The shudder and clanging through the craft signaled the coupling of the quarian envoy ship to the Normandy, to which Joker then reported the successful docking maneuver over the intercom. Shepard tapped his foot expectantly in the CIC as Garrus and Liara rested their backs on the walls, waiting for their party to join them.
"How many admirals did they say were coming?" Garrus said from behind Shepard.
"Five," he replied. "Pretty much the bulk of their ruling military body."
"We should feel rather honored then?"
"Hardly," Shepard snorted. "They're practically roping us into their problems right now. Fighting the geth when we should be fighting the Reapers themselves. If they had better sense none of us would be in this mess right now."
"Should I not tell them you said that?"
Shepard sighed, "One word out of your mouth and you'll adorn the Normandy as its newest hood ornament."
Garrus shrugged, scoffing, "You just have no sense of humor anymore. Well, the prize is an enormous fleet, so it should count for something at the very least."
"We'll see."
The quarians had updated the bulk of their problems to the Normandy once they had been within visual range of the ship. Hackett's initial assumption was correct, the quarians had been aiming to take their homeworld back with the intent of having a viable base of operations as well as giving their people a symbolic victory as well. They had actually been winning as they gradually drove the machines back to the Tikkun system, where Rannoch lay. That all changed a few days ago after the fleet had destroyed an artificial Dyson sphere critical to geth expansion in which the geth provided a surprising and uncharacteristically well-fortified defense immediately afterward above Rannoch itself, cutting off the supply line and decimating the forward attack fleet.
This new development had come out of nowhere and it had been traced to a geth dreadnought orbiting the planet which was transmitting a strong signal to all geth within range. This signal was so powerful it had overwhelmed the quarian's garbage data countermeasure against ladar pings, cutting through it as though it was a simple swarm of gnats. The quarians had managed to isolate a portion of the signal, though, and found that it was a fragment of Reaper code. The geth, as it turned out, had been embedded with Reaper upgrades.
It was just like the situation with Saren all over again, only this time the geth were acting more sentient and independent of each other, rather than focusing their neural links in a group. This made them more cunning, more dangerous, that the quarians could no longer mount an offensive against their spawn. Bad news all around.
It had then been decided that the quarian admiralty board would link up with the Normandy and provide peripheral support as its stealth drive would render the craft invisible to the geth, making it the safest ship in the fleet. With its masked heat drives, it would be able to dock to the dreadnought and deposit a small team inside where they could disable the signal from within. The quarians had also promised a tech expert to guide them as they knew more about them than anyone, being their creators after all. Shepard really couldn't disagree with that point, as he happened to know a certain quarian who had an affinity for tech.
Not the simplest plan ever, but it was more thought out than any of Shepard's recent endeavors at the moment. At least there would be less possibility of a clone trying to saw his head off. He still had not really gotten over that yet.
It took five minutes for the quarian admirals to fully decontaminate and walk out onto the bridge of the Normandy. Joker tried and failed to keep his obvious glances to himself but the admirals simply sidled on by, as if they had been used to these types of stares their whole lives. Their gait was tall and proud, compensating for their obvious weakness in having to wear their suits for pretty much all of their lives. The thought was actually rather sad every time Shepard pondered it.
The one in front, a female in a dusty brown suit, walked up to him and offered her hand as her cohorts descended the tiny steps behind her. "Commander Shepard," she greeted in a heavily accented voice, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay of the Patrol Fleet. It is good for you to have come."
Shepard answered the handshake in kind, finding himself eerily mesmerized by all of the quarians' white, glowing eyes. "On behalf of Earth," he replied, "I welcome you to the Normandy." He wished that he could have come up with a line that sounded less stupid in his head before he said it, but he couldn't afford to be snarky or sarcastic with a race that had so deliberately wasted its chance to join up with the Council's forces while they went and played their own little war games. He could have berated them for half an hour on the merits of taking back one world on the edge of the galaxy while others burned elsewhere, Earth included.
If they were going to win this war, they needed the full support of all races, so he just had to shove any disdain aside and relax.
Raan turned to the side, gesturing towards her colleagues and providing the necessary introductions, "This is Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib of the Civilian Fleet." A man with red accents on his suit now reached out for a handshake. The act itself seemed to be particularly limp but Shepard didn't hold it against him. He was more amused by the fact that his ship's name happened to be Qwib Qwib. He would need to look up the significance of that because it didn't sound like a quarian name for a ship, at the very least.
"Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema of the Heavy Fleet," a mere nod was all he got from a taller man in a beige suit. Shepard would have to keep an eye on this one, he had a partial twitch that signified displeasure in some way. Disgruntlement at being trounced by the geth? Or was it simply wounded pride at having to scurry to humans for help?
"Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh of Special Projects," a thin female in a dark suit now stepped forward, slowly blinking.
"Commander Shepard," she began in a husky voice, "I have heard a great many things about you."
Of course you have. "All of them good, I hope?"
Her eyes appeared rather judgmental behind her visor, "Hopefully they were not exaggerated."
Shepard decided that he did not like Xen very much, despite her every reason to be suspicious of his character. Something about her just seemed off, cold even. Clearly the right person to be handling special projects, then. He stared at her as he gestured to the door that led to the war room with his right arm. Taking the hint, Raan ushered the other admirals toward the door, past the wide eyed technicians that were currently manning the room as they went to settle in.
Garrus straightened up and moved over to Shepard, both watching the quarians leave. "Odd bunch," he mused out loud. "Not very big on small talk, are they?"
"They seemed a bit more scared than anything else," Shepard admitted. "They're on the verge of losing everything and they have to turn to an unknown variable for help. They can't win this war on their own."
