After hearing the scream from Shepard, Tali turned around, looked through the window, and saw the corpses of her squad in the empty lot. The mech didn't discriminate. It was equally brutal with all of them. Some of their masks had bullet holes in them, others were still smoking from the rockets fired at them, and the Quarian in the middle of the lot still had a huge mechanical foot on her back. The foot belonged to the heavy mech that just murdered most of her squad. The heavy mech was looking in the direction Shepards scream came from. Tali looked over the same way.
Shepard was on his hands and knees with his head down, emitting biotic energy all over his body. She could tell he was in pain from the strain he was under. When Shepard looked up to the mech, Tali saw his eyes. They looked…feral…like a rabid animal.
Against Raz's protests, Tali stepped out of the building, knowing that the mechs attention was on Shepard.
"What's happening to him?" Tali thought before her mind went to Cerberus. "What did they do to him?" She looked for the Cerberus operatives who were with him. She sees that they're also watching Shepard with confusion from the crates they were behind. Tali then looked back over to the heavy mech and notices it has its left arm pointed towards Shepard. That was the arm with the rocket launcher. "MOVE SHEP..." She attempted to yell out before the rocket repelled towards him.
The rocket hit its mark and smoke completely surrounded the area where Shepard was. Tali thought the worse for a moment before she saw Shepard run at full speed out of the smoke and towards the mech. The mech started firing on him with its chain gun, but it didn't stop him. The mech then attempted to fire another rocket at Shepard before he biotically charged, making the rocket miss completely, and reappeared right in front of the mech in midair.
Shepard let out a powerful howl as he slammed his fist brutally across the face of the mech. After he landed on his feet, he charged behind the mech and kicked it in the center of its back. The mech lurched forward and lost its balance, making it take a few steps in the direction it was bending. Before the mech could regain its balance, Shepard grabbed it with his mind, lifted it into the air and slammed it down on the ground in front of him.
Tali couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was obvious to her that Gabriel had become more powerful but she, for as long as she had known him, had never seen him fight like this. "Shepard was always cautious. He made sure we were always behind cover, always picking our shots, but now it's…it's…" The thought of thinking the next words sickened Tali. "It's like Shepard has lost all control."
The mech tried to react with its rocket arm before Shepard stomped on its shoulder, detaching the arm from the rest of the body. He then proceeded to stomp on its chest and then did it again…and again…and again. Shepards foot started to sink in to the hole that was growing larger with each vicious stomp.
Tali could feel each impact beneath her feet and she could see the small blue biotic shockwaves coming out from under the mech with each one. She could tell Shepard was putting all of his energy into this. It was like he hated that mech and wanted to watch it suffer. She would of felt bad for the torture it was going through, if it didn't just kill most of her crew.
The mech was barely moving when Shepard finally stopped stomping on it and the red U in its face was blinking on and off. Shepard then stretched out both arms above it, lifted it up high above him, and when he brought both of his arms down in different directions, the mech was ripped in half which resulted in an large explosion right above his head.
Once the smoke cleared, Tali saw Shepard standing in the middle of the lot with his back towards her, surrounded by the rubble of what was once the heavy mech. He was breathing hard and still emitting the biotic energy as he stared at his hands.
She saw the man in the black armor slowly walk towards Shepard with a pistol to his side. Tali could hear him whisper Shepards name. Shepard didn't react to his name. When the man got to Shepard, he said "Shepard!" and put a hand on Shepards shoulder. Shepard quickly turned around, grabbed the man by the throat, and lifted him up in the air.
The woman who was with Shepard came running out holding a pistol towards him. "Put Jacob down Shepard!" When he didn't comply, the woman shot him in the shoulder. The bullet didn't even faze him and he pushed his unoccupied arm out towards the woman. The invisible force sent her flying into some crates.
Tali watched in horror as Shepard was squeezing Jacobs's throat. Jacob was struggling, punching Shepards arm and trying to kick him, but it just made Shepard squeeze harder. Tali realized that if she didn't try something soon, she would witness Shepard do to Jacob what he did to the mech. "Nobody deserves that…even if they are with Cerberus."
