-Chapter 15-

For The Sake Of Every Species

Jared pressed down on the metallic button above what a passing crew member had said was the coffee machine. As the aroma of coffee wafted up to mingle with the other smells of the mess hall - the sharp tang of sanitizing agents, the subtle scent of the recycled air - the machine whirred and hissed, dispensing hot liquid into the paper cup below. The final click of the dispenser released a gust of steam, warming his face. Cup in hand, he made his way back to the solitary table where Tali waited.

She was sitting on the farthest chair to the right, her posture rigid yet oddly relaxed, her fingers idly drumming on the side of her water cup. Her helmeted gaze roamed the room, the lights of her eyes landing curiously on various details of the small dining area. As Jared took the seat across from her, he felt her eyes on him, studying him with the same curiosity she seemed to have for the ship itself.

A sudden flush of self-consciousness made him avert his gaze. "So, some kind of ship huh? Don't see something like this everyday."

Tali leaned in closer, her voice tinged with excitement. "Yes, it's incredible! I can hardly imagine what the specifications might be. I do hope I'll have the chance to study it during our journey."

Jared couldn't help but crack a smile at her infectious enthusiasm — an attitude he sorely needed at this point. "Speaking of that, what made you want to do this? You know, besides the ship."

"Actually, the ship wasn't the main factor. I didn't even know about it until after I joined," Tali admitted. The lights on her suit flickered intermittently as she spoke, drawing Jared's attention. "The real reason was the Geth."

"The Geth, right," Jared said lightly. "The Quarians built them, didn't they?" He raised his cup to his lips, feeling the warmth of the coffee against his face. After a short blow, he sipped the drink, the bitter taste of cheap coffee filling his mouth.

Still better than nothing.

Tali's eyes dimmed, her gaze dropping to her cup. "Yes. We built them, and they took everything from us — our homes, our livelihoods." The thick silence hung in the air like a fog, before she finally broke it, her voice barely above a whisper. "If they are truly working for Saren, then traveling with Shepard might finally give me the chance to understand them better... and maybe something that we could use to our advantage."

"Like something you could bring back from your pilgrimage?" Jared suggested, still sipping his coffee.

She looked back up at him, her eyes brightening with surprise."Yes actually. You're aware of the pilgrimages we take?"

Shit I forget she didn't tell me about that yet!

Jared darted his eyes around the hall, scratching his head. "Yeah, I... I read about it somewhere. I just remembered the pilgrimage thing." He shrugged, attempting to sell his feigned indifference.

"Then you would know that we must bring back a valuable gift to the captain of the ship we wish to join," Tali elaborated, her gaze focusing intently on Jared. "If I can learn something about the Geth, it could be invaluable to my people." Her voice wavered, her eyes shifting away from his. "Perhaps it could even help us reclaim our home."

Deep within, Jared felt a pang of sympathy. He'd known she cared about her people, but hearing it from her directly was strikingly different.

Setting his paper cup on the cold, steel table, a thin layer of condensation began to form beneath it. "I hope you find what you're looking for — not just for the sake of your pilgrimage, but also for your people." He leaned back in his chair. "And if there's anything I can do to help, I will."

"I appreciate your offer," Tali acknowledged, nodding solemnly. Another silence fell between them, only to be broken by her curiosity. "If you don't mind me asking, Jared, where are you from? I've never seen an outfit like yours."

Yeah I could tell this was coming.

Jared glanced down at his jumpsuit the Ulzo had fitted him with. The material was rough and well worn, contrasting the sleek and advanced designs around him. "The suit itself…I'm not exactly sure where it's from. I got it from some friendly aliens who were kind enough to let me have it."

That's technically not lying, except the friendly and kind part. But how the hell do I skirt around the truth with where I'm from? What did I tell Shepard again?

He shifted uncomfortably in his chair, its rigid back pressing into him. "Well, I'm a human, so I'm from Earth, technically. But I don't think I grew up there." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "To be honest, I'm not entirely sure…I have a bit of amnesia."

Jared tried to gauge her reaction to his ridiculous comment. He knew his story was a hodgepodge of coincidences and improbabilities but there was no way he could tell the truth.

Nor would anyone actually believe the truth either.

