Tali woke up the instant the sirens started. She had been in the middle of her mid-day nap when Klaxons started blaring throughout the intercoms of the Normandy. Being raised on the Migrant Fleet, Tali was used to getting up quickly in the event of an emergency. This time was no different, as Tali was wide awake and fully aware within a few seconds.
"EDI, what the hell is going on?" Tali asked as she rolled off her little makeshift bed.
"Alliance high command has sounded a city-wide alert. 57 enemy capital ship class cruisers and 207 enemy destroyer class cruisers have breached the atmosphere above Vancouver. All are currently making rapid descent towards the city with two capital ships already being planetside." The AI voiced over the intercom.
Tali paused. Planetside? Capital ships, due to their large size, almost never entered the atmosphere, let alone made landfall. The only reason why they would was for large-scale repairs or retrofits. Although many such procedures were being shifted to space docks, the Vancouver shipyards still accepted capital ship landings from time to time due to the extensive facilities available. There was even an Alliance dreadnought docked a couple of berths over on the East side of the complex. But these enemy ships weren't just in atmosphere they were trying to land enmass for an attack. No one in the galaxy could have that type of technology except…
"EDI… can you identify those ships?" Tali asked hesitantly as she climbed the stairs up and out of Jack's little hideaway onto the engineering deck above.
"Current Alliance databases do not have any official classification for the ships in question, however…"
Uh oh.
"A large majority of the capital ships bear a significant resemblance to that of Sovereign."
Oh no.
They were here.
They were here, and there had been no warning whatsoever.
They were here, and now they were swarming the planet-
THEY WERE SWARMING THE PLANET!
They needed to get out of here! Tali bolted over to the nearest console to try and initiate the drive core's start-up sequence. However, she was immediately hit with a denial by the new security system that the retrofit team had installed and that, ironically, she had helped design. She had the authority to operate engineering equipment back when the Normandy was a Cerberus ship, but now that it was an Alliance ship, she wasn't on the list of authorized personnel allowed to access engineering. So, instead, she pulled up her Omnitool and began to try to hack the system she had a hand in making.
"Miss Zorah, you should not be"
"Quiet EDI! We need to get the Drive Core started so we can get Shepard and get the hell off this planet!" Tali snapped back at the AI's protest.
"That is not what I meant." The AI responded in a calm but urgent tone. The haste in EDI's voice caught Tali's attention, and the Quarian stopped what she was doing and turned to look at the nearby blue spherical avatar.
"What do you mean?"
"I have already begun the start-up sequence for the engines, drive core, main weapons battery, GARDIAN point defense system, and kinetic barriers. However, all those systems are internal to Normandy and are ones that I have access to. I do not, however, have any access to external systems within the Vancouver dockyards. This includes the magnetic locks keeping the ship in place." EDI explained at what must have been at a 2x voice speed setting.
Tali slapped a hand against her visor in irritation at herself. She had completely forgotten about the mag-locks! Firing up the engines wouldn't do any good if the ship was maglocked to the ground. "Are there any mechanics nearby who can disable them?"
"I am looking at one."
The Quarian immediately understood what the AI was telling her. Looking up at the chrono on her helmet's UI, she saw that it was lunch hour for most of the retrofit team. In all likelihood, she and Joker were the only people on board, and unless sarcasm could kill, Joker wouldn't be of much use."Alright. I'll go disable the locks."
"It is advised that you go out through the cargo bay loading ramp and acquire a weapon from the weapons locker on your way. Several high-velocity projectiles have collided with the shipyard complex, and the intruder alert has been sounded. I have overwritten the security protocols barring your access to the locker." EDI said as the Quarian blitzed back down the stairs to Jack's cubby.
"That'd take me out onto the tarmac. I can get to the mezzanine's control computer quicker if I use the boarding bridge." Tali said as she reached the nearby service ladder and began to slide down its length.
"I believe that it would be better if you did not waste your time heading back up the ladder to the CIC after getting a weapon. In the span of time we have been talking, three more ships have landed on the surface." EDI responded as the Quaira's feet hit the floor. She spun towards the direction of the weapons locker, hurriedly threw it open, and grabbed the closest shotgun she saw. The cargo bay door was already opening by the time Tali turned to face it. EDI must have overwritten the door's protocols as it opened faster than what would have been healthy for the machine's hydraulics.
Tali's feet thundered down the loading ramp, as she took a running jump from its tip before it made contact with the ground. She spun to her left and sprinted across the tarmac to the closest door. The Normady's docking berth was a long concrete trench meant for frigates of a slightly larger size. Towards the back of the trench was a sheer stone wall littered with scaffolding for engine maintenance, while in the front, it sloped upwards to the roof of this section of the complex. At the bottom of the trench was a deluge of cargo crates, workbenches, and a few forklifts. While the Normandy was space-worthy, it still lacked interior paneling in a few sections of the ship. As Tali ran, she could hear the echos of gunfire, sirens, and explosions from outside the trench.