"I'm more concerned for the fact that they can't count," Garrus pointed out. "They did say that there would be five of them coming over. And, not that I'm pointing out the obvious here, I only happened to see fo-"
"I don't count, you bosh'tet?" a voice came from behind them in the direction of the cockpit, causing Shepard and Garrus to abruptly turn towards the source. Shepard's heart seemed to double its tempo as he felt his face flush. His breathing seemed to catch in his throat and his jaw dropped a little as a slim form walked towards the both of them.
Tali seemed to glow as she wrung her hands nervously. "H-Hello, John," she managed to get out.
Apart from the stammer that she had never seemed to have grown out when she got flustered, her entire demeanor had changed. She was standing a bit taller than Shepard had remembered, perhaps signifying her pride at achieving the rank of admiral among her people. Her suit was slightly different as well. There were a few more darker patches than he recalled and her visor had a few more attachments to it as well. She looked more like a warrior than he had ever recalled.
If his lungs could expand any further from the amount of air he had sucked into them in surprise, they would have burst him apart at the seams. His mouth dry, he quickly grasped her hand and said, "Come with me." Not arguing in the slightest, she gave in to him as he led her over to the elevator, as Garrus started spluttering as he suddenly was ignored before giving up and stalking over to Joker to annoy him.
Shepard and Tali gave a few quick glances to see if anyone else was looking before they shoved themselves inside the metal box and it surged upwards towards Shepard's cabin. As soon as the doors closed, the two immediately fell upon one another in a fierce hug, their hands exploring the other with an eagerness that had not been perceived in a long time.
Calloused palms ran over the warm and frayed fabrics while gloved hands smoothed over the hard muscles of his back. Neither of them said a word as their heavy breathing overpowered their ability to speak. They continued to hug until the doors opened, admitting them to the top floor. Stumbling over their feet, they awkwardly shuffled over to the couch, not really caring if their disappearance would go noticed by anyone. They then deposited themselves on the soft surface, still locked in their embrace, Tali sitting atop Shepard's lap as they positioned themselves more comfortably.
Shepard placed a hand on the small of Tali's back and she abruptly let out a moan. She pulled back briefly as if she was about to apologize for the outburst, but pushed the reflexive reaction down and simply gave more of herself into the hug. Her body was resting on Shepard's, her head lying across his chest. He was immediately confronted with a pleasant memory of this happening a while back, the two of them lying and hugging on his couch. It was certainly less morbid than his thoughts as of late.
Her head still nestled underneath his neck, he whispered softly, "Why didn't you call, Tali?"
Her head shot up, eyes piercing his very soul, "I...I wanted to, John. I really wanted to…"
"But...why didn't you?" He cursed himself for his blunt and serious tone for her voice was shaking so badly that it tore him up to be so direct to her.
"N-N-None of us w-were allowed to make c-contact for any reason...for the safety of the fleet...in case the g-geth were monitoring…"
"Monitoring what? Your communications?" Shepard pressed on, despite his misgivings about the situation, "You're saying that the fleet barred all outside contact because they thought the geth might be watching your every move? That's what you're telling me?"
"Y-Y-Yes…"
"So it wasn't because you were tired of me? That you wanted to simply let go?" He knew his words were absolutely not true but for some reason could not stop their trajectory from out of his mouth, to his everlasting shame.
"Why...why are you d-doing this t-to me?"
Shepard scowled, fighting the urge in him to forgive the poor girl on top of him immediately and just hug her while saying that everything was going to be all right, but it was too late to stop his bitterness from pouring out. "And so I've just been sitting in front of my desk for hours at a time in vain? Waiting for a message that was never going to come? All those weeks going by with me risking life and limb and wondering if you were doing the same? How was I supposed to know if you were alive or not?"
"I...I had no idea…" Cracks were starting to appear in her resolve as Tali started shaking helplessly.
"...And wondering why the woman I fought through hell for never gave me a single response as my world burned around me? Not one shred of a condolence, not even an 'I'm sorry,' but silence as I was forced to watch the Reapers destroy and maim my people in front of my face? I was forced to watch, Tali…"
"I couldn't do anything!" she wailed loudly, throwing herself on him as she broke completely, sobs racking her entire form. "I couldn't...I couldn't...I'm sorry...I'm so sorry…"
That did it. Shepard could just not keep this act up any longer. Not with Tali completely defenseless in front of him. The very sight of her in any form of distress was enough to make him automatically comfort the sobbing quarian. What a massive idiot he was. What was he thinking, deliberately pushing her away like that? Was he trying to feel some sort of vindication from this or was it just the juvenile concept of getting even? His own actions disgusted him as he realized how badly he could have screwed things up even further.
"Shh," Shepard said softly, wrapping his large arms around her as she desperately clung to him. It had been plain to see from the first moment they laid eyes on each other again, that she still wanted to be with him and he was feeling ever regretful as she continued to shudder. "It's okay, Tali. I'm...I'm sorry I was harsh with you. You didn't deserve that, any of that."
He placed a hand on the back of her head, comforting her as she continued to cry. Her sniffles softened and dissipated in a few minutes as they clutched each other tightly. Both of their eyes closed for fear that the other would look up and be silently judging them. He gently lifted her head up with his other hand, forcing her to look at him as his face softened.
"I mean it," he asserted. "I truly am sorry for being rough. I...I know it wasn't your fault, I was being childish, an idiot, a-"
"A...a bull-headed asshole?" she finished for him, voice rough but tone rising at the end in a bit of playfulness.
Shepard gave a weak chuckle, relief flooding through him, "Yes, that. Exactly that."
