*ALLIANCE SUPPLY STATION GOLGI*
IN ORBIT ABOVE
JOAB, ENOCH SYSTEM
ROSETTA NEBULA
In orbit above the planet Joab, the Normandy and the Indomitable docked with Golgi, the Alliance supply station/fuel depot. Both ships by this point were in dire need of a refuel, and we could always stand to take on some more supplies. I know Shepard had pulled her Spectre/Alliance rank to get her supplies, and I had used my contacts to at least get us an "ally" discount from the local requisition officer.
Meanwhile, I had ordered the crew to use the opportunity to get some much needed down-time. We had made our way to the giant Upper Cargo hold that the crew of the station had converted into a gym. It was a little make-shift, but it was sufficient for our purposes. I immediately put Reyna and Kolyat in the ring, making them spar against one another. It was interesting, watching two pupils with perfect recall memories squaring off against one another.
"No, no, Reyna, get your hands up!" I coached from the corner. "Kolyat, stop dancing! All that footwork is only going to tire you out before she throws the first punch. Deliberate, remember: deliberate movements!"
Turro had found a bench and I saw him setting the pieces of his Hak'kam down, along with all four of the weapons he had commandeered on Korlus: an Avenger, a Vindicator, and two Mattock-style assault rifles. He was in the process of disassembling all five weapons simultaneously, using the hundreds of prehensile feathers that covered each wing.
It was like having two hands with thousands of fingers, I thought, glancing over.
Basher and Jane were in another corner, just sitting and watching Reyna and Kolyat train. Basher had removed his armor, and it was remarkable how much he looked like Grunt. I mean, there was no danger of mistaking him for Grunt of course: Grunt had a darkness and a burning anger behind his eyes and permanently embedded into his expression. Basher had a generally pleasant, almost blissful expression beneath his unfused headplate. He had taken black oil and drawn a line across his face at eye level, reminding me of Native American warpaint. However, this did little to make him intimidating, beneath that relaxed, pleasant smile he had plastered across his face.
Oh my God, he's like a giant Drot.
Makes sense, I guess: he's about the same age mentally: with the brain of about a 10 or 12 year-old.
Jane had taken half of her Omni-Bar and handed it to the giant krogan, who nodded thankfully, then proceeded to take the same sized bites as she did. Which, on a giant krogan, looked incredibly dainty.
A sharp clack brought my attention to the far corner of the room. Javik, Morinth, and Kai Leng were standing together, and Javik had a practice sword in hand, demonstrating some kind of Prothean vibro-blade technique.
I took in the sight, smiling internally to myself.
Not a bad start.
The door opened, and in strode several members of the Normandy's crew. Garrus was in the lead, in some kind of discussion with Zaeed and Liara.
"Hey, strangers!" I called out from the side of the ring. I turned back to my two pupils in the ring. "OK, you two, take five, and put on the light gloves. We'll work on grappling next." I was rewarded with groans of agonized anticipation at the prospect as I walked over and received a hug from Liara.
"Decided to come slum it with the rest of us, huh?" I asked. "Shepard and the rest of them make it off ok?"
"They made it ok," Garrus answered, offering me his hand, which I shook. "They took the Kodiak. It's just a milk-run hop."
While both ships were refueling, Shepard had taken Jacob, Grunt, Mordin, and Miranda with her in one of the Kodiaks to the neighboring system to track down the Hugo Gernsback emergency signal.
I had to bite back telling them what they were going to find, but that was for Jacob to discover, not for me to tell.
You may find more than you wished to know, Jacob Taylor. The Father and Mother be with thee.
"I haven't seen Kasumi since they left," Liara said, "I think she is either hiding somewhere on the station, or she may have smuggled herself along for the ride to Alpha Draconis."
"That's not surprising," Zaeed said, shaking my hand as well as his head. "I think that little minx wants us all guessing at where she is at all times..."
"Is…is that… Jane?" Liara asked, gesturing to the two clones sitting beside each other. I nodded in reply. "I'm going to go introduce myself." She gave me a questioning look, almost as if the sentence was a question rather than a statement.
