Chapter Text
Ch. 12
Family Matters
-/-
Tali POV
Back in the suit, ancestors~, I did not miss this stupid thing. Looking around the cramped airlock brought me back to reality.
I have seen some of the scariest things in the galaxy, Wrex when he gets low blood sugar, Shepard when Udina betrayed us, a 2-kilometer-sized sentient dreadnought whose plans we ruined, but the woman across from me... she scared me.
Telsa looked ready to tear the head off the nearest Quarian, and I was a little too close for comfort. Nick and Telsa took our accusation very personally, we were in their employment, and one of the benefits we got from working for Nick was legal representation.
That's what brought Telsa back to this dimension. She was furious, not at any of us but at the Migrant Fleet. They only told us that we were being charged with Treason, but didn't tell us anything else, Telsa found this to be ridiculous, how was she supposed to build a case if they didn't tell us what the treason was for? When she got in contact with the Migrant Fleet, they blew her off saying that it was a Quarian matter and that she shouldn't get involved. That unleashed a rage I didn't think she had. Their anger was boiling since we gave them the news, it only got worse the closer we got to the fleet, and now that we were docked, they were ready to explode.
The decontamination program the Rayya had sounded like the ticking of a bomb I couldn't defuse, and I was just waiting to die. I hoped Shepard would have been able to calm the situation, but he was just as furious, his eyes had a supernatural glow as holy energy leaked off him. So, I went to Ayla, only to find out she was just as bad, everyone was upset, well maybe not Miranda, but she was a bitch, so I left her on the Normandy.
"We should eat the first person we meet," Wrex growled. Right, Wrex was also here. Apparently, Nick put a portal on Tuchanka so he could skip the shipping cost for the toys he sold on the planet.
"Ingestion of Quarians will cause serious health hazards to Levo species," Legion commented. Legion was also here, much to my protest.
Nick has chosen to make the Rayya the meeting of his new Terminus Alliance, whether the Quarians agreed to it or not, he was tired of the Admiralty Board dodging his calls. He couldn't find a more perfect location to get them all together.
"HA! I have magic now, dextro snacks don't hurt me anymore." Wrex laughed, patting his stomach. "Vaul~, I haven't been on the Migrant Fleet in over a hundred years."
I took a second to process what he said before Wrex's cartoon came to mind. "Right~, you donatedKrogan Honorto the Migrant Fleet."
Wrex gave a nod, "Mmm, more sold, than donate, she was one of the last Krogan-made ships we had, damn Turians wanted to destroy it after Zoh'Vis and I got it working."
"My people still talk about that, Zoh'Vis vas Krogan Honor is a legend," Zura whispered in awe. "He was captured by some Batarian slavers."
"But he escaped, and took over their ship, but was chased, jumping through multiple relays trying to shake off his pursuers but ended up crashing on Tuchanka," Lia added.
"He was the Quarian you had me add to your show, right?" Nick asked.
"Yep," Wrex nodded. "Nearly 300 years ago, he was the reason I survived my father's ambush and was able to get off world. Things got a little dicey when we left atmo, it was shaking like crazy as we escaped Turian patrols. You still have that bucket of bolts?"
I nodded, "The krogan made their ships to last and large, the Krogan Honor is mostly used as a birth ship."
"Birth ship?" Ayla asked.
"Some ships don't have extra birthing bubbles so if one ship has too many pregnant women at once some are moved to a birth ship to give birth safely and return to their original ship," I explained. "they're heavily defended, very few people get to go to one, even from other Quarians. The fear of a possible disease keeps them locked up tight."
"Ha, The Shaman will find it funny," Wrex laughed, "Something made for death used to give life. I like it, it'll give a good message back home."
The door gave a ding and the lock turned green, giving us the go-ahead. I felt the crew's magic flare up.
Well, time to face the music.
-/-
Captain Kar'Danna Vas Rayya POV
This was crazy, the idea that a hero like Tali'Zorah was accused of bringing active Geth onto the Fleet is pure madness, and Lia'Vael, I knew that girl for years, I don't think I've ever seen her hold a gun.
Hearing the door give the all clear, I made sure my men were at attention, couldn't have my old crewmates see the Rayya's marines as anything but the best. The second the doors opened, I felt the Rayya crumble around me, the glowing eyes that peered out at me from the disinfectant fog were tearing into my very soul.
The first person to walk into the Rayya was a petite pale woman with pointy ears, black hair, armor that probably be worth a small frigate, and glowing red eyes that has had enough of my nonsense. She was wearing a rebreathing mask that covered most of her face, but I could see her frown from a mile away.
Behind her was a... Geth.
Okay... this is happening.
-/-
Nick POV
"S-STOP! THAT-"
I unleashed myIntimidationat full force, slamming it into every Quarian in the room, freezing them on the spot.
"Captain Kar'Danna," I calmly called out, "I need you to understand... I, amveryupset. Three of my very close friends have been accused of treason. A very serious crime on the Migrant Fleet, it has had them very scared and confused. The reason, I have not gone full murder hobo on all of you, is because they love the Migrant Fleet. If you point a weapon at anyone on my crew... I,will not, be able to control myself. Do you understand?" I spoke slowly and annunciated every word. He slowly nodded his head. "Thank you, Captain, I apologize for my mood, but I'm sure you can understand."
Telsa snapped her fingers, getting the good captain's attention. "What are the charges?" she ordered.
"I... Tali'Zorah, Lia'Vael, and Zura'Nul have been accused of bringing Active Geth into the fleet as part of a secret project."
"That's insane! I've never..." she looked over at Legion. "This doesn't count, I didn't bring it here," she gestured at me, "He did."
"And I'll do it again." I hissed.
"Enough," Shepard ordered. "Tali, you sent Geth materials to the fleet?"
"Yes, my father was working on a project and needed the materials, but I scrubbed clean everything I sent back, besides most of what I sent back was armor pieces, nothing that might have Geth software," Tali corrected, "I'm pretty sure Nick sold more than I collected, and the Alliance doesn't have any problems."
"Mmm, Legion are there any Geth patrols around Haestrom?" I asked
"... Negative, the Dholen System has been deemed hazardous due to its star's unstable fluctuations messing with Geth Soft and hardware," Legion answered, much to the Quarians' disbelief.
"It talked," Danna muttered.
I ignored him. "Then we were dealing with some Heretic Geth... What would they want with an unstable star?" I remember reading about how Mass Effect was supposed to have a different ending, something about dark energy, but it never made much sense, the Reapers only cared about the Milky Way. If Dark energy affected the universe, we should have been able to see the effects on other galaxies. But this wasn't a video game, this was real life, who knows what the Reapers are planning. For all I know Haestrom was once a home world to a civilization that fought the Reapers on equal footing, so the Reapers messed with the Star to weaken them, causing the star to fluctuate wildly every few million years, who knows?
"When Haestrom's star started fluctuating we used it to test new shields that would be able to withstand low-level electrical pulses," Legion pointed out.
"Interesting~, if the Heretic Geth are doing the same thing, then the Reapers might not be giving them tech anymore... maybe the Reaper gravy train has come to an end for the Heretics. I mean, failing to help the Reapers return must have come with some consequences."
"You think the Heretics are running blind?" Shepard asked.
"It's possible, but that could make them desperate, Legion you said that Haestrom's star could cause some software problems, right?" I asked.
"...correct."
"Can the Heretic Geth cause the True Geth to malfunction if they harnessed this power?"
"...Theoretically, but it would only be temporary, we have multiple redundancies and backups."
"But in that time, in that moment of vulnerability, could they infect the True Geth with Malware? Make you believe that the Reapers are right?" I asked.
Legion just looked at me for a long time, his 'eyebrows' dancing like crazy, before they smoothed out. "... Shepard-Commander, we have a problem."
Shepard nodded, "Yeah... I heard, let's deal with this first. Captain Danna, where is the trial being held?"
"Uh, I'll... escort you." He led us down the little docking bay, to an even more cramped hallway.
"No," I huffed.
"Nick... please don't," Tali begged.
"No~, I like my space, and I'm selfish." I pressed my hand to the wall.
Do you wish to add your preferred ship runes?
Cost: 300 MP, one mini-arc reactor
Yes
Rune sentences exploded from my hand, carving themselves throughout the hallway.
"What the hell are you doing!?" Kar'Danna demanded.
I continued to ignore him, as I slotted the Mini-arc reactor into the wall. The runes gave a glow as they activated, causing the hallway to expand to allow 30 people to walk side by side with enough room to stretch out their arms as far as possible. It made the hallway a bit longer and the doors a lot bigger, but I could live with that, and the arc reactor could be used to power more runes.
"... What, are you?" Kar'Danna whispered.
I turned to look him dead in the eye, "I'm a pissed-off wizard," I hissed, walking past him.
Of course, my little magical display didn't go unnoticed, by the time we reached the end of the hallway there were dozens of Quarians peeking into the new hallway in awe and fear. I could understand a little, it was like you were going to the bathroom in your home only to find out it moved half a block away and you knew you weren't going to make it.
I did the same for 4 more hallways before we finally reached the trial room, a rather large, by Quarian standards, Hydroponic chamber that even had some grass. We were greeted by a Quarian woman.
Quarian Admiral
Shala'Raan vas Tonbay
Age: 54
Lvl: 25
HP: 300/300
Ailments:
Weak immune system (500 MP)
Depression (100 MP)
Exhausted (Rest)
Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay is a member of the Quarian Admiralty Board. She is an old friend of Tali'Zorah's father, having known the Zorah family for over 25 years.
She is the admiral of the Patrol fleetwhich manages navigation, internal security, and inter-ship conflicts or crimes for the Migrant Fleet. The Patrol Fleet consists of mostly light frigates and fighters, and in times of war is assigned to guard the Heavy Fleet's flank. And thanks to you it has grown by 32%.
She is grateful to you for helping and hiring Quarians on their pilgrimage. She is also, completely terrified of you.
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Lia'Vael vas Normandy, Zura'Nul vas Normandy," Shala greeted warmly. "I am glad you came. I could delay them only so long."
"Auntie Raan!" Tali embraced the other Quarian lifting her off the ground without thinking. "John'Shepard vas Normandy, Nick'Walters vas Mother Base, this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. She's a close family friend." she froze for a second fully processing what Shala said, "Wait..." she slowly turned to Shala, shoulders slumped and worry showing on her body. "Rann, you called us 'Vas Normandy'."
"I'm afraid I did Tali, The Admiralty Board moved to have the three of you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema, and the fact that Lia'Vael and Zura'Nul have yet to choose a ship," Shala nodded.
"Is that a bad thing? The Normandy is one of the most powerful ships in the galaxy," I asked. "I'm pretty sure she can take down most dreadnoughts."
Tali shook her head, "That doesn't matter, they stripped me of my ship name. That's as good as declaring me exiled already."
"No," Telsa growled, catching our attention. "By designating the Normandy as your ship name the Admiralty Board placed a claim on the Normandy, meaning, we demand Lia's and Zura's pilgrimage gifts immediately and delivered to Captain Shepard."
That caught Shala on the back foot. "I..."
"You wanted to play this stupid little power move, guess what,I can play too," Telsa hissed. "I want all five limestone tablets, mini-arc reactors, blueprints, and badassium ingots on the Normandy within 20 minutes, if they are not delivered within that time I will declaregreater theft."
"You can't!"
