Then You'll Leave Us
The Mako came to a stop in front of the small, circular structure sticking out of the ground. It was the entrance to a geth underground facility. Shepard, Tali, and Garrus stepped out of the Mako and walked towards it.
They were on Solcrum, the largest moon of the gas giant Notanban. Solcrum had virtually no atmosphere, so overhead they could see the blackness of space and the familiar view of countless stars sprinkled against it. The nearby local sun of the system, a blue giant star, gave the barren, rocky moon a distinct blue ambience.
As the three approached the structure, they walked past the mangled metal carcass of one of the two geth colossi they had fought just moments ago. The colossi, as well as several sniper posts, served as the defenses for underground structure.
"This has to be the primary geth base. The outside was too well guarded to be a regular outpost," Tali commented as they walked.
"I got to hand it to you, Commander. Attacking the geth from the top of that nearby mountainous area was a great idea. They couldn't touch us; they never stood a chance," Garrus complimented.
"Sun Tzu talked a lot about the importance of using terrain to your advantage, specifically higher ground. It just makes sense to use it. Especially when you have high mobility, like we do with the Mako," Shepard responded.
"Who?" Garrus asked, unfamiliar with the name.
"I'll tell you another time, Garrus," Shepard said as he opened the door that led down into the underground facility.
They walked down a short tunnel, and after passing another door, they found themselves in a small antechamber. Behind the next door would be the main part of the geth facility; and very likely, a significant concentration of geth forces.
From the moment they had stepped into the antechamber, a distant, muffled song could be faintly heard coming from the main area. "Do you guys hear that? It sounds like… singing," Garrus commented. He gripped his assault rifle slightly tighter; he didn't like the unusualness of it.
"I hear it too. It's… a quarian singing. The song is in my language," Tali added, with some astonishment in her voice.
"It must be some kind of recording. Let's figure out what the deal with it is after we handle the geth. Get ready." Shepard said, keeping his voice down. He then approached the door and positioned himself on its right side. With his hand, he signaled for Garrus to stand on its left, and Tali to stand on the right, next to him.
Shepard held his sniper rifle, Garrus his assault rifle, and Tali got her omni-tool ready. After checking that everybody was prepared, Shepard hit the button that opened the door.
There was a geth trooper standing near the door, who was immediately killed as Garrus shot it with a burst from his assault rifle. At the same time, Shepard used his sniper rifle to quickly pick off a geth on a catwalk at the far left side of the large room. Tali typed into her omni-tool, and managed to use her hacking ability to override the friend/foe identification system of one of the geth troopers in the rear, causing it to start attacking other geth.
Garrus then shot a few long bursts into the room, providing covering fire for Shepard and Tali. The two ran inside and took cover behind some equipment several yards in front of the door. Once in position, Shepard saw that there were geth hoppers inside, so he swapped out to his assault rifle, knowing that hoppers were generally too fast to be picked off by sniper rifles. Tali used a few more tech abilities to overload the enemy shields and weapons, and then swapped out to her shotgun, shooting continuous barrages in conjunction with Shepard's assault rifle blasts. A few times some geth troopers attempted to go around the sides of their cover and flank them, but with Garrus staying back at the doorway, he was able to guard their flanks and rear.
Thanks to their organization, skill, and Shepard's leadership, just a few minutes later the battle was over without any incident; none of them had even lost their shields. They were well accustomed to fighting geth, who were generally very predictable. The underground facility—which was composed almost entirely of the large, tall room they were in—was now completely clear of enemy forces and the trio was safe to move around and examine it.
"Look at all this geth equipment. This was definitely their base," Shepard noted, referring to the numerous consoles, transmitters, and other large pieces of equipment that were all over the room. They were distinctly geth engineering; round, smooth, and curvy, as if attempting to look organic. Entire walls were covered with the geth equipment.
"About time we found their main base. We've been taking out outposts throughout the sector for over a week now," Garrus commented as he folded his assault rifle and attached it to his back.
Tali wandered over to the source of the music they noticed earlier; it had been playing even during the battle. The source was a monitor in the rear of the room, that showed a quarian standing before a hushed crowd, warbling a mournful cappella. Noticing Tali looking at it, Shepard walked over and stood next to her, and also watched the vid on the monitor. After a short moment, the vid abruptly ended.
