Suprise :D I got ya'll new chapter.
Buying new computer was postponed for who knows when : but I want Mass Effect: Andromeda sooo much ;_; this makes me soooo sad.
At least I can play Mass Effect Trilogy ;) and write this fic.
Enjoy!
xXx
Checking on the ground teams that had come back to the Normandy, took Nihlus some time. It had been almost two hours since he and the Vakarian's had returned to look over the data with Mordin and report back to the Citadel. Soon all surviving mercs had been eliminated and the facility was now empty. Almost, as one of his team had found 6 salarians from STG in the prison cells. Jack and Rolan also captured scientists and put them in the brig. They would be interrogated soon - Wrex couldn't wait for that. He already was eager to snap each bone in their weak fingers. Nihlus had to order him to calm down and take care of Tali. She also helped, almost dragging him to their room.
Captain Kirrahe and his men were located in the empty crew rooms. The Normandy became more crowded and Nihlus had to admit that it was nice to have a bit more crew - he needed to see to that in the future.
When everyone was checked on in the ship, he went from the cargo deck up to the med-bay. Except Kasumi, who was now lying under the medical scanner. Shakria had treated her few minor injuries. Nothing fatal - and that was a success for Nihlus, considering the scale of the mission. "How is she?"
"Lt. Goto will be suspended for at least 3 weeks. Nanobots are already working on the skull and ribs." The turian doctor said as she patted Tarquin on the arm. "You are free to go, Lt. Next time try not to engage in hand-to-hand combat with a krogan, please."
"Yes, ma'am." Victus saluted and left the med-bay.
"Does she need any better medical treatment or can you handle it here?" Nihlus approached the sleeping human woman, now without her usual hood. She had dark rings under her eyes and was a bit pale - well, she was always pale but now even more so.
"No, with all the new stuff here you got me, I can treat her onboard." Shakria glimpsed over at the human then sat in front of the computer. "I'll send you a report soon."
"Thanks." He replied and turned to leave, passing Shepard as he was leaving. "Jane, she's sleeping and stable. Ask our nice doc about the details."
"Thanks, Nihlus." Jane patted him on the shoulder as she was passing him.
The turian left the med-bay and went to his quarters to check on all the reports. Almost all the reports were rather short and mainly about the combat. Those more interesting were from Jane's squad. And Mordin - at least his initial report. For a full one he would have to wait. He was finishing reading Rolan's report when a ping at the door interrupted him. The VI announced Jane and Captain Kirrahe.
"Open." He ordered the VI, the door swooshed and his guests came in.
"Captain wanted to speak to us." Jane came in and sat by the round table in the center of his quarters, sporting a mug with a hot beverage in her hand.
"Spectre." The salarian dipped his head. Nihlus gestured at the table, the Captain nodded and sat down.
The turian stood up from his place and sat by the table. "What about your hubby?"
"He has the deck now." She said while blowing at the steam coming from her mug. "I'll pass along whatever we discuss here."
Kryik nodded in acknowledgment. He turned to Kirrahe, feeling that reading all the reports had made him tired. "What can I help you with, Captain?"
"I need to speak to you, Spectres." The salarian started with a serious tone. Somehow Nihlus knew where that would lead. "Off the record, of course."
"Yes?" He asked eyeing Jane. The woman raised her brows in anticipation, she also knew what the conversation would be about.
"I have this feeling that your mission…" Kirrahe scratched his neck nervously. Darting his eyes from Jane to Nihlus. "Your mission is to cure the genophage."
"Oh…" Jane just said and blowed onto her mug again.
"Captain." Kryik began and he could feel how tired and sleepy he was. Trying hard to not to get annoyed. "What we're doing here is important and will save us doing missions like this in the future. Of course it's highly classified so I will know if you or anyone from STG spilled any info about it. You will be charged with treason." The turian didn't bother to muster any sign of threat in his voice. His voice was as casual as if he were talking about the latest elcor play.
"Yes, I understand." The salarian nodded eagerly. "No one from my team suspects anything anyway."
"Good."
"I just wanted to make sure."
"Sometimes ignorance is a bliss." Jane said behind her mug. "I'd live a happy life without seeing these facilities."
"Not the first time, huh?"
