CHAPTER 28: The Power of Love

2185 CE

The Alarei was a ghost ship; eerie and cramped. Not fun to fight through at all.

There were Quarian corpses everywhere. Everywhere!

One fell on me from what must have been the ceiling. How did she even get up there? Did the Geth put her there? Why? How!?

The worst part of the whole thing was that I couldn't complain about it. Not when Rael'Zorah could be any one of these corpses.

I needed a distraction.

'Tell me about your mother?' I asked, my helmet turned towards Tali so that she'd know who I was talking to.

'She's kind. She taught me how to shoot. Ever since I can remember she carried an NK-47. Everyone on the Rayya did. Well, everyone who was part of our marines.' Tali admitted.

'She loves that gun. Told me it reminded her of me. I guess I probably don't need to tell you why...'

'I knew what year you were born, but I didn't know the date. I couldn't exactly ask when your real birthday was either. Especially not after that first set of gifts. Everyone assumed I knew.' I admitted.

Tali nodded as we entered the next room.

'She was a marine?' I asked, curious.

'When I was a kid. She quit when I got older. Joined the maintenance team.' Tali explained.

'Is that how you got into Ship engines?' I asked.

'No. That was... You actually. You sent me a book when I was five about easy experiments with Eezo for kids.'

I remember that book. I wrote it for Krogan kids. I still hate that publisher.

'My parents wouldn't let me do most of them, but there were some designs for flying drones and miniature hover car engines that they let me play with.'

'That book, was it 'Mass Effect Made Easy: 314 Experiments for Kids'?' I asked.

'It was! My parents only ever let me do 5 of them.'

'The rest are mostly weapons and explosives.' I admitted.

'I'm aware. I did read the entire book even if they wouldn't let me use it.' Tali replied.

We walked through the kitchen to a small forked hallway, taking the first door inside it.

'This is one of the storage units I sent to Father.' Tali bolted towards the storage unit inside the room.

'Looks like parts from a disabled repair drone, plus a reflex algorithm that I didn't recognize. I got this on Haestrom.' Tali explained.

'What made a part worth sending back to your father?' Shepard asked.

'It had to be in working order. Something that could be analyzed and integrated into other technology. Anything new had priority. Technology the Geth had developed themselves. Signs of modification, clues to their thinking.' Tali replied.

'How did you get these things to your father?' Shepard wondered.

'Sometimes I left packages at secure drops in civilized areas. Someone on Pilgrimage would see that it was shipped home. For very valuable finds, I'd signal home and Father would send a small ship.' Tali clarified.

'Haestrom was a war zone. How did you salvage gear in the middle of all that?' Shepard continued.

'These suits have more pockets than you'd think. Quarians have learned how to salvage whatever we can whenever we can. Within reason. We're not Vorcha. But we repair what most people would throw away. Hundreds of the ships in our fleet were salvaged wrecks, either found dead in space or purchased for next to nothing.' Tali teased.

'Those same pockets are a large part of why Quarians get accused of stealing things. Usually wrongly.' I pointed out.

'Usually?' Tali asked archly.

'You have your share of criminals in the fleet. Exiles and the like. They don't stop being criminals when they leave.' I reasonably point out.

'Does that salvaged gear give you a clue as to what happened here?' Shepard asked.

'No. I don't know. Shepard, I checked everything I sent here. I passed up great finds because they might be too dangerous, prone to uncontrolled reactivation or self-repair. I don't know which possibility is worse: that I got sloppy and sent something dangerous, or that Father actually did all this.' Tali replied, with a note of panic in her voice.

'Do you want to know? I can tell you now, but only if you want me to.' I offered.

Tali crossed her arms and... shivered. She didn't look happy at all, and who could blame her.

'I should, shouldn't I? Anything else is just delusion. … Tell me.' Tali decided.

'Well, the good news is that you're innocent here. What happened here wasn't at all your fault.' I began.

'And the bad news is that it was my parents'?' Tali shot back.

'Just your father, I think.' I corrected.

'You think.' Tali chuckled mirthlessly.

'It's the best I can give you. He would have come up with this same scheme with or without your mom.' I admitted.

'Then I guess that will have to be good enough. Thank you, Krell. For being here for me.'

