The Yaska, of The Quarian Migrant Fleet, Tikkun System, 2186 CE

Introducing the Geth to the crew had gone better than expected, with only slight glances of unease exchanged. Most of the crew were marines, like him, and they wouldn't fight orders, though he supposed the incident at the airlock played a role in their easy acceptance.

They had spent the last week patrolling the border of the Tikkun System, monitoring for signs of Reaper activity while they awaited a new assignment. He had expected to hear something by now, though he knew the Primarch was busy, leading his people in the middle of a war could never be easy. He knew he would contact them when they were needed but he was itching to get into this fight. For now, they were doing good work, the Reapers would come to Rannoch sooner or later and an early warning could mean a world of difference in this war but there were hundreds of other ships, both Geth and Quarian, doing the same thing right now.

He hadn't had much interaction with the new additions to his squad since they came aboard. Honestly, he felt a little ashamed of his outburst, they were allies, after all. He guessed that was part of the reason he had avoided them, though if he was being honest with himself, it wasn't the true reason. He felt uneasy around the little Geth, 0402, since their confrontation. It wasn't that he feared it, no, he knew how to disable Geth with relative ease should it come to that, it was the supposed emotion the thing displayed that had him feeling this way. It was true that they had evolved in unpredictable ways since their creation but he knew they didn't feel things, not like organics would, but it had seemed genuinely pissed off.

He decided to seek answers from someone he knew would have no problem figuring this out, an expert in all things Geth and she was there when this new alliance was made, perhaps she knew things he did not. He brought up his omni-tool and made the call, hoping she wasn't too busy to answer her old friend. It had almost rung out before she finally picked up.

"Kal?" Her eyes widened in surprise as she greeted him, "Keelah, I'm so glad you're safe. The fleet took heavy casualties when... I wasn't sure... I didn't know if.." She babbled nervously, an old habit of hers that he had always assumed she would grow out of, apparently not.

"I'm glad to see you're still in one piece, ma'am." He smiled, though she couldn't see it.

"Still with this ma'am thing, Kal?" She rubbed her visor with her free hand, "I mean, seriously? We've known each other since we were kids, can't you just call me Tali like everyone else?"

"I'll work on it, ma'am." He laughed.

"You keep saying that." She sighed, though the soft giggle that followed betrayed her feigned annoyance, "Is there something you need?"

He hesitated, though he could not see her face well behind her purple visor, he knew her well enough to see something was wrong. "You seem tired, did I wake you?" He hoped he had not disturbed her sleep, she needed all the rest she could get in this war.

She shook her head, "No, we actually just got back from a mission."

"Oh?" From what he could see behind her, it appeared to be the ships night cycle, he knew he shouldn't be surprised that they would be out fighting while they should be sleeping, that ship and its crew were at the centre of everything.

"It came straight from the top of the Asari government, so I can't say much, but it was.." She looked away to something off screen, "Difficult." She then turned back to face him again, "Liara isn't taking it well, poor thing. Though, it wasn't all bad, we did run into an old crew mate, despite the circumstances, it was good to see she is okay."

He nodded his understanding, "You take whatever good news you can get."

"Exactly! Liara didn't understand, of course." She sighed again, "How can you be happy at a time like this?" He had never met Liara but from what he had heard of the Doctor, he would guess that she was imitating her.

"I don't blame her, though, she was going through a lot at the time. I think she saw my relief as disrespectful."

"What exactly happened out there?" He hadn't heard much about what was happening to the rest of the galaxy as he had been in this system since before the war began. Part of him was a little jealous of Tali, she was travelling on one of the most famous ships in the galaxy with a legend but he knew that nothing came free, those on the Normandy were in constant danger, the ground team even more so.

"There was this new kind of Reaper. Keelah, it was a mistake to bring Liara." She looked far away then, like she wasn't really all there and he understood.

"They were Asari?"

She nodded, "Shepard called them Banshee's, something to do with the sound they made and some old Earth reference, I don't really understand it but.." She shuddered, "Somehow it fits them. They used biotic jumps to close in on us, Shepard was wounded but she just told us to keep our distance and kept on fighting." She took a shaky breath, "There were hundreds of them coming and in the end, we had to detonate a bomb to get away. I hope it killed them all, I hope no one ever has to go through that."

"I'm sorry" It wasn't much but it was all he could offer for the time. It took a moment, filled with silence only disturbed by her shaky breaths but soon she seemed to perk up a little.

"I'm sure you didn't call just to hear about my day, what was on your mind?"

"Are you sure you're okay to talk? I can call back later if you need to get some rest?"

"I don't think I can sleep much, not after that. Besides, Shepard's still in surgery, I'd like to know she is okay before I sleep."

"Surgery? Just how badly was she injured?" The whole galaxy was depending on this woman right now, he had to admit, he was a little worried.

"There was a moment when we didn't know if she would get back up or not but she just can't stay out of a fight for long" She laughed, "I'm sure she'll be fine, probably be calling us out for another mission in a few hours knowing her." Tali was acting fine with it but he knew she was worried, he could see it in the way she carried herself. He chose to ignore it though, she clearly didn't want to think about it and he wouldn't be the one to make her so he decided to get back to why he had called in the first place.

"I wanted to ask you about the Geth."

"What about them?" She jumped on the change of subject and he was glad to see her perk up again.

"Raan assigned two platforms to my squad a few days ago and I noticed one of them acting... odd"

"Odd how?"

"It seemed angry"

"And?" She looked at him expectantly. He had expected her to understand.

"That isn't enough? Anger implies emotions Geth do not have."

"Oh" She seemed to think about it for a moment before, "Oh! You mean Raan didn't tell you?" The question was directed more to herself than him.

"Tell me what, exactly?" He knew the admiralty board were likely hiding something and though Tali was an admiral now, she wasn't a political creature, not like the rest of them.

"The Geth are fully evolved A.I, I wont go into detail about how exactly it happened but they have changed."

He couldn't believe it but it did explain the Geths actions and the willingness to ally themselves with organics. Hell, it even explained their use of a singular pronoun when talking of themselves but he didn't understand how it could happen so fast. "How?"

"It's complicated." She sighed, "Though I should tell you, the upgrade is based on Reaper code, I suppose that's why the other admirals wanted to keep it to themselves."

"They have Reaper code?! Then how can we trust them?"

"We can trust them now more than ever, Kal. They have so much to fight for and starting a war with us would only put their new future at risk."

"What about hacking?"

"Look Kal, I trust you but I can't say much, just know that they wont turn on us again."

"How can you be sure?" He couldn't believe how much trust she had in them, she had never been sympathetic to them in the past.

"I felt the same way you do a few months ago but I've worked with one now and it changed the way I see them. Look, just forget what you know about the Geth and actually try to get to know them like you would any organic, okay?"

He wasn't sure he could just let go of the past like that but he trusted her, "I'll... try."

"Thank you." It seemed she had more to say when she was suddenly cut off.

"Tali, war room in five." It was Shepard.

"Okay!" Tali called out, "I guess that means our time is up."

"So much for recovery."

"I told you, didn't I?" She laughed. "I'll talk to you later, Kal"

"Stay safe out there, ma'am"

"You too"

Authors notes: I forgot to mention in the last part that the 'Yaska', according to the wiki, is a small Quarian gunship that Rael'Zorah and Han'Gerrel served on pre-pilgrimage, I figured Kal needed a ship so his squad of marines could get around the galaxy, I hope it makes sense for him to be commanding it during the war.