Tali attempted to run to Shepard but was grabbed by Raz. She tried to break free from him.
"Let me go Raz! I have to stop him!" Tali yelled
"So you can get in the path of a man who just demolished a heavy mech by his self and is now about to kill his own squadmate? I don't think so!"
As she contemplated what Raz said, the realization hit her. "I would just be putting myself in danger." She stopped struggling and fell to her knees. Tali felt helpless as Shepard continued squeezing the life from his soon to be victim. "Why is this happening? Hours ago, I was being haunted by the regrets I had for never telling him how I felt and now…now I'm watching this imposter…No it has to be him. He knew about the Geth data. He knew about the Normandy's destruction. My Shepard is in there…"
Just as Shepard pulled back his fist, Tali quickly patched through to his radio and yelled "SHEPARD!"
Shepards fist stopped barely an inch away from Jacobs's chest, right where his heart would have been and the biotic energy that was emitting from his body started to slowly disappear. Shepard shook his head a few times before looking back at Jacob. At that moment, his facial features turned from feral to shock and he let Jacob go.
Tali watched the woman in white run to Jacob, trying to check on him.
"I'm fine Miranda." Jacob said between coughs.
Suddenly, Shepard let out a painful sounding scream while grabbing his head and feel to his knees. Tali ran to him. "Shepard? What's wrong?"
Miranda walks towards them. "Let me have a look…"
Tali quickly pulled out her pistol and pointed it towards Miranda and Jacob. "Get away from him!"
The woman quickly pulled out her pistol and pointed it at Tali as well.
"What has Cerberus done to Shepard?" Tali asked with a stern voice.
"What are you talking about?" Miranda asked.
"You know what I'm talking about. Don't tell me you actually thought that was normal."
"I was told to bring him back as he was. That's what I did. I have no idea…" Miranda explained.
Talis anger overcame her. "You lying bosh'tet! I know him and he would've never lost his composure like that! Now tell me what you did to him!" Tali then noticed that Raz and Dis had come to her side with guns drawn.
Jacob stood up, still trying to catch his breath. "Tali…I oversaw the whole thing… Miranda didn't do anything to compromise Shepards mind."
"You expect me to believe…" Tali attempted to ask before she saw a black gloved hand come down on top of her pistol. Tali looked to see whose hand it was. It was Shepards.
"Miranda put your gun away." Shepard ordered.
"I'll put mine away when she does." Miranda replies.
"You do remember who's in charge right?" Miranda looked at Shepard in frustration but finally put her gun away. Shepard looked at Tali. "Please put your gun away Tali."
"Shepard?" Tali asked with a surprised voice.
"Tali…one of your people is injured in that building right now. You need to go check on him."
"How could I forget Veetor?" Tali thought to herself as she put her pistol away. "You're right Shepard. You can come with me…if you want to see if Veetor knows anything about what happened here. "
Raz spoke up. "Are you sure that's safe Miss Zorah?"
Tali understood why Raz questioned her. He saw exactly what everyone else saw…Shepard attempting to kill his own squadmate. "Keelah…why would he do that?" She did feel though that Shepard was out of whatever state he was in. "I'll be fine Raz. I don't think that's an issue right now."
"Ok Tali. I'll take your word for it."
Shepard looked towards his squadmates. "Take a look around and see if you can find any evidence of what happened here." They nod and start their search.
Tali looked to Dis. "Radio Kar and tell him to prep the ship for departure."
"I'll…do that Miss Zorah." Raz said suddenly
"O…kay… Dis…" Tali looked around at her dead crewmembers around her. "Check our fallen…for any personal effects. Anything we can take back home…to their loved ones." Dis placed a hand on Talis shoulder and nodded before walking towards the closest fallen comrade. "I wonder why she never talks…"
Tali then looked towards Shepard. "Are you ready?"
