*Silversun Strip, Citadel: 2187*
…
"Tali, wait! Tali!"
The door slid open. Tali marched angrily out of the bedroom, pulling her hood over her head and attaching her mask to it. She grabbed the keys to her sky car on the mantle by the door before stomping down the mahogany wood staircase. Following behind her was Garrus, who was in the nude and clearly intoxicated by alcohol as he fumbled down the hall.
Once they had reached the lower level, Garrus walked faster to catch up to the quarian. He reached for her arm, Tali knocked him away aggressively and turned to face him.
"Hands off!" She hissed.
"Tali, please. Let me explain." Garrus pleaded.
"Explain? What is there to explain, Garrus?!"
It had been eight months since the Reaper War had come to an end. Since Shepard had died saving the galaxy from extermination. Garrus had taken the news of her passing harder than anyone else. There wasn't a day that went by where the turian did not have a drink in his hand as he drowned his sorrows with the contents of a bottle. It had gotten to the point where he had just been suspended from active duty for drinking on the job.
After getting into a bar fight at Purgatory, Tali had helped Garrus back to his apartment, and was left disgusted by the sad state the turian's dwelling was in. Bullet holes. Overflowing garbage bags. Empty bottles and dirty plates as far as the eye could see She had no idea his drinking had gotten so bad.
First, Tali had set Garrus down on the couch to sober back up, even a bit. Then she had gotten to work cleaning the apartment. It was quite a task, but since all quarians were the biggest clean freaks in the galaxy, it was a piece of cake to Zorah. Afterward, Tali and Garrus had both gotten to talking. Garrus had insisted that he was fine, and just "having fun". Tali was able to see right through his lies and confronted the turian about his habits.
She knew how much pain he was in since Shepard had died. He had done something like this once before, back when she first died at the hands of the Collectors, which led to Garrus fleeing to Omega to cope. The claim caused him to lash out, saying that what he did with his time was none of her business. But Tali didn't back down. She kept pressuring her friend until his anger had turned to sorrow, and he fell into her arms in despair.
It took a few minutes, but Garrus had eventually calmed down. Who could really blame Vakarian for falling apart the way he did? Losing the one you love, twice? That would break the spirit of anybody. Even the most battle hardened soldiers.
Later on into the night, the two began reminiscing about the past, all the adventures they had gone on with their fearless commander. From how they all met to their own perspectives of the hardest mission they had been.
For Tali, it was when they fought the rachni on Noveria, as she HATED spiders.
Things progressed gradually as they went on. They had gone from talking, to laughing, to touching, and eventually…
Tali should have stopped there… Maybe if she did, Garrus wouldn't have…
"Listen, I know what I did was wrong-"
"Save it." She interrupted him. "It's my own damned fault. I let my guard down and your still out of it. I should go."
"No, please. Please, just… Damnit..!"
Garrus wanted to say something. He really did, but he couldn't find the right words to say. Tali crossed her arms at him.
"What? What do you want to say? Go on! I won't stop you."
His mandible moved to speak, yet finding words proved unfruitful. No matter what he would say, Garrus knew it wouldn't fix anything. Tali scoffed, unsurprised
"That's what I thought." She said coldly. "I'm leaving. Have a goodnight, 'Commander' Vakarian."
The quarian turned around. Garrus reached for her shoulder.
"Tali-"
*SMACK*
A three fingered hand harshly flew across the right of Garrus' face and he collapsed onto the floor in a limp. Tali just stared down at the turian with a mix of both pity and anger. Just the sight of him made her want to scream at him. Zorah huffed and made her way towards the front door.
"Tali… Please…" Garrus silently pleaded. "Don't go…"
His pleas fell on deaf ears as she opened the door.
A bloodthirsty Thrall ran straight for her.
…
Tali's eyes shot open and she gasped for air. Her body shot upward off the hard metal floor of the escape pod. The quarian's breathing was static and her heart was beating as fast as a race horse. In front of her laid the lifeless body of a Hive Thrall; a gaping hole in the center of its chest from the blast of a shotgun.
She tried to move, but suddenly felt a blinding pain in her back. It felt like hundreds of burning knives digging into her spine. Tali noticed that there was blood trickling down the sides of her suit, and she felt an intense dizziness overcome her. Her head was burning something fierce, signaling that she was suffering a heavy fever.
What was going on? She wondered. Tali needed to remember what had happened before this.
