Garrus entered into the airlock where John and Tali stood getting ready for their meet with Tali's dad. The way they looked didn't give off much positivism.
"Hey." Garrus greeted quietly with something warm in both his hands.
"Anything you need Garrus?" John asked as he grabbed for his helmet.
"No. But before you put that on, I wanted to give you this." Garrus said before handing him a mug of coffee and Tali a bottle of a dextro version, "Looked like you guys could use a little pick-me-upper. You know. Since you both skipped breakfast."
John accepted the mug and set his helmet aside. "Wow. That's pretty thoughtful Garrus."
"It's the least I could do."
When Tali got her bottle, she smiled. "Thanks Garrus."
"Anytime. So... is the plan any better?"
John took a testing sip and shook his head. "No. Not exactly. But the coffee's helping."
Garrus laughed slightly but nodded to them both. "Whatever happens, good luck. If you ever need a bail, I'll be waiting with my armor and taser. My whole team'll be ready if need be."
"Thanks," Tali guffawed with a small grin, "But I think we'll be fine."
Garrus opened the door back out into the Normandy. "Take care. Be safe. Don't get yelled at too much." He exited and closed the door behind him.
"Let's hope." John muttered before taking another sip. "How's your coffee?"
"Good. Hits the spot."
"Same." He took another gulp and smiled at her, "If I go to quarian jail, then I guess I should tell you I love you now, so that way you're not wondering later if I did."
"Oh, shut-up." She laughed before coming up to him to give him a sideways hug, "You're not going to jail. We don't even have jail really."
"Really? Come on. The Rayya must have a fair sized brig."
"It does. Padded rooms to make you go crazy until we drop you off somewhere."
"Fun."
"Hey." Tali cooed with a small and caring whisper, "I love you. No matter what."
"...You have no idea how good that is to hear every day."
She hummed when he gave her a heartfelt hug.
"Well then. Enough of that mushy stuff." John joked as he took another sip of coffee, "We got stuff to do."
"Right."
John set his coffee down before putting his helmet on while Tali prepared the room to spray them down.
After, the doors opened up to the Rayya and they stepped out before looking around them.
As anyone would have expected, the place was bustling with activity.
"Is Juel and Olasie still meeting up with us?"
"Yes. Are you ready?"
"I'll tell you it's the first thing I want to get over with, if it helps."
Tali sighed. "I know. Remember that Captain Leena is also meeting with us to see my dad."
They started walking.
Before they turned the corner, he took a moment to look at the Normandy behind him while clenching his teeth. "I know. I remember."
"As long as you explain everything in detail, we'll be fine."
"Until Captain Leena tells Rael that everything we've been telling her doesn't add up."
Tali shrugged. "If she does that, it doesn't matter. Like you and Garrus said; we have a job to do, and we're going to have to do with or without my dad's blessing."
"But you know it would certainly help if we did get his blessing."
"Tali. Shepard." Juel greeted with Olasie catching up from behind him, "Ready for this?"
"Yeah. Just follow my lead. And try to let me do all the talking if possible." Shepard said. He looked around and frowned. "Where's Captain Leena? I thought she was joining us?"
"She's already there." Olasie answered.
John bristled. "Oh. Fantastic."
"If it were my guess, my dad's telling her everything that's going on so as to not freak her out."
"I'm so relieved." John said sarcastically.
They carried themselves the rest of the way in silence. When they finally made it to Rael's office, they all stiffened up and nodded to his assistant, Keenlah.
"We're under orders to report to Admiral Rael as per his request." John said, "I'm sure you're aware."
Keenlah looked up from her desk and nodded once. "One moment."
They walked over to the corner of the small room and huddled together.
"So how'd you guys find out Rael wanted to talk to you guys too?" Tali decided to ask.
"Captain Leena told us since we were on your ship." Olasie explained before rubbing her forearm rather uncomfortably, "I'm not sure how much she knows... but when she walks out of that door, she's not going to be happy."
"Damn right." Captain Leena answered behind all of them. Nobody could see Olasie's face, but her cheeks flushed bright red.
John whirled around in surprise with all the others.
"None of us are, ma'am." John said defensively, "and I'm sure you understand complet—"
"Understand? Yes. Quite," Captain Leena huffed, "Desertion of your post as an alliance officer? And then using the Flotilla as a scapegoat to further abandon your duty? Tremendously foolish, reckless, and profoundly immature for a man of your stature."
