The Rescue Mission

Tali is in the Drive Core of the Normandy, looking down at a pair of boots. They belong to a man. The man is listing off things that Tali has done for him. She feels the heat from her cheeks as he continues. She keeps her head down to hide her blushing, forgeting that the man can't see her face.

The man gently lifts her head up by her chin, forcing her to look in his eyes.

The short brown hair that he spiked up over his forehead, the long scar over his eye that he had before they had met that she always wondered about, and those green eyes that he didn't have to force her for long to look into. It was Gabriel Shepard. The man Tali has been watching ever since she joined his crew on the Normandy. He softly says something to Tali that nearly stops her breathing...

"I don't know about you, but that makes you pretty damn special in my book."

He continues to look in her eyes as if he's waiting for something. She's...wondering if this is the time to tell him how she felt, but worried that it might go wrong. Worried that if she says whats on her mind, it could destroy the wonderful friendship they have.

She finally decides that if this isn't the moment that she has been waiting for, then she's tired of waiting for it.

"Shepard..."

"Yes Miss Nar Rayya?"

She notices his anticipation. He wants to hear what she has to say. This is the moment if she can just say it...

Suddenly, an explosion is heard and now Tali is running with her hand in Shepards down a hallway of the Normandy as he guides her to the escape pods. People are all around them. Running for their lives or dying from the explosions. Another explosion goes off. This one right beside them. Tali closes her eyes as she sees the flames and feels her body fall to the ground.

Tali expects to feel numb, what she imagines every body feels like after death, but instead she feels like she has over two hundred pounds on top of her. She opens her eyes to see the concerned look on Shepards face. She looks down to see his arms wrapped around her waist. Before she can realize what he did...

"Any suit ruptures?" Gabriel asks.

Tali lifts up her left arm and looks at her omni-tool. No compromises...

"Thanks to you." She thinks to herself. "No, I'm ok Shepard."

Now Shepard is helping Tali into an escape pod. She sees her friends Garrus, Liara, and Wrex inside. She sits down in a seat and straps herself in. She then looks to her right and sees two other Normandy crew members sitting beside her. Who she doesn't see though...

"Where's Shepard?"

Everything slows down around her as Tali looks up to the escape pods entrance. She sees Gabriel looking at her. She then sees the door slowly closing in front of him, but to her horror, she also sees a wall of flames coming from behind him. Tali reaches her arm out towards Shepard. The flames have made contact with him as the door slams shut...

"SHEPARD!"

Tali realizes that she is back on the Neema, the ship she joined when she returned to the Migrant Fleet from her pilgrimage. She's in her small room, sitting up in her bed, with her arm stretched out.

"Damn it..." Tali says to herself after she realizes it was the nightmare again. The same nightmare she's been having for the past two years.

Beyond her arm, she can see a picture frame on a table at the end of her bed. She crawls down to the end of the bed and grabs it.

Garrus was able to get it before he made his way to the escape pods that day. Garrus, Gabriel, and Tali all had one, but Garrus was the only one who was able to save a copy.

After the day Tali, Garrus, and Wrex went to the Citadel to ask the Council to help try to appeal the Alliance Military's decision to not give Shepard a military funeral, a move that failed even with Counciler Anderson on their side, Garrus gave the picture to Tali.

The picture was of Tali, Shepard, and Garrus. They were all wearing helmets. Shepard was standing in the middle, wearing his N7 armour, with his arm around Talis shoulders and banging fists with Garrus, who was holding up his Mantis sniper rifle with his other hand. Tali was wearing her old light purple and black suit at the time.

She remembered everything about that day. They were on the planet Casbin in the Hong system. They took down an Geth outpost there. Before the picture, they had taken down a Geth Colossus, evident from the pile of rubble behind them.

Neither Shepard or Garrus knew it, but Tali had a big smile on her face when the light flashed, taking the picture that brought back memories of great times with her friends.

But it worked both ways...

Looking at the picture brought that terrible night back to Talis mind like the nightmare did before. She sees herself back on the escape pod, watching from afar as the Normandy explodes with Shepard on it. She remembers the silence from her friends, realizing what she did, and the only sound in the escape pod was her, crying.

"Shepard..." she softly says to herself as the pain hits her and she wraps her arms around the picture against her chest as she curls up into a ball, crying once again.

