Tali: Quarian Starlight by Jade Gretz

https://www.deviantart.com/jadegretzai/art/Tali-Quarian-Starlight-1044981248

Tali’Zorah vas Normandy had never seen anything like it.

The cave walls closed in around her like the jaws of a living beast, the air thick with an oppressive humidity that made the visor of her helmet fog up intermittently. Deep below the surface of the unnamed planet, far beyond the reaches of the Normandy’s scanners, something ancient stirred. She could feel it, an unsettling presence that crept into the back of her mind, making the hair on the back of her neck prickle despite her environmental suit’s insulation. The ground trembled ever so slightly beneath her boots, a subtle vibration that reverberated through her bones like the slow beat of a distant drum.

“Tali, you picking up anything?” Shepard’s voice crackled over the comm in her ear, a welcome sound amid the silence of the cave. Commander Shepard stood a few paces ahead, his N7 armor coated in a fine layer of dust from the journey down, his omni-blade glinting in the pale light of the cave’s bio-luminescent fungi.

Tali glanced at her omni-tool, the orange glow casting strange shadows against the jagged rocks. The readouts were erratic, fluctuating wildly, as though whatever lay deeper in the cave was interfering with their systems. It wasn’t the first time she’d encountered such an anomaly, but it didn’t make the situation any less unnerving.

“Nothing concrete, Shepard,” she responded, her voice calm but tinged with a hint of caution. “Just static and interference. I can’t get a clear reading, but whatever it is, it’s powerful.”

Shepard nodded, his eyes scanning the darkened tunnel ahead. “Keep an eye on it. If this thing is what’s been causing the disappearances in this sector, we need to figure out what it is and how to stop it.”

Tali adjusted her shotgun, the weight of the weapon reassuring in her hands. She trusted Shepard, trusted him more than anyone in the galaxy. They had fought Reapers, Geth, and every kind of threat the galaxy had to offer. But this... this was something different. The air tasted wrong.

The deeper they ventured into the cave, the more the sense of dread grew. The bioluminescent fungi, which had initially provided some measure of light, began to thin out, leaving only the glow of their omni-tools to illuminate the way. Strange markings adorned the walls, symbols etched into the stone in a language neither of them recognized.

Tali paused, her hand tracing one of the symbols. “These look ancient,” she murmured, more to herself than to Shepard. “Like they’ve been here for centuries, maybe millennia.”

Shepard crouched beside her, examining the strange glyphs. “Think it’s Prothean?”

Tali shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. It’s… different. Older. And more... primal.”

Before either of them could speculate further, a low rumble echoed through the cave, followed by a sound that made Tali’s blood run cold—a deep, guttural growl, so low it was barely audible but powerful enough to send vibrations through the ground. It was the kind of sound that prey would hear in the last few moments before a predator struck.

Shepard was on his feet in an instant, his weapon drawn and ready. “We’re not alone,” he said, his voice steady but tense.

Tali activated her combat drone, the small, hovering machine buzzing to life beside her, its blue glow casting long shadows against the cave walls. They moved slowly, every step measured, every sound amplified in the oppressive silence.

The growl came again, louder this time, and from much closer.

Then, without warning, the ground beneath them trembled violently. Rocks tumbled from the ceiling, crashing down around them as the entire cave seemed to come alive. Tali stumbled, catching herself just in time as a large boulder smashed into the ground where she had been standing moments before.

“Shepard!” she shouted, her voice laced with urgency.

“I’m on it!” Shepard called back, steadying himself as he fired into the darkness, the flash of his weapon briefly illuminating the monstrous form that lurked just beyond the reach of their lights.

It was massive.

The creature was unlike anything Tali had ever seen, its body a grotesque amalgamation of twisted flesh and mechanical parts, as if it had been pieced together from the corpses of other beings. Its skin, where it wasn’t covered in jagged metal plating, was mottled and sickly, pulsating with a strange, otherworldly energy. Its eyes—if they could even be called eyes—were dark, hollow voids that seemed to a
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