"Yeah, humans had the same shitholes." Jane sighed and looked at the salarian. "What I can't understand is… why the salarians and turians did it to krogans."
"At the time they considered it the best idea." The salarian stood up. "Thank you for clearing the air. I won't say anything, trust me. I have too many problems anyway." He dipped his head, saluting and left.
"You look shitty, Nihlus, go to sleep. You take the deck in 6 hours." Shepard stood up, scratched his nose plates playfully, making them twitch. "I'm going to hit the hay too."
"Okaaay, mom." He said and did as he was told to, falling in his bed powerless. "Goodnight."
Jane smiled at her friend, turning the light off. "Night, night."
xXx
Garrus was dead tired. He could barely stand when he entered the elevator. Jane was curled up on the bed, sleeping. Her face was tense, he could see it even in the dimmed light of their turian quickly changed into his sleeping shorts and slipped under the covers, taking the tiny woman into his arms. She visibly relaxed. That woman… The turian inhaled her scent and smiled to himself, soon he was fast asleep.
But Jane slept only two hours more, waking up nestled in the hot arms of her husband. Garrus only mumbled something when she extracted herself from his arms. She looked up through the window, it was still dark. She checked on the data-pad, it was still 3 hours till dawn. And her shift would start in 6 hours.
The woman changed into her favourite Alliance casuals and decided that coffee was a must. A quick ride two decks down and she was on the crew deck. She headed to the kitchen, passing the mess hall. With a still groggy voice, she greeted the crew that was currently off duty. Vega was sitting with Kasumi and the green skinned asari, Shiala. At the second table was the drell Krios, explaining his religious beliefs to Ashley. To Jane's surprise, because she knew damn well Ash was nervous around aliens - after all she was really religious and it was hard for her to learn that there were aliens in the galaxy.
Shepard was waiting for her coffee, leaning on the kitchen counter, when Nihlus came down to the mess hall and straight to her. "Good morning, Jane."
"Hi."
"Come to my office when you get your coffee."
The woman waited just a few moments more when the coffee maker made her a mug full of the delicious hot beverage - she was grateful to Nihlus that he installed it on the Normandy. She waved playfully to Vega and Kas who smiled at her and then entered Nihlus' quarters. "What's up?"
"Tali and Wrex just returned from the facility." Nihlus said looking at his datapad. "She reprogrammed the security protocols, patrol drones and cameras so we have access and full control over it."
"That's good."
"So now we will take Garrus and Mordin and we will find every piece of evidence and data not stored in the central databank." The turian stood up and paced around the room. Coming up with a plan for the next couple of days. "I want us to work hard and purge that place as fast as possible."
"Hate to be here, or do you expect a recon team?"
"Both." His mandibles twitched, he sighed heavily. With the amount of data they would have to decode, they had work to do for the next few months. "This one is big, the biggest we've taken out. A lot of creds were spend on it. We have to expect someone will show up sooner or later. But, I already have my security protocols running on the mass relay and nearby satellites and comm-buoys. No one will pass by without us knowing it first."
"Good. So when do you want to leave?"
"In five hours. Go get some more shut-eye, or rest... because it's going to be a long day."
"Aye aye."
xXx
"Spirits..." Garrus left the hall full of tanks containing clones, hybrids and mutants, clearly disgusted. Jane was sure that he would have been pure white if he was human. "That's the most sick and disgusting thing I've seen in my life."
Jane patted him on the arm. "There, there, Big Guy. First time is the worst."
"Thanks…" He replied with clear disgust. "To think there are more of these places across the galaxy."
"And it's nearly impossible to wipe 'em out." Shepard said while looking for the last time inside the storage hall. "Let's go, Mordin and Nihlus are coming." The Vakarian's went to where Mordin and Nihlus were. The salarian peeked through the window to see a dead krogan female.
"Let's start here." All four of them entered the cell, but only Mordin approached the body. He scanned it with his omni-tool. "Dead krogan. Female. Tumors indicate experimentation. No restraint marks. Volunteer."
"She volunteered for that?!" Garrus was shocked to the core. Being abducted and experimented on - that was a common thing, but willingly giving yourself like that, was unheard of.
"Welcome to our sick world." Nihlus just said that, his voice so flat and tired.
Meanwhile Mordin was still talking to mostly himself. "Sterile Wyrlock female…
"Wyrlock?" Jane whispered to Kryik.
