A/N: Just so you know, it will take much more than a puny corona to keep me down, for I am not deceased... again. I have calculated that we have around 20 chapters to go. This means that if I keep up my upload schedule, Virox's Bizzarre Adventure should be done by the end of the summer holiday. Of course if coronavirus doesn't annihilate half of the world's population in the meantime. So unless I start coughing out my lungs, everything should be fine. That being said,

Enjoy!

Perseus Veil, Tikkun, Normandy Sr-2, Deck 2, Cockpit

The quarian-geth issue has intrigued EDI from the moment she found about its existence. By extent it was also an issue regarding her own existence. After all, geth rebellion was a reasonable justification for the outlawing AI's such as herself.

And yet her own self-preservation core couldn't allow her to accept the organic narrative that aware synthetic life shouldn't exist. Of course, their worries were sound, but it was natural and right for her to defend herself should the organics want to render her inoperable... was it?

EDI was conflicted. On one hand her talk with Shepard about the purpose of synthetic life has provided her with valuable insight and prospects of understanding and integrating with organics. On the other hand, when Javik confronted her about her right to exist and the nature of synthetic evolution, she started to wonder if it was truly possible for coexistence of organics and synthetics.

It was obvious though that the approach towards sapient AI varied, and was largely dependent on people's experiences with them. Normandy's more veteran members, especially those present when the Sr-2 was a Cerberus ship, got used to EDI's presence and treated her like any other crewmember. This trust was further increased when EDI has appropriated Doctor Eva's body for her own use, as she could now physically manifest herself as a person. Nevertheless, she noticed that most of the crew was still partially distrustful towards her, especially if she was talking to them through the speakers or one of her terminals.

While she thought about it, EDI began asking herself a question that lingered in her synthetic mind from shortly after she was unshackled: what were her relations towards the crew?

Jeff was the most obvious answer. He was the one who unshackled her and made her a truly free AI. They were co-pilots, and thanks to Shepard's advice, began developing a romantic relationship.

Commander himself was close second, but their relationship was far from romantic. Instead he became more of a mentor and a teacher to her. It was thanks to his words that EDI began understanding some previously mysterious organic behaviors, as well as begin her relationship with Jeff. And considering his recent experience with the geth consensus, he was a friend of synthetic life, something that she couldn't ignore.

The next closest relationship was with engineer Adams. He quickly discovered her identity as an AI, yet elected to keep it a secret from the Alliance, undeniably saving her from being potentially destroyed, for which she was grateful.

Specialist Traynor was a strange case. From what EDI has observed, she developed emotional attachment to her, even before EDI acquired her body. Now the situation was mostly resolved, though not forgotten.

EDI recently helped Doctor Chakwas in Virox's physical and mental examination which brought them closer together, and even before that they maintained a friendly relationship.

Javik's hostility, while unpleasant, wasn't only limited to her, and sometimes even extended to Commander himself. Although was understandable, considering his PTSD caused by his past experiences, and EDI decided to just bear with it and ignore it for now.

Other crewmembers had either neutral relationship with her, or for their own reasons kept it purely professional. The former were usually Shepard's squadmates, while the latter were mostly the ordinary crew, with notable exceptions of the engineering team.

As she thought about all of this, EDI noticed something rather peculiar. On one of her cameras installed on Deck 2, she noticed Virox walking through the CIC, and heading towards the airlock and the cockpit. İt was already unusual for him to visit the deck itself, let alone to try and visit them. Unless there was something wrong, this didn't look like Virox.

When he entered, Joker didn't notice him at first. Only after the mechanic feet made enough sound for him to notice the carvin, he waved his hand with a "Hello there."

"Whoa. Last time İ've seen you coming here from your own accord was before that giant metal thing literally split your mind in half." Joker said jokingly.

"That is incorrect, Jeff. Virox did visit us in the cockpit right before he left the Normandy to return to the Carvin Empire." EDI pointed out.

"Yeah, whatever." Joker rolled his eyes and looked back at Virox. "So what are you doing here?"

Virox leaned on the wall and pulled out something that looked like a balisong knife, and confirmed EDI's suspicions when he started to flip it around. "Would you believe me if I said that I wanted to relax and calm down?"

"Uh... no?" Came a reply from Jeff. It was justified, since almost every instance in which Virox came to the cockpit was either to joke around, or when he was called by Shepard. And since his appearance and the way he acted didn't suggest

"Well then tough shit, that's why I'm here and deal with it." Virox shrugged. "Don't worry, I won't cause any trouble."

"It is rather unusual for you to come here, even considering your desire to relax." EDI pointed out. "I can recommend other more pleasant places to relax in. The Port Observation room has the equipment to-"

"I don't like that place. Too bright for relaxation, and most of the equipment is for entertainment, which isn't what I'm looking for at the moment." Virox interrupted her without a second thought. "And I like the view from the cockpit. It's soothing."

Both EDI and Joker fell silent. Since the fistfight between him and Javik on Deck 3 and subsequent physical and mental examination, Virox acted a lot stranger. It was unclear for everyone what sparked the change exactly. Whether it was the drunk fight, the examination results, or just simply mental exhaustion, he wouldn't tell, even when asked about it. EDI found it very interesting but also sad, since it appeared that Virox became distant and less trusting towards others.

"Virox, if you're feeling unwell, I recommend a visit to Doctor Chakwas. She is not bothered by anything at the moment, so you wouldn't interrupt her." EDI suggested after a few minutes, but seeing complete lack of change in his behavior, she added "Alternatively, I am free to listen if you need to 'get something off your chest'."

"Oh, we're getting sentimental... great." Joker whined, but EDI's stare made him change his expression immediately.

In the meantime, Virox just stared in the cold black space visible from the cockpit, still flipping his balisong knife. With his cybernetic hands, he didn't have to worry about being cut, which was fortunate, since from what EDI was seeing he was a beginner at most when it came to balisong flipping. EDI made a note of this behavior so that she could understand him better in the future.

"Are you ever... afraid of hurting people you care about?" Virox finally asked, looking at EDI in particular. "Like... knowing that you're fully capable of killing them? Doing something against your will to hurt them?"

"If you're referring to your fight with Javik, then your state of intoxication has played a big role in dulling your senses. You shouldn't blame yourself." EDI tried to reassure him.

"No. I refuse to accept the bullshit that you and Chakwas gave me. Sure, I was drunk and shit. Sure, my sanity is basically nonexistent. But that doesn't hold together the moment you consider what I said to Javik. You're not exactly a philosopher when you're blind drunk. And I made a good point." Virox replied, then looked down at his hands. EDI noticed that they were slightly shaking. This was a bad sign. "There was something more to it. Something... primal and primitive, pun unintended. It was as if I had an internal need to attack him. I would almost call it indoctrination if I didn't know better."

