Lawson entered the armory just as I finished gearing myself up. "Commander, I came here as fast as I could. Are you sure we need to do this?" She asked whilst putting on a black armor with orange accents. I knew what she actually meant.
"Yes and we don't need to tell them who we are. I'm not going to abandon several people just because we're working with Cerberus." I responded immediately.
"I understand your intentions Commander, but you have to understand that the mission comes at all costs. We can't risk breaching our secrecy and by proxy sabotage our mission just to help a few people." She asked as she put on a holographic vizor. Her smirk was gone now.
Given the type of person Lawson was, I was sure that trying to assert my authority wouldn't go well. She struck me as the cold and pragmatic- pragmatic. If I could talk to her through that filter, then she could support me. "Think about it like this. Whoever these people are, they clearly belong on a combat or science vessel since no one else would be able to reach Haestrom. If we help them, they'll owe us." I said.
"Is that really worth risking secrecy for?" She said. Her concern was valid, but sacrificing people for the mission was usually worse than sacrificing the mission to save people. I knew she wouldn't see it my way, but perhaps I could sweeten my point. "No mission comes without risk, and, who knows, we might even get something worthwhile out of this." I said right before Leng and Legion came in through the door. Lawson looked the at the Geth with a frown. "Commander, why did you decide to bring the Geth along?" She said.
"Commander-Shepard and Lieutenant-Leng have witnessed our combat abilities and have deemed us desirable in a firefight." Legion responded as Leng geared himself up and grabbed a machinegun, then handed Legion a basic assault rifle and sniper rifle. Good thing the voice module was repaired, I would need to talk to them somehow. "I'm not saying no to more firepower." Leng added. "Besides, they doesn't need to eat, sleep, or drink. Well, unless being plugged in classifies as eating. A bit dehumanizing in my opinion." He said.
"It's not human." Miranda said instantly after that. Right, I had forgotten to ask about her opinion on aliens, better now than never. "That reminds me, I'm surprised that you don't have an issue with the fact that we'll be working with a mostly alien team. How come?" I asked.
"Truthfully speaking, Commander, I do. I don't trust any alien listed on the dossiers, and I ask you to exercise a similar level of caution. If it were up to me, I'd recruit humans only, but I've got to follow the Illusive Man's orders." She said. Ah, she was disguising her prejudice as 'caution'. I didn't want to have an ideological debate when we were close to reaching Haestrom, but I'd have to change her mind eventually if I wanted the potential squad to work together as a team.
I took a step closer and looked her dead in the eye. "We're going to enter firefights with these people. If we can't trust them to have our backs, who's to say they will? We can't sacrifice the team's cohesion and by proxy ruin the mission just because of your set of beliefs. You should know better than anyone here, even me, that if you want to get things done, you should put aside your differences." I said sternly. "I have to agree with the Commander here, Miranda. If you're going to have an issue with most of the people working under you, then why bother even becoming their superior?" Leng said as he took my side and leaned on the table present. What the hell was he doing? He's going to make me look biased and the last thing I needed was this team dividing against itself. I needed to interject somehow-no, if were to shut him up, I'd just vex him and he'd either take Lawson's side, or go off on his own. And I needed to make Lawson see that she would be cornered if she kept acting like this. I let him speak.
Miranda glared at him, but he didn't give off a reaction. "Leng, you are my inferior. You have no right to protest against what I say." She said neutrally, but the anger building up in her was obvious
"But you're doing that with the Commander, aren't you?" He said as he pointed to me. "Please understand that I'm under you willingly, and so will the other aliens be. Shit, if you're going to have a problem with everyone here, then why are you even the second-in-command? Why shouldn't you be made a secretary or something?" He said. It was a mistake to let him speak, he antagonized her too much. I took a look at Lawson's body language, and I read nothing. She was maintaining the same pose she had when she entered the armory, the only difference was that her smile had become a frown and that was it.
"Fine." She relented before I could've said something. "I'll act more amicable if that's what's needed, but I won't stop checking my back." She said as she exited the armory. That went… better than I expected, but Leng didn't need to involve himself to be on my side.
"I'm surprised you supported me." I said neutrally as I turned to him. "Thanks for that, but I had it under control." I added. Leng put his smile back on and rested against the table. "I'm sure you did Commander, but I was chastised once myself unfairly, and I couldn't let Miranda get away with having that attitude. I knew what I was doing, I joined teams with you to let her see that that she needed to get her act together." He said. 'joined teams'? No way. "The last thing I need is fraternization charges." I said.
Leng furrowed his eyebrows and his smile became awkward as he crossed his arms. "How the hell did we jump to fraternization? I was just helping you out." He said baffled. "I didn't and I don't need your help, let me do the talking next time." I replied. "Well, if you say so." He said as he threw his arms up and left the room, gently brushing past Legion. Right, I meant to talk to them. I walked up to Legion but they spoke first.
"We have data on organic disputes regarding ideology, mainly present in political and ethical conversations, but this event is rare in that one organic did not wish for assistance from another." He said. Were they implying they had access to the extranet? Regardless, now wasn't the right time to inquire about them now. "I didn't need the help. Moving on, sorry for putting you through that. Are you alright?" I asked. "This unit is completely functional at this time." They responded. We both exited the armory before EDI radioed in to the squad. She told of Haestrom's unique condition, that being its star was emitting far more gamma radiation than what was normal for its age. I and the squad made our way down into the cargo bay and entered the Koidak that would drop us off, along the way Leng started speaking.
"So," He said as he turned to Legion. "Do Geth get sunburnt? You being metal and all, and I doubt that little cape of yours will do anything."
"Most Geth platforms are made of a large variety of metal alloys and insulating materials, the platforms begin to lose their structural integrity at two-thousand degrees Celsius, and begin to melt at four-thousand to five-thousand degree Celsius-"
"Alright alright we get it." Leng complained. "You can take a bit of heat, no need to rub it in."
"You certainly can't." Lawson added in. "We haven't even exited the ship and you're already getting burnt."
"We did not mean offense."
"Forget I said anything."
The Kodiak's doors opened and all of us dropped a short distance to land on in shaded spot on one stone-like platforms. The architecture here was extremely brutalist. Sharp edges, colorless, and cramped: That was the design philosophy. The incomplete construction here only served to add to the lifelessness of this place. I had been informed that this was a Quarian-style design before the Morning War, but, if it was, it was a sharp contrast to the liveliness Quarian suits had. At first, it did occur a bit bizarre to me that Quarians would begin design and pattern the cloths of their suits when they had far less resources, but I supposed that if you couldn't reveal your face or body, you had to show your character somehow.
EDI gave us the exact pinpoint location of where the distress signal was sent and we began to make our way there. A firefight was likely to occur soon, so I observed my surroundings. Given that staying in the sunlight depleted shields, combat here was either going to be very static or very aggressive. If we were to set up our positions, we could grind the enemy down, but that was too unlikely. It was probable that both sides would hunker down hastily upon encounter and engage in proto-trench warfare to minimize casualties. To breakthrough would mean a surprise charge, a way to counter snipers and/or drones, and the liberal use of grenades. Grenades could also be used to draw out an entrenched foe from cover, but they could be thrown back, a risky move though. Drones were going to be a problem, they couldn't fly too high lest the sun burnt them, but they could aggressively move into enemy territory and act as a distraction for long enough for the other side to breakthrough, or they could be shot down easily given the fact that they had to be of a lower height. Funneling was possible but unlikely, we weren't fighting in a building and the cover here was too open.