'Any time, Tali'Zorah. Us vas Normandy types need to stick together, right?'

We headed out into the hallway, only to come across a terminal linked to a security camera. Shepard used her omni-tool to play the footage.

There were two Quarians speaking to each other seen from above. Only their helmets were in view.

'Who's running the system diagnostic? I didn't authorize... oh, Keelah. How many Geth are networked?'

'All of them. Rael'Zorah--'

'Shut it down! Shut everything down! They're in the System!'

Tali shuddered. 'Krell, is this as bad as I think it is?'

'Do you still want the truth?'

'Yes.' Tali answered uncertainly.

'If not for the pardon I secured him, Rael'Zorah would probably be remembered as your people's greatest war criminal.' I confessed.

'Kelah! That bad? Oh... Kelah se'lai!' Tali cried out.

'I'm sorry.'

'It's not your fault, Krell.'

'It's not yours either, Tali.' Shepard tried to reassure her.

'Honestly, I think that just makes it worse. There was nothing I could do. This monster was in my father the entire time...'

We continued onward into lab rooms, shooting Geth along the way until we reached another terminal. Shepard, of course, activated it.

'We locked down navigation. Weapons are offline. Rael's wife is away. She can warn them. Our mistake won't endanger the Fleet. Sorry. I'm so sorry! Jona, if you get this, be strong for Daddy. Mommy loves you very much!' I could see the sparks flying towards her until the door exploded after the word 'daddy.' The researcher's voice at the end was almost screaming.

Tali switched out her usual NK-47 for a shotgun I didn't recognize as we tore through the next room. She was aggressive, angry. I was worried for her. I decided to shadow her closer, just in case.

With the Geth killed, we moved onto the next room, and the console in the wall. In a measure of just how distressed and worried about Tali Shepard was, for once, she actually let the other girl press the button to activate it. I don't think Tali noticed, but I definitely saw just how pained Shepard's face was as Tali pressed the button instead of her.

'This console might have something. Most of the data is corrupted, but a few bits are left. They were performing experiments on Geth systems, looking for new ways to overcome Geth resistance to reprogramming.' Tali decided.

'Do you think testing weapons on the Geth was right?' Shepard asked.

'It's not testing weapons on prisoners, Shepard. I only sent Father parts. Even if he assembled them, they wouldn't be sapient. You saw what Saren and Sovereign did with the Geth. Any research that gives us an advantage is important.'

'Tali...' I say softly.

'No. Oh no. He wouldn't have. Krell, tell me he wouldn't have!' Tali begged.

'I can't.' I admit.

'Kelah, Se'lai...' Tali moaned.

'What kind of Tests was Rael'Zorah running?' Shepard asked me.

'Disruptive hacking techniques. They activated the Geth deliberately. Maybe not intentionally, I'm not sure on that point. But... certainly recklessly.' I admitted.

Tali let out an anguished wail. 'What was all this, Father? You promised you'd build me a house on the homeworld. Was this going to bring us back home? We don't need a war to do that!' I didn't have to see her eyes to realize she was crying.

We walked on.

'Have the Quarians considered colonizing a new world?' Shepard asked, curious, I suppose.

'We'd have enough difficulty reacclimating to our own native environment. Adjusting for exposure to a foreign colony would be even harder. It's the difference between 60 years and 600. For anyone alive now to watch a sunset without a mask, Rannoch is the only place that's possible.'

I put my hand on Shepard's shoulder, stopping her for a few seconds. 'Hey, kid? Look up Ekuna. Quarians discovered it and started colonizing it. The Council kicked em off and gave it to the Elcor.'

Shepard looked at me horrified.

'The Galaxy is unjust, Shepard. It's up to us to make it better. And I don't mean us in general, like all of Humanity and all of Krogan-kind. I mean us. Specifically us. The crew of the Normandy.'

'Do we succeed?' Shepard asked.

'Kid, that's up to you. But you've managed to do it without me, and I've been stacking the deck as much in our favor as possible.'

The next few rooms were also full of Geth. I watched Tali to make sure she wasn't being dangerously aggressive. She was near that line, but still under it.

There was another log at the end of the room, right in front of a hallway that felt extremely foreboding. Shepard pressed the button, again.