John hadn't the slightest clue of what she was talking about. He was so taken aback by her tone of voice, that his jaw went slightly slack.
"You've dishonored both your duty as a captain and your species." Leena sneered, "Do not speak to me ever again, Captain Shepard. No matter how extraordinary the circumstances are between you and your relationship with the Admiral's daughter of all people."
"What... what are you saying?" Juel asked timidly.
Captain Leena gave Juel a snark look before giving John another once-over; like he wasn't even worth the oxygen in the room. "He left his duty for a woman. For her. And everything he's said about Cerberus hunting him was a lie. This snake should be happy he won't be court-martialed for his actions."
Olasie and Juel feigned mock surprise.
Tali even tried playing it off too like she was caught red-handed by looking down and wringing her hands together.
Before Captain Leena walked off, she leaned in close to Tali; much closer than personal comfort would allow, and stared down at her. "I thought better of a woman like you, Tali'Zorah. I hope your fight against the collectors recompenses your underperforming behavior. Be happy this doesn't leave the room."
And with that, Captain Leena turned the corner and shut the door.
"Whoa." Olasie muttered.
Juel face palmed and stared at Tali. "Tali. Your dad lied to her."
Tali blinked several times before massaging her open palm a little and nodding. "No kidding."
"The admiral's ready for you." Keenlah announced, as if she hadn't heard Captain Leena's misinformed rant, "He'll be happy to explain more once you're inside."
John nodded to her. "Uh, right. Come on."
They entered Rael's office and lined themselves up at the front of his desk.
"Commander Shepard reporting as requested, Admiral." John said as he saluted.
"At ease, Commander. You all may take your seats."
They did as instructed and took their seats. Since there were only three chairs, Juel decided to hang in the back corner of the room and lean on the wall to get comfortable.
"I see Captain Leena gave you an earful." Rael began lightly before setting aside some of his things on his desk, "I apologize, but it's the best way to spin off any suspicion about you."
John rose an eyebrow. "Sir?"
"I've not been made entirely aware of your situation, Commander. You owning a ship is coming off as quite a surprise."
John gave Tali a quick sideways glance. The friendly attitude coming from Tali's dad was doing anything but making him feel at ease.
"It was just as much of a surprise to myself... Though I was under the impression that you were much more upset over this whole ordeal."
"I was." He said, "An appropriation for your arrest and trial was under serious consideration. But I had a change of heart."
"...Why?"
The admiral took a slow breath before giving Tali a mellow and tired smile.
"...I put an intense amount of my trust into my daughter and her judgement. My actions should reflect that." He said quietly before looking back to Shepard, "By extension, I believe that also means I should put my trust into you; given your history and treatment of her."
Everyone's shoulders lowered about two inches.
John almost lost his breath. So he bowed slightly and dipped his head to Tali's dad. "Thank you."
"I ask one thing from you however."
"Name it sir."
"Just the occasional update to the status of your mission and of Tali's well-being."
Tali gave her dad a blank stare. "...How'd you know I was going to stay on the Normandy?"
"Tali? Was it really that hard to see it coming?" Olasie answered for her dad, "Come on."
She mumbled something nobody could quite make out before shrugging. "I guess not."
Shepard smiled and nodded eagerly. "Sir? That can definitely be arranged."
"Good." Rael murmured before straightening slightly, "Now, please enlighten me of what's going on. And then we'll do a debrief with the rest of the Paltino's crew regarding Sovereign and Haestrom."
"Cerberus is providing me with a ship and a blank check to stop the collectors—who could more than likely be working for the reapers. They found us before we entered into the Dohlen system. Not entirely sure we would even be here if it weren't for my ship coming when they did."
Rael nodded contemplatively and leaned back into his chair. "I see. And the very ship they provided you with is sitting dock on the Rayya."
John swallowed. "Yes."
"I want to make a request, father." Tali spoke aloud to get his attention, "And I think you'll like it."
He turned to her. "Speak your mind."
"You get eyes and ears on the inside. Provide the new Normandy with a subsidiary crew to aid the current one. And add a small squad of fleet marines to assist the standing detachment."
He looked to both John and Tali before glancing at Olasie then Juel. A moment passed and he finally spoke.
"I've vested only minor interest in Cerberus, Tali. While the operations we carried against them were violent; we've labeled them just that: an isolated skirmish. Pursuing anything further would be ill-advised for the Migrant Fleet's interests. But, as a sign of good will, I'll allow only a small squadron of marines. I'm assuming you'll want Olasie's team to run for the position."