After a hour of crying and two hours of not being able to sleep due to fear of having the nightmare again, Talis omni-tool starts to flash. She pushes a button and a holographic screen pops up showing a Quarian, one of her people, who is wearing a pink and white suit. If it wasn't for his name showing up on the side of the screen, she wouldn't of known who it was. An unfortunate circumstance when you're a Quarian.

"Hey Reegar." Tali says with a yawn.

"Maam..." Kal Reegar starts.

"Kal..." Tali says with a slightly annoyed voice.

"Sorry...Tali."

"That's better. So whats up?" Tali asks.

"A situation has come up. The Admirals would like to see you. I'm to transport you to mission briefing."

"Must be serious."

Tali thinks to herself. "Ok Kal, I'll meet you at the airlock." She says hoping to get five minutes to compose herself.

"Actually, I'm right outside your door...Maam."

Annoyed and exhausted, Tali gets out of bed and walks toward the door. The door opens in front of her revealing Kal and the living quarters on the Neema.

Being the daughter of an Admiral didn't get Tali any special favors, not that she wanted them. She slept in the same area the rest of the crew slept. The corridor of rooms wasn't that long meaning the other rooms were as small as hers. The small living quarters only provided the small rooms and a decontamination room to perform suit repairs. The doors to all the other rooms were opened but she doesn't hear any voices.

"Must be meal time." Tali thinks to herself.

"Maam..." Kal says before correcting himself. "I mean Tali."

"Why is it so hard for you to call me Tali? I mean, we grew up together Kal."

"I'm sorry Tali. I guess it becomes natural when you say it all day. Maam...Sir..."

"I never thought about it like that. I'll try not to get onto you anymore about it, ok?"

"Sure...Maam"

Tali and Kal had known each other since they were children. Their fathers had been friends so they spent plenty of time together. As they got older, Kal started training to become a Soldier. Tali decided to learn to be an Engineer. Though their careers sent them in different directions, they spent time together when they had it to spare. Having a friend helps when living on the Flotilla.

When they get past the airlock of the ship where Mission Briefing is located, Tali and Kal are walking through the long Mess Hall where only a small portion of the ships come together for meals. Tables are lined up in rows and they are all filled with Quarian bodies. Suits of different colors were all around Tali and Kal as they walk. Many of them are talking rather loud, making Tali miss what Kal just said.

"I'm sorry Kal, what did you say?" Tali asks in a raised voice.

"Hungry Maam?" Kal asks in the same level of voice as Tali.

"No, I'm fine. I'm more curious as to why I'm going to Mission Briefing."

"I don't know Maam. I was just told to get you and for us both to report in. I did hear the word "rescue" in the background though."

"Rescue mission? Why me?" Tali thinks to herself as she starts hearing the whispers.

She starts looking around at the Quarians around her. She will notice one peek at her and then turn away. Then another...then another...
In no time, the entire mess hall is whispering. Though she can't pin point who is saying what or make out any sentences, the words that are reacurring gives her a good idea what most of them are talking about.

"Room...Screaming...Crying"

Rumors had started circulating through the Migrant Fleet about the sounds coming from Tali's room for the past two years. Sounds of someone deep in mourning...

"Shepard...Normandy...Crew"

Tali puts her hand to her head as the whispers start to bury in her mind.

"Are you ok Tali?" Kal asks when he realizes that Tali has stopped in the middle of all the tables.

"Normandy...Explosion...Tali survived..."

"Sorry Kal. I'm...just..." Tali says in a dazed state before the final words sink in.

"Shepard...Dead...she must of really lov..."

"STOP IT!" Tali yells out as loud as she can.. As her voice rings out through the Mess Hall, the whispers stop and all heads are turned towards her. "If any of you have anything to say to me, you can say it to my face. If you don't have the courtesy to do that, then you can all just shut up!"

Tali quickly walks away as Kal looks around at his fellow Quarians who are still silent. He just shakes his head in disappointment before quickly walking in the direction Tali was going. At the end of the hall was a elevator that led to Mission Briefing. Kal figured that was the only place Tali would have went to. He walks into the elevator and sees Tali with her head in the corner of it.

"Sorry about that Maam. You know our people." He says as he presses the button that makes the elevator go up. "They just don't know when to keep out of others business and when to keep their traps..."

Kal stops mid sentence when he notices Tali crying in the corner. Kal puts a hand on her shoulder.