"I think that's a good idea," I replied, "But remember, Liara: she is her own person. She is not Rebecca..."
The Shadow Broker smiled and nodded at me, then walked over to join the peanut gallery.
BROTHER! A moment?"Javik Mind-Shared from the other side of the room. My eyes turned white as I replied in the affirmative.
"Zaeed? Can you show the kids some pointers in hand-to-hand?" I asked. "Javik needs me for something."
"Figured that when your eyes went all pearly," Zaeed said in that brilliantly gruff voice of his. "OK, kids," he said, climbing into the ring, to the wide-eyed expressions of the two pupils, "You're going to attack me. And I'm gonna stop you…"
"Is that that giant bow of Turro's?" Garrus asked me, gesturing to the giant avian sitting at the bench.
"I think he's trying to repair it," I answered. "Jedore broke it on Korlus, and so he…broke her."
"I'm gonna take a look," Garrus said, starting to walk towards the Raloian, "Been wanting to see that thing since Omega…"
I smiled again contently as I looked around the room, seeing both crews integrating and interacting so seamlessly. Two loud thuds were heard as Zaeed sent both of my pupils to the mat hard.
"All the fancy shit ain't going to get the job done in the field, kiddos," Zaeed was saying. "Close the distance, and put them down…"
I joined the three swordsmen on the far side of the room. Morinth and Kai were squaring off, practice swords in hand. They were essentially steel rods, perfectly weighted to mimic a sword, minus the sharp edge. But still painful to get hit with.
Needed another pair of eyes to judge the human's competence, Javik silently Shared with me. So far, I have seen more stealth than actual skill from this one.
I sent a pulse of assent as I sat down to watch. The sparring pair had stripped down to the waist, with Morinth (thankfully) keeping her sports bra on. Kai's physique was impressive, and the surgical scars running along his sides and arms bespoke of some of the surgical implants he had so far.
Looks like Generation 2 Bone and Skin Weaves…
Probably some cybernetic implants, as well.
Morinth sprang forward, sending a blindly furious series of thrusts. Kai blocked left, spinning right at the same time, his sword arcing in a slash at neck level. Using her forward momentum, Morinth dropped to her knees, sliding forward under Leng's swing, rising again behind him to the attack.
And so the bout went, with Leng dodging and redirecting most of Morinth's attacks, and Morinth charging forward with barely contained shouts of fury. Leng ducked under another of her swipes, then suddenly hooked his sword beneath her ankle, knocking the asari off-balance. As she went down on one knee, the practice sword came up to pause at her throat. Morinth grimaced at her defeat, and at the smug grin Kai Leng had on his face.
"Good fight, Leng," she admitted, taking the hand he offered her. "Nearly had you there a few times."
"Nearly," the assassin admitted, grinning widely. "But not quite."
"You call that a fight?" Javik said from his observation post.
"I look and see two brats beating each other to death with their nursery toys: A complete and utter disgrace. In my cycle, you would not have been fit to sharpen the blades you wield in a blade-smith's shop! Your strategies were childish, your footwork was sloppy at best, and your form was disgusting to say the least. In short, you both have a better chance of battling colds then you do any real enemies!"
The anger from the asari and the human was palpable, but they made no reply. Javik looked back and forth between then, then huffed dismissively.
"I see by your eyes you remain unconvinced of your total ineptitude. Very well: prove my words wrong, primitives!"
Javik went to a nearby crate and picked up a practice sword.
"On Guard!"
Kai and Morinth took a ready stance, swords at the ready. Javik only stood and waited on the other side of the make-shift ring, making no movement, his arms hanging limply at his sides.
Kai moved in quickly, swinging in a wide arc. Javik moved his head ever so slightly, letting the blade brush just beneath his chin, then, in blinding quickness, brought his sword up to Kai's chin with a CRACK, then down onto the top of his head. Kai's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he went down like a bag of sand. All of this happened in less than the time it took to even think about it. Morinth now stood, sword in hand, warily circling the Avatar of Vengeance…
"Come on, asari, I don't have all day."