"One of the krogan clans."
"Oh." Jane only nodded, turning to Mordin again.
"... willing to risk procedure. Hoped for cure. Pointless." The salarian hung his head, looking at the krogan with hurt in his eyes. "Pointless waste of life. Never wanted this. Can see it logically… but still unnecessary. Foolish waste of life. Hate to see it." The silence weighed heavily in that single cell. Like a dark veil falling upon them. After some time, Mordin finished his scanning. "Rest, young mother. Find your god. Find someplace better."
"Come on, doc." Nihlus stepped toward the kneeling salarian, putting a hand on his shoulder. "We have to move."
"Yes." Professor Solus stood up and they went to check on all the other krogan females. Each in a similar state. Different experiments were conducted, yet all of them proved to be fatal. "Nine females. None of them survived. Experiments performed here… unethical."
"Let's go, Mordin."
Nihlus turned on his heel and left the room, Jane and Garrus after him. Only the salarian hesitated. He looked one last time at the female's body, now lying lifeless on the cot. He wanted to justify the genophage for so long, but the first time he saw a krogan female tortured and experimented on, something broke in him. He realised his mistakes, and now, after dozens more facilities were stumbled upon at first with STG and now with Kryik - Mordin was certain that the genophage had to be cured. He was glad that the Council saw his reasons, that it agreed for the cure. Despite what the salarian Dalatrass would have to say about the matter.
All four of them began searching for any new evidence. Each of them scanned data pads, consoles and papers scattered around. Checking the integrity with data already copied to the Normandy. It was slow work but had to be done - no evidence could be omitted.
"Where are they?" Wrex entered the lab where Jane and Nihlus where checking on some papers.
"Wrex, you shouldn't…"
"Don't tell me what I should and what I shouldn't do, Nihlus." Wrex snarled at his friend. "I want to see them."
"Past those labs, you will find a corridor at the back of the main lab." Kryik gestured toward the room on the right."
A few minutes passed when they could hear a loud roar from afar. Jane and Nihlus exchanged worried looks. Just seconds later, the angry krogan rushed outside, passing them on the way. "Will he be alright?"
Nihlus shrugged. "Same as always. It gets him every damn time."
"I understand."
"No, you don't. No one does." Kryik said. "Not you, not me, not even Mordin. No one. He's hundreds of years old. Saw shit straight from nightmares. He saw what the genophage did to his people from day one. Hell, he lost 50 children... I really tried to understand him but no other species in the entire galaxy was almost sterilized. At first he gave up on his people. He became a merc… and was a merc for a long, long time. Wrex would still be merc but Tali changed him."
"How?"
"She almost killed the guy. Then we met, he saved my ass and we became friends..."
"Wait, wait! You're kidding me, Nihlus…"
"No, he's not." Garrus entered the branch lab. "Mordin is reading some messages, he wanted you to read it." He said to Kryik. "Go and I'll take your place here."
"Be good, kids." Nihlus warned them, grinning. "Don't do anything I wouldn't do."
"Idiot. Go." Garrus pushed him to the doors. He approached Jane and leaned to touch his head with hers. "How are things?"
"So far nothing new or of importance." Shepard smiled a bit. "So tell me the story."
"It was on Therum. Spirits it was so hot there…"
"That's new… you're complaining about the temperature? Of all… people?"
"If molten lava is involved then yes, I do." The turian hissed at the mere memory of the heat blowing straight in his face. "So, my platoon assisted Nihlus on Therum."
"Wait, wait!" Shepard interrupted again. "Therum… Liara said she was at a dig site on Therum."
"Really?"
"And that it was attacked…"
"Maybe she was one of the archeologists. I don't really know, I never reached the dig site." Garrus thought for a moment, scanning the datapad that Jane put in his hands. "My platoon was sent to assist Nihlus on his mission wh-..."
"But, wait..." Jane stopped him yet again. The turian sighed in annoyance, he didn't like to be interrupted. "How did those two meet? And why did Tali want to kill Wrex?"
"Because he wanted to steal my ship." The quarian entered the lab, looking around. "Wrex lost it again, and I don't want to take care of it right now… or ever."