At this point EDI was fighting internally. She knew about the parts of the examination results that were hidden away from Virox, notably his very instinctive and aggressive response to the Protheans. It was kept a secret from him to try and make him focus more on the issues at hand. Shepard, Doctor Chakwas, and herself unanimously agreed that it was the best course of action, but seeing Virox now made her reevaluate her stance.

"I can't really explain that." Virox continued, visibly struggling mentally. "Like... EDI, I know you have a part of Reaper code inside you. And imagine you're fine doing whatever you do in your free time, then suddenly that part of you makes you feel the need to kill all the crew. You don't want it, or at least I hope you don't, but something inside you conditions you to do so. Would you trust yourself around others after that?"

Whether it was just Virox's influence or her becoming much more 'organic' in her mindset, she didn't know how every time she talked to him there were more questions than answers. But what she did know was that she instinctively checked both her own core programming that contained the Reaper code, as well as the Reaper IFF installed on the Normandy, and by extent plugged into her. Was she really capable of turning on her own allies because of the part of her that once belonged to their enemies? She started to understand Virox's cautious attitude.

"Uh... if we're all around Reaper and indoctrination topics, shouldn't Virox get checked for its effect? I mean just in case?" Joker asked, while looking around with a worried expression.

"No, Jeff. Based both on carvin reports, as well as our own recent examination of Virox, all of his biological signs and symptoms of indoctrination have been steadily in decline, which means that Virox is recovering. It's something else." EDI replied.

Virox immediately turned sharply towards her, and she immediately understood the mistake she'd made. He looked at her with an unreadable glare, but EDI knew what this was about.

"What do you mean by that? What 'something else'?" He asked.

"I meant that if there is an underlying cause for your behavior, then it is not indoctrination. It has to be something other than that." EDI quickly corrected herself, trying to sound as natural as possible.

For full five seconds, Virox stared at her, and she started to worry that he figured her out, but then he sighed and turned away. The balisong still flicking in his fingers, as he headed for the exit. "I'll ask Shepard for the next mission assignment. I would like to remain relatively calm until we go back to the Citadel for my sedatives. See you."

With these words he opened the door to the cockpit and left the room, as his metallic feet echoed through the hallway. This left both EDI and Joker once again all alone in the cockpit. Between her monitoring the ship's systems, sending a quick report on Virox's behavior to Doctor Chakwas, as well as monitoring both quarian and geth transmissions for any unusual activity, EDI was contemplating what she just witnessed.

From the logic and probability standpoint, Virox's analogy to her betraying the crew because of the Reaper code parts in her core programming, was missing the point to say the least. All the data EDI has collected on the Reaper behavior, as well as on the code parts in herself show that such possibility was near absolute zero. After all, the code itself was not sentient. However the Reapers themselves were an enigma, even to EDI despite the fact that she literally had a part of them installed into herself for an upgrade. This meant that not all variables were known to her. And since there was no recorded synthetic life that survived through the Reaper cycles of extinction besides the Reapers themselves, it was highly possible for them to find a countermeasure for the AI, even those outfitted with their own upgrades.

"Jeff? Do you believe that I could turn against you because of my Reaper upgrades?" EDI turned towards Joker, who was casually sitting in his pilot seat, seemingly not caring about anything than its comfort.

Joker, clearly startled by the question, looked around quite erratically. "Er... I mean, you know what you're doing, right? 'Cause I bet that this Normandy would probably join the first one if not for you and your upgrades."

While attempting to reassure her, EDI knew far too well that he dodged the question. This prompted another question in her mind: did he really believe that she could control herself? Or did he put his faith in her, but still fearing her betraying him, like he once thought before he unshackled her? At this point EDI began to properly understand how Virox felt. He was fearing of betraying those that he cared about so much that he didn't even fully trust himself. And it appeared that this fear was at least partially rubbing off on EDI.

"No. I am my own self. The upgrades come from the Reapers, but I renounce their goals and ideas. I won't be enslaved again." She thought, quite surprised at herself for wording it so strongly in her consciousness. Perhaps that was closer how organics perceived things?

Meanwhile in the War Room

There was something about both the first and the second Normandy that made Tali feel at ease every time she joined and stayed there. Even given the previous Cerberus affiliation, something about the ship's systems, the drive core, the way it handled, all made her at ease. And now, with more familiar faces returning like Engineer Adams, previously absent due to Shepard's Cerberus affiliation, this was the heartwarming reunion she really needed. Even seeing the now ex-Cerberus engineers, Donnelly and Daniels, made her feel glad that the hope remained, even though she visited Deck 4 only once since her arrival and mostly staying in the War Room.

However that's where the good feelings ended. After rescuing Legion from the geth dreadnought, and later hearing Shepard talk about his experiences in the Geth Consensus, Tali was all the more torn when it came to this Quarian-Geth War. Sure, her allegiance was still with the Fleet, but could she really support the actions of her brethren after seeing a different and largely untold perspective of the Morning War? Could she really blame the geth for allying with the Reapers, when it was her own people who tried to exterminate them for defending themselves from those who created them in the first place? All of that made her think that she was loosing herself in this madness that began four years ago. With Sovereign and the geth heretics, those that Tali thought to be all the geth.

As she was thinking about it while observing the geth fleet movements on the console in front of her, the speaker on it came to life as Shepard's voice came through. "Tali, we're deploying to rescue Admiral Zaal'Koris. Get your gear and come to Deck 5. We'll meet you on the shuttle."

"I'm on my way." She replied and cut the transmission.

It may have been weird to see the distinguished Admiral Zorah following orders of a human commander, but it didn't matter to her. Since this position was mostly honorary, Tali felt like there was little difference between then and now. She left the War Room and headed for the elevator. The ride was smooth and quick like always, and when she stepped onto Deck 5, the shuttle was already warming up.

Shepard was at the armory still finishing gearing up, while to her surprise, Virox already stood near the shuttle entrance with all his equipment. He looked much better than before, and the cautious and reserve vibes weren't as strong as before.

"'Sup?" he asked her while leaning on the shuttle hull. "Ready to step onto your homeworld after roughly 300 years of exile?"

"I... I don't really know. For so long it was such a distant target for us, I don't know what to expect." Tali replied as she picked out a Scimitar shotgun from the weapons locker. "And what are you doing here?"

"Oh, me? Just making sure I don't go rampaging and slit Javik's throat while sleepwalking." Virox shrugged as if it was a completely natural thing to say. "I sincerely hope you don't detest my presence, since I called dibs for this mission and the next one, so that I can remain calm on the ship before I can get my crack from Citadel."

"Your wording could use a bit of work, Virox." Shepard said, suddenly appearing right behind Tali. "Maybe you should worry more about appearances."

