Elana Tevos, Councilor of the Asari Republics to the Citadel, didn't even try to resist the urge to rub her face with one hand, pushing away the datapad that she had just finished reading. The report that had been impressively detailed, concise without neglecting information, and professional without being standoffish. Frankly, when it came SPECTRE reports, it was probably one of the best she'd ever read. By their very nature, SPECTREs weren't the most 'by the book' group of people in the galaxy, and even Turian agents tended to break a bit from the rigid militaristic professionalism of their culture. Commander -and Tevos once again made a mental note to remind the young woman that she wasn't, in spirit, a member of the Alliance military anymore. Divided loyalties did no one any good at all, and while she wouldn't be officially discharged until her Probationary period was over, the spirit mattered more than the letter in this.- Shepard, however, had hidden nothing, so far as she could tell.
Which, unfortunately, made her report on the events of Feros' colony of Zhu's Hope somewhat more believable, even as absurd as it was. The girl had never struck her as unbalanced, after all, nor was she the sort to lie -either outright or by omission- to her superiors, and especially not about such significant events and missions as these.
Of course, that being said, she would have considered the report to be…somewhat embellished, or perhaps at least partially a product of understandable ignorance and misunderstanding, if it wasn't for the fact that additional reports had been sent along by the Alliance battlegroup that she had summoned to evacuate the colonists when she had emerged from destroying The Thorian.
She shuddered again at the thought of such a creature. To the asari, the willful, malicious violation of the mind smacked of deep, dark things that lurked in their histories. Things that they did not speak of to the other races, the things that would have made her daughter a pariah if the galaxy at large knew that she existed and was a pureblood.
Pushing the thought, the old fear and worry, aside, she refocused on the report's implications.
The existence of the Thorian, it's ability to control-by-conditioning still living and 'normal' sentients, the fact that it could apparently turn the dead into outright puppets if given sufficient time, and the fact that it predated the Protheans themselves was astounding to say the least. The fact that it had been intelligent and, apparently, capable of capturing and enslaving actual Protheans had been horrifying, of course, but she had to admit that she wasn't too disappointed that Shepard had destroyed their bodies. As much as she would like to pretend otherwise, there was a large chance that some lunatic would attempt to cultivate Thorian spores or research them in an effort to create more of these 'Creepers', much as it was a concern that such people might attempt to replicate the 'husks' of Eden Prime.
Paradoxically, perhaps, the least concerning thing was the fact that the Exo-Geni corporation had been deliberately using their unknowing, hapless colonists as guinea pigs in regards to the Thorian. Cruel as it might sound, the suffering of the colonists of Zhu's Hope had provided the Council with vital intelligence in regards to this threat, and even if this was a somewhat different from the norm, interstellar corporations breaking the laws of morality and mortality alike was hardly uncommon. Handling that would be a simple matter of expressing to the Alliance that the Council wasn't going to tolerate this sort of thing, while heavily restricting Exo-Geni and monitoring them closely.
Even the presence of Sarissa Theris was ultimately irrelevant, beyond whatever knowledge she might have collected from The Thorian and the fact that she had transferred 'The Prothean Cipher', which Shepard detailed as 'the cultural gestalt of the Prothean race, giving her the ability to think like a Prothean' -she already heard Sparatus ranting about Shepard's 'continuing mental contamination'- and had promptly moved on from with a promise to say more as it became relevant and known. She'd leave the woman, who according to a brief glance at her file had gone MIA during a slaver raid after abandoning her Huntress unit and fleeing, to the Justiciars. They'd find out what information she might hold and then dispose of her properly.
No, the matter that had truly concerned her was…
A soft chime broke her from her thoughts, her secretary's voice reminding her that it was time for her private meeting with Valern and Sparatus about the events on Feros. Thanking the girl almost absently, Tevos got to her feet and made her way towards the door, idly wondering if perhaps her two compatriots would have any idea what the 'God of Dis' that Theris had been ranting about when Shepard had cuffed her. Not that it mattered, the woman was clearly insane as well as being a cowardly deserter, but something about it tickled her moemory in the most annoying of ways.
At least Shepard would be out of trouble, or at least the spectacular kind of trouble, for a little while. She had to save her lover from geth on Therum, as the enemy apparently wanted Liara T'Soni for her expertise on the Protheans, and given the fact that Therum was an immensely volatile volcanic world, she rather doubted the human would uncover any ancient, mind-controlling, parastic plants this time around.