Olasie smiled and nodded while Tali did the same. "Yes."
"Very well. I'll make the transfer. Gerrel won't like having some of his best taken from him, but if it involves the reapers, than it's in the galaxy's best interest to help you."
"How will you go about relieving my squad and I of Gerrel's command?" Olasie asked.
"He owes me a favor." Rael answered simply.
"That brings up an excellent question," Juel decided to speak up, "How're you going to explain to Gerrel or the other admirals what we're talking about here?"
"We don't always see eye to eye on a lot of issues. But not a single admiral on this board today got to where they were with subjectivity and careless whim. They'll understand. They have to."
Rael decided to stand and gather his things. "I think this concludes our meeting. We have much more pressing issues about Sovereign and Haestrom to discuss at the debrief in an hour. You're all dismissed."
John and Olasie saluted the Admiral while Tali walked around the desk to give him a hug.
"Thanks dad."
"Of course, Tali."
The four exit out of Rael's office and head back out into the hallway.
"Holy shit." John started, "That went amazingly well."
"You have no idea how big of a 180 that was for me too, John." Tali said as they kept walking, "I can't help but think my dad's changing a little."
"That's good." Olasie piped in, "I'm happy for you."
"And I'm happy you're going to be on the Normandy." Tali replied.
"I should probably tell my squad. They'll be in for quite the surprise."
"You probably should." John agreed.
"I'll see you guys soon then." Olasie waved to them all before taking a left into a hallway that would lead her back to dock, "Bye."
"Bye." John waved.
"Since we have an hour John, I think its best we get our stuff from our room and storage and bring it aboard the Normandy. The same for you too, Juel."
"Right. The Neema's only a sector away. I think we'll have to time catch a shuttle there to grab our things. We'll grab Olasie's stuff too while we're at it."
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An hour later.
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Daro tapped some buttons on her tablet before facing the crowd of all the soldiers and scientists that were on Haestrom. At the front row, the leadership sat, along with Tali, John, Olasie, and Juel.
"To start, I want to tell you all that it's quite the blessing we caught this when we did." Daro announced, "Had we discovered this hours later, you might not be sitting here now with us."
Many of the quarians start murmuring to one another.
It was clear to John they didn't know how close of a shave to death their stay on Haestrom really was. Did the captain not tell them that the Geth were literally on a straight course for Haestrom?
"Now, pay close attention to the following." Rael said as he stepped up next to Daro, "The mission parameter for Haestrom has been redacted because we found more intel involving the Geth and their previous ally, Saren; who, as you know, was allied by the Reaper Commander Shepard and his team had fought against two years ago."
Some nodded their heads.
Rael gave Daro a stare and she selected something on her tablet that brought up an image onto the giant projector behind them both. It showed a multitude of readings from Sovereign about Dohlen among other things.
Rael showed with a hand the readings. "...This is what we found."
"The reapers refer to us as cycles." Daro started, "Every 50,000 years, they come and 'harvest' all of organic life capable of spaceflight."
John knew it, Tali knew it, Juel kind of knew it, but it never felt any easier hearing it again. Especially when people around you were hearing it for the first time. Most sat silently in what John knew would be denial. And he didn't blame them. When John heard it himself the first time, it didn't much affect him either.
Now it did every day.
"So now you're wondering: Why? Why would they do this? Our answer is a little harder to pinpoint. Very hard actually."
A hand rose from the crowd. It was Captain Leenah.
"I have a question. May I?" Captain Leenah asked. Daro dipped her head to allow her to speak.
"In the transmission to terminate the mission, Admiral Rael had stated that Sovereigns intentions of Haestrom were discovered... How much do we actually know?"
"Excellent question." Daro said merrily while cupping her hands together, "Sovereigns intentions were discovered, yes. But..." She trailed off.
"...Our studies are limited to our capacity to understand reaper and geth architecture." Rael finished for her, "From what we've managed to gather, we only understand that Sovereign was intending to try and save the star from further corruption of Dark Matter after purposefully injecting large quantities of eezo inside. Which brings us back to why the reapers conduct these 'harvests' every 50,000 years."
"We're at an end." Daro continued, "We're not entirely sure if Sovereigns studies and this harvest are even related. If they are, then we have much to learn."
"So. How do we stop them?" Kal decided to ask. Prazza, who'd been sitting next to Kal, nodded.
"Unknown." Rael said flatly with the shake of his head, "Completely unknown."
