Chapter 3
"NEVER IN MY LIFE HAVE I SEEN SUCH REPREHENSIBLE BEHAVIOR BY A SOLDIER! SHAMELESS! UNACCEPTABLE! UNFORGIVIABLE!" at this he withdrew his sidearm and pointed it directly at Jenkins' head
"For the crime of assaulting a superior officer, You are under arrest and will be held pending court martial. Get this trash out of my sight."
Three of Shepard's squad took this to heart and began dragging the raving moron away towards the brig. "My Uncle... AHHHHHH!" he shouted, his threat interrupted by an audible snap and a "Whoops Sorry fellah!" From one of his former squadmates breaking his arm "accidentally" to shut him up.
"Shepard are you ok?" Anderson asked.
"Yes sir. Sorry you had to see that everyone." she said sadly.
"It's not your fault, we've been trying to get that idiot off this station for weeks now. I can't even begin to apologize for what just happened here, Captain." Anderson said
"I feel the same ma'am. I'm so, so sorry." Shepard continued.
"You have nothing to apologize for, either of you." Captain Raan replied "We have been here, at your mercy, for days now and everyone except that bosh'tet has showed us nothing but kindness, friendship and camaraderie even the foul-mouthed AI. I promise you we will not hold his actions against you or your people." She said.
Both Shepard and Anderson were visibly relieved at that, they had been working very hard at giving their guests a good first impression, and were worried that the one bad apple would spoil the proverbial bunch.
"There is one problem, however. " Raan continued "Lieutenant I believe you are short an Engineer. With your permission, I would like to assign Tali here to your squad on a provisional basis as a replacement, if that is acceptable to you, Captain Anderson." She said, the smirk under her mask almost audible.
"I think that can be arranged." He said. "Ms. Tali'Zorah Vas Tonbay, would you please assist Shepard's squad in taking over their engineering duties until a replacement can be found?"
"Yes! Of course! Er, I mean, Yes Sir." she corrected herself.
"Very well, Shepard you sure you're all right? That idiot didn't knock anything loose?" Anderson said
"Yes sure I'm fit for duty." She replied, and were subsequently dismissed to return to their tasks.
"You know, Captain Raan, It's funny, it seems like there are as many commonalities between our species as differences."
"Captain Anderson, I believe we have known each other to forego formalities, Call me Shala." She said.
"Of course, if you call me David." He said
"Very well, David. What do you mean?"
"I mean those two, Ms. Zorah and Lieutenant Shepard meet out here in the middle of nowhere out of sheer chance, completely different backgrounds, yet have you seen how the two work together?" he mused.
"Yes, they seem to get along quite well. I'm fairly certain we're going to have trouble prying Tali away once she's reassigned." she agreed. They walked away together back towards the bridge to resume their coordination of the upcoming impromptu diplomatic talks.
Six days after first contact, the Human delegation from Earth arrived and were housed in a set of luxury suits set up for visiting officials, as were the Quarian admiralty, and once everyone had arrived and were settled, an introductory meeting was set up in conference room that looked out to a galaxy of stars beyond. The Quarians entered first, and sat at one end of the table, the human dignitaries sat at the other, and each exchanged greetings and introduced themselves.
Representing the Quarians were Rael'Zorah Vas Rayya, Han'Gerrel Vas Neema, Zaal'Korris vas Qwib Qwib, Daro'Xen Vas Moreh and finally quite possibly the oldest Quarian alive, Admiral Tiga'Noran Vas Duugah. The human delegation was smaller but no less significant, Admiral Steven Hackett representing the military, along with Prime Minister Hannah Shepard.
"Before we begin, has there been word on the other eight survivors of the Tonbay explosion?" Hannah Shepard asked.
"Ah yes. Seven survived with only minor infections, the eighth unfortunately is still in critical condition. Mag'Noral, the ship's medic. She spent so long patching everyone else up she neglected her own grievous suit punctures, and is in a coma." Zaal'Korris replied, his voice grim.
"Any and all of our resources are at your disposal, Admirals. We've already adapted our medigel to help the four aboard our station. We are already able to fabricate suit replacement parts to your specifications, I can have an equipped shuttle with medical staff in hazard suits and a full replacement suit for your medic ready to leave in half an hour." She continued, her voice holding quite a bit of urgency.
"We... Thank you. Please, if you can help her... please.." Zaal responded, his voice breaking.
"Give me a moment please," Shepard responded and punched a hurried message into her PDA.
"Give Captain Rollins of the Mischief the coordinates and they'll be underway at your order." Zaal with a shaking hand activated his omnitool and forwarded the information to the ship in question.
"I am humbled by your assistance, Prime Minister." he finally replied after regaining control of his voice.
"Not at all, those who are in a position to assist should always do so without hesitation." She said, quoting a post-war philosopher from decades ago. This shocked the Quarians present, that line of thinking was entirely foreign to them, especially given their past interactions with aliens. Amongst their own sure, ships always sacrificed to help others, it was the only way they'd survived this long, but by the Citadel, the governing body of much of the galaxy, they were often treated as a nuisance.
"I agree wholeheartedly. To that end, what can we of the Quarian Flotilla do for you?" He asked.
"What do you mean?" Shepard responded. This resulted in even more confusion amongst the Quarians.
"Well, you've housed some of our people for days, provided medical assistance and resources to repair some of our more damaged ships, we are grateful and we Quarians pay our debts." the admiral continued.
"You owe us no debts, Admiral." Shepard continued. "We would like to discuss a trade of information, perhaps introductions to the other races with whom you have contact, perhaps even a technology exchange in the near future but we ask nothing in return for whatever aid we can provide, it is our pleasure to assist." She said, confused herself as to why they felt they owed anything in return.
"Forgive us, Prime Minister." Admiral Tiga'Noran interjected. "We are not used to hospitality. Have you discussed our recent history with Captain Raan?" She asked, her ancient voice wavering slightly.
"Not personally, but I have been briefed by Captain David Anderson, the commander of this station who has spent days speaking with your Captain Raan. Obviously on so much information can be conveyed in such a short time, but the jist of what I got is that 300 years ago your race was an up and comer in this "citadel council" and were the leading minds in research, development and engineering rivaling even the Asari and Salarians I think they are? Then an experiment in Vis turned into an accidental AI hive mind that drove you from your homeworld." she explained reading from her notes.
"Yes.." the admiral replied, even 300 years later it's hard to hear that story.
"After that citing sanctions they falsely believed you'd violated your embassy was closed and you were forcibly excluded from the majority of Citadel trade?" she continued.
"That is also correct." She confirmed.
"Are you aware of our own experiences with artificial intelligence?" Shepard asked.
"Yes. It was when we first heard it a matter of contention amongst our captains, but we decided that especially given our peoples' interactions with your "Rothschild" AI we cannot afford old prejudices to stand in the way of making new friends. That is a simplistic explanation of our consensus but it sums it up." The elderly Quarian said, leaning forward on the desk.
"Other than Rothschild and the crew of the station, how much do you know about Humanity and our past?" Shepard asked, turning the tables on the Quarians.