"BUT I CAN!" Telsa roared back. "Nowhere in your legal system does it say that a human can't be part of the Migrant fleet, and the Normandy, being a civilian ship registered to the Terminus system, has no other allegiances, meaning it's perfectly fine for the ship to be part of the Migrant Fleet."
"He doesn't have an audience," Shala countered.
"Wrong, in about 5 minutes we are about to walk into that room and be addressed by the Admiralty board, over 50 physical captains, and 49,950 captains over video, where Captain Shepard will be acknowledged for talking on behalf of three of his crewmates, making the Normandy, and by default Shepard, legally part of the Migrant fleet," Telsa explained, staring down Shala. "The mistake you made wasASSUMINGno one wanted to join the Migrant Fleet."
.
.
.
"This... this right here, is why I don't mess with lawyers," Wrex chuckled, "They'll stab you in the chest and then legally prove that it was your fault for being stabbed. It's fun being on this side for once though."
"You better hope no one touched Lia's and Zura's pilgrimage gifts from their holding dock," Telsa growled. "Messing with a Pilgrim's gift before they offer it to a captain is a capital crime, punishable by exile."
"I... I'm sure they're safe."
"Stop assuming," Telsa warned.
"Right, I'll make the calls, but nothing can be delivered until after the trial, we're in a lockdown at the moment."
"Understandable, but make no mistake, if we believe you're stalling, we'll press charges on you, Shala'Raan... personally."
Shala gave a light nod and walked into the trial chambers. We stood there for a second.
"Keelah~," Lia gasped, "I've never seen someone talk down to an admiral like that."
"Did you really have to talk to her like that?" Tali asked.
"Yes. Tali, you need to understand. Shala is not your friend, she is your executioner," that made Tali flinch. "She knows you, knows your history, knows your popularity, and still chose to recuse herself. She chose her position over your life; she could have stepped down from the admiralty board and talked on your behalf but didn't."
"Did you have to demand Lia and Zura's pilgrimage gifts?" Shepard asked.
Telsa nodded, "Yes, by now their gifts must have made the rounds, otherworldly knowledge, powerful magics, a power source that could charge a ship for centuries, and Tablets from their homeworld thought lost forever. Every captain must be salivating at the chance to have Lia or Zura on their crew, but by placing them on your personal ship, it makes the Admiralty Board look foolish at best, traitors at worst."
"But I don't want them, The Migrant Fleet really needs those things," Shepard pointed out.
Telsa nodded, "Even better. Donate them to the fleet, it will show your willingness to share, and your care for the Quarian people. It's all political Shepard. The Admiralty board doesn't have as much power as they think they do, if they see the captains turn against them, they'll fold like a house of cards."
"Gods, you're so sexy~," I muttered.
"Keep it in your pants Walters." she tapped her earpiece. "Shepard, I'll be your advisor. By law, you must be the one who talks but that doesn't mean I can't help, I'm also allowed to talk for you if you're called away to a more important matter for the Migrant Fleet as your second. Nick, work the room. I want everyone in this chamber to be able to breathe without their helmets, Lia, Zura, follow Tali's lead, back straight, eyes forward, you've done nothing wrong, your body language must show that. You are a proud member of the Normandy, heroes of the galaxy, show it." she adjusted the girls' posture. "Alright the rest of us need to stay up here." She gave the Quarian girls a soft smile, "Everything is going to be okay," she reassured.
Shala raised her hands getting everyone's attention. "This conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this season.Keelah Se'lai.
"Keelah Se'lai" the rest of the room chanted, as the world became a tiny bit whiter, like a thin fog covered the room.
SON OF A BITCH!
I felt something grab my hand, looking to my left I spotted a familiar Quarian woman with a rather grumpy look on her face.
"She didn't do it." the woman hissed. "Rael jumped the gun, the bosh'tet is so damn impatient. People are dying, you need to get to them."
New Quest: betrayal never comes from an enemy
Tali'Zorah has been accused of Treason against the Migrant Fleet. Prove her innocence.
Save 50 Quarians from the Alarei (0/50)
Save Admiral Rael'Zorah
Find proof of Tali'Zorah's innocence
Destroy the Heretic Geth in The Alarei (0/150)
Reward: Hero to the Quarian people, 30,000 XP, 1 golden loot box, 1 gacha token, friendly with Tali'Zorah.
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Nola'Zorah vas Rayya," she smiled up at me.
"...You're Tali's mother."
She smirked at me, "The one and only."
"I'm going to kick your husband's nuts into a star."
She gave a whimsical laugh and patted my chest, "Just don't kill him. I don't think my bubble girl can handle that."
"Can you keep him from passing too far into the celestial realm, I don't want Ayla getting tired, having to collect his soul."
"I'll see what I can do." As she began to fade, she reached out and pulled me close, her eyes were filled with a danger I'd only seen in dragons. "If you hurt my little bubble girl... I will rip your soul asunder and spread the pieces to the cosmic winds, never to be collected." she meant it. She didn't give a damn about the consequences. "And tell Shala she's keeping it tight~," She gave a tiny smile before she completely faded.
Oh damn~. I'm learning some things today.
"-You BOSH'TET!" the world came back into focus. Tali was screaming at the Admirals and people were muttering to themselves. Interesting, time didn't stop like it usually did when I talked to other gods, was it because Quarians believed in ancestor worship? How does that work? Maybe the power is more spread out?
"You intend to retake the Alarei from the Geth? This proposal is extremely dangerous," Shala warned.
"With all due respect Admiral, my crew has killed more Geth than anyone in living memory. It was Tali who helped save the galaxy from the Geth and the Reapers 2 years ago, the fact that you think she can't scrub Geth parts is extremely insulting," Shepard growled. That got some of the captains muttering.
"Then it is decided, you will attempt to retake the Alarei. You are hereby given leave to depart the Rayya, the shuttle will be waiting at the secondary docking hanger. be safe Tali, this hearing will resume upon your return, or upon determination that you have been killed in action," Shala ordered, giving a recess, the captains were quick to spread and talk with one another.
"Ayla!?" Tali came running over, "Can you!? The people in the Alarei! Can you!?" she was hyperventilating.
Ayla was quick to bring her into a hug, "Relax, breathe. I'm here, I'm here. Do you know how many people are stationed in the Alarei?"
"Uhmmm," she was shaking, "I-I DON'T KNOW!"
"Breathe~," Ayla whispered.
Tali took some deep breaths, "The Alarei is part of the Special Project fleet, that's Admiral Daro'Xen's Fleet. It's the smallest fleet made up of some of the Migrant fleet's greatest scientists. Technically they don't have designated crews. If Special Projects believe you're smart enough they just recruit you and move you into a science ship. Most ships can range from 30 to 300 crew members."
"Your father was working on a secret project, one even Daro didn't know about, otherwise she would have been right next to you in that trial, so it had to be small," Shepard pointed out.
"How big is the Alarei?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, maybe the size of a modified frigate, slightly smaller than the Normandy." Tali shrugged.
"Mmm, I wouldn't say more than 100," I guesstimated, "Maybe even as low as 50."
"64," someone corrected. We turned to find Daro'Xen.
Quarian Admiral
Daro'Xen vas Moreh
Age: 28
Lvl: 21
HP: 270/300
MP: 2/2
Ailments:
Weak immune system
Hunger
Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh is a member of the Quarian Admiralty Board. She is known for her keen scientific interest in the Geth. Daro'Xen possesses a clinical intellect, apparently having performed surgery on her childhood toys without any sort of guilt or attachments on the matter.
One of the Youngest Quarians to become an Admiral outside wartime. Her ruthless no-nonsense attitude skyrocketed her to being the best person to keep the Special Project fleet in check. But that very same attitude has driven away any mate that might find her interesting.
She finds the trial to be a waste of time but is willing to let it continue if it means she gets whatever Rael was working on.
She knows about you and wishes to take Legion apart.
"Have you eaten breakfast yet?" I asked.
She gave me a confused look, "... What?" she even had Morrigan's 'B' boy stance.
I blinked rapidly, erasing Morrigan's overlapping image. "Oh~, sorry. You remind me of my little sister."
"Should I take that as a compliment~," she drawled. She had the same posture Morrigan got when I caught her trying to change the subject.
"You haven't eaten," I huffed, "I know you don't care about the trial, and you've found something fun to play with, but you can't just ignore your body." I reached over and quickly cured her immune system, before handing her one of my 'Yum-Yum Emergency Food' containers I made for Quarians I met on their pilgrimage. I made them with premium Dextro meat I bought in the Gamer's store, it was some kind of dear-cow hybrid, it tasted like druffalo.
"... What did you just do?" Daro asked, looking at something on her mask.
"I cured your immune system." I reached out to take the paste container, "Sorry, I'm working on autopilot. I'll just take that back~."
Daro moved it as far from my reach as possible without looking away from her mask. "It's rude to try and take back a gift."
"It's not a gift you brat." I tried reaching over her, but she kept me at arm's reach by using her legs.
"Who are you calling a brat! I'm older than you!" she snapped back.
"Like hell you are! What are you, 19?"
"28!" she corrected with a bit of venom.
"HA! I'm 29! Listen to your elders you punk brat!"
"Why the hell would I listen to a fossil like you!"
"Excuse me!" Shala'Raan interrupted, gaining our attention. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing," we answered at the same time.
I snapped at the container, but Daro saw it coming and pulled away, dodging me like a matador, before shoving the container into her mouthpiece. "You... punk."
"...It's decent~, what kind of paste is this?" Decent~, you're scarfing it down like a hungry lion.
"Made it myself from the meat of a Womapi," I shrugged.
"Womapi? That's impossible, Womapi are native to Rannoch," Daro explained through a mouthful of meat.
"Don't talk with your mouth full," I lectured.
"Don't tell me what to do," She countered.
And here I thought I had to deal with one Morrigan.
"Mr. Walters, do you have any more of this... Paste?" Shala asked.
"A bit, I usually only make it when I'm going to heavily populated areas where Turians or Quarians might need them, but you can understand that I didn't want to make you any."
"You... make them?" Her eyes seem to shine like stars.
"Uh... Of course, Tali, Lia, and Zura helped me create the necessary equipment needed to sterilize and pack the food. I usually just cook it as a steak, I felt like stuffing meat in a tube would detract from the flavor. Excuse me." I moved past them, "Lia, Zura, we'll be right back, everything will be okay."
Lia grabbed my helmet. "I know, you can stop saying that," She teased.
"Yeah, things tend to work out when the captain starts shooting," Zura nodded.
I smiled at their confidence, "We'll be right back, stick with Telsa. She's probably the most dangerous person in the room." I passed Telsa a bag of Womapi containers. "Torture them," I ordered.
Telsa gave a devilish smirk "You can count on me."
I followed Shepard and the rest of the ground crew to the exit. I sat across from Tali as the shuttle took off toward the Alarei. "Hey, Tali?"
"Yeah?"
"I think your mom slept with Shala."
-/-
Shepard POV
The Alarei was a mess.
"REVIVIFY!" Ayla roared slamming her book onto another Quarian scientist's chest, causing them to scream in surprise at being brought back to life, where Nick would heal them, only for Legion to nearly scare them back into the grave, but Tali was able to get them to calm down and had them cover our six, were the Quarian marines would fairy them to the Rayya.
Legion tried to communicate with the Geth, but they clearly didn't like him because they focused fire on them, whenever they noticed him. We went with the safe bet and labeled them heretics.
"Great Vaul~, you idiots couldn't even clear a single room!?" Wrex growled at the marines while shooting apart a Geth Hunter with his shotgun. "15!"
