Chapter Two - Away

After they had made their first jump to FTL, Tali had a couple of hours to make herself comfortable on the ship. She felt like an alien again, like she was back on her pilgrimage. She took some comfort in the friendly faces she met on the hallways of the SX-05, but her heart was still on Rannoch. Walking around the ship in her enviro-suit she took particular interest in the EIR Mech she encountered in one of the hallways. It resembled the Cerberus LOKI Mechs she fought countless times. She gathered from their brief interaction that it was a medical assistant. As Tali explored the ship further, her insatiable curiosity led her past the armoury, where she encountered Grunt. Now even larger and stronger, not a young tank-bred Krogan she remembered from ten years ago. Grunt stood in a corridor, his hulking form an imposing sight. His crimson eyes focused on her.

"Tali'Zorah," Grunt rumbled, his deep voice resonating through the corridor.

"Grunt," she greeted with a warm smile, "Didn't expect to see you here. What brings you on board?"

Grunt crossed his massive arms, his gaze fixed on Tali. "Commander T'Soni asked for me specifically. Said something about important missions and possible battles. Thought I'd join the fun."

She chuckled, "Well, you always did have a talent for finding the thick of it. The ship is different, but the crew remains, I'm glad to see it."

He grunted in agreement, "Old faces, new missions. The ship still smells like metal and grease, though."

Liara then called her to meet the rest of the crew for a debriefing. On her way down the corridors, she admired the interior of the CSV SX-05 Therum. It looked both familiar and so strange at the same time. The design strongly resembled the second Normandy, with a hint of roughness but all in all a pleasing sight. Especially the Tactical Room, as Garrus called the space next to the ship's bridge. As she stepped in, she took particular notice of a giant viewport, somewhat resembling her backyard glass sliding door. It offered a simulated panorama of passing blue, cyan and white lights - an effect of the ship's FTL drive. The crew sat around an oval table with three circular holographic projectors in the middle.

Liara T'Soni commanded the attention of her crew. To her left was Gabby Daniels, the ship's main engineer, and on her right sat Padok Wiks, a former Salarian Special Tactics officer, now serving as the ship's chief scientist. Across from Liara were Garrus Vakarian and, to his right, Kasumi Goto, the ship's chief of security. Tali sat down across the table from Daniels and tried to exchange friendly looks with all of them, forgetting her facial expressions were largely obstructed by her suit's visor.

"Thank you for joining us, Tali'Zorah," said Liara "We were just going over the mission's details, and we would like to bring you up to speed". Liara gestured to the holographic display at the centre of the table, projecting an image of the planet Charoum. "We've intercepted a signal from Legion," Liara continued, her voice taking on a serious tone.

Tali's eyes flickered with a mix of surprise and focus as she absorbed the information.

"Legion? I was pretty sure they died… or… ceased to exist on Rannoch, and even if they lived, how could they have survived the Destruction?"

"All the right questions, Tali'Zorah," said Padok "We have no answers, need to go there and get them. Time is of the essence."

"Padok is right," Liara jumped in, "It seems there's a critical situation on the planet, and based on the briefness of the message, Legion is in jeopardy. Retrieving them is paramount to understanding how any of the Geth survived. It can also benefit our mission."

Gabby Daniels chimed in: "We might get the solution for a quicker repair of the Mass Relay System since the Geth now carry traces of Reaper code. I thought no one knew the Geth as well as you did, Tali."

Garrus nodded in agreement, his mandibles twitching in determination. "That's why we have brought you here. We've assembled a ground team," he added, projecting holographic profiles of the team members. "You, me, and Kasumi will be heading down to Charoum."

Kasumi, who had been silently observing, spoke up with a sly grin. "I'm ready for a little outside action, there's only so many corners of this ship I can jump out trying to scare Grunt."

Garrus chuckled.

Liara nodded approvingly. "You will depart as soon as we reach the planet in approximately two hours. Until then, join us on the Bridge, Joker's jumping with excitement to see you… figuratively."

The crew stood up, Garrus, Liara and Gabby left for the bridge and Tali followed them. She finally had a chance to take the new information and process it a little. But the more she thought about it, the more questions arose than she was able to answer to herself. As the doors slid open, revealing the expansive command centre, she marvelled at the advanced technology and the panorama visible through the viewports. At the helm, navigating the vast emptiness of space with finesse, sat the ship's skilled pilot, Jeff "Joker" Moreau. Sensing Tali's presence, Joker turned his chair to face her, his trademark SR2 cap tilted slightly askew.

"Well, well, look who's gracing us with her presence," Joker quipped, a mischievous grin playing on his face. "Tali'Zorah, the legendary Quarian tinkerer, joins the SX-05 crew. "What brings you to my humble abode?"

"Just couldn't resist the call of adventure and the chance to work with such an esteemed pilot," she replied, her voice slightly muffled by the mask. Joker chuckled, leaning back in his chair.

"Esteeeeemed pilot, huh? I like the sound of that. Well, welcome aboard, Tali. If you ever need a front-row seat to the wonders of space, you know where to find me. I can't go far without breaking my brittle bones."

During their short exchange, Garrus, Gabby and Liara took their positions at their respective consoles. Gabby brought up an image of the planet Charoum to her viewing screen and adjusted the image, so the location of the distress signal was centred. Not on the planet itself, but a smaller station made out of platforms and towers. Garrus stood at the back end and focused on the console in front of him, preparing for the upcoming mission. Liara sat down in the Commander's chair, next to Joker.

"We're about 5K units out, the long-range sensors are picking up a massive energy reading at the edge of the solar system," Joker informed the rest of the crew. Liara's eyes narrowed slightly as she processed the information. "Massive energy reading? That could be related to the distress signal. Gabby, keep us updated on any changes in the energy signature. Tali, can you make something out of this data?"

Tali'Zorah approached Gabby's workstation and brought up a second viewing screen with streams of data flowing across it. At first, the data made almost no sense to her, but after a few adjustments to the visualization, it all started coming together. This is the same system she had visited once before while studying the fast-paced transformation of Dholen into a red giant. The data stream suggested a distortion in the gravitational fabric of space. Tali checked through the data stream for inconsistencies in the feed. Something in the data hinted at an elusive presence that went beyond the conventional understanding of cosmic phenomena. Digging deeper into the data streams, Tali began to notice traces of matter in a specific pattern. It could only mean one thing.

"It's as if the field disturbance here is interacting with a form of dark matter we've encountered back on Haestrom. This could be the key to understanding the rift and the energy readings."

Liara rose from the Commander's chair, gesturing for Tali to share the data. As Tali transferred the data through a sleight of hand over to the main viewing screen, Liara's fingers danced across its surface, quickly absorbing the details of the data patterns. Turning to Joker, who sat next to her, Liara shared the newfound information. "Jeff, coordinate with Gabby to refine our data collection. We need a more detailed analysis of these gravitational interactions. If we can understand their role in the disturbance, we can stay clear of it upon our approach. Garrus, begin preparing the landing party."

Joker turned back to his navigational console and downloaded the data from the central computer. "Aye, Commander".