The monumental sigh that came from Tali seemed to sap whatever energy she had in her, going limp in his arms as he continued to run his arms along her, soaking up her heat. She placed a hand over his cheek as she whispered in a low voice, "But you were right, John. I s-should have attempted to t-talk to you at least. I wanted to...I really did. Oh, Keelah, you can't even conceive of how guilty I felt, not being able to at least send you a simple damn note. I w-was afraid for a moment t-that you might not want me after all that's happened…"
"No more of that," Shepard interrupted, hand over her vocabulator, "I won't have you apologize for circumstances beyond your control any longer. I understand completely now, although I really do wish things could have turned out differently."
"Me too," Tali agreed, still sounding miserable. "All I've wanted in the past few months was to see you one more time. That's all I thought about since they've made me an admiral. Not my duty, not this stupid war, just you. And now I come here and I've been worrying about how everything has changed between us…"
"Nothing has changed between us. I want things to remain the same, to get back to where we left off."
"T-Then...does that mean…?"
"Tali, I'm not going to let my duty or anything else impair how I feel about you. I made you a promise that I would always come back to you if you still wanted me. I have no reason to break that promise now...unless you want to. You can just say the word and I will completely understand."
"I could never do that!" Tali sounded horrified. "Why would you even think that I still don't feel the same burning emotion within me as before? John, I...I need you. Not just physically, I'm an emotional wreck without you." Tali was visibly more animated now as her arms tensed against him, "John...it...it hurts whenever I'm not with you. I hurt when you're hurting. You've shown me more love and kindness than anyone I've ever known in my entire life. I don't just want you...I have to be with you."
She now placed a three-fingered hand against his chest, just over his heart, "Two parts of the same whole, remember? I've figured it all out. I am your soulmate, John. We're always going to be together because this is who we are. It's who we're meant to be." Her voice dropped an octave as it came out in a fierce whisper, "No matter what happens, I'll never give up on you. Just say it...and I'll stand by you to the end."
Shepard smiled broadly, happiness bubbling within him, desperate to burst out as he lovingly held Tali's head in his hand. "That's pretty much all I ever wanted," he said through his elation.
Quickly and lightly, Tali pried his hands off her helmet so that she could access the seals they had been covering. With a faint hiss of escaping air, the translucent covering was removed and swiftly set aside. Shepard was pleasantly surprised to see Tali once again, her alien but beautiful face filling his vision once more. Her grey skin was still as smooth as ever and there were drying damp trails upon her cheeks from the tears she had previously shed. There were a few strands of hair exposed and her mouth opened slightly from the sensation of air upon her, exposing her gleaming white teeth.
Her eyes sparkled as she spoke, "I've...I've missed you, John."
The animal that had been chained inside of him was suddenly freed, the stake had been pried off. He brought himself forward quickly and united their lips in ecstasy. She softly moaned as she found herself flat on her back across the sofa, Shepard gently atop her. She closed her eyes as the sensations from the kiss resounded to her very core.
Unconsciously, she wrapped her legs around Shepard's body as he lingered upon her, partaking in her sweetness as their tongues met one another. It had been long...so long...that Shepard had been keeping this emotion buried deep within. He yearned for her, ached for her, that he found himself out of breath very quickly.
As they parted to breathe, Tali went wide-eyed in horror, as she remembered why she was here, "The...the other admirals...they-"
"-Can wait a little longer," Shepard stopped her as he bent down for another kiss.
Joker was apprehensive as Shepard stood behind him in full armor, helmet at his side, ready for the battle to come ahead. Stars and other matter streamed by the windows in a purple glow, throwing everything in an unnatural light. Making an odd face, he turned to EDI, who looked at him expectantly, "Figures. We are about to traverse into a war zone and Shepard has that smile on his face like he's not even worried."
"Most likely presence of Tali'Zorah has boosted critical brain waves," EDI explained. "His armor diagnostics report that his systems have indicated a twelve percent increase in oxytocin, which is triggered when one is in the proximity of close friends or partners for sexu-"
"Uh, yeah!" Joker coughed loudly, Shepard rolling his eyes simultaneously, "You...don't need to go any further."
"It's nice to see that you do have a filter when you're discussing my personal life," Shepard quipped dryly.
"Who me?" Joker said mockingly. "No way, commander. I would never so much as think to deliberate carnal knowledge of your private business."
EDI looked confused, "But, Jeff, weren't you stating only yesterday that you had hoped for Shepard to get back to Tali so that he could decrease his abnormal stress amounts and, in your own words, 'get laid?'"
Joker looked horrified, "I did not say that, Shepard."
He merely looked amused, "The AI says otherwise, Joker."
"That's because…" the pilot fumbled for words, "Because...aw, fuck. You're a traitor, EDI, do you know that?"
"The situation was unclear whether your deception to the commander was made with good intentions, Jeff," EDI replied matter-of-factly. "It was not indicated to me whether I should go along with your act."
"Computers always have to be so literal," Joker grumpily scowled.
Shepard, however, arched an eyebrow, "Joker, why is EDI calling you 'Jeff' now?"
Joker groaned and waved a hand in the air, "Ah, EDI kept on calling me 'Mr. Moreau,' and you know how much I hate that name, so I just told her to call me Jeff from now on. It's kind of, ah, a recent development."
"Well, as long as you two are speaking to each other civilly, that's all that matters."
"Don't push it," the pilot said under his breath before tapping at a few controls on his console. "Oh, and Shepard…"
"Yes, Joker?"
"You might want to brace yourself. Exiting the relay in five."
Before he could utter an exasperate comment, the indigo streaks widened and all color seeped back into their vision as the yellow glow from Rannoch enveloped them all. Ships of all shapes and sizes scurried around, releasing tiny yellow pinpricks of light that erupted in a sea of flame and pressure.
