2286

It's been ages since I've written fanfiction. So, I guess I'm giving it another shot. This story has been running through my head for a while and I would like to get it out. This will be tagged as FemShep/Liara, but it's not necessarily a fic about them. I'm tagging it as them because my FemShep romanced Liara, and it will involve them later down the line. It has OCs as it takes place a hundred years after the Reaper War. This is also an after Synthesis fic. Reviews and critiques welcomed. Oh, and most characters owned by BioWare from the Mass Effect trilogy.

Chapter 1

It has been nearly a hundred years since the green light shot from the center of the Citadel and Crucible that ended the great Reaper War. That was the beginning of peace; however, the Reapers hadn't been destroyed as everyone had expected. Instead, the ones that had come to bring the galaxy's its demise turned and began helping rebuild all that they had destroyed. Every organic being had also seemed to be granted new abilities, such as understanding those who came before them. The thing is, peace does not last forever, no matter how much you understand each other. Everyone has their own ways.

Tuchanka, the Krogan home world that had once looked like a desolate wasteland was now rebuilt to what it was before the Krogan destroyed it with war. The Genophage was a thing of the past. The Krogan and their world now flourished, something the rest of the species of the galaxy had thought was impossible. The planet still had its ugly spots and deserts though. No planet was perfect.

An old school Mako was tearing through the sand of the desert as fast as the hunk of junk would go. The tank had obviously seen plenty of battle as it had the scratches and gashes to show for it. The Mako climbed a dune, thankfully it wasn't too steep, and went into the air as it shot over the peak of sand.

"Woohoo!" shouted the human driver as she and her Krogan passenger began falling back to the ground. They landed with a thunk and the suspension creaked. The Krogan next to her grinned, showing his ugly teeth. "Best birthday present ever, Uncle Wrex," she said punching his arm.

"Well, you only turn fifty once, maybe," Wrex said as he unhatched the door, getting out of the tank, "And you need something you can't wreck. You've got the driving skills of a pyjak sniffing red sand. There's only one other person I know who drives worse." Fifty wasn't even close to old anymore. The woman still looked like she was in her twenties. Her dark brown hair was fairly short and messy with her bangs nearly getting in her blue eyes, but she pushed them to the side. Her body was adorned with an N7 armor set. Before, everyone's eyes and veins pulsed with green light, but now they had been able to mask it if they wanted to. The glowing green addition to their bodies had not been cosmetically appealing to most. Some still had allowed it to show on themselves believing it to be a gift from the great Commander Shepard. Most who were not seriously injured during the war were still alive to this day. Apparently the green light expanded everyone's lives to what some people believed eternally. No one had died of old age yet so, no one could pinpoint anyone's expiration date. Organics had a greater understanding in things now, of course, but some things just aren't meant to be knowledge.

She just laughed as she exited the Mako as well and began walking down the side of the tank. "Man, this thing is sweet. Just needs a few repairs, a new paint job, the cannon replaced, and she will tear shit up," the soldier said as she ran her hand over some damage.

"You planning on taking it into battle, Rex," Wrex questioned. No, her real name is not Rex. It's what she goes by and what everyone calls her. It's a nickname she was given when she was just a kid by Urdnot Wrex himself. She and Wrex were close as family. Rex called him her uncle, regardless of what species he was. She was tough as nails like he was and always loved hearing his battle stories.

"Hell yeah," Rex replied, "but do you know what would make me a million times happier?" She gave the Krogan clan chief a sly grin.

Wrex shook his head and waved his hand, already know what she was getting at. "No, Rex. You know I can't let you do that."

"Aw, come on, Wrex. You let Shepard do it," she retorted, getting a groan in return from Wrex.

"Shepard was part of the Krant for Grunt when he took his Rite," he explained, "You aren't Krogan. I can't let you just go in and do the Rite."

"You made Shepard an honorary Krogan before she-" Rex started, but she was cut off before she could finish. The loss of the Commander had weighed heavy on everyone that day.

