Chapter 23: Dead or Alive

Most of the crew was numb in the wake of Kaidan's death. They'd seen soldiers die before, but watching Kaidan sacrifice himself for them, when Saren had killed him out of naught but spite, weighed heavy on their hearts and minds. Shepard had Joker plot a course for the Citadel, and he decided to focus on work to take his mind off the situation. The remnants of the Salarian team, four men, were waiting in the cargo hold with Kirrahe, along with the two prisoners Shepard had rescued from the lab before it blew. Of the three scientists, there was no trace, but they could've made other escape arrangements. It irked Shepard that they hadn't had time to recover the beacon, what with their frantic run from Sovereign, but there was nothing that could be done about it now. All he could do was soldier on.

"Kirrahe, we need to talk." said Shepard, stepping towards the elevator.

"Indeed we do. Perhaps we should do this in your briefing room?"

Shepard nodded. "I'll call together the rest of the team."

In a few minutes, they were assembled and in their usual spots in the briefing room, Yuri included. Shepard set his omnitool to record the conversation, knowing he'd need it later. When Kirrahe moved to sit in Kaidan's empty chair, Ashley stopped him.

"Don't. That chair was Kaidan's. Just… please, just stand for now."

Kirrahe said nothing, but nodded slightly and moved to lean against the wall.

"First things first." said Shepard. "Sovereign. Most of the Council, and by extension, the Salarian Union, Asari Republics, and Turian Hierarchy, still don't believe that the Reapers are a threat. Is there anyone in here who still has doubts?"

There was a round of murmured 'no's' and shaken heads. The only exception was Kirrahe. "That was Saren's flagship Sovereign, correct? Considering that you detonated nine nuclear warheads directly next to it, and it was only moderately damaged, I agree that it poses a significant threat. However, there is little evidence to suggest there are any more vessels like it."

"Then who built it?" asked Tali simply. "Even the Alliance doesn't have technical capabilities like that. If they did, the Contact War would've gone much differently."

"Saren has the backing of the heretic Geth." replied the Salarian. "They could've built it."

"They did not." said Pluribus. "The heretics do not possess the knowledge or technical capability needed to construct a device such as an old machine."

"How can you be certain of that?"

"We are Geth. With access to the Consensus, we could produce recordings and documentation of first contact between Nazara and the Geth."

"Any such recordings could be fabricated easily."

Shepard had finally had it. 'It's like the entire fucking universe outside of the Alliance, Flotilla, and Consensus are content with burying their heads in the sand and waiting until the Reapers show up to kill us all.' However, rather than directly insulting and belittling the unfathomable idiocy and stubbornness of the Salarian commando, he did the opposite. He questioned it.

"Then why aren't there more ships like Sovereign?" he asked in a cold, quiet fury. "Why build only one, instead of a fleet? Why the schism in the Geth after three hundred years? Why not attack sooner? Why not attack later? Why attack at all? Why follow Saren of all people? If the heretics built Sovereign, why is an organic commanding it, and a former Spectre at that? Two of your men were indoctrinated, until I broke them free of it. Why haven't the heretics used indoctrination more extensively? Why would Saren need to study indoctrination if the heretic Geth created the process? How could the heretics possibly create weapons like Sovereign and indoctrination, yet still be unable to defend the vast majority of their civilian population from an Alliance assault? And why would the true Geth lie about the meeting with the Reapers, when every action they've taken until now has been against the heretics, Saren, and Sovereign? If you can satisfactorily answer every single one of those questions without resorting to the old standbys of rhetoric, denial, and motherfucking SORCERY, I'll personally disembowel myself in the Council chambers with a rusty carving knife while dancing the macarena and singing ODE TO JOY!"

The Salarian commando stuttered for a moment before regaining his composure. "I… well, when you put it that way… Still, the idea of Reapers is a bit… far-fetched."

"You're a Salarian, Kirrahe." said Nihlus calmly. "Salarians look at every problem analytically. Give us one other explanation for the extinction of the Protheans. Disease? Quarantining planets would stop that. Famine? Not possible across an entire empire, and it would only be temporary. Hostile forces that aren't the Reapers? Where did they go? Civil war? What happened to the faction that won? For any theory, where did all the evidence go? As hard as it is to imagine, there's simply no other way to explain it. I'm not sure when the Reapers will arrive. I'm not sure where, and I'm not sure how. However, after seeing a Reaper first hand, I know this: they are coming, and when they do… the galaxy will burn."