"Keelah Kal..." Tali says between sobs as she turns and puts her arms around Kal and lays her head on his shoulder. "I miss him so much..."

Kal respectfully wraps his arms around her, acknowledging her need for comfort before he says in a soft voice, "I know you do Tali...I know you do."

Since her father was so distant and since he grew up with her on the Flotilla, Kal had become the shoulder for Tali to cry on when she needed it and someone for her to talk to when it came to personal matters. It's only been a few times that Tali has needed Kal in this compacity. The first time was from the death of Tali's mother. Every other time was due to Shepards death. He had no problem being there for her but due to lack of experience and being the soldier that he is, he didn't really know what to say. When it came to Shepard, a sympathetic hug usually sufficed, but this situation was different. She just yelled at a huge group of her people.

Kal has been the only Quarian she had confide in about Shepard. She knows she can trust him about it. He hates gossip as much as she does.

"I really made a fool out of myself didn't I?" Tali asks as she lets go of Kal.

"They needed to hear that maam."

"I shouldn't of yelled at them though."

"I don't know. I think you got the point across better that way. Sometimes they need a good yelling at to let them know that gossip isn't always a good thing."

Tali laughs a little. "Thanks Kal. Your a good friend."

"I try maam."

"Kal..." Tali says in a kind of playful manner.

"Sorry...Tali." Tali continues to look at him. "I'll work on it."

The elevator door opens to reveal Mission Briefing. There are computers all around the room and in the middle of the room is a table with a holographic map in the middle of it. Standing around the table were three of the Admirals. There was Admiral Korris, Admiral Gerral, and Admiral...

"Auntie Raan!" Tali says with excitement as she walks over and hugs the Admiral wearing the white, brown, and black suit.

"Hello Tali dear." Raan replies as she hugs Tali. "I'm happy you came. You of course know Admiral Han' Gerrel Vas Neema."

"Tali. How has your father been?" Gerrel, the Admiral wearing the white and grey suit, asks as he's watching the map.

"You probably know better than I do, Admiral. He spends all his time working anymore." Tali replies.

"And this is Admiral Zael Korris vas Qwib Qwib." Admiral Raan says as she introduces the other Admiral who is wearing the white and pink suit.

Tali goes over and shakes his hand. "I'm sorry, I don't think we have met yet." Tali says.

"That's quite alright Tali. I just recently became better acquainted with you. " Admiral Korris says as he puts his hands behind his back.

"Really?" Tali asks.

"Sure, Raan here was just telling me about the Geth data that you brought back from your pilgrimage. How it helped upgrade the shields for all the ships and how it added some good detail to our intel about the Geth, helping us better understand our..." Korris looks over at Gerrel. "enemy."

Gerrel looks up over at Korris. Tension was obvious in the air.

"Well, thank you Admiral." Tali says.

"No...thank you Tali. Raan also told me about some experience you have that could possibly help with a situation that has developed over the past hour. Do you know Veetor'Nara?" Korris asks.

"I've heard the name a few times. I've also heard that he has a few mental problems." Tali says.

"Quite right. A few months ago, we allowed him to go on his pilgrimage." Korris turns and points to a spot on the holographic map. An small red indicator glides over to a black circle near the words Terminus System. "Since then, he's been helping a small human colony in the Terminus System known as Freemdom's Progress. Now due to his...problems, we have kept an eye on him and stayed in contact with the colony. An hour ago, we lost contact with Veetor and Freedom's Progress."

Raan then comes in, "Usually this would not be a reason for concern. If this would happen, Veetor would just fix the uplink and we would have communications again. It's been an hour though, and we're starting to worry."

"How can I help?" Tali asks.

"Well, we would like you to take a unit to Freedom's Progress, find out what happened, and if necessary, bring Veetor back home." Korris explains.

"Why me?" Tali asks.

"Other than Veetor, you have more experience with humans than any of us do." Raan adds. "Especially with you experience on the Normandy."

Even if Tali was trying to escape that word, she wouldn't be able to.

Kal then enters the conversation. "I'll get my unit together and meet you at the airlock maam."

"No, Kal..." says Gerrel. "I've got a seperate assignment for you. She can take Prazza and his unit. They will be in the Armory when you're ready to go Tali."

Tali and Kal look at each other. She didn't like the idea of going into a possible hostile situation without someone she trust, especially with a stranger like Prazza.

"Be careful out there maam." says Kal.

"You too, Kal."