DISCLAIMER – I do not own Mass Effect franchise, the story, or any of its characters. All rights go to Bioware.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Hello there, everyone! I'm baaack!

It was as I said – this, almost a month-long pause in updates, has been scheduled, and the pause is finished! As of this chapter, the semi-regular updates of before will resume.

I had taken this time to relax a bit and perhaps review where I'm at in the story and see what can I improve. This chapter is a result of that. It was exceptionally hard for me to write this chapter because it features and focuses on female characters and their character development. The previous chapter saw the male part of the Normandy's crew bonding. This one features girls. So, you be the judge of what it was like. I hope to see a lot of reviews to help me out in that regard.

Chapter posted on 14.4.2017.

Main Tags: Action, Sci-fi, Adventure, Friendship building, Love.

Additional Tags: Slowly turning AU, Technology-heavy, Geopolitical themes (to an extent), Economic themes (there are some), Intrigue (a bit o' that, too)…

Rated M – for mature and adult content.

Enjoy…

.

Chapter 22 – The Empress' New Suit

.

Jaina stood at the Normandy's command platform as their ship went through the approach vector toward the fuel and resupply depot orbiting the system's gas giant, overseeing the progress.

"Approaching is green," Pressly called. "Intercept trajectory assumed, approaching at five hundred meters per second; distance: twenty kilometers. Prepare for the deceleration maneuver – ETA: thirty-five seconds."

"Yessir," Joker called back from the cockpit, "slow and boring, by-the-book approach to waste as little fuel as possible – coming right up!"

The corner of Jaina's lips quirked upward and she chuckled under her breath.

"Let's be quick about this," she declared. "We need to top-up our tanks, fast, and that final Cerberus base on the list ain't gonna wait for us. Joker – take us in, fast and reckless."

"Yes ma'am!" he shouted out eagerly. She could almost see him jerking up in his seat and grabbing the controls.

The Normandy instantly spun and the mass effect fields surged to power, the ship bolting like a lightning toward the station. An emergency ping from the station hailed them frantically, trying to notify them of an imminent collision danger, when Joker suddenly braked their speed, swooping in under the slingshot assistance from the Normandy's mighty mass effect gravity wells and slid next to the docking arm as gently as a lover's kiss.

The snarky pilot whooped from his post:

"Wasn't that some flying skill or what! The station hands must've pissed their pants! How was it, Commander? Five seconds instead of fifty!"

"Keep that up under fire and I'll buy you a beer," she declared off-handedly, then tapped her comms of an incoming call.

"What the hell was that stunt, Captain?" the station's superintendent demanded with a mix of shock, fear, and anger in his suddenly-croaking voice.

"Sorry about that, Captain, but we're on a series of time-critical tasks," she responded professionally, sending out Marcus's prepared Spectre credentials that were tied to the ship. "We need the refueling to start immediately."

There was a moment of pause from the other end, then, "Uhh… well… just try not to scare the bejeezus out of us next time, alright?! There… the automated pipelines are connecting right about… now. I see you have 700 tons of maximum fuel capacity, with fifty-five tons remaining. You want a top-up?"

"Affirmative," she said.

"Understood, Normandy. This will take approximately twenty minutes."

"Thank you, Captain, Normandy out," she said, then ended the comm and walked down from the platform and moved to a corner of the CIC, switching to the personal comms. "Hey, it's me. We've docked and have initiated the refueling sequence. ETA: 20 minutes. How're things on your end?"

"Smooth and on schedule," Marcus reported from the cargo hold. "Garrus, Wrex, and I have just about finished the job from yesterday. The new turret is fully installed and armored up; we just need to test the rotation and calibrate the controls. As for the second Mako, the other team has successfully finished replacing the suspension with hover system and is armoring it up."

"Is Tali still busy?" she homed in, narrowing her eyes and a smirk appearing on her lips.

"She is. She still needs to finish calibrating the system."

"Good," she said, a conniving little grin appearing on her lips.

"Uh-oh," he called her out on it knowingly. "I know that tone."

"Tone?" she spoke in mock-innocence. "What tone?"

"Now, honey…" he cautioned, his own smirk drifting through the connection. "You're not about to traumatize the poor young girl with something?"

"Aww, you do care about her," Jaina cooed, then tsk-ed. "I told you she'd grow on everyone's heart. Don't worry, tiger. This is going to be one beautiful surprise. Trust me. And no spreading around, ya hear?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I hear."

"Good. See ya soon."

She cut the comm, then looked up to where Liara and Ashley stood in front of her and gave each of them a once-over. Both girls carried their sidearm and a light shielding unit on their belts, as per her instructions.

"You two ready?" she called.

"Ready ma'am," Ashley said, tapping the pistol on her hip.

"Good. Let's go," she said and led the way through the CIC toward the airlock at the front of the ship.

"Are we really expecting trouble, ma'am?" Ashley asked.

Jaina shrugged. "You can never know. This is an independent refueling depot. Heavily defended by defense grid, but still… We're hunting a big target, Chief. He might not know our exact movements, but he might have paid some shady mercs to lie in wait for us."