Shepard walked to the terminal under the monitor, and saw that the recorded song had been transmitted deep into geth territory. "The song was sent to the geth worlds behind the Perseus Veil. Why do you think that is?" Shepard asked Tali.
"I don't know. It's very strange," Tali replied. It was obvious from her tone that she was also confused, and disturbed, by the strange behavior of the geth.
"Hey Shepard! Come take a look at this," Garrus called out from the nearby backroom he had walked into. Shepard went inside. "Look at this terminal," Garrus stepped aside, and Shepard walked up to it. He began to type into it, and looked at what it contained. Tali entered the room while he was working with it.
"This is significant. There's terabytes worth of data on the geth in here. We've never gotten direct access to so much data on them before." Shepard pulled out a small OSD from one of his suit pockets and inserted it into the console. "I'm going to make a copy of this. The Alliance will definitely want to see it."
Tali quietly observed. She knew Shepard was right, this data they had found was indeed significant. For many reasons.
. . .
Several days had passed since they thwarted the geth incursion in the Armstrong nebula, and found the geth data. And Tali couldn't figure out why she still had not asked Shepard for a copy of it.
From the moment she heard Shepard describe what it was, she knew she wanted to have a copy. She instantly realized that her search for a pilgrimage gift was over. This data wasn't only important to her, but to her whole people. It could very well lead to the quarians getting their home world back one day. But, despite knowing its importance, she still hadn't asked Shepard about it.
Maybe it was because she was afraid that Shepard would say no. It seemed unlikely, as her and Shepard were good friends. At this point, she considered him her best friend; not just aboard the Normandy, but her best friend period. She knew fear of rejection wasn't the real reason. It was something else.
It had long been clear to her that she had feelings for Shepard, and as she thought about them, she realized why she had been hesitating to ask for the data. The geth data would be her pilgrimage gift, and by having a suitable gift, it would mean her pilgrimage would be over. Having that data on her would be a constant reminder that her time with Shepard would soon come to an end. Once Saren is defeated, she would have no reason to stay with him, and she'd have to go back to her people; and likely never see Shepard again. It was something that made her sad to think about.
Tali loved her people, and she was eager to see her friends and family on the Flotilla again. She couldn't wait to tell them all about her pilgrimage; about how she served aboard humanity's most advanced vessel, about her adventure to save the galaxy, and how she battled so many geth. But she couldn't ignore the fact that there was no one on the fleet she had intimate feelings for like she did with Shepard. No one she would have a dream about, like the one she had so many nights ago.
But despite her feelings for him, she knew she couldn't ignore her duty to her people.
You need to stop being stupid and just forget about him. You'll never be with him, you know that. Stop being selfish, and go ask for that data. Go get it over with. It's important not just for you, but for your entire people.
Tali sighed, knowing she couldn't ignore that logical voice in her head. She needed to ask for the data. Although it meant she'd have to say goodbye to Shepard after their mission against Saren was over, it also potentially meant that her people might just be able to go back home one day, which was more important than anything she could ever want. She knew that as a quarian, she had to always put the needs of others above what she wanted; especially when what she wanted, was a stupid pipedream.
"Hey Adams, I need to go talk to Shepard," Tali said as she backed away from her console in Engineering. Adams acknowledged from the other side of the room by nodding his head once, and Tali walked away, heading toward the elevator.
After reaching the crew deck and walking to Shepard's quarters, she knocked on the door, and stepped inside once he said to come in.
"Hello Tali," Shepard said from his desk near the bed. As usual, he was happy to see her.
"Hi Shepard," Tali greeted in return as she approached. Shepard could tell she wasn't in her typical high spirited mood. "Are you free? To talk?" Tali asked as she sat down on the corner of his bed, and held her hands together. Shepard swiveled his chair around and faced her.
"Of course. Is everything alright?"
"Yes, everything is… as it should be." There was a short pause during her sentence.
"I'm glad to hear it. What do you need, Tali?"