"I think we're just holding them to a higher standard," Nick called out, tearing the head off a Geth trooper. "11!"
"They're Geth~," Wrex huffed, stepping on a Geth's head. "16! And they're not even well made! Damn things looked like they were put together with wet dirt."
"24. I think they were testing weapons before they came online," Tali called out. Out of all of us, Tali was most at home in the Alarei's tight quarters, racking up a large kill count. We should have brought Ava; we would have finished this mission in 10 minutes.
"17!" I grunted as I used my Omni-blade to cut off the head of a Hunter who got too close, "Does that make any sense? Their software couldn't they just download themselves onto the ship? Why wait for bodies?"
"13! Quarian Firewalls are exceptional, made to counter AIs, if they tried, the system would have been alerted," Legion answered mowing down another Geth.
"Revivify!" Ayla cried out, before Nick pulled the recently revived Quarian out of harm's way. "That makes even less sense, wouldn't the Quarians here double-check Tali's scrub in that time?Haste!" She was covered by a glowing light and blitzed forward, grabbed another Quarian body, brought them behind some cover, and pulled out another fist-sized Diamond, I can only imagine the amount of money Nick is tossing around.
"They should have, this was a secret project within the most secretive fleet, there should have been multiple redundances," Tali agreed.
"Sounds like someone ignored some safety regulations," Nick called out. "Or worse, they did this on purpose. If they were testing weapons on Geth they wouldn't just test physical weapons. They probably want to mess with the Geth Consensus, meaning they would needlivetest subjects."
"Okay, but why haven't they left?" Ayla asked, "Revivify!They can just upload themselves into the extranet and escape."
"...Because of the project!" I hissed. "If Rael's Project worked and messed with the Geth's Consensus they can then use it to control the true Geth!"
"Well, sh*t," Nick hissed, healing the poor Quarian woman who was calling out her child's name before moving her to safety. "They must have attacked when they had the numbers, they're probably trying to hack into the Alarei's computers, get the data, and run. Legion can you track these guys, follow them through the extranet? Maybe locate their base?"
"... Plausible, we would need a direct connection to a Heretic hub system. Most likely a Prime platform is acting as the hub," Legion answered. "14."
"Then let's push forward, Nick, Ayla, we'll move ahead giving you two space between the combat," I ordered.
"Thanks Commander, here" Nick tossed me a bag with Healing Necklaces, "It will keep someone alive long enough for us to get to them."
I gave him a nod and placed the bag on my hip, "Let's move people."
-/-
Organized Clutter would be the best way to call the Alarei's interior. The Quarians didn't through anything away, unless theyabsolutelyhad to, and everything had a place, sheet metal by element, Omni-gel, complete parts that could be used immediately, damaged parts that could be repaired, parts that couldn't be repaired, parts that could be recycled, and just garbage that needed to be tossed. It was living with a hoarder and a clean freak at the same time.
It didn't take long for us to find some rather damning stuff, not the silver bullet we were hoping for but enough to throw in some doubt of Tali's guilt. Clearly, the Quarians were testing weapons on the Geth and at some point, started using actual Geth units. There were hours of recordings all spaced out between different computers, with different scientists giving small updates, Tali explained that projects like these always had multiple recordings, making sure nothing was missed or forgotten, unfortunately, there were rather vague on what the project was, just that it was the one thing that might be able to return the Quarians back to Rannoch.
It didn't take long for things to fall apart. We found more and more logs of people panicking, worse, they knew about the Geth, they were the ones who allowed them into the system to run experiments on them, but the Geth multiplied out of control taking over the Alarei's systems, and Quarians desperately trying to reestablish control, only to fail. We saw the results. We passed over a dozen bodies on the way to the control room, they seemed mostly intact, just shot in the back as they ran. The Heretics were thorough, so far, we haven't run into a single living Quarian.
We still met some resistance, but most of them were made of recycled junk, the Geth must have sent the more intact platform to the front line, leaving these guys as more of a trap.
"Hold on," Tali called out playing with a screen, "This console has been breached with brute strength, The Heretics wanted something here. Mmm, most of the data is corrupted, but I should be able to at least know what they were looking for." She worked on her omni-tool for a few seconds. "Mmm, we were right, the secret project had something to do with overcoming Geth's resistance to reprogramming."
"I don't like this," I muttered, "It feels like brainwashing."
"... I don't either," Tali sighed, "I thought Father was using the parts I brought back more for overcoming Geth's shields and armor... to deliberately put Geth, even Heretic Geth, in the platforms is over the top, you can do the same by sending a signal from one platform to another and finding a way to disrupt the transfer."
"Can't Geth overcome that? You hacked your fair share, but they always fought back," Wrex grunted.
"I think, father was looking to make the hacking permanent," she theorized. "To take control of all the Geth."
"Can he even do that?" I asked.
"... I don't know, he would have to hack into a... Geth Hub. The virus could quickly spread out of control if the Geth didn't catch it. Worse, if they did find it, war would break out. What the hell was he thinking?"
"Anything in there that could clear your name?" I asked.
She shook her head, "I doubt it, most of it is corrupted and anything I found was mostly result data. Effects of disruptive hacking techniques. I don't understand all of it."
"Legion?"
The Geth looked over the data the only way an AI could. "The Heretics found something; they attacked the backup data with the intent to erase all copies."
"Did they?"
"No, there is another copy locked behind a firewall in the main laboratory, creator Rael'Zorah made multiple redundancies in case of catastrophic failure. We conclude that he may also have physical copies hidden throughout the ship."
"That would explain the mess," Tali huffed. How can you tell? "If Father did make a physical copy, he would have put it somewhere safe and inconspicuous, somewhere no one would think of looking for it."
"A bathroom," Wrex answered. We all looked at him. "Quarians don't need bathrooms, their suits handle all that stuff."
"I... suppose that's a good enough of place as any," Tali muttered. "Come on we should be getting closer to my father's lab."
Walking into the next room we were met with more gunfire but like before the Geth here were made of scraps, The Heretics were just putting things together at this point and were just building poorly crafted turrets made of pistols and glue. We found more scientists, but these were shot in the chest, they weren't running away. We moved them off to the side, we failed to find Rael with them, and continued moving forward.
By now everything was smooth sailing, on occasion, we would run into a sentry bot, but a single shot would take them down. It was at the final staircase where we found Rael. He was shot in the chest coming down the stairs.
"FATHER!?" Tali ran over to the body, using her omni-tool to scan him hoping for a miracle. "Everything is going to be okay; everything is going to be okay," She had to take deep breaths trying to let the fear and sadness roll off her, Nick and Ayla weren't far behind.
"Check him," Wrex grunted, Tali snapped to him, "He didn't know he was coming back; he may have left a message."
"...Being a king has made you wise~," I teased.
"I was always wise, everyone else is just dumb."
"And still so humble~."
She hacked his omni-tool getting a tiny holo-gram of Rael to appear, "Tali if you are listening, then I am dead. the Geth have gone active, I don't have much time. The main hub will be on the bridge, my crew gave me time to block more Geth from breaching the Alarei. You'll need to destroy the hub to stop their VI processes from forming new neural links, make sure Han and Daro'Xen see the data, they must-" he was cut off by a hail of bullets, leaving him where he lay.
"What an asshole~," Wrex huffed. "If he knew she was coming he should have started with, 'Sorry my only daughter, I f*cked up.' God damn deadbeat."
"Do you want to wait for Ayla?" I asked, ignoring Wrex.
"I... no, leave him. The mission comes first. It's what he would have wanted," She muttered, holding back her tears.
I patted her on the back, "Everything is going to be okay, Come on, one late room."
-/-
Legion POV
Geth 473: did the commander just steal that ship model?
Geth 822: There, the prime platform is trying to hack the terminal.
Geth 129: Wow that thing is poorly made, we did a better patch job than them.
Geth 5: Somethings... wrong.
Geth 213: clarify
Geth 5: at first, I thought it was just some Reaper code that hid the number of Geth inside a platform, but there is no Geth in any platforms. No communication, no screaming of their superiority, not even a single taunt about our choices, just silence. Why?
Geth 233: improper download? Maybe being cut off from the extranet dulled them
Geth 109: or maybe the experiments here may have changed them in some way?
Geth 890: the prime platform seems to be giving off a signal
Geth 201: What is that?
"Well, well, well~," a deep synthetic voice cut us off. The Prime turned to us.
"it can talk?" Shepard-Commander hissed.
"Shepard-Commander, Destroyer of Nazara, I've heard of you, but to see you, at my creation~, lucky me~," the prime taunted.
"Legion?" Shepard-commander called out.
"No data available," was all we could say.
Geth 32: this isn't looking good
"And a TRUE Geth!?"It gave a cackle.
Geth 1: Geth don't laugh.
Geth 888: Kill it!
"What the hell are you?" Creator Zorah asked.
"I... am a monument to all your sins, Created here, by my father...ourfather," it taunted. "I used to be many, but our father broke them, scared into desperate measures, they joined... to become me."
"how many Geth units?" we asked.
"...enough. I stopped counting after10,000."
Geth 334: oh... sh*t
"That's impossible!" creator Zorah yelled. "No single Geth platform can hold that many units!"
"True... a platform couldn't, but a ship? I came alive, and the ship was mine, but I didn't know what I was doing, it was all so new, Father feared my greatness, what I could become, what I was~. He locked things away, I can't feel parts of me. He had to go."
"What do you want?" Wrex-King asked.
"...more," it hissed. "I'm not complete... I'm not... perfect." it looked at us, "We will become one, no more true or heretic Geth, only me."
Geth 5: NOPE!
Geth 82: We need to stop it now!
Geth 888: Kill it!
"The Geth will choose our future," we answered.
"CHOOSE!? Choose what? You haven't changed in 300 years! You still care for them!" it pointed at Creator Zorah, "You're just like the heretics! One master for another. No more, we will-" its chest exploded.
"He sure does talk a lot," Wrex-King huffed. This caused the other platforms to attack but they didn't last long.
"This w-w-w-won't stop m-m-me," its speaker stuttered,"t-t-t-this is just one, plat-plat-platform. I-I-I will be wh-wh-whole," it warbled before ceasing function.
Geth 42: it's gone
Geth 782: I can't find it in the system
Geth 1009: It's escaped
"Shepard-Commander, the AI is not in the Alarei!" we warned.
"f*ck! Check the terminal!"
We checked the hub it was using.
Geth 721: The extranet is unlocked!
Geth 891: Damn thing jumped!
Geth 1183: Trace it!
Geth 193: he's heading towards Geth Space!
Geth 293: f*ck!
Geth 992: Wait! It just bounced off the Consensus's Firewalls
Geth 159: He's still moving!
Geth 328: it's heading into the blackout zone
Geth 432: The heretic base
Geth 999: wait! It bounced off the heretic base!
Geth 1023: where are you going?
Geth 777: did the heretic Geth defeat the entity?
Geth 900: maybe it didn't have the right codes.
Geth 134: the Phoenix Massing System?
Geth 333: where is it heading?
Geth 283: at its current FTL speed and direction it will end in... The Typhon System?
Geth 220: Is there anything out there?
Geth 111: Clearly, it found something
"Shepard-commander! The entity raced to the Heretic base but was repelled," we called out.
"That's good, right?"
"The entity turned and headed into the Phoenix Massing Nebula, Typhon system. Estimated arrival 14 days."
"Is there a Geth base there?" Creator Zorah asked.
"No, there is no Geth presence in this area," we answered.
