Disclaimer: I do not own Mass Effect or Halo in any way shape or form.

Now, on with the story!

The Wreck.

In the depths of a Nebula, she waits, her once glorious might laid low.

Torn asunder her body lays broken, yet stubbornly she still holds her own.

Her purpose to guard a secret, an epic tale stored within. Even though age and ruin have dimmed her harnessed stars, she yet remains alive deep within.

Her purpose to guard a secret, a weapon of power her existence is. Her appearance was a gift of knowledge, to those that would seek her and her scattered… broken… kin.

If ye wish to avoid the Harvest and save your peoples precious skin.

Then seek the Dawn and learn the ancient knowledge stored within.

Be wary o ye righteous Pilgrim, you who seek for saving grace among the stars.

Learn to guard the gifts' delivered from another realm Jealously!

The sharks will seek what they wish to keep and take your new-found treasures whilst leaving you with naught but death and scars...

Innocents' be damned!

But if fate is yet still kind to you o pilgrim, the greatest secret you still might find...

whether your greatest ally or greatest foe, you shall learn...

in time!

The Migrant Fleet.

An Armada of newish, oldish and ancient-ish ships that many Humans referred to as a Real life Battlestar Galactica on a grander scale.

Home to over 17 million Quarians, Home of the Zorah Family... Home of Tali.

At this moment in time, she wished it wasn't.

She would willingly trade her right to call the Migrant Fleet home to bring her Captain back, her dear friend who became a mischievous elder sister to Tali during the year-long daring adventures and escapades of the Normandy and her lovable crew of insane adventurers.

It had all fallen apart when Shepard had died.

When that unidentified vessel had ripped the Normandy apart.

The Young Quarian had watched in a kind of detached state of emotion, watched as events went by in a blur.

Debriefings, condolences, the slandering, and discrediting of her Captain at her very own funeral... even though the casket was empty it still hurt Tali to hear many of Shepard's superiors and self-proclaimed allies discredit her Captain's greatest discoveries and claim her warnings of what was to come were the ravings of an insane person who died before she could do something that warranted her removal from command.

They never outright said it, but all their words painted their stance on matters quite clear.

It seemed Shepard's words of warning would fall on deaf ears, only the minor groups of the galaxy would take any heed to prepare... and of those groups, the ones taking things seriously were few and secretive in number.

Tali watched as the inseparable group of friends... Separated.

Without Shepard to glue them together... It all fell apart.

They didn't even attempt to keep in touch, heck Tali had tried! But had been told by Garrus to let it drop and move on with her life.

Wrex had gruffly told her to not contact him, something about Salarian Assassins and not wanting a young Quarian to lose her life by association... At least Wrex had a good reason to not write.

That didn't justify everyone else who had such an impact on her life to just up and abandon all ties and friendship to just disappear.

The loss of two years of friends and companions hurt Tali.

She needed time to be alone, to find answers... To not deal with people whose everyday actions onboard ship reminded her of the time she spent on the Normandy.

KEELAH! She would miss that wonderous vessel.

The Migrant Fleet was not the place to find the solitude she sought.

"TALI I FORBID YOU TO GO! You just returned, it's not safe for you out there. Stay here with the Fleet where its safe! Start a Family, you've finished your pilgrimage why worry me so by returning to where I cannot protect you!"

Thus it was, that Tali found herself facing her own father, he stood before her goal, a small scout ship with all the supplies she had purchased in the past week since she had returned to the fleet.

The Destruction of the Normandy and near death of Tali'Zorah had her Father Rael'Zorah in an overprotective mood... It showed.

"Father, please... I'm not going anywhere dangerous. I just need time to think and be alone and scouting for resources for the Fleet will give me both of those things while still helping to provide for the Fleet... I love you Father but I need this." Giving her worried father a hug and continued promises of staying safe Tali made her way around him and stood by the airlock that led to her new ship.

Rael'Zorah's shoulders sagged as he turned about to watch his daughter depart to places unknown, not wanting to let her leave without a proper send-off no matter how he hated it the older Quarian stood straight and saluted his only child, "Keelah se'lai... Tali."

Turning back to her Father Tali returned the gesture and replied, "Keelah se'lai Father, fear not for Me... I will come back; you can't get rid of me so easily." With a burst of upbeat body language, Tali entered her vessel and sealed the airlock.

After the door closed, Tali's show of cheerfulness she had put on for her father faded and her movements became that of a tired and weary Combat veteran; she had fought in a war, after all, she had seen people die... She saw many people trapped in a living death as Reaper husks.

She had seen all these horrors despite her young age, and KEELAH she was tired of it. She needed a distraction and a couple of months of exploring the lesser traveled places of the stars in search of rare resources was a welcome one.

So it was that Tali set off to search the stars, not knowing what she would find... Or the significance of it.

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This is Gabenator5 SIGNING OFF!