you to the commons, where the trial is to take place"
"I… fine" Tali begrudgingly nodded, following the captain as he escorted the group to the commons. While going there they would hear hushed conversations between quarians, specifically about Tali, the trial, Aaron, Boss's suit, and escpecially Legion.
The commons was essentially a big room, with a auditorium at the center surrounded by rows of seats and a small podium in front of it. Aaron noticed a quaran in a tan suit talking to another one, and the tan one turned to the group.
"Auntie Raan!" Tali said with glee.
"Tali'zorah vas Normandy!" Raan greeted, walking over to her and hugging her. "It's been too long"
"I know, but none of this makes any sense… I would never smuggle geth into the fleet!"
"I know that and everyone knows that, Tali. I don't know the details, but it has to do with your Father?"
"What does Rael have to do with this?" she asked.
"Like I said, I don't know. You'll have to wait until the trial starts, they'll explain then" she looked over to Aaron. "So your this Aaron I've heard so much about" she commented.
"Yeah, that's me" Aaron confirmed, albeit sheepishly.
Raan slowly walked up to Aaron, placing her faceplate inches from his visor, her glowing eyes narrowing to slits. "Let me tell you this. I don't know why you thought it was a good idea to bring a active geth aboard, and frankly I don't care. If you mess this trial up in anyway, and/or hurt Tali, I will hunt you down, powers be damned. Do I make myself clear?" She asked coldly.
"C-crystal" Aaron said, nodding vigorously. Boss barked out a laugh.
"Wait… Raan, you called me 'Vas Normandy'…" Tali noted.
"I'm afraid that when you were charged with treason your ship name was stripped and replaced with the current ship you were working on. In fact, your captain, Shepard, was supposed to be your advocate. Where is he?" Raan asked.
"Dude was too lazy to show up" Boss answered.
"Well, that's… unsettling. However, Aaron, you have proven your worth the fleet, I'm sure the admirals would see fit to place you as a replacement"
"Well, okay. When's the hearing?"
"Right about now" she answered. Multiple quarians were sitting in the stands as three sat in the main podium above, Raan walking towards it. As the four took their places, Aaron muttered to Tali, "Cute aunt"
"She's one of the admirals, and a family friend. A Mother figure when I think about it" she explained. They took there spots and the hearing started.
One of the admirals voiced their complaint immediately. "Why is there a geth here!?" he screamed.
Aaron glared daggers at Boss, who chuckled sheepishly. "If you must know, my ignorant friend here thought it was a good idea to bring him. Why the hell he did though, I ain't got a clue"
"Would Aaron-Saint and Boss-Saint like me to leave?" Legions asked. Many of the quarians gasped upon hearing him speak.
"Nah, it's cool, we got this" Boss said, taking the stand.
"What are you doing?" Aaron nervously questioned.
"Dude, I was the president, I think I can handle a hearing"
"You can't even handle your own hearings!"
"My point exactly" Boss faced the admirals. "O admirals of… admiraldom, I am here today to defend my witness here, Tali. Tali has been wrongfully accused of bringing active geth into the fleet, and as such been marked for treason. I know you may be thinking us bringing a active geth here proves that theory, in fact you may be thinking this will not help us at all, and will probably think this is a way of spitting in the admiral's face at this accusation. While that intention is false, I will admit it was a bad call to bring Legion and I won't blame you if you do take it that way. But! Let me remind you that Legion has not shot anybody thusfar, which proves we only bring good intention? Which means this entire trial is out of line!" he banged his fist on the podium, pointing to each admiral. "Your out of line! And you! Your out of line to! And you…" he stared at black suited female admiral, with a blue visor. "Do you know what you are?"
"Out of line?" she mused.
"No! I mean yes! It's a entire baloney trial, mixed in a baloney sandwich! A big one! A sandwich only Ben could eat! And… Aaron, where am I going with this?"
"Boss, the admirals were supposed to start first. You just made a complete fool of yourself" Aaron said dryly.
"Oh. Uh…" he looked dumbly at the admirals. "So if you could omit everything I just said there, that'd be great" Aaron sighed and groaned into the ceiling at that request.