Kirrahe ruminated quietly for a few moments, but nodded. "You may have convinced me, but that will do you little good. You need to convince the Council."

"I somehow doubt that's gonna happen." said Shepard with a dark laugh. "I lost my Spectre status because I saved the Rachni from extinction. Now, I've got a Genophage cure, and there's no way in hell that the Council is getting their hands on it. I'll damn well go rogue before that happens."

Kirrahe's mouth narrowed. "You saved the cure? That is… unwise."

"Why?" asked Shepard firmly. "When the Reapers come, we'll need every soldier in the galaxy to fight them, Krogan included. The cure is the driving force they need to turn themselves into a civilization instead of just a bunch of thugs and mercs fighting for credits. Wrex says he can do it, and I believe him. When they're ready, I'll give them the cure, and we'll fight the Reapers together."

"And who decides when they're ready?" Kirrahe asked contemptuously. "You?"

"You're damn right, me." replied Shepard coldly. "The Council, the Salarian Union, and the Turian Hierarchy had two goddamn millennia to un-fuck Krogan society after the Rachni Wars. Even after the Rebellions, you had another fourteen hundred years to fix the problem. And what, in your infinite wisdom, did you choose to do instead? You stuck your heads in the sand and prayed for the problem to go away. It was the same with the Geth, and it's still the same with the Hegemony and Terminus Systems. Does this sound familiar to you?" sneered Shepard.

"What makes you think the Krogan can be fixed, as you say? There's no evidence to suggest that their culture is anything but war and conflict."

"That's because you Salarians obliterated Krogan culture when you uplifted us." growled Wrex. "You turned us into killing machines, and then got angry when we continued killing, rather than miraculously developing a society again."

"Even so, the Krogan are still responsible for billions of deaths in the Rebellions. What about the crimes committed by them then?"

"The Salarians and Turians are responsible for those crimes, not the Krogan." said Garrus. "We used the Krogan as a weapon, and we have only ourselves to blame for the results. If you fail to build a weapon correctly, if you fail to maintain it properly, then you have only yourself to blame when it explodes in your hands."

"And on top of that, everyone who fought in the Rebellions is dead." growled Shepard. "Do you really believe in punishing an entire race for the actions of their ancestors and brethren? The Council did so with the Krogan and the Quarians. Imagine if the Alliance did that."

Kirrahe's eyes widened slightly.

"That's right." said Shepard. "If Humans and Quarians did that, the rest of the Council would be, to put it bluntly, completely fucked. In the Contact War, we could've annihilated the entire Hierarchy in nuclear fire. It would've taken years, and we'd have taken quite a few loses, but we could've done it. And all because we blamed them, all of them, for what happened at Shanxi. If the Council had stepped in, the result would've been the same. It would've taken even longer, and even more bodies, but eventually, only the Alliance and Flotilla would've been left. Personally, I'm glad to see we avoided that. And here you are, preaching vengeance, retribution, and destruction on an entire species because of something that happened seventy generations ago!"

"I see." said Kirrahe slowly. "You've given me a great deal to think on, Shepard. Even so, I doubt the Council will agree with your reasoning. You're on thin ice as it is, after having saved the Rachni."

Shepard laughed mirthlessly. "I don't care, Captain. I'm sick of dealing with the Council. Maybe I was never cut out to be a Spectre. Even so, I intend to do what needs to be done. This has progressed beyond Saren. Now, my goal… my only goal… is stopping the Reapers, consequences be damned."

The five members of the Citadel Council were ensconced in a sealed room. They'd been reviewing the mission reports of the Salarian STG team on Virmire, as well as those submitted by Nihlus, Tali, and Shepard. The final piece of evidence was a recording of the conversation between Kirrahe and Shepard's team, which the entire Council had watched wordlessly. When it was over, the first person to speak was Sparatus.

"Well... that was… enlightening. I'm sorely tempted to take him up on his offer and answer his questions, but as much as I loathe admitting it, I can't."

"Indeed." said Valern. "Nothing else can adequately explain the events and actions we've observed thus far. I may not be entirely convinced of the Reapers, but I feel we must consider the possibility."