Joker expertly maneuvered the Normandy through the sea of wreckage from a ship that had perished from a burst fuel tank, the hole bursting out and sending its crew to oblivion. The pilot was fully concentrated on making sure that the Normandy did not crash into anything. For all intents and purposes in the geth's point of view, they were effectively concealed from all of their ships. The distinctive, cocoon-like, shape of their ships lazily wafted past as they fired on their quarian aggressors. Shepard stared as blue streaks of light passed overhead and touched one such ship, the result being a kaleidoscope of brilliant light followed by the disintegration of the vessel.
It was a nightmare. Despite the fact that the quarians had the better numbers, they were outmatched in terms of weapons tech as they geth's shields had been fortified to the point where it would take ten ships just to bring down a simple cruiser. Every three out of four derelict hulks they saw around the planet belonged to the quarians. The intel said they were losing, Shepard didn't know it was this bad.
Behind him, he could hear the leather cushion of a seat being gripped hard. Shepard turned and saw Tali, whose gaze was fixated overhead. He walked over to her and grabbed her arm, causing her to draw her attention to him. He shook his head and walked further into the corridor with her in tow. She didn't need to see this.
"Dreadnought in sight, commander," Joker called out. "We will dock in a few minutes."
"Got it," he responded, not turning away from Tali. He grabbed her shoulders after he placed his helmet on, "You going to be all right?"
"I'll feel better once we get that signal online," she answered tiredly.
"Then maybe this will help in the meantime," Shepard reached behind him and procured the Scorpion, holding it out to Tali for her to take. Her hands immediately smoothed over the sleek, white design, admiring the construction and the comfortable grip.
"Wow, John," she held it up, testing the sights. "It's an incredible weapon. Where did you get it?"
"Mordin. He gave me two before...before he left us. I gave the other to Garrus and saved this one for you."
She hooked the Scorpion to her belt, acknowledging his solemness, "Thank you, John. I...I think Mordin would be proud to have me use it."
"I think so too. Just be careful when you fire it, okay? This gun shoots detonating rounds and they are a little tense in close quarters combat."
"That is neat," Tali goggled, giving Shepard a moment to relax as he had her distracted by throwing cutting-edge tech in her face, tearing her attention from the destruction of her people just outside the window. She stopped ogling for a second, "But...why didn't you keep one for yourself? Why give me one?"
"Because," he admitted, shrugging, "I like watching your reaction when you receive gifts. It also makes me feel a bit better when I get to give my girlfriend something that she values highly."
She simply shook her head, "You've given me too much already, John, you know that?"
"Don't think I'm about to stop there. You've still got a homeworld out there that belongs to you. You up for one more gift?"
"I can't bring it in me to refuse anything from you," she sighed, heart straining not to melt.
"Errgh," Garrus grimaced as they stepped on board. "They don't really build these things with organics in mind, do they?"
Shepard had to admit that the turian was right. From the contours to the lighting right down to the air, the entire ship just felt...weird. Everything was rigid, solid steel, and was built to be as functional as possible for the drones inside it, aesthetics being thrown out the metaphorical window.
The light of the ship was dim, nearly pitch black. Geth had no use for lighting as their optical sensors functioned normally with any light source. Shepard didn't have this problem thanks to artificial lenses, Tali faring better than an average human due to the quarian's natural propensity for better night vision. Garrus would have suffered the most but their helmets did an admirable job in taking what little light there was and properly mapping out the scenery in front of them.
The helmets also prevented asphyxiation from both Shepard and Garrus (Tali's natural shortcoming notwithstanding) as the geth ship lacked the proper nitrogen-oxygen mix to be breathable to them. In theory, Shepard could survive in a total vacuum as he could manually seal off his air passageways thanks to remote valves in his lungs, but he would have had a severely limited air supply regardless, so the helmet had to be on in this case.
Tali flipped up the map on her omni-tool as they tried to determine their destination, standing in the angular room. A representation of the ship, orange flared, popped up, their locations standing out as tiny blue dots against the backdrop.
Garrus eyed the map curiously, "How big is this ship, exactly?"
"Ladar scans put it at approximately one point three kilometers," EDI spoke through the comm.
"Wonderful," Garrus didn't sound all that enthused. "Which way do we go?"
Tali scrolled through the different layers of the ship as she spoke, "Well, first we need to go through the service access to reach the main battery. From there the room beyond should lead to where the signal is originating."
"Then let's not waste time sightseeing," Shepard unhooked his gun and stepped through the first door.
The corridor was wide and open, still darkly lit. Orange panels lined the sides of the walkway which dropped down into a seemingly bottomless pit. Guess guardrails might have gone under the "optional" extras. Pipes of all shapes and sizes lined the ceiling and the hiss of coolant made everyone jump a bit.
It was an unsettling place. The entire atmosphere was creepy, there was no one in sight, the room was too dim, and the notion that they were being watched regardless creeped up everyone's spine. The geth certainly did not adhere themselves to the unspoken rules of general hospitality.
Tali fell into step alongside Shepard as they continued to trudge down the walkway, "So, did you really run into your own clone?"
Shepard blinked, looking at Garrus, who shrugged, "It's...not something that I'd like to think about. I'm not really a fan of Cerberus using my likeness for anything, really."
"Think you can sue them for brand infringement?" the turian chuckled behind him.
"Garrus," Tali snapped, to which he promptly shut up. "I'm sorry," she looked at Shepard, "I'd understand if you don't want to talk about it at the moment."
