If you'd've asked me ten years ago what I'd be up to right about now, I probably would've said 'playing Shattered Eezo' or huffing Creeper. It certainly wouldn't be scouring the galaxy, looking for a VIP with ties to probably the most famous human in, well, human history. Nor would I have guessed that I'd be embroiled in a Salarian Civil War, facing down a pissed-off Krogan, nor getting my sorry ass stuck in the middle of a yahg uprising. And that's not even mentioning-
Sorry. I should back up a little.
My name is Adrian Iwata.
I was born on the planet of Asteria, in the Hekate System of the Hades Nexus. It's a nice planet, all things considered, and has a sizable human population in addition to a fair amount of Asari colonies.
Oh, wait. Did I say it was a nice planet? I take that back. Our colonies were situated on the poles, to avoid the massive deserts and oceans that smell like rotting eggs. Carbon dioxide levels are high, so everyone carries around oxygen masks at all times, and temperatures are 25 degrees Celsius on a good day.
Asteria is an agrarian planet. Yep, you heard that right. The shit-smelling pisshole that I called home was an agrarian planet. Hell, if it had eezo deposits or something, it'd almost be worth it.
But no.
The closest thing we got to excitement on Asteria was a new model of farming VI or harvesting equipment.
And don't ask me why the Asari decided to settle on Asteria. Yes, I've been around Asari for most of my life, and no, I can't decide why they picked a planet that smells like a damp fart to live on. Let me tell you, I've seen Thessia a few times, and I still have no idea.
Anyways.
I was born in 2180; three years before the Eden Prime incident and six years before the Reaper war. Mom was an Agrarian Geospacial Technician and Dad was a trucker, which meant that when the Reapers hit, we were more or less stuck between a rock and a hard place.
The Reapers hit us hard, but not as bad as a lot of places. From what I heard in middle school, we only got two or three of the big Reapers, but a shit-ton of the husks and those turian thingies. I don't remember a lot from those days. From what my mother told me when I was older, she was travelling with me and a group of refugees from our town towards Blackdamp, where the Asari and Alliance had deployed troops. Supposedly we had been saved by some Asari commandos, but I never really had any recollection of that. I know that Dad died.
I do kind of remember when the Normandy came to Asteria, though.
Yeah, that's right. Around three or four months into the war, the SSV Normandy itself came into orbit to retrieve the SSV Hong Kong, which was in dry dock in the capital. That was the day. All the kids and grown ups, all cramped in the back of a prefab shelter, were glued to their omni-tools, hoping to catch a glimpse of the famous Commander Shepard or her crew mates. Unfortunately, they never got off their ship, which was a shame. Some of the Asari/Human kids wanted to catch a glimpse of Liara T'Soni or Samara the Justicar.
For what it's worth, I wanted to see Lt. Vega, the hero of Fehl Prime, but we all went home disappointed.
Eventually, from what I've pieced together, my mom and I managed to survive (somehow) long enough for the Battle of Earth to take place.
Growing up, I never really had a clear idea of what I wanted to do. I always liked writing (as I'm sure you'll be able to piece together by the end of this damned thing), and (at least thought) I was fairly good at it, but there wasn't a whole lot of prospects on Ass-teria for writers. When I ended up leaving for university, I decided on enlisting. I figured that the Alliance was a solid career choice for someone from a backwater like Asteria, and the story of Asari Commandos saving my mother and I when I was six had inspired some stupid sentiment in me or something. So, that's how I ended up going into ROTP during college.
Oh, and also, my stupid, stupid, stupid self figured that doing a stint in the Alliance would give me some good experiences to write about. Not like that worked out for me.
It was, at least initially, more for practicality than anything else, but I actually enjoyed it. High School had been a time of uncertainty, awkward flirting, and isolation, so military life more or less forced me into a more... direct lifestyle.
Not that it did me much good in the end, but I digress.
After ROTP, I decided, like the dumb-ass I am, to go for a career in the military, at least for a while. I was, for whatever reason, tapped to try out for an N7 qualification. Apparently I was a fairly good shot, and my training officer in ROTP figured I could do a good enough job (and she had been an asari commando, sooo…) so I gave it a shot.
I got as far as a N6 qualification (believe it or not), but I screwed an op up badly, so I didn't move on in the program and was assigned to a security officer's position on the SSV Antietam, which was on the vital assignment of patrolling the Attican Traverse.
So much for 'conquering your destiny', eh?
So, who am I?
Well, I'm an asshole who's not extremely talented, got in over his head, and knows it, too (which is extra bad). And I'm the asshole who ended up getting caught in the middle of the biggest shitstorm ever seen since the Reaper war.
So, if that interests you, keep reading. If not, I couldn't give a damn.