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2-11-2186
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"You say bye to your dad?"
"Yes." Tali said quietly, "I did."
"How long before Juel and Olasie's team board?"
"Another twenty minutes."
All John did was nod when the anti-septic jets started spraying them down.
Not that it really needed to.
Tali stepped slightly back and took a good look at John's slouched shoulders and crestfallen look. If it were her guess, she'd say he wasn't ecstatic about the two hour long debrief about Sovereign, the study of Dohlen, and the reminder that nobody had the slightest clue of how the galaxy should go about stopping the coming sweep of galactic genocide. Insofar, the defense fleet committed to fighting the reapers for when they would arrive was about one strong and consisted only of a frigate.
Backed by Cerberus.
Well. That wasn't entirely true. The admiralty and quarian conclave seemed to believe it all too.
Regardless, by clear observation, the galaxy had a little more preparing to do.
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"I can see it John."
"See what?"
"Don't deflect." Tali said tersely before crossing her arms, "Because I sure as hell feel it too."
"I know. I'm sorry." John murmured, "Just wish we had a solution."
"We wouldn't be called heroes if it were easy."
When the jets were done spraying them down, he took off his helmet and shook his head while grinning at her. "You never run out of good things to say, you know that?"
"Ha." She shook her own head, "I know. It's a talent."
The doors opened and the first thing they saw was Garrus and Miranda speaking.
"Good to see you commander." Miranda greeted, "I hope things went well?"
"Better than I expected. Garrus didn't need to taze anyone."
Garrus shrugged. "Maybe next time."
"I'm going to head down to engineering. Get things prepped for Juel and I."
"Sounds good."
Tali left and John cradled his helmet before accepting a tablet from Miranda.
"What's this?"
"An itinerary." Miranda said as John read that they were going to the Citadel as planned, "Re-establishing your Spectre status holds serious priority. You also should get back into contact with Councilor Anderson."
John flipped through some of the stuff and nodded. "We also have a contact we need to pick up?"
Miranda nodded. "Yes. Her name is Kasumi Goto."
"Master thief." John panned before looking up at Miranda, then Garrus, "We're setting up quite the track record, aren't we?"
"We've got one psycho." Garrus said, "Do we really need another?"
"Stealth, sabotage, infiltration, extraction, and property acquisition." John read in the dossier with a raised brow.
"So hiding, screwing things up, sneaking, escaping, and stealing then." Garrus said astonished.
"Oh stop being such a cunt, Garrus." Joker said from behind them all, "She sounds pretty rad."
"Master. Thief." Garrus repeated, unfazed by Joker's comment, "Might I remind you what that stands for? Personal gain at the expense of others? That this kind of lifestyle is in direct conflict with selfless sacrifice?"
"She contacted us." Miranda answered, "Be mindful of that."
"How dense do we have to be to think this is a good idea?"
"Dense enough to think fighting the reapers may amount to winning." Said John dully without looking at any of them.
Joker turned back around with a cocked eyebrow. "Christ, Shepard. Bring us down more will you."
John rolled his eyes, "I was trying to make a bad joke."
"Well you won, 'cause that was bad."
"I'll take the dossier into consideration Miranda." John said, ignoring Joker, "Thank you."
"Of course."
"Is the Illusive Man on call?"
"Yes." Miranda answered, "He wanted to speak with you when you came back actually."
"Good. I'll head there now. Catch you around Garrus."
"Don't get yelled at." Garrus said for the second time that day. John rolled his eyes and made his way down to the conference room.
When he entered, the table in the middle of the room sank into the floor. As John stepped into the engulfing silo of holographic lights, he frowned. While cool, having your tabletop also double as a floor didn't seem all that sanitary.
"Shepard." The Illusive Man greeted as he selected a cigarette from his little pocket case, "Nice to see you're on the Normandy."
"Glad to be on." John said with the nod of his head before crossing his arms.
"Have you straightened things out with Ms. Zorah?"
"I did. Quite the reunion actually." John said with a shit eating grin, "How much trouble did Miranda and Jacob get in when they came back without me?"
The Illusive Man smirked lightly at the jab and lit his cigarette before inhaling deeply. "None. You leaving at soonest opportunity was an expected risk."
He took another drag.
"You ever smoke cigars? You look more like a cigar kind of guy."
The Illusive Man gave his cigarette an interested look. "On occasion. Defeating the collectors will merit one."
John agreed. "I'll smoke to that."