"Hi, Tali'Zorah." The human greeted the sudden intruder. She felt a bit embarrassed about talking about Tali when she showed up. "Sorry that we're talking about you…"
"It's okay. We haven't had much time to get to know each other." The suited woman came closer to Jane and Garrus, watching as they were scrolling through the messages and comparing them with the data on the Normandy. "Nihlus pinged me to come here and help. Just point me where to begin and I can share my story… because, Commander, I know a lot about you. And I already know Garrus."
"Nihlus?"
"Nihlus." The quarian started to laugh. "At first I thought he had fallen in love with you… but then Josephine came into his life and he talked mostly about her. But let me start the story…"
xXx
It was an important mission for Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch - it wasn't everyday that the Admiralty Board gives you a solo task. None of the dangerous sort, no, but crucial for Quarian-Council relations. Her species wasn't welcome in Council space. Scarce amounts of quarians ever managed to leave the Terminus system to roam the other side of the galaxy.
Tali looked at her guardian, her own geth - Legion. He was her protector from the day she was born, always keeping an eye on her… his one funny glowing eye - well, technically a camera but she always thought of him as more of an organic than machine. She knew that the Council was against the geth, only because of the rogue faction of them. She wanted to clear the air, explain why they had left Rannoch and why they had turned against everyone.
"Creator Tali, we're in comm-range of the Citadel." Legion announced with his mechanical voice. It snapped her from her musings. "Should I request a spot in the docking bay?"
"No, I'll handle it." Tali smiled at her geth. This was her task and she wanted to see it through. "Citadel control, this is Ayanee from Rannoch, are we clear to descend?"
[ This is Citadel Docking Control, Ayanee permission granted. Dock E-11. ] A turian voice sounded from the speaker. [ Please be advised that you will have to pass through dock security to enter the Citadel. Council orders. ]
"Understood. Ayanee out." Tali severed the connection and growled nervously. "Those bosh'tets, treat us like some evil scientists! Because we created you. If they knew how sweet you are, Legion…"
"Creator Tali, we wish not to undermine your mission." Legion said, looking at his creator and waving the plates on his 'head'.
"You won't. After all I want to show them that your kind is not harmful." At least she hoped she would be able to do so. Quarians had tried to persuade the Council that the geth weren't a threat to anyone, that, although they were machines, they were AI that was capable of learning, deciding for themselves and that they had peacefully coexisted with their creators for almost 3 centuries.
While Legion was supervising docking on the Citadel, the woman went to her quarters to change into her environmental suit. Rannoch was so clean, pathogenic microbes were comparatively rare outside the biosphere, that's why the quarians' immune systems were rather weak. They knew that outside of Rannoch, they had to wear suits. Only their ships had a sterile environment to make leaving the planet possible.
She sealed her helmet and headed to the cockpit again. Seeing the Citadel in front of her for the very first time. The woman felt a bit nervous. "Ugh…"
"Creator Tali, your heartbeat is elevated. You are under heavy stress. We suggest that you calm down." Legion turned his long head toward her, cocking it to the side like he was curious of something.
"Don't worry. I'm just stressed." She tried to assure both the geth and herself. But she couldn't calm herself, she knew that her mission was too important. "The Admiralty Board really wants quarians to be a part of the galactic community, not restricted just to Rannoch."
"Is Rannoch bad?"
"I told you it's not. That's not the point." Tali sighed and shook her head. She knew that Admiralty reasons were hard to comprehend by geth. They didn't care about colonising new planets or going somewhere driven by mere curiosity. They had all they needed on Rannoch and with the quarian colonies. "We want to travel around the whole galaxy, not just Terminus."
"If that's important for Creator Tali, it's important for us." Legion simply nodded. That's what she adored about him, he didn't question her choices. He just calculated them and could sometimes suggest a better approach or a different way to finish with the same result.
They docked at the designated dock and Tali went with Legion to the airlock. After a moment of depressurising the small space, the airlock finally opened and they left the ship just to be stopped by a turian and an asari officer. As Tali could only guess - they were C-Sec officers, judging by their blue armour. "Freeze! You're not authorized to bring AI to the Citadel."
"Legion is my guardian. He is not armed, he just takes care of me." Tali tried to oppose but when she saw the turian pointing a weapon at Legion and the flare of biotics, she knew it was hopeless. "Ehh, fine. Legion please wait for me inside."