Her physical cues were uninformative. Her fingers kept tapping rhythmically against her cup, making the straw inside dance on the water's surface. She gave no clear indication of her thoughts.

"Amnesia? How much do you remember?" Her question came laced with curiosity.

She seems to believe me, for now at least.

"The last clear memory I have is waking up on the Citadel, just a few hours back," Jared replied, exhaustion covering his voice. "To say it's been a long day would be an understatement."

Tali intently nodded along as he spoke. "What made you go to Shepard then? You sought him out, correct?"

Shit she's right, I don't really have an explanation for that.

"Well, I heard about the incident on Eden Prime and the ensuing council hearing in the short time I had." He shrugged lightly. "I asked around and when I found him…I don't know, there was something about him. I felt like I could trust him." Jared took another sip from his cup, the once warm coffee turning a bitter lukewarm. "So, I offered my assistance and he accepted. I'm hoping maybe he can help me in some way. We seem to be on the move quite a bit. Who knows, we might stumble upon where I'm from." He shook his head dismissively. "But I wouldn't hold my breath."

Tali looked toward the water of her cup, the reflection of her mask peering back at her. "I know all too well what it is like to not know your home. For your sake, I hope we may find something of yours on our travels."

Jared gripped his cup, causing some coffee to spill out onto his hand. "Thank you, I don't know if I deserve it, but thank you regardless." His eyes began to sting as he quickly wiped his hand and face with the rough material of his jumpsuit. "Wow, this got really sad huh? Anyway, what was that final feature on the Omni-Tool? I've been curious since you mentioned it."

Tali glanced back up from her water. "Oh yes! So, while I cannot give you a demonstration, I can at least explain it." With a flick of her arm, an orange glow illuminated them as the display of the Omni-Tool appeared. "The final feature is a mini manufacturing process, also known as minifacturing, which allows the Omni-Tool to take Omni-Gel in and either make patch repairs or useful components for the field."

"Ah, I can see why you didn't want me to use it then." Jared chuckled. "It seems like something that might cause complications if not used properly."

"Yes, there have been some, let's say, extreme cases of misuse I have heard before." Her arm moved in the same motion as the orange glow slowly dissipated from the room. "I still would not recommend using it until you have a proper demonstration.

"Well I appreciate you looking out for me, sometimes technology and I don't mix." Jared motioned with his wrist, causing his Omni-Tool to appear accidentally . "As you can clearly see."

Tali looked at him quizzically, her head slightly cocking to the side causing her head dress to stretch and pull as it followed her masked face. The spiral pattern swirled across the garment, frequently catching Jared's eye and pulling him in. "Well you seemed quite taken with the terminal once I showed you how to use it."

Jared straightened up in his chair, peeling his eyes away from the alluring pattern. "Yeah, well, from what I can tell, keeping in mind the whole amnesia thing, I definitely worked with some type of technology in the past, but the stuff you've shown me is definitely beyond anything that I did work with." He spoke with a straight tone, carefully enunciating each word as if tripping up would somehow dispel the hastily crafted lie.

"That's…" Tali paused for a moment as the light from her eyes flicked across her mask, seemingly trying to piece together the words in her mind. After a few moments of silence in the mess hall, her speakerbox spoke once again. "Odd."

I knew that would be difficult to buy.

"Yeah, tell me about it. It's been a wild couple of hours." Jared chuckled, trying to keep the atmosphere light.

Shepard stood on the bridge of the Normandy, the cold recycled air of the ship blowing the nape of his neck. Panels around him flashed interchangeably, each accompanied with a different beep indicating the status of the large vessel. Ahead of him was the cockpit which showed the now familiar view of the Citadel's vast docking bay. A man sat in the pilot's chair, idly performing pre-flight checks and giving confirmations to subsystems from a large terminal. Shepard took a deep breath, inhaling the stale air, and exhaling, allowing the anxiety to leave his body.

"What is the countdown at Joker?" He clearly spoke.

The chair whipped around as the man let out a slight gasp. "Jesus Commander, how long have you been standing there for?" Joker scratched his beard as he collected himself. He wore the same darky navy fatigues as most of the other crew members with a cap to match, which had the word "SR1" embroidered in gold on the front.