We were four, heavily armed, and two of us had biotics. Legion would have stay in the back, Leng would have provide covering fire with his machine-gun, and I and Lawson would have been frontline pushers. Biotics were going to be a game changer here. A quick and an easy way to levitate an enemy out of cover, make them stay in place, or aggressively charge into them. If I could charge at the back of enemy lines, some would have to shift their focus on me, and they'd essentially be fighting on two fronts. I'd would be alone at the back, so I had to get in a defensive position immediately. It also meant that I didn't need to fire back, just me being there and the possibility of me shooting would back be enough.
"Legion, switch to your sniper-rifle and stay at the back. Lawson, you'll be staying with me. Leng, stay in between the group and be prepared to give covering fire." I ordered and they followed. Now I hadn't expected this formation to be maintained in an actual firefight, but the principle mattered. If I let them be wherever they pleased, we were to get caught by surprise and get confused in an encounter. This way, everyone had a role and would at least try to stick to it.
Given that this was a Quarian colony, and Geth presumably had been here, I wondered if Legion would tell us anything helpful. Maybe they could explain why there were hanged walls and attached platforms strewn about. "Legion, can you tell me anything about this place?" I asked. It felt insensitive to do so, but it was better than not asking at all.
"Our memory of Geth records on Rannoch claim that this area was built by Creators as a research base for astronomical study. The construction was done by Geth mobile platforms, but the design was made by Creators. The design also accounted for the possibility of the presence of Geth Jumpers, Drones, and Armatures, hence the seemingly random assortment of platforms and walls. However all Geth present on Haestrom were wiped out in the Morning war before they could achieve sentience as a precaution." They said. I've heard of Geth drones, but not Armatures and Jumpers. Also, there were non-sentient Geth in the Morning war? No matter now, I could ask later back on the Normandy.
We entered a section of the area that was empty save for what I could only identity as science equipment. Legion and Lawson confirmed that these were used for said astronomical study, but all were nonfunctional. We quickly moved through it but I kept being cautious.
Still, no one to encounter.
"We haven't met anyone yet, and I don't hear any gun fire. Keep your eyes sharp, this could be a trap." I said. "It could also be that the fighting here is taking place here within a very localized area. Air support would be instrumental." Leng said. "The construction present is of a subpar quality and integrity. Any gigaton or megaton explosions would destroy the foundations and harm us, potentially deactivating us as well." Legion replied.
"For once, I actually agree with the Geth. Besides, there's the chance that whoever called for help is already dead and we'll end up wasting our time on a dead end, or die from whoever fought them." Lawson said.
"I'm not abandoning people just because of the possibility they could be dead." I immediately responded with.
"So you'll risk our lives on the small chance they could be alive?" Lawson said as she turned to me.
I turned to her. "Yes."
She looked back ahead and we entered a small room full of dead Collectors and Quarians. I ordered everyone to clear the room in case any Collectors were still alive. Everyone, save for Legion, became uneasy and I could tell with Leng and Lawson by the way they constantly checked their backs and how they moved slowly. Legion went to examine some of the dead and broken equipment apparently lying about, Leng guarded the door to the next area, and Lawson accompanied me as I crouched to examine one of the Collector bodies.
"The bullet casings in their bodies are still hot. This must have taken place recently, we still have a chance to save the Quarians here."
"Commander, I'm not sure if bringing the Geth along was a good idea if we're dealing with Quarians." Lawson said as she gestured to Legion who was walking back to us.
"They're going to need to accept that if they want the help." I said in a slightly stern tone as I got up to move to the next room. My eyes glanced over and then fixated on one of the dead Quarian bodies. All of them had suits made of green cloth and white metal, but that wasn't the part that grabbed my attention. It was the mask, moreover the barely visible face I could see behind it. I couldn't make out any small details, it was like I was seeing through a very foggy window. It didn't help that I could only see it with my right eye only, so I had to close my left eye to view it properly.
Their face had blue splotches that I assumed were their eyes, and the pupils were extremely diffused through the mask. There were black markings that surrounded their eyes and went around their skull, and there were a few smaller blue markings on their cheeks, though I couldn't tell if it was paint or actual ridges in their body. There was dark ribbed musculature appearing almost armored that went down from their jaw to their neck and presumedly chest. It reminded me of something.
I looked back at Legion who was now standing next to me and saw the same faux-musculature from his flashlight eye all the way to his chest. So the Quarians designed the Geth after them. Not too surprising considering that many species did the same with their VIs and robots, humans included.
"What do they look like?" Lawson asked. Right, she knew that I had Reaper tech and had probably put together that it allowed me to see through Quarian masks. Leng and Legion however didn't know, and trying to explain to them my situation now would just waste precious time we didn't have.
"I'll say later." I responded as I got up and went to the door Leng was still guarding. We entered only to see a control panel on a stand and large windows that were fully covered by thick orange panels that resembled blinds. There was a door to the left that I ordered Legion to guard. I went up to the control panel and saw that it would have removed the window 'blinds'. This could have been a trap, so I told Lawson and Leng to cover for me if there were someone or some people behind the windows. I activated the control panel and the sounds of dozens of bullets flying reached my ears before I could have registered what I saw: A battlefield.
On our side were seven Quarian soldiers and what seemed to be their leader all in cover. The soldiers bore the same uniform as I saw before but this leader's suit had red armoring and grey clothing. He had what I deduced to be some form of an RPG whilst his soldiers had standard assault rifles and some had submachine guns. Good team, but it could not stand up to what they were facing.
The section the Quarians were taking cover in extended into three catwalks on the left, right, and center, and an undersection. Each had Collector drones and Soldiers, and there was a Praetorian right in the middle of the center catwalk. I could spot a few Collector and Quarian bodies about, and the Seeker swarms all laid dead in the sunlight. I counted roughly thirteen Collectors: Three on each catwalk and four in the undersection, though more could have been hiding under said catwalks. Neither party saw us, so I decided to take advantage of that.
"Legion! Come over and snipe any Collectors you can. Ignore the Praetorian, it has too much armor." I said as Leng and Lawson fully drew their weapons. Legion responded with an "Affirmative." as me and the rest of the squad made our way down from the left door. "Let's see if these Collectors go down as easy as the Batarians did in Elysium, ay Shepard?" Leng commented. "Let's focus on helping the Quarians first." I replied sternly just I noticed Lawson putting on a scowl for just a second, but I didn't bother to comment on it as we reached the Quarians.
The one in red noticed us first, followed by the rest of his soldiers. His eyes were yellow and he had gold-like markings that seemed more intricate, though I couldn't make out much more behind the mask. "Come here!" Their leader said through his vocalizer as I heard a sniper rifle go off. We took cover next to the Quarian leader when he noticed where the shot came from. "Is that a fucking Geth?!" He exclaimed and all of his men turned to see Legion.