'First entry: Our hacking attempts failed. The Geth have an adaptive consciousness. Hack one process, and the others auto-correct. Still, we're making progress. Rael'Zorah is convinced we'll have a viable system in less than a year. This weapon will put our people back on the Homeword, and it's all because of Rael'Zorah.' the Quarian researcher on screen explained.

'It's all because of Rael'Zorah.' Tali echoed, horrified.

I grabbed her shoulder and pulled her into a hug.

'It's, it's not alright, but I'm okay, Gramps.' Tali decided.

'Krell, you... There's an e-mail to Tali's father on this pad. It's dated from just after Haestrom. You're... He typed up a reply but it never went out. It's for you.' Shepard explained, handing me the pad.

Shepard had read it of course. She couldn't resist reading other people's private correspondence, I'd noticed. And if doing so required pressing a button first? Oh boy was Shepard going to press that button!

'For Krell? Why would Father be writing to Krell?' Tali asked.

I offered her the pad, unread.

'Dear Rael'Zorah. Sorry, I've never been good at remembering ship names. I am in receipt of your prior letter wondering how I knew that your wife was pregnant before you did. I can see the future. It is in this capacity that I must warn you not to experiment on the Geth. Do not activate them. If you do, the Alarei will be wiped out to a man. No one escapes. No one survives. This isn't necessary. You can regain your home world through diplomacy. All you have to do is wait.' Tali read.

'You wrote this?' She asked.

'I did. I didn't tell you. I'm sorry. I just- If I could avoid it I didn't want you to have to learn about this.' I admitted.

She turned back to the pad.

'Professor Nakmor. I believe you; enough to send my wife away before the activation. I've taken precautions. But if there's even the slightest chance that this could work, I need to go through with it. Keep Tali away from all this. And please, tell her I love her.' Tali read, collapsing to her knees.

'He knew. He knew, and he did it anyway. You told him! And he did it anyway! Kelah Se'lai. Why... Why did he do it anyway?' Tali sobbed.

'Shepard. Take Tali back to the ship. There's only one room left. I can handle what's beyond this door.' I requested.

'You're sure?' Shepard asked.

I absolutely wasn't. There were probably at least two Geth juggernauts and a bunch of hunters as well. This was a stupid risk. But...

'I'm sure.' I state, looking at Tali.

'Alright then.' Shepard agreed.

I walked through the door into the corridor and stairs leading up to the main hub. Into the room containing the corpse of Admiral Rael'Zorah.

Reaching down, I activated his omni-tool. 'Tali. If you are listening, then I am dead. The Geth have gone active. I don't have much time. The main hub will be on the bridge. You'll need to destroy it to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links. Make sure Han'Gerrel and Daro'Xen see the data. They must--' The recording turned off abruptly, with an image of Rael'Zorah turning to flee.

Rael'Zorah was a war criminal, and a terrible man, but his last request was made with his daughter in mind, and this time he made sure to tell her that he loved her.

How could I not honor it?

I walked into the side room off the corridor, looting it. Then, while I was out of the Geth's line of sight, I went to work.

I'd studied the mass effect for years. Just over a century really. I'd forgotten more about the mass effect than most physicists in this galaxy will ever know. And of course, my first job ever was as a weapon designer and armorer. I never really lost that way of looking at things.

An armorer's skills are like that Human saying about riding a bike. You never really forget how.

Quarians aren't the only species that know how to scavenge.

I usually carry programs to flash forge overload disks, as well as a number of frag grenades, and some mods for Inferno Ammo. It's a loadout made for a combination of portability, expense, and ease of use. But given a lab full of tech less than 10 meters from a fight? I could do a lot better than that.

Building AI hacking devices weren't my forte, but I was able to accomplish it fairly easily anyway because the entire lab I was currently standing in was devoted to that very purpose and already had several pre-built devices ready for use. The rest of the devices were converted into some overload disks, a warp ammo mod, and a pair of bandoliers of lift and warp grenades, along with a few singularity grenades for good measure. Normally I wouldn't bother with the warp and singularity grenades. They're extremely expensive and not all that much better than just shooting someone.

This wasn't normal.