"But I was told by Creator Admiral Raan and Creator Admiral Zorah to…"
"I know what you were told but the situation changed." Tali said firmly.
"Acknowledged. This unit will remain on the ship." The geth turned around and entered the ship again.
Tali turned to the officers with mixed feelings. On one hand she felt a bit unsecured. Legion was always her silent, or not, follower. But on the other hand she saw the officers visibly relax. Why they were so scared? "I have an appointed meeting with the Councillors."
"Yes. Cab is waiting, Ms. Zorah." The asari checked her omni-tool and nodded. "Just please pass by the counter and show your ID to travel control. Have a nice day."
The quarian followed them up to the counter. All was finalized quickly and she was escorted to a cab by a turian concierge. 20 minutes later she was sitting in the Council Tower in one of the many offices. Just a few moments later a turian, an asari, and a salarian came inside. Tali stood up quickly and showed her respect by bowing slightly. "Councillors."
" 'Zorah vas Rannoch, yes?" The asari smiled at the quarian and gestured toward the doors. "Let's move to the meeting room." All four of them went to the other part of the office, with a large glass table and a breathtaking view at the Citadel. Everything was white and glass.
"Tell us, Ms. Zorah, what is it that the Quarian Conclave and Admiralty Board wants from us?" The turian asked politely but Tali could swear he was tired and wanted to go home. He tried to mask it with manners yet she was good at reading people and situations. That's why she was sent after all.
"As it was already written in the formal application, we want to become part of the galactic and Council community. You're ban had really staggered our economy and development." Tali explained, showing charts on her omni-tool. "We just want permission to travel, trade and settle within Council space."
"What about the geth?" The salarian asked plainly. "I'm fairly certain you know, miss, that Council Law no. 231, paragraph 31, states that no AI is allowed in Council space."
"Yes, I understand but it's…"
"We cannot allow the past to be repeated, Miss Zorah." The salarian stood up. "My species knows first hand what an unshackled AI can do…
"That was a thousand years ago, Councillor." Tali stated. "The geth are different."
"Are they?" The turian asked. "What about the rogue geth attacking our trading vessels?"
"They were…"
"We don't care why they started it, Miss Zorah." The asari raised her hand in a elegant way, silencing the quarian woman. "The quarian people need to take care of this problem."
"Problem?!" Tali stood up, so mad - she wanted to explode, taking those idiots with her. "You don't know them! You haven't see what they've managed to do along with us on Rannoch! Our plants flourish, it's so clean that it's hard to catch a cold lately. They guard our children, they brainstorm with our scientists. We gave them a chance and didn't regret it even for a second. And that rouge fac-..."
"This meeting is adjourned." The asari said, then looked down at her omni-tool. "Until the quarians meet with our terms, we won't allow anything. We will send an official reply to the Admiralty Board and Conclave. This is all. Good day." The three councillors stood up, not saying anything more.
Tali was escorted to the docking bay, feeling bad, and guilty, and angry. She couldn't even explain anything! "Biased bastards." She muttered now and then. The quarian was so preoccupied that she didn't see the fuss on the docking bay. She passed the travel control once again and entered her ship.
"Creator Tali?"
"Those bosh'tets!" She screamed in the confinement of her ship. "Those braindead bosh'tets!"
"Creator, those words are restricted for use…" Legion was standing up, just moments ago still in offline mode. "Creator I sense so-"
"Don't talk to me right now, Legion. I'm mad." She said and sat in the cockpit. "Citadel Docking Bay Control, Ayanee requesting permission to take off."
[ Citadel Docking Bay Control, permission granted. ] This time it was a salarian voice that sounded through the speakers. [ Have a safe flight. ]
"Thank you." She said and severed the connection, she felt the clamps of the docking bridge unlock and the second she was free to take, off she was flying away. "Never again. Fuck Citadel space and the idiots that live here."
"Creator Tali we nee-..." Legion again wanted to say something. But she hushed him again.
They flew toward the mass relay and the second she passed it she knew something was wrong. The ship's mass changed. "Legion! What's going on?"
"Male krogan boarded the ship while I was offline, Creator Tali." Legion stated. "He's hiding in the holding area downstairs. His breath pattern and brain waves indicate he's… sleeping."