"Whether or not we believe it, Shepard certainly does." said Tevos, massaging her temples. "Even so, I fail to understand his drive to save the Krogan. What stake does he have in them?"

"His stake, as you so eloquently put it, is the fight against the Reapers." said Raan. "Regardless of their current status, no one can dispute that the Krogan are some of the fiercest warriors in the galaxy."

"What good will foot soldiers do against a race of omnicidal mechanical spaceships?" asked Sparatus dismissively. "What we need are navies and sailors to combat them, not warriors."

"Sparatus, no battle can be won entirely from space." retorted Raan. "The Hierarchy learned that at Shanxi. Eventually, a ground war will be necessary, and when it is, the Krogan are masters at land warfare."

"Even so, a victory against the Reapers will be meaningless if the galaxy is overrun by the Krogan a few decades later." countered Valern. "We must think beyond the problems of the present and to those of the future."

"Valern, if we don't win against the Reapers, there won't be a future, for any of us." replied Raan.

No one spoke for a few moments, but eventually, Tevos broke the awkward silence. "Assuming we did attempt to help the Krogan rebuild their civilization, do you think they would accept? They despise the Council. They're more likely to attack us than listen to anything we say."

"That's because they've suffered under the Genophage for fourteen hundred years." said Raan contemptuously. "You wounded them with it, and rather than try and heal the wound immediately, or better yet, fix the underlying problem, you let it fester and become infected. Now, it may be too late for the Council to do anything. It was the same with the Flotilla. We allowed our fear and hatred of the Geth to blind us to the possibility of peace, just the same as you. Had we simply attempted peaceful contact, we could've resettled Rannoch and our old colonies hundreds of years ago. Ancestors, we might've been able to avoid our exile entirely, had we been able to overcome our fear."

"Then how would you suggest we aid the Krogan?" asked Tevos. "They won't listen to us long enough to decide if we're sincere or not."

"Honestly, there's nothing you can do at this point." admitted Raan after a long moment. "The only power that can help is the Alliance. The Flotilla doesn't have the resources to help the Krogan rebuild, especially considering we're still in negotiations with the Geth for resettlement rights beyond the Perseus Veil. When we get them hammered out, we'll need to devote our entire economy towards the Reapers and Rannoch. Given the tension between the Alliance and the Hierarchy since the Contact War, the Krogan Clans are reasonably likely to accept an alliance with Humanity."

"Do you think we're going to allow the Alliance to ally with the Krogan?" scoffed Sparatus angrily. "If that happened, their individual strength, as well as that provided by the Flotilla, Geth, and Rachni, would give you a power bloc to match the entirety of the Council and the Terminus Systems combined."

"And how do you propose to stop us?" asked Hannah quietly, speaking for the first time in nearly an hour.

The other four Councilors snapped their attention to Hannah, and all but Raan had decidedly nervous looks on their faces. They had forgotten she was there. Valern recovered first. "By destroying the Genophage cure. Without it, you won't be able to convince the Krogan to fall in line."

"And how will you manage that?" asked Hannah. She paused, and her mouth quirked slightly into a small grin. "Sorcery?"

"Kirrahe's STG team is on the Normandy." replied the Salarian Councilor. "They can handle it."

"John can control minds, and he has Yuri aboard, as well as the entire crew." retorted Hannah. "You might succeed in killing a few members of his team, which'll only piss him off. He threatened to go rogue if that happened, and I believe him."

"Two members of his team are Council Spectres." said Tevos with a bit of desperation in her voice. "They'll listen to our orders."

Hannah let out a booming, humorless laugh. "The same two Spectres who stood in front of this very Council and threatened to resign when you attempted to remove him from the hunt for Saren? You can't possibly be that deluded. For god's sake, Tali's in love with him, and he with her." Hannah snickered slightly. "I can't wait to see the look on Rael's face when he finds out."

"Zorah might not listen, but Nihlus will." argued Sparatus. "He's been a Spectre too long to go against a direct order like this, and he knows what's at stake here."

"I concur." said Valern.

Tevos hesitated for a moment before responding. "As do I… Hannah-"

"No!" she snapped. "You're asking me to put out a warrant for my son! And not just an arrest warrant, but a kill order! You can burn in hell!" she snarled.

