Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.
If you like how Shepard is a total genius badass, you should check Arrival : Ruptures to enjoy more of the same.
—
Valhallan Threshold
Raheel-Leyya
The Migrant Fleet
With over fifty thousand ships, the Migrant Fleet was technically the largest fleet in the galaxy, though most were civilian ships and old ones at that.
The pilgrimage, where they sent young quarians to bring back something of worth to the fleet, had been created due to the need to sustain their current way of life, as they were not able to settle on any planet.
Now, they were accusing Tali of treason.
"This is Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya requesting permission to dock with the Rayya." Tali hailed the traffic control of the Migrant Fleet, pacing around the cockpit, restless.
"Our system has your ship flagged as Cerberus. Verify." The traffic controller requested, and Tali gave a verbal code.
"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."
"Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah."
"We'd like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our ship is not clean."
"Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle 17."
—
No matter the species, the decontamination process was the same but longer in the case of quarians.
Passing the checkpoint, they saw the quarian security team waiting for them, saluting their captain, who came to greet Shepard.
"Captain Shepard, it is a pleasure to meet you. I only wish it could have been under pleasant circumstances." The captain held out his hand for the human who had saved a lot of quarians from the Hegemony while it still existed.
Shepard shook the offered hand. "I'd say accusing my crew member of treason is more than just unpleasant. What are the charges?"
"They are charging Tali with bringing active geth into the Fleet as part of a secret project."
Tali stepped forward, enraged at the accusation. "That's insane. I never brought active geth aboard. I only sent parts and pieces."
"Sounds like someone screwed up, and they are looking for a scapegoat." And as the leader of the team that sent geth material, Tali was the one they were blaming.
"I can't comment on that. The trial requires that I be officially neutral, but I'm here if you need to talk." The captain offered.
Shepard turned to Tali, who looked more unsettled than before. "Who was running this secret project?"
"My father."
That was not good at all.
—
"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. I am glad you came. I could only delay them so long." An older quarian woman was waiting at the entrance to the Conclave.
"Auntie Raan." Tali's mood brightened upon seeing the woman, and she went to hug her.
"Shepard vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. She's a friend of my father's." Tali introduced the quarian, and Shepard nodded. If Tali called her aunty, then she was cool for him.
Confused at the way her auntie addressed her, Tali knew this would only get worse. "Wait. Raan, you called me vas Normandy."
"I'm afraid I did, Tali. The Admiralty Board moved to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema."
—
"This conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this session. Keelah se'lai." Shala'Raan, who had to be neutral during a trial as a member of the Admiralty Board, would not be voting on the decision of the Conclave.
"The accused, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason." Raan spoke as a formality, since everyone knew what the charges were.
"Objection. A human has no business at a hearing involving such sensitive military matters." One of the admirals objected, and Shepard rolled his eyes inside the helmet.
Here he went.
"What exactly are you going to do about it, admiral?" He asked with crossed arms.
Unable to give an answer, the admiral just groaned like an idiot. "Uhhhhh….."
"I thought so," he said, and one of the admirals coughed very pointedly.
"Shepard, as Normandy, your crew member Tali'Zorah stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her?" Raan asked, once again, for protocol.
"That is why I am here."
"Tali, you are accused of bringing active geth to the Migrant Fleet. What say you?" She laid out the charge, and it was Shepard's time to shine.
He had never lost a battle before, and this trial was just a battlefield of words and evidence.
"And why would she do that? For Tali to commit treason, she would either have to hate all of you, or the geth must have offered her material gains. Is there any proof the Admiralty Board could present for either case?" You had to be brain dead to believe someone with Tali's reputation would work with the geth, but then again, this trial was a sham.
"We have a research ship lost to the geth, one where Tali's father was working." Admiral Gerrel spoke, shocking Tali.
"What are you talking about?"
"As far as we can tell, Tali, the geth have killed everyone on the Alarei, your father included." Gerrel actually seemed sad, and Shepard guessed he and Rael might have been friends, rather than just colleagues.