"I'm aware that Miranda has an itinerary for you." TIM said to get back on track, "When will you be leaving for the Citadel?"
"Thirty minutes. We have several quarians coming aboard to help. And the admiralty board knows that this is a Cerberus vessel. I made an amend of things for you."
"Surprising." The Illusive Man said, "We weren't on very relatable terms."
"Extremely understandable, given your history." John added, "Amazing things can happen with diplomacy. You should give it a try in the future."
"Diplomacy is great when it works, but difficult when everyone already perceives you as a threat."
"Then maybe you should work on your reputation a little more."
"I'll take it into consideration." TIM said graciously.
"Are we done here?"
"I believe so. If anything comes up involving the collectors, you'll be the first to know."
"I'll be waiting. Shepard out." John terminated the call and walked out of the conference room before making his way to the elevator.
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"Hey girl. Nice suit. Like the colors."
Tali whirled around and stammered. "Uh, uhm—thanks."
"Hey, I don't bite." Jack said with a laugh, "Just trying to uh... get to know the place a little more. And it's,—the people. Shit." She started tripping over her words, "I ain't good at this."
Tali gave the wall next to her a quick sideways glance before looking back at the Jack woman again who'd just surprised her in the engineering room. Fortunately, to Tali's relief, the woman was wearing regular clothes this time around.
"Uh, well, my name's Tali."
"I know." Jack said lightly before offering a hand to shake with Tali's, "You were part of Shepard's old team."
All Tali did was nod.
"So..." Jack shrugged, "What brought you here with the Commander again?"
"It's a long story." Tali replied.
"Runs pretty deep. I get that."
"What about you? How'd you end up here on the Normandy?"
Jack rolled her eyes and shrugged. "Yeah. That runs pretty deep too. If you really want to know, you should ask your other bf, Garrus."
Tali actually gave her a look. "Right."
Jack leaned against Tali's console and didn't take the hint that she was making Tali uncomfortable.
"Tell me about yourself."
"Well..." Tali started wringing her hands together, "I don't have much to me."
"No depth? Come on. Quarian girl with the guy who saved the galaxy? There's something worth sharing there."
She felt her cheeks blush. "Well. I mean, I guess. But that's a long story too."
Jack nodded mostly to herself and looked off.
They shared a few seconds together in awkward silence. And now that Jack felt the awkwardness seeping in from every corner of her vision, she started wondering why she even came down here to see the quarian in the first place.
I mean, look at her. Nothing about the way she looked or talked gave away the fact that Tali was a shotgun-wielding mayhem maker.
No one could've guessed that at a glance. Especially not Jack. She looked too cute for that.
"Hello." John greeted to both of them. Jack felt herself shrink two sizes in front of the man.
"Hi." She managed to say back.
Tali just nodded before swaying a hand toward Jack to introduce her to John. "Hey. This is Jack. Uh... the one we saw all that time ago when we first came aboard."
"Pleasure to meet you Jack." John replied with a little guard before offering a hand, "Garrus told me a little bit about you."
Low blow. That was twice now she'd felt embarrassed for the person she was. She didn't know if it was her changing, or if it was just a weird effect these people had.
Probably the latter. She'd never been around people like this before. At least, not in a group this large.
"And you're Shepard." Jack said, finishing the handshake, "That's pretty awesome."
"It has its advantages."
Jack stared between the both of them and thought it was a good time to go. "Well. It was fun meeting you guys. Guess I'll see you around."
"Take care."
She walked out and left them alone.
"What was that about?" John asked.
Tali shrugged. "Not really sure..."
"Well, keep an eye on her, Tals. Garrus said she's crazy, and I don't doubt it."
"Yeah." Tali agreed, "So what brings you down here?"
"Just checking up on you, hun. That's all. All set up?"
"Will be when Juel gets here." Tali replied with a smile on her face, "I'm glad you're letting Olasie's team join."
"She's got a good team. They'll do well with us." He stepped up next to her and she leaned slightly into him as they stared at the monitor together at her console.
"This is a nice ship." John started.
"It is. I can show you some of the specs later and all the other behind-the-scenes stuff."
"It's everything the old Normandy was and better I'm assuming."
"Matching the old Normandy against this ship would be doing it a disservice. It's the difference between a firecracker and a 50 ton warhead."
"That good huh?" John said with a smile.
"That good. But I don't think it'll ever beat the nostalgia though..." She said with a sigh, "Oh well. At least I've got you back."
"Yes hun, you do."