I apologize for the long delay, there has been a few things going on in my life, like moving back to Germany from Spain, getting all the paperwork done (taxes, opening a new business, bla bla) and soon after moving into a new appartment as my shared flat didn't quite work out with my roommate. Anyway, as a compensation, enjoy this extra-long chapter.

A few days ago – Haestrom

"So much space... Walls of stone... It's amazing... I wish my friends could see it... I wish Shepard were here..." the Quarian engineer turned off the recording function of her omni tool and let out a sigh. The last words hung in her stomach like a rock. This place was beautiful, had it not been for the deadly solar radiation... And her recent, rather unusual, encounter with her presumed-dead love.

Haestrom was an old Quarian colony, way before the days when everything went bottoms up and the Geth drove their creators away. Nowadays it is one of the last remaining colonies that weren't occupied by the Geth and were accessible without having to travel through a big unexplored expanse of deep space.

The sight was breathtaking. The big buildings that were built into the mountains stood there for centuries without maintenance, yet looked pristine like the day their creators had left them. Thick and stable pillars and walls, reaching out from the solid rock like a sleeping behemoth, seemingly integrating with their surroundings, it was one of the last remnants that showed just how great the Quarian civilization once was. It was truly a sight to behold.

A three-fingered had took grip of the young engineers shoulder and a strong and confident voice spoke to her "You will see the Commander soon enough, Ma'am, I am sure of it". Tali followed the hand to Kal'Reegar, a fellow Quarian marine that led the security arrangements for Tali'Zorah while investigating the local solar systems sun. "Right now wouldn't be soon enough, Kal. But thank you..." she took a deep breath and then turned to the marine "And how often do I have to tell you to call me Tali?" Kal'Reegar changed into a straight up military posture, crossing his hands behind his back "I will work on that, ma'am"

While the Quarian marine went back to do his rounds, the engineer quietly said to herself "At least I know he is still alive..." and went back to work.

Present time, Mess Hall

"Someone in there?" the Turian said, knocking on Tali's helmet. "Ow!" the Quarian replied scowling "Just making sure, you can't always tell with those tinted masks" the Turian said with a smirk that looked rather awkward with his mandibles "Welcome back to reality Miss Vas Shepard". The Quarian shook her head into the direction of the Turian, and he could swear that she stuck her tongue out just then . "That's not how our names work... Besides, we can't even get married under Quarian law".

The thought of that saddened Tali, but the Turian made a habit out of teasing her, and with that material how could he not? "Marriage? Who was talking about marriage?"

The Quarian grumbled.

At the same time, on the CIC deck, Commander Shepard was in a conference with the Citadel Council, updating them on the occurrences of the past weeks.

"... and with this new information attached to this communication, which we got from a Geth platform, I am now on my way to the Quarian fleet in hopes that the Quarian people might have a new chance of returning to their home planet."

There was a silence while the councillors reviewed the information they had just received. After the Turian councillor reviewed the data he immediately broke the silence in a condescending tone "Commander, first of all, thank you for this information. However, this information is very sensitive and council regulations demand that you cannot just give this information to the..." but before he could finish, the Commander interrupted him in an equally condescending tone "With all due respect Councillor, but I sent you this information as a courtesy. I don't work for you, or the council. The Quarian people have a right to receive this information, and it is my moral duty to give it to them." "Working for the council or not, you are in council space AND you are subject to OUR LAWS! I will not let you simply take sensitive tactical intelligence to a non-council race!" the councillor shouted, if he had veins in his forehead, they would have popped by now "Try and stop me!" the Commander replied calmly, however this only made the councillor even angrier.

Before either side could continue the shouting match, the Asari councillor stepped in, desperately trying to defuse this situation "Councillor, Commander. Please let us discuss this in a civilized manner" she waited a second to see if there were any more outbursts before she continued in a calm voice "I would like to offer a compromise for both sides." She turned to Shepard "Commander, please do not yet relay this information to the Quarians, give us some time to think and we will get back to you with an official response, after we" she now turned her head to the Turian councillor "discuss this issue before we jump to any hasty conclusions"

These Asari have a gift for diplomacy. Their soothing voices and their physical appearance that appealed to all universal species made it easy for them to appease to everyone, and swiftly defuse tense situations in favour of diplomacy. The same applied here. After a few seconds of deliberation, Shepard spoke up "You have until I reach the Quarian fleet. But make no mistake, I will relay this information regardless of your decision" and with that, he cut his connection.

God, how he hated politics... The bloody mess of fine speech, deception and backstabbing. Personally he preferred to simply enter a room and perform 'aggressive negotiations', which worked out much better for him. He was a soldier after all. He left the conference room and headed for the cockpit to instruct Joker to set a course for the Quarian fleet. He already knew the councils answer, and he was sure that the Asari compromise was just a plan in order to figure out how they could stop him before he reached the Quarians. Time was of the essence and he wasn't about to waste any, not when it was about Tali's home.

On his way, the familiar blue orb popped out to talk to the Commander "Shepard, statistical probability indicates that defeating an incoming invasion by the Reapers will not succeed unless we have the full support of all the council races. I am afraid that your decision to anger them, might not have been a sound tactical plan."

The Commander made a very annoyed face before he reached out to disable the hologram, "Oh just shut up!"