For what she could recall, the Normandy was overrun by those… things, the Hive. The crew were fleeing to the escape pods, but one Thrall had managed to get Tali from behind and she fell over. The team probably didn't even notice from how much of a hurry they were in. After tumbling, the Thrall started to surround her and about to rip the quarian to pieces. Luckily, Tali had a little surprise lying in wait for them. By overloading her shields, her armor generated a powerful pulse that blew the Thrall away from her. That gave Tali the chance to run.
The injuries to her back made it difficult to run, and there were a few Thrall close behind, but she had made it to an escape pod. One Thrall however had managed to slip in before the hatched closed shut and had Tali pinned to the floor. It was a fearsome struggle for dominance. Despite its lanky frame, the Thrall had surprising amounts of strength, and its claws could rip through her suit with ease. Had Tali not kicked it off and blown a hole through it with her Geth Plasma Shotgun, the savage beast would have shredded her to blue ribbons.
Everything after that was a blur.
The odds were stacked against her, but Tali Zorah had managed to slip away from the Hive. She may have been small, but she was still part of the Normandy Crew, after all.
Too bad she wasn't out of danger yet as whatever bacteria the Thrall had on its claws was ravaging her body. If Tali doesn't treat herself with antibiotics soon, she will die.
"Tali! Respond, damnit! Tali!"
That voice… It was Miranda. She must have been trying to contact her. Tali's body was weak. She couldn't even stand. The quarian summoned every ounce of her remaining strength to force herself onto her knees.
Slowly, Tali crawled her way over to the pod's comm systems. She needed to let her friends know she had made it. Limbs felt as though they were noodles. Her vision, blurry. Body temperature was like a furnace. Tali's weak immune system was unable to fight off the bacteria inside her body.
"Tali, please! Say something! Anything!"
Her hand reached for the microphone. Everything went dark.
Tali wasn't sure where she was at this point. Everything around her was nothing but a blurred daze. All she could make out were colors, and barely any shapes. The only sound the sick quarian could hear was a loud buzzing in her ears. She could barely breathe, even with her oxygen mask on.
Was this how her story would end? Surviving the Reapers, just to die by a stinking infection? This couldn't be how it wraps up. It couldn't. But she was too weak to do anything about it. Utterly powerless.
Tali felt her body rise off the cold metal floor of the escape pod all of a sudden. At first, she thought maybe her spirit was being pulled from her body into the afterlife, but the sensation of two arms looping underneath her argued with that assumption. She could swear that whoever was picking her up had only three fingers on their hands.
Could it be…?
"G…Garrus..?"
…
Her eyes slowly opened once more as consciousness returned to her body. Tali's vision was blurred, but she could make out the lamp that hung just above her. A gentle beeping sound filled her ears. It sounded like a heart monitor, like you would find in a hospital.
Taking a deep breath in, the young quarian let out a tired moan. She ran her hands along her side and she could feel something soft covering her form. A blanket of some sorts. Where did that come from?
Tali forced herself to sit upwards. She rubbed her tired eyes to refocus her vision.
Wait. Her eyes? The feeling of a blanket across her hands?
She gasped frightfully. Tali ran her hands across her body, then touched her face. Her suit was gone. She was exposed!
Tali's face resembled that of a human. Pale mov skin. Her irises were white as snow and her head devoid of any hair with two black lines running along her head from the corners of her eyes.
(Nobody really knows what a Quarian looks like. I'm just guessing here.)
She felt something inserted into her nose. Tali looked down. It looked like a nasal cannula to help her breathe, and the tube along it was attached to an oxygen tank next to her bed.
Just what was going on here? How did she go from dying in an escape pod to a hospital room?
"Ahh. You are awake. Good."
Tali turned to her left. She saw that she was not alone in this strange room.
Standing along the wall was an alien creature she had never seen before. It had a tall figure and was covered head to toe in bluish green and golden armor that looks as though it was built from scrap metal. Wrapped around its waist was a red cloth with a strange symbol inscribed into it. The creature had two sets of three fingered arms, and atop its head was a large helmet with a single purple glowing optic on its right side.
The alien slowly approached Tali. It raised all four of its hands to show that it meant no harm. Once it had reached the side of the bed, it pulled up a chair next to it and sat down to meet Tali at eye level.
"Are you well? Do you have any lingering feelings of weakness?" It asked. Its voice was male, deep, and dual toned like a turian's. Though that may have been due to the helmet.
The quarian was hesitant to respond. Her translator was indicating that this alien was speaking in the human tongue. Tali knew some human languages herself, so she could communicate with them.
"I'm… fine…" She answered.
The alien felt relieved. It was genuinely glad that Tali was safe. She had many questions regarding her current situation. Introductions seemed like a good start.