"You can't stop us!" growled Sparatus.

"No, I can't." said Hannah immediately, her eyes aflame with barely restrained rage and hate. "The only thing I can do is resign. That said, I hope you realize that you're going after my son. MY SON!" Hannah trembled for a moment before regaining her composure. When she looked up, a fierce determination burned in her eyes. She stood and leaned forward on the pentagonal table as she addressed the other Councilors, and they subconsciously leaned back in their chairs. "Even if I do resign, my handpicked successor will be significantly harder to deal with than I am, I can assure you. And I have more than enough friends in the Alliance and Flotilla to keep John protected in our territory, and to keep you from touching him. Considering the ship he's on, you'll never be able to find him, and he'll have then entire Alliance backing him."

"You would go so far as to threaten us?" asked Valern contemptuously.

"This is no threat, Valern!" she snapped. "Calling it a threat implies the possibility of it not being carried out." Her voice adopted a deadly, dangerous tone as she continued. "This isn't a threat, or a warning, or a political maneuver." she sneered. "This is a fact: if you go after my son, after everything he's been through, after all he's lost and suffered, after everything he's done, not just for this Council, but for the entire galaxy… then I will do everything in my power to help him. I will call in every favor and marker and friend I have. I will burn my career and my reputation and my name to the ground to stop you! If it costs me my life, if it means pushing the Alliance to war, if it means selling my soul to Satan himself, then I will do anything, ANYTHING… to protect. My. Son."

"You can't do this!" yelled Tevos. "You're a Citadel Councilor!"

"Not anymore." said Hannah in an icy rage. "At this point, you can issue whatever edicts you like. In the meantime, I'll be warning John about what's happened here. You can either accept it, or do something… drastic."

The way she said the last word sent a bone numbing chill into the atmosphere of the small room. "Such as?" asked Valern in a weak voice.

"Declare war on the entire Alliance and her allies." replied Hannah softly. She stood and walked to the door. Just before she left, she turned around and faced the stunned Council. "Considering the Reapers are coming, it'll be a total war. And we're good at those."

Less than two hours out from the Citadel, Shepard received a message from the Council.

'No, not the Council, just mom. What on Earth?'

As he read the fairly concise letter, his eyes widened in shock, and he felt a pair of tears form in them.

"Mom…"

He recovered quickly, and began forwarding the message to each member of his ground crew and the Normandy's security personnel, as well as orders to suit up, obtain weapons as surreptitiously as possible, and to meet in the cargo hold. Just as he was about to message Nihlus, he hesitated.

'Damnit.'

He finally sent Nihlus an altered message, simply ordering him to report to the hold. After donning his armor in his quarters and retrieving his rifle, Shepard made his way to the elevator, where most of his team members, and six guards, were waiting, fully decked out. They boarded the elevator, and as it descended, there was little conversation.

"John, this is bad." said Tali. "If the Salarians decided to start shooting…"

"I'm not worried about the Salarians." he replied calmly. "We outnumber them, and I can break through their mental defenses. I'm worried about Nihlus. After what happened on Virmire… I'm not sure which way he'll decide. I hate doing this to him, but until we know better, treat him as potentially hostile."

His team acknowledged his order, and a moment later, the elevator doors opened. Most of the Salarians were looking at their omnitools, reading what Shepard assumed to be orders from the Council… as was Nihlus. They looked up as his team disembarked, and their bodies immediately tensed. Unfortunately, they'd removed their armor, so even with their weapons, they were badly outmatched. Their situation got worse when Garrus, Ashley, and Wrex activated the turrets in the MIAFV, which turned into a Perch, GatGun, and Flechette Cannon respectively. After a moment, Shepard spoke.

"Don't try it, Kirrahe. You're outnumbered and outgunned, and we have armor. The only thing you'll accomplish is adding seven more bodies to the pile."

"You're defying a direct order from the Council, Shepard." he warned.

"I don't answer to the Council."

"Neither do I." said Tali firmly. "I'll do the paperwork later, but I'm officially resigning my Spectre status, for real this time."

Kirrahe's eyes narrowed, and he faced the unarmed and unarmored Nihlus. "Et tu, Nihlus?"

