Trial
Chapter 133
Trial
“That’s… very interesting,” Tali said as she’d been talking with Legion for a while now. By now Rainbow was sitting to the side as a lot of the initial tension had evaporated.
“Were there other inquiries you would like to make, Creator Tali’Zorah?” Legion inquired.
“No, I think that was pretty much everything right now,” Tali replied, “I… need to digest some of this.”
“Affirmative. We will remain here if there are further inquiries you want to make,” Legion responded, standing still as a statue as it did whatever geth do when they weren’t talking to anyone. Rainbow followed Tali as she made her way to the observation room, which had practically become Dash’s, to get a drink.
“You feeling okay?” Rainbow asked while levitating over a drink for the both of them with her biotics.
“I don’t know. If you’d told me this morning that I’d have someone call my eyes beautiful, be accused of treason, and would be having a conversation with a geth I’d probably have laughed at you,” Tali sighed, filtering the drink before using a straw to feed it into her helmet. “I’m just… did you really mean that?”
“Yes,” Rainbow answered without hesitation.
“Oh, ok.” Tali silently sipped from her drink, not saying anything else as she stared ahead blankly. Rainbow meanwhile fidgeted nervously as she wasn’t sure on how to proceed further. “You know, I used to have this massive crush on Shepard.”
Rainbow ears perked. “Used? So not anymore?”
“Well, he kind of died,” Tali bluntly pointed out. “But that’s not the point. The point is I don’t mind the difference of species.”
Rainbow swallowed nervously, “So you’re willing to try?”
“Maybe...” Tali sighed, “I’m sorry, you might be able to imagine how much stress I’m under right now I hope you don’t mind if I give it more thought after this trial?”
“Nah, I get it. Thanks,” Rainbow sighed, though out of relief. “Not like I really have any experience dealing with any of this mushy stuff.”
“Well, maybe we’ll get to figure all that out together,” Tali said, finishing her drink and disposing of the can. “I need to get down to engineering, I've got some ideas on how to improve the Normandy's shielding by making them oscillate, but need to iron out some things. It'll be a good distraction from everything.”
“Not going to pretend to understand how any of that works,” Rainbow said sheepishly.
Tali chuckled. “I'll run it over with Gabriella and Kenneth, they seem like good humans. I'll see you around Rainbow.”
“Yeah, you too,” Rainbow said, catching herself looking at Tali's hips as she left.
That suit really nicely brings out her butt…
Rainbow stared at the closed door for a few seconds before choking on her drink as she registered what she thought.
I really caught it, didn't I? Rarity would interrogate me for days if she ever found out.
Rainbow put away her empty can as well, Dash hopped off her seat and out of the observation bay.
Let's see if Garrus is up for some fitness exercises...
“Shepard, I'm not sure this is such a good idea.” Tali said with concern as she along with the Commander, Dash, and Legion walked through the tube connecting the Normandy to the giant quarian liveship the Rayya. Shepard had his helmet on and Dash was using a quickly manufactured version of Luna’s helmet, it wasn’t rated for combat but it would prevent her from contaminating the ship with her hair. “Bringing a geth…”
“What's the meaning of this?!” One of the quarians exclaimed as the others surrounding the entrance had their weapons up and aimed at Legion. “Get that thing off my ship before you start an incident that makes that Ascension Project fiasco with Cerberus look like a slow day on garbage detail!”
Shepard immediately jumped between the quarians and the geth, batting aside a rifle in the process. “You know, when I take tali aboard Council stations, the customs sometimes call her ‘that thing’ This thing is named Legion,” he growled.
“How about you step aside and we call it scrap metal?” the quarian captain replied.
“Our exterior shell is seventy-two percent polymer,” Legion flatly pointed out.
“This is your ship, but legion is part of my crew. Unless you’re going to shoot both of us we’re both coming aboard,” Shepard said, his tone of voice made it clear he would not budge on this. The quarian captain stared defiantly at Shepard a bit longer before motioning the welcome squad to lower their weapons.
“I can’t guarantee your safety,” He told the group.
“I can guide them from the more militant members of the crew,” Tali stepped in, though the captain sighed.
“There are a lot more militants these days, Tali’Zorah. And given the charges against you, it’s only getting worse.”
“What?” Tali questioned confused. “I wasn’t told what the exact charges are.”
“They’re accusing you of bringing active geth into the fleet as part of a secret project.”
“That’s insane! I never brought active geth aboard, only parts and pieces!” Tali exclaimed sounding well and truly distressed. “Sending active pieces… No. It didn’t happen.”