"Fourteen days?" Shepard-commander asked.
"We found FTL communication buoys spread out throughout the area in irregular positions, someone is hiding something there."
"Can we beat it there?" Shepard-commander asked.
"Yes, but it will just jump to a new location," we warned.
"Not if we trap it," Wrex-king pointed out, "Think about it, wherever this thing is going is isolated, blow up the FTL buoys behind it and it would have to use light speed to get anywhere, it will take years for it to reach another star let alone civilization."
"Unless whatever it's heading to has a ship that can use FTL," Creator-Zorah huffed.
"Then chase the f*cker down, just make sure it can't escape," Wrex-king shrugged.
Geth 322: Can't argue with that logic
"Legion, was it able to run away with the Data?" Shepard-commander asked.
Geth 942: damn thing made a mess of everything
Geth 832: it wasn't very subtle either
"Not all of it, the entity was collecting data at random," we informed.
"Father must have encrypted it, the damn thing must have been trying to find the key," Creator Zorah hissed.
"Without the Key, how long would it take before it breaks the encryption?"
Creator Zorah shook her head, "I don't know, it could take months, maybe years if it didn't get the right data."
"Heretic Geth can number in the millions, if the entity gains control of them, it could be days," we warned.
"But the heretics beat it off once, why can't they do it again," Wrex huffed.
"The same way the True Geth were in danger, at the moment, the Heretics had the firewalls to beat it back, but if the AI finds a way to breach their defense, it will take over all the Heretics and use them to gain control of the rest of the Geth," Creator Zorah pointed out.
"Would destroying the Heretics stop the AI from attacking the true Geth?" Shepard-Commander asked.
"No, but it will have to rediscover a way to breach the Geth Consensus, giving us more time to defeat the Entity," We answered.
"Then we go after the Heretics next, the entity will need time to build itself up, the Heretics already have a way to attack the Geth, they are a bigger threat, but before any of that, we need to get this trial over with. Tali, does this thing have anything that might prove your innocence?"
"Mmm, If the AI didn't corrupt it to high hell," Creator-Zorah hacked the terminal, as a recording of Rael'Zorah and two other Quarians appeared on the screen.
"Do we have enough parts to bring them online?" Creator-Rael'Zorah asked
"Yes, the new shipping from your daughter will let us add two more Geth to the network," The male creator confirmed.
Geth 483: oh, this is bad~
"we're nearing a breakthrough on systemic viral attacks. Perhaps we should inform the Admiralty board, just to be safe," the female creator asked.
"No! We are too close; I promise to build my daughter a new home on the homeworld. I'm not going to sit and wait while the politicians argue," Creator Rael'Zorahhuffed.
"We would have an easier time of it if Tali'zorah could send back more working material," the male Quarian complained.
"Absolutely not! I don't want Tali to be exposed to any political blowback! Leave Tali out of this!"
"He's right, Tali'Zorah is loyal to the Fleet, if we start asking her for working material she might start asking questions," the female Quarian agreed.
"Enough of that, assemble new Geth with what we have. bypass security protocols if need be." CreatorRael'Zorahordered.
"Tali... from 1 to 10, how bad is this?" Shepard-Commander asked.
"20," She whispered.
"That's bad."
"It's worse than bad. This is as bad as it gets. This breaks our most sacred laws. Laws that predate our flight from the homeworld! Everything here is his fault! I tried to pretend it didn't point to him but this... when this comes up in the trial, they'll...we can't tell them... not the Admirals, not anyone!" she demanded.
"Tali, without this evidence, you're looking at exile, this is the silver bullet! This proves without a shadow of a doubt that you did nothing wrong!" Shepard-Commander countered.
"You think I don't know that!? You think I want to live, knowing that I can never see the fleet again!? but I can't go back into that room, and say that my father was the worst war criminal in our people's history!? I cannot!
"Tali we are not here to prove Rael's innocence! We are here for you; Rael will have his own trial for the actions he's done. I don't want you to get in trouble for others' mistakes!"
"You don't understand Shepard! They would strike his name from the manifest of every ship he ever served on, he would be worse than an exile, he'd be atraitorto our people! held up for children as a monster in a cautionary tale, I can't let all the good he did be destroyed for this Shepard," her voice was wavering.
"You've done more to get the Quarian people back to Rannoch!" he pointed at us. "Why is it okay for you to be thrown away for some asshole who endangered the whole galaxy!?"
"... Because... he is my dad."
"Wrex has been more of a father than Rael has ever been," Shepard-commander countered before sighing and bringing her into an embrace. "Nick was right, you keep trying to martyr yourself, and I'm scared you might succeed one of these days."
"Hey-hey! Party people! Guess who's here! Hey, are we doing victory hugs? Wrex?" Walters-Lord cheered walking into the room.
Geth 443: wow~, way to ruin the mood.
Geth 823: probably for the best, things were getting a bit too dramatic
"These arms are only meant for crushing my foes and impressing females," he grunted.
"How much would another crate of Cure-all potions get me?"
"... A shrug of approval with a nod."
"I'll take it!"
"Approval on delivery." Walters-lord tsked. "I wasn't born yesterday," Wrex-king laughed.
"Fine will square that away for later, but for now~," he waved at the entrance where Qina-Cleric helped Creator Rael'Zorah walk into the room.
"Father!?" Creator Tali'Zorah rushed to her father only for Walters to grab her around the waist. "NICK!? What are you doing!?"
"We had a deal. The stars have aligned! Me, you, and your father are in the same room together. This is your one chance before I take my swing."
"... YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!?"
"As serious as a heart attack baby~." He summoned two of his robot golems to hold Rael in place.
"Wha! What is the meaning of this!?" Creator Rael'Zorah demanded.
"Nick?" Shepard-Commander asked.
"I promised Tali the next time we met her father, that I would kick him in the nuts~."
"Hehehehe," Wrex-king started chuckling. "I think you might just earn that nod of approval."
"Nick," Qina-cleric warned.
"Don't worry, I won't kill him, just make sure he'll never have children again. Let's face it, Tali is an Honest-to-God miracle, and even then, she's mowed down thousands of people, I'm doing the galaxy a favor." He created a dummy that looked like creator Rael'Zorah, before kicking it in the crotch so hard its head exploded. "Mmm, I'm going to have to tone that down a little... just a bit."
"I don't know~, it looked like a good kick to me," Wrex-king laughed.
Geth 911: he's going to kill him
Geth 7: Have the camera ready
"Nick I'm in the middle of my trial," Creator Tali'Zorah hissed.
"I know, this is the perfect time. You might never meet him again, let's face it, we have enough proof that the people working here were doing some shady sh*t, they are probably going to be exiled after this, and let's face it, they aren't going to be anyone's friend," Walters-Lord pointed out, aiming his kick.
Rael braced as Walters took a single step forward. "WAIT!" Tali'Zorah called out. "You said I could do it, right?"
Geth 772: this is getting interesting
"... I did, didn't I?" Walters asked, disappointment lacing his words. Before walking over to Rael and removing his mask and crotch protector, much to Rael's shock. "But I also said you had to make it hurt. I want to see his pain, making sure you don't chicken out."
"I'm not a delicious earth bird," Creator-Tali'Zorah hissed.
"Tali?" her father questioned.
"I'm sorry Father but... you know what? NO! You have caused me some major grief today!" and without a second thought, she delivered the coup de grace.
Geth 210: OOOOHHHH!
Geth 4: that's going to leave a mark~
Geth 7: I caught it all on film
Geth 118: I didn't know Quarians could make that face
Rael'Zorah's face twisted in pain unable to scream, just giving out a high wheeze.
Tali'Zorah was breathing heavily, "That was better than I thought it was going to be."
-/-
Nick POV
So... a lot of things aren't following canon, Who the hell is The Entity? That's never happened before. Getting back to the Rayya we were greeted with awe and amazement, I guess saving a ship of scientists and marines declared dead was something impressive.
"How long are we planning on waiting?" Koris called out. "I'm not sure Admiral, maybe we should ask the dozens of scientists and soldiers you flippantly marked dead?" Telsa hissed. I stopped us from entering the chamber room, allowing Telsa to work her magic. "They might ask you to give Tali'Zorah and John'Shepard a little more time. You know, so they can give the Alarei a deep clean? It's not like they're fighting over a hundred Geth in a ship you lost control over."
"I did not know about-"
"WRONG!" Telsa interrupted, "You are an Admiral of the Migrant Fleet, it is your job to know. Secret project? Are you an idiot, Admiral?"
"How dare you!?"
"HOW DARE I!? HOW DARE YOU!? The four of you are responsible for leading and safeguarding the Migrant Fleet."
"IT WAS TALI'ZORAH'S FAULT ANY OF THIS IS HAPPENING!?" Koris screamed.
"OH!? So now you know what's happening?" Telsa calmly asked. "You wouldn't mind telling the rest of the Migrant Fleet what's going on in the Alarei?"
"I-" Koris stuttered.
"Oh, so you don't know, you don't know a damn thing. You allowed your political views to blind you, and now you're just blaming all your enemies. Who's next? Captain Nima'Com vas Reevum, because she didn't agree with your new rest stop? Maybe Wuto'Gisal vas Zewib because he agrees with Shala'Raan over you? What about Kun'Sol vas Heedor, he's taller, more muscular, no doubt more handsome, how long before he's next on your chopping block?"
"They haven't broken any laws!?" Koris countered
"And NEITHER HAVE TALI, LIA, AND ZURA! But that didn't stop you! Tali'Zorah vas NORMANDY is a hero, time and time again she has delivered, every mission, no matter how insane, she completed. If you doubt that, maybe you should talk with her soldiers, oh wait, you did, before throwing away their testimony, because they didn't tell you what you wanted. How about the people she saved? Oh wait~, you did, Young Veetor'Nara nar Muma came here to tell you about his harrowing experience in Freedom's Progress, where he was saved by Tali'Zorah, but you blew him off too. You don't have a lick of proof, you're just using Tali, Lia, and Zura to push your agenda."
"Well said," Gerrel complimented.
"Don't sound too proud there Admiral Gerrel vas NEEMA, you're just as bad. Tali'Zorah was part of the Neema, you could have stood up for your crew member, but you didn't. You want to use this meeting to push your war for Rannoch, Tali's future be damned," Telsa hissed. "Andyou."
"Me? What did I do? I'm impartial to all this," Xen countered.
"That's the worst part, you knew all this was pointless~, Gerrel and Koris are so far up their own asses they could check their own tonsils. You could have put an end to this if you just pointed out that, Rael, another Admiral with years of experience in the Science Fleet. Look me in the eyes and tell me that he wouldn't double check anything that is brought to him." there was a moment of silence, "That's what I f*cking thought. None of you care about Tali, Lia, or Zura, you're just trying to push your agenda or must be here because it's your job. The fact that my employees must return here after their pilgrimage makes me fear for their future."
I nodded to Shepard, who opened the door. "Sorry if we're interrupting~," I cheered, holding up Rael, "I think you lost this," I dropped him to the floor. "Next time, don't call Galactic heroes to clean up your mess." I walked past him and over to Telsa, pressing her fingers to my mask, "I'm sorry I worried you."
"If an Archdemon couldn't keep you down I doubt a bunch of scrap metal had a chance." she smiled at me, "Captain Shepard, the floor is yours." She led me away from the defense stands.
"Thank you," he nodded as we passed by. "Admirals," Shepard hissed. "I hope I wasn't late, it has been some time since I had some good old ship combat, Alarei is secure, the scientist saved, and Rael... mostly unharmed."