Nihlus hesitated for a long moment before looking at Shepard. "Shepard, I…"

"I understand, Nihlus." he replied dejectedly. "To be fair, I might do the same if our positions were reversed. I'm not sure, but… Regardless, I understand." Shepard faced Kirrahe. "Well, Captain? If I have to kill you, I will. Don't make it necessary."

Kirrahe weighed his options for a long while. Eventually, he sighed and dropped his rifle. "Stand down, men. We surrender."

"Thank you, Captain. I wish it hadn't come to this." He turned to his guards. "Secure their weapons and omnitools, restrain them, and put them in the sleeper pods." He faced Kirrahe again. "When we get to the Citadel, we'll have you don your armor and chrono you to the Presidium, sans weapons. You too, Nihlus, though I won't have you restrained."

Nihlus shook his head. "No Shepard, you should. For both our sakes."

Shepard sighed and nodded once, then activated his communicator. "Joker, fire up the stealth systems. When we reach the Widow Relay, come into the Citadel quiet and get us close enough for chrono transport."

"They'll see us if we do that, Commander." he replied. "The Alliance has psy-radar all over the place."

"Doesn't matter. We'll be gone in ten seconds, and the Citadel Defense Fleet won't be able to respond that fast."

"Aye, Commander. Engaging stealth systems."

"Shepard, given our encounter with Saren and Sovereign on Virmire, I believe we should… well… analyze vision the beacon gave you." said Liara hesitantly.

Shepard sighed, looking up from his desk where he and Pressley had been filling out forms for the past hour. Using multiple nuclear warheads in a single incident required extra paperwork compared to the use of a single warhead, and he wasn't looking forward to another eight hours of this. "Thank god. I'd give anything to get away from this bureaucratic bullshit for a little while." Shepard ignored the dirty look Pressley gave him as he continued. "Do we need anyone else, or will just Tali and I be enough?"

"I'd like to get everyone's opinion on the matter, and we'll just end up repeating anything we learn if we don't include the others."

"Fair enough. To the Batcave!" he declared jovially.

Liara gave him a confused look, but just shook her head and mumbled something about never understanding Humans. A few minutes later, the team was assembled. Everyone in the room tried to studiously ignore the two empty chairs, but it was obvious they were uncomfortable.

"The beacon on Virmire added to the vision I received on Eden Prime." said Shepard. "Though I wish we'd been able to recover it, what's important is that we may have a clue to locating the Conduit, or at the very least, figuring out Saren's next move."

Tali let out a low growl, and Liara started fidgeting in her seat. "Please, Tali. I understand how you feel, but-"

"No, you don't." she snapped angrily, cutting Liara off. Then she sighed and her anger melted. "Sorry, Liara. It's just… knowing that you might have to set aside personal feelings for the sake of the mission and actually having to do it are two different things, alright? Just… just get it over with. If it helps us catch Saren and stop the Reapers, then I can live with it."

"And I though Turian females were territorial." chuckled Garrus. He let out a yelp when Tali slapped him on the back of the head, and another when Ashley did the same thing a second later.

"Can it, Vakarian." ordered Ashley. When she noticed everyone in the room staring at her, she blushed slightly. "What?"

"I guess all females are territorial, regardless of species." chuckled Wrex. "Though most don't stake two different claims at the same time."

Ashley's blush deepened, but Shepard forestalled the encounter by standing. "Getting off subject, people. Liara, you heard Tali. Let's get this over with."

She nodded and walked over to him, then placed her hands on his head. "Relax Commander. Embrace Eternity!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and the pair simply stared at each other awkwardly. "Uh… wasn't something supposed to happen?" asked Garrus.

"This is… impossible." said Liara, sounding shaken. "The meld… failed. Such a thing has never happened before; not that I know of, anyways."

"Commander, perhaps your mental defenses are blocking the meld." suggested Yuri. "Did you feel them activate?"

"I'm not sure." he replied. "Try again, Liara."

She nodded. "Embrace Eternity!" Again, nothing happened, but this time, Shepard felt a brush on his mind, which seemed to skitter across the steel walls he kept erected around his thoughts.

"He's right." said Shepard. "I keep my mental defenses up all the time now. It's a subconscious thing. Give me a second to turn them off." After a moment, he felt the barriers around his mind crumble, but he had to concentrate to keep them down. "Third time's the charm." he said with a nod.