"Yes, well, um…" one of the admirals said uneasily, "I suppose we should start with the reason of the accusation brought upon Tali. It was reported that she was smuggling geth pieces to a research ship, the Alerei"
"Yes, but I only sent inactive part! I never sent a fully active geth!" Tali defended.
"Wait, you actually sent geth?" Aaron asked.
"When I was on Haestrom, we sent salvaged geth part, just pieces they could research on, but just bits and pieces, never anything harmful!"
"Oh?" One of the admirals said, with a hint of smugness. "Then why did we lose contact with the Alerei due to reports of a geth attack? A research station which happened to have had your Father, Rael'Zorah, on it?"
"Objection, your sandbagging her! Whatever that means!" Boss argued.
"Boss, just… just stop" Aaron begged.
"Fine… killjoy"
"My Father… was on the ship?" Tali asked in a low, saddened voice. And likely anyone on the ship had died… "No, I refuse to believe he died! We'll go and take back the Alerei!" She proposed defiantly.
"Tali, no! You don't know how risky that would be!" Raan pleaded.
"Hey, I say we do it" Aaron said. "If a random quarian girl can take out a band of pirates, than I'm sure another one with the assistance of two super-powered Saints, along with another geth, can clear out a ship of geth"
"I agree with the sentiment" the black-and-blue suited one said. "Why not let them try to retake it? Maybe they could find evidence to help them, even"
"Daro, you to?" one of the admirals asked, then sighed. "Very well. If that is what you wish, than a transport will be prepared to ship you out. Meeting adjourned, keelah se'lai" the rest of the quarians in the audience repeated the motto.
"A'ight. Boss, anything to add?"
"I've already been asked to shut up once, Aaron. Your pushing it"
"Whatevs" he said cooly as he followed Tali out. "So, what now?" he asked.
"Maybe we should talk with the other Admirals, get their opinions. Kill time until the shuttle is ready" she suggested.
"Sounds good to me… Tali, are you alright?"
"No Aaron, I'm not. My Father could be dead on that ship! Not knowing is killing me…"
"Look" he grabbed her shoulders and looked her dead in the faceplate. "We're going to go to that ship. We're going to find your Father. And we're going to find the evidence to get you innocent. Okay?" he shook her a bit for good measure.
"-Sigh- I hope your right. Let's go" with that, the four decided to talk to the Admirals, or any quarians they knew. The first one stood out immediately.
"Amer!" cried Aaron as he patted his old friend on the back. He happened to be one of the quarians at the trial, and overall he looked different. His knew suit had the same color pallet as the last one, but the new suit was much sleeker and new-looking. "How's it been?"
"Good, I suppose…" he answered timidly. "Are you really going to go on a geth-infested ship?"
"Ain't got a choice, kid. Gotta clear up this trial. Wanna come?"
"No I'm good!" he said quickly, then shrunk back. "I mean I'm fine, thanks for the offer. But you can do it, I'm sure"
"Thanks dude. We're gonna chat with a few other people, see you when we get back"
"Sure" Amer nodded. They went on to the others.
Next was a quarian named Veetor. He kept screaming at Aaron and co. to go away, his personal doctor pleading them to leave. Apparently Cerberus did a number on him. It wouldn't have happened if Shepard never gave him to the group in the first place...
Next was Kal'Reegar, the marine back when they recruited Tali. He was doing well, but still refused to call Tali anything but 'Ma'am', much to her chagrin.
Raan was worried about Tali's safety and what she would find on the ship, but she had been with Shepard blasting geth away back when he was hunting for Saren, so she was semi-comfortable with her going. She still threatened to kill Aaron, Boss, and Legion if she came back harmed however.
Admiral Koris was a surprising quarian, by Aaron's standards. From hearing him talk you wouldn't think it, but the man actually wanted peace with the geth. However it was his ship name, Qwib Qwib, that sent Aaron on the floor laughing. Tali wouldn't let him hear the end of it.