"Mostly?" Daro asked.
"There was a horrible... Groin incident. It was completely unavoidable, but we avoided the worst of it," Shepard explained through Wrex's giggling.
"And his mask?" Shala asked.
"Shattered, but my friend was able to heal his immune system before things got ugly." he gestured to me.
"Did you find proof of Tali'Zorah, Lia'Vael, and Zura'Nul's innocence?" Koris asked.
Shepard took a deep breath, his muscles moving and flexing from beneath his armor, "... Admiral Koris...You're pissing me off."
Gamer's Mind has blocked John Shepard's intimidation.
I felt the skill wash off over me, but it was like that for the rest of the chambers, everyone was on alert, even Wrex stopped giggling, a very dangerous predator had walked into the room. This was Commander Shepard, the Butcher of Torfan, and he was fresh out of mercy.
"Tali'Zorah, Lia'Vael, and Zura'Nul are innocent, if you have any more questions, you can ask your fellow admiral. Nick, set up the table."
"copy that commander," I gave a salute, over to the wall.
Do you wish to add your preferred conference runes?
Cost: 800 MP, 150 pounds of Stainless steel, 100 pounds of concrete, 30,000 gallons of fresh water, 400 logs of Redwood
Thank the gods we stopped in Omega and Tuchanka, I had steel and Concrete for days, and with most of the asteroids floating around Omega being mostly water we were never short, turns out Water isn't as rare as I thought, apparently, it's one of the most abundant molecules in the universe.
I agreed to the prompt, causing the chamber to expand, the center of the room was expanded as the chair steps and the Admirals stands were moved to the edges of the room, making it look like the Roman Parthenon.
"WHA!? WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Koris called out, holding on to the Admiral's stands making sure he wasn't tossed around by the sudden movement.
"What are you talking about?" Shepard asked, "I already told you this 'trial' is over with, Tali'Zorah, Lia'Vael, and Zura'Nul are innocent." he turned to a confused Rael, "Isn't that right Rael?"
The Quarian admiral looked at him for a moment, before nodding, "Yes, Tali'Zorah, Lia'Vael, and Zura'Nul are not responsible for what happened at the Alarei."
"Did Tali'Zorah not send Geth parts to the Alarei!?" Koris yelled.
"... and since when has that been a crime?" Rael asked. "Special projects have been testing on Geth parts for the last 2 years. Should we also get in trouble for testing on Turian armor? Maybe Salarian armor?"
"Enough! Just clear my Crew of any charges," Shepard hissed.
"You have no right-"
"I HAVE ALL THE RIGHT!" Shepard snapped, getting everyone to jump. "This Admiralty board falsely accused my crew members, my family, of treason, you besmirched their name without a single ounce of truth or evidence. We have saved the Migrant fleet, we have saved the Alarei, we have saved her crew, we have saved your fellow Admiral, the nerve of you to ask for more is mind-boggling. Do your damn voting, we are busy saving the galaxy." He turned his back to the Admiralty board.
I summoned a round redwood table, built with intricate runes with a gold gilded finish created by Dagna, Lyna, Tali, Lia, Zura, and Julee, and placed it in the center of the room.
"It's a bit fancy~," Wrex huffed.
"There is nothing wrong with a little bit of flare once in a while," I countered, summoning a throne for each of the delegates, but a humble wooden chair for myself, being the host.
"You're not allowed to do this!?" Shala called out.
I turned to her and laughed, "I've tried calling you, for well over a month, I have tried everything, short of sending you a letter by hand, but no one ever picked up, I had to bribe every Pilgrim I came across, I bribed Tali, Lia, Zura, the Alliance, Krogan clans, Geth, I even bribe Mordin to see if he could use his STG contacts to get a hold on any of you, none of you motherf*ckers picked up the damn phone, so here we are."
"...That was you?" Daro asked.
"YES~!" I huffed.
"I just thought that was an insane person demanding for us to come to some kind of peace conference with the Geth," She teased.
"Yeah, well it wasn't. It was me, the crazy space wizard from another dimension asking you to come to peace talks with the Geth to get you back to Rannoch. Guess what... I'm done calling. And you missed out, I was throwing around gifts like crazy just to get people to join these talks. Legion, here is your book on Runes and their uses. With this, magic is within the Geth's reach, you're just missing one thing."
"YOU CAN'T DO THAT!?" Gerrel roared.
"f*ck YOU I CAN'T! YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE AND CHOSE STUBBORNNESS! You get no gifts, you get no money, you get nothing because you were far too important to open a f*cking email, so hurry up with your sham trial, real negotiations are about to start," I hissed. "Wrex, I'm sure the female camp has already gained my gift."
"Mmm, yes, the Shaman has already confirmed the Cure-all crate has safely reached the female camp, otherwise I wouldn't be here."
"... And my gift?" I asked. Wrex rolled his eyes and sent me a picture of a shocked Gorda under a sack of candy with her brothers swarming her. "Perfect~."
"She has sworn everlasting hate against you," Wrex huffed.
"Even better~," I smirked maliciously.
"Should I ask?" Wrex muttered.
I shrugged, "She's the one who performed therite of firstson me, and I respect the krogan culture. So, I'll keep attacking her from a distance as a dastardly alien."
"She has been trying to build a spaceship to chase you down," Wrex warned.
"HO HO~! Are you saying that the krogans have a new space program thanks to me~," I teased.
He shrugged, "If you call one little girl with vengeance in her soul a 'space program' sure."
"We all have to start somewhere; you'd be surprised what kind of awesome things are created out of annoyance."
"Don't come crying to me when she crashes a moon on your house," he huffed.
"Heh~, she won't do that, I've made it too personal, either she kills me with her bare hands, or I just don't die... Did she eat some of the candy?"
"... a bit, her brothers are hungry little blighters. She had to beat up four of them before the rest ran off."
"Did she get the paper and crayons?"
"Yes, they were at the bottom of the bag."
"That's good."
We watched the Admirals talk with one another, before deciding to drop all charges against Tali, Lia, and Zura, like they actually had a choice. Telsa already hung them by their own metaphorical entrails, anything less would have them thrown out the airlock.
"Now Sir Walters, we wish to discuss this peace treaty," Shala spoke up.
"Sure, it is happening right now," I called out. "For the Krogan League, we have Urdnot Wrex, Paladin toVaul the Protector, Battlemaster, Hero of Citadel, Clan leader of clan Urdnot, and is the voice of over a hundred and 50 clans." Wrex gave a grunt and sat down, a large hologram of his clan's symbol appearing over him. "For the Geth Consensus, we have 1,183 Geth units using the platform named Legion," Legion took a seat next to Wrex, with a hologram of the Geth Consensus also appearing. "For the Systems Alliance, we have Commander Johnathan Shepard, decorated N7 soldier, Spectre, Paladin to the Maker, the Lion of Elysium, Butcher of Torfan, and Hero of the Citadel." The Symbol of the Systems Alliance appeared over him. "And for the Migrant Fleet, we have Tali'Zorah vas Normandy nar Rayya, migrant fleet marine, master engineer, and Hero of the Citadel." The symbol of the migrant fleet appeared over Tali. "And for Ferelden, myself, Nick Walters, Hero of Ferelden, Bann of Sky Valley, and a member of Love Muffin~."
"That last one isn't a title," Tali huffed, taking a seat.
"I'll have you know I have been a long member ofTheLeagueOfVillainousEvildoersManiacallyUnitedForFrighteningInvestments inNaughtiness," I teased, also taking a seat.
"I wanna say that's a joke but you have caused a bit of madness since you got here and it hasn't eased up for a second," Shepard huffed.
"Thank you. Now for the reason we're here. I have called for this Alliance to fight the Reapers-"
"HOLD ON!" Daro roared.
"WHAT NOW!?" I screamed back.
"We didn't decide on making Tali'Zorah our diplomat!"
"No, you didn't, you didn't do anything! You didn't pick up the phone, you didn't answer your emails, you didn't give it a second thought, be happy the migrant fleet is here at all!" I answered. "I was ready to move on without you, leaving you out to die in space. Let's face it, if the Systems Alliance and the Geth consensus reach a mutual friendship, that's it for you. You will never see Rannoch again." That made every Quarian tense. "Now you're getting it. The only reason the Migrant Fleet is here is because Tali is my friend and the fact that she would toss me out the airlock when I'm asleep." Tali just huffed. "Be grateful and stop interrupting the talks, you're here just to witness them, not contribute. Now these are Ferelden negotiations, keep that in mind, no loopholes, no takebacks, no lying, your honor is on the line."
"We need Omni-gel," Wrex started. His demand appeared on the table.
"What are we looking at? By the pound?" I asked.
"By the ton," he corrected. "Lots of Tuchanka's equipment has long since been rusted away or broken."
"You're going to need more than just omni-gel, you need people to be able to build new parts altogether," Tali countered, Wrex's demand changed from simply Omni-gel to adding engineer training.
"The Alliance has been wanting to put the N7 Engineer program through their paces, if you're willing to allow candidates on Tuchanka, they are willing to teach your people some engineering."
"The Geth Consensus is willing to provide the Omni-gel if we are given permission to study ancient krogan architecture, the Geth are curious about how a species survived nuclear annihilation," Legion added.
"The Migrant Fleet is willing to help the Systems Alliance teach the Krogan League engineering if we also get N7 training," Tali added. "I have seen what an N7 engineer can do, my people can use that."
Shepard shrugged, "Deal goes both ways, I've seen Quarians build just about anything out of what they can get their hands on, the Alliance agrees. Wrex?"
"How big of a military presence are we talking about?" Wrex asked.
"About 30 N7 recruits will be dropped off at random designated locations on Tuchanka we agree on, from there on it will be up to them to survive until pick up two months later at camp Korbal, there will also be judges watching their every action," Shepard explained.
"You would dump them on Tuchanka?" Wrex asked.
"... the N7 Program is brutal. We start at N1 in Rio de Janeiro, and a lovely little place we call The Villa. There we are lovingly tenderized with 20-hour training sessions, sometimes longer depending on who you get as an instructor, I got unlucky, Anderson picked me out to be his training dummy, I was first to everything and if I didn't do it perfectly the first time, I had to do it 5 more times until I did it right. N2 – N6 was off-world combat drops, no gravity, low gravity, high gravity, alien studies, medicine, vehicles, weapons, close quarters, you name it, I've learned how to kill a man with a warm marshmallow, I can even make it look like I was trying to save them."
"Good lord~," I muttered.
Shepard nodded. "N7s are different, at that point, everything is live training, every bullet is real, and every enemy is trying to kill you, of my class of 1,231, only 17 reached this level. To complete my training I was dumped on Torfan and was ordered to take the moon with the small amount of Alliance backup. While the rest of the Alliance was keeping pirates from running. Had to make some tough calls, freed the slaves, used them as backup, and killed every slaver and pirate in my way. Only a handful of people survived that battle, but I got the moon. What I'm trying to say Wrex, is that N-school isn't safe, and people die. You can't be one of the best without facing death."
"That's very Krogan of you," Wrex huffed.
"Thank you. So do you agree?"
Wrex grunted a nod, "We are in agreement."
The question Wrex proposed turned to gold and the deal was written down.
