AN: Taking more liberties with the lore, if you don't like it, have fun going and fucking yourself. I have a few interesting ideas where to take this, we'll see how it fleshes out. I write these one chapter at a time, so not even I know what's going to happen. Also I'm not fond at how this one is worded. Meh, I'll rewrite it all some day.
Chapter 41
"She's doing as well as can be expected." Harry said, dragging a finger across a virtual chessboard, moving one of his pieces into place.
"Humans appear to be quite resilient." A voice on the other side of Harry's comm link said, as it moved its own piece. Harry grimaced.
"How are things on your end?" Harry asked as he made another move.
"We are learning more and more, I believe we may be getting close." The voice said, making a move and capturing his rook.
"Just remember to keep your head down until you're ready, and for god's sake be honest with them." Harry said, snickering as he took the enemy queen.
"That we can definitely do. Also checkmate." The voice said. Harry looked at the board for a few minutes before sighing.
"Shit. Well good game. Keep me posted, ok?" Harry asked.
"Affirmative. Good game." The voice said, before signing off, ending the game and causing the board to go inert. Harry stretched and stood up just in time for a knock to sound on his door.
"Come on in." Harry said. The door opened, admitting Wrex.
"Shes asking for you." Wrex said.
"Sure thing." Harry said, following him out of the room and into the med bay. He paused at Jane's bed to kiss her forehead before moving further and sitting next to the young woman's bed.
"You feeling better, Jack?" Harry asked.
"Yeah.. Uh.. Do you still have the veritaserum?" Jack asked.
"Sure thing. Miranda you ready?" Harry asked. Miranda looked up from her datapad and nodded before making her way over and sitting down. Harry administered three drops and waited for Miranda's eyes to glaze over.
"What's your name?" Harry asked.
"Miranda Felicity Lawson." Miranda said.
"Where are you from?" Harry asked.
"I grew up in Brisbane, Australia." Miranda asked. Harry grinned and nudged jack.
"Now for a fun one. Where do you buy those cat suits?" Harry asked. Miranda trembled and her eyes went into focus for a moment before glazing over again.
"Victoria's Secret in Armali." Miranda spat out, causing Harry to giggle like a child.
"She's all yours. Bear in mind I'll stun her if you get too personal or ask anything classified." Harry said. Jack nodded.
"Why did you come to Pragia?" Jack asked.
"I began to doubt the Illusive Man's intentions, and was concerned that my work was being used to cause harm." Miranda said.
"Why did you join Cerberus?" Jack asked.
"Careful." Harry said, raising his wand and pointing it Miranda.
"I wanted to make a difference. I thought Humanity was going to be bowled over by the other races, especially the Turians, I was worried for our future." Miranda said.
"Did you ever suspect your work was being used unethically?" Jack asked.
"Yes." Miranda said simply. Jack was about to shout when Harry held up a hand.
"They're an illegal organization, Jack. That question is too general." Harry said.
"Right.. Why did you betray The Illusive man?" Jack asked.
"I was afraid that he was using my work to hurt people. Jacob revealed past biotics experiments they'd been involved with. I verified Jacob's claims by breaking into Cerberus' mainframe." Miranda said, her voice wavering.
"You probably only got one more question left." Harry said.
"Will you ever do anything like that again?" Jack asked.
"I'd sooner die." Miranda said without hesitation. Harry looked at Jack who nodded, before applying the antidote.
"You ass!" Miranda shouted, slapping Harry in the shoulder. Harry laughed.
"Now I know where to get your Christmas present." Harry said with a grin. Miranda rolled her eyes before turning to Jack.
"I don't expect you to immediately trust me, Jack, but I hope that helped." Miranda said.
"It did.. Uh. Thanks. Harry? Um.. what's going to happen to me?" Jack asked.
"Well that depends. How old are you?" Harry asked.
"I don't really know." Jack said. Harry nodded and withdrew the Elder wand, tapping her forehead with it.
"Looks like you're about 19. You're a legal adult, so that's largely up to you." Harry said.
"Uh.. where could I go?" Jack asked.
"Well, you could go with Miranda and Wrex when we land at Tuchanka in a few hours, or I could bring you to Earth. The citadel is an option but I'd recommend against it, you'd have no protection against Cerberus. Hell if you'd like you could stick around with me. All I'm doing at the moment is waiting for my girlfriend to wake up so we can go slaughter collectors and helping to coordinate a defense against the Reapers." Harry said.
"You'd have me?" Jack asked. Harry shrugged and nodded.
"Added bonus, after I deal with the Collectors, Cerberus are next on my shit list." Harry said.
"I think I'd like that." Jack said.