Shepard relaxed his stance and got closer to his terminal. "Not long, and sorry, didn't mean to scare you.." The countdown was displayed in the center of the terminal, flashing 00:00:00 in orange.

Joker pulled down on the bill of his cap as his chair whirred around to face the front. "Hit zero just a few minutes ago, been waiting on you to give the go ahead." He glanced over in Shepards direction. "You know there's nothing to be nervous about right? It's your ship now."

Shepard resumed his rigid posture with his hands clasped around his back, a military form he found himself instinctively falling into more and more. "I know." He spoke curtly. "It just doesn't feel right without Anderson."

"He gave it to you." Joker's finger hovered above his terminal, twitching with anticipation, "If that's not a passing of the torch, I don't know what is."

"It's not a passing of anything. It's just for this mission" Shepard retorted, his tone edging toward defensiveness. The surety in his words felt forced, as if he was trying to convince himself more than Joker.

Joker cleared his throat, backing off from the subject. "Sure. So, you ready for launch or not?" His hands had become increasingly closer to touching the holographic display in front of him

Shepard nodded towards Joker and, without a second of delay, his fingers nimbly began to dance across the holograms in front of him. The cockpit became illuminated with the activity of Joker's skill; colors flashed repeatedly as the ship began to hum with anticipation . While Shepard had only a small understanding of what was unfolding before him, he could tell that Joker was a master of his craft.

Without diverting his gaze from the terminal, Joker extended a finger toward a blinking button on the far left. "Intercom's all yours, if you want to say something to the crew.

Shepard took one more breath as he looked out towards the bay, his hands slowly growing clammy as they stayed clasped together behind his back. He thought back to his mission on Eden Prime, the beacon, the elusive vision, the enigmatic Protheans. Everything he had once understood about his life, his place in the universe, had been irrevocably changed. The possible implications of his vision made his head spin. He shook away the swirling thoughts, realizing he wasn't sure he wanted to unravel the true meaning behind the disturbing images. Instead, he chose to focus on what he could comprehend: Saren and the urgent mission to uncover the conduit. Whatever it was, he knew it shouldn't fall into the hands of a deranged, power-hungry maniac, and he also knew that the job of stopping him was in his own hands.

I need to be honest with them, this mission won't be easy, but it has to be done.

Shepard leaned towards the intercom, pressing down the button. "This is Commander Shepard speaking," he announced, his firm voice resonating through the ship.

Before Jared could respond, Shepard's voice echoed through the ceiling of the mess hall. The idle crew members instantly snapped into military posture, relaxing a moment later when they realized it was an intercom announcement. Shepard's words served as a sobering reminder of Jared's predicament. While his conversation with Tali had been a helpful distraction, it had also made him momentarily forget the imminent, potentially lethal mission he was about to embark on.

A cold sweat began to envelop him as the intercom came through once more. "We have our orders: find Saren before he finds the Conduit. I won't lie to you, crew. This mission isn't going to be easy."

Jared felt the words pierce him. They were eerily familiar but offered no solace. His breathing accelerated as he glanced at Tali, panic spreading across his face.

"Jared?" Tali spoke calmly. "Are you alright?"

Before Tali could finish her sentence, Jared bolted from his chair, making a beeline for the stairs. His heartbeat drummed in his ears, drowning out the intercom's continuous transmission.

"Nobody else can do this, we are the only ones up to the task."

Jared fumbled at the door panel, his sweaty hands slipping on its surface as the intercom kept prattling on, its words turning into meaningless noise.

"Our enemy knows we're coming. When we go into the Traverse, Saren's followers will be waiting for us. But we'll be ready for them, too."

Finally, after several agonizing seconds, the door opened onto the CIC. Jared barreled through, weaving around the crew members who were listening intently to the ongoing announcement.

"For the sake of every species. Saren must be stopped, and I promise you all…we will stop him!"

As Jared stepped onto the bridge, the world seemed to slow to a crawl. Ahead, he saw Shepard's figure silhouetted against the controls, the button finally released. He watched as Shepard, bathed in the vibrant purple light of the nebula surrounding the Citadel, turned to face him. As the Normandy was enveloped by a bright blue glow, the ship began to leave the system behind it, along with the last vestige of Jared's peace.