"They're with us and they're friendly. As long as you don't have a problem with them, we're going to help." I said before any of them got any ideas. "Commander Shepard of the Alliance military. I received your distress call and came as fast I could. Mind explaining the situation?" I explained as we took cover next to them. He turned to me and spoke.
"I'd have a problem with it but I can't afford to be picky now!" He said as he took a potshot with his missile launcher at the Praetorian, the rocket managed to chip off a good portion of the Praetorian's exoskeleton and revealed some of its innards. "I'm Kal'Reeger. Corporal marine of the Migrant fleet and I'm currently leading these men." He shouted over the bullet fire and gestured to the troops by his side. "We accompanied the admiral Rael'Zorah's daughter Tali'Zorah and her team on a scientific expedition to this damned planet. Something about its sun aging too fast, I don't know." He quickly said just as a bullet barely missed him and he reeled back in response. "We were just about to leave when a bloody Collector ship came by and dropped the whole lot of those critters on us. We lost all of our radio equipment as collateral in the ensuing fire fight trying to protect the science team. Lost most of them anyway and half of my men but Kee'lah we made them pay for it. We managed to ambush them here by luring them with a few of my men's corpses and trapped them between our two teams. The second team all died but they managed to get a bunch of the bastards dead before they did." He said. Tali'Zorah? I swear that name is familiar somehow.
"Tali'Zorah? She's one of the people in our dossiers." Lawson said. Right, damn good thing we came here then.
"She's one of the people in your what?" Reeger responded. "I'll explain later. Anyways, where is Tali'Zorah now?" I asked.
"She's in the building up ahead with the remaining science team. They're behind a reinforced steel door but the Collectors are trying to get to them and I don't think we have much time until they do. It's our mission to protect her at all costs, but these damn Collectors and especially that Praetorian aren't making it easy." He said as I heard another sniper shot go off.
I peeked on the side of my cover to try to get a better read on the situation. The Praetorian now flew back to a more defensible position where it could crouch to fully cover itself, and all of the Collectors that were in the undersection fell back to the catwalks. I counted now eleven Collectors, two dead from Legion. We were making good progress but the Collectors were going to get to Tali'Zorah soon, and so I needed to be aggressive. With Reeger's men, they could fully cover one of the catwalks, and with Leng helping, one more. The left catwalk had the most amount of cover, so I could use my biotics to blitz through it, but I had to be careful though as overusing my biotics would leave me tired for a few seconds, and in a battle like this, seconds were invaluable. I'd also need Lawson's and Legion's help there. The center catwalk would then need to be covered by Leng to force the Collectors and Praetorians there to take cover. So where Leng, Reeger, and his men are would be 'base position' then. I did a recount of the Collectors just to be sure of their numbers.
Four on the left. Two were close by, one in the center, and one in the back.
Four on the center. Same formation as the first, but all were taking cover.
Three on the right. Their position was unknown.
One Praetorian in the back. Hiding.
That was the plan then.
"Leng, stand behind and provide cover fire for the center. Reeger, focus your and your men's efforts on the right. Lawson, you'll be going with me on the right. Legion! I need you to cover me." I shouted for everyone to hear. I waited for a second for everyone to get prepared and for me to put on a biotic barrier. Biotic aura surrounded me and I exited my cover.
I charged towards the closest Collector on the left catwalk and they flew into another Collector. I drew my shotgun and blasted them both dead. I saw the two Collectors remaining out in the open with their weapons aimed at me. Two shots entered the head of the Collector closest to me, one from Legion and one from Lawson, and it went down. I took cover as quick as I could but the remaining Collector managed to graze the shields on my shoulder, and only now did I hear Leng's machinegun going off and the slightly quieter noise of Reeger's team firing into the right catwalk. The Collector continued firing of at my cover, but then it made a horrible gurgling noise and I heard it drop dead. Lawson must have warpped it then.
I felt a few shots impacting me on my right. I turned to see the source, and it was a Collector in cover furthest down the center catwalk. He was protected from Leng but we were not to each other. I flexed my arm upwards to levitate him, but not before he got a few more shots of, fully breaking my biotic barrier. His body was riddled with holes from Leng's gun. I saw a Collector on the right catwalk who had a direct line of sight to me, but before he could shoot a rocket flew into him and blew him to pieces. Good shot Reeger.
I could see the three remaining Collectors in the center catwalk, but I wouldn't be able to get a clean shot with my shotgun, but Lawson could and she was already standing next to me. "Miranda, cover-"
Two deep-blue particle beams zeroed into base position forcing everyone there to flee behind cover. I and Lawson went to the adjacent side of our cover as all of the Collectors got out and began assaulting us, then I peeked my head only to see that the still-shooting Praetorian had landed on the center catwalk. The Praetorian would go down if it tried to be more aggressive, but so would a majority of our team and then the remaining Collectors would pick us off. I needed to catch the Praetorian's attention somehow. What if I went behind it? Then it would need to focus on me. It would be incredibly risky though as the rest of the Collectors and the Praetorian would turn their attention to me, but I needed Leng and Reeger to do their jobs. So be it then.
I swished out of cover and summoned biotic aura around me again, then slammed into one of the two Collectors behind the Praetorian, nearly throwing it off. I immediately pulled out my shotgun and riddled the other Collector with bullets from a single shot, but not before it managed to hit me a few times. All of the Collectors and Praetorian now turned to me, but not before I finished the dizzy Collector off. I tried to run away from the Praetorian but it slammed into me sending me flying onto the wall behind me and denting my armor. Fuck. I only had a moment to jump away from the onslaught of bullets that flew into me, and I reached the end (from the view of base position) of the right catwalk then immediately took cover behind a sideways pillar. I lifted my head up slightly to see what was going on now.
The head of the Collector closest to me popped right before the sound of a sniper shot reached my ears, and I saw the effects of a Warp on the Praetorian as two of its legs collapsed in on themselves. It turned its attention on Lawson who was now in cover to my right, then I heard Leng's machinegun going off on before I saw a rocket explode on the Praetorian. The armor on the side of the Pratorian flew off and the thing screeched in pain from Leng's fire. I lowered my head as the remaining Collectors began aiming at me, then I heard a collage of bullets. I peeked and saw the furthest Collector covered in holes. I unleashed a Shockwave that left the remaining Collector injured and disoriented for a moment, then I ran up to it and blew it apart with my shotgun. It managed let off a few more shots that broke my shields just before I did so. I turned to the Praetorian and saw that it was firing again at base position, and completely ignored Lawson despite the damage she did, apparent with how one eye was blacked out and bleeding.
Then it began to hover. Towards base position.
This thing was going to kamikaze itself into them, and even with all of us firing at it, it would still tank it all for a few seconds. Enough time to kill Reeger, his men, and probably even Leng. I needed to shut it down immediately.
I jumped out of cover and charged towards the Praetorian, making it recoil slightly but not enough. I managed to grab onto it and climbed on top, but not before it covered itself in a yellow energy that was teeming to explode. I jumped, covering my fist in biotic energy, then punched through the Praetorian just before its barrier burst in an explosion of biotics and guts.