Just a simple extraction mission for an academic, an easy enough task for a woman of Shepard's ability, and time consuming enough that the Council would have time to get a handle on everything else.
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The Normandy didn't have much in the way of firepower, or armor, or space, nor even consumables. It certainly didn't have a whole lot of mileage on it too. What she did have, however, was plenty of speed. Speed that she was putting to very good use as she raced across the expanse of stars separating Feros from Therum with every ounce of engine power she could spare, including any extra lightyear her crew could tweak and eke and cajole out of their charge. They could do no less, after all, what with their Commander's lover at risk of falling into the enemy's grasp. Something that they wouldn't let happen, not without a fight, and so each and every one of them were putting their entire being into making sure that the strike team reached Therum in time.
Honestly, Cassandra thought it was sweet how determined the crew was, and how genuine their desire to help protect Liara was. It wasn't even entirely because they wanted to prevent the enemy from gaining her knowledge, because they wanted to protect a civilian from villains, or even because they wanted to fuck over the people who had attacked Eden Prime and slaughtered so many of their fellow humans. They were doing it for her.
Which is why she was spending the trip speaking with her crew, finding out what made them tick and laying the foundation for bonds that went beyond 'simple' duty. Most of them were…well, she hated to call anyone 'simple', but for most of her crew, they were here because of their duty, and didn't have much in the way of concerns beyond that, save the concerns that any average person would possess. Staying alive, succeeding in their missions, getting justice for their people, getting home to their families…no great, ground-breaking desires were these, but the lack of complexity and originality hardly made them less potent.
The only real outlier of the regular crew was Pressley, who had some fairly strong concerns about so many almost-entirely-unvetted aliens running around on the ship. And not just because they were aliens either, though she sensed that that particular factor was a prominent point of his concerns. Rather, it was the 'unvetted' part that worried him. The Normandy was the only one of it's kind, barely out of star-dock, and on a mission of galactic importance. As far as he was concerned, the only people aboard should be the people that Alliance High Command trusted implicitly, and her team should consist entirely of N7s that could equally be trusted. He even had a point, she was mature enough to admit, especially when he brought up the fact that disparate talents, training methods, and degrees of experience could be deadly in a fight compared to more harmonious tactics. Of course, she could hardly explain that she would be well-aware of any ill intentions as and if they became a problem, so in the end she had simply asked him to trust her judgement and to be polite, if not friendly, with their alien shipmates. He'd vowed to do so of course, and she knew he was professional enough to do exactly that.
Then she'd moved onto her strike team.
Catching up with Wrex had been quick and easy. It wasn't as if she never saw him, nor that they never communicated, so it mostly amounted to her getting his opinion of what had happened since Chora's Den. Which mostly boiled down to him being thrilled to have so much excitement in his life, and looking forward to more. The Shepard/T'Soni clan had always been his favorite people in the galaxy because of the chaos -and the resulting excitement- that seemed attracted to them like metal to magnets, and now he was getting to be right in the middle of it, this time essentially from start to finish. The Thorian, he was glad it was dead, and gladder he'd helped kill it. He didn't hold many things sacred, even with the 'revitalization of his spirit', as Benezia would say, that he had experienced since that fateful day on Anhur, but freedom was one of them. To be controlled by anything, for another to impose their will on you by force, was as anathema to him as it was to Cassandra. The Genophage, he reminded her, was just as much a method of slavery as any slave collar or Thorian spore, a claim to which she had agreed promptly and firmly.
Garrus had been a bit more complicated, at least mentally speaking, though the only real effort required was listening to him vent about how glad he was to have joined the crew, so that he could 'get things done without all the damn red tape getting in the way'. A couple of innocuous questions on Cassandra's part had had him pouring his heart out about his time in C-sec and the struggles that came with try to get justice for people, and preemptively protect them, when you had to deal with paperwork in triplicate to authorize everything. She had to agree with him, letting Doctor Saleon escape, given what he had done, seemed a terrible thing. Likewise, however, shooting him down would have killed innocents and endangered not just the station, but also left a dangerous cloud of debris in the area. And yes, the Citadel should have warships close to the Relay for exactly that sort of situation, to catch people before they can leave the nebula but after they are far enough away from the Citadel not to be a risk. The oversight was, in fact, appalling, no matter the fact that it was now rectified. By the time the conversation ended and she excused herself, she knew two things: One, that Garrus Vakarian was a genuinely good man whom she could probably become quite good friends with, and Two, that she was going to have to do some work with him to keep him that way. Otherwise, his strong sense of justice and willingness, even eagerness, to be as direct as possible regardless of the consequences could very well lead him down a very dark path.