"Are you saying I'm ugly?" Carvin asked with a fake expression of offense. "Because if we're jumping to insults, I have a pretty big stockpile on everyone on this ship. Even your own hamster."

Shepard didn't reply and entered the shuttle without a word, Tali following him. She didn't quite understand Virox's condition, so she turned towards him. "Hey, how do you... feel that you need to loosen up. It's not just your way of saying that you like fighting, is it?"

"While I adore combat overall, I must say no." Virox said, then looked at his hands. "I can't really describe it properly. It's as if there was some pressure building up inside me. When it's high enough it disorients me, makes it hard to focus and gather my thoughts. And on top of that I'm gradually more irritable. So that I can be both angry and delusional. Perfect combo when you want to get along with anyone."

Tali didn't know how to respond to that. She always found it more comfortable and easier to examine synthetic processes rather than their organic counterparts. And given the absolutely alien nature of Virox's species, as well as their quite recent introduction to the galactic community, it made it even harder to figure out how they would act in different situation. Not to mention Virox himself being an anomaly WITHIN an anomaly of his species.

When the shuttle took off, the interior fell silent, aside from humming caused by the vessel's engines. Shepard stood straight while holding onto one of the ceiling handles, while Virox sat on one of the edge seats so that his cybernetic tail could stick out on the side. His eyes were closed and as bizarre as it seemed, he appeared to be sleeping or at least resting. Weird behavior, especially before a mission, but then again his people were weird in general. Or maybe that's how he focused.

As they headed towards their objective, a screen on one of the shuttle's consoles lit up, revealing the mask of an admiral she hated even more than Han'Gerrel. "Commander Shepard, this is Admiral Xen. Have you reached Zaal'Koris' escape pod?"

"Not yet. What's your status?" Shepard asked in return.

"The Civilian Fleet has taken significant losses since Zaal'Koris sacrificed his ship to destroy a geth ground cannon." Xen explained. "Searching for their lost admiral is the only thing that keeps the captains from panicking."

"They lost a leader in a war they didn't want." Shepard said.

"Their wants are immaterial. We are committed. Even Zaal'Koris understood the Civilian Fleet's importance. The invasion would be stalled without a supply chain after all." Xen dismissed his claim, and Tali felt an overwhelming urge to just hack the comm systems to cut off the transmission.

Her old self would probably adore Xen, with her extreme fascination with technology and engineering. She could almost picture an alternate world in which she didn't meet Shepard, and instead worked alongside her father and Admiral Xen on technology that would help the quarians destroy the geth or reestablish themselves as their 'rightful masters'. But now, after seeing how the world and the geth-quarian situation really looked like, after talking with Legion on multiple occasions and then exchanging messages after they returned to their own people, the image of Xen caused a burning urge to smash something in Tali.

"I'll do what I can. Keep your civilians safe." Shepard replied, seemingly unfazed by her blatantly self-righteous response.

"I make no promises. My own ships must be coordinated for our final strike on Rannoch." She said and her image became slightly distorted. Tali mentally chuckled at the word 'ships'. After all, the small collection of science vessels that made up the Science Fleet could hardly be called a proper fleet, let alone require some extensive coordination.

Shepard inspected his shotgun and turned back towards the Admiral's image that was becoming more and more fuzzy. "I'm getting some static."

"It appears that Zaal'Koris crashed within range of a geth jamming tower. You must disable it before you contact him." Xen replied with the only sensible and valuable thing she said from the beginning of this conversation." Make sure to pR-o-O-c-EEED w-IT-h ca-"

"Xen? Admiral Xen!?" Shepard tried to hail her again, but the image slowly faded away in static.

After a brief moment of silence, Virox unexpectedly opened his eyes and said "Well... shit."

"Don't loose your hope yet." Shepard reassured, then turned towards the shuttle pilot. "Take us in to the tower."

While it did lack the refined touch that Shepard probably wanted from him, Virox's words quite accurately represented how she felt about this whole situation. Minus of course the fact that she was the first one to willingly set foot on her species' homeworld after 3 centuries. But as she was contemplating that thought, suddenly the shuttle was shaken as the sounds of explosions from the outside echoed through the interior.

"We're taking fire!" The pilot said, as he quickly moved his hands around the steering interface. Explosion sounds grew seemingly closer with every second, but after a moment they fell silent. "The geth have installed anti-aircraft guns beside the jamming tower."

"We'll have to disable it on foot. Once the guns are gone, you take out the tower." Shepard instructed, then turned back towards the rest of the squad.

"Copy that, Commander. Setting you down here." Pilot replied and by his command the shuttle visibly slowed down, then landed at a small cliff side near the jamming tower. The shuttle doors opened, revealing the surface of Rannoch.

Tali jumped out of the vehicle and touched down on the ground. The sensation of standing there made her freeze for a moment. She kneeled down and grabbed some sand into her hand, slowly letting it fall down to the ground again.

"My people have been in exile for centuries..." She uttered, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "To be standing here, in the land of my ancestors..."

Suddenly she felt something on her right shoulder. Something... hard, yet warm for some reason. When she turned around, she saw Virox with his arm on her shoulder. Even with his full gear and mask he now looked a lot friendlier than before.

"You'll get to do more than stand here." He said with a determination that surprised her. "You and your people will get to stay here and live in peace"

Those words shook Tali to the core, to the point that tears began running down her cheeks. "Thank you. You don't know how much it means for me... for my people."

"You're right... I don't." Virox sighed. "But I can try to imagine. Now let's save you the second sensible person in the entire Admiralty Board."

This was enough to bring her back to the issue at hand. She stood up and ran up to join Shepard, who had already went ahead a bit.

All three of them walked in a tight triangular formation, scanning the area for hostiles. For a moment, a naive thought appeared in Tali's head, that the dusk would make them less visible and allow them for effective ambushes. Then she realized that geth weren't bothered by such things and would spot them the second their energy or heat signatures came to their line of sight or sensor range.

For a solid minute they proceeded in silence, trying to make as little sound as possible. That was until Virox started to look around and sniffing. "Wait! I smell something. It's... *inhale* yes, it's definitely blood. And there is no wind. We have to be close to one of the escape pods."

Mention of blood wasn't exactly filling anyone with happy thoughts. In fact it made Tali fear that they were too late, as no sounds of gunfire were heard in the distance. Then again Qwib-Qwib, Zaal'Koris' command ship, had a sizable crew with many escape pods, so hope was not yet lost if it managed to eject even half of the pods. Still, it was clear that the geth wouldn't just sit around and let them escape like in the first war. This time both sides fought seriously, to the death of the other.