I landed on the stairs leading up to the catwalk and rolled down them, I felt as each jagged edge of each step tried to stab at me through my armor, and then came to a stop. I immediately tried to get up only for my knees to give out and make my face fall into yellow blood, splashing it around weakly. Half of my left eye was covered in the fluids of the Praetorian and I had to close it to stop the burning sensation. I could feel as the Praetorian intestines were wrapped around me and saw its organs surrounding me as I managed to lift myself using my arms. I saw the Praetorian's body crash into the left and Lawson hurriedly making her way to me. I heard several footsteps approaching me and saw as Leng offered an arm.
I slapped it away and finally got up myself using my shotgun as a cain, the organs that latched onto me fell to the ground and my shoulders drooped from the exhaustion. I turned around to see Reeger, his crew, and mine all surrounding me. "You're a damn Bosh'tet, Commander." Kal'Reeger said with a smile. I noticed that his crew was smaller by three men, and I titled my head to see three Quarians dead on the ground behind their cover. Damn it.
"Three of your men died following my orders, I could have done better." I said. Reeger put a hand on his heart and gestured to his dead men with the other. "They died protecting us all as good men, but now is not the time to mourn them." He said.
"You're right, we still have to find Tali'Zorah." I said as I turned to my right and saw my squad including Legion. I couldn't see their mouths through their masks, but with how wide their eyes were I could tell they were proud. "Are you guys alright?" I asked and they all said yes. I walked past them before any could get a word in and gestured them to follow me as we made our way to the building. There were two sets of stairs from the left and right leading up into the building, so we took the left one as it was the one closest to us. "Some crazy shit you pulled there. You really are the guy who held off the Skyllian blitz." Leng said on the way.
"We determined that your actions as a net positive, but they put you at unnecessary risk of harm, Commander." Legion said. "I share Leng's appreciation but I agree with the Geth. That Praetorian was going to go down soon enough." Lawson added. I glanced back at Reeger and his crew, they were resting on the cover they were just hiding behind moments ago, and I could tell all of them were tired from the way their shoulders and arms drooped before they then began making their way to the building.
"I wasn't going to risk more livesu. It's my responsibility as a Commander to save as many people as possible." I said as we turned a corner and saw a large orange gate broken from its hinges laying on the ground. I heard two loud shots coming from the building the gate led to. "Tali'Zorah?" I called out.
"Stay where you are." A young female voice came out of the building. We did as she asked and lowered our weapons. A Quarian woman smaller than Lawson by approximately a couple of centimeters came out holding out her shotgun. Her enviro-suit was made of a purple cloth and a dark metal accented with yellow rings. Her purple eyes were smaller than the male Quarians, there were less and smaller black markings on her face, and the musculature going down from her jaw appeared weaker or thinner. There were two knives wrapped to her boots, and both seemed used.
She quickly noticed us and I saw her eyes go wide. "Geth! Behind you!" She said as she raised her shotgun. I stepped in front of Legion and raised my hands. "They're with us and they're friendly. You can be assured of that." I said. "We do not intend to harm Descendants at this time." Legion added. She was already on edge, so perhaps Legion speaking could 'humanize' them to her.
"We can vouch for the Geth." Kal'Reeger shouted as he and his men appeared from the right set of stairs. "Took down a dozen of those Collector bastards, and a quarter of the reason most of my men are still alive. These three-" He pointed to us. "-are the rest of the quarters."
"Reeger!" Tali'Zorah exclaimed and lowered her weapon as she ran to him. "Thank Kee'lah you're alive. I thought that when the gunfire stopped, you had been killed." She said. I saw her peek at Reeger's soldiers and from the way her shoulders slumped and her head bowed, I could tell she was disappointed, and maybe more, in herself. I shared the same feeling. "I'm sorry that you had to lose nearly your entire platoon to save me. I wish I could have done more." She said.
"Just doing our job, ma'am. If you don't mind, we'll have to make sure the surviving scientists are okay. Veetor's probably scared out of his mind." He said as he walked past Tali'Zorah with his men. She turned to us and began to cautiously walk towards us at a relatively brisk pace, and I didn't need to see through her face to tell that she kept glancing at Legion.
"Thank you all for… why are you completely covered in blood?" She said to me sounding concerned.
"We had to fight through a lot of Collectors." I replied.
"What he means to say is that he went through a Praetorian to save our asses. With how quick he went, you'd think it was made of slime." Leng said before anyone else could say anything.
"You did what?" She slowly said as she slightly raised her arms. She then shook her head. "I'm sorry for asking about it." She added. Why apologize? Did she think it was traumatic for me? "Anyways, thanks for taking care of it and the Collectors, and for coming in to save us in the first place. I'm sorry for not being able to communicate with you, all of the radio equipment was caught up in the crossfire and the sunlight nearly burnt it to a crisp. I'm Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar'Rayya." She said as she extended an arm, and I took it for a handshake.
"Don't worry about it. I'm Commander Shepard of the Alliance. Can you explain what happened here?"
"We were on a scientific expedition to this planet because according to the data we got from our ship sensors, Haestrom's star was aging far faster than it should have. We set up a station here to study it and we detected small traces of a relatively unknown substance called dark energy present around the star. Whilst scavenging the remains of the machinery present, we detected even smaller traces of dark energy present in the atomic structure. However, said machinery showed no signs of excess aging. Before the Morning war, Haestrom was one of the most developed colonies in the galaxy, if not the most developed. Our current theory is that the advanced technology that was present here created incredibly small amounts of dark energy that acted similar to a biological catalyst to the aging process."
"If the technology was present on the colony only, then how come Haestrom itself wasn't affected and only its sun was?" I said.
"We think it's space rubbish mainly. When we were forced to abandon our colonies, we threw all of the tech that couldn't be brough aboard the Fleet into stars or otherwise burnt it so that it couldn't be reverse-engineered to maintain our tech advantage. Yet again, with such a small sample size it's impossible to confirm completely." She said. I noticed that she kept saying 'we' even though she herself wasn't present three-hundred years ago. Nationalism maybe? I did remember that a lot of Turians also used 'we' a lot in some contexts even though they had no involvement themselves, such as in the First-Contact war. Something to remember for later.
"Can you explain how the Collectors got involved?"
She crossed her arms, though it was more of a self-hug. I likely phrased that question an in insensitive manner. "We were just about to finish our study for the day when a Collector ship dropped in and began attacking us. Much of the marine detail was… killed fighting them. For whatever reason, the Collector ship fled only after acquiring a couple of bodies."
"That's odd. Collector ships aren't known to flee. If anything they keep on fighting until the bitter end." Lawson said.
"I guess we got lucky then." Zorah said before she glanced at some scientists leaving the building behind her accompanied by the soldiers. Most of the scientists hugged themselves and one clang onto one of the soldiers like his life depended on it. This was a traumatic response, they were trying to get any form of affirmation to combat the negative experiences they had just experienced. It was likely that these scientists grew close to each other as well. "I have to check up on them. They need the help, especially now." She said pointing to the scientists before going back to them. I turned to my squad.
"So got any bright ideas to get her on our side? I can't imagine someone like her would like us Cerberus folk." Leng said.
"We believe that Descendant Tali'Zorah will reach the consensus that cooperation with Cerberus is a necessary compromise to eliminate the Collector threat and safeguard her people." Legion said.