So equipped, I moved in for the kill, flipping on my video recorder on for good measure so that I could send the fight to Wrex later for bragging rights. He knows it's almost nothing but awesome fights with Shepard, but those fights are always with Shepard, he never got to do the awesome fights alone.

I head into the room, activating my warp ammo. There's a clear barrier in front of me and two side corridors around a central chamber, kind of looks like a Roman atrium, really. If you squint.

I start off by throwing down a singularity grenade to stop approaches from the sides. I follow up by throwing a whole hell of a lot of pre-forged overload disks to take down shields and short out tactical cloaks. A shield can get you through a singularity, but if your shields are down, you're getting thrown around.

I hit the unshielded foes caught by my singularities with a barrage of warp rounds, each hit landing with a tiny biotic explosion due to the singularity. Soon enough it's just me and the Juggernauts.

I throw the AI hacking device at one of them.

It doesn't work.

Or, alternatively; that was definitely not how I was supposed to use it.

I think I only made them angry.

I roar, to make it seem like that was definitely an intentional move, or possibly a mistake brought on by the blood rage. Hopefully Wrex won't see through it. I can't send him an edited video. He's way to smart, and way too experienced in combat to be fooled.

I then follow up with a whole handful of overload disks at the Juggernaut, taking down its shields just as it passed into the still functioning singularity.

I grin and toss a pair of Warp grenade as the Geth Juggernaut passes through the glowing ball of biotic power warping gravity around it.

The grenades goes off, detonating the singularity, the Juggernaut goes down, and I feel the familiar sensation of my shields getting knocked down from a shotgun blast to the back.

That's right! There were two Geth juggernauts.

Damn it!

There were two Geth juggernauts!

I sprint for the newly accessible path now that the singularity has been detonated and roll behind cover to recover my shields.

After a few seconds, and with my shield fully restored, I look out from behind my cover only to come face to crotch with a Geth juggernaut.

I look up.

'You're a big one, ain't ya?' I joke, hoping the Geth will pause for a second.

It does not.

Another shotgun blast takes down my shield as I roll for the next set of cover like a demented hedgehog; leaving behind some warp grenades just for good measure. They detonate, and I don't take the time to restore my shields. Immediately I'm firing with my warp ammo, taking down the juggernaut's own shields in preparation for a barrage of warp grenades, my last set.

The Geth's shields drop and my aim is true, taking down the damn thing's armor as my shields, finally, start to regenerate.

I move to the next set of cover as the Geth recovers.

From there it's just keeping up a steady rate of fire, making sure I don't overheat my gun, and whittling down the damn thing's health bit by bit until it's gone.

It does that weird pose juggernauts do and then explodes.

I guess I didn't lie to Shepard after all!

I turn my recorder off and head for the hub.

Rael'Zorah's voice comes out loud and clear as I press the button to access the logs. 'Do we have enough parts to bring more online?'

A new scientist standing beside him, male this time replies. 'Yes. The new shipment from your daughter will let us add two more Geth to the network.'

'We're nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the Admiralty Board, just to be safe.' another scientist, female this time chimes in.

'No. We're too close. I promised to build my daughter a house on the homeworld. I'm not going to wait while the politicians argue.' Rael decides.

'We'd have an easier time of it if Tali'Zorah could send back working material.' the man says.

'Absolutely not. I don't want Tali exposed to any political blowback. Leave Tali out of this. Assemble new Geth with what we have. Bypass security protocols if need be.' Rael demands.

'But... what about the email? What if he's right?' Comes a new voice, female, a Quarian I'm unfamiliar with.

'Take the Enterprise. I want you outside the ship when we activate them. If anything goes wrong... Warn Tali. Tell the Fleet. Just... Protect our daughter, please?' Rael begs.

'For you, Rael.' Tali's mother nods. The video ends.

So that's Tali's mother. I'm not sure if Tali should see this. Her mother escaped on the shuttle I gave them to celebrate Tali's birth, but she ran instead of warning the fleet. If they had her as a scapegoat they would have never needed Tali.

When it comes to deadbeat parents I have all the fervor of a hypocrite for those I care for.

I copy the recording and destroy the machine before heading back to the shuttle.

This was a shitty mission, but at least I got some free grenades out of the bargain.

Author's Notes: One more chapter left in this arc.