"I know I would, if I was in his shoes," Liara commented darkly.

"Whoah, talk about a growing dark side on your part, Li," Ashley quipped as they piled into the airlock.

"I… know," Liara said, sounding cutely troubled. "Recently I've been worried about that myself."

"Worried?" Ash queried in deceptive wonder. "Why would you be worried? The dark side has many benefits."

"I… know that too," Liara agreed hesitantly. "In information business, the majority of contacts only understands such methods. It is a… necessary evil. I understand it. It's just that… well… it's a slippery slope."

An evil glint flashed in Ashley's eyes.

"Good, Liara, good!" she crooned from close to her side. "You are fulfilling your destiny! Don't fight the Dark Side. Surrender to it! It is a pathway to many abilities, some of which are considered unnatural."

Liara gawked at Ashley. "W-w-wha…?"

"That's right, my young Liara," Ashley continued with a seductive tone, stepping up closer to her. "Become my apprentice, and learn to use the Dark Side of the force. Together, we shall unleash the unspeakable evil across the Galaxy."

Liara's jaw dropped in a wordless shock before realization dawned on her. She narrowed her eyes at the gunnery chief, annoyance rising within her.

"You did that... that human thing on purpose!" Liara said accusingly, stomping her foot.

Ashley's face beamed with wide-eyed joy, and she laughed out loud at the young asari's annoyed look before the hissing of the airlock drowned it out.

"Equalizing interior pressure with external atmosphere," the VI droned. "Logged – X.O. is ashore."

"Got ya, blue," Ashley declared with a victorious grin as the external doors slid open. "Seeing that distressed look on your face and then witnessing you stomping your foot like that was worth all the wait."

Liara harrumphed, folding her arms. "I should have known you'd try some human thing on me the first chance you got," she said dryly.

"Call it a payback for that thing on Feros," Ash quipped cheerfully as she worked her omnitool. "Quite masterfully done back then, I admit. But now it's my turn. And I just bet that this secretly-recorded vid of your adorable reaction is going to become quite a hit on metube!"

Liara's eyes widened in distress. "Don't you dare!" She exclaimed.

"Now, now, Ash," Jaina spoke up amusedly, "You won't be subjecting our ship's crew to an unwanted public eye."

"Aww," Ashley whined with a pout. "No fun, Commander!"

Liara breathed a sigh of relief.

"But you are providing me with a copy of the recording," Jaina said, a mischievous glint flashing in her eyes. "And I'm exercising my superior officer's privileges on that one if I have to!"

"Commander!" Liara whined.

"If you're thinking I'm gonna let go of the vid on which you're being cute, you're sorely mistaken, Dr. T'Soni," Jaina declared with a smirk as she thrust out her omni-tool toward Ashley.

With a broad grin, Ashley promptly downloaded a copy to Jaina's omni-tool, and Jaina took a quick glance at the clear imaging, smiling broadly and biting her lip.

"I'm keeping it for posterity," she declared contently.

Liara just huffed, placing her hands on her hips in a stern, almost uncannily motherly manner - something she must've picked up from her matriarch mother, no doubt – that looked incredibly cute on her.

"Oh, come now, Li," Ash spoke up as she hugged the young asari around her shoulders. "We're just messing with ya a bit. It's quite normal on the ships! What else are we supposed to do on the long trips?"

"Oh, fiiine!" Liara declared resignedly. "But that vid better not be spread around!"

"Scout's honor!" Jaina declared, fighting down a sudden urge to grab Liara and plant a big kiss on the young asari's cheek. The girl was getting under her skin. "Now, come on you two! We have business!"

"Right up, Commander," Ash chirped as she dragged the not-really annoyed young asari along.

Jaina led them down the access corridor and onto the broad pier that spanned the length of the station. One huge wall of reinforced glass spanned the length of the pier, separating the interior from the void and granting view at the few currently-docked ships. The air was filtered, but the scent of metal, lubricant, H-fuel, and He-3 fuel was noticeable in the air. The place was filled with crews busy at their own jobs, transporting gear or working the systems, the buzzing and sparkling of repair tools and welding equipment could be seen and heard all over the place, and the shouts and wheezing of mighty servos filled the air as they maneuvered the loads and pumped fuel.

The three women crossed into the corridors of the station proper, ignoring the people busy at their work, Jaina leading them straight toward her goal.

"What is this sortie about, Jaina," Liara spoke up, drawing attention to the business at hand. "You said you have an important pickup."

"That's right," she said, an air of importance befalling her. "I have ordered a special and very pricey delivery via a courier. It was a very lucky stroke that our paths crossed right on this depot at this moment. We'd have had to track back all the way to Eden Prime otherwise later on."

"Sounds important," Ashley said, her attention turning somber as well.

"It is," Jaina said seriously. "It's something that will ultimately improve the morale and the performance of the entire ground team."

Ash and Liara immediately shared a somber look and both of them began walking with purpose, sensing the air of importance.

"May we ask what is it?" Liara queried.

Jaina was silent, contemplating on what to reveal at the moment.