Morinth gripped the sword tighter. Then Kai's sword suddenly glowed brilliant blue and floated into her free hand.
"Come on, child! Or are your swords as dumb as YOU?"
Morinth whirled to the attack, jumping off the wall to get the high ground advantage. She was ready for the counter-thrust Javik threw at her, and the myriad of sword-tricks and feints that followed. On and on the bout went, from one side of the ring to the other, her dual blades versus his single one. Javik kept attempting to press her, draw her, or trap her in a corner, but I could tell Morinth had fought too many times for that. She rolled and she dodged, but still held her ground. Then, as she rolled under his swing, Javik pivoted on his heel.
He's off balance, I thought, not much, but maybe, just maybe, enough. If she can recognize it…
Sure enough, Morinth shot out a foot, and with a grunt, Javik went down to one knee. She rolled up onto her feet behind him and placed one of her blades to the back of his neck.
"Yield, Prothean."
She was smiling and panting hard, exalting in her victory.
Javik shook his head.
"Asari, you are blind as well as stupid. Why should I yield to the dead?"
Morinth looked down slowly and then we both saw what he meant. Falling to one knee, Javik had executed a perfect reverse-thrust even as she was rolling to her feet. The point of his practice sword rested against her stomach.
He had beaten her.
She took her sword off Javik's neck and took a kneeling position, sword to her chest in the time-honored salute. Her face burned bright blue with both exertion and shame, but she spoke the hard and bitter words of a Prothean war-school pupil:
"Cry pardon, teacher. Thank you for your instruction."
Javik got to his feet and turned to face her. He was smiling, or as close as Javik ever got to smiling.
"Well then… maybe not so blind."
He returned the salute, and then tossed his practice sword to the side.
"Pour some water over that idiot," he said, gesturing to Kai in the corner, who was just regaining consciousness. With a THUMP, Basher jumped off a nearby crate, then walked over to the concussed human. Looking around, I saw we had drawn quite the crowd: with the exception of Zaeed teaching the two pupils, every eyes had been trained on the sword-fight.
"Easy, friend. Mr. Javik hit you hard on the head," the krogan said, reaching a hand out to help Kai up and tapping his own head with the other hand. Kai grimaced at the realization of what had happened, but took the offered hand and slowly got to his feet.
"So Javik," Jane called out, still sitting up in the improvised bleachers with Liara, "Who's the better fighter: You or Ko'le?"
The Avatar of Vengeance simply looked up at her with a deadpan expression.
"That, Miss Jane, is a question that was answered long ago."
"To be fair, I was little more than a boy then," I said, smiling. "And you were already a general."
"Then that is your answer, Seneschal," Javik said, his face betraying nothing, but there was a flicker of amusement in his eyes.
"Oooooh," Jane said, holding up a hand in mock shock, while Liara chuckled next to her. "That sounds like a challenge to me, Ko'le…"
"In our cycle, challenges were fights to the death to either put down ambitious underlings or replace inept battlefield commanders," Javik explained to Jane. "As neither I nor the seneschal fit either of those descriptions, the comparison is foundationless."
"Call it a training exercise then, General," I said, taking a practice blade that Morinth was already handing to me. "Unless, then, this last bout was too much for your old bones, Kubwa?"
With a Mind-Share of playful resentment at the Prothean word for "Grandpa," Javik opened a hand, and his discarded practice sword flew across the room in a brilliant display of Prothean biotics.
"Kuja juu, Mtoto," he said slowly, a ghost of a smile crossing his lips.
Come on, little boy.
I hefted the practice blade in my hand a few times, to get a proper feel for the balance.
Half gram heavy on the back end…
It's been so long since I last fought Javik. Last time was…
"OH MY GOD!" Reyna called from across the room. We all turned to see a vorcha entering the room, a duffle bag slung across his shoulder.
"PYKE!"
Everyone in the room either stood to acknowledge the vorcha Sergeant-Major or rushed to his side to deliver hugs, handshakes, or salutes. As I walked forward to join the crowd, Pyke Morrell drew himself up to full attention, and gave a proud salute.