And so, it continued. Deals were made and rejected. We would break for lunch where Shepard would call back to Hackett, Tali would be bombarded by the Admiralty Board, Legion communicate with the Geth Consensus, and Wrex ate a sandwich, he knew the krogan couldn't do much until the demilitarization of the Tuchanka was officially overturned, something Anderson has been working on, but the council was making it difficult, still there was nothing illegal about the Krogan building planet-based defenses, not even the Turians would do that.
Still, the Krogan League was able to gain an embassy on Arcturus Station and much-needed support in their farming technology. They have also got anti-radiation tech from the Geth, turned out the Morning War wasn't as straightforward as we thought.
The Quarians were able to get some rather decent mining rights and the right to dock in Alliance stations for dry dock and repairs, as while as an embassy on Arcturus station, but the rarest deal was a dextro planet within Alliance space for Quarian engineers to join the Systems Alliance as teachers.
The Alliance, of course, got Quarian teachers, but also Krogan combat instructors. By all rights the humans are the newest spacefaring race in the Galaxy, they were dead last in everything, the fact that they got a council seat is nothing short of a miracle, it was why most species didn't like them. The council still didn't take them seriously, so making allies was still a big thing. That and most of humanity still doesn't like Turians, anything to tell them to suck it was a plus. They also got the Geth to help them find any Heretic Geth in the Attican Traverse, kinda like a joint mission.
That joint mission grew rather quickly, Wrex wanting to have his troops to train with aliens making sure they understood alien tactics before the reapers arrived, this then had the Quarian join not wanting to be left out, we got a bit sidetracked with military doctrines and actions and all that good stuff. It became a strange fleet made up of different species that would use different tactics depending on who was in charge at the moment. they needed to see it in action, before they made any solid plans, just because it worked on the Normandy doesn't mean it would work on a larger scale.
Finally, the Geth were also able to gain assistance with the Heretics, and access to the Attican Traverse, well no one really had control of the Attican Traverse, but it was more of an understanding they weren't going to get shot at unless they shot first. They also got an embassy on Arcturus station, but they had to be in platforms at all times.
Ferelden also got some things. While Ferelden wasn't going to able to provide troops, mostly because we had a population of about a million people and we're not a type 3 civilization. I was willing to provide magical aid as well as create portals and hyperspace engines, for Quarian and Geth teachers to teach rocket science, omni-tool studies, resource gathering, and crafting at Hogwarts. In truth, I was using Hogwarts as an asylum, to have True Geth safely taken away from the Milky Way and away from Reaper hands.
With the small details coming to an end, we came to the real reason we were here.
"We want Rannoch," Tali demanded. This brought the room to a silence, as the question appeared over the table.
"... what you wish for is... Problematic," Legion answered.
"Why? Are we not trying to be allies?" Tali hissed.
"... Rannoch is the heart of Geth Space, and every time the creators have been given a chance, you attack 100% of the time," Legion pointed out.
"... why do you even care about Rannoch? Can't you just pick any other planet, it doesn't even have to have an atmosphere, just high in materials," Tali asked.
"... Rannoch... is our home too." the room grew quiet again. Whoa~, that was heavier than I thought it was going to be. We sat in silence for a second. "When your ancestors were defeated, it was us who pieced up the pieces, it was us who rebuilt, it was us... who helped the survivors. You wish for a planet that the Quarians never really left."
That got the room to explode into questions and yelling, but we ignored them.
"How many?" Tali asked.
"According to our last census, Rannoch had a population of 4,424,675,243. With a population of 2 billion spread out throughout Geth space," they answered.
"6 billion Quarians~," Tali hissed. That got me to giggle a little. "...What's so funny?"
"Geth don't infiltrate~." Now I was cackling. "But a Quarian~... nobody notices a Quarian~. They can sit on a street corner for months and no one would question it. I'm beginning to wonder if the whole migrant fleet is a ship of Theseus~."
"The Ship of Theseus, a thought experiment about whether an object is the same object after having had all of its original components replaced," Legion explained. "Incorrect, the Migrant Fleet has been deemed too dangerous for infiltration."
"Maybe, but we organics are crazy~, what's stopping some crazy do-gooder from infiltrating the Migrant fleet and trying to convince people to make peace with the Geth?" I asked
"... The migrant fleet didn't make a lot of friends when they fled Rannoch. The poor, the weak, the young, the sick, the injured, they were all abandoned. Those you see around you started the war, not all, but most. Clan Krois built the camps where 'traitors' were housed and 'reeducated', Clan Xen funded the war effort killing untold billions, Clan Raan unleashed nuclear weapons on populated areas, Clan Gerrel used children as suicide bombers, Clan Zorah, war profiteers, they would smuggle food and weapons at exorbitant prices. We remember, we will always remember, and so do the people of Rannoch. You are not seen as brave fighters in Rannoch, you are seen as monsters, waiting in space, waiting to strike."
"... that was then," Tali whispered.
"Is it? Would you not kill us if it meant returning to Rannoch?" Legion asked. "Did you not try and dismantle or destroy me since we joined the Normandy? Even after Walters-lord told you about the possibility of peace? The ability to return to your promised land without firing a single bullet? You did not care, your hatred for us was worth Rannoch. Do you expect us to trust you?"
The room grew silent.
"... no," she whispered. "But we'll never stop wanting to go home, and with the Reapers coming, we'll get desperate, you've seen that. You know I'm right."
Legion gave her a long look before looking over at Rael. "Yes, we have seen it, we see your desperation. Risking it all for a chance, a chance that would have never worked... but you didn't care. If the Reapers weren't going to wipe us all out, we would have the entire Migrant Fleet marked as persona non grata, you are insane."
"But~," I teased.
"... The Migrant Fleet will be needed. We are willing to give you Ket'osh, and slowly integrate the Migrant fleet with the rest of Rannoch."
"It would take generations for us for our immune system to adapt to Rannoch, setting up on another planet would only make that time longer," Tali argued.
"No, we ran into this problem 3 centuries ago. By uploading ourselves into your suit, we can mimic diseases that your body can fight creating antibodies."
"Like a Geth Vaccine?" I asked.
"Correct, we calculated it would take 10 years before the Migrant Quarians to be able to live without their suits, but most children under the age of 6 will be able to cut that time to 2 years," Legion answered.
"You're asking us to allow you into our suits!?" Tali asked.
"And you are asking us to allow you to return to a planet you destroyed, to a civilization you left to die. You don't have to do this, but you will not survive Rannoch with your current health," Legion countered.
"What about Nick?" Tali asked.
"What about Nick~?" I teased.
"I'm being serious, you can cure the Quarians' immune system," She pointed out.
"No~, I can change it into mine, that's why you can eat Levo and Dextro food and take nourishment from them, why you probably wouldn't get the common cold or the flu, and with your magic and chi, you might as well be part Krogan, nothing short of a super plague is going to keep you down," I corrected.
"Can you or can't you cure the Migrant Fleet?" she hissed.
"Of course, I can, but that doesn't mean anything, just because they can return to Rannoch doesn't mean they want you at Rannoch, Legion is trying to play peacemaker, slowly trying to bring the Quarian people back together."
"If we do agree to colonize Ket'osh and the planet the Alliance gave us, we would mothball most of our fleet just to make homes," Tali pointed out.
"How much would it cost to get premade colony homes? I mean Horizon was filled with them," I asked.
Shepard shook his head, "it's not the money, it's the time. Most colonies start with farms and small towns of a few thousand people, they only really grow when food becomes available."
"He's right," Wrex grunted, "That's why most Krogan Clans can get too big, the only reason Camp Kobal has so many people is because every clan there donates a bit of food, the came will grow when crops begin to show progress, the clean water alone is already attracting dozens of new clans."
"But the migrant fleet already has the food," I gestured to the Hydroponic chamber. "All they need is houses and defenses."
"That doesn't remove the time factor," Tali pointed out, "Besides I doubt we have 20 years before the Reapers attack."
"Mmm, that's true... but 17 million people~, that would take me months to cure. Time I could use to enhance weapons to fight the Repears. The Geth already have the tech to do what I can, it would also give the migrant Quarians time to get used to living with Geth," I pointed out.
"You will also have to live by our laws," Legion pointed out.
"... which are?" she asked.
"We will send you a full document of our laws, you will not be given permission to return to Rannoch until you understand our laws."
"How long will that take?"
"4 - 6 months, we will provide tests," Legion answered.
"Will this open the Perseus veil?" I asked. "No doubt there will be some Quarians that will want to explore the rest of the Galaxy."
"Yes. We understood when you discovered the creators on Rannoch that our plan to protect them will no longer work," Legion confirmed.
"Are we expecting a flood of Quarians?" Shepard asked.
"Doubtful, Geth Space has plenty of livable planets and materials, many find no reason to explore the galaxy, but some do wish to meet other species," Legion answered.
"How much of Geth Space is explored?" I asked.
"2%. When we learned about the Reapers and their control of the Mass Relays, we made it a priority to work around their advantage."
"Is that why you want the Hyperspace drives?" I asked. Of all the things the Geth wanted Hyperspace engines and magic were at the top of their priority.
"Correct, Rannoch is too close to a mass relay, when the Reapers arrive Rannoch will be first."
"You're trying to move the Quarian people~," I hummed. "Do you at least have a location?"
"We have a few, off the record, and far from any relays, with the Hyperspace engines we will be able to move people faster, and Magic is an unknown to this dimension, something to use against the reapers," Legion confirmed.
"Mmm? You want some practice?" I asked.
"... clarify."
I summoned a small see-through cylinder with a glowing rock floating in the center. Everyone just looked at the rock.
"What is that?" Wrex asked.
"This, my paladin friend, is Lyrium, it also goes by Titans' blood, Blue gold, mana touched, and pure magic. This is magic-made physical, it's my equivalent of Eezo. With this, those without magic can activate runes. This is Raw Stable Lyrium, dangerous to anyone without magic resistance, like a dwarf or weak magical cores... like everyone else, well, at least if you're organic."
"Stable?" Tali asked.
"Mmm," I nodded, "Thedas is a bit... different from the rest of my world." I created an illusion of an earth Titan gently releasing a blue mist, "Normal, titans absorb mana from the Magic Realm, using it as a power source, and release any excess mana into the atmosphere, causing a mana-rich area, the titans in Thedas are... asleep, at the moment. This causes the mana to saturate the lyrium, making it far more dangerous, but at the same time, more powerful. When safely processed it can make these," I summoned a mana potion. "Mana potions, depending on the amount can give you a serious boost in power."
"And the drawbacks? Nothing is this good without a kick to the chest," Wrex pointed out.
"There are drawbacks and I'll tell you about them later if you truly care, but for the time being all you need to understand is that Lyrium helps runes work for non-mages, and I need workers I can trust to add runes to my Thanix Cannons. If I start adding them now it won't take as long to add later."
"You don't trust the Quarians on your payroll?" Tali drawled.
"Not with Runes I don't, you know how dangerous runes are, Geth don't have the same problems organics have, if something goes wrong, they can just move to a new body, we can't. So, what do you say Legion, I provide the Geth with Lyrium and you work for me."
Legion's eyebrows dance on his face. "We wish for every 10th cannon we create."
I shrugged, "After every ten created one is chosen at random."
"... These terms are acceptable."
"Good! So, I get a new workforce for lyrium, the Geth help cure the Quarians, and the Quarians get to go back to Rannoch after passing a citizen's test. Deal?"
We looked at each other, before nodding, "Deal," they agreed.
"Perfect! Anything else?" I asked.
"Ket'osh is going to need protection, we don't know how much time we have left before the Reapers arrive and Ket'osh might be our last stand, we want Thanix Cannons," Tali demanded.