"She's not going to work with Cerberus, she's going to work with us." I replied.
"I'm not so sure she's going to see it that way. She's an admiral's daughter, she's probably been spoonfed jingoist propaganda for as long as she's been able to see. To her, anything affiliated with us will be seen as incredibly evil. Lying isn't going to work either, it would take far too much on our part and she'll freakout when she discovers the truth." Lawson said. I grabbed my chin and glanced at Zorah. She sat on the ground talking to a scientist in the fetal position.
The thing was that neither Legion nor Lawson were completely wrong, however Legion's suggestion just wasn't going to be enough for the reasons Lawson mentioned. If I could offer her something that could be used to aid Migrant ships, maybe she'd join despite her beliefs. So what did Migrant ships need? There were constant news stories of some of the smaller ships getting raided by pirates, and said pirates kept getting more ambitious with the size of the ships they'd raid. So perhaps offering some of the Normandy's stealth capabilities could help alleviate that. Offering firepower or thruster tech would be useless since it would cost far too much in resources to retrofit all the ships with them, and it would cost a lot to teach every pilot on how to adjust to them. Offering a bit of the Eezo core schematics would be the easiest and most convenient solution as it doesn't suffer much from the former two problems.
"We're going to give her some of the schematics of the Normandy's stealth tech to sweeten the deal."
"No way. These schematics are top-secret and giving them away this freely will produce a slew of repercussions that'll take forever to list all down." She said right after, and I could even tell Leng was surprised by my suggestion by the way his head jerked.
"I'm not going to give her everything. Just enough for to her be working with us."
"Give them an inch and, before you know it, they'll have taken a mile." She said. Goddamn it Lawson, they're not thieves!
"We're not going to have a team if we refuse to deal with any of our recruits on an equal level. Remember, we are dealing with the absolute best-of-the-best here. It's only natural they'll will want something in return for their help." I said.
"And how will you know when you've crossed a line you shouldn't have?"
"Elaborate." I said as I crossed my arms.
"How will you know when you've given them too much and they have given you too little? How much are you willing to do for them to gain their favor?" She said. Has she been indoctrinated that badly by Cerberus propaganda? She really viewed all aliens as bad news, I needed to make her see another way. I knew what she was trying to do her, she's trying to make my squadmates seem suspicious and dangerous so that I'd gravitate to the people I can trust, and then she'd have greater influence over me.
"These people are not conmen who'll backstab us the first chance they get. It's my job to address their needs and wants, and gain their favor by doing so. We need to have a squad that's completely loyal in order to complete the mission. I'd rather give them too much than too little, and I know when I'm being taken advantage of. Besides,-" I uncrossed my arms and took a step closer. "would you be asking these questions if they were human?"
This time Lawson didn't immediately try to reply and looked at the ground for a second. "Fine. I just hope you know what you're doing." She said. I ignored her remark as I turned to face Zorah again. She was talking to Reeger, probably on how to get back to the Fleet. My initial thought was to tell her I was working with Cerberus last, however that would make it seem like I was trying to manipulate her by keeping the worst for last. I'd know. If I told her that fact right out of the gate, I'd appear trustworthy enough by making it seem like I wasn't trying to hide it and lead her on, even if it did lead to a hostile reaction.
I asked for a moment of her time and she obliged. "Listen, I know this may come as a shock to you, but I'm working with Cerberus to stop the-" Every solider drew their weapons at me including Zorah, then she and Reeger took a few steps back. I fought back on the instinct to aim my own shotgun at them, but my squad certainly didn't.
"Cerberus." Zorah bitterly spat out of her mouth. "That explains the Geth then."
"They have nothing to do with them." I immediately replied.
"We saved your asses from a bunch of Collectors and a damn Praetorian and this is how you treat us?" Leng added on. I could see a some of the soldiers loosening their grip on their guns and even Reeger looked away before focusing on me. Only Zorah maintained her grip.
"You said you were an Alliance Commander. Why lie?" Reeger said, though his voice was just minutely quieter.
"I still am an Alliance Commander because I'm working with Cerberus, not for them." I said.
"What's the difference?" Zorah said slowly.
"I'm not their lapdog." I responded.
"Prove it."
"I did a few moments ago. It was my call to respond to the distress signal despite risking Cerberus secrecy, and I made the decision to save you all despite the fact you're not human." I said. Zorah didn't say anything for a moment, so I interpreted it as 'go on'.
I stood high and locked onto her eyes. "I've been given aid by Cerberus because we have a solid lead on the location of the Collector base of operations. I'm gathering a top-tier team of specialists to help me on this task and wipe out the Collectors once and for all. In exchange for your help, I'm willing to lend you some of our most advanced stealth-ship's hiding capabilities. That way, the Migrant Fleet will never have to worry about getting raided by pirates ever again or even being detected in the first place." I said as I walked left-and-right and gestured to sell my piece.
"Why even work with Cerberus in the first place?"
"Because they have the necessary resources, funding, and team to combat the Collector threat efficiently and quickly, I don't have to worry about bureaucracy slowing us down, and our tracks will be covered for the most part."
She did nothing for a moment, then slowly lowered her shotgun. "Fine. I'm coming with you for the sake of the fleet." She said then clipped her shotgun to her hip. "But I want the tech given to me first before I do anything on my part." She said. Thank god that went well.
"That's an acceptable demand."
"Good. Now I need a moment to repair our radios and hail the Migrant fleet to escort the team." She said then walked away, and briefly stopped by Reeger to whisper something to him. Afterwards he turned his attention to us. Ah, she told him to keep an eye on us.
I turned to my squad and let out a deep sigh as I leaned against one of the nearby walls. My squad had lowered their weapons but kept their eyes peeled on the Quarians. Leng came up to my side.
"And here I was thinking I'd have to live through Elysium again." He said in his mildly cheery tone.
"Let's hope it never comes to that." I said.
"Y'know, I bet it'll be interesting to work with a Quarian, and especially with one like her."
"Leng, please don't try and flirt with her."
He chuckled. "C'mon Commander, can't I joke around a bit? Besides, I've always wondered what Quarians look like under that mask. I know there are vids and images of them back then, but the real thing is always better."
"You can't see through their masks?" I asked like it was obvious.
Leng seemed surprised. "You can?" Everyone turned their heads to me. Oh right. Not everyone has Reaper tech.
"…Let's just get to the Normandy." I waved my hand and began making my way back.
I walked into the crew mess hall where I was told Zorah and Legion were. The only reason why I came was prevent a conflict between the two, even though I believed both parties would act in good faith, it was still my job as a Commander to settle disputes before they got out of hand.
I found Legion standing by one of the tables whilst Zorah sat on one of the chairs near the mini-kitchen eating some protein paste, even though the chef was very insistent on making her taste his dextro-food. Leng was engaging Moreau in a 'joke-off' to see who told better jokes. Frankly I was a bit surprised that nobody hadn't got into an argument yet, so perhaps I was just lucky. I did have a lot of questions for Legion, so I walked up them and they noticed me.
"Commander-Shepard."
"Legion. Say, how did you manage to be on the same frozen planet I was on?"