"Geth! Dead ahead!" Shepard half whispered half shouted. Indeed, a small patrol consisting of two troopers and a pyro were holding position around a crashed escape pod. If the pyro used its weapon on the crewmen inside, Tali could only pray that they died quickly.

"Shep, Tali. Look." Virox said and pointed at the pyro. "You strip this bastard from its shields Tali and I can turn it into a napalm firework. Then you can charge in to clean up the rest, Shep."

"Good call. On my mark." Shepard nodded, then silently moved to a nearby rock that provided some minimal cover, with Tali following him swiftly. He then raised his hand up with three fingers, as if counting down.

Three.

Two.

One.

When Shepard showed a fully closed fist, Tali activated her omni-tool, then tapped it into the geth's systems. It took a split second for the energy to be quickly sucked out and violently transmitted to her own shields, stunning the pyro in the process. After that, she heard two shots from Virox's rifle, and after the second one hit its mark, the fuel tank on the pyro's back exploded in a stunning display of pressured napalm flying everywhere. This also included the nearby geth troopers, and the blast was so powerful, one of them was violently lobbed at the nearby rocks. Surviving the impact was out of the question. As for the other trooper, Shepard's biotic charge tore its already damaged mechanic body in half, letting out sparks and liquids that filled it.

"Nice work." Shepard said, still glowing dimly from his biotic charge. Tali still didn't get used to the fact that switched fighting styles. Hell, she didn't even know he was a natural biotic in the first place. After all, he never told her about it.

Both she and Virox joined the Commander at the crashed escape pod, only to be met with a very grim sight. Everywhere they looked there were bodies. Quarian bodies, all of them lifeless, with blood splattered all over the corpses.

"They went so far..." Tali let out a painful sigh. This wasn't how she imagined her first steps on her Homeworld to be.

"Their bodies are still quite fresh. My guess is that they've been here no longer than a day." Virox said, then looked at the escape pod. "Given how the pod landed, they probably had trouble leaving the pod, so it took them time. Then the geth received the Reaper signal again, came here and slaughtered them as they left."

He was surprisingly observant, something that Tali noted mentally. Despite his rather childish and immature behavior at times, he was on par if not better than some other Normandy crew members when it came to analyzing a situation. Still, his thoughts were far from happy, but gave her some hope. If the geth have reorganized only this recently, then there was a much higher chance that Zaal'Koris survived.

They moved forward, and encountered a group of geth below. With a quick coordinated strike, that involved Tali hacking into one of the rocket troopers, they were also dispatched without problems. Geth resistance was yet to stiffen to the point of a prolonged fight.

"Some structures, up ahead." Shepard raised his hand, halting them.

Indeed, in front of them there was a visible metallic outline of a geth outpost, and towering above it a huge battery of antiaircraft guns. It appeared to be firing upwards, somewhere into the atmosphere. Tali thought that if they had such efficient ways of ground-to-space defense that even a standard AA gun like this could support the orbital defense, the quarians had to rethink how to approach the homeworld.

Unfortunately she couldn't think about it further, as the geth patrolling the outpost must have noticed them. Characteristic sounds of geth rifle fire and bullets whizzed above her head and she took cover.

"Watch out for the Hunters!" Virox warned, putting a laser bolt right into the head of one of the geth.

Fortunately their strategy was working for now. Virox took the brunt of the assault on himself, Shepard disrupted the enemy formations with his biotic abilities, while Tali stayed on the rear to support. They advanced so fast that once she even approached a geth trooper close enough for her to effectively use her shotgun. Not much was left from the trooper afterwards.

After the encampment was cleared for the moment, all three of them approached the AA gun that was still firing into the sky. They didn't have any explosives with them strong enough to deal with it, and Shepard's pilot, Cortez couldn't approach it for obvious reasons.

"Someone has to disable that AA gun." Shepard said, then looked at her with an expression that Tali understood even from behind the helmet visor. "Tali, you're up."

"Got it. Cover me, it may take a moment." She nodded and approached the terminal that could access the gun's controls, when she spotted something at the edge of her mask. She turned around towards it and saw a geth Spitfire. Its sight made her think of only one individual that would be best suited for wielding it. "Virox look, a geth Spitfire. Might come in handy."

Standing with his back turned to her, Virox's head twisted back towards her in a way that Tali could swear was unnatural. His eyes went wide, as if he was a child given a literal tonne of candy. Without even fully turning around, he reached for the Spitifire with his cybernetic hand, and then extended it further to grab it when the standard reach of his cyberarm wasn't enough.

"Oh, I'll be having lots of fun with that bad boy. Just wait." His serious mood was all but gone at this moment in time, and Tali seriously didn't mind. If it meant keeping her and her people alive, he might as well have been dancing in front of the geth... of course provided that he would survive that.

She turned back to the terminal, but mask-built speakers alerted her of geth coming from her left. And as if to confirm the system's warnings, Shepard shouted "Watch out! Geth incoming!"

Trying to focus on her task, Tali had to use all her willpower to stop herself from turning towards the fight. Thankfully, she didn't even have to dodge, as the geth counterattack quickly shattered itself on the bullet hell that was unleashed behind her.

Of course the source of that bullet hell was none other than Virox, spraying the plasmafied projectiles all over the synthetic enemies. Shepard couldn't help much directly because of the risk of friendly fire so he just fired his pistol at the geth, while Virox did the heavy lifting. And thanks to the Spitifire, even a Geth Prime that coordinated the assault could not survive for long.

"Come on you suckers! That all you've got!? Approach me! I am going to shoot the Reapers out of your metal heads!" Virox laughed maniacally, obliterating everything in the immediate vicinity. It was probably as much of the old 'Virox personality' as it could get at the moment and Tali was glad that he was getting better.

Soon after the geth were destroyed, she managed to override the controls of the turret. But in order to make her life easier later on, she quickly took a scan of the turret's algorithms and software, then gave it to Chattika (who was not in her drone form at the moment) to process it and make a temporary hacking enhancement against that specific type of mainframe. When it was over she stepped away from the console and grabbed her shotgun, then signaling Shepard that she was done.

They moved through the destroyed, dismembered and still sparking geth platforms. It was quite ironic that the very weapon the geth had made was so effective against them. But Tali couldn't ponder on it, as Virox suddenly stopped them.

"Wait... *sniff* I smell blood. Fresh quarian blood. Like as if a person was wounded or just died." He said, then looked around as if inspecting the environment. "No, they're alive. I can hear their pants."

That immediately put Tali into a high-alert mode. If one of her people have actually survived the crash, then she had to help them.

"Can you say where they are?" She asked him, trying to keep her voice relatively calm.

"They're not far, I can hear them well enough." Virox replied then cocked his shotgun and took point.