"I am Mithrax. Kell of House Light, and who might you be?"
Looking at the alien skeptically, Tali paused. This alien seemed friendly enough. What was the harm in telling it her name?
"Tali… My name is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy."
Mithrax brought his upper hand to his chest and bowed his head humbly.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, I greet you in the Light." He said politely. "Now, I assume that you are wondering as to where you are exactly?"
She nodded. Mithrax raised his upper right arm to her. There was some sort of gauntlet around it. The deceive powered on and it began to generate a holographic display right before Tali. The display itself was of an escape pod, the one she was residing in perhaps, sitting in the middle of a large cargo bay with multiple insectoid creatures around it, armed with electrified spears. Walking up to the pod was Mithrax himself while urging his forces to stand down.
"You are aboard my Ketch. My people and I found your pod adrift in space, so we made the decision to bring you aboard."
The video then showed Mithrax walking into the escape pod, then re-emerging quickly after, carrying a sick Tali in his upper arms. Her head rested against his armored chest, Tali couldn't help but blush slightly as the video made it look as though she was being carried to safety by some kind of hunky space hero.
"When I pulled you from the pod, I noticed that you were suffering a fever, so I personally brought you to our medical ward, where our healers immediately went to work on your recovery."
The hologram vanished and the Kell placed all four of his hands atop his lap.
"We also took note that you have a highly compromised immune system, so I instructed my healers to prepare a room devoid of any contaminants, and that any personnel step through a decontamination shower before entry."
A clean room? That would explain why Tali wasn't in her armor. With all surfaces scrubbed down to a mirror shine and special air filtration systems in place, these types of rooms make it impossible for any germs to enter, which meant that Tali could safely remove her suit without worry.
"You have my word that you are safe here, Tali'Zorah." Mithrax assured.
His words seemed sincere. A genuine kindness could be heard in his voice. Yet despite Mithrax's show of compassion, Tali felt the need to keep her guard up as she found it highly unlikely that this man would just help her out of the kindness of his heart. Not only did she not know who this Mithrax character was, she also had no idea as to WHAT he was, as she had never seen this type of alien before in her life. It was like when one hitchhikes on the side of the road, only to find out that the person stopping to give you a ride is a serial killer. Or the other way around.
Before Tali could speak however, the door to the decontamination showers opened and in came another insectoid creature. This was much smaller than Mithrax, almost petite, draped head to toe in tattered, hooded robes with a respiratory mask strapped over its face and large recon goggles resting atop its head. Four cyan eyes shone in the darkness of the room. Upon seeing Tali awake, the small insect smiled perked up immediately. It approached Tali and Mithrax casually with a digital notepad in hand.
"She is awake! Thank the Great Machine!"
The smaller creature's voice sounded more feminine, indicating that it was female, and young from her appearance and size. Beneath his mask, Mithrax smiled welcomingly.
"This is Eido. She is a Scribe and Apothecary of my House. As well as my daughter." He introduced. "Eido, this is Tali'Zorah vas Normandy.
Eido reached for Tali's hand and gave her an excited shake. Despite her slim frame, Eido had surprising strength.
"Hello, Tali'Zorah! I greet you in the Light! It is a true pleasure! I'm so relieved that my tonics worked!"
Her sheer cheeriness left Tali agasp. Clearly Eido was not over cautious with meeting new species. She was as friendly as Liara.
"Eido is the one who concocted the tonics and potions needed to purge your body of its infections. Had it not been for her, we may not have been able to save you." Explained the Kell.
Tali blinked. Her view switched from the father to the giddy daughter. "I… I see. Thank you… Eido."
"It was my pleasure, Tali'Zorah. As long as I can help." Replied Eido.
Tali turned back to Mithrax. "How long was I out for?" She asked.
"Several hours, I'm afraid. Thrall claws are riddled with dangerous bacteria and foul magics that cause flesh around the wounds to decay. If left untreated, the infections would spread throughout the body. It was a task, even for Eido and my healers."
Her condition was that bad? She had no idea- Wait. Did Mithrax just say "magic"?
Some time had passed. Once Tali had regained enough strength, she was able to walk outside the clean room. She was accompanied by Mithrax and Eido so that she could traverse the corridors of the large ship without getting lost. Normally, this would be an impossible task, given the damage done to her suit. However, Eido stated that her tonics had tremendously bolstered Tali's immune system temporarily, allowing her to walk outside without it as though she were back on Rannoch. It was so strange for her. To walk through a ship without her suit, dressed only in strange robes and no respirator. The act was bizarre enough already when she first took back her homeworld.