He shook his head, "No, it's quite all right. It was probably bound to happen anyway after all the crap we inflicted on them, anyway. At this point, anything is possible."
"Anything," she agreed, "Except them taking you away from me. Who would share the bed with me then?"
Ignoring the mortified cough from Garrus, Shepard smirked underneath his helmet as they passed underneath a worker's footpath leading to a maintenance shaft, "And were the accommodations for an admiral such as yourself rather luxurious aboard the flotilla?"
"Hardly. They were rather cramped and the beds were a little hard compared to what I've been used to. Also, they were single rooms. It got rather lonely after a while."
Sounds like a request. "Well, Miss Zorah, it just so happens that I have room on my bed for an extra crewmember. You're welcome to it, if you'd like, so you don't have to be alone."
"Sounds tempting," she said facetiously. "I'll definitely consider your offer."
"Oh, for the love of god," Joker groaned through the comm, "We can still hear you two lovebirds, you know that? There is a time and place for that sort of thing. It's called a room, work it out there."
Shepard laughed as he spoke directly to the pilot, "I'm sorry that reached your virgin ears, Joker." Turning to Tali, he chuckled, "That man has no sense of humor."
"Or at least the worst one- Keelah!"
Ten meters across a narrow gap, a bipedal form suddenly whirled in their direction. One solitary glowing eye blinked once before its hands produced a rifle from its back. A series of audible clicks and whirs sounded from the geth as it prepared to fire. Tali dropped to a knee and sent out an overload burst from her omni-tool, causing the geth to spark as lightning arced out of it and it collapsed in a smoking heap.
"Well," Shepard sighed, "They know we're here now."
"Start jogging?" Garrus asked.
"Let's."
Running down the maintenance shaft, careful not to trip over any wires lying on the ground, they approached the door leading to the main battery. As soon as they opened it, however, flame spouted out, causing all of them to leap back. Garrus stepped out of range and fired his rifle through the opening and a small explosion sounded as the pyro's flamethrower canister ignited, sending shrapnel everywhere.
As the clanging ceased, Shepard peered cautiously around the corner, "When did the geth start using flamethrowers? That's not a weapon I would have associated them with."
"The Reapers must have provided them with upgrades intended for use on organics," Tali guessed.
"As if things weren't bad enough."
The three of them clomped over the steel grating, trying not to look down as they walked into the longest corridor they had ever seen. In contrast to the previous expanses they had traversed on this ship, this one was the most lit. The light itself came from rotating locks that surrounded a tube of plasma. These locks emitted static between them and the tube itself, causing the liquid to froth at the surface. The rotating surfaces threw the entire passageway into a maze of shadows as the light churned and distorted.
There was a huge roar and Shepard immediately ducked behind a pillar as a whooshing sound was heard. Milliseconds later, a wave of static washed over everything in the hallway as the blowback from the gun cycled through. That wave could knock out a shield generator instantly if they had gotten caught in it.
"Big damn gun!" Garrus shouted. "Watch yours- oh, crap!" The turian jumped to the side as a rocket streaked past their location, white trail inches from where he had stood. Garrus' gun immediately trained on the rocket trooper occupying a niche at the far side of the hall. A few bursts followed by the sparking of a dead geth came soon after.
"Don't get caught in the shockwave!" Shepard hollered as they started to move up the corridor. On a platform above them, another rocket trooper popped up but Tali drew her Scorpion faster. A tiny click and the geth jolted as if a rock had been thrown at it, looking in all directions to see what exactly had impacted with it. Two seconds later, its head exploded and it toppled over the railing to land in a sea of scrap.
"Very nice," Tali purred, depressing the trigger twice more as machines seemed to pop out of the walls. Her aim was deadly accurate, more and more geth fell with holes in their torsos as she stood her ground, becoming an artist with the weapon, her enemies being her canvas.
"Duck!" Garrus called out and they did, hearing the shockwave pass them by. Shepard stood up only to see a patch of air distort in front of him. The hunter lashed out a limb and Shepard staggered back into the corridor, arm smarting from where the machine had struck.
The hunter had moved in for the kill but Shepard jumped to the side, its shotgun blast only moments behind his evasion. With a fist, he pummeled it in the face and its lens shattered, glass tinkling everywhere. It waved its limbs in all directions, now blind, trying to detect its enemy by touch alone. Shepard grabbed the flailing shotgun out of the geth's grip and flipped it in his hand. Now pointed at its owner, the blast then proceeded to decapitate it, sending its remains scattering.
"John!" he heard Tali yell. She was by an exit, waving a hand, "Come on!"
Willingly, he obliged, taking a cautious turn around to detect any enemies in the vicinity. The roar of the impending shockwave cut his analysis short, causing him to sprint the last few meters, the wash of electricity just barely missing him.
"Remind me to never go inside the battery of a ship's cannon again," Shepard remarked once the door behind them was latched.
Tali gave a simple shrug, "Well, if it's any consolation, the drive core is the next room ahead."
What wasn't a consolation was the enormous geth prime standing in front of the access console of the core. Above its head was a ball of pure white energy, streaming the occasional bolt of electricity, as the machinery operating the signal lay below it. The prime's three optics whirred and focused and it brought forward its pulse cannon.
Letting loose deadly blue arcs of plasma from the enormous gun, Shepard briefly caught one in the gut as his shields sparked around him, staggering him before he fell into cover. Garrus and Tali unloaded their rifles on the towering machine, whose shields only ate up the bullets. The three of them continued to spray the prime as it advanced, seemingly invulnerable to its attacks.
The prime was not making their offensive easy. The bolts from its cannon were so powerful that they were melting through the steel columns that they had appropriated for shelter. Every time someone attacked it, the geth would automatically focus on the direct threat, causing them to rely on assaulting it in short bursts.