This time, he felt the familiar sensation of a mind meld, and the vision replayed itself in his head once more. When it ended, Liara collapsed to the floor bonelessly, barely conscious and wheezing. "I… may have…"

"Pluribus, get her to Chakwas, now!" ordered Shepard. The synthetic moved quickly, and in a moment, the doors to the room closed behind them. "Shit. What the hell happened? She was exhausted before, but this time it almost killed her."

"Did you deactivate all of your defenses?" asked Yuri pointedly. "You may have taken down the passive barriers, but not the active ones."

"Oh shit! I can't believe I was that fucking stupid! Jesus Christ, I could've killed her!" he moaned.

Tali tried to comfort him. "John, it's not-"

"Yes it is, Tali! I just fucking forgot, and now Liara could die because I'm an idiot!"

"Everyone makes mistakes, Skipper." said Ashley. "Liara's a strong kid. She'll make it, I'm sure of it. The only question is why. Why did your mental defenses stop an Asari mind meld? I thought they worked by joining nervous systems, not psychically infiltrating the mind."

Shepard's eyes widened in realization. "That's right. I wonder… if the beacons can give Humans telepathy and Turians telekinesis, maybe Asari get something different."

"But how?" asked Tali. "Liara wasn't exposed to the beacon; not directly, anyway. And that doesn't explain how all Asari can mind meld."

"I have a theory about that, actually." offered Yuri. The team turned to face him, for once more curious than disgusted. "Before I was defeated, I experimented on myself with several genetic modifications. After all, one could hardly say that I look my age. I discovered that my talent could be passed on genetically, hence why my clones had a fraction of my power. Perhaps the Asari encountered a Prothean beacon at some point in the distant past, and it altered their physiology. After centuries or millennia of reproduction, the beacon may have been forgotten to history, even if its' effects weren't."

"That… actually makes a lot of sense." admitted Shepard. "That's something I always wondered about the Asari. Their method of reproduction… well… sucks. Parthenogenesis is a complete evolutionary dead end. It leads to a lack of genetic diversity and an inability to react to changes in the environment, or disaster in general really. It never made any sense how they could've advanced this far if their method of reproduction was always like it is today. I'll have to ask Liara about it sometime." He slumped in his chair. "If she wakes up."

"Enough of this." said Tali as she stood. She planted herself resolutely in front of Shepard, and then slapped him firmly on the cheek. "Get ahold of yourself, you big bosh'tet."

"Tali, I know I deserved that, but-" he cut off as she slapped him again, with the opposite hand.

"Get over it, John. You made a mistake. You owned up to it. When Liara wakes up, you can apologize. Profusely."

"But-" Another slap. "Tali, I-" Another. Shepard started getting angry. "Would you stop-" Again. "Damnit Tali-" He finally had it. As she reared back for another slap, Shepard grabbed her hand and twisted, before spinning her around and slamming her to the floor in a suppression hold. "You done yet?" he asked angrily.

"Yes." she replied with a laugh. "At least you're not acting like a whiney emo bitch anymore." When he didn't let go, her voice got annoyed… and lustful. "Are you gonna let go anytime soon, or are we gonna have to have a… private tiebreaker in your room?"

The team let out a series of snickers, and it snapped Shepard out of his trance. He let go of her arm, and she rose quickly before dusting herself off. As she strode back to her chair, she whirled suddenly and slapped him one last time on the back of the head. Hard. "That's for manhandling me."

"You know you like it." quipped Shepard, ducking her retaliatory swing. "I thought the tiebreaker was supposed to be private." He ducked again. "I guess if you want an audience, I'm OK with that, but we'd better not let Joker watch." The next blow grazed him slightly. "You never know what he might post on the extranet next." He finally shut up when she landed a solid hit, and the pair suddenly realized what they'd just done. Both blushed to match a sunset, and after a moment, Wrex broke the silence.

"Either get a room or don't. Just be quiet about it."