“Technically I’m under orders to place Tali’Zorah under arrest pending the hearing. So Tali... you’re confined to this ship until this trial is over.”
“Thank you, Captain,” Tali sighed.
“The hearing is being held in the garden plaza, you should get there as soon as possible. Good luck Tali’Zorah.”
Shepard nodded to the captain as Tali lead them past him through the relatively narrow hallways of the vessel eventually getting within sight of an open area with plants. A quarian Tali presumably recognized stood at the entrance to the courtyard as Tali sprinted towards her and embraced her in a hug.
“Auntie Raan!” She exclaimed, motioning The others to come closer.
“Welcome Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, I'm glad you could be here so soon.”
“Shepard vas Normandy, Rainbow vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala’Raan van Tonbay. She’s a friend of my father’s… Wait… Raan, you called me ‘vas Normandy’.” Tali suddenly noticed, Rainbow mentally reminded herself to ask what the peculiar name Tali gave her meant later.
“I’m afraid I did, Tali. The Admiralty board moved to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema,” Raan explained.
“And that’s bad?” Rainbow asked, guessing that she knew the answer was no.
“Stripping me of my ship name is as good as declaring me exiled already, Rainbow...” Tali softly said.
“Well… crap,” Dash cursed.
“It’s not over yet. You still have friends who know you as Tali’Zorah van Neema, whatever we must call you legally.”
“We should get in there to get this started. Does Tali get a defense counselor, someone to speak for her side?” Shepard asked.
“Indeed she does… Captain Shepard, she is part of your crew, now recognized by quarian law. An accused is always represented by his or her ship’s captain,” the admiral explained, Tali glanced at Shepard.
“I’ll give it my best but I’m no lawyer,” Shepard tried to comfort Tali.
“Do not worry, our legal rules are simple. There are no legal tricks or political loopholes for you to worry about. Present the truth as best you can it’ll have to be enough. Now come, I promised that I would not delay you.”
Admiral Raan led them into a small amphitheater that had quarians sitting all around, the other admirals who would act as judges standing on raised platforms in the center. Legion took a seat at the front, the quarians next to him nervously sliding as far away as they could from him which gave space for Rainbow to sit down.
“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,” Raan opened as she took her spot behind the three other admirals on another platform, raising her to stand over the others. “The accused, Tali’Zorah vas Normandy has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason.”
“Security, a geth is present in the courtroom! Does Tali’Zorah think to affect this hearing with threats?!” one of the admirals exclaimed at the sight of Legion.
“Captain Danna allowed the geth aboard. Do you intend to second-guess the Rayya’s captain, admiral Koris?” Raan snidely cut him off.
“Objection withdrawn,” admiral Koris grumbled, Rainbow couldn’t help but smirk as he got shown his place.
“Shepard vas Normandy, your crew member Tali’Zorah stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her?”
Shepard leaned forward, leaning on a little fence that stood in front of him. “I shouldn’t have to, her actions speak for themself. If she hadn’t been with me fighting the geth on the Citadel none of you would be alive to put her on trial. That makes it most egregious that you even stripped her of her name, she is a proud member of this migrant fleet and even if she isn’t legally, in her heart she remains Tali’Zorah vas Neema. It is regrettable her captain was forbidden to stand at her side today.” The crowd murmured as Dash simply enjoyed the show. Shepard was not holding his punches on this one.
“Nobody has been forbidden from anythi-”
“Lie to them if you must, Zaal’Koris, but do not lie to me and expect me to stay silent! The human is right!” another one of the admirals intervened.
Huh, that’s interesting… There must be more at play here…
Dash straightened up a bit again, focussing on the conversation beyond just the entertainment value and trying to figure out where each admiral stood.
“Please admirals, Shepard’s willingness to represent Tali’Zorah in this hearing is appreciated.” Raan intervened, “Tali, you are accused of bringing active geth into the fleet, what say you?”
“Tali would never endanger the migrant fleet. She pleads not guilty.”
“I left parts and technology for teams to pick up as my father ordered me,” Tali added, nervously wringing her hands. “But I would never send active geth to the fleet! Everything I sent was disabled and harmless!”
“Then explain how geth seized the lab ship where your father was working!” Zaal’Koris exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at Tali.
“What are you talking about? What happened?” Rainbow could easily pick up on the panicked tinge in Tali’s voice, her blood starting to boil as the other admiral who had previously spoken spoke up again.
“As far as we can tell, Tali, the geth have killed everyone on the Alarei… your father included.”