"What the…" Tali stood up and put her mask on again. She knew she would get sick anyway. The woman approached a hidden shelf for her reliable shotgun. "Yes, good to have you in my hands, baby." Almost lovingly she caressed the gun. "What do you suggest?"
"We have concluded the two best ways of dealing with a male krogan, Creator Tali." Legion said while they were going down to the cargo bay. "First: we can trap him in a mass effect field, but it will reduce our fuel supply. Or second: vent out all the air."
"I like the second option better, Legion." She said with a mischievous smile on her lips. No one could see it though. "Start the procedure and I'll wake him up."
"Understood. Venting air started."
Tali saw the bloodied body of a krogan lying on the floor. The mix of blood colours suggested that he had fought hard against turians, asari and salarians. She saw both purple and blue, and salarian yellowish-green too. "You said his vitals were stable?"
"Yes. Krogans regenerate fast. He already healed his major wounds."
While there were talking, the trespasser had started to wake up. It didn't take long before he was on his feet but instantly he realised something was off. The krogan gasped for air but the venting process was already at 65%. "What did you do?" He growled.
"I should be the one to ask that, krogan!" Tali pointed at him accusingly. "You broke into MY ship!"
"I… I didn't know. I just wanted to rest somewhere for awhile, hide." He said and again gasped for air, vented at almost 80%. "Please…" The krogan said with a wheezing hoarse voice. "I'll do anything."
"Reverse vent procedure, Legion." Tali ordered. "But one funny thing, krogan, and I'll start it over again. Faster, this time."
The krogan fell to his knees, weak and beaten. "I promise, you have my word."
"I've heard that the word of a krogan is worth shit." She said as she went to fetch some medi-gel and other medical supplies. "Strip off that armor. We need to patch you up."
With a grunt, the krogan took off his armour and sat on the bench. Multiple scars on his arms and torso indicated he wasn't new to a good fight. "Thank you, quarian."
"I have a name."
"Me too." Tali narrowed her eyes at the krogan. She waited till he grunted again and rolled his eyes. "My name is Wrex. Urdnot Wrex."
"Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch." She said, taking his arm in a harsh manner. The woman looked at it from one side then from the other and started to apply medi-gel. "You are lucky I have levo medi-gel."
"I would heal anyway." Even so, he quietly left her to tend to his wounds, grunting in pain from time to time. "Thank you, Miss Zorah."
"Before you thank me, better tell me why I shouldn't give you to the first turian patrol I see?" She said, folding her arms and leaning on one leg. Her nice curves all visible.
Wrex had to say she was a pleasant sight. He was bored with asari anyway. "Because I didn't do anything wrong. C-Sec usually take me for a little chit-chat every time I show myself on the Citadel. But today they accused me of killing some idiots. I wasn't on the Citadel at that time. I just got in and they already were jumping on me."
"You know, you don't look innocent at all."
"I get that a lot…"
"Creator Tali, I got the signal."
"Where are they?"
"One ship in Hades Gamma." The geth reported and went upstairs.
"If you want to leave the ship somewhere then say so. I've got a job to do." Tali turned again to Wrex. "Or if you're in for some fight then you're welcome to stay."
"You want to trust me?"
"You gave me your word. And you can end up with no air your lungs." Tali said while walking toward the stairs. "I think I have the upper hand." She sat in the cockpit and scrolled through the data Legion had gotten. "One ship? Where is the rest?"
"We don't know."
"You sure they are geth?"
"Positive."
"If you say so… let's investigate it." Tali moved her hand to the steering console and plotted a course toward the Hades Gamma cluster. She was in the Exodus Cluster so it was only one jump away.
Meanwhile Wrex came up, still out of his armour. His arms and chest patched up. "So what is the job you're talking about? And what will I get from it?"
"We want to find a rouge geth ship." She said casually, raising Wrex's interest. "Whatever you loot is yours."
"And what if there isn't anything worthy?"
"Life is a gamble." The woman replied shortly, not even looking at him.
Wrex had to say that this girl was really interesting. He liked women with a temper. Just like… no it wasn't time to dwell on the past. "I'm in, Miss Zorah."
"Tali is fine." Again she didn't bother to look at him. "Legion, control everything. I'll go take some antibiotics." She stood up and went down stairs again.