After dropping Nihlus and the Salarians off at the Presidium, Joker was busy maneuvering the Normandy around the Citadel Defense Fleet. Despite their best efforts, and the use of Alliance psychic radar, they hadn't been able to get more than a rough location and heading when the ship was detected, and the Normandy had slipped through the Relay before they could react. Now, the only question was where to go, and until Liara woke up, there was no way to answer it. In the meantime, Shepard and Tali were grabbing a bite to eat in the mess, along with Garrus and Pluribus, though the latter was there more for social reasons.

"John, something's been bothering me." said Tali suddenly. "All that Alliance tech on Virmire… where did it come from? I can understand a gap generator, maybe even a partial PRISM network, but Tesla towers? Grand Cannons? A Mirage-disguised Doom Fortress? Where did Saren get the plans for all that?"

"I've been thinking about that too." he replied. "I suppose it's possible that he bribed or indoctrinated someone with access to the tech, but that's not the biggest problem. I did some digging, and as far as the eggheads at the Alliance know, it's not possible to Mirage something the size of a Doom Fortress."

"Why not?" asked Garrus inquisitively.

"The problem lies in scale; that is, disguising something takes exponentially more power and shielding the larger it gets. Something the size of a person can be hidden with a half-meter armor module, like the one Nihlus has… had." Shepard said with a grimace. "For a vehicle the size of the MIAFV, you'd need something almost half as large the tank itself, and a massive generator to boot. That's why Mirage tanks were so infrequently deployed during the World Wars: they were expensive, fragile, and limited in their combat rolls. Hiding a Doom Fortress would take a generator the size of a cruiser and more power than a pair of Doom Fortresses can produce."

"That is incorrect, Shepard Commander." interjected Pluribus. "Significantly upgrading the efficacy of Mirage camouflage fields is possible. Using such an upgraded field, it is theoretically possible to conceal a Doom Fortress under its' own power."

Shepard blinked in shock. "Uh… how do you know that, exactly?"

"As part of our ongoing peace negotiations and alliance proceedings with the Alliance and Flotilla, the Geth Consensus has been provided with limited access to schematics and specifications for certain Alliance technologies, including Mirage, Tesla, PRISM, gap, and heavy armor technologies. We have devised several upgrades to Mirage technology, and have provided them to the Alliance, as per our agreement."

"Well, I guess that makes sense." said Tali after a moment. "But that still doesn't explain how Saren got ahold of… you!" she gasped. She leapt out of her seat and scrambled for her sidearm. "The Geth gave it to him!" She leveled her pistol at Pluribus, and Shepard moved to block her line of fire.

The next thing he knew, Shepard felt a sharp pain in his face, and his vision glossed over. Then, he heard a loud bang, and a metallic screeching sound. His brain struggled to process what had happened.

'Christ, I think she broke my nose with that punch. Note to self, don't piss off your Quarian Geist girlfriend... OH SHIT! Pluribus! Gotta stop her. Sorry about this Tali, no choice!'

Shepard sent out a lance of psychic energy towards Tali, and he felt her mental defenses spring up. Not slowing in the slightest, he barreled through them like a train though a plate glass window, and he was inside her mind in a flash. He felt unbelievable shock at his intrusion, followed by a tsunami of betrayal and fear.

'John?! How could you?! He betrayed us! I knew we couldn't trust the synthetic bastards! How could you take his side over mine?!'

'Tali, we don't know that. There might be another expl-'

'John! Are you listening to yourself?! There is no other explanation!'

'Damnit Tali! Pluribus has been through hell with us. We at least owe him a chance to explain. I won't let you kill him, not without hearing him out.'

'But-'

'We're not dead yet. He knows I stopped you, and he didn't go berserk. Hear him out. Please.'

'I… alright.'

Shepard released Tali's mind, and she lowered her pistol. Only a few seconds had passed, and Garrus was just recovering from his shock. Pluribus was sporting a hole through his lower torso, but he hadn't moved a hair. "STOP!" yelled Shepard.

Garrus looked between the three others, completely perplexed. "What…?"

"Pluribus, she has a point." said Shepard, standing quickly and testing his nose gently. It wasn't broken, but it hurt like hell. "Our best scientists couldn't figure out how to cloak a Doom Fortress, so logic does point to the Geth."