"Umm…Pyke?" Kolyat said hesitantly.
"Sah?"
"Your hand..."
"What of it?"
"You didn't have one, last time I looked," the young drell said. "Prosthetic?"
"Stuff and nonsense, young pup," Pyke said with an offended huff. "Not the first jerker I've grown back, and expect it shan't be the last, either."
The hand in question was smaller than his left, I noticed, and had much less muscle tone, but a fully functional right hand it remained.
"Bloody vorcha," Zaeed chuckled, shaking his head.
"It's good to have you back, Sergeant-Major," I said, returning the salute. "Though I confess, I did not look to see you back with us so quickly."
"Nonsense, sirrah," Pyke said good-naturedly, "A week in a Medi-Gel Tank, and the stump is as good as new. From what I've read in the reports, I've apparently missed a hellova tussle on Korlus. Couldn't bear to miss another scrap, sah, not when eternal glory is on the line."
A throaty chuckle escaped Turro. "I have missed your company, Morrell-sho."
"Same here, sah," Pyke said, nodding cordially at the big Raloi, "All of you."
As everyone else was exchanging either greetings or introductions, something in the corner of my eye caught my attention: Clad all in black, Jack had entered the room unnoticed and was now leaning against the wall by the door, arms crossed and eyes glaring.
Directly at me…
Well, I thought, here goes nothing.
I strode over, slowly, the analogy of approaching a wild dog or skittish horse not escaping me. Jack didn't move, but I could see her muscles tensing as I approached.
"Jack," I said simply, nodding my head.
"So, you're the big shit around here," Jack answered, looking me up and down. "You don't look like much."
"Appearances can be deceiving," I replied. "I'm surprised to see you here. Pleasantly so, but surprised."
"What, you just assumed I'm the loner who can't handle herself around people?" Jack retorted. "I can be fucking charming when I want to be."
"No doubt," I said, giving her my best disarming smile. "Shepard gave you access to the database?"
The look on Jack's face seemed to indicate that my smile hadn't worked.
"Yeah, and I have fuck-all to show for it," Jack said. "All I could find was a few reports about something called Project Teltin, along with a few medical reports about me when I was a kid. But no names, locations, and nothing about Cardo, or any of the other motherfuckers who ran the facility!"
Her hands were balled into fists now, and she was radiating anger and frustration.
"Take a walk with me," I said, walking past her and out the door onto the Promenade. Jack didn't move. I looked back, and shrugged.
"Or we can have this conversation in front of everybody," I said, and continued walking down the Promenade.
I didn't hear anything for a second, then Jack caught up to me, and I could sense her anger slowly shifting to irritation.
"Fuck, you gonna buy me flowers too?" she muttered, but continued to walk next to me.
"Better," I said, and powered on my Omni-tool, and sent her a collection of files.
"Helios Medical Facility, Constant, Eden Prime, year 2165," I narrated, as Jack brought up the first file. "Samuel and Rosalind Hill brought their four-year old daughter Jennifer in for a routine checkup. Objects in her nursery had begun glowing blue, or floating. Biotics were still a fairly new thing back then, and everyone was worried about the effects of Element Zero exposure to infants. According to official records, Jennifer Hill experienced a sudden attack of unstable, complex tachycardia and was declared dead at the hospital. Her body was given by her parents for study, to prevent this kind of tragedy from happening to other parents."
"Fucking…bastards…" Jack said under her breath, as she read the official report.
"Unofficially, the little girl was swapped with a fake body, and delivered to a Cerberus facility on Pragia, in the Dakka System of the Nubian Expanse," I continued, another file coming up on Jack's Omni-tool. "Under the supervision of one Dr. Sullivan Cardo, she was tested and classified as Subject Zero, the first test subject of the Teltin Biotics Project."
Jack just stared at the file, having long since stopped walking. She was leaning against the transpara-steel wall, slowly sinking down to a sitting position. I stood over her for a moment, then slowly sat down beside her. There was another long silence, as she switched back and forth between the various reports.
"Jennifer," I said finally. "That's your real name."