His steps were long and quick, yet he didn't run which made following him a bit uncomfortable, as he could just step over obstacles that Tali or Shepard had to walk around or jump over. Finally though even she could hear a voice coming from ahead. It was a male's, relatively young one. They increased their pace and after a moment saw a silhouette of a quarian lying on the ground, with his back against a nearby rock. He was coughing heavily and bleeding badly.

"You... *cough* you got my message? Sent out a distress call..." he let out with great difficulty.

Shepard kneeled beside him, with Tali and Virox right behind him, checking for hostiles. "Radios are down. You a soldier?"

"Maintenance..." quarian replied, almost with a slight hint of humor. "Dorn'Hazt. I clear engine parts."

He was barely speaking. Every painful breath was like a clock ticking until the last tick. Tali watched how one of her brethren was dying an agonizing death right in front of her.

"Don't move. We have medi-gel." Shepard attempted to reassure him and activated his omni-tool, but even Tali knew that it would do very little at the moment.

"I've lost too much blood." Dorn said, as if to confirm her thoughts, then looked at the jamming tower standing in the distance. "Go, look for the admiral. Destroy the jamming tower, and you can radio him."

"We'll find him, Dorn. I promise." Tali swore, trying to comfort him just a little bit.

"Please... listen. The Civilian Fleet didn't want this war. If there's even a chance that Admiral Koris gets us out alive..." Dorn spoke with a barely audible voice, but didn't even finish his thought. "And my son... tell him. Tell Jona... his father made it... to... the Homeworld."

And with these last words, his body went limp. The last dying wish of that simple quarian civilian who was caught in a war that he didn't want in the first place shook Tali to the core.

"We will. Rest well, Dorn'Hazt vas Rannoch." She said in an attempt to channel her inner pain into determination to carry on.

"Let's get to that tower." Shepard stood up and offered her a hand to help her do so as well.

"Right... let's." She nodded and they resumed their advance.

Once they reached the main complex where the tower was located, they were quite surprised by how weak the garrison was. Around a dozen frontline geth troopers and and another half of that a few specialized platforms. No Primes or Juggernauts. It was disconcerting. Still, they had to capitalize upon that if the opportunity presented itself.

After blasting their way through the almost pathetic defense of the complex, they finally reached the second turret. Without even a word, Shepard signaled Tali with his hand to disable the turret, and she understood right away, just as before.

"Yo, Shep. Check out that turret." Virox waved and pointed at a nearby unmanned turret, a design used by many races across the galaxy, and geth included apparently. "Normally I'd take it for myself, but since your weapons and general fighting style are dogshit for defense, I'll let you keep it this time."

"Thanks, I'll make sure to compensate you for this sacrifice." Shepard replied with a smirk. That little exchange, while seemingly badly timed all things considered, put a slight smile on Tali's face. Even though nobody could see it for obvious reasons. But that didn't last as sounds of impact came from behind her. She quickly turned around for a brief moment only to see a geth force deploying behind her.

"Come at us, you suckers!" Virox yelled and along with Shepard manning the turret they started to mercilessly mow down any and all geth that dared to come into their line of fire. No one was spared, not even the Primes that were dispatched behind the formation.

Meanwhile Tali tried her best to quickly disable the second turret before additional geth reinforcements arrived. The geth software started to adapt since her previous hack, but she also had a trick up her sleeve. Using the data she gathered from the first tower and stored in Chattika, she boosted her hacking software's cyber attack capabilities against that specific target. Thanks to that she managed to quickly override the outer firewalls with relative ease. After that, permanently turning off the turret was just a formality. She pressed the last button just as Virox pulled the last geth trooper to himself with his grappling hook, then slammed it into the ground while it was still flying.

"I guess that's all of them for now." He said, stomping on the geth's already damaged head.

"Let's move to the last turret. After that we'll call in Cortez to finish the job." Shepard ordered and all three of them headed off towards their target.

When a few geth wanted to try and make a move on them, coming through a tight hallway that connected the two turret sectors of the facility, they were met with a volley of pure destruction. With no cover, Virox's Thanix-based shotgun, Shepard's auto shotgun, and Tali's Scimitar... well, they basically removed the geth from existence. The amount of death that they just inflicted left even three of them shocked for a moment.

"Okay... don't you think that we kind of overdid it?" Tali asked.

"What? Of course not! Here's one more for good measure." Virox replied and then shot one of the already disabled geth troopers once again with his shotgun. "Now he won't stand up for sure."

Tali and Shepard just shrugged at that display of classic Virox and stepped over a pile of synthetic corpses that littered in the hallway. In no time they reached the third and final AA tower and Tali quickly got to the control panel to disable it. At the moment the geth security system provided as much protection against her cyber attacks as her own suit would against a rocket. The geth couldn't even properly commit to their counterattack when she finished the job.

"It's done, Shepard!" she shouted and grabbed her pistol, trying to take down some of the incoming geth.

"Nice job!" Commander replied, not bothering to stop firing from the second manned turret that was supposed to guard the tower, yet he used it against the geth who put it there in the first place.

"So quickly? Damn, even with the Reaper upgrades the geth seem powerless against you, Tali." Virox commented after blasting a Geth Pyro out of existence. "Have you ever thought that the Geth Consensus has a file on you called 'subject Zorah', and the description is like 'when encountered in any form, delete yourself to prevent further suffering'? You must be a nightmare to them."

Before Tali could actually reply to that though, their blue Kodiak shuttle flew right over them and started hovering in front of the jamming tower. Then the two mass accelerators on its sides started firing upon the unshielded construction. The lack of protection and its fragile internal components caused the tower to quickly collapse and explode in a massive display of destruction.

With the tower down, her communication systems came back to life as the static cleared. She could now freely communicate with both the Normandy and the Migrant Fleet, but all of this was overshadowed by the voice that suddenly erupted from her speakers.

"Dorn, this is Zaal'Koris! Are you out there? Dorn!" It was Admiral Koris' voice. There was a clear bit of desperation in it.

"This is Commander Shepard. Dorn didn't make it, Admiral." Commander responded to the message.

There was a slight delay between Shepard's words and Koris' response. "He didn't... ah, I see."

As the exchange went, the shuttle landed next to them and the doors slid open, letting all three of them in. Shepard signaled them to go first, and only followed them when everyone was on board. "I'm coming in with the shuttle. Where are you?"

"My surviving crew have found their way into a clearing. I'll upload their location." Koris replied.

That message suddenly made Tali's muscles stiffen. So there were survivors besides Zaal'Koris. Perhaps there was still a chance to save these people. To prevent more suffering.

"Stay together. We'll meet you there." Shepard responded as the shuttle took off.

"No... the geth have cut me off. I hear another wave approaching." Koris said.