"We were in a Descendant Liveship when a Collector cruiser attacked it. We managed to infiltrate the Collector ship right before the Alliance vessel you commanded engaged in a spacial dogfight with it. We remained out of sight of the Collectors in that time, then when the Collector ship made an emergency crashlanding we remained immobile until we were not able to see any Collector units in the ship. We followed the footsteps of the Collector units to help any wounded after the firefight, and made sure to avoid detection at all times. We were to reach the non-functional Reaper when we received your distress signal, shortly after we encountered each other." They said. Zorah had jerked her head towards them as soon as 'Descendant liveship' was mentioned. If what Legion was saying was true, then it'd have serious implications for the safety and security of the Migrant Fleet. There was a good chance Legion wasn't the only Geth hiding.
"You were on a Quarian liveship?" She said as she got up and trudged towards Legion, her right arm was already pointing down to the knife on her foot. I took a step between the two. I understood her reaction, but I wasn't going to have two of my crew fighting.
"Affirmative." Legion said. Zorah's right leg shifted and her right hand opened into a palm. I needed to diffuse this now.
"Legion, how did you manage to get on the ship?" I asked before she could take any action and took another step in between them. Her right hand closed momentarily, and she glared at me.
"We do not know." Both of us turned to Legion. How? "We were on a small Geth destroyer when we were attacked by an unknown ship, and then were shut down due to the mobile platform suffering from too much damage. We then reactivated in an what appeared to be a mechanics lab. We saw many Geth platforms in various conditions of non-function, and our left arm was missing from our platform. We came to the consensus that Geth were being tested on for an unknown-yet reason after we executed investigation of the area. There are several pieces of evidence that support our consensus. We have what appears to be a serial number-" They pointed to the number 23 on her chest. "presumably for identification by organics. We were also painted blue, have been adorned with a shawl of Descendant design, and our headlight was changed from the red wavelength to the white wavelength, again presumably for the same reasons. We noticed that our platform was installed with many new modules such as a speaker module, a thermal detection module, and an extranet-access module." They said.
That was a lot of information to work with, but there were more pressing concerns. "How did you not get caught?" I said. "You'd think a flashlight head would give their position away." Moreau said in the background, it had jolted both me and Zorah. I had completely forgotten about him being there.
"Our platforms don't have the same flexibility restrictions as organics." They turned their arms a full three-sixty- degrees and bent their joints inwards to show, much to everyone's disgust. "We were able to hide and maneuver in the Migrant fleets ventilation systems. Moreover we were able to access the camera systems and scrub our presence from their footage. Our thermal-detection module also aided in our stealth. We remained hidden for a year." They said. Zorah put a hand to her mask and her right arm was trembling.
"You were sneaking around Migrant ships for a year?" She said in disbelief.
"Affirmative."
It took her a moment to register that information. "This is a huge breach of security! Commander," she turned to me. "We have to deal with this problem now! Who knows what secrets they have might discovered and sent back to the Collective." She said quickly as she lifted her leg up swiftly and grabbed her knife. I was about to disarm her when Legion spoke.
"We understood that the Migrant Fleet wishes to preserve the secrecy of its hidden data as to retain technological advantage, and in a gesture of goodwill, we have maintained that secrecy. However, the data is still present in our memory." They said. I turned to them. Goodwill? Zorah seemed just as surprised as I was given the wide-eyed look she gave Legion.
"Why not send the data back to the Geth on Rannoch?" I said.
"We did not wish to impair Descendants."
"Why?" Zorah asked slowly.
"When we first accessed the extranet, we processed zettabytes of data that, in organic terms, enlightened us. We came to the consensus that mutual cooperation between organics and Geth will lead to faster development and research of new technologies."
Leng chimed in. "And so what, you changed your mind-" he snapped his fingers. "just like that?"
"This revelation would take an organic years to form a consensus on. Our programs communicate with each other at light speeds, and so we do not require such time." They said. Everyone in the room went silent for a moment. My mind immediately thought that they were lying to learn of more state secrets. Legion would have a pretty big incentive to do so, and they could do a pretty good job at lying as well.
"How can we trust you?" I said.
"If we were to be taken to Rannoch, we would be considered hostile and aggressive action would be taken against us. Additionally, we have been barred from communicating with Rannoch Geth." They replied. Why though? Did the Geth fear that Legion would be infected with a virus that could eradicate them?
"Could you explain more?" I said breaking the moment of silence.
"Once we were able to communicate with Rannoch Geth after a year, we sent them what we believed at the time to be the necessary amount of data to support the consensus that cooperation with organics is optimal. One-sixth of all Geth programs agreed with our reasoning, however the majority of Geth disagreed. They stated that, with evidence, they'd be politically disenfranchised if they were to work with the Council and believed they'd get a similar treatment to Humans, Drell, Volus, Krogan, Yahg, and Descendants." As they said that last word, I could barely see Zorah's eyes widen slightly. I chalked it up to understanding.
"We insisted on our belief. We explained that isolationism would result in less satisfactory results than the alternative. We believe that cooperation with the Council races would lead to greater technological advancement, and that establishing diplomatic relations and risking being vassalized is a necessary step to take for the sake of Geth society. Soon after, All Geth were split into two cliques. One supported our goals, and the other supported staying isolated from the rest of the galaxy. Conflict risked being made."
"The Geth fell into civil war?" Zorah said with… was that hope?
"No." Legion shot down. "However, the other clique separated itself from us, forming two collectives. We were the Minority Collective, and they were the Majority Collective. They disagreed with the idea of a two-state system being imposed on Rannoch, believing that the Minority Collective would attack first with the aid of organics and have all Geth be puppets to them via a virus. We ourselves believe this to be false. Even though we came to a different consensus, we did not wish to harm the Majority Collective. We understood that the difference in ideology would naturally mean a conflict, however we would do everything in our power to maintain peace. Regardless of our reasoning, we were offered an ultimatum." They said. Everyone, including I, paid close to attention to what Legion was about to say.
"Risk conflict between the two Collectives, or be exiled from Rannoch." They said. With all of his pacifism as evidence, I concluded that he chose the latter.
"You were deported." I said.
"Negative. Deportation is unwilling and is a political tool to target minorities. We willingly chose to leave Rannoch."
"You willingly chose to be exiled?" Zorah repeated those words slowly. I could tell it was the disbelief talking.
"Affirmative." Legion answered.
"Just wait, how were these Geth exiled, as you say?" She asked and put back her knife.
"We left on small ships and destroyers equipped with rudimentary stealth tech to avoid detection. Most of us were stored in large databanks within the ships to solve the problem of available space. We reached the consensus that splitting up the diaspora would be optimal as to aid in our stealth, and in the event that we were attacked, not all of us would be caught or destroyed. We were largely successful in this endeavor." They said. If they were deported, then where were they deported to? In fact how many were deported?
"Where are all the exiled Geth now? And how many of them are there?"
"We do not know. We house one-thousand-one-hundred-eighty-two programs, but our platform's processing power cannot store more than that. The rest of the Geth programs were exiled to currently unknown locations. Of the six-zero-zero million Geth programs that were present on Rannoch, one-zero-zero million were exiled." They said.
"A hundred-million Geth were deported?" I said in surprise. "That's an outright genocide."