She had no interest in someday being called to hunt down a crazed, ruthless vigilante that would sacrifice innocents to destroy the guilty.
Nirali hadn't been able to talk much, or perhaps willing was more accurate, but she had admitted that she had refused an offer to be transferred to another duty station in safer territories. She was also quite sure that she hadn't done well on her redeployment evaluation, and had warned Cassandra that it was more than likely that paperwork was in the pipeline to have her pulled from the Normandy sooner rather than later for a stint in counseling and care. Cassandra had reassured her that she was welcome to stay as long as she was able, but that there was no shame nor fault in seeking help and comfort when it was offered. She had spent her own time in such a place, after all, after Akuze, and at least -she said this quite dryly- Nirali didn't have to worry about fighting off a pirate raid in the middle of her convalescence.
As for the girls, well…
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"You're looking a lot better, Ashley." Shepard's voice was soft but clear, and Ashley Williams snapped around in a perfect 180 degree turn and saluted sharply, more on instinct than anything else, the pieces of the assault rifle that she had been cleaning and reassembling clattering on the table behind her as she abandoned them untidly in her haste. She blushed at the sound, knowing that it wasn't a good look for someone in charge of an armory, then winced as the pain the sudden movement had caused to her healing injuries properly hit. Something that Shepard noticed, and the Dragon of Elysium frowned faintly. "Easy, Ash. The last thing I want is for you to open those injuries back up just for the sake of a salute. So, you know, at ease. How are you feeling?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm fine, ma'am." Ashley responded rigidly, falling into something like a parade rest. Shepard simply arched an eyebrow, the most mildly censorious of glints in her eyes, and Ashley grimaced internally as she truly relaxed. "Sorry, skipper. Not used to that sort of thing. I'm doing alright. Doc Chakwas says I should be okay to fight by the time we reach Therum, so I won't let you down."
"Being injured and needing to recover isn't 'letting me down', Ash, it's taking care of yourself." Shepard said mildly, and Ashley flushed a little at the light chastisement in the tone she spoke with. "The only way you could let me down is if you got yourself killed because you tried to 'tough it out' and weren't green to fight." her lips quirked faintly. "This isn't Iwo Jima or Belleau Wood, marine. I don't need you fighting with half of your bits missing because we don't have a choice."
"…aye-aye, Skipper." Ashley submitted, rather reluctantly, with a dip of her head. She didn't really have a choice, as much as she wanted to protest anyway. Giving up wasn't in her nature to begin with, and she certainly didn't want to give the only CO that seemed to value her to have a reason to bench her. Shepard had picked her for the entirety of Feros, had relied on her and kept her at her side even when she was injured. Had praised her for saving Tali.
She couldn't do anything to compromise that positive impression, that positive reputation. Not when she finally had a chance to be more than what her grandfather's unearned reputation had condemned her to. Yet, at the same time, she couldn't refuse to obey the Commander entirely in pursuit of that goal, because she was not only not insubordinate in the least, but it would sabotage the self-same goal that she was trying to pursue.
"Good. Now that I don't have to worry about losing you," and God, did Ashley have to feel so warm inside at such a phrase? She had enough to worry about as it was, she didn't need to have her stomach going funny just because her CO didn't want her getting killed! "Why don't you tell me about you? How do you feel about the Normandy, the crew? Regretting coming along yet?"
"No, of course not!" the words burst out of Ashley's mouth, her eyes widening, appalled, as she shook her head hard and fast. "No, ma'am, I wouldn't want to be any where else! Being under you is a dream come true!"
The words hung in the air between them, and Ashley felt her face burn scarlet as she realized exactly how that had sounded. Shepard's eyebrow climbed higher, a distinctly amused glint entering her green eyes, and in that moment Ashley wanted nothing more than for the deck plating to open up and swallow her whole.
"I mean, uh, serving under your command, ma'am!" she stammered, her voice cracking slightly, the pitch climbing steadily higher. "Working for you. With you. On your team. That's what I…" She took a shaky breath and forced herself to stop babbling, squaring her shoulders. "What I meant to say is that this assignment has been everything I hoped it would be, Commander, and I promise I'll make you proud."