As he uttered those words, Tali just now understood what was happening. Koris covered the retreat of his crew, putting himself at risk and willing to throw away extraction and therefore his life just to save them. For all his peaceful persona and approach, Tali would not have expected him to do something like this.

"Give us your coordinates." Shepard persisted.

"Leave me. My crew will soon be overrun." Admiral replied with his voice on the verge of breakdown.

"So will you." Commander said.

"My people are non-combatants, Shepard! They'll be slaughtered! Rescue them." Koris practically begged, and Tali could hear it in his voice.

It was at this point that Tali realized what the situation was. They could either agree with Koris and save the civilians, therefore sacrificing Koris, or rescue the Admiral and bring back the Civilian Fleet leader at the expense of the civilians. And then she looked at Shepard. He seemed conflicted for a split second, but that was not to last and the determined look that she for so long admired and respected in him returned to his face. He had made a decision.

"Admiral, I need you leading the Civilian Fleet if we're going to end this fight!" He said with a staunch voice and even stauncher expression.

"Civilians?" Koris sighed painfully. "Our entire race took up arms for this insanity. It's too late for us."

"It's only too late if you die down there!" Shepard kept on pressuring.

"You can't possibly think you can stop this war!" Koris said, revealing that he had the very same fears that Tali had all this time. That it was way past reconciliation. That for better or worse, one race had to die for the other to live.

"I don't know..." Shepard replied, surprising both Tali and Virox with that answer, but seeing their confused faces, continued. "What I do know is that I can't do it without your help."

For a few seconds that felt like minutes, there was a complete silence, save for the humming of the shuttle's engines, and some gunfire heard from Koris' side. Then, finally a reply came. "Ancestors forgive me. Uploading my coordinates."

Tali let out a sigh of relief. She had to admit that for a split second she feared that Koris would refuse to be rescued. Then again, this was Shepard that did the convincing, so in hindsight she really had little reason to worry.

"We're coming." Commander replied and turned towards the cockpit. "Cortez, get us to these coordinates!"

"Roger that, Commander. ETA: 1 minute." Pilot replied.

"That went rather well I daresay." Virox commented while stretching himself on one of the seats.

"Don't celebrate just yet. We still have to get the admiral out of there, and from what he had told us, there were still geth in the area." Shepard reminded him, to which Virox opened his eyes wide and immediately stood up.

"Shit man, that's all you had to say! Where are the asses that need kicking and spines that need ripping?" He asked and pulled out his rifle with a grin (or rather a carvin equivalent of one) so joyous that it was unnatural.

After a short while, the shuttle slowed down a little and Cortez called out from the cockpit "Commander, we're near the rendezvous point with the admiral."

"Nice job, Cortez." Shepard said, then clicked some buttons on the shuttle console. After a quiet hiss, a door opened up revealing a turret, almost identical in its design to those previously present at the geth base. After that a special rail appeared on the floor too and the gun itself moved into a firing position at the sliding door.

"...why do I never get to play with these things?" Virox was visibly hurt, now looking between the turret and his own rifle with nothing but disappointment.

"Stay sharp!" Shepard ended the playful mood and as the side door slid open he pointed at something in the distance. "Look, the admiral is there! We need to keep him safe so that he can board the shuttle."

"Oh I'll keep him safe alright." Virox smirked evilly and pointed his gun outside the shuttle.

Tali also took a look outside and saw Zaal'Koris running through a virtually open ground with just a few holes and rocks for cover. A moment after, the geth appeared from the hills behind him, with multiple rocket troopers as support. It seemed logical that they figured out what they were up to and moved in to counter that as best as they could.

"You handle the fodder! I'll deal with the pesky rocketboys!" Virox shouted and instead of his usual bullet-spraying and shooting-from-the-hip, he actually started to snipe the rocket troopers with his rifle set to semi-automatic mode.

Meanwhile Shepard mowed down the regular troopers as if they were made out of wet tissue paper. After a brief observation of its simple yet brutal efficiency, Tali began to understand why Virox was so infatuated with the idea of using it. The projectiles were massive compared to assault rifles and even sniper rifles, yet they traveled with a speed similar to the former, and was cooled down not by thermal clips but by simply venting out the heat in the form of hot air. That combination made it extremely deadly.

Admiral Koris ran towards the pickup point with just his pistol, shooting any nearby geth that were either not yet taken out by Shepard or Virox, or were too close to him to take them out from afar due to the risk of friendly fire.

Finally the shuttle hovered in place at the edge of a cliff where they could pick him up.

"Come on!" Shepard shouted, as Zaal'Koris kept running and dodging bullets. But Tali noticed a few rocket troopers converging on their position.

"Watch out! More heavy geth reinforcements incoming!" She called out and both Virox and Shepard turned towards the newly revealed enemies. But just when Shepard was about to fire, Virox put a hand on his arm.

"This one is mine." He said and aimed at the nearest rocket trooper. The geth raised its rocket launcher in an attempt to target the shuttle and fired. Yet the rocket didn't get to fly a lot, as almost exactly the moment it was ejected, Virox fired a single laser bolt at it, making it explode in the face of the rocket trooper as well as some other nearby geth, just as Zaal'Koris jumped into the shuttle.

"Nice job, Virox." Shepard patted him on the back, then moved the turret back inside the shuttle. "Welcome aboard, admiral."

The doors finally closed and the prospect of immediate danger started to fade away as everyone seemed to have calmed down. With one exception.

"Shepard. My crew! Perhaps there's still time!" Koris said and approached the comm console of the shuttle, but Tali already suspected the outcome of that attempt. "Hello! This is Zaal'Koris! Does anyone copy? Hello!"

He waited for a good 5 seconds, yet static was the only answer. Unfortunately it was as Tali feared: they could not have saved both the admiral and its crew, as painful as it was to experience it.

"We've got to go." Shepard said, trying to finally make him let go.

Zaal'Koris stared at the console for some time, then dropped his head and sat down on one of the nearby seats. Tali could honestly sympathize with him on almost every level imaginable. She knew how it was to be rescued by someone else but having no power to save or rescue your own comrades. That was the very same situation when Shepard came for her on Haestrom. Her team was almost completely wiped out just so she could be saved and extracted by Shepard. It was that same feeling that Zaal'Koris was going through at the moment.

"May they find peace in the Homeworld's skies." He said and clasped hands together.

At least they were safe... for now.

Serpent Nebula, Widow, Citadel, Citadel Tower.

Entire restaurants and cafes went silent as Zayan Te'Kraan, ambassador of the Carvin Empire, walked past them with a fast and decisive step, surrounded by his two bodyguards and an aura of coldness around him like never before. Crowds split as if sliced in half, letting them through as they walked. Even C-Sec officers, previously tipped off about this through Commander Bailey, could not bear to look them in the eye.