The quarian went to the medical supply shelf and took up a pack of antibiotics. She took off her mask and environmental suit. Sighing, she injected the medication. She knew that a mild fever and shitty days awaited her thus it would be better is she finished quick. "Legion, connect me with Admiral Rael'Zorah."
[ Acknowledged. ]
Tali sat behind the desk and waited till her father's face lit up on the console. They talked for a moment. She reported what had happened on the citadel and that she had located one of the rouge geth ships. "I'll be on Rannoch in two weeks I suppose."
[ Good, be careful, child. Let Legion handle the job. ]
"I know dad, Tali out." The woman leaned on the chair, regarding the ceiling. It would take, best case scenario, 6 hours to locate the ship, in the worst, 20. She hoped Legion would do his job fast and she hoped they would locate all the remaining ships. Her thoughts were interrupted by the krogan. She almost jump in fear.
"So you want to hunt those rogue geth you quarians sent to Citadel space?"
"We didn't send them." She said and turned her face to the krogan. "They were… You know what I'm done with explaining this shit!"
Wrex looked at the girl without the mask on her face. She looked like a goddess to him. "Wow, you are beautiful sight."
"What?!"
"You are beautiful."
"That doesn't have anything to do with what we're talking about." The woman said, flustered, feeling blush creeping up on her neck, up toward her cheeks. "All you council species are the same…"
"No, we're not." The krogan said firmly. "I'll help you, Tali, because something so beautiful shouldn't go alone on a risky mission."
"I don't understand you."
"You don't have to."
They didn't talk much for the next 7 hours while the ship jumped through the relay and located the ship. The geth ship didn't emit any signal but Legion could find it anyway. Wrex approached Tali and her geth guardian, looking through the window. "Why aren't they attacking? They should've spotted us through the window long ago."
"Geth ships don't have windows." Tali said as though it was so obvious.
"Why?"
"Structural weakness." Legion explained.
Tali, Wrex and Legion boarded the ship. Legion guided him to the central data bank, which stored part of the rogue geth software. Before the rogue faction could counteract Legion and Tali's hacking, their program was rewritten to its original state. Tali also added tough firewalls to block all attempts for those geth to revert. "Summon standard unit." She ordered.
Moments later, a standard geth unit was standing in front of her.
"Creator Tali'Zorah." He dipped his metal head.
"Take this vessel and return to Rannoch." She ordered. "Do not engage with any other ships. Report to Admiral Raan then return to the consensus."
"Affirmative."
When everything was done, Tali turned to Wrex, who had taken a tour around the ship. "See, nothing risky."
"I didn't know, still, better to be safe than sorry." Wrex said, winking at Tali. She hissed at him in return. "I found some weapons, mods and supplies that we can take with us. And prothean tech too."
"Prothean tech?"
"Yeah." He waved at her to follow him. They went down to the geth ship's cargo hold and inside Wrex guided her to four different containers. "They are from different ships."
"I see…" Tali picked up data pads from the containers. Inside there really was Prothean relics and tech. "Geth don't need supplies… they were after those…"
"This tech is illegal. Only certified teams of archaeologists can dig out Prothean ruins and own artifacts." Wrex said but only got a hiss in reply.
"I know, wise-ass. I may live on Rannoch but I know Council Law." She growled. "We have access to Galactic News."
"You are really sexy when you are angry like that." Wrex said and started to laugh. He turned around and left the cargo bay.
"Wha…? She regarded the vanishing back of the krogan, trying to understand what had just happened. After a moment she concluded that he was making a joke of her. "Legion, call some prime units here."
xXx
"That's how we met." Tali ended her story as well as the inspection of the lab. "It was… 6 years ago. Time sure flies fast…"
"It does…" Garrus said, turning to Jane. "You need to hear how I met those two."
"That was fun!" Tali snorted. "We saved Nihlus' retarded ass."
"So I've heard." Jane laughed in unison with Zorah.
"I'm not retarded." Nihlus entered the lab but quickly spun back to Mordin behind him. "Don't say a word, doc." Mordin was opening his mouth to say something but gave up. "Okay, folks. That's it for today. We will check the new data and start anew tomorrow."
xXx
How did you like Tali story? :D Hope it wasn't too bad.