Paying the Price

Not sure how i feel about this chapter sadly. On one hand, i had a lot more planned, but at the same time it felt like overkill to dwell on Tali fate any longer then i already had.

Regardless, i have plenty more planned. Hope you all enjoy :)

Paying the Price

Chapter Three
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The squad was silent for the next few minutes as Melina continued to grip Tali's hand tightly and plead with her not to die. It was futile, but she refused to let go and no one was game enough to approach and try to pull her away.

The only one that had dared move closer had been Mordin, and that was only because he was determined to try and help. Sadly even his medical knowledge wasn't going to help save the qurian. Once he'd confirmed this, he and the others, save Garrus had retreated to a safe distance and did their best to busy themselves.

The sniper had kept close by, he'd known Tali as long as the commander, and seeing her slowing fading away was no easier on him then it was on her, though he was better at hiding it then Shepard.

Melina ignored the murmured conversations behind her, tuned out the frantic shouting that soon followed as the squad discovered they'd somehow stumbled across the crew and desperately tried to break them out of the strange, cocoon-like holding cells. Even after they'd saved the crew and were ensuring everyone was alive and well, Shepard was still clinging tightly to her friend.

She knew it was too late. Despite everything, Tali had stopped breathing several minutes ago. And even another jolt of medi-gel had done nothing. "I'm sorry…" She whispered, her voice cracking as another wave of tears blurred her vision and started to trail down her cheeks. "Should never have brought you here…" This was all her fault, she'd asked Tali to come, hell she'd more or less dragged her along. And look where she was now.

What had first looked bad, had proven even worse when Mordin had joined her. He'd been able to scan her body with his omni-tool and revealed that beyond the damages to her suit, beneath wasn't much better.

Obviously the rocket had hit almost directly, as Tali had several broken ribs, internal organs were damaged, and Mordin had speculated that she likely had blood flooding her lungs, better she die quickly, then suffer slowly as she would if they tried to save her. Nothing they did at this point would have prevented the inevitable.

So she'd let her go. Melina had simply stopped trying to help and simply held her hand while the qurian's life faded away. She couldn't help but replay the memories she'd held dear as each second ticked by.

Shepard's hand slowly closed into a fist as she reluctantly released the qurian's hand and shakily stood. After taking a deep breath, she tugged her helmet off and wiped the tears from her face. This was the first time she'd broken down in front of anyone. She hated showing emotions like this in front of others, a sign of weakness she always considered it.

Even when she'd been forced to leave Ashley behind on Virmire, she'd kept an iron resolve until they'd returned to the Normandy, only then; once she was safely locked away in her quarters did she let her grief out.

Here though, it had happened so fast, so suddenly, she didn't have the chance to put on the mask and pretend she was fine. Gritting her teeth slightly, she decided to simply push on; this was the price she'd have to pay. They all knew it was a suicide mission, she just didn't expect it to happen so swiftly, or to someone she cared so greatly about.

Turning to face the squad, she was only briefly surprised to note they'd almost tripled in number, the Normandy's crew among them as well as a few of the surviving colonists.

Great, now she felt even worse about her breakdown, everyone had seen it…

Shaking the thought off, she took another deep steadying breath, and tucked her helmet under one arm. Refusing to even glance over her shoulder, she approached the squad and tried to veil her sorrow behind a mask of authority. Regardless of what happened, she was still in charge.

She managed to force a smile as several familiar faces appeared out of the group, though it was short lived. This would present a problem. "We can't take the crew with us." She sighed after a moment, the realization setting in. "No offense, but you'll slow us down to much, and we don't have enough guns to go around."

"Commander, we have enough systems back online to do a pickup…However we'll have to land a ways back from you're current position." Melina hesitated for a moment, her thoughts only briefly being interrupted by Miranda complaining they couldn't turn back.

"We can't go back now, but you'll never make it through alone." She nodded towards Thane. "Go with them; make sure they get back safely." The drell nodded, and was in the process of relaying orders, when Shepard grabbed his arm and pulled him aside.

"Take Tali with you." She said quietly. "I know she's…Gone. But I can't just, leave her here." Thane hesitated for a few moments, before agreeing.

"Thank you." Shepard spared Tali's body one final glance, before turning away and focusing on the squad once again. "Joker, can you get a fix on our current location?" the crew had mentioned the tubes that hung overhead, and their grisly purpose.

"All those tubes lead into a control room above you…The main route is blocked by a security door, but there's another path that goes around it."

"I cannot recommend that way. It's overrun with seeker swarms, Mordins countermeasure won't work against so many." EDI pitched in, dashing the plan before they even started.

"There's got to be a way through them…" Melina's eyes darted about for a moment, before settling on Samara. "What about biotics? Could we create a field to keep them away from us?"

"Yes, but I wouldn't be able to protect everyone." Shepard nodded slightly; even a small chance was better then nothing.

"I could do it too…Theoretically any biotic could." Miranda chipped in, resulting in a sigh from both the commander, and Jack. She was always so damned eager to jump in and take charge, it was getting on both of their nerves.

"Samara and I will lead a small team through the swarm…The rest of you will form a diversion and hit the front door." Melina stated after a moment, though that led to another problem. Who'd lead the second team?

She spared the group a glance, picking out the potential candidates. Jack was no good, she wasn't much of a leader. Miranda had leadership talents, but quite frankly a good percent of the crew didn't trust her, and likely would disobey just to get her back up.

Garrus was a possibility, but something told her otherwise, she wanted him at her side this time. Maybe it was Tali's death making her panic, the thought of losing another friend in this mess…

"Jacob, you'll lead the diversion." She finally stated, and surprisingly, no one argued. He wasn't much better then Miranda, being Cerberus and all, but at the same time, he'd proven himself to the rest of the crew, she knew he wouldn't let them down.

A swift salute and reassurance followed her announcement. And Shepard smiled slightly as she glanced about the group. She would have preferred to go alone, not risk anyone else with the seekers, but that was impossible. "Mordin, Garrus, you two will be with me and Samara. The rest will go with Jacob. Clear?" Everyone nodded.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Thane carefully scooping up Tali's body, she hastily shifted her gaze away; no one spoke for the moment.

"Let's go!" Shepard called out once she'd composed herself. And a moment later the two teams split up and started towards their respective path.

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Call my crazy...But that was NOT easy to write :( Tali is my favorite character in Mass Effect, well tied for first with Liara...And it was quite heart wrenching to knock her off like that.