"Ready when you are…Miss Zorah." Shepard said with a smile as she walked by him.
He joined her up the stairs leading to the door of the warehouse Veetor was in. Tali stopped, looked around to see everyone else doing what they were told to do, and then looked at him. "Shepard…I…"
"What's on your mind Tali?"
"A lot...most of it pertaining to you…but I'll get the recent stuff out of the way first." Tali thought to herself before building up her confidence. "I don't like this Shepard. You working with Cerberus…"
"You know why I'm…"
"Yes I do and I understand. If it was Quarians disappearing, I would use any means to find out why myself..." Tali then remembered what she witnessed Shepard do. Tali started to shake. "But…" Tali wanted to ask him about what happened, she just couldn't find a way to ask. "How do you ask someone why they did…that?"
"What happened to me Tali?" Shepard asked to Talis surprise.
"You…don't know?" Tali asked him. "How could he possibly not know what his body was doing?"
"I remember looking at the heavy mech…I remember watching it kill…" Shepard looked at Tali with sympathetic eyes. "I'm sorry…"
"It's ok Shepard. What else do you remember?"
"Well…while it was doing…that…I…was seeing the attack on Mindoir."
Tali remembered that name. Mindoir was the human colony Shepard was born and raised in. It was attacked by Batarian slavers when he was just a teenager. "There are only two known survivors, Shepard and…" She remembered Talitha. "That poor girl…Shepard really tried his best to save her…" Tali thought to herself before Shepard continued.
"I then felt this horrible pain in my head. It was like an electrical current was swimming through my brain. Then…"
Shepard stopped talking and looked to the side. Tali wanted to know more. "Then what Shepard?"
He looked back to her. "Then I blacked out…"
"Shepard…it was like…it was like you lost all control. It was…I'm sorry to say this but…it was like all you wanted to do was kill. No matter whom it was." The look on Shepards face was a mix of anger and fear. Tali wanted to know what was going on in his mind. "Do you have any idea what it could have been? Maybe it had something to do with Mindoir?"
"I don't know." Shepard said as he looked back at her. "I'll look into it later but for right now, let's see how Veetor's doing."
"Right" Tali said as she opened the door to the warehouse. It was dark inside. The only light in the room came from the nine monitors in front of them. The monitors had different a forms of data on them. Tali could tell the data belonged to the mechs and drones that had been attacking her and her squad since they landed. Tali then saw who was looking at the monitors.
It seemed the young Quarian didn't even realize Tali and Shepard were in the room with him as he was typing on the keyboard in front of him in the same way he was talking to himself...panicked and scared.
"Monsters coming back. Mechs will protect. Safe from swarms. Have to hide. No monsters. No swarms. No-no-no-no-no."
"What did he see?" Tali thought as she looked over at Shepard. Shepard looked back with a concerned look. She then looked down at his hand. It was hovering over his pistol. Every two to three seconds, he would poke the pistol with a finger. She had seen him do this before. It was mainly when he was talking to a possible enemy. It was his way of appearing friendly or neutral, but still be ready if things went sour. Tali understood his caution. Even though he was obviously delirious, Veetor had been trying to kill them. "I just hope he doesn't have to use it."
They were right behind Veetor. He still didn't notice them.
"Veetor'Nara…my name is Tali'Zorah vas Neema. I was sent from the Flotilla to find you."
"No Veetor. Not here. Swarms can't find. Monsters coming. Have to hide." Veetor rambled.
"No one's here to hurt you Veetor. We're here to help." Shepard said. Tali noticed the pokes to Shepards weapon were getting a little faster.
Veetor didn't say anything. He kept typing on the keyboard. Shepard looked at Tali with concern again. "Maybe this will help." Tali thought to herself before she got onto to her omni-tool. She programmed it to hack Veetors monitors. "I hope this doesn't make him snap" She thought to herself as she looked at Shepards hand again. Three of his fingers were poking the gun in rapid succession. Tali knew, depending on what Veetor does after what Talis about to do, that Shepard would draw his gun.