Eventually, she reached the stairs to the external catwalk on the left side of the trench. The metal rattled underneath her three-toed feet as she climbed it. Tali's chest heaved with each step she took. She had run here all the way from the Normandy engineering deck. As she reached the entrance to the mezzanine, she took a moment to catch her breath. Then, a loud reverberating horn tore through the air.
VRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMM
Tali looked up. She was at a high enough elevation to see out of the trench and have a view of the city. A large squid-like metal monstrosity descended from the sky to join the other walking skyscrapers already on the surface. As it fell, red streaks of light generated from the machine's magnetic hydro dynamic canon lanced across the sides of buildings, setting them ablaze. No doubt, the attacks were targeted in a way to weaken the building supports and cause the structures to eventually collapse under their own weight. Already, a few of them were starting to crumble.
"Keelah." Suddenly, Tali was breathless for an entirely different reason. Nevertheless, she turned and opened the nearby door. Taking a left, the Quarian quickly arrived at the control center for the nearby docking trench. Tali thanked the ancestors when she saw Engineer Adams, Specialist Samantha Traynor, and a few more members of the Normandy retrofit team and new crew looking at a nearby terminal screen. They flinched as she entered but quickly relaxed when they realized it was her. Several plates with half-eaten food were scattered around the room, showing that they really had been in the middle of eating lunch.
"Tali, what the hell is going on out there?" Adams asked as he walked over to her. Tali snaked her way by him and the rest of them so she could use the terminal. She closed out of the emergency notifications system and pulled up the heavy machinery controls.
"The Reapers are here. We need to get the Normandy airborne, get Shepard, and get out of here." Tali spoke quickly as she frantically searched for the maglock controls. There it was. She moved the mouse over to open the corresponding sub-menu tab in the upper left-hand corner of the screen and hit the 'deactivate' button. Outside, the sound of the maglocks deactivating and retracting was heard through the nearby windows.
"Wait, I thought the Reapers were just a myth."
"You saw that ship come down from the sky! What else could it be?"
"Oh damn it, what are we gonna do?"
"QUIET!" Tali yelled, silencing the quickly panicking crowd. Being military men and woman their backs went ramrod straight and they turned to focus on her.
Tali took a deep breath. Okay then.
"We need to get on the Normandy and get out of here. Is there anyone else nearby?" Tali asked.
"No. When the alarms started, I gathered everyone I could here." Adams said.
"Good. That means we can go now." As soon as Tali finished speaking the door towards the back of the room leading further into the complex was torn open.
The mangled grey bodies of four husks poured through the doorway and clambered their way towards them. Everyone who had weapons drew them. Everyone who didn't screamed and scrambled backward. Tali deployed Chatika and fired her shotgun. The four husks were torn to shreds in a few seconds but were soon replaced by more.
"Get to the ship!" Tali shouted as the armed humans around her opened fire with their standard-issued predator pistols. The unarmed ran through the door Tali had come in and onto the catwalk to cross the boarding bridge to the ship.
Thankfully, any protracted conflict was cut short by the timely arrival of reinforcements.
The new Reaper soldiers were torn to shreds by assault rifle fire as James Vega and Ashley Williams, though she looked very different with that hairstyle, came up behind the husks and cannibals entering the room. The unexpected but very much welcome pincer maneuver was enough to wipe out all of the Reaperized monstrosities of that cohort.
"Tali? Is that you?" Ashley asked as she holstered her assault rifle. "I had heard that you were on Earth, but I didn't expect you to be here."
"I'm on the Normandy retrofit team," Tali said tightly. Ashely's appearance brought a small amount of bile into the Quarian's throat, though she had no idea why. She was friends with Ashley, and the former gunnery chief had saved her life on more than one occassion. She was the sister Tali never had. So why did the sight of the woman make her want to bite her face off? "Speaking of which, she's ready to fly. EDI should be almost finished with the take-off procedures."
"Good. This place is crawling with these things." James said as he kicked the mutated and mutilated body of one of the unfortunate Batarians. As if to punctuate his point, a loud, gurgling cry sounded from down the hall. With that, Tali, Ashley, James, and the rest of the crew, who were armed, filed out of the control room and back onto the outside catwalk. The previous members of the crew had already crossed the bridge and boarded the Normandy. Tali, Ashley, and James, being the most heavily armed formed the rearguard of their group. As the first of the as-of-yet-unnamed crew members reached Normandy's airlock, Tali noticed the first of the oncoming wave of husks crawling down from the roof of the building.
"Up top!" The three heavily armed individuals opened fire on the grey nightmares crawled down the wall like the spiders native to this world. With each step back the trio took, more and more husks and cannibals appeared, eventually starting to file out of the dooto the mezzanine and spill out onto the tarmac from the vehicle bay below.
When they were halfway across the bridge, Tali flicked her tongue out to press the comm button on her helmet. "EDI. Please tell me you have a way to disconnect the bridge from the Normandy."
"I do, but you must be within the ship for me to do so." The AI responded. Tali spared a glance below her and saw husks starting to scale the stairs leading up to the catwalk, choosing to climb straight up the scaffolding rather than using the actual steps. Gritting her teeth, Tali redeployed Chatika to the center of the bridge in front of them.