"Fuck her," Jack said, the bitter words said through clenched teeth. "That kid died a long fucking time ago. She was sweet, she was good, and she was innocent. And I'm…I'm… fuck!"
She shut down her Omni-Tool and stared straight ahead for a moment.
"That name means nothing to me. Just another thing on the list of shit that Cerberus took from me…"
"Perhaps it means nothing to you," I conceded, "But I can think of at least three people to whom it means a great deal."
Jack looked over at me, eyebrow raised, but said nothing.
"The Hills still live on Eden Prime, along with their teenage son, Brandon," I continued. "And every year, they go to the cemetery and leave fresh flowers on Jennifer's grave."
"BULLSHIT," Jack said, standing to her feet. "FUCK you, and Fuck your Cerberus friends too!"
She turned and began storming down the hallway.
"I killed them, Jack!" I called out after her.
That stopped her, and she whirled around, confused bewilderment in her eyes.
"My 'Cerberus friends'," I explained, "I tracked them down and purged them all. I took this blade," I said, taking out the weapon from my back, "and ran it through the Illusive Man's fucking heart."
"Congrata-fuck-you-lations," Jack retorted, "What the hell do you want, a cookie?"
"Then I took these hands," I continued, showing them to her, "And I tracked down every xenophobic, blood-thirsty motherfucker in the organization. I hunted them down, one by one, and I exterminated them, like the parasites they were. I took them for every credit and unit they had: every ship, every facility, and every solider. And I have only sought to put this galaxy right ever since. That 'C' on the side of the Normandy, and on the uniforms of my soldiers, now stands for something I can be proud of. Not for an organization that takes children from their parents and turns them into fucking weapons."
Jack just stood there for a moment, staring at me. Then she turned away, one hand flipping me off as she turned the corner, heading back towards the Normandy. I stood and watched her go.
Fuck. Well, that didn't turn out as good as I had hoped.
To be fair, it didn't turn out as bad as I had feared, either. All the bulkheads are still intact.
She's just angry. She needs time to process this.
She seeks an enemy to kill...
And what happens when she finds one?
Mother save that poor bastard, because I sure as hell won't.
I turned back into the gym to rejoin my team-mates.
*FREEDOM'S PROGRESS*
CANTON, FRONTIER SYSTEM
OLYMPIAN NEBULA
"This. Is. Bullshit!" Mason exclaimed in the pre-fab pod that now acted as Delta Squad's common area. "We finally get off that SHITHOLE on Fehl Prime, and what do they do us!? They take away the best commanding officer in the whole damn Alliance!"
"It's not that bad, sweetheart," Kamille, the team's assault specialist (and Mason's significant other) answered. "If that round had been a centimeter to the right, it would have gone through Captain Toni's spine. He needs intensive rehab: the kind he can only get on Arcturus or Earth. Frankly, I'm surprised he held off the medical transfer this long."
"He does need this, Mason," Nicky said, while he was working on the temperature control unit in the corner. Being the team's tech expert had turned into being the team's "general fix-it handyman." But it was a job he had taken without complaint.
"It's not just about Toni, kid," Milque spoke up from the couch, the sniper flipping through Holo-channels. "It's what this all represents."
"What do you mean?" Essex wondered, his biotic concentration broken for a moment, if the weights' wavering were any indication.
"He means," Mason groaned, "that now the brass wants to break Delta Squad apart. First Captain Toni, then who knows what's next? We know the Captain recommended Vega for N7 training: how long before he gets shipped off?"
"We all recommended the LT for the Villa," Kamille replied. "You can't blame the brass for that."
"Meanwhile," Mason continued, ignoring his girlfriend's sound logic, "We're stuck here with some pimply-faced teenager LT fresh out of the fuckin' ACADEMY, along with a kiss-ass 2nd LT to wipe his boots for him. Mark my words, gang: this is it for us…"
"Stow that shit, Mason," came a Latino voice from the door. Everyone whirled to see James Vega, the squad's second-in-command, enter the room, towel over his shoulder. "Dios mio, do you ever stop complaining?"