"I'd rather try to keep it under wraps for now," she said. "At least until we pick up the package; I feel like I don't want to jinx the whole thing." She then stopped and turned around to face the two of them. "The reason I've specifically asked the two of you, rather than anybody else, is because I believe that you two are the only ones from our ground team that have the needed set of skills and character traits for what I need to achieve." She smirked then. "I'm hoping we will be making someone very happy with this package. I hope I can count on you to be the moral support."

Ashley's and Liara's eyebrows shot up before the two women leaned slightly in and spoke almost in unison:

"Absolutely!"

Jaina smirked. "Atta girls! Now, come on. The courier's shuttle is parked in the inner hangar. She won't wait for long."

She led the team into the hangar in question and quickly located the docking clamp that held a typical courier shuttle – a small, boxy transporter ship. An asari in space jumpsuit waited in front of it, checking up on her schedule on the datapad until she saw the three individuals approaching her.

"You're Jaina Shepard?" the asari asked perceptively.

"That'd be me," Jaina said.

"Right. Let me get the package…"

The courier hopped into her ship's cargo hold and picked up a suitcase-sized crate by the carry handle. It didn't appear to be too heavy.

"Here it is," she said, placing the suitcase crate before Jaina and offering her the datapad. "That'll be two hundred and fifty thousand credits."

Liara's and Ashley's eyebrows shot up and Ash whistled in absolute surprise. Jaina ignored them and simply executed the transaction without preamble.

"Daym, ma'am, that was one splurge!" Ashley spoke up.

The asari courier snorted. "I'll say. I've seen far greater transactions, but never one like this. What I don't get is why the hell would anyone want to spend so much money on a suit rat. It's not liGuHHG –!"

Before anyone had blinked, Jaina's hand had lashed out and grabbed the courier's throat in a merciless, vice-like grip.

The asari woman choked, dropping the datapad to the ground and frantically reaching out with both hands up. She clawed at the hand that held her in shock, choking, her fingers bouncing like rubber against the killer soldier's steel pliers that passed as flesh. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't even move; the powerful arm that held her kept her pinned where she stood like it was a steel beam.

And then, the steely arm yanked her back like she was a ragdoll, bringing her face to face with her captor.

"Do I have your undivided attention?" Jaina's icy voice demanded, sending deathly chills down the asari's spine and loosening up something in her bowels. "I don't know what misbegotten logic in that shriveled, mentally-challenged mind of yours made you think that speaking in such a way was a good idea, but if I were you, I'd think very carefully before speaking the next time. You've seen how much money I was willing to pay for that armored suit. That alone should tell you that the person it is intended for ranks extremely high on the list of people that I like. You, on the other hand, don't. And calling the one that does a suit rat is the best way to have me end your thousand-year-life prematurely. Now. Gurgle if you understand."

"Ghgrhrghl" the asari choked out frantically, her face bloated and darkening.

Jaina threw her back, splaying her across the ground where she remained, wheezing deeply as she took the sweetest fresh breath of air in her entire life.

"You have your money," Jaina said coldly. "We're done here." She cast a glance around the hangar, meeting the gazes of several people who immediately returned to studiously appearing to do something.

She then looked over her shoulder at the impressed Ashley and Liara.

"Alright! We have what we came for. Let's get back to the ship," she declared with a sigh, picking up the suitcase crate and leading her small team back toward the Normandy and leaving the hangar bay.

"Damn, Commander," Ashley spoke up in amazement, a huge grin spreading across her lips. "Remind me never to get you angry!"

"Just use your brains, Ash, and we'll always be good," Jaina said with a small smirk.

"That woman, though, sure as hell deserved it," Liara declared, her velvety voice low and threatening. "To talk to our faces about quarians like that. To talk about Tali like that! Unforgivable."

"Yeah – Commander?" Ash called, her interest peaking. "That suit you bought – it's for Tali, isn't it?"

"Don't worry, Chief – yours, Kaidan's, and Garrus's new armors will be coming up as well," Jaina allayed her fears, her demeanor cheering up once more. "Yours take more time to customize because you're the frontline combatants; it requires stronger plates and armature."

"Oh! I… th-thank you, ma'am – though that's not really what I was getting at!" Ash replied in a fluster.

"That's right," Liara added, growing eager. "You've actually provided for a new suit for Tali? I don't know the finer details of quarian culture, but I know gifting a suit to a quarian is a big thing! And an expensive one like this!"

"I'll say," Ash quipped. "Most armor suits cost no more than thirty thousand credits. This one's, like, eight times that! And how did you even find a quarian suit of armor? Shouldn't they come from the Migrant Fleet?"

"Not in this case," Jaina declared victoriously. "I had ordered a custom suit for Tali from a small, but high-end private manufacturer. I did my homework before ordering it; they know what they're doing."

"And how did you get the right size?" Liara asked.

"From the medical checkup Chakwas did on everyone when we started this mission," she replied, then added sagely, "She's my co-conspirator in this."

"Oh!"