The interior of the Ketch was strange. It was like the entire was made from metal fragments and spare parts found in a junkyard. Tattered and torn sheets of linen decorned the walls around them. Each one had a symbol drawn into them. The same ones Mithrax and Eido had on their robes.
Speaking of the father and daughter. Tali still had no clue as to what species they both were. She thought they resembled the Yahg, a violent pre-space flight race from Parnack, and the species of the original Shadow Broker before Liara. That assumption faded from her thoughts though, as they had yet to, well, kill her. So it was safe to say that they weren't hostile. They also seemed to be breathing in some sort of substance that she could instantly tell was not oxygen. The gas they breathed out looked almost ethereal, and it slightly burned her skin on contact.
They stopped before a door. Mithrax entered a command into his strange gauntlet that resembled an Omni-Tool. The door slid open and the trio walked through.
"Welcome, Tali'Zorah, to the House of Light."
As far as the eye can see, there are more and more insectoid creatures. Many of them were hard at work with several different tasks. From ship maintenance, to terminal operations, to transporting cargo across the hall. There were also several small flying robots hovering around them as well. Like the ship, they were made up of scrap metal. They looked almost Batarian in design.
"You are curious as to what we are, I presume." Mithrax wrapped his lower arms behind his back and proceeded down the steps with Eido. Tali followed.
"We are known as the Eliksni. Our people hail from the Planet Riis."
Riis? Tali knew that planet. It was located in the furthest reaches of the Terminus Systems, almost as far as Rannoch. Like the Yahg, the Eliksni were also pre-space flight… or at least she thought they were. When did they learn to pilot ships?
"Long ago, before my time, our people were forced from our home by a great disaster, and we have traversed a sea of stars ever since."
Passing a group of eliksni working on a strange, spherical robot, they traveled deeper into the bowels of the Ketch. One approached the Kell with a data pad and presented Mithrax with its findings. Mithrax nodded in recognition to the Dreg and the smaller eliksni walked off. Tali noticed how much the Dreg seemed to respect Mithrax. Eido moved closer to the quarian and explained her father's role in the house.
"My father is Kell, the leader of our House. He founded it not very long ago, but we have grown exponentially over such a short period of time thanks to his guidance and wisdom." She spoke.
Tali was surprised. So Mithrax was the 'big cheese' as James would say, around here. He did give off the impression of a leader, almost like Shepard.
"Really?" Tali turned her gaze back to the older eliksni, who had stopped momentarily to speak with a Vandal about something important. The Vandal bowed their head respectfully to their Kell before walking off.
Such recognition reminded Tali of the Admiralty Board of her people, back during the days when the quarian race lived as nomads in the Migrant Fleet, after being exiled from their home planet by the Geth, a robot race of their own creation who turned on them after the quarians tried to wipe them out after deeming the machine race 'too dangerous'.
Passing through another door, Mithrax, Eido, and Tali entere a smaller room that was dimly lit by small lights along the sides of the walls. There were more cloths hanging from the ceiling, but these ones had a different symbol on them than the ones from earlier. They looked like a crudely drawn spider.
"WHAT?! What do you mean she "was" on Europa?!"
A new voice rang in Zorah's ears. It was deep and much cruder than Mithrax's. Speaking of, Mithrax let out a tired sigh when he heard the sudden shout.
Our group turned the corner. Hanging from the ceiling was another eliksni, but this one was different from the others. A Captain, but it had a large and round belly attached to its torso, and it sat in some sort of throne that resembled an arachnid. The large eliksni was sitting upright in its hanging seat and seemingly shouting down at the Wretches below it.
"We had tracked Eramis to Riis-Reborn, but she had managed to evade our scouts and fled offworld on a Hive Tomb Ship. Likely one of Xivu Arath's." The Wretch explained. "We deeply apologize for our failure, Spider."
"Oh, you're sorry? YOU'RE FUCKING SORRY?!" Screamed Spider, waving all four of his arms in the air.
"Rakis!"
Mithrax's aggravated growl caught the attention of the one named Spider. The obese Captain turned over to his associate. His anger suppressed, soon reduced to a more controlled annoyance.
"Hold your mandibles around my daughter, if you would." Ordered the Kell with a sharp edge in his dual toned voice.
Spider snorted and clicked. "My apologies, 'Misraakskel'." He rhetorically replied. The larger alien laid back in his hanging throne. In his hand, a small vacant Ghost shell. He fidgeted with the tiny shell in his hands, twisting its body as though it were a rubix cube. Spider's gaze then switched to Tali. His eyes looked the quarian up and down, visually recording her slender and alluring figure. A low and intrigued growl reverberated from within his throat.