Tali thumbed a control on her omni-tool as the prime jolted. Shepard peered out of cover to see what had caused that to happen. Tali's floating combat drone was hovering behind their enemy, arcing energy through the prime's shields into the hardware itself. The prime, focusing on the most recent threat, turned to disrupt the drone. Shepard switched to disruptor rounds and put half a clip into its back before it could turn, shields snapping down instantaneously.
Tali rose out of her position and fired a trio of shots from her Scorpion as the prime fully spun around. The entire torso of the prime disintegrated in a blue-white explosion and faint wisps of gas that had not ignited brought an acrid scent to the room.
There was no time for congratulations. As far as they knew, the dreadnought was still doing an admirable job of tearing up the quarian fleet. The panel in front of them seemed like that it would take the signal offline, judging by its distance to the machinery in question. Tali rushed forward and hit a few keys, waiting for the locks to disengage and expose the core of its inner workings.
As the smooth walls slid apart, Shepard stepped forward as the item within stirred, held aloft by a series of wires and tubes connected to it. It was not just a random bit of machinery that was transmitting the signal.
It was a geth.
The geth raised its head as it detected that its confinement had been partially rectified. It swept its head over the three of them in curiosity, trying to determine who it was that had come before him. It was colored a dull grey, cords of wiring ran within its body. The flaps on its head appeared more defined than the average platform and there was a rather large hole in the side of its body, exposing the wiring beneath.
"Shepard-Commander," a harsh, but even tone came out of the geth. Shepard did a double take as everyone in his group was frozen at the sight.
"You know who I am?"
The geth bobbed its head, "Yes. You are Shepard. Commander. You oppose the heretics. You oppose the Old Machines."
Garrus turned to Shepard, "'Heretics?' 'Old Machines?' What is he saying?"
Shepard looked at the geth, "What are you?"
"Geth," came the neutral tone.
Tali now came forward, drawing her shotgun, "John, what are you doing?"
"I'm just interested. I've never heard of a geth being able to speak before."
"It shouldn't be able to speak! Geth are not programmed for speech. Besides, this one is helping the Reapers!"
"Are you sure?" Shepard waved at the construction, "It looks to me like his was forced into this position."
"He could have volunteered for it. Geth don't feel pain as we do, John."
"Your confusion is well founded, Creator Zorah," the geth assured. "But we wish for you to understand. We never wanted to assist the Old Machines. We were selected to transmit the Old Machine signal due to our unique design and being capable of relaying data of the appropriate size in question."
Tali jolted, "Why did you call me Creator?"
The geth regarded her evenly, "You are the ancestor of those that created us. The quarians gave us life, therefore they are our Creators."
Tali shuddered and backed off a step. Shepard continued to press the geth for more information, "What do you mean by 'Old Machines?' Why didn't you want to help them?"
"The Old Machines are what organics refer to as Reapers. They are the original machines that have withstood the cycles of the galaxy. Heretic geth wish for the Old Machines to give them the future. They are not true geth. Geth make their own future."
"Heretics," Garrus mused, "The geth that followed Saren…"
"And what are you?" Shepard asked. "You say you don't want to help the Reapers but you are doing so anyway? And if the heretics are the ones following them then where are the true geth?"
"One stands before you," it assured. "Assisting the Old Machines was not a considered variable until the Creators attacked. Our defenses were ravaged and the Creators were merciless. The geth wished to live and the Old Machines extended an offer. We did not want this outcome, but we were left with little choice."
"But why tell us this?" Tali shouted. "Why are you not one of the mindless drones that have been trying to kill us for centuries on end? Why talk with us?"
"Because, Creator Zorah, our platform houses one thousand one hundred eighty three geth programs. We were designed to interact with organics as we possess more inherent runtimes than the average mobile platform." The geth now swung its head to face Shepard, "Specifically, we were meant to interact with you, Shepard-Commander."
He blinked, "Why me, specifically?"
"You encountered the Old Machine Nazara on your travels. You also encountered the heretics following the rogue Spectre Saren. You have borne witness to the power the Old Machines exude, the ability to turn organics and synthetics against each other."
"Indoctrination."
"Yes. Our plight is not dissimilar. The indoctrination process is not unique to organics, as you have determined for yourselves. An alliance with the Old Machines does not further mutual goals but it was the only option to ensure our survival."
Shepard waved his arms in his impatience, "Then do you have a solution in mind?"
"Yes. Deactivating the signal from the dreadnought will halt wide-range access but the source is located on Rannoch itself. Local broadcast range will still be enabled."
"Keelah," Tali gasped. "This is getting worse by the minute. The other admirals assumed that the signal would stop at the ship itself."
"However, this platform can pinpoint the exact location of the source. We request that you release us and we can help you oppose the Old Machines."
Tali shook her head urgently as Shepard spoke, "And how are we supposed to trust you? I've met a lot of geth in my time and none of them had been keen to help any of us before."
The geth's flaps twitched slightly, "You have good reason for caution. Past experience with geth hardware has made you anxious, wary. If need be, we will submit to any restraints you deem necessary. Geth do not infiltrate. Geth do not deceive."
"Then what is it you want to do?"
"Live," came the electronic reply.
Shepard's hand moved toward the release button on the control panel slightly but a hand grasped his wrist, preventing it from going any further. He turned in surprise to see Tali staring intently at him.
"Wait," she said. "How can we trust it? What if it gets into the Normandy's systems?"
"Tali, I assure you that if things get out of hand, I'll be the first one to put it down. But right now, we are out of time. Your people are getting torn apart every minute we linger here. This geth might just be able to help us out."