"Yeah, but that still leaves the question of how is she gonna change?" Ashley pointed out, frowning as she thought on it. "I mean, isn't the whole point of their suits to, well – not get out of them?"

"You forget that the medical bay has the built-in decontamination and sterilization system for surgeries," Jaina pointed out. "The entire med bay and everyone inside it can be deep-clean in seconds!"

"Ohhh!"

"And that is where our part comes in," Jaina continued. "This is going to be a surprise for Tali. A big surprise. She may be shocked or she may be overjoyed. Whatever the case, I feel it would be best if she felt she wasn't alone in this – that it isn't just us temporarily investing in a soldier. I want her to know that this means something. I have a feeling she would want someone to be there to tell her how good it looks on her. So, once we lure her into the med bay, the three of us are going to put on face re-breather masks and activate the decon process. Tali can't breathe the same room air as other people present but, with the masks on our faces for a change, she won't have to."

Ashley and Liara's eyes spread wide and the two young women shared a quick look.

"Ma'am, are you telling us that we get to see Tali's face?!" Ashley asked eagerly.

"Don't jump from joy yet, Chief," Jaina warned. "We only get to see it if she feels comfortable enough. That is why I want you two here. Girls need to stick together. If she is to feel comfortable, she needs to be with her own bunch. No guys!"

"Damn straight, ma'am!" Ash declared.

"If, however, she feels uncomfortable, we leave. Got it?"

"Got it!" "Yes ma'am," Liara and Ash spoke in turn.

"Good," Jaina said with satisfaction as they entered the Normandy's airlock. "Now, let's get on with this."

.

"Everything's ready," Chakwas said as she finished up the work on her terminal, then turned to the waiting Jaina. "You can call Tali up here now."

Jaina nodded to her and then to Liara and Ashley, who stood at the sides trying not to show their eagerness. Tapping her comms, she contacted the young quarian:

"Tali, it's Jaina. You busy?"

"We've just finished with calibrating the second Mako's new hover system," the lilting accent came through. "Is there something you need me for?"

"Yes, we need you here in the med bay. It's important."

"At once, Commander!" Tali replied readily, ending the comm.

A few minutes later, the med bay's doors swished open and Tali promptly entered, stopping to cast a sweeping glance around the room.

The sight of the other four women instantly made her jitters rise. It wasn't fear, not really, but… all four women's eyes were square on her and all four were smiling! Or, badly trying to contain their smiles, more like. It made her feel like a small kid that was facing four adults who knew something that she didn't. It made her start rubbing her hands and fidget nervously as she looked around.

Doctor Chakwas's smile was motherly, Jaina had a knowing smile of a big sister, Ash was barely keeping herself from beaming outright, and Liara was merely schooling her features into a small, neutral smile.

W-well, I-I'm here…" Tali stammered lightly. "W-what's this about?"

Jaina sent her a small, reassuring smile as she walked around Tali.

"First, let me lock the doors so we can all have some privacy," she said and tapped the code into the interface. "There. Now. Tali. We've called you here because we have something for you."

"Something for me?" Tali parroted as she processed. "W-what is it?"

"It's this," Jaina said as she walked to the side and tapped the suitcase-sized crate that stood on one of the medical beds.

Tali looked around only to see encouraging looks from others. She approached the crate and examined it.

"What's inside?"

"Something that we think that you'll like very much," Jaina said. "But, there's a trick to it we need to work around. You see, it would require you to remove your mask and helm."

Tali looked alarmed, then rubbed her hands nervously.

"I… I see…" she said. "Well, it can be perfectly possible for me to remove my entire helmet for a brief span of time and not have a completely debilitating or deathly infection… B-but, Commander, even then, I'd run a fever! I'd have a running nose and I wouldn't be that good in a fight anymore. Ah! But I am ready to do it if it needs to be done!" she added, making a strong facade.

Jaina chuckled.

"Well, fortunately for you, we have a major workaround for that," she said, then turned to Karin. "Doctor?"

Chakwas approached Tali, carrying a hypospray.

"Your medical induction port, darling, if you please," Chakwas said in a warm, motherly tone.

Tali thrust out the underside of her wrist where a small circular port stood. Chakwas promptly placed the injector and the contents of the vial emptied into the suit's medical distribution reserves.

"An advanced dextro-based antibiotic, metabolic stimulant, and immuno-booster cocktail," Chakwas clarified. "With an extra kick, I might add."

Tali could only agree as she felt an energetic boost begin to coarse through her system.

"And now," Chakwas spoke up imperiously, looking at the rest of them. "Ladies, if you please!"

All of them, Chakwas included, took out transparent facial masks that they placed over their nose and mouths, the filters in them set to block all germ transfer, both in and out. Tali watched with interest as they activated their masks and Chakwas made a few commands on her omni-tool.

A droning VI's voice sounded over the medbay's intercom:

"Medical decontamination process initiated."

Tali looked up in alarm as fine mist filled the room and a glowing field descended from above, beginning to burn away all microbes – both in the air and on all surfaces it passed over.

"J-Jaina, no!" Tali exclaimed. "Medical decontamination hurts on unprotected skin!"