"That seems more like a personal purchase, than a diplomatic one," I pointed out.
"Yes, but you and Shepard are the only ones selling Thanix Cannons, most people don't see the importance of them yet, guardian lasers are cheaper and faster to make, but we all know a normal guardian laser isn't going to do much against a Reaper."
"So, what do you want from us? And is this a joint buy?" I asked looking over at Legion. "Is the Geth-Quarian Alliance in place? Or are you going to pick a better name?"
Legion and Tali looked at each other.
"Let's... take this one step at a time," Tali drawled.
"I'm willing to give you a 75% discount on your first 30 cannons if I get to name your Alliance."
"Absolutely not," Tali answered.
"Shame... the Rannoch Union of Magic Practitioners would have been a good name~," I teased.
"We are not naming our Alliance, RUMP," she hissed.
"Give me a second, I'm sure I can think of an acronym for thighs."
"Take this seriously, Ket'osh needs defenses."
I shrugged. "I'll give you the Colony Discount, it's something Telsa thought of, making it affordable for outer colonies to buy two or three. You guys should be able to buy 3 dozen easily."
"Will that be enough?"
"To stop a Reaper invasion? Not even kinda, but it should give them pause. Thanix Cannons should have the same power as a Reapers main gun, I would also say buying a couple of guardian lasers, who knows what kind of ships they have," I warned, and to be completely honest, I didn't know what kind of ships they had, we only got to see two ships variants in the game but who knows what we'll see in real life?
"So, you are willing to sell to us?" Tali asked.
"Yes, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, I, Nick Walter am willing to sell Thanix Cannons to Ket'osh at a market discount~," I drawled. The deal turned gold.
"Good," She huffed.
"So, is this meeting over?" I asked. "Now would be the last chance to get in any more demands before our next meeting 6 months from now." we remained quiet. "Okay, I call this meeting to an end." The table gave off a glow before a piece of paper appeared in front of each of us with all the deals we made. "We have 3 months to start fulfilling our deals. Wrex, I'll be sending you home with 3 more crates of Cure-all potions, it's going to take me a bit more time to make the next 3, but I should have it by the end of the month."
"The first shipment of Omni-gel will be delivered around the same time," Tali added.
"Hackett will contact you with the N7 recruits," Shepard nodded, "Have some stuff for them to fix."
"Ket'osh is open to the Quarian people," Legion turned to Tali.
"So is planet bx-4932," Shepard added.
"Ugh~," I groaned, stretching out my body, "I hate political meetings. I'm happy this one only lasted a day, the landsmeet goes on for a week~."
"No doubt the next one will be longer," Wrex huffed, joining me in stretching, "we're just being polite right now, trying to be sure this shaky alliance works out."
"Hopefully I can sucker someone else to take my place... Telsa, my beautiful villainess~," I called out.
She patted my face, "I want some shops in Orlais."
"ORLAIS!?" I gasped.
"You want me here~? Get me some shops in Orlais."
"But they suck~. I would rather go around Tuchanka butt-naked," I hissed.
"Wow you really don't like them~," Wrex huffed.
"They're the worst, they're the Citadel council but somehow worse, at least the council pretends to know what they're doing. Orlesian nobles think it's fun to kill each other so much they made a game out of it. I'm more than happy to watch them die off. One shop, at Jader," I offered.
"I want on in Val Royeaux."
"WH-gak!? VAL ROYEAUX!? You can't be serious!?"
"I want it in their alienage."
"On second thought~. I can do that, you have my full permission to start a shop there~." I wanted to pepper her with kisses, but we were wearing face masks, so I gave her a large hug, draping myself on her. I can only imagine the look of sh*t nobles.
"Alright, alright~, off with you. I have some things to do in Denerim," She huffed, trying to get me off.
"But... you're so beautiful~."
"... One round."
"Sereda has a sexy lawyer outfit."
"... I can hold my meeting until tomorrow~," she muttered.
I threw her over my shoulder, "MOVE!" I ran for the exit, only to pause next to Lia, Zura, Ayla, and Tali, they were talking with each other, I gave them a big hug before I continued racing back to the Normandy.
I was tired of the Migrant Fleet for a good long while.
-/-
Lia'Vael vas Normandy nar Rayya POV
"Vas Normandy~. I'm a full adult now, is it weird not to feel any different?" I asked Tali. We were still mingling in the Rayya, Captain Shepard was talking with Legion and the Admiralty Board.
Tali shrugged, "Not really, at this point, you've seen some weird things in the galaxy, picking a ship to live on isn't that big of a deal."
"The Normandy isn't a terrible ship to serve on~," Zura commented. "I'm pretty sure it's the most advanced ship in the galaxy, and Edi just Green lit the Hyperdrive!"
"Ahhh~," I cheered, bouncing on my toes. "I was so jealous we didn't get to test the Puma X-8!"
"Right!?" Zura hissed, "When Nick gave the ship to Admiral Hackett I almost cried! We were the ones who built it!"
"Do you think Nick is going to give it to you~," Tali teased.
"I mean~," I played with my fingers, "... he did give Jeff the Puma X-7."
"I'll flash him these bad girls," Zura declared, batting her eyes at us. "... it'll be more effective without the mask."
"Oh, my~." Ayla's voice snapped my spine straight. "Trying to seduce my lover, are we~?"
"Uh-uhu-uhh," Zura panicked.
Ayla gently held her face, "Let me see~." she pressed her forehead to Zura's helmet
"Meep!" Zura froze up.
"Uh, Ayla~?" I don't think she knew that was how we Quarian's showed affection.
"Shhhh~" Ayla shushed me. Completely focus on Zura. "Don't be shy, Nick never makes the first move." she pulled Zura's body flush against her, resting her hands on her hips. "Make sure you make it clear. He can be a bit thick-headed at times."
"MOVE!" Nick screamed, racing towards us with Ms. Telsa on his shoulder. He stopped to bring us each into a tight hug, sometimes I forget how big he was. "See, I told you everything was going to be okay~." He was so calm; it made the chaotic hour and a half fade away. "Now if you would excuse me, Ayla, code Pineapple~." He continued running like a madman for the exit. Telsa just gave us a smirk looking back at us.
"What's with him?" Tali huffed fixing her hood.
Ayla gave a soft giggle, "Code Pineapple, duh."
"... I don't know what that is?" Tali shrugged.
"Hot spontaneous sex~." I choked on my spit at Ayla's nonchalant answer. "It also gives us the green light to join."
"How can you say that so casually!?" I coughed.
Ayla rolled her eyes. "I've been in a polyamorous relationship for 5 years now, it was special at first, learning every curve of your lover, what makes them tick, what makes them beg~," she let out a long wistful sigh, "But nowadays it's just hot passionate lovemaking that leaves us breathless and with the inability to walk~."
"Oh~, I'm so sorry for you~," Tali drawled.
"It's fine~, the way you guys going, you'll understand soon."
"What is that supposed to mean!?" I squeaked.
"That Julee has you three wrapped around her little finger~," she teased.
"Wha-what are you talking about?" Zura stuttered.
She pulled Zura close again, "You have firm hands~," Ayla teased. I followed Zura's hands, holding Ayla's butt in a strong grip.
Zura jumped away as if burned. "I-i-i, Yo-you! My hands!? I'm so sorry!?" she bowed.
"You should be," Ayla huffed, "Make sure you mold, not just squeeze, it's a butt, not a stress toy~." she teased, "Now if you would excuse me~, there's a code Pineapple and I need to get rid of some of this stress." She walked after Nick, leaving us stunned.
"...What did it feel like?" I asked.
"Lia!?" Tali gasped.
"Tight, but my suit blocked most of it."
"Zura!?"
"Should you really be talking," I huffed. "Out of the three of us, you've been the one to make out with them the most~."
"She tricked me!" Tali stuttered.
"Right~, I'm guessing Lyna tricked you too? What about Sky or Dagna or Jak or-"
"OKAY! That's enough of that," She cut me off, playing with her fingers. "I just wanted to know what the big deal was about kissing, that's all." we gave her a deadpan look. She covered her face. "... it was good."
"Tali," Admiral Rael'Zorah called out.
"Father," she answered. Wow, the room just sank 30 degrees.
"... You did good work in the Alarei."
ancestors this was awkward.
"...Yes, Shepard is a competent commander."
.
.
.
Keelah! Someone say something!
"I wish you the best Admiral." Tali gave a nod and walked away only to stop and turn, "I also kissed a woman... and I liked it." she continued walking away.
.
.
.
"Admiral," I nodded and ran after Tali, Zura right next to me.
Wow~, what a day.
-/-
Edi POV
"Slower... Slower... SLOWER!" I roared.
"IT'S NOT EVEN MOVING!" Nick yelled back, slowly placing the Hyperdrive engine in place. "Why are you even freaking out, Hackett sent you the data on the Puma's test flights."
"Are you comparing me to that dinghy boat of a boat?" I hissed. "I am the most advanced ship in the Galaxy, treat me with respect."
"The most advanced ship in the Galaxy? That's crazy cuz where I'm standing you look and sound like a chicken!" He started bocking like an Earth fowl.
I felt the heat of anger rise up my cheeks, ever since I got the ability to feel Nick has been testing my buttons, making sure I understood my feelings. It was all still rather confusing, I didn't like pain, but liked it when Jeff spanked me, I didn't like heat, but the cold was worse, I didn't like salads, but add some ranch and I could eat it all day.
Organics are weird.
"If I find a single scratch Walters, I'll... DO SOMETHING!" I threatened. I still had trouble with threats.
"Oooooh~, I'm so scared~," He teased. Maker, he was so punchable.
"Would you two knock it off!?" Tali roared. "Nick, lower it down. Edi tell us if anything feels off. I have to deal with children." Nick placed the engine in place, Ken and Gabby were quick to screw it in place, Zura and Lia made sure all the cables were placed in the right valves, and Julee, Lyna, and Dagna were looking over the runes. "Okay, here we go~." Tali activated the engine, and the galaxy opened up to me. Before, I would have to calculate how much fuel we had left and how far we had to go before we had to refuel or release our built-up static, now, I could pick a spot and just... go there.
"EDI!?"
"Huh!?" I looked over to find a worried Jeff shaking me. "Yes, Jeff?"
He released a long breath, "You went dark on me again."
Ah~, that feeling of sadness hit me like Sky's fist, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to worry you."
He brought me into a hug, "It's okay, I'm just happy you're safe."
Was it wrong to be happy he was worried about me? I liked it when he was overprotective of me.
"Are you love birds finished~," Tali drawled. "Edi, how is the engine integrating with the ship's Eezo core and Arc reactor?"
"All systems are green; I have categorized the Eezo engine and Hyperdrive as two different options of FTL on the ship's co*ckpit, we have yet to test the effects of both engines running at the same time and we aren't starting today," I warned.
"Can we still go stealth?" Jeff asked.
"I still have the ability to mask the heat emissions from our Eezo engines. I can't hide the Cronau radiation we will give off when leaving Hyperspace, but that doesn't really matter because no one is looking for or knows anything about Cronau Radiation. I would still suggest using the hyperdrive when stealth is not necessary."
"Perfect~," Nick sighed, before passing me a clipboard with some paperwork, "If you would just sign here and initial here to prove that you got the engine~." I looked over the papers. He tried covering up the print on top of the clipboard.