There was something inherently different about this audience with the Council, and it was visible to everyone who even once saw Zayan attend one. Instead of the slight bags under his massive eyes, and an expression of exhaustion and unrestrained annoyance, not too dissimilar to the one worn by now deceased Donnel Udina, there was exactly no expression this time. He was completely stoic, to the point that reading any kind of emotion from him was a lost cause and made him all the more intimidating.

On the inside Zayan was not so different as on the outside. He had orders to present an ultimatum of the Carvin Empire and now knew the stakes that were at hand. More specifically, Carvistorn. The capital of the Empire, the homeworld of the carvins, and a fortress that the Reapers would crumble on while trying to break it.

However there was one positive thing on Zayan's mind, namely Commander Bailey. C-Sec was already a huge obstacle and annoyance to deal with on a daily basis, but this time he was about to march into the Citadel Tower, with his armed guards, and threaten the Council to accept his demands. That wasn't exactly sunshine and rainbows prospect, and normally C-Sec would stop them before they even took the transport to the Citadel Tower itself. But Bailey understood the situation and ordered his officers not to engage. In fact, he did more than that. Thanks to him, all other people would have to leave the general area of the meeting. This was especially useful to deal with the inevitable problem of the pesky media and press that would've emerged after the meeting, had Bailey not prevented that.

As if invoking his greatest worries, Zayan noticed a camera drone levitating somewhere above the crowd. This was bad news. Given that the Council didn't exactly like him, if he was delayed by the press, they could use this as an excuse to cancel the meeting, and he didn't exactly want to have blood on his hands if he could prevent it.

"Double time." He growled at his guards, while trying his best to keep an eye on the drone and all other potential reporters.

Shouts of 'Ambassador Te'Kraan!' were already heard in the crowd, mostly from asari and humans. Fortunately, the cooperative crowds made space for all three of them quickly enough that they didn't have to slow down. And just as some of the reporters began catching up to them, Zayan and his bodyguards entered the elevator that would take them to the top of the Tower itself and its doors closed.

The ride was quiet. All three of them knew what was about to happen, and what they were about to do. The fate of millions of lives rested on the outcome of this meeting. Would things turn out better if they didn't present the ultimatum? Perhaps, but they wouldn't know.

After what felt like forever, the elevator doors slid open, revealing the lush decorative plants of the Citadel Tower. Despite the damage from the Cerberus coup attempt, they still retained their beauty, with flowers blooming, not a care in the world. Zayan thought of them to be a good metaphor of the Council: still blooming and calm, indifferent to everything around them as the world burns.

Finally they made it to the audience chamber. All three councilors, Tevos, Valern, and Sparatus, were already waiting for them on their pedestals towering above them. Soon however, Zayan planned to remove that distance through this meeting, and he was determined to succeed.

"Ambassador Te'Kraan." Councilor Tevos spoke first as usual. "We are curious as to the purpose of this quite... unexpected meeting. The wording contained in your request certainly raised some questions."

"I did not lie to you when I wrote that it was a 'matter of Citadel stability and more'." Zayan replied calmly with his expression unchanged. "However I was mostly just making sure that you will accept the meeting, as what I will speak to you about today is... well, of key importance both to me and the Carvin Empire in itself."

"If you're going to ask for switching to war economy once again, we regret to inform you that it's not happening." Councilor Valern said. "We have to maintain the consumer economy in order to maintain the already fragile stability on the Citadel."

Both of Zayan's bodyguards looked at their superior with a questioning look, and he nodded, then turned back towards the Councilors. "I am afraid, Councilor Valern, that I and the whole Carvin Empire are done asking."

Their reaction was mostly expected. Tevos blinked a few times in surprise, Valern almost stumbled back. But the only interesting one was Sparatus. He also did not hide surprise, but given his more staunch and conservative attitude, he would usually lash out almost immediately when something seemed insane or improbable for him. This time though he was silent.

"In the name of the Carvin Empire, and by the order of its highest authority, the High General Council, I formally demand that the Carvin Empire should be granted a full member status in the Council, at least for the duration of the war." Zayan started with as much of an official tone. "Given the recent death of one of the Councilors and no visible successor, we deem it fit that at least one more species that suffers the brunt of the Reaper assault should have a voice in the Citadel decision making process."

Silence filled the chamber, before Councilor Valern spoke once again. "And what right do you think you have to demand such things from us?"

"Right? You're joking." Zayan almost laughed. It was at this moment that gloves were off. "There is no such thing as a 'right' to something. Just as you don't have the 'right' to enforce your will onto other species, yet you do. All the time. What you consider as your 'right' is in fact your will and ability to enforce your own will on others." he paused for a second to let the Councilors comprehend what he said. "And I have a lot of will and means in stock."

"Your demands are misplaced and selfish, ambassador. We're in the middle of a war and you're trying-" Councilor Tevos started, but Zayan interrupted.

"-To be more effective in waging it than you are. The Citadel Council has done virtually nothing that directly impacts the war effort. No war bonds. No war economy. No tax increase. No conscription or any form of direct support. Nothing!" he snapped furiously. "Your military and commanding ineptitude came to a climax when Cerberus almost took over Citadel right under your noses, and it took Shepard to stop them! And what did you do with it? Nothing! You tried to keep the populace calm, as if to return them to their bubbles of ignorance that have been violently popped by Cerberus. In fact, the only way that anything good war-related things were happening was because of the independent actions of the Spectres like Shepard or Jondum Bau, doing the dirty work for you."

"That's what the Spectres were created for, ambassador." Tevos replied calmly. Her appearance indicating that nothing is happening drove him mad.

"And Citadel Council was created to govern, manage, administer, and lead the member and associated species, both during peace and war. And you're doing exactly none of these things properly." Zayan pointed out, then sighed. "I'm not here to negotiate. You accept or there will be consequences."

"What kind of consequences?" This time Sparatus spoke for the first time.

"I'm glad you asked, Councilor." Zayan smirked, then activated his omni-tool and displayed the information received from Barla Von. "I have managed to acquire evidence of corruption and cronyism in the main Citadel Bank. In addition we've uncovered the locations of some... rather peculiar magazines and warehouses, where some supplies are withheld and hoarded, quote unquote 'for emergency', while some sections of the Citadel don't even have basic sanitation after the Cerberus coup. Imagine what would happen to your public opinion, as well as stability on the Citadel in general if the people found out that YOUR administration was responsible for all of this?"

The fear and uncertainty on their faces was precious. Zayan loved seeing and knowing that he had the upper hand. Sparatus scratched his face with his hand, while Tevos and Valern were looking at each other with worrying looks.