"That in no way, shape, or form proves that Tali is responsible. For all we know, it was the fault of the researchers. Right now, this Conclave's priority should be to take Alarei back and destroy the geth to prevent any danger to the Migrant Fleet. The Normandy stands ready to offer assistance." Once the ship was secure, they could find out what had really happened.
"Thank you. Our strike teams have attempted to retake the ship, so far without success."
"The safest course of action would be to simply destroy the ship. But if you are looking for a break from the trial…." Koris, whom Shepard was quickly disliking, opened his mouth again.
"I'm looking for my father, you bosh'tet." Tali shouted at the admiral, who just turned his head away.
"You intend to take the Alarei from the geth? With Commander Shepard here, we can consider this matter closed. This trial will resume upon your return." Raan declared, and the Conclave was given a break for now.
—
"Thank you for agreeing to take back the Alarei, Shepard. The admirals sound sure that my father is already dead, but… I don't know. We won't know anything until we get there." Shepard took Tali's hand to help her calm down.
"How are you holding up? I swear, politicians are the same everywhere, no matter what they call themselves."
"I knew this would be bad, but I guess you're never really prepared to be charged with treason."
"And my father… I don't know. He could still be alive. They don't know for certain that he is dead. I just don't know, Shepard. And I need to find out."
—
A shuttle was prepared for Shepard, Tali, and Garrus, but he wanted to speak to the admirals before leaving.
To put the fear of Shepard into their hearts, of course.
—
The Alarei
Boarding the research vessel, the team came across the body of a quarian in the airlock. There was nothing they could do for him, so Shepard pressed forward, Tali and Garrus following.
"Shepard-Commander, we wish to negotiate." An obviously synthetic and baritone voice called out as geth units stood arrayed across the room, weapons drawn but not firing.
They were all confused, but Garrus was the one who articulated it. "Uhh, what?"
"Are you the geth that took over this ship?" Shepard asked for confirmation while switching his pistols to microwave mode.
"Correct."
"Huh, the first time one of you clankers decided to speak to me." Intrigued at the idea of speaking to the geth, Shepard decided to see if they were actually willing to negotiate.
"Alright, lower your weapons and we'll talk." He demanded, and the geth units, communicating at the speed of light, did so at once.
"Agreed."
Not to be a spoilsport, Shepard lowered his weapons too, while Tali followed his lead with an outraged hiss. Garrus was just chuckling inside his helmet.
"What do you wish to negotiate about?"
"Safe passage to geth space." That was a reasonable request and probably the only thing the synthetics could want.
However, they were negotiating, and the geth had to offer something back. "In return for?"
"The remaining crew of the vessel Alarei will be returned, unharmed." A holo screen popped up, showing several quarians locked up in a room with geth watching over them.
"Hmmm. You didn't kill them." They had no way of knowing Shepard would come to Alarei, so the geth should have had no reason to spare the crew, at least the ones that were alive.
"Rael'Zorah, father to Tali'Zorah, Shepard-Commander's teammate and now known romantic interest according to extranet outlets. Ceasing his life signs had a high probability of drawing your attention to the geth as a whole."
Garrus, suitably convinced that the geth were serious, discreetly activated his omni-tool so everyone aboard the Normandy could watch this.
"How many of the crew are alive?" The quarians were unlikely to surrender without a fight, and Shepard had to know the details before agreeing to anything.
"Fifty-nine out of the eighty-seven original crew complement, including Rael'Zorah." Tali's breath hitched at the sight of her father on the holoscreen.
"Alright, here is how it will go down. I'll bring shuttles to take the crew to the fleet, and you'll be allowed to take the Alarei after I wipe its databases clear of everything related to the Migrant Fleet." There was no other option to allow the geth safe passage since he wouldn't be letting them on the Normandy, and seeing as the Alarei was already compromised, it would be the best vessel to sacrifice to save the crew.
"Agreed."
—
"You are actually negotiating with them?" Tali's emotions were all over the place. Angry that Shepard would agree to let the geth go, relieved that her father was alive, and furious that it was his attempts to develop a weapon against the geth that had created this mess.
In the end, it boiled down to a single question. "Do you want your father alive or not?"
"Yes, but…"
"Then no buts."
"Fine." She wouldn't trust the geth, but Shepard must know what he was doing.