"Meh, we're soldiers," Ashley dismissed with a shrug. "It'll tingle."

Before Tali could voice any more complaints, the field reached them and began to pass down over their heads. Like an electric current, it began burning across the humans' and asari's skin, the complex mass effect and energy fields eliciting discomfort as the induction made them wiggle all the way into their clothes.

"Decontamination complete. Estimated 99.99% of organic particles removed," the VI declared.

And just like that, it was over.

"Whew! That was stimulating!" Jaina declared as she patted down her hair that stuck out in all directions after the currents had passed through it.

"W… why would you do that?!" Tali exclaimed, her tone chastising.

"Because we're your friends, Tali," Jaina spoke softly. "We care for you, and we want you to have this luxury of removing your helmet for this."

Tali just stood there dumbfounded, then attempted to speak, only managing to get out an intelligible choke in her first attempt.

"Y… you wanted to go that far for me?" she spoke in a small voice, her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

"Sure did," Jaina said, smiling, her eyes beaming at her. "So, how about it? Feel comfortable enough to entrust us with what you look like underneath?"

Tali looked from her face to the other two, equally eager and supportive, and then nodded once.

Jaina, Ashley, and Liara held their breath and leaned in attentively, filled with trepidation as Tali reached up and began unclasping her mask and helmet. What would she look like? Was she pretty? Was she exotic? Was she ugly? Was she weird? It all passed through their heads as Tali's clasps clicked and hissed, and the three women braced themselves.

Tali pulled her cowl back, unclasped her mask, and pulled off the back half of her helm. Grabbing the two in one hand, she swiped the other through the nape of her neck, loosening up the luscious black hair.

"W-well," she spoke uncertainly, her beautiful, lilting voice clear and unmodulated by the helm's speakers. "T-this is me."

She looked around at the three women, only to see them staring back at her like cats that had seen their favorite toy – big-eyed and pupils dilated. Tali felt trepidation in the pit of her stomach, reaching up and rubbing her cheek.

"I… is there's s-something wrong?"

"OMG, so cuuuuute!" Ashley squealed out loud, pouncing onto the poor girl and beginning to fawn all over her.

The other two women were not that far behind at all, instantly closing in and beginning to touch, hug, and caress all the while releasing cooing and crooning sounds.

"Aww, you'we so adowabve, Tawi!"

"So beautifuw!"

"Do you see how her eyes are glowing? It's mesmerizing!"

"And she's bwushing so cutewy! OMG, I want to squeeze hew so badwy!"

"And what beautifuw, luscious hair she has!"

"I knoooow, just like my baby sisters'! I want to comb it!"

A gasp. "Goddess, look how her cheeks are soft."

Another gasp. "OMG, you'we wight!"

"Must be because quarians don't eat much solid food, right? Owww, Tawi, you've so adowabve!"

Doctor Chakwas was standing to the side and chuckling quietly as she kept covertly snapping photos from her omni-tool.

The three girls were painfully right, though: Tali was unbearably adorable. Her matronly composure was about the only thing that kept her from diving in and trying to squeeze the poor girl to death with cuddles. The other three, their tough commander included, did not have such self-control in this particular case. And, frankly, she couldn't blame them. She felt that even the toughest, hardiest soldiers would melt at seeing the flustered quarian girl blushing profusely as she was right now.

"Alright, break it up," Chakwas demanded, stepping in to break apart the girly gaggle. "Leave the poor girl with some air!"

The other three moved away reluctantly, leaving a panting Tali in the center.

"W-wha…? Wh-what was that? W… why were you all talking that way that you, um, were?" Tali asked as she reached for her breath, feeling overwhelmed at the pleasure she had from feeling another person's touch on her skin.

"We can't hewp it," Jaina said apologetically. "It's just what we do when we see beautiful, cute, and cuddly things."

Tali looked at her incredulously, then looked down to the ground.

"Y… you really think I'm beautiful?" she asked hopefully.

"They're not kidding, dear," Chakwas said seriously, but with a warm, matronly smile.

Tali's cheeks darkened, but her lips widened into a shy smile.

"Um… th-thank you," she said softly.

"Aww, don't mention it, hun," Ash replied. "It's your birth right to know how beautiful you are!"

"Why don't we get on with the matter at hand?" Chakwas prompted. "The area is sterile for the time being, and we might be wearing filter masks, but our bodies are still slowly exuding organic particles through our pores. We wouldn't want Tali to become sick, now would we?"

"No, we would not!" Liara agreed readily, casting a look at Jaina, who promptly approached the crate they had initially shown to Tali.

"And, here it is," Jaina declared, opening up the crate's lid for Tali to see inside.

For a few moments, Tali just stood there, wordlessly staring at the beautiful quarian suit of armor that was neatly packed inside, almost as if not comprehending what she was seeing.

The suit was a female quarian's suit – that much was obvious from the face mask and torso shape – but everything else was so much different from what typical quarian suits were like. Where a typical quarian suit always showed a bit of surface wear, this one was obviously brand new. And more than that!