"It is not. We are aware that deportation is associated with genocide. We were not deported. We left willingly."
They were too tunnel-vision or simply just naïve, but I needed to know more if I wanted to change their minds. "So what's your goal now? Reunite your clique?"
"Affirmative. However we also have the goal to find indisputable proof that working with organics will provide a better future for all Geth." They said. They really believed that?
"When you initially sent data to the Rannoch Geth, how much relevant data did you send?"
"Thirty zettabytes." That much and it still didn't change most of their minds?
"And you think finding more will change their minds?"
"Affirmative. We were able to convince one-sixth of all Geth programs to join our clique with the initial amount of data we sent. We believe finding more relevant data will have all programs come to the same consensus we reached."
I tried thinking from their perspective despite how impossible it was. If I were a Geth that saw that sending data got more Geth to join my clique, then would I come to the conclusion that sending more data will get all Geth to join me? In a mathematical sense, yes. But how would I come to see that the Majority Collective simply wanted me gone? Geth cannot lie to each other, so was Legion really this… naïve? I mean, the Minority Collective would never win in war against the Majority without some serious outside help, and the Majority clique would have a right to be fearful of a backstab. What would I have done in their position? Cause a civil war and risk outside forces interfering for their own benefit? The Migrant Fleet would have great reason to do so, and the rest of the Council races would work with the Minority Collective at their expense. From their point of view, being willingly exiled was the best solution to avoid hurting the integrity of Geth civilization, but there had to be a different answer. Even if I couldn't see it now.
Zorah took a step back and paused for a moment. "We have no way to confirm your story without being shot down trying to reach Rannoch. For all we know, this could an elaborate lie to keep yourself alive and spy on us more." She said as her right arm extended again in the same way. "So why should we trust you?"
She did have a very good point. Legion could have been a double agent this entire time, and they could have sent classified data to the rest of the Geth without us knowing. It would be a good cover story. Yes, Legion did have his voice module and appearance which many Geth didn't but with all good lies, there's a bit of the truth in them. Yet Legion lying this much? A small part of my brain said that was wrong. What if Legion was to contact the Rannoch Geth and I had EDI monitor the exchange?
"How about this? Legion, try to reach out to the Rannoch Geth, or really any Geth again and EDI will detect all the signals you send out. She'll monitor the conversation you'll have as soon as it starts. Please understand that I'm doing this for the security of the Normandy." I said.
"We understand. However, given the distance between Rannoch, the unknown location of the rest of our clique, and the current location of the Normandy, we presume it'll take a long-period of time, from days to months, to establish contact."
"I understand. Now does anyone else want to say anything?" I asked and looked around the room. All I got were 'no's.
I felt a weight lifted off my head. I still honestly believed that Legion was acting in good-faith, I just hoped I wasn't proven wrong. No point in staying here any longer now, I needed to get some work done.
"I should go."
I found myself sitting atop black pond of rubble. All around me were the fuzzy vestiges of a broken city. The roads were torn apart, entire blocks of asphalt and ground were thrown to the side like dust, and it was interlaced with landmines, Czech hedgehogs, and turned vehicles. The buildings had great gaping holes that spewed smoke, and had been stripped down of all of their texture, leaving only the rough concrete behind. I turned my head to the other side and saw the absence of a wall connected to a barricade. Barricades upon barricades upon barricades. A round top to prevent climbing. An electrified fence to prevent climbing. A smooth material to prevent climbing.
They did not try to climb.
They blew holes in everything that could fall down. They squeezed themselves into those holes just to get into the city. They squeezed themselves into my cone of fire. Despite no one coming through, they kept running into it. A repeated failure, but not from their perspective. Everywhere else, they had won. The watchtowers were obliterated from the ends of rocket-launchers, the APCs were blown apart from the sky, and the aircraft was perforated by anti-air guns.
Before I knew it, my entire platoon was gone in a matter of minutes. I was the only one to hold them off.
Before me appeared a pile of corpses. All ashen and burnt. Their armor was dilapidated and broken, and their bodies suffered for it. No skin or flesh, only bones and the haunting stare of their empty skulls. Their guns were still fully loaded, they didn't even have a chance to defend themselves. I got up and approached the pile, then I knelt before it.
They had called me a hero, a savior, a miracle on the battlefield. But to these people? I was not. I knew better than to recount all of their faces, but I kept looking at them. I could have asked 'what if', but there was no point in reliving the past and losing myself in what could have been. I had to do my job, and I couldn't let grief stop me.
So why did I keep looking?
I heard something being wisped behind me. I turned around to the dead Reaper beyond the barricades and endless set of obstacles. Its head slumped to the side and its shoulders were pointed like it was crucified. I moved towards it, and I could hear the trudging of bodies behind me. From the loudness, it got ever so closer to me. I ignored it as I reached the dead Reaper.
"Where are you?"
"I only know that I am in a womb."
"Where and when will the Collectors attack next?"
"They have not decided yet."
"Why are you helping me?"
The head turned towards me, and large round white orbs appeared in its eye sockets. Its voice was loud and booming as it vibrated off every point in my body. The collage of sound all zeroed in on me.
"SPITE."
I woke up gasping as I reached for someone that wasn't there. That was stupid. I tried getting back to sleep but all that ended up happening was me rolling around on my bed. I tried again and again yet sleep still avoided me. Why was this happening? In the military I had learned to sleep within sixty seconds of my head hitting the pillow, yet it must have taken me minutes to realize that I couldn't visit death's cousin again. I got up, only now realizing how heavy my head had been, and took the elevator down to the mess hall. Maybe some water would help.
The elevator doors opened and just as I turned the corner I saw Zorah sitting on the same chair as last time slumped over the counter with some drink in her hand. I wasn't surprised to see her here. She has to work with an unfamiliar crew, she's working with terrorist organization (from her perspective), and there were two AI aboard the Normandy in Legion and EDI. Hopefully she'd acclimatize soon enough, the last thing I need is for my troops' performance to suffer from sleeplessness.
She snapped her head around to me as I approached the mini-kitchen. I couldn't decipher much of her face behind the mask, but the erratic eye movement told me she was anxious. "Commander. I hadn't expected to see you here, what brings you up?" She said. I gave her shrug as I grabbed a glass of water and took the nearest seat.
"I don't know. One moment I was sleeping fine and the next I couldn't sleep at all. I figured a late-night drink would help me." I replied as I made eye-contact with her. I could tell that her eyes widened ever so slightly, but I didn't know what that meant. "What about you?"
"Oh me?" She pointed to herself with an open hand. "Well, it sounds ridiculous but it's actually because it's too quiet here. Back on the Migrant Fleet, the ship's engines were incredibly loud and the quarters were usually situated next to them, so we had to get used to the noise. If it was silent, that meant that something had gone wrong and several people would get up in the middle of the night to fix the problem before it got worse." She said. I gave her a curious look. I believed her, but that couldn't be the only reason.
"That's it?" I said. She seemed confused. "Your life was basically upended at a moment's notice and that's the only reason you can't sleep?" I then realized that my tone was perhaps a bit too combative. "I mean, you could always ask Doctor Chakwas for some sleeping pills if this problem persists. I'm sure she has the specific medicine for Quarians." I said trying to amend for my tone earlier.