"The boogeyman of the galaxy for centuries, and they spared the crew of the Alarei because you actually scared the synthetics that were incapable of feeling fear." Garrus had streamed the entire conversation to the Normandy.
One of these days, he would make a holovid out of Shepard's antics.
—
The Conclave
"Have you lost your mind?!" Admiral Gerrel screamed at Shepard's face.
It looked like he was the one who lost his mind after the Alarei entered FTL and left the fleet; otherwise, Shepard would have turned him to a paste on the ship's bulkhead.
"I am not one of your crew members, admiral; watch your tone." Shepard glared at the quarian admiral, who took a step back on his podium.
The Conclave as a whole was like a buzzing beehive, too angry at what Shepard had done but unable to do anything more than grumble.
"Negotiating with the geth? The synthetics that forced us out of our worlds?" Even Raan, who was a moderate compared to the others, could not help the feeling of outrage in her heart.
Looking at Tali, who wasn't happy about everything either but didn't make an issue because she had her father back.
Love interest or not, the entire quarian race had to hear this. "Because you were morons, that is why."
Garrus activated his omni-tool again.
The Conclave rose up in objection, but Shepard slammed his fist on the podium, hands glowing with biotics, and the rows of quarians sat down again, silent.
"You are insulting us now?" Admiral Koris was happier than a krogan in war, but the insult had caught him off guard.
"Yes, because you, or at least your ancestors, deserve it. When the geth stopped being VI and became sophonts, you tried to kill them, and they fought back. Had you simply treated them as equals, then the quarians would have been the strongest species in the galaxy. But no, your ancestors feared losing control over their creations, and of course, the Citadel's ban on AI played a part in it, but the thing is, the reason you are vagrants among the stars is because your ancestors were too fucking illogical." Shepard ranted. Someone had to be very frank with the quarians that the geth weren't the sole reason they were treated as pariahs across the entire galaxy.
His speech stunned the Conclave, as none before, not even one of their own, much less an alien, had spoken to the Migrant Fleet as a whole in this manner.
Raan, who did not have an answer, was desperate to control the situation before it spiraled out of control. "How can you say that?"
"How can I say that? They just negotiated with me. Do you know why? Because they knew death was a certainty if they fought me. Those are not the actions of some faulty, murderous synthetics hellbent on eradicating organic life. Now, I am not saying they are blameless; I am sure they killed innocents too, but it was the quarians who started it." With that, chaos erupted in the Conclave.
For fuck's sake, humanity had made movies about this kind of AI uprising centuries ago, even before they had the tech to make proper AIs.
"The geth opened their eyes, and your first action was to teach them violence. They just became more apt at it than the quarians."
Had the quarians embraced their creations, the galaxy would be fearing them.
—
The accusation against Tali had been dropped once Rael'Zorah spoke about his experiments on the geth.
Which did not go well with the Conclave, but Rael'Zorah was too valuable to banish and had been demoted by the unanimous vote of the Admiralty Board.
Tali wasn't happy with her father either, hugging him first once he was cleared before screaming his ears off and starting to cry.
Wrapping his arm around Rael'Zorah's neck, Shepard gave him a light squeeze. "Her father or not, if she cries because of you again, I'll feed you to a krogan."
Tali's father just nodded.
—
"Shepard was Normandy. You have been a true friend of the Migrant Fleet, your words notwithstanding, and we thank you for your assistance." Raan, who was doing the closing speech after a rather long break, knew it was for the best to not cause friction with Shepard by making an issue out of his words.
"You're welcome. Before I go, I have one last thing for you." Grunt was pushing a hoverboard with the quarian tablet they had taken from Hock's vault and stopped as several quarians approached it, touching perhaps the only thing they had from Rannoch.
"We recovered this from the vault of a crime lord along with several other relics. It's not Rannoch, but I am sure it would feel nice to have a solid piece of your history here with you."
"I—I don't know what to say, Commander." Raan looked at the tablet with a longing for the quarian homeworld, the same as most of the Conclave.
"Then don't say anything. I should go now." Shepard turned around, waving a hand in farewell.
Tali, after scolding her father more, returned to the Normandy so they could set sail.