He walked over to the weight rack, Essex moving aside for him. He picked up the rack that the biotic had been lifting and began bench-pressing.
"Look at this place, hermanos: we've got a work-out room, an actual ciudad where we can get good food for once, and the prospect of doing nothing but training colonists to shoot for the next six weeks. What could there possibly be to complain about?"
"We lose Captain Toni and have to deal with a fucking newbie for a CO," Mason answered sullenly.
"The Commandante fucking needs this, Mason," Vega said, suddenly sitting up and pointing a finger at the squad's pilot. "I don't want to hear another fucking word about it, OK? He's going to Arcturus to get his PT over and done with, then he's coming right back here to babysit your sorry ass. Comprende?"
"That's what I've been telling him, LT," Kamille said, leaning over with a smile to kiss Mason on the cheek. "But he's just being his usual charming, cheerful self."
"Todo el tiempo," Vega sighed, going back to the weights.
"The Captain say anything to you about his replacement, Vega?" Essex said, spotting the much larger man.
"Not a word, 'mano," Vega grunted. "I know just as much about it as you."
"That's weird though, right?" Essex pondered. "I mean, why wouldn't he tell us anything?"
"Maybe because the brass hasn't told him anything?" Vega postulated.
"My guess is a newbie," Milque offered from his spot on the couch. "Some admiral's nephew or grandson that he thinks he can toughen up by giving him a veteran unit on an easy training assignment."
"Maybe," Vega conceded, "Quien sabe? Even then, won't be the end of the world: I'll take six weeks of anybody, so long as it's here. You see the bars and restaurants in this colony? Mucho de comida rica, mi amigos."
"English, dude…English," Essex exclaimed, shaking his head. "You know none of us speak that Spanish shit…the translators don't even pick it up, it's so old!"
"¿Pero, cómo si puedo decir que eres un saco de mierda y que ni siquiera entiende lo que estoy diciendo, Essex?" Vega rattled off in his mother tongue, smiling all the while, and to the amusement of the rest of the squadmates.
Essex shook off the confused and vacant look on his face, or at least tried to.
"All right, all right, whatever dude," he said, throwing up his hands in frustration.
"ATEN-SHUN! OFFICER ON DECK!" boomed an authoritative voice from the doorway. The squad leapt from their positions, snapping to instant attention, facing the door.
An older man, dressed in fatigues and leaning on crutches, stood in the doorway. Beside him was a younger woman in an Alliance lieutenant's dress uniform. Captain Toni looked around the room, making eye contact with each squad member before speaking.
"Delta Squad, this is Lieutenant Ashley Williams, your new commanding officer," the veteran said. "The more intelligent among you may recognize her: she was the only survivor of the geth attack on Eden Prime, and on Commander Shepard's squad at the Battle of the Citadel, both of them battles that make our little jaunt on Fehl Prime look like fucking summer vacations!"
Silent nods were given around the room to the squad's commanding officer.
"Now, introductions," the captain said, making his way into the room, Williams at his side. "Lieutenant, this is 2nd Lieutenant James Vega: one of the best seconds I've ever had."
"Ma'am," Vega said, tossing up a salute. "We all have seen the vids: it's an honor."
"And I've read your report on Fehl Prime," Ashley said, returning the salute. "The honor is mine."
"We did our duty ma'am," Vega replied, "And I did no less than anyone else in this room."
"On that note," Toni continued, "This is Gunnery Sergeant William Mason, our squad pilot. And a damn good one, too."
"Ma'am."
"Gunny."
Toni turned to the rest of the squad, introducing each of them in turn. Then, on the way out, he turned to glare around the room again.
"Now, I know that I can depend on each of you to give her your full support and your unquestioning obedience," he barked. "Because if you do NOT, or do ANYTHING to tarnish the reputation of the finest squad I have ever had the honor to command…" he paused meaningfully, and his voice cracked ever so slightly on the last word, "I'll come back here and kick all of your collective asses."
"Sir," Vega said, stepping forward. "The honor is ours, sir. We'll do you proud."