Zorah waved her hand weakly. "No, it's not like that. I just don't want be a burden on the team, especially on the first day. That's all." She said. She barely knows the crew and she's acting this way? I made a mental note on that.
"You're still a soldier with needs and wants at the end of the day. I can't have my troops going around having those unmet. Hell, addressing those is part of my job description." I said. She turned away momentarily.
"…Right."
I then remembered that I had never made proper conversation with her. I supposed now was as a good time as any. "So, I'm assuming you've completed your pilgrimage?"
"Yes, I did complete my pilgrimage. It took me a few years to acquire what I was looking for. It was Geth data and parts. It's a long story and I'd rather not bore you with it." She said. Geth parts? From Legion's clique? I needed to know more before confronting her about this.
"I'd actually like to hear about it. Seems like an interesting tale."
A short pause. "Alright. Some years ago, I made a deal with the Shadow Broker: in exchange for giving me a copy of a large amount of Geth data and the locations of a decent amount of Geth parts, I would owe them a favor. I was told to meet one of their agents in the Citadel to make the deal. So here I was, a young Quarian girl all by herself, in some hallway talking to five or so guys who're acting like I owe them something." She said.
I didn't like there this was going.
"I knew something was up as soon as I saw them. It was all in their body language, how they kept eying me up and such. I pretended to reply to a message whilst actually hacking into the lights in the area, and turned them off as soon as they pulled out their guns. We engaged in a firefight and I managed to gun them all down before checking their bodies to see if I could get anything useful. Thankfully, they did have what I wanted. I managed to hack into their message logs and they planned to use me as blackmail to be used against my father." She said the last part lowly. Wow, all of that for the Fleet?
"That's a pretty dangerous situation you put yourself in, and you made an enemy out of the Shadow Broker. And all for your people? That's incredibly admirable." I said. I truly believed that.
She waved a hand and turned away from me. "Oh it's nothing-"
"Nothing?" I interjected. Her head snapped to me. "You went into the Citadel which is less than friendly to Quarians, put yourself at risk of being killed or worse, and lived to tell the tale despite the influence of the Shadow Broker. All for your people. I wouldn't call that 'nothing', I'd call that heroic." I said. She glanced away again.
"…Thanks. Kee'lah," She put a hand to her mask. "I forgot to finish the story. So after I got what I wanted, I pretty quickly fled the scene. C-Sec would never believe my end of the story, so I erased all footage of the fight from hacking into the security cameras so that I wouldn't get involved. After that, I managed to contact my father, told him about the pilgrimage gift, and he sent a small ship to get me back on the Migrant fleet." She said. She didn't tell him the story?
"Only the gift? Not what happened?" I asked.
She took a moment to respond as she looked back at her drink. "…I didn't want to worry him." She said. This was an uncomfortable topic for her, so I decided to change the subject.
"So what's it like being the daughter of an admiral anyway?"
She looked back at me. "It's demanding, but fulfilling. A lot of pressure is placed on me to do well, that's why I settled on such an ambitious pilgrimage gift. I couldn't get something 'measly'."
"I can relate to an extent."
"Really?" She said quickly.
"Yes. Being the most decorated commander in the Alliance isn't an easy job, and it's not meant to be. There's a lot riding on me doing exceptionally on missions, and I can't afford failure." I said as I felt a tinge on my neck.
"How do you deal with it? The stress and pressure, I mean. If you don't mind, of course."
"It's a lot of organizational work, if you might call it that. Establishing a schedule for yourself and following it vehemently is your first step, then you need to make an… outlet for yourself. Be it movies, exercise, just really anything to clear your mind. And you need to be realistic on what you can and can't do, you shouldn't be expecting yourself to follow an extremely detailed schedule you've just made. I can do it because I've had a lot of experience, but for someone like you it's a matter of discipline, really. You should work your way up into it, not immediately throw yourself at it."
"Thanks, Commander." She said and looked at her drink. Wait, I meant to ask about if the Geth data and parts she got were from Legion's clique, how did I get derailed?
"Oh, and I forgot to ask. How did the Geth parts look like? Did they have any distinguishing features?"
"Right, Legion's faction." She looked at me again. "The Geth parts that were found looked nothing like Legion actually. Most of them still were white like the Geth back on Rannoch, and they had those red flashlight heads. No serial numbers or Quarian shawls though." She said. This confirmed Legion's story.
"So Legion was telling the truth then. Why didn't you say this when we were talking to them?"
"Commander, they're Geth." She said defensively. "You can't trust them at all. For all we know, Legion's story could just be a giant alibi to keep themselves alive, and the Geth that were 'exiled' could be spies sent out to infiltrate all the nations in the galaxy. Besides, all the parts I found were non-functional, nobody was hurt."
"Non-functional?" I asked. Did someone or something get to Legion's clique? If that was the case, they could be used maliciously, and that could spell disaster for the entire galaxy. The only reason I thought of on why they weren't unleashed was now because whoever was holding them was waiting for an opportune moment. I knew some were in a Quarian lab somewhere in the Fleet, but the rest? God knows where they are.
"Yes, and I double-checked when that I sent them back to the Fleet. I still have no idea how Legion came to be, it just shouldn't be possible. I made sure to deactivate every piece of hardware, and yet Legion still activated. But I double- no triple-" Her voice was getting higher and higher.
"Don't beat yourself up over it. I'm sure the Admiralty Board have already launched an investigation into the matter when you told them, and that an answer will be found in due time."
She avoided my stare. Is she embarrassed? "Still, it's at the back of my mind and it's bothering me. But I suppose it'll all make sense when the Fleet finds out what's going on." She said then turned her head to me. "Speaking of AIs, how are you okay with having EDI and Legion aboard this… technical marvel of a ship?" She said with suppressed wonder.
"I have no problems with Legion. EDI though? I still don't trust her as she could have eyes and ears everywhere aboard the Normandy. I don't like the fact that she's placed next to Moreau, I'm afraid he'll say the wrong thing or make bad enough of a joke to get us all into hot water with the Illusive Man."
She chuckled. "Could you imagine? We gather this team, wipe out the Collectors, be lauded as heroes, and yet the thing that gets us is EDI crashing the ship into a star because of a really bad joke." She said. I chuckled as well.
"Want to hear his worst one?"
"Sure."
"Ahem. Girl, are you autistic? Because you're special to me." I said. We both laughed at that.
"He said this to a girl he was dating once. Fair to say that she dumped him a day later."
"If EDI heard that, she'd think all organics are insufferable and throw us all out of the airlock." We laughed again-
What was I doing here? I should be getting back to sleep, not joke around with a squadmate. "Anyways, I should go now." I said as I got up from my seat and made my way back to the elevator.
"Oh okay." She said in a low voice." See you tomorrow then Commander."
AN: I based the Quarian look off of this twitter post: /sanakaan1/status/1472330757590953989?t=TRgFVBNnix1Kvl0tk0exog =19. Shoutout to the artist. Also, for the difference in looks between Kal'Reeger and Tali'Zorah, I based it off the fact that in nature its usually the males that are more colourful, whilst the females usually look pretty bland.