Tali thought for a moment for the best way to approach him in regards to the geth data. She suddenly saw a small, metallic trinket on his desk. She had noticed it before during other visits to Shepard's quarters, but had never asked about it, despite being curious of what it was. She figured bringing it up would be a good way to start a friendly conversation, before asking about the data.
"What is that small device on your desk?"
Shepard grabbed it and held it up. "This? You came up to ask about this?" Shepard said with an amused look on his face.
"Well, no. But I've seen it before and I'm curious. What is it?"
"I have no idea. The asari Consort gave it to me back on the Citadel. She didn't know what it was, either."
"The… Consort gave that to you? I've heard of her. Isn't she, uh… some kind of… prostitute?" For a moment, Tali pictured Shepard's body entangled with the blue, naked body of an asari; the two of them having sexual intercourse together. The mental image made her feel disturbed, angry, and sick to her stomach. It made her feel jealous.
"To be honest, I've never been too clear on what exactly she does," Shepard responded with some lighthearted amusement, "I even asked her—all I got was a vague response. Seems like she does different things for different people," he concluded, and then went back to the subject of the trinket. "Anyway, I got this as a reward for helping her out with some trouble she had with a turian general and an elcor diplomat. She also gave me a poem; she referred to it as 'a gift of words.'"
"Did she give you… anything else?" She posed the question as if asking if he received any other items or credits, but the real reason she asked was out of curiosity if he had slept with her. Despite being curious about it, a big part of her really did not want to know. She regretted the question the moment she asked it, and found herself wanting to take it back.
"Nope, just this trinket and the 'gift of words.' Something I could've used sure would have been nice, though. Like some credits…"
He didn't sleep with her. And it doesn't seem he was interested in her at all. Good. Feeling relieved, Tali half laughed at his comment and added, "Seems like she makes a lot of money. Would have been nice of her to actually pay you."
Shepard put the trinket back on his desk. There was a moment of silence, and he was just about to ask what she had come up to talk about, when he was suddenly interrupted by Joker over the communicator.
"Commander, sorry to bother you, but I have the Council on the line. It's urgent, they want to speak to you right away."
Shepard sighed; he didn't feel like dealing with the Councilors at the moment, "Alright, I'll head over to the comm room right away." He then said to Tali, "I'm sorry, but the bosses are calling. I need to go see what they want."
"It's okay, Shepard. I'll talk to you later."
"I shouldn't be gone very long, we'll talk when I get back." Shepard then got up and left the room.
The meeting with the Council was relatively quick. After plotting a course to their new destination in the CIC, he returned back to the crew deck and entered his quarters. He was disappointed to see Tali wasn't there, so he stepped back outside and took the elevator down to engineering. He found Tali working at her console.
"Got a moment, Tali?"
Tali was slightly startled; she hadn't heard him walk up behind her. She turned and replied, "Of course Shepard. How did your meeting with the Council go?"
"They gave me a new assignment. Apparently there's a salarian reconnaissance team in trouble, on some planet called Virmire. They were gathering information on Saren, so it's vital we find them. We'll arrive some time tomorrow."
"Do you think we'll find Saren there?"
"I don't know. We'll see when we get there."
There was a short period of silence, until Shepard remembered the reason he came down to see her. "Anyway, what was it you wanted to talk about earlier?"
Tali hesitated for a short moment, and decided to once again put it off. "It's nothing urgent. We'll talk about it another time." I really shouldn't do this. What is wrong with me?
"Are you sure? I get the feeling something is troubling you."
"No, really, I'm fine. We'll talk about it after the next mission. It can wait."
Shepard sighed and looked at her for a moment. He knew something was troubling her, but he didn't want to push her. "Whenever you want to talk, feel free to come see me. Alright, Tali?" He gave her a smile to comfort her.
"I will. Thanks."
"I'm going to go. I need to let the others know of the mission, and I need to start planning for it."
"Alright. See you later."
Shepard then walked away, and Tali turned back around to her engineering console. Just before he left engineering, Shepard stopped and turned around. He looked at Tali for a short moment as she worked.
It's obvious she wants the geth data. Probably for her pilgrimage gift. Maybe I should just offer it to her? Shepard thought to himself, Then again, once she has it, she won't have a reason to stay. I won't see her again.
Shepard sighed, and then left.