Glossy black and gold – those were the colors. Her eyes trailed the fine pattern of small hexagonal plates that covered the surface, their black glossy shine reflecting the medbay lights. The gold-colored plated rings covered the neck and descended down the collar bone and chest area in a simplistic, yet elegant manner. The numerous sections showed elegantly-concealed and tucked-in pockets and compartments, and many clasps all over the suit marked the spots where the traditional scarf could be draped around in many, many intricate ways.

Her mind was working furiously.

Why was there a quarian suit here? Why was there an extremely high-quality suit here? Why were they showing it to her? Keelah, did they intend this suit for…? No! No way it was that! Why would anyone want to give her…? Especially one this beautiful and obviously expensive? No, this suit must've been pillaged in one of the raids and they must want her to examine it, to lend them her quarian expertise. Something might be off with the suit, and that's why they're showing it to her, hoping she could figure it out or maybe retrieve some damaged logs. Yes, that must be it!

"A-a-a quarian suit," she managed at last.

"Your new suit," Jaina said softly from her side.

Tali's eyes shot up to meet hers, her pretty face showing clear shock. It was as if she couldn't comprehend – no, refused to comprehend.

"M… mine?" Tali asked in a small voice.

"That's right," Jaina continued softly, placing her hand supportively between Tali's shoulder blades. "We bought it for you using our Spectre funding. Jormangund Technology. Look here," Jaina drew her attention, passing her hand over the suit's surface. "It's a Mark X modified Hazard-class hybrid light-medium suit. The main part is the light suit for everyday use, and these are removable external plates that you can latch on for when you go into combat situations. They offer 60% overall coverage and 90% torso coverage, designed to offer mobility. The generator produces a 650-kilojoule shield with a 10-kilojoule impact threshold and the suit itself provides a complete level-2 environmental protection. And, furthermore, it sports a Grade-5 advanced internal hygiene system with an integrated adaptive VI for adapting to the specific user's bodily needs.

"But that's nothing compared to the fact that this suit has Sirta's advanced neural stimulation layer to simulate the sensation on the skin when someone touches your suit, especially on your hands and fingertips – intended to improve your ability to function through the gloves – but with proper omni-tool integration, you can increase the amount and location of neural stimulators wherever you need on the interior of your suit!"

Jaina stopped then and reached out to gently raise the completely floored Tali's chin to meet her gaze.

"And we want you to have this suit, Tali. It's yours. And we're not talking about you ever returning it. Once this whole Saren thing is done – you're taking it with you. Understand?"

The slack-jawed Tali worked her lips for a couple of moment, her glowing white irises looking even wider.

"M… m… mine?" Tali parroted. "Th… you bought this suit f-for me… to keep f… forever?"

Jaina smiled, nodding, with Ashley and Liara joining in with their nods, beaming at the flabbergasted quarian. For a moment, Tali just looked from one to the other, shellshock obvious on her cute face. And then, her lips pursed together, scrunching up, and her big, shiny eyes welled up with tears.

"Sniff, sniff… WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

The bawling exploded through the medbay as Tali's tightly-shut eyes began pouring rivers of tears down her cheeks.

The smiles that the other women had instantly shifted to faces and stances of alert and confusion. For a few short seconds, nobody dared utter the first words as the pitiful wailing continued unabashed.

"We're sorry!" Ashley exclaimed first, taking a half-crouch and raising her hands in a calming motion. "Oh, my god, Tali, We're so sorry! Whatever we might have done wrong or have offended you, we didn't mean to!"

Jaina and Liara could only nod furiously, their instincts yelling at them to hold the crying girl in a tight hug but fearing it might be the wrong thing to do.

"Nooo, it's not thaaaat!" Tali cried. "Sniff, sniff… y-you've been so good to meee!"

"…Th… then, why are you crying?" Liara queried in genuine wonder.

"B-sniff-b-sniff-because wherever us, quarians, go, we're always met with hatred and disgust!" She bawled. "They call us suit rats, thieves, vagrants… they force us to leave whenever they meet us, sometimes even at gunpoint! They treat us like bottom-class citizens and treat us even worse than Vorcha. They only force the vorcha out, but quarians they denigrate and insult, and seek to pick on us whenever they can because they know that the authorities will not do anything about it – sniff… sniff –Keelah! It is because of that treatment that my friend Keenah and all of Honorata's crew got killed! We sought refuge from Saren on Ilium, but the flight control delayed us on purpose because they were prejudiced. And when we went to the Citadel to warn Council about Saren, they threatened us, forcing us to leave under an impossible deadline. And he died because of them. Everybody was prejudiced and hateful… But not you!

"Sniff – You've been nothing but good to me! You've saved me, listened to me, taken me with you – no! You've taken me in! You've made me a member of the ship's crew – something that each quarian strives to be – and not only that, but you've made me feel like a valued member of the crew! You let me help with your ship's systems. You showed me around. Keelah, you've bothered to provide flavored and spiced dextro-nutrient pastes for me! You've provided meat paste! Meat! Do you know how rarely quarians get that?