Gerrel, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. Like Tali's Father he wanted an all-out war with the geth in order to retake the homeworld. After meeting Legion Aaron realized what a mistake that would be, as they wanted peace. In fact Legion voiced his concerns about it to the Admiral, but he wouldn't trust a geth. Ever.
Admiral Daro'Xen… if there's one word Aaron could call her it would be 'creepy'. The first thing she asked them was if Legion was a actual geth or just a simple VI with a geth shell, which Legion confirmed he was a true geth. Apparently she wanted to cart him away to her workshop to take him apart. A consensus of denying that, even by geth standards, was quick. Fact was she didn't even care about the trial at all, she just wanted the information on the Alerei, really most of the Admirals had hidden agendas. The result of Tali's trial was secondary to them.
However, it was soon time to leave for the ship, so the group made their way to a dropship as it made it's way to the dropship.
To say Hydra was in a bad mood would be a understatement. To him this entire mission was a waste of time. Orders were clear; 'Go to quarian ship blah blah blah kill any quarians and geth you see blah blah blah pertain as much information as you can from what they learned from the geth blah blah'. He always had thoughts that Cerberus went too far with the geth. Sure, it was a good idea, but it wasn't working out so far. First was project Overlord, they already lost transmission with that outpost, so they were as good as dead. And then there was Ouroboros… Hydra hated the freak. The only reason he was in the Heads was because the Illusive Man ordered him to be there. Sure, he was combat capable, but he had too many morals. If it were up to Hydra he'd just kill the kid.
He tried that once, and blamed it on a sniper. Damn scientists still brought him back though. Everytime…
As he kicked a quarian girls faceplate in and watch her gasp for air he wondered how Ouro was doing. Maybe that Aaron character had figured out his true intentions and spaced him. Man could dream…
He got bored of the girl and moved to a viewport, being surprised when he saw a quarian dropship docking with the airlock. Must be sending marines to assess the situation… ah well, geth will most likely mow them down. For now Hydra had work to do…
"To the left!" Tali shouted.
"That's right!" Boss yelled, using his rifle to kill three geth.
"No, left not right!" Tali corrected.
"What's left?" Boss asked, turning to her, only to see her appearance slightly distorted. He realized there was a cloaked geth in front on him and grabbed the hunter, using it as a geth shield, using it's shotgun to kill more to geth before pushing it into a crowd of five. One caught it and realized a grenade disk was strapped to it, but was too late to react as it exploded. One geth survived the explosion, and watched helplessly and Boss walked up to it, using his alien pistols to put multiple holes in it's body, than shoving the barrel right into it's eye and firing, white fluid leaking out the wound as Boss sent it over a rail. The last was set on fire by Aaron.
"So, we got geth. Anything out of the ordinary?" Aaron asked.
"Dead quars…" Boss noted. Aaron saw Tali's pose stiffen slightly; Rael's survival odds weren't looking good.
"Right…" Aaron pointed down the hall. "Well, we won't find anything here. Let's go" all three followed him as they progresses through the small ship. Along the way there were a few geth, but they were quickly dispatched. They also found multiple logs and deactive drones. What the logs said didn't make Tali happy.
"I can't believe this!" she threw her hands up in rage.
"What?" Aaron asked, peering over her shoulder.
"They… they were re-assembling the geth parts I sent them and reactivating full geth in order to test multiple hacking experiments on them for ways to improve offensive strategies against the geth" she explained.
"So? Ways to fight the geth, what's wrong with that? Sounds like they did a good thing?" Boss voiced.
"No, they didn't! They risked the fleet by activating these geth! It's probably worse than what I'm charged with! High treason!"
"Oh… well, any evidence on the datapad?"
"No, the Admiral's would never accepts this as legible evidence, it could be too easily forged"
"Mainframe, maybe?" Aaron suggested. "It's bound to have something on it. How many geth are here, anyways?"
"From the looks of it, about fifty or sixty platforms… although what kind each is would be impossible to say"
"Alright, so we kill them than get to the mainframe. Not so hard, right?"
"Yeah… right" Tali muttered to herself. Aaron took note of this, but shrugged as they proceeded to the mainframe. Although, something was off… they weren't encountering any more geth.