"Relax, Ash." Shepard's tone was gentle, though Ashley caught the faint smile tugging at the corner of her mouth, and there was definitely a gleam of laughter dancing in her eyes. Warm and lacking in mockery, but laughter all the same, and her blush deepened. "I knew what you meant. Now tell me how you're settling in with the crew?"
Ashley took a deep breath, grateful for the change of subject and the chance to compose herself. "The crew's been good to me, ma'am. Professional. It's pretty obvious why most of them were picked to crew a ship as valuable and rare as the Normandy." She paused, glancing around and lowering her voice, mindful of anyone that might be in earshot "I'm just…I'm worried about the aliens, ma'am. Or, well, some of them."
"Oh?" The word was a simple one, and the tone was mild as Shepard settled against the edge of the workbench, arms crossed, but how she actually felt about things Ash couldn't really tell. She didn't seem too mad, but she was a professional, and Ashley winced slightly.
"Not…not because they're aliens, ma'am. Its not a racism thing." she hastened to assure, which only got her an arched eyebrow. Perhaps understandably, and Ash resisted the urge to wilt.
"If it's not because they're aliens, what makes them the issue compared to the crew?" Shepard invited, and Ashley believed the inquiry was a genuine one. Something about the other woman's tone and bearing told her that Shepard would actually hear her out, and she took a moment to marshal her thoughts properly.
"It's their reliability, their loyalties, that I wonder about, ma'am." she responded honestly, gesturing to the ship at large. "The human crew, they've sworn an oath to the Alliance. Miss T'soni won't be an issue, everyone knows how, uh," she blushed faintly but pressed on gamely. "How close the two of you are. Just like they know how close Wrex is to your family."
"But…?"
"But Vakarain and Tali don't have any loyalty to you based on personal connections and oaths like the rest of us do. Tali seems like a good kid, but she's a Quarian. Anything that she can do to help her people, she's going to do it. She has to. I don't blame her for that, but it inherently makes her a security risk, especially on a ship as advanced as this one is." Ashley continued, feeling a little bad, because Tali was a good kid. Nervous, shy, more than a little socially awkward, but brilliant and dedicated and brave. But that didn't change the facts that she was laying out. "And Vakarian? He abandoned his position with C-Sec pretty much at the drop of a hat to come with us, and he offered rather than you asking him, so he doesn't even have that as an excuse. If he's willing to ditch C-Sec that fast for people he barely knows, can we count on him to stick with us and toe the line?"
Shepard nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful rather than dismissive. "Those are fair concerns, Ash. And I appreciate you being honest with me rather than pretending everything was fine and letting them fester." She shifted slightly, her gaze becoming more focused. "But let me ask you this - what makes an oath to the Alliance more reliable than personal conviction?"
Ashley blinked, caught off guard by the question. "Ma'am?"
"You mentioned Garrus abandoned C-Sec 'at the drop of a hat,' but from what I've seen, he left because the system was failing the people he swore to protect. He chose principle over procedure." Shepard's tone remained neutral, but there was something measuring in her eyes. "As for Tali, yes, she has obligations to her people. But so do we all. The question is whether those obligations align with our mission. Which they do. We're up against the geth, and even if Tali wasn't a good person, which we both know she is, she wouldn't do anything to compromise a mission against geth incursions."
Ashley frowned, mulling over Shepard's words. There was truth to them, she had to admit, and she trusted Shepard to know more about the situation than she did, but still…
"I... hadn't thought of it that way," she admitted reluctantly, unwilling to pretend otherwise. "But ma'am, with all due respect, we're talking about the most advanced ship in the Alliance fleet. Security protocols exist for a reason, and we don't even have so much as a standard mercenary contract with either of them."
"It is, we do, and you're right, we don't." Shepard agreed, pushing off from the workbench to stand straight. "And I'm not dismissing your concerns, nor saying that you don't have a point, because you do. But I believe in judging people by their actions, and so far I haven't been any reason to doubt their motivations or their loyalty to the mission."
She paused, studying Ashley's face carefully. "That said, part of your job as my senior non-com is to keep an eye on these things. I'm not asking you to be their best friend, not immedtiately and not because I ordered it, but I am asking you to give them a fair chance to prove themselves. Can you do that?"
"Yes, ma'am," Ashley replied without hesitation, though she still looked troubled. "I just... I worry about you, Commander. About all of us. This mission, whatever we're really walking into out there, it's bigger than just batarian bullshit, finding out what is up with the geth, and stopping Saren, isn't it?"