"And now – sniff – and now – sniff – now you've provided a new suit for me!" she cried in a small, high-pitched voice. "A new and expensive suit… sniff-sniff! A suit so good that I don't think anyone in the entire flotilla might have one like it! Sniff… sniff… hiccup! So, no, I'm not sad or offended. I'm happy! I've never felt this happy and accepted in my entire liiiife! WAAAAAAAAHHH!"

The hearts of other women melted in their chests and it showed on their faces as they looked amongst each other, small smiles of compassion spreading across their faces.

Jaina tsk-ed. "Oww, honeeyyy… come here!" she crooned and stepped in, hugging Tali close to her chest, with Ashley and Liara stepping up close to form a protective triangle around the crying girl, rubbing comforting circles across her back.

"There we go – cry it all out," Jaina urged her as Tali leaned her forehead into the crook of the older woman's neck, sniffing and bawling for the next minute or two. When she had calmed down, Jaina looked down at her, meeting her shiny white gaze and adorable tear-streaked cheeks.

"There… all better?" She queried softly.

Tali nodded. "Sniff… hiccup… hiccup – yes, I – Achoo!" she sneezed into Jaina's neck, making Jaina laugh.

"Keelah, I'm so sorry, Jaina!" Tali whined cutely in embarrassment.

"Nah, I figure your sneezes are like baby's – all clean and harmless," Jaina declared as she wiped her neck with a sterile tissue she took from Chakwas.

"That sneeze wasn't comforting, though," Ashley spoke up, fawning worriedly over Tali.

"I'll be fine, honest," Tali replied. "It's quite normal to sneeze or cough when changing suits."

"It might still be smart if we were to hurry and help you into your new suit – don't you think?" Liara said sagely.

"Y-yeah," Tali said, a beautiful smile breaking out on her face.

"Come now, let's get you out of your old suit and set you up into your new one," Jaina declared to Tali nodding and promptly beginning to unclasp the rest of her suit.

Under the comforting privacy of an all-female company, Tali quickly went through the motions. The old suit was fully removed, after which Chakwas had her stand on a circular medical platform as a pair of robotic medical arms went down her body, spraying her with a fine, instant-vaporizing cleaning mist and scrubbing field used to clean patients before surgery.

Feeling squeaky clean, Tali eagerly went down to don her new suit, assisted by the three eager women. One clasp and one piece after another, the suit went up around Tali's body until only her head remained uncovered.

"Hold on, everyone," Chakwas called. "Let us get you, girls, all together and snap off a couple of pictures."

"Yes!" they all exclaimed readily, and the four women huddled close around Tali.

The young quarian's face was a vision of joy as she held her soft, round cheek pressed against Ashley's, Liara pressed against her back, and Jaina behind them all holding them in a hug.

"There we go! All done," Chakwas declared.

"Achoo!," came from Tali. "Sniff, I better put that helmet on. I think we've reached the limit on how much I can safely be unsuited for now."

She promptly donned the helmet, sealing it in, and finally putting on the mask. Jaina, Ashley, and Liara looked amongst each other, silently sharing their sadness of not being able to see Tali's face anymore or, at least, for a while. With her suit fully secured and working, the other women finally removed the transparent rebreather masks from around their mouths and noses.

"Let me just place my scarf and I'll be set," Tali said, picking up her violet scarf.

"Oh, nonono, wait," Ashley spoke up, stopping her. "Now that we've seen how beautiful you are underneath, there's just no way we're letting you wear that scarf the way you did before – all tight and flat against your helmet. You have beautiful hair! Like my Lynn! That scarf should be worn to emulate that!"

"She has a point, Tali," Jaina spoke up, titling her head. "A girl should dress up to be beautiful, and you most definitely deserve to emphasize your beauty with whatever you have."

Tali rubbed her now helmeted cheek bashfully, looking to the side.

"I-if you think so."

"Oh, we most definitely do," Liara declared as she approached together with Ashley and took the very long scarf off of Tali's hands.

"Let's begin like this," Ashley spoke up, and the two women quickly began to intricately weave the scarf around Tali's body, hooking and securing it with clasps and belts on the armor suit's surface.

First they rolled it around her left thigh, then up diagonally over her pelvic region, around her waist, up her back, to her shoulder, making a cowl around her head, then back again diagonally over the other shoulder down to the other side, around waist, crisscrossing over her pelvic region again, down to her right thigh and tying it around.

As Liara secured the scarf with belts and button clasps, Ashley fussed like a big sister would over Tali's cowl. With a few skillful touchups, she made the cowl appear flowing and bountiful, almost like she was hiding her luscious hair directly beneath. Tali herself finished up by redressing her belt and her decorative gloves and elbow wrappings that shared the scarf's pattern.

"And, there we go," Ashley said self-contently as she finally secured Tali's cowl with the pair of clasps on her collar bones. "There. Now, you look absolutely beautiful."

Tali looked herself over in the mirror they provided and spent a long time just absorbing her new looks. Jaina, Liara, and Ashley didn't feel like disturbing her in the least. Finally, after a few long, silent minutes, Tali turned around to the rest of them, emotion thick in her voice:

"Th… thank you," she said. "Thank you all for this."