Tali hacked the monitors and at three at a time, the monitors turned off. Veetor looked up at the monitors before he got out of the chair he was in and looked at them. He was wearing a white and dark pink suit. Tali noticed he was unarmed and she looked at Shepards hand. The poking stopped.
"A fellow Quarian? What's your name?" Veetor asked Tali.
"I'm Tali'Zorah vas Neema. I was sent to see if you were ok Veetor."
"I have a small suit rupture on my back near the shoulder." Veetor explained.
"Let me have a look." Tali said as she walked behind Veetor and looked at the rupture. She could hear Veetor talking to Shepard.
"You're human. How come they didn't find you?"
"Who didn't find me?" Shepard asked back.
"The…monsters…the swarms…they took everyone." Veetor described.
"Why didn't the colonists fight back Veetor? What happened?" Shepard asked.
"You don't know. You didn't see. But I see everything." Veetor said before he pressed a button on the keyboard. The monitors came back to life. Tali looked up to them to see what was on. This time it looked like security footage of the colony.
Tali also saw something else. The footage wasn't clear so she couldn't tell what they were. All she knew was they were dark, they walked and it looked like they were carrying people. The people they were carrying were being put into long, pod looking contraptions.
"I don't recognize them. Do you Tali?" Shepard asked.
"I can't really tell. They don't look like any species I've seen before." Tali answered.
Suddenly the door to the warehouse opened. Tali looked to see who it was. It was Miranda and Jacob.
"We couldn't find anything Shepard." Jacob said before he looked at the monitors. "What the hell is that?"
Miranda took a closer look. "My god…I think it's a collector."
"Collector?" Shepard asked.
Tali continued to examine Veetors suit rupture as Miranda and Jacob went on to explain what they knew about the Collectors. They talked about how they had access to advance technology, they mainly worked for mercenaries and slavers, and how they were rarely seen by other species.
Shepard asked Veetor what happened after the colonists were placed in the pods.
"The monsters took the people onto the ship, and then they left. The ship flew away, but they will be back for me. No one escapes."
"Thank you Veetor. You've been a big help." Shepard said before looking to Tali. "How's he doing?"
Tali looked up. "The rupture is minor but the length of time he's had this open air exposure could be lethal. He needs a suit repair right away."
"I recorded the monsters and the swarms on my omni-tool. Lots of readings. Electro-magnetic. Dark energy." Veetor explained to Shepard. This made Miranda speak up.
"We need to get this data to the Illusive Man. Grab the Quarian…"
"What?" Tali yelled as she looked at Miranda. "Over my dead body bosh'tet." Tali thought as she got in Mirandas face. "Veetor is injured! He needs treatment, not an interrogation!"
Shepard quickly spoke up. "Don't worry Tali. It's not even up for debate. Veetor is going back to the Flotilla with you." He then looked at Miranda. "And you better remember your place before you try to give another order under my command Miranda."
Miranda looked frustrated. "But we need that data Shepard."
"You're more than welcome to take Veetors omni-tool data." Tali said to Miranda.
Miranda still looked mad but gave up. "Fine..."
Tali and Shepard then looked at each other. Tali was happy to see he was still on her side.
"Thank you Shepard. I'm glad you're the one still giving the orders."
"Anytime Tali."
"Good luck out there. If I find anything that can help you in anyway, I'll let you know and Shepard…" Tali looked at Miranda and Jacob. "I still don't trust either of you" Tali thought to herself before looking back at Shepard. "Just be careful okay?"
"I will Tali. Same goes for you."
As Tali, Raz, Dis, and Veetor walked toward their ship, Talis mind was racing.Her first mission was a success but at what cost. Only two members of her squad were still alive. She couldn't stop feeling guilty over it. "I should have sided with my people. They might still be alive if I did. I shouldn't have let the fact that Shepard…" This was her silver lining, one of the only good things that came out of all this other than completing the mission. "Shepard is alive. Ancestors…please let us see each other again."