"Um… Anyone else find this ominous?" Boss asked.
"Yeah… I know there aren't many platforms, but that was only a dozen geth we fought back there, where's the rest?"
"Probably guarding the- oh Keelah!" Tali screamed. They had opened the door to a stairwell, but at the bottom was the body of a dead quarian. Based on her reaction to it, Aaron winced upon realizing who it was.
"No! no no no no, you can't be dead, you just can't be!" she rushed to his body, her omni-tool lighting up. "You can't just be dead, you would have had some plan or something! Please tell me you left something!" Instantly, a green hologram instantly popped up, a recording of Rael Tali focused on.
"Damn, if anyone see's this, you need to listen to me! The geth have taken over the ship, but I know how to stop them! The central hub, that's where we activated them and where they are! Destroy that, and they'll die!… I never wanted it to be like this. We were reactivating geth parts we received from Tali, trying to find a way to hack the network. We got some data on it, but we turned too many geth on, and they all activated. I… I didn't want her to be a part of this. If word to the Admiralty board got out, the blowback would be terrible for her. That's why I did this in secret, away from those bickering Admirals. If you can reach Tali, tell her… tell her I loved her. Tell her I- ghe-!" he was cut short as what looked like a omni-blade cut through his chest, killing him. Aaron found that strange, geth didn't use those.
Tali, however, was in actual tears from the message. "I… I can't… he's really…" Aaron hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder, and to his surprise she instantly jumped up and wrapped her arms around him as she sobbed. He stood stunned for a moment, than awkwardly patted her on the back.
"Damn it… damn it…" she quietly sobbed. She let go of Aaron and he asked, "Are you okay? We can take care of the rest from here if you want to stay and… mourn"
Her posture stiffened and she sniffed. "No, it's… Keelah, it's fine. The mission comes first. But thanks, I can mourn later"
Aaron's eyes widened. Even after seeing her Dad killed, she still wanted to kill geth. He didn't know if this was good or bad…
"Alright. Guys, let's go"
"A'ight" Boss said, going up the stairs.
"Acknowledged" Legion mimicked, going up as well as Tali and Aaron followed closely behind. They entered the mainframe, a square room with the mainframe being surrounded by a glass wall, but something was very wrong. For one, the glass walls were shattered. For two, they found out what happened to all the geth- They were all dead, platforms ranging from regular ones to primes being littered on the floor. At the end of the room was the last geth, a normal infantry one… with it's wires being biotically pulled out of it, the cords wrapping around the geth and crushing it. The one behind the biotics was a man in familiar black armor.
"Hydra…" Aaron seethed, dark eezo arcing along his body. Boss pointed his hands at him, arming the plasma ball launchers in the palms, Tali readied her shotgun and omni-tool, and Legion brought up his sniper rifle.
Hydra merely bore two omni-blades, glowing purple with biotic energy.
Familiar omni-blades.
The ones that killed Rael.
A/N- I know, right? Cliffhangers. Anyway, this one came out a bit later, but Saturday was my birthday. I was considering posting a joke chapter along with this, but I didn't have the time. But if you want me to I will.
Okay, so next chapter we wrap this up, Shepard's sanity problem is revealed, and Legion's mission is taken care of. Then we can finally get the wheels churning for the end game!
Now, I've gotten some concerns. "This story just has Saints characters inserted into a standard ME2 plotline" and so forth. So let me reiterate- once the collectors are dealt with and all that, the Saints will be DONE with the Normandy, forever! Once out of their they'll be setting up on restarting the Saints empire in the ME universe while trying to get back home, and will have NOTHING to do with the Alliance! In fact everyone is going to want to kill them! So I'll just say this, so far this has been the Saints following Shepard to the collectors. But once that is done, the Saints become independent, and start from ground up… all new material once the bugs are taken care of.
Actually, I've been wondering, should the Saints induct new people once they get going on the 'build the gang' up thing going, or should they just stick with themselves? I will say that two or three people will defect from the Normandy and join the Saints, but I won't say who.
A'ight, cya.