"Of that I have no doubt," Lt. Williams replied from the door. Cpt. Toni looked like he was going to say something else, but then he simply swallowed,
"As you were," he said, and slowly made his way back down the hallway, his crutches tap-tapping as he and his replacement chatted about the squad and the assignment. When they got faint enough, the room relaxed.
"Well…didn't see any pimples," Essex said, smiling.
"That's because you would've had to look above her chest to get a good look, pervert," Kamille ribbed.
"Ashley fucking Williams," Mason breathed, "I've heard the stories…"
"What stories?" Nicky asked. Everyone turned to stare at the youngest member of the squad.
"Oh, kid," Essex said, stepping forward to launch into the barrack-room gossip about the squad's newly-arrived commander. "I knew a guy whose cousin served on the Normandy. And he swears that this one time…"
Vega shook his head as the story got taller and taller. Taking down a skyscraper-sized robot with a combat knife? He chuckled. At least this was good for the squad's morale. He was curious himself how the war hero would measure up to Captain Toni.
Big shoes to fill, he thought.
He comforted himself with the knowledge that at least they were now stationed in the largest and most well-defended colony in the Terminus Systems. A place like Fehl Prime as a ripe target for pirates or slavers. Or at least, it had been: a full company of Alliance marines had replaced them on garrison duty as the squad had pulled out.
But a place like this? What could possibly happen?
Author's Note:
Hey, everyone!
Well, the two crews have a short down-time before we jump into the next exciting part of our story. Those of you who have watched Mass Effect: Paragon Lost will recognize the members of Delta Squad, of whom I hope to give a fair representation. Please let me know what you think!
If you haven't seen Paragon Lost, go watch it. Right now. Go. Now.
Also, full credit to the Psychotic Biotic's backstory goes to AmnityN7, who was kind enough to let me use her OCs for my own stories. If you are a fan of Mass Effect fics (which I'm assuming you are, if you're here), then go check out her awesome collection of works! Honestly, she's written some of my favorite ME fanfics on this site. Thanks, AmnityN7!
As always, please leave me a review or PM to let me know what you guys think! Even if it's just "Good job," it is always a huge boost for me and makes even the most shitty of days that much more awesome! I welcome all comments/suggestions/constructive criticisms!
ROCK ON, EVERYBODY!
-Tusken1602
Reviewer Responses:
I have to catch up for 2 chapters, but I was blown away at you guys' awesome reviews! Keep'em coming!
Chapter 8:
griezz – Morinth's feeding (and how it affects her) is going to be the subject of its very own chapter very soon. :O
BrotherCaptainSheperd – LOL, I see what you did there. ;)
Squadpunk 2.0, Tahuaullus01 – Glad you liked Basher. I always thought he'd make a good addition to the team, and you just have to leave him there in the game…
Blaze1992 – I will do my best. The battles at least, will be in a much larger scale for ME:3.
Zeru'Xil – I'm glad someone caught that… :P
METALHELLSPWN – Yeah, don't break the bow. OR they'll break you.
BJ Hanssen: Thanks for the Game-Science reminder! I live off reviews like these…
redcollector, shugokage, Elvisfonz23 – Thanks guys! Glad you liked it!
Chapter 9:
Blaze1992 – There will be head-butting aplenty in the future. Promise…
griezz – I think Jane and Basher do have a lot in common. The timeline has shifted backwards a bit (by Shepard's waking up six months early), so we're not quite to Horizon… but maybe a different colony…
Appbeza, Pietersielie Biorr the Old, Tahkaullus01, Nagato21, BJ Hanssen – Thanks! EDI's POV was tough, but I gave it my best shot…
fan-rei – Basher will be a permanent fixture in Team Ko'le, and we'll be seeing more of him. He's been fun to write so far…
Zeru'Xil, Elvisfonz23, METALHELLSPWN, general-joseph-dickson, Guest, Anny-Rudolph, Peon – Glad you guys enjoyed it so much! I honestly couldn't tell you who has more fun: you guys reading the story, or me reading your reviews! It's awesome, and I love it!
May the Father below accept you when your times comes, and until then, may the Mother keep you always.
EE-RAH!