"She cured the Genophage! She had the Krogan in her hands with the option to cripple us or save us if she wanted!" he shouted, but lowered his voice when Rex held her hands up in defense, "She saved us when she could have destroyed us. Kid, you're still just a runt no matter how old you are. Prove something and maybe. Just because you're N7 and a Spectre like she was doesn't mean anything to the Krogan."

"Noted," she said with a nod before her omnitool lit up, a call coming through. Rex lifted her arm, pushing in a code to answer the call. A hologram came up from the tool showing a quite muscular Alliance officer decked out in dress blues that were tight on his body. "Admiral Vega," she saluted, "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Commander Williams," he saluted back, "I wish I was calling to wish you a happy birthday, but we have a situation. Oh, and drop the formalities."

Rex raised an eyebrow, "Uh, sure. What's up?" She knew James since she was a kid and knew he wasn't all for the formal stuff around people he knew well, but hell, he was still a higher ranking officer. She tried to a least show some respect, especially for those who fought in the war.

"Come to Sol and meet me on the Citadel," he replied, "I'll explain there. Besides we might have to discuss it with the Council, too."

She nodded in compliance, "Sure, no problem. I'll take the next transport out. Is everything ok? This sounds pretty urgent."

"Well, it doesn't sound good. It could be nothing, but at the same time it could be something big. See you on the Citadel. Vega out." James ended the call.

Rex closed her omnitool and looked at Wrex, "Guess I'll finally be seeing some good action soon. Hopefully."

"Hah! You want action, why don't you be a Maw hunter," the Krogan let out a hearty laugh.

"Because I can do that doing the Rite."


After being moved to Earth and nearly being destroyed when the Crucible fired, the Citadel remained above the planet above London specifically. The beam that Shepard jumped through at the end of the war still connected Earth to the Citadel. The giant station was completely restored and the species of the galaxy thought it was only right for it to remain where it was since it played such a big part in ending the war.

Rex stepped off the transport at docking bay D-24. Surprisingly, Vega was already there waiting on her. It was a shock because he was so laid back that he was actually late for meetings on a regular basis. He was such a bad Admiral. "You're on time. It must be bad," she shot him a look.

James had grown a chin strap to make himself look older and more distinguished. He smirked at her, "Maybe. How is General Williams?"

She chuckled before replying, "She was good last time I talked to her. But she would probably kick your ass if she heard you calling her that." Rex's mother had achieved the rank of General, but Ash had hated the sound of the name. It reminded her of the stigma that came with that name from her grandfather. Ashley practically obliterated her family curse when she assisted Shepard in ending the Reapers.

"Huh, thought she was over that by now. Anyways, we got some reports that came in about some mercs causing problems out in the Artemis Tau cluster. At first they were guarding something big, but we don't know what. Then they just left, but left whatever they were protecting just floating in space. We haven't checked it out because we think it might be some elaborate set up."

"So, you want me to go in and hope I don't spring the trap, right," she gave him a look of disappointment.

"Rex, you know what you're doing. You're N7 like me, and a Spectre. You can handle yourself. We don't want to send just anyone into it if it's a trap. We wouldn't send a Spectre if we didn't think it was important."

"I'm so touched," she said with sarcasm seething out, "But if this is an Alliance matter, why do we have to talk to the Council?"

"Well, it's not really an Alliance matter. It's everyone's concern. On top of that, it's not really your mission. It's someone else's and you're going to oversee it," he replied.

"Wait, not my mission? What do you mean?" Rex was really confused now.

"You're going to observe a new Council Spectre. She's an asari and Councilor Tevos asked the Alliance if we could use you considering that this new Spectre doesn't like humans. She thought it would be good for her if she got over her dislike for humans. They just don't want another Saren. They're more focused on having Spectres that represent all species, not just their own."