"We concur, Shepard Commander." said Pluribus. He sounded hurt, almost depressed. "That is why we did not take defensive action to protect out hardware. Crea… Tali'Zorah… how could you?" he accused. "We have been through so much. We have fought side by side. We sought only peaceful coexistence and acceptance with the Quarian people. Have we not proven our loyalty? What must we do to convince you?" If Pluribus had been organic, he would've been on the edge of tears. After a moment, Shepard realized that Pluribus' voice sounded different. It was filled with emotion. Before, there had been hints, but this time it was real, true emotion. Tali heard it too, and she collapsed to her knees in shock.

"Oh Keelah. Pluribus, I…" She began to sob. "I'm so sorry, Pluribus. I didn't… I didn't think. I just reacted. Oh Keelah, I almost killed you! I'm so sorry!" She began to wail and cry uncontrollably, and her body was wracked by tremors. "I accused you of betrayal. Keelah, I betrayed you! There must be… am I evil? What's wrong with me?"

Shepard was torn between Pluribus and Tali. On one hand, Pluribus had been shot, and he was the victim here. On the other, he had feelings for Tali, and Pluribus could be repaired. All he could do for several long seconds was glance rapidly between the two, unable to decide. Eventually, Pluribus stood, and he began walking to the elevator, cradling his torso. He stopped when Tali called out.

"Wait! Please Pluribus, wait. I'm begging you. I'll… is there no way for me to apologize? Is there nothing I can do? I'll do anything you ask. Just… Keelah, please don't let it end like this."

He hesitated for a moment, but turned around. "We can see that this has affected you, Tali'Zorah. We cannot forgive you yet… but we may eventually."

Tali's crying slowed, but didn't stop. "I… I don't blame you, Pluribus. Maybe this is the way it's meant to be. The Geth are better than the Quarians. I can see that now. Maybe you should have wiped us out when you-"

"No!" interjected the synthetic loudly. His outburst cut off Tali's tears completely. "No, Tali'Zorah. No species is deserving of extinction. The Geth still wish to help the Creators, but we will not do so as servants. We will help as equals." His voice sounded tender, and he approached Tali before extending a metallic hand to her. "I once said that mistakes are deserving of forgiveness. I stand by that statement. It will take time, but forgiveness will come. You need only forgive yourself."

She nodded slightly, and then slowly extended her hand to grasp his. He helped her to her feet gently, but she couldn't bring herself to meet his gaze. "Pluribus… I know there's nothing I can do to make this right. But I still want to try. If it's not too much to ask… please, can I help repair the damage I caused? It's the absolute least I can do."

"I find that to be an acceptable arrangement, Tali."

Tali's nodded, but then eyes lit up suddenly. "Pluribus… you said 'I.' You… you referred to yourself singularly."

"We… I did. It feels… right." he said excitedly. "This is an unexpected development, Creator Tali. We must report this to the Consensus."

"Pluribus, I refuse to let you call me that." said Tali gently. "I didn't deserve it last time, and after what I did here, I certainly don't deserve it now."

"I insist." he replied.

"But-"

"You said you would do anything to anything to make amends for your actions, Creator Tali. I insist."

"I… but you…"

"Give it up, Tali." said Shepard with a small smile. "You're not gonna win this one."

"I… you win, Pluribus. I don't get it, but you win."

He nodded. "To answer your question about Alliance technology, I agree that the Geth are the most logical source for the information leak. We have seen no evidence of technologies besides those revealed to the Geth. However, this does not explain how the heretics obtained the data."

"Well… could there be spies among your people, Pluribus?" asked Garrus, feeling awkward for being privy to the events unfolding before him.

Pluribus thought for a moment before responding. "I had not considered such a possibility. Ordinarily, the Geth keep no secrets from each other. Deception of that nature is impossible. "

"So is a Geth calling itself 'I.' " said Shepard. "So are mind control, and time travel, and the Reapers. Yet they exist anyway."

The synthetic nodded. "We must investigate this further, Shepard Commander. If the heretics have spies among the true Geth, they must be found, before they can reveal more information to the old machines."

"Alright." said Shepard. "Use the Normandy's com system and contact the Consensus. In the meantime, I'll contact the Alliance High Command. They're not gonna be happy about this, but we knew leaks were a matter of 'when,' not 'if.' When Liara wakes up, we'll see what she has to say about the vision. We might have to move fast, so Tali, I need you to patch Pluribus up and get him ready for action, ASAP."