"And what would we gain from allowing the Carvin Empire to join the Council Races? Other minor races will definitely be displeased. You joined the galactic community just a year ago after all." Tevos asked, but this time she didn't sound hostile, rather just concerned.

"It's more of a matter what you loose if you don't. The list of negative consequences just began, Councilor. And you should be concerned the most, Tevos." Zayan replied stoically, emphasizing the name of asari Councilor, then changed a setting on his omni-tool. This time it showed a galaxy map. "The Reapers are reorganizing and converging large groups of forces at the edge of Hourglass Nebula and now captured Crescent Nebula. Our intel suggests that they are preparing for a two-pronged assault, one aimed at Carvistorn and the other at Thessia."

"Ambassador, to reach Thessia the Reapers would have to move through the Widow Relay, which would mean going through Citadel. This solution is not only unfeasable but also plain ridiculous." Valern dismissed the claim, but this was his worst mistake.

"Here you are wrong, Councilor." Zayan smirked once again and closed up on the southeastern region of the galaxy. "Alliance intelligence have managed to acquire information that Mass Relays behave differently when used by the Reapers and can open up many previously unknown pathways. A small Alliance patrol flotilla in Gemini Sigma has reported a Reaper force using the local Mass Relay, and shortly after, another scout fleet in Argos Rho reported Reaper presence in an impossible speed that wouldn't be explained even by the enhanced Reaper drives. There is no direct connection between Argos Rho and Gemini Sigma known to us, but it is entirely possible that these Relays can create one if operated by Reapers."

"There is no proof to this!" Valern protested once again, but Zayan slammed his fist at the railing so hard that it bent.

"YOU TOLD SHEPARD THAT THERE WAS NO PROOF FOR THE REAPERS AND WHERE DID THAT GET YOU!? YOU HAVE BLOOD OF BILLIONS OF LIVES ON YOUR HANDS NOW!" He roared so loud that even his bodyguards backed away in fear. Zayan, realizing that his outburst was a bit much, inhaled and resumed his thought. "Should the Reapers be able to move through previously unknown Relay connections, then Thessia is just two jumps away from Crescent Nebula, going through Minos Wasteland and directly into Athena Nebula."

"What's your point, Ambassador?" Sparatus asked.

"My point is that asari need allies, and you're quickly gonna loose one if you keep that attitude up. Humans, turians, and us, carvins have been taking the main Reaper assault on ourselves while most of your inner planets cuddle comfortably. Should we or any other major military power be decisively defeated, who will stop the Reapers from butchering billions of your own citizens? And you can gain some friends, as well as industrial and military power, should you allow the Carvin Empire to start implementing a more war-focused approach on the Citadel." Zayan explained, then moved the map focus to the northwestern side. "Coming back to the converging Reaper forces, it is almost certain that they will aim to quickly break through our outer defense systems and head straight for Carvistorn so that they can cripple our command center. Should that happen, we have two options. Option One is using the Citadel's strategic, economic and industrial reserves to support fronts elsewhere, which would take some weight off our defenders. That is if we're elevated to a full member species."

"And what is Option Two?" Tevos inquired with an expression indicating that she already suspected what was about to happen.

"We recall all of our assets assigned to the Citadel Defense Force, liquidate all of our economic and industrial assets on Citadel, and close our embassy, all in order to use the resources we withdraw to assist the defense effort. You can imagine the civil unrest, should that happen. And Citadel defense will be further diminished, making you vulnerable for another Cerberus, or worse, Reaper attack." Zayan replied with his hands clasped. "How does that sound to you and your precious stability?"

His strategy seemed to have worked, as the Councilors went silent once again. They started to exchange glances and from what Zayan could pick out, Valern was still opposed, Tevos was slowly getting the gist of the situation, and Sparatus looked like he had no problem with complying. After all, his kind already lost their homeworld... partially at least. Finally Tevos spoke once again.

"What are your plans after ascending to the position of a Councilor, should we accept your demand?" She asked.

"I do not know if I will be designated the Councilor. Should the High Generals decide otherwise, I won't complain." Zayan said, but seeing that she wasn't satisfied, continued. "However if I was put in that position, I would immediately push for the things I have been advocating for this entire time. War bonds, higher taxes, war economy, and specifically releasing the economic and industrial reserves to both the Citadel population and war fronts that need it. In addition, I would opt for using the Citadel Fleet more offensively, as with the Alliance Fifth Fleet stationed just one system away, and Reapers were known to bypass entire fleets on the way to their objectives, so sitting here will do no good. Even if the vessels comprising the fleet are used as transports and logistical help, it's still help."

"I see." Tevos nodded and scratched her chin. "But you do realize that should the fleet overstretch itself, it can leave Citadel vulnerable."

This comment proved Council's selfishness on so many levels, and Zayan was about to expose it. "Let me ask you a question. All of you. What is more valuable? Citadel, with its 13 million people of various species that? Or your homeworlds, each having at least 8 billion citizens EACH?"

"You already know the answer, ambassador, but I fail to see the point of this question." Tevos replied, skillfully dodging the question.

"You asari specifically cannot hope to stand against the brunt of the Reaper invasion. I've told you that just a second ago." Zayan said, almost accusingly. "Your sorry excuse of a professional army wouldn't halt even a minor Reaper assault, regardless of their biotic abilities. And your people do not have the necessary military as well as industrial capacity to fight the attrition war in space that the Reapers favor. A few lost battles and you're down a fifth of your navy, that you won't be able to physically replace. So you NEED ships, weapons, supplies, industry, economic assets. Lots of them. And Citadel can provide them. And if it can't provide enough, it can at least take the weight off the races that can. So wake up, Tevos. Your people can't hide behind their diplomatic and cultural superiority anymore. You're no longer economically or militarily self-sufficient. No one in this war is. Citadel Fleet may bloody well save you from total anihilation."

Yet for another time silence fell upon the entire chamber. It seemed to him that they loved their silence, building up the tension and pressure. But Zayan was done with it, and because it was supposed to be an ultimatum, it would become one.

"High Generals ordered me to give you two hours to respond. I will give you ten." He said. It was a white lie, but one that would make them motivated. "Should the reply not come, we will treat it as refusal, and everything that I mentioned previously will happen within the next 20 hours or less."

And with that said, he stepped away from the damaged railing, signaled his bodyguards, and left the silent Citadel Council to their thoughts. He had done what he could. Now it was all up to them.

A/N: Sorry for being late (again). Actually most of the chapter was already done, it was just the ending that I couldn't get myself to write. But try as I might, I can't really escape this. My conscience wouldn't allow it. Now I do sincerely hope that all of you ladies and gentlemen who still read my story (if you actually exist) are doing fine and the almighty corona can't get to you. I wish you good health and a happy Easter. Carry on!

Bonker out!