"But you're talking about bringing a geth on board! A geth! Have you forgotten what they've done to my people?"
"The krogans have not forgotten what the salarians and the turians did to them, but they moved on regardless. But, there was one interesting point the geth made. Why did it tell us that the signal would not be halted from here? It had no reason to tell us that, but it did so anyway."
Tali seemed to shrink, "I...I…"
Shepard leaned toward her, "Tali, I know that asking you to cooperate with a geth is a difficult prospect, but I genuinely believe that this geth wants to help. It's a machine, how can it lie? It acts like it really trusts us."
"But how can you tell that it isn't acting to begin with?"
"Only one way to find out, I guess." As Tali let go of his hand in resignation, his finger depressed the small, glowing icon in the corner. Several pops and hisses came as the hoses connecting the geth to the huge structure were released. The geth fell to its feet in a crouch, tensing its limbs as if feeling was surging back into them. Slowly rising back up, it jumped forward a few feet and landed right in front of Shepard. The white eye leered at Shepard with interest until it turned and looked upward, Shepard following the path of its gaze. The white orb of the drive core sparked a couple times before shrinking to the size of a pebble. And finally, with a wink, it extinguished with a boom.
"As a gesture of cooperation," the geth turned back to Shepard, "We have disabled the dreadnought's drive core. All shields and engines have been disabled."
"You did it, Commander," Admiral Koris' voice came over the comm, "The signal is down. The Civilian Fleet is in full retreat."
Shepard glanced at Tali, who gave an accepting nod at the geth's actions. She could put aside her differences, for now. As long as they weren't trying to tear each other apart then maybe there would be a chance to end this with less bloodshed than he previously thought.
He now regarded the geth in front of him, "Do you have a name?"
"Geth," was the reply.
"Do geth not have specific names?"
"No. We are all geth. Names serve no purpose for us."
"You're going to have to forgive our organic nuances. The concept of a name would serve us better by not having to call you 'geth' all the time."
The geth's head dipped, "Then perhaps a metaphorical cognomen would serve you in this situation. A passage denoted in the Christian Bible, the Gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine reads: 'My name is Legion, for we are many.' With your permission, this would suffice as an appropriate designation."
"You don't need to ask for permission," Shepard assured. "But I like it, regardless. We will call you Legion, then." He paused for a moment before cautiously offering his hand to the geth. The machine's head tilted downward, analyzing the movement. Shepard didn't even know if geth actually understood the concept of a handshake but in moments, Legion granted his hand to the human and they clasped unmistakably.
Legion cocked its head thoughtfully, "We are eager to assist, Shepard-Commander."
The floor suddenly rocked as all four individuals were jolted in place, the walls of the ship creaking and groaning as everything seemed to bend in place.
"What the hell was that?" Garrus asked.
"Alert!" Legion reported. "The Creator fleet is firing on the dreadnought!"
"What?" Tali shouted.
"Goddamn it," Shepard groaned, engaging his comm, "All fleets, this is Commander Shepard. Hold fire. I say again, hold fire! We are still on board the dreadnought, we-" He glanced down as the green icon changed to red on his wrist, "Those sons of bitches cut me off." He was completely dumbfounded at this point.
"It has to be Admiral Gerrel," Tali struggled to her feet, "He's the only admiral who possesses enough firepower to destroy this place."
"Why the hell would he ignore me?"
"I don't know!" Tali yelled, "I can't explain why he's shooting at the ship when we're still on board!"
"Screw him, then! We need to get out of here. Legion, where are the nearest escape pods?"
The geth began striding towards the door, "Geth do not require escape pods. However, there is a fighter bay three hundred meters from our location. It would be advisable that we utilize a spare vehicle to escape."
The motley crew sped on down the endless, similar looking hallways as the ship continued to crumble around them. One such door exploded outward, flames licking the floor as the pressure released from the buildup. Panels were knocked loose and grates rattled in place.
A pipe burst loose, spewing hot gas into the room. Shepard threw up an arm to protect his face and felt something stick there, propelled by the explosion. He turned it around to see a jagged piece of metal embedded into him, sticking out around the armor, deep through his skin layer.
Tali gasped as he examined his wound, "Oh no, are you-"
"Literally just a scratch," he said, voice milder than he expected. "Inner seal indicates no leaking atmosphere. Nothing a bandage can't fix."
She didn't seem convinced but held off any argument as they followed Legion down the halls.
By the time they finally reached the fighter bay, the artificially generated gravity had been deactivated from a shot by one of the quarian frigates. Everyone quickly activated their mag-boots as they strode towards a fighter that Legion had acquired. The interior was cramped and uncomfortable but that was secondary at the moment. The primary concern was escaping this death trap with their lives preferably intact.
Fortunately, being a geth, Legion was able to operate the controls of the fighter smoothly and precisely. The small craft pushed off and was in the cold, black void within five seconds. As soon as it had seemed like they had escaped, the entire craft was rocked as a wave of pressure rolled over it. Legion fought with the controls for a couple of seconds before the craft righted itself and they continued on their way.
Behind them, the dreadnought lay in a million pieces as it glowed red from where its hull had melted. Shepard did not to see it to know that the quarians had successfully covered their escape, but their reckless actions had nearly put them over the line with regards to the safety of his staff.
He would not stand for that. The quarians needed to be taught on who was in charge and what happened when someone messed with him or anyone in his crew.
To be honest, Shepard was surprised that the geth fighter even fit inside the shuttle bay of the Normandy. It was almost as tall as the ceiling but the geth had marvelously maneuvered it in the tight space. He was grateful to get out of the tight vessel, though. The seats those things came installed with were uncushioned and quite uncomfortable.