Shepard's expression grew more serious. "What makes you say that?"
"The Prothean beacon. The visions. And now this Thorian thing, something that predates the Protheans entirely, but it had information that the Warmaster and Saren wanted? It feels like we stumbled into something really, really big, Skipper." she confessed, running a hand through her hair and tugging absently on a few of the strands, a habit from childhood that she had never quite gotten rid of.
"I think you're probably right, especially given what Tali said about these 'Reapers'. But all we can really do is keep following the trail the best we can and see what we find out. So rest up and heal, alright? Because I want you with me for all of it."
Ashley straightened at those words, something warm and fierce settling in her chest, an unrestrained smile creasing her lips. "You've got me, Commander. Whatever we're walking into, I've got your six."
"I know you do." Shepard's smile was equally unrestrained, this time, and Ashley felt that warmth spread a little further. "Get some rest. We'll be at Therum soon enough, and something tells me this won't be as simple as picking up one wayward archaeologist."
As the Commander turned to leave, Ashley called after her. "Skipper? For what it's worth, I think you're handling the best way it could possibly be handled. The crew, the aliens, the mission, all of it. Whatever's coming, we're lucky to have you leading us."
Shepard paused at the doorway, glancing back with something that might have been gratitude in her expression. "Thanks, Ash. That means more than you know."
Then she was gone, heading for the engine room, and as the hatch shut behind her all Ashley could do was turn back to the workbench and let out a deep, slow, heavy breath. Shaking her head and reaching for the weapon pieces she had so hastily discarded, all she could think to herself was that she'd never been happier under someone's command, and more eager to prove herself. Though, she thought with a faint blush, she would need to watch her mouth. The last thing she needed was to annoy her Commander but acting like a flirty girl. Which she wasn't, because she wasn't interested in Shepard that way. Obviously.
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"Hey, Tali. Settling in alright?" Shepard's voice was playful when it suddenly echoed from behind her, and Tali squealed softly as she skittered slightly away from the origin of the sound. Shepard, terrible and mean human that she was, just laughed. Tali huffed and pouted crossing her arms under her breasts -glancing momentarily with no small jealousy at the human's rather larger bust-, but her displeasure only seemed to amuse the Commander more. After a moment, Shepard shook her head, smiling brightly, as she got her amusement under control. "Sorry, Tali, I didn't meant to startle you. Or to laugh, but it was just too cute the way you jumped like that."
"'Cute' is not a word most people use to describe quarians," Tali muttered, but there was no real annoyance in her tone. She uncrossed her arms and turned back to the engineering console she'd been examining, tapping at the readouts she had been studying. "but yes, I'm settling in fine. Your ship is... incredible, Shepard. The drive core alone is worth the trip. It's revolutionary, really. Certainly better than anything the turians have ever created on their own."
Shepard leaned against the railing beside her, watching as Tali's three-fingered hands moved quickly and easily across the interface, her expertise obvious in every keystroke and screen-tap. "Adams says you've already suggested three improvements to our power distribution systems, and an adjustment to our barrier emitters to increase their strength."
"Four, actually," Tali corrected, a hint of pride evident even through her modulator, though she didn't look up from her work. "Your Chief Engineer is brilliant, better than most quarians I know, really, but he thinks like a human. I see different patterns, different possibilities. And my people are used to accomplishing a lot with very little."
"That's exactly why having you aboard is valuable, Tali." Shepard said. "Different perspectives of the same situation fill in blind spots and prevent problems. Or," she shrugged with a smile Tali had come to understand meant wry amusement or sardonicism. "At least make them less likely and less dangerous, since preventing problems really isn't all that possible, if we're going to be honest. They're going to happen no matter what."
"I believe the human phrase is 'preaching to the choir'." Tali quipped just as wryly, and Shepard laughed again, softer this time. It was a beautiful sound, Tali had to admit. Neither rough and low or sharp and high, a simple and perfect middle ground that swept along, and she could feel herself blushing. Ugh, she was so pathetic, getting all hot and bothered over a human woman that she barely knew, no matter who that woman was!
"Yes, that's what you would say. Good choice of idiom." Shepard confirmed, her smile widening. "Though I have to ask, and I need you to be honest with me, but…are you doing alright with the crew? I know it can't be easy being the only quarian aboard."