Rainbows blood went from boiling to lighting on fire inside her veins as she sprung up and was in hovering front of the panel of admirals withing the blink of an eye.
“Excuse me?! I thought you quarians valued your families! How in Tartarus can you just tell her this in the middle of a bucking trail!” Dash roared, the three admirals in front taking a step back.
“Damn straight,” Shepard agreed.
“Our apologies, Tali should have been informed,” Raan tried to apologize but Dash didn’t really care as she landed next to Tali and Shepard while glaring down the admirals.
“Shepard, we have to retake the Alarei,” Tali pleaded to the Commander.
“The safest course would be to simply destroy the ship. But if you’re looking for an honorable death instead of exile...”
“I’m looking for my father you bosh’tet!” Tali shouted back at him.
“You intend to retake the Alarei from the geth?” Raan asked.
“Yes, we do,” Shepard confirmed with resolve.
“Then it is decided. You will attempt to retake the Alarei. You are hereby given leave to depart the Rayya. A shuttle will be waiting at the secondary docking hangar. Be safe Tali, this hearing will resume upon your return, or upon determination that you have been killed in action.”
The crowd in the amphitheater dispersed as the hearing was over for now. Legion added himself to the group again as they separated off to discuss in private.
“Thank you for defending me like that Shepard, you too Rainbow. The admirals sound sure my father is already dead, but… I don’t know. We won’t know anything until we get there.”
Shepard nodded. “We should take a few minutes to talk to some people around here for a few minutes before heading out to the Alarei.”
“Yes. I think I saw Kal’Reegar around, I wanna go talk to him,” Tali said, “We’ll meet back up at the shuttle in a bit.”
The group split up, Tali heading towards the quarian marine, Shepard to the admiral that seemed to be on Tali’s side while legion made a beeline to the third admiral that had yet to speak.
Should I stay with Tali to give her support… though I’m real curious what that third admiral’s opinion on this is, she might be the tie-breaker in this case… I could also go yell at that Zaal’Koris too…
1. Stick with Tali.
2. Follow legion to the third admiral.
3. Yell at Zaal’Koris.
Long chapter but I really didn't think it would be served well by it being cut in two.
Spent today helping my sister out painting the walls of her new apartment 
[Paragon] or [Renegade] are colored when available, though normal options might also contribute to one or the other. As for the shippers under us, [Romance] is now also a thing.
When an option is not available due to various reasons it will be colored [Grey]
https://www.strawpoll.me/20729791
[Certainty: 80]
Remember that comments are like authors' food, we gain energy from them. Constructive criticism is welcome.
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Option 1... but 3 might be fun, too!
Whenever I play this part of Mass Effect 2, aside from my first run-through, I always speak to all of the admirals so I could get the best outcome at the end. (Where Shepard declares that the trial isn't about Tali, but the geth.)
Id have said information, but The Fleet is already being used to use teh Geth to manipulate what people see, so Id say Dash better stick with Legion, otherwise theres going to be a sudden security aassistance event against a threat to a leading member.
10371521
I agree option 1, but 3 would be fun.
id say option 2, more so to just make sure legion is safe / also have the 3rd admiral in our good graces
Stick with Legion and gather info the others might miss. Tali is in familiar territory and Shepard is nearby too, she's fine. As satisfying as it may be to tell at zaal it seems pointless.
Maybe sticking with Tali is the relationship move, but there's no guarantee any admiral will share important information with Legion. If the group has just one shot to get important information from each of them, it makes sense for Rainbow to back up Legion.
I have to point out something, you didn't write that Shala’Raan van Tonbay said that Tali was vas Normandy, Tali managed to find out that herself, somehow. Also, option 2.
10372011
Fixed it, I may have fallen asleep while writing a couple of times.
hmmm...
i like all three options, thus i will abstain from voting this time.
2. We should make sure Legion doesn't get in trouble.
10372036
You might want to fix that.
Wait, so she is being accused of bringing active Geth onto the fleet, is denying it, and nobody is looking at Legion and observing that she literally just brought an active Geth abord? Is that how it goes in the game too?
Honestly, I have trouble imaging them allowing Legion abord in the first place. Escalation, security being called, etc. seems like likely.
10442384
Pretty much, yeah.
Holy Shit... I didn't know i could laugh at that pitch...
That come so hard out of left field it used to be called right side
Just good it was actually Shepard bring a activ Geth into the Fleet
1 because that Rainbow maned chick need to collect Snu-Snu points ♡
Shepard will do all the talking, Rainbowdash needs to stay with Suit-Waifu!