"Aww. What are friends for, hun!" Ash gushed, stepping up and hugging Tali with one hand around her shoulder. "Now, though, it's time we go out and show everyone your awesome new looks!"

"Yes. Let's," Liara said eagerly, stepping up to the other side and leading her out.

Jaina stayed for a few moments, watching the trio leave the medbay hand-in-hand and sighed contently.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Chakwas spoke from her side. "Helping another being. It's amazing to see how we're all incredibly human, regardless of whether we have scales or hair."

"Yeah," Jaina spoke wistfully, looking after the girls. "You're right, Doc."

Chakwas smiled as she appraised Jaina's far-away expression. "Pretty amazing how our young and adventurous Chief Williams took to our young quarian, don't you think?"

"I think that Tali reminded her fiercely of her baby sisters," Jaina commented. "Ash is a family kind of person, and she misses her sisters something fierce, I think. Seeing Tali must've evoked something in her." She chuckled. "She was all over the poor girl."

"Indeed," Chakwas agreed. "I've noticed she exuded a clear xenophobic vibe when she first came onto Normandy. Now, that sense seems to have disappeared like it was swiped away by a giant hand… as if it had never been there."

"And I'm glad to see that it has worked," Jaina said. "I had staked all my chips on this – that us helping Tali would evoke a reaction like that. I had hoped that she'd see that Tali – that all aliens, in fact – are deep down really human."

Chakwas chuckled. "It worked like a charm if you ask me. Might have something to do with Tali crying her soul out. My, but she is an adorable girl, isn't she?"

"M-hm," Jaina agreed.

"I think that all the others will agree as well once they see the vid of you three fawning all over her like schoolgirls when she removed her helmet."

"M-hm… Wait. What?!"

"You heard me, Commander," Chakwas declared mirthfully to Jaina's alarm.

"Wait, wouldn't that be some kind of doctor-patient confidentiality breech?" Jaina croaked.

"In your dreams, Commander," Chakwas retorted. "Nonetheless, we wouldn't want the broader crew to get hold of this, now would we?"

Jaina narrowed her eyes incredulously. "Is this you blackmailing me into that checkup I've been dodging?"

An evil glint flashed in Karin's eye. "Well now, you did remember! How about you be a good girl and our Commander Marcus gets to be the only recipient of the aforementioned vid."

A groan of defeat climbed its way out of Jaina's throat as her forehead fell against the wall.

"That's the spirit!" Chakwas declared mirthfully. "You lock the doors and remove your clothes, and I'll prepare the poking and prodding tools."

A louder groan echoed through the chamber.

.

ADDENDUM

In the wake of Andromeda, I feel there's a moderate need for me to declare and elaborate some of my intentions regarding this story – mostly regarding the technical aspects to avoid conflicting facts. There are NO SPOILERS concerning my story and few minor spoilers concerning Andromeda – but I figure all of you must've seen those already on youtube or such.

I've gotten my hands on Andromeda a few days ago and have played it a bit. However, I have also explored a lot of its Codex wherever I could find it, mostly regarding the technologies described therein. I didn't like what I saw.

Namely, I have noticed several technology inconsistencies of the Andromeda with the original Mass Effect that make me uncomfortable. I will need to research this more to be sure, obviously, but most of what I've seen makes Andromeda Initiative technology appear much more advanced than the most advanced technologies of the Milky Way militaries combined – going so far as to use some technological facts that mass effect technology shouldn't be able to do if one thinks logically about it – most notable of which is the method by which the Initiative scouted the Heleus Cluster before departing. According to what Suvi says, the Geth had rebuilt a mass relay (something that even the far more advanced Protheans barely managed) so they could observe Dark Space, and the Initiative actually managed to somehow hack into the Geth Network (!) and use the mass relay's abilities to see the Heleus Cluster in real-time.

Now, a mass relay can send things into FTL and receive only those things that are already thrown at it through FTL, and only if it achieves the as-of-yet not-understood connection with a relay pair. This means that the images from Andromeda couldn't have possibly been caught in real-time by this supposedly geth-rebuilt lonely mass relay because there was nothing in Andromeda to cast that light through FTL toward that repurposed mass relay in Geth space.

What I'm trying to say is that because too many Andromeda technologies, like this one, seem to have some very conflicting aspects compared to the originally postulated fictional technologies in ME1-2-3 and their effects, my story will NOT be using ANY reference to Andromeda technologies.

True, some of you will argue that I am already bending some of the technology rules postulated in ME1-2-3 for the sake of my story. I say – yes, I'm bending and expanding, but doing my best of not outright breaking, and I'm trying to be as accurate in the original frame as possible. Because of this, I DO NOT want to include any Andromeda technology or plot – at least at this moment. If I do, it will be after far more research, and any technology that might come from Andromeda Initiative (not Andromeda species themselves) might very well be significantly altered to suit this story's continuity, which is firmly based in the original ME1-2-3.