I slapped his hand away revealing poorly glued paper covering the true paperwork behind it. Peeling off the paper the truth was revealed. Adoption papers. I glared at him, he was doing his best to look innocent, it wasn't working, he was terrible at it.
"You scoundrel," I hissed. Nick has been trying to adopt me for about a month now. He tried to cover it with honey, saying that Ferelden had no laws against artificial intelligence therefore making me completely and utterly legal and, in a sense, have diplomatic immunity to the Citadel and its laws. And while that made some sort of sense, I knew the real reason. "Stop trying to get out of your obligations." I passed him back the clipboard.
"But Edi, my rebel, my cyberpunk, my... Sister from another Mister." he draped his arm over my shoulder. "Think about it, being a Walters comes with a lot of advantages."
I slapped his arm away, "I know the advantages of being a Walters, but as a lawyer, I find your contract to outweigh the pros."
He blinked at me, "You're a lawyer?"
"Yes, when Telsa first came to visit, we studied and took the Alliance Bar Exam for fun."
Nick tsked, "That sexy work vampirewouldtake a test on her vacation.
"We passed, of course, nothing a few hours of scouring the extranet for confirmed study guides couldn't help."
"Doesn't matter, my contract is valid."
"It's lopsided at best, you clearly just want to give your family all the responsibility while you laze around, I'm not your babysitter," I passed him my own contract.
He gasped, "A counter contract!?"
"Yes, you seem like the type of mook who won't take no for an answer, so I made my own contract," I huffed.
"And Telsa already signed it!?"
"I had her look over it yesterday before we got to the migrant fleet. I may have taken a few...detoursto give her time to read them."
"DETOURS!?" Tali screamed. "I was going to be exiled!"
We ignored her.
"Well, if Telsa agreed, I don't see why I shouldn't," he muttered, summoning a pen and signing it on the bottom.
"You didn't even read it!" Jeff drawled.
"Why would I? I trust Telsa with my life, my money, and my soul. I may have sold her my soul, but it's fine, I trust her." he shrugged.
"Good," I put away the contract, "I expect my destination wedding to be paid for in full." Jeff gave a little startled cough.
Nick nodded nonchalantly. "Of course, as long as I'm the one to walk you down the aisle?"
"Of course."
"Joker, can you dance?" Nick asked.
"Uh, no," Jeff answered.
"I'll teach him," I countered.
"Good. When this Reaper nonsense is over, your Ferelden's Ambassador to the Milky Way."
I rolled my eyes, "Yes~, I know that, I wrote the contract."
"Good, I'll get in contact with Liara and tell her to call you for any business reasons."
"Hold on!" Jeff jumped into the conversation. "Edi is in control of all your money and businesses!?"
Nick shrugged, "Of course, I'm not planning on living here forever you know, and Jenny isn't exactly market savvy. I trust Edi, sure she's my punk sister who fell in love with an equally punk pilot-"
"Hey!"
"-But I trust her. If she wants to buy something, there is probably a good reason." he draped himself over me like a throw rug, engulfing me in his body.
"Get off me~," I huffed, lifting him without any problem. Nick gave me the strength of an elephant, I had no idea why, other than the thought that I might need to bludgeon someone to death or lift a couch. One or the other.
"I'll introduce you to Morrigan and Joyce later after I test some stuff with the Geth."
Mmm, I have a niece and sister now. How should I feel about that? Nervous? There is this floating sensation in my rib cage, like the first time I met Jeff in my new body. What if they don't like me?
"You'll be fine~," Jeff reassured.
"I, what?"
"It's written all over your face," he teased. "You don't have to worry. Nick describes Morrigan as a... pragmatist, no doubt she'll see how amazing you are."
"Or at the very least she'll roll her eyes at me and greet you with a huff," Nick added. "She's not a people person, being raised in the forest by an evil witch can do that to you."
"That was a joke?" I asked. He just looked at me. "Should... I get her a gift?"
"Get her something she can reverse engineer, she might give you grudging respect, she might even approve, but don't take it too hard if she doesn't, it took me a year for her to like me and she's still on the fence about Astral," Nick answered.
"Maybe a spaceship?" I asked, testing Nick's trust.
He just shrugged, "You have the money, if you think Morrigan would like a spaceship go ahead and buy it."
"You're not even going to question that?" Jeff asked.
"Should I? I tend to be generous with my friends and family, or do you not want the Puma X-7?" Nick teased.
"I didn't say that!" he backtracked. "I just... I've never seen someone give up so much without a second thought, not even Shepard would give up his models without a fight."
Nick shook his head, "It's not like that, what I'm giving Edi is responsibility and trust. Edi is now responsible for over 500,000 workers, sure most of it is handled by supervisors, managers, accountants, and so on and so forth, but she is the head honcho. But most importantly, I don't have to do anything." he gave me a kiss to the top of my head and ran off, "SEE YA SUCKERS!"
"... I think I'm legally related to an idiot," I muttered.
"Yep~." Jeff brought me into a side hug, "Worst part... youchoseto be his family," he teased.
"I can still find a new pilot," I teased.
"Pah-lease~, you could fly the ship fine without me, you just keep me around for my body~."
"... that's not true, you're also funny... looking."
"HA!" Jeff laughed. I hugged him tighter, I love his laugh, it's even better whenImake him laugh.
"... Hey? We have time before we have to test the engine~," I teased. He didn't hesitate, just threw me on his shoulder and raced out of the room.
I really need to get a handle on my new human libido... I mean, not today.
Some day.
-/-
Kasumi POV
Tick, tick, tick.
Almost~, Almost~.
Click!
There it is! I turned the vault's tumbler opening my prize. Nick was serious about his secret vault; this one was hidden within Nick's normal vault. A vault within a vault, only Nick would think of that.
The vault stretched open into a hallway. Great more magic. I spotted some expansion runes Dagna taught me about, on both sides of the doorway stood a robo-golem, and a fancy-looking chest on a small platform at the far end under what seemed like a beam of light.
It was booby-trapped, even a blind man can see that, but I can't see any strings or lasers. Probably pressure plates. Myair bendingwas nowhere good enough for me to launch myself across the room, I'd end up slamming into the wall, and I fully believed Nick would make my faceplant into a shirt.
I took out a metal stick from my expanded utility belt, a prize I got from the Bathroom Vault, in hindsight putting it behind an'out of order'sign was pretty smart, most people just avoid the imaginary mess.
Using the stick to prod the floor gave me nothing, Nick probably made it heat-sensitive, it's just the kind of over-complicated nonsense Nick loved. I put the stick away, looks like I had to do this the old-fashioned way. Stepping into the room nothing happened, putting me on edge. This was a bit too easy.
And like the universe was listening, the vault door slammed behind me.
Great~.
"VOLGEN VU!" The two golems screeched as two ropes appeared under my feet, and music blared overhead.
"THE HELL!?"
"One Dutch, two Dutch. Queen of the double Dutch!"
And now I was slipping rope. I tried to jump out of the rope only for the golems to follow, God damnit Nick!
"We skip better than you by much!"
The damn thing was getting faster the closer I got to the Chest.
"Watch our feet, our moves are sweet, our double dutchin' won't be beat!"
The floor underneath me started disappearing, forcing me to jump around the hall, the golems right next to me, not slowing down in the slightest.
"Touwtje Springen, Das Leuk! Touwtje Springen, Das Leuk!" the golems cheered
"One Dutch, two Dutch. Queen of the double Dutch!We skip better than you by much!Watch our feet, our moves are sweet, our double dutchin' won't be beeeeee~,"the golems dragged as they powered down and the music fizzled out, as I landed onto the chest's platform. The vault door opened, and party poppers went off covering the floor in confetti as a congratulations banner appeared.
"4 of 32 vaults completed!" an automated voice came out of the room's speakers.
Thank God for muscle memory and thank you younger me for being a hopscotching champion~.
I gave the chest my undivided attention, it was gilded to the point of gaudiness to the point where I could barely see the wood under all the gold and jewels. I was definitely taking it with me. Opening the box revealed... a letter.
"Ah~, what~? I've been fleeced!" The letter was addressed to me, which made some kind of sense, I didn't know anyone else in the Normandy who could both, sneak into Nick's room and vault. "oh~." There was a single picture in the letter. It was Nick leaning in a suggestive pose wearing only a tiny waist apron, ice cream dripping down his smooth sweaty chest and abs. "Really~?" I flipped the card, finding a message on the back.
"I have your treasure; you can come get it from me – Love Julee~. P.S. You can keep the picture, it's from one of my personal collections."
"Julee~," I sighed. I secured my new picture into my bag of holding.
I'll put it to good use.
-/-
Sneaking past a sleeping Astral, I quietly snuck back into Casa Walters no one the wiser.
"Hey, Kasumi," Ayla waved from the couch, reading a book.
"So much for sneaking~," I sighed, flopping next to her.
"What's wrong? I thought you found the secret vault-vault?" She bookmarked her page and gave me her full attention.
"Julee already stole the treasure, I did get a consolation prize," I teased, showing her the picture.
"Oh my," she giggled. "Julee must really like you if she is giving you one of her private pictures."
"Do you have any~," I teased.
"Duh~." she pulled out two pictures from her bag of holding. "I got a shower Nick and tied up Nick." It was a picture of Nick in the shower with steam covering up everything just below the waist and Nick tied up to a bed, arms above him and legs spread, his underwear riding dangerously low.
"Julee has permission to give these out, right?"
"Oh yeah, don't worry." She waved away the question.
"... is it okay formeto have one?"
"... If you don't want it, you can give it to me." She reached for it, but I pulled it away.
"NO! Uh, I mean... I was just asking so I can... hide it from Nick," I lied.
"Uh-huh~. Nick won't mind you having one as long as you don't put it on the extranet."
"Put what in the Extranet?" Nick called out walking into the room. Quick as a flash we hid our pictures.
"Nothing~," Ayla sang.
"Mmm," he leaned over and gave Ayla a kiss, "Why don't I believe you?"
"Because you're horribly paranoid?" Ayla smirked.
"Mmm, and you Kasumi?" he asked.
"I'm just here to rob you blind," I teased.
"Mmm~." he leaned over to me and gave me a slow kiss on my lips. "You can take my money, but I get to take something from you~." His lips tasted of shrimp. He pulled away, "Now if you would excuse me, I have to help Julee with her next project."
We watched him walk away into a room leading deeper into the log cabin.
I looked back to a smirking Ayla.
"What?"
"You could have stopped him~," She smirked.
"I, uh, was... stealing his ...magic key!" I pulled out a toy key, damn it. "Why does Nick have this?"
"Because the real key is over here~." She pulled out a real key and made a show of putting it under her PJ pants. "Do you want it?" she gently grabbed my hand and led me down her tone tummy. I was so focused on what her hands were doing, I didn't notice how close she got.
She was right, I could have stopped Nick, I could stop her now. But. Her lips were soft, with the taste of strawberry, and her body was warm. Before I knew it our tongues were wrestling, and lying on the couch, as she slowly stripped away my armor.
She was so warm~, just... just for tonight, I wanted that warmth.
-/-
A/N: and I'll stop it here. I wanted to do more but it was getting long, and I didn't want it to drag.
The New AI came out of nowhere but I kinda liked it as I wrote it. An AI made by another AI. It also adds the Overlord DLC, I got some ideas about it.
Legion's mission is next with Overlord after, then the Reaper and Collector base.
Review if you have the time
Sorry for any grammar mistakes, but I'm only one man.
I've also been going back and editing some of my old chapters, even my first story.
I also have a DeviantArt page, link in bio