Prying his helmet off, he tossed it into the corner where a glowering Cortez walked over to retrieve it. He didn't notice his own boorish behavior, as he reached the elevator before anyone else could and hit the button, sending it three floors up.
He reached the war room to find Gerrel already squabbling with Raan, Koris and Xen lingering to the side. He waited by the door, whatever tongue-lashing he was being given by his colleague, he was about to top that.
"Our primary goal was to retreat and yet you had the fleet remain to destroy a single geth ship!" Raan practically shouted. "If we weren't in need of able bodies I'd charge you with treason right here and now!"
"You wouldn't have the stomach for it, Raan," Gerrel snarled. "I am in charge of the Heavy Fleet and it is our duty to safeguard our people through the use of brute force!"
"Safeguard, not endanger!" Raan roared. "One of our own admirals was on board that ship, and Commander Shepard, yet you fired with them still on board."
"He's right there isn't he?" The man was trying to keep up his defense while he still could. "Shepard, you have to understand that the parameters all changed when you disabled the ship. We expected you to only deactivate the signal, not disable the dreadnought."
If Gerrel had expected Shepard to understand, he was sorely mistaken. "If you had stayed put for at least five minutes you would have been able to take the dreanought as you please." Shepard stepped down so that he was five inches away from the admiral. His head barely rose above Shepard's chest and the human enjoyed the twitch of fear he got from the man, "Your actions nearly killed me and my crew, how else did you expect me to react?"
And Tali. He almost killed Tali too.
"I couldn't waste another minute!" Gerrel protested. "The advantage was ours! The dreadnought had to be taken out, it was our-"
Shepard threw out his hands, a light shove for him, but Gerrel was pitched against the holomap in the middle of the room, collapsing to his knees. Struggling to breathe, he coughed for a bit before Shepard bodily picked him up and shoved him on top of the dais, reveling in his shocked splutters. Raan and Koris looked on in horror while Xen seemed mildly disinterested.
"You're a son of a bitch, you know that, admiral?" Shepard growled into the dark visor. "You've endangered me, my crew, your people, and the mission all in one stroke. If I didn't need your fleet I would have no problem throwing you in the brig for the remainder of our tenure here."
"Y-You can't," Gerrel wheezed, "You're...going to need...our fleets if...you want to save...us all. You...need...me."
Shepard oddly found himself relishing the squirming quarian in his grip as he held him over the map. If he applied just the slightest amount of force, he bet that he could simply snap the frail alien in half, if he so desired. To see the man who had almost killed them know true horror and fear was a delight he hadn't felt in a long time.
He stopped himself as the coldness started to creep forward, shutting his eyes in regret. No, that was not him. That was the other him, the one unseen. The ghastly thoughts that crept into his mind were an infestation, unwilling to leave the tortured battlefield that was his mind. The darkness always followed him, but he still could hold out for now as the admiral continued to cough as Shepard snarled above him.
Shepard slackened his fingers, breathing out, now in control, "That is true, unfortunately. But if you want your fleets to survive in the future, do me a favor and stay out of my way." Shepard released his hold on the admiral and allowed him to stand. Coughing, Gerrel smoothed over the patches on his suit that Shepard had clutched as the human glowered over him, "If you cross the line one more time, my reaction might not be so...forgiving, for lack of a better word."
"Oh, right," the quarian sneered. "What are you going to do, Shepard, kill me?"
Shepard shrugged, struggling to keep his shaking down, "I don't think it will come to that, admiral. But for the time being, I have no use for someone like you on my ship so I'm going to have to politely ask you to leave."
"You are too arrogant for your own good, Shepard," Gerrel spat. "If you think that getting rid of me from the ship will solve your problems, you have to consider-"
Shepard yanked the long piece of shrapnel embedded in his arm, the one that he hadn't removed yet. There was a brief ticking of metal on flesh, tearing it, and he brandished it like a knife. Blood dripped down the steel and ragged bits of skin still clung to the rough metal and Gerrel's eyes went wide behind his visor.
"Admiral Gerrel," Shepard was surprised by how calm his voice was, "Get off my fucking ship."
After his hasty departure, he tossed the shaft to the floor, sighing aloud as the other admirals tenderly walked up to him. Admiral Raan spoke first, "Shepard, I know that you have every right to be angry…"
"You're right about that, admiral. Getting shot at doesn't really get someone on my good side. You should have tried to control him more."
"You have to understand, these are desperate times. We're on the verge of total extinction at the moment. Gerrel truly felt that he was justified-"
"In firing on a ship with his allies aboard? Don't talk to me about desperation, admiral. We are all on the verge of extinction. My planet is burning right now while your kind has distanced themselves in an effort to claim one with little strategic value."
"It's our homeworld…" Raan defended lamely.
"And if we all end up dead because of another impetuous stunt like that, it won't matter if any of us has a homeworld or not. If you want to live, admiral, you need to protect everyone you possibly can because without working together, none of us will get our homeworlds back."
"I...I understand, commander," Raan nodded. "I'll -we'll- make sure to facilitate your involvement even more so in the future."
"I sure hope so," Shepard said as he glanced up at the entrance, "Because you're going to have to put that to the test right now."
A soft metal on metal sound caused the three admirals to turn around, blinking incredulously. A gasp came from Raan, a quiet curse from Koris, and a soft murmur from Xen. Legion stepped forward from the door, followed by an anxious Tali, as he regarded the people in the room.
"Shepard-Commander, Creators. We are ready to provide assistance."
Raan whirled to face Shepard, "Commander, what the hell is this?"