"Ooh. And just who's THIS little night rose? Your little stowaway, I assume?"
The large eliksni let out a sensual purr from beneath his mask. Tali shot a venomous glare at Spider and crossed her arms.
"Someone who won't hesitate to pump you full of holes if you try so much as a handshake, ax'kah." The quarian warned.
Spider let out a low chuckle. "My my. This rose has thorns. I like that."
One of his right hands reached for the data pad laying on his armrest. Spider handed the pad down to Mithrax, who took hold of it and examined its display.
"Moving on. My scouts just returned from Europa. They found trace activity indicating that our little ice queen decided to stop by her happy little home."
Mithrax flipped through the pages on the digital display. He examined the images closely, reading over the strange language inscribed in the text beside it. Tali assumed it was his native tongue. Mithrax handed off the device to one of the Wretches beside him and turned back to Spider.
"Why return to Europa, where her empire crumbled? Nothing remains for her there." He wondered aloud.
"Beats me. Supplies? Maybe scavenging what technology she can find from the old BrayTech facilities. Who knows." Replied Spider, shrugging his shoulders.
"Perhaps Ikora may know more." Eido assumed. "Her Hidden have been gathering much information regarding Eramiskel's activities."
Mithrax pondered in his thoughts. Tali looked up at him curiously. She wondered who this 'Eramiskel' was. A fugitive, maybe? The Kell snapped out of his thoughts after a few seconds.
"I will speak with her when she is available. We are finished here."
Mithrax turned to the door at the left of the room and walked towards it. Eido followed close by, as did Tali. Spider gave the quarian a flirtatious wink as she started moving. Tali felt her entire body shiver with disgust. The thought of someone that gross hitting on her was enough to make anyone throw their guts up.
The three of them continued their ways through the halls of the ship. They passed through one more doorway and now found themselves on the main outer deck. Eido told Tali that the ship was surrounded by a life support field that kept their oxygen supply sealed within the confines of the Ketch. This allows the passengers to walk along the exterior of the vessel without the need of a spacesuit. This impressed Tali. The Citadel possessed the same kind of technology, which is how it is able to sustain the lives of its inhabitants. The Alliance had been working tirelessly to replicate this technology for ships, failing repeatedly, if she could recall.
Tali looked up at the surrounding space beyond the ship. The stars above her. She recognized them. These were the consolations found within the Sol System. She was still in Sol?
"Uh, Mithrax… Where exactly are we?" Tali asked nervously. "Because I need to get in contact with my friends and make sure that they're okay."
Mithrax slowed his pace. His gaze shifted to the robed quarian next to him.
"Ah yes, the tale of how you ended up in that escape pod with a dead Thrall slipped my mind. I will inform you of our location, but I would prefer to hear your story first."
So she did. Tali explained to Mithrax how her ship was attacked out of the blue by the Hive. How she nearly died trying to escape and was separated from the rest of her crew. Tali stated that she had no idea as to where the ship was or where she drifted off to in her pod since she fell unconscious after blasting that Thrall. She was worried for their safety. He could see it in her eyes.
"I see." A hand was gently rested atop Tali's shoulder in a comforting fashion. "Well then, you have my word that we will find your allies and ensure their safety. This I promise, Tali'Zorah."
Mithrax looked down at Tali. Even with his mask covering his face, Tali could tell there was great sympathy in his eyes. Her own hand gently rested on his own. She smiled.
"Thank you, Mithraxkel. I appreciate that. And please, call me Tali."
"Very well. So long as you refer to me as just Mithrax."
Eido couldn't help but roll all four of her eyes in amusement. Mithrax's focus shifted over to his daughter on his opposite side. He shot her a questioning look. She replied with a simple "Oh nothing."
Finally, they had reached the edge of the deck. Mithrax wrapped his arm around his daughter, pulling her close to him, while Tali felt herself overcome by a wave of shock so powerful that she believed that she was still dreaming. Before her was Earth, but not the Earth she knew. Gone was the Citadel, replaced by a vast white, gargantuan spherical object hovering just above the planet's surface. There were no Alliance dreadnaughts, no patrol vessels. All around the planet were destroyed satellites and derelict ships. Some looked human, others were more alien. Tali was unfamiliar with their design, indicating that they belonged to a species she had no knowledge of.
"Keelah se'lai…" Tali gasped.
"Might I ask what that phrase means?" Asked Mithrax.
"It means, "By the homeworld I hope to see someday."."
And given the circumstances, a homeworld that she may never see again.