"Then it's settled. We gotta get you something to wear though.. Hey Miranda? Got any extra cat suits?" Harry asked, laughing as he deftly dodged Miranda's flying hand.
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Tali sighed as she flopped down on the bed in her quarters. It had been a long, but successful day for her. Not only had Veetor been rescued, but he'd gone to Earth where he was much more likely to be safe. On top of that, Jane was alive, and that meant the world to her. She smiled when she thought about how her life had changed recently. She was always bound to have a relatively good life, at least as good as one could have as part of the Quarian migrant fleet, mostly due to her father being an Admiral, but while on pilgrimage things had not gone as planned.
Her pilgrimage had gotten off to a rocky start when she and her companion Keenah'Breizh had been diverted to an ice world to investigate the presence of the Geth. They'd made short work of the Geth, managed to retrieve its fragmented memory core, and made the decision to report it to the authorities on Illium. It was then that they were jumped by a Turian mercenary, who had been there on Saren's orders. They managed to escape, and made it to Illium but ended up getting ambushed and had to stow away on another vessel to escape.
She shook herself out of reminiscence and made her way to a small metal box filled with her most valuable keepsakes. It had been a gift from her mother, before she'd passed. She rummaged around for a few moments before smiling as her fingers found an incredibly worn data chip containing a bootlegged copy of her favorite movie, Fleet and Flotilla. She turned her helmet fully opaque, and put it on the display screen in her quarters. She'd just settled into her seat when the electronic chirp of her doorbell sounded.
"Come in." Tali said.
"Hello, Tali… Oh Keelah..." Rael'Zorah said as he walked into the room and saw Tali's face for the first time in years.
"Father!" Tali cried, launching herself up and hugging him.
"You are so beautiful, Tali." Rael said.
"You're biased." Tali said, smiling happily. Rael's heart melted actually seeing her smile instead of having to imagine it based on the tone of her voice.
"Right… So how are you? Are you doing well?" Rael asked.
"I am! Veetor is safe on Earth right now." Tali said.
"So I've heard. Will they be equipped to handle his… eccentricities?" Rael asked.
"Harry Potter grew up on Earth, Daddy." Tali said.
"Right." Rael said, laughing. He stepped through the doorway, closing the door behind him and sat on Tali's bed. She sat next to him.
"Tali, I have something I need you to help with, but it's imperative you not mention it to anyone. Not even the other Admirals." Rael said.
"What's going on?" Tali asked.
"I need you to promise me, Tali'Zorah." Rael said. This surprised her. Normally he only used her full name when she was in trouble.
"I promise, I guess." Tali said. Rael examined her for a moment before nodding.
"I suppose that will have to do. So, I just got off the comm with Harry…" Rael said.
"Ok, should I be worried?" Tali asked, grinning.
"No, not this time. At least not yet." Rael said, cryptically.
"Daddy you're worrying me." Tali said. Rael sighed.
"He and I have been working on a project in secret since our first meeting." Rael said.
-Flashback-
"You're joking…" Rael said, looking intently at Harry whose expression was deadly serious.
"300 years, Rael, have any of you thought to send a neutral party to open a dialog?" Harry asked.
"Of course not. Every ship that gets near is shot down." Rael said. Harry nodded.
"Well they didn't shoot me down." Harry said, smirking as he angled the camera off slightly to the side. Rael felt as though his blood had turned to icewater as he processed what he was seeing. Harry was standing on a sand dune, an abandoned-looking city a few kilometers in the background, next to a Geth infantry unit.
"Creator Zorah, it is a pleasure to meet you." The Geth said.
-End Flashback-
"How long has he been in touch with them?" Tali asked, woodenly.
"He started trying to get their attention right after first contact with the Turians." Rael said.
"Twenty seven years ago?! He never said anything!" Tali said.
"Can you blame him? Even contacting me was a risk. What do you think would have happened if Han had been in the room? As it is the only other Admiral I feel safe discussing this with is Zaal, and I'm not quite there yet." Rael said.
"Admiral Gerrell would probably have demanded he help take Rannoch back." Tali said. Rael nodded.
"Harry had planned on taking his time, but with the threat of the reapers he accelerated his plans. That and the fact that he's established good relations with the admiralty." Rael said.
"What do you need me to do?" Tali asked. Rael sighed and his shoulders slumped, as the tension left his body.
"We're sending you with a team to Haestrom. The science team there was supposedly run off by the Geth, but we know otherwise. There is a small Geth presence there, however they are there for the same reason we were, to study the star. Your mission will be to find out who actually did attack the colony. While you're there, you're going to bring this memory core, and plug it into one of the data kiosks. Once the download is completed, you'll deliver it to me in person." Rael said.
"What data do we need that we can't simply download from orbit?" Tali asked.
"About six thousand Geth." Rael said.