Beauty Behind the Mask: Tali x Male Reader

Chapter 14: Noveria Part 4

"Getting a little hot over here!" Garrus calls as you hear him let off wild bursts from this assault rifle. "Little help Tali!" The quarian hacks into the geth troopers near Garrus, allowing him to easily dispose of them as you combat the geth destroyer. A shockwave takes down a shock trooper and two normal geth with a final sniper round taking down a geth marksman.

"Useless machines." Benezia growls. "I will just do this myself." Her shields drop and a loose crate is sent flying towards you. You dive to the side behind another crate, that of which is lifted into the air and smashed down on top of you.

"Any ideas?" You groan as you push yourself up and dive to the side behind a hopefully stable piece of cover.

"We are going to need you to crack her biotic shield." Tali says. "From there Garrus should be able to get a clean shot."

"Charge in and crack her shield. Distract her and I will take the shot." Garrus calls.

"I hate being the only biotic sometimes." You sigh before taking off. A pressurized container is thrown at you, but you charge through it and the following explosion. "Garrus now!" You lower your shoulder and rise up at the last moment, sending the matriarch up into the air. A crack rings out before the room falls silent, followed by the thud of the asari landing.

"Is she dead?" Tali asks. You step over to her and see that Garrus's shot hit her in the should, not an instantly fatal wound.

"Not yet." He eyes flash open and you draw your pistol.

"Wait. No not yet." She says softly. "Allow me to speak." You keep your pistol drawn, but nod for her to continue as Garrus and Tali join by your side. "Saren is not the real threat. Both him and I have been indoctrinated by Sovereign."

"How are you telling us this then?" Garrus asks.

"I have been able to seal away a part of my mind away from Sovereign. Now that these are my final moments I can speak freely knowing that it will all be over soon." She whispers out. "We are merely puppets to a greater being."

"What were you doing here then? What is so valuable here?" You ask.

"The rachni, a near lost species. I was sent here to recover the Mu Relay location from this Rachni Queen." She responds. "Saren wishes to use the rachni to advance his army's strength and help him on his quest."

"He plans to indoctrinate them...did he get the coordinates?" Tali asks. The queen looks up at the ceiling blankly, a single tear coming from her eyes.

"All I can do now is give them to you. I...used my biotics to force them out of the memory of the queen." She says softly. "It was...horrible...watching someone use my hands to torture and murder."

"It is alright." You respond softly. "Can you please get us the coordinates."

"They are being stored on the drive of that console." She responds. "The fate of the queen...and the rachni are in your hands now." The room goes silent for a moment until she speaks again. "I know that you all are looking for my daughter Liara. Tell her that I am proud of her." The matriarch whispers out. She breaths deeply and exhales in pain, both as she succumbs to the bullet wound and as her mind breaks. "The light...they lied about there being a light." A glaze comes over her eyes as her body goes limp.

"She's gone." Garrus says.

"I cannot imagine being controlled like that." Tali says softly as a shuffling can be heard from behind you.

"We got a live one." Garrus says as you turn to see one of the Asari commandos riding from the ground.

"It seems that my fate is in your hands now." The asari says.