"MOVE!" Tali screamed as she holstered her now empty shotgun and turned to make a run for the airlock. James and Ashley did the same, relying on Tali's combat drone to cover their escape. The antiquated boarding bridge rattled beneath their collective weight as they scrambled their way into the ship. None of them looked back as EDI shut the airlock doors behind them. Tali didn't stop running, however, as she dashed out of the airlock, rounded the corner, and skidded to a halt in the cockpit. Outside the window to her left, she saw a streak of blue light as one of the GARDIAN defense system lasers cut through the boarding bridge. The section of the structure connected to the Normandy fell to the ground as its magnetic locks lost power.
"And we are OUT OF HERE!" Joker said as he gunned the engines. The ship roared into life and soared into the sky.
"Joker, why aren't I surprised it's you flying?" Ashley asked in an exasperated yet relieved tone as she entered the cockpit.
"Oh, c'mon, Ash. Did you really think that I'd let anyone else fly my ship?"
"Technically, it's Shepard's ship-" Tali interjected.
"Technically, it's Admiral Anderson's ship." Ashley said icily as the woman shot a small glare at Tali. The Quarian hissed softly and was about to bite out a retort before being cut off by the loud-mouthed pilot.
"This ship won't belong to either of them if we don't get them," Joker said as his hands flew across the hard light controls. He pulled up a holographic map with what looked like a homing beacon marked right next to the Vancouver River. "EDI prep torpedo tubes one through four. From what I heard from their last comm, our two captains were in the middle of a firefight.
"Acknowledged." The AI's avatar said as the blue sphere turned to face Tali and Ashley. "I would recommend that you and Lieutenant Vega report to the cargo bay to provide cover for Commander Shepard and Admiral Anderson."
As the trio walked over to and got into the elevator, Tali remembered why she loathed the sight of Ashley currently. Horizon. Despite not being there, Tali heard what Ashley had said to Shepard about the ravaged colony.
And she hated her for it.
However, there were more pressing things at hand. Tali picked up a few thermal clips from the nearby weapons station and loaded one into her shotgun as she followed Ahsley and James over to the cargo bay doors. After a few minutes and a report about an Alliance dreadnought being shot down over the city, a thunking noise was heard from in the cargo bay walls followed by a muffled explosion from outside the ship. Most likely from the torpedoes that Joker had asked EDI to prepare. Again, the cargo bay door screeched as EDI pushed the mechanism past its normal opening speed. Tali's concern for the electronics of the ship was driven from her mind as she saw the carnage outside. Shepard and Anderson were clambering their way up a small pile of ship wreckage. Behind them husks and cannibals swarmed out of the shadows of a nearby ruined building.
Tali, James, and Ashley laid down covering fire to make their escape easier as the Quarian carefully inched down to the length of the loading ramp. When the ship was in reach, Shepard took a running jump and lept onto the loading ramp. Instantly, Tali lowered her shotgun and crossed the remaining distance between them.
"Are you hurt?" Tali asked as she quickly grabbed onto looked over her boyfriend once he was within arms reach. He was caked with sweat, ash, and blood but she couldnt tell if the latter was his own or someone else's.
"I'm fine Tali." Shepard said, holding out his arms as Tali reached her own out for a pat down. Before she could get another word in, Shepard turned around to signal Anderson to follow… only he didn't.
"C'mon!"
"I'm not going," Anderson responded resolutely, pointing to his right. "You saw those men back there. There's millions more like them, and they need a leader."
Tali saw Shepard's jaw clench. "We're in this fight together, Anderson."
"It's a fight we can't win. Not without help. We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance at defeating the Reapers." The admiral took a few steps forward."Talk to the Council. Convince them to help us."
"What if they don't listen?"
"Then make them listen! NOW GO! Thats an order," Anderson barked, his voice taking on that of the Admiral he was.
"I don't take orders from you anymore! Remember?" Shepard yelled back. Anderson reached into his pocket, pulled something out, and threw it across the gap between them.
Shepard caught his dog tags in his free hand and gazed down at them. "Consider yourself reinstated. Commander. You know what you have to do."
Finally, Shepard conceded. "I'll be back for you! And I'll bring every fleet I can... Good luck."
"You too, Shepard."
With those parting words, Shepard walked back up the ramp, looking back in time to see Anderson give a small hasty salute before dashing off back down the wreckage towards a group of nearby soldiers. Off to their left, a group of Kodiak shuttles swooped down toward the ground to evacuate a mish-mashed group of civilians and military personnel. Shepard was looking intently at the crowd. Tali followed his gaze to a small boy being pulled onto one of the shuttles. Tali breathed a sigh of relief before taking Shepard's hand and gently pulling him away from the sight of his burning home.
They didn't even get five steps away before, out of the corner of their eyes, they both saw a streak of red light engulf the shuttles.
Tali felt her stomach lurch as she tore her eyes away from the burning wreckages falling into the water below. Still, they walked on, the events of the day weighing on each of their souls. Once they were in the cargo bay, the Normandy pushed her engines to their limits, bearing them away from the end of the world below as the Reapers darkened the skies of humanity's home.