"Oh, this is gonna go just great," more sarcasm came through as Rex had just became less excited about this mission. She crossed her arms, leaning to her right, tilting her head, "Why did they make her a Spectre if she didn't fit all the qualifications, such as being able to deal with all races."

"Because of her skills. She's not just good. She's damn good," he replied. James went silent for a moment and then let out a small laugh as a thought slipped through his head.

Rex dropped her arms to her side and looked more serious, "What's so damn funny?"

"I was just thinking. My old CO used to tell me about how xenophobic your mother used to be and now you're about to go help an asari get over her xenophobia. It's ironic."

"I'm glad this humors you, Admiral," Rex shook her head.


James and Rex exited the elevator that took them up the Citadel tower, walking into the Council Chambers. They walked to the end of the platform that stood in front of the Councilors. There were five of them now, Human, Turian, Asari, Salarian, and now Krogan. After allying with the Turians, once enemies, and not starting a war over the bomb on Tuchanka proved to the Council that the Krogan were worthy to serve with them. Bakara, Wrex's wife in human terms, took the spot as the Krogan councilor. The Krogan chose her because she gave a new voice for her people and essentially played a huge role in ending the Genophage.

A new human had been after the betrayal and death of Udina. Marshall Nixon was much younger than Udina, but he was a Colonel serving in the Alliance during Reaper War. He stood at six feet and had dirty blonde hair in a military cut. He had a long service record, but his commanding officers had always known him to be the one to solve matters peacefully which is how his name came up for recommendation when choosing a new human councilor.

An asari decked out in the newest blue armor set designed by Rosenkov was standing on the platform, waiting on the two Alliance officers with her arms crossed. The pigmentation of her skin was steel blue and her eyes were a midnight blue. She had eyebrow markings as well as red facial marking tattoos that outlined her eye sockets with a thin line along with two lines that ran down both cheeks. James thought that they reminded him of Shepard's facial scars.

"I assume this is who is to oversee my operations," the asari said, already visibly annoyed that it would be an Alliance soldier coming to babysit her.

"Yes, this is Commander Alex Williams," Councilor Tevos replied, "She will be there to make sure everything goes smoothly."

Rex walked up to her and held her hand out to shake, "Hi. My name is Alex, but everyone calls me Rex. I would prefer it if you did as well, or just Williams."

The asari looked down at her hand and then back up at the human as she was much shorter. She narrowed her eyes before she spoke, "Kota. That's all you may call me. I know what I'm doing, so just stay out of my way and things will go as they are supposed to." Kota didn't bother shaking her hand. She just passed by the two humans, exiting the chambers.

"That went well," James said as he watched her leave. Rex was utterly shocked at the rudeness of the woman that it took her a moment to put her hand back by her side.

"This is going to be just so frickin fun," Rex said with a frown. She wanted to be more explicit with her language.

"I apologize for that, Commander," Tevos began, "This is why we have asked that you go with her. She has many strong beliefs in humans. You are the only human Spectre with no mission or operations at the moment. Hopefully, you will be able to get her to see things differently."

"After the humans defeated the Reapers, it's still hard to believe there are those out there who still hate us," Nixon chimed in. He may have had the ability to resolve things peacefully, but he still had strong beliefs about others himself.

"We all defeated them together, Nixon," Bakara interjected, "Not just the humans."

"Yes, let us not forget that," Valern said in agreement as Sparatus just shook his head, not saying anything.

"The Reapers have not been the purpose of any of our meetings for decades and they are not the purpose of this one right now," said Tevos as she had to get everyone back on topic, as usual, "Commander Williams, we will expect you to report back her as soon as the mission has been completed."

Rex nodded to the asari councilor, "Yes ma'am. I'll make sure she does her job." With that, Rex and James turned and exited the chambers. She already knew it was going to be a rough next couple of days having to work with someone who already didn't get along with her.

That's it for now. Will hopefully have more up soon. Let me know what your thoughts are!