Tali's hands stilled on the console for a moment before she resumed her work, though with less focus than before. "It's... different. Most of them have never seen a quarian up close before. I can feel them staring sometimes, wondering what I look like under the suit, and not really in a perverted way either, which is nice." She paused, then added quietly, "Though they've been kind enough. Professional and polite."
"But?" Shepard prompted gently, recognizing the hesitation in Tali's voice.
"But I know what they think about us." she sighs, a bit bitterly, shaking her head and flashing an essentially-invisible smile at the older woman. "Dont misunderstand, humanity viewing us as people to help is a nice change from the rest of the galaxy, and I'm terrified that it will change after Eden Prime, make you all hate us like the rest of the galaxy does, but…"
"But you don't like feeling as if people are pitying you?" Shepard's voice was still soft and kind, and Tali exhaled in a sharp, near-snort sound of aggrieved agreement.
"No. No, I really, really don't. It might be better than hate, but that isn't saying much." she confirmed, her gloves creaking slightly as they curled in on themselves for a moment. She looked up a moment later, eyes narrowing and tone growing fiercer. "And I don't want you saying anything to them about it, either! I want them to figure it out for themselves, not because their Captain told them to! If you say anything, they'll never respect me, and I don't think they'll be all that fond of me either. So just let me handle things, alright?"
Shepard raised her hands in a gesture of surrender, though her expression remained understanding, if with a hint of a smile creasing her lips. "Fair enough. You're right, of course. Respect that comes from orders isn't real respect at all." She studied Tali for a moment, then added, "For what it's worth, Adams already thinks you're brilliant. Half the engineering crew is intimidated by how fast you've picked up our systems, the other half thinks you're Gods gift to machines, and all of them wish they had your talents."
"Really?" Tali's voice perked up slightly, though she tried to hide her pleasure at the compliment, and Shepard's smile grew.
"Really, though I wouldn't go around bragging about it, not that I think you're the type. And both Wrex and Ashley mentioned that you did some good work against those Asari clones on Feros. Actions like that speak louder than any words I could give." Shepard's tone grew more serious. "But I want you to know - if anyone gives you trouble, real trouble, you come to me. Not because I pity you, but because you're part of my crew now. I protect my people. And I don't tolerate clique behavior or ostracization on my crew or in my fire-team, either."
"Of course, Commander." Tali acquiesced immediately, and Shepard shook her head.
"Call me Cassandra, or Shepard if you must. You're not part of the Allinace military, and I imagine I won't be either, much past the end of this mission. Somehow I doubt SPECTRE agents are allowed to maintain a rank inside of an individual star-nations command structure." she instructed, shaking her head and stepping away slightly. "Probably compromises that whole 'serving the galaxy as a whole, politically neutral' thing that we're supposed to be aiming for."
Tali nodded, though she couldn't help but wring her hands slightly, the innate submission to a superior officer that was practically bred into Quarians these last few generations. "I... that will take some getting used to, but I understand. Thank you, Shepard." She hesitated, then asked, "Can I ask you something? About what we're walking into on Therum?"
"Of course."
"The reports say it's a mining world, volcanic activity, very dangerous terrain. But if the geth want Liara badly enough to chase her there, a planet that is not friendly to their kind..." Tali's voice trailed off as her hand-wringing intensified. "Will there be too many of them for us to stop?"
"Maybe, but I doubt it. Lia's working in an underground digsite, trying to flood the tunnels with geth would do more harm to their goals than good. We'll probably encounter penny-packets all along the route, things like that, but I doubt there will be more than a few dozen inside the tunnel system itself. We'll have the advantage in an enclosed space, with the number of biotics we have on board. It will be fine." Shepard reassured her promptly, every word honest and full of genuine belief. She smiled and gave Tali's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "I'm looking forward to introducing you and Lia to each other. You actually remind me of her a lot." she added, turning away as Tali grappled with that, before pausing and glancing back at her. "Oh, and make sure you get some sleep before we arrive. Therum is going to be hot, in more way than one, and I don't want you going into it already tired. Last thing I need is for my hacker and tech wizard to pass out on me mid-mission, hmm?"
She was gone before Tali could do more than blurt an agreement, leaving the young Quarian staring after her with an expression that, could anyone else see it, could only be described as dumbstruck. One of her idols, a woman that Tali was mature enough to admit was nothing short of beautiful, and eminently desirable for a number of reasons, had just said that Tali reminded her of her long-time girlfriend and lover.
Tali had no idea how to handle that, but she was pretty sure she was going to need to download that old nerve-stim program of hers for starters…