A/N:
I just finished the draft of the last chapter in the arc that proceeds this one. After that we'll be immediately jumping into the endgame, where the culmination of dozens of chapters of forshadowing and shady refferences will come to light.
As well, come this weekend I'll be drafting a prologue for a heavy A/U story based in the Mass Effect universe.
It's a First Contact fic, but I'm pretty much reseting the history of Mass Effect, starting from 2036, and changing the tech around for our favorite species of evolved monekeys. I'm planning on doing some things much different. I won't spoil anything, but I think it'll be unique enough that it'll definaterly stand out in the A/U community. [Granted, I've only read a few A/U fics, and they're all Halo crossovers, so I won't be surprised if someone else tried to do what I'm doing.]

And without further ado, we're off!

Chapter 24:

Date ~Corrupted~

As he would every day, he awoke this morning to the feeling of his daily nutrition being force-fed directly into his stomach via needle. As he would every day, he would take just a few moments to wake up and relax his stiff muscles, before his company-issued blue-grey suit and bright-green tie would materialize itself upon him, and the sleeping pod would release him. As he would every day, when the pod would open he would look at his surroundings, a small room, when compared to others; it was cube-shaped, with a desk in one corner, his sleeping pod in another, and fifteen storage modules - all filled with knick-knacks and other mementos from his assignments - lining the other wall, other than that it was blank white, with a concrete floor and a marble ceiling.

"Good morning, Agent Rourke." Says a woman, a new 'recruit', though that title didn't carry much, she feared what would come with death, and accepted Rourke's offer several centuries ago, now she tended to him day and night whenever he needed anything not in the 'office'. "I assume you slept well?"

"Have I missed anything in the last decade?" Asks Rourke, as he sweeps his hand through his shoulder-length, wavy brown hair.

"Agent Gorgonesan - if you can believe it - failed in his attempt at forging the CEO's army. The man he recruited, he calls himself 'Noble Six' now, he just gave up after that woman, I don't remember her name, but he quit after he found her corpse on Earth. Gorgonesan had to interfere before the man would end things in an unsatisfactory way." The woman informs him.

Rourke nods, as he closes his dark blue eyes and rubs them, only one other being in this office knew this, but he already knew what he'd been told, said being and said knowledge were partially why he took his decade rest, all the planning and coordination would take a considerable toll on any agent, even 'the greatest', 'the first', and 'the oldest' of them all, Gorgonesan. "Have I received anything?" He asked, his voice was noticeably deep, but he made a considerable effort to make it sound lighter, and more friendly.

"Not that I'm aware of sir, Cassidy mentioned she'd retrieved that suit of armor you were looking for… The -" The woman opened up a file from a holographic tool that sprung forth from her palm, "- 'Mjolnir Mark six'..? Yes, she retrieved it. She told me that it wasn't the exact set you'd been looking for, as that had been donated to some Museum, but the set was close enough in terms of technology, and probably better in a few ways."

Rourke nodded, "Is Gorgonesan in?" He asks.

The secretary nods, "I'll be going to see him then, before I depart for Krynn to conclude my assignment." He tells her, before a ball of green energy appears in front of him, he steps into it, and after the 'shock-boom!' he'd grown accustomed to, it catapulted him at instantaneous speeds to 'The Office'.

Immediately upon arrival, a chorus of "Good morning Agent Rourke!"'s greeted him, to which he nodded and would shake any hands that were offered.

"Agent Rourke… It is a pleasure… Seeing you here after so much… Time." Says a light, raspy voice from behind him.

Rourke turned to see a man dressed much like him, but instead of a green tie, this man wore a blood red one. His eyes were pale green, and he had a prominent Widow's Peak to accompany his close-cut hair.

"Gorgonesan, the honor is mine. Walk with me, will you?" Asked Rourke, as he nodded to his right, towards a sky-way walk-way, Gorgonesan nodded, and the two began walking.

"I hear you've put in for a redo, with… What does he call himself? Ghost? Noble Six? I forget." Says Rourke.

Gorgonesan is silent for a moment, "He calls himself… Six, now. I'll remember him as he was but… Yes, I've tried again." He tells his comrade, as they walk through the invisi-glass walk-way, giving them an incredible view of the blue sky all around them.

"Who'd you bring in this time? Freeman? Shepherd?"

"I looked for someone else… I took in someone from the True-verse."

"They've got compatible people there?"

"Ever since we… shattered the barriers, the genes… have spread like wildfire. As of the latest census there are… Twelve compatible beings in said universe."

"Twelve? Wow, that's a lot." Comments Rourke.

"Indeed."

"So what's the poor guy's name?"

"Christopher. Christopher McGraw.

Rourke nods, "I get the feeling you'll be putting him through a trial sometime soon?" He asks.

Gorgonesan nods, "In a… Week's time his name will become… Solidified. Miss Shepard will recognize… Him when they meet, and after the… Kidnapping, he will join her outright."

"I've been wondering about that, actually, how are you planning on making him neutral? Wasn't Six's problem that woman?"

"Simple." Says Gorgonesan, as a slight smile plays onto his features, "Implants from the previous… Class. One in particular will make him completely… Sexually neutral."

"And that'll eliminate his 'needs'… Not bad." Rourke nods in agreement.

"I appreciate your… Sentiment. But, I must be off." Says Gorgonesan, before a 'door' opens in front of him, leading to a blank white void, he steps through and the door closes behind him.

Rourke waits a single moment, before he too steps through a door.

"Finally! Do you know how many times he's called?" Asks a synthetic, female voice the moment he steps into his office.

"Several dozen, I'm sure. My assistant told me you got the armor?"

A red holographic depiction of a woman in some sort of jumpsuit appears next to him, and follows him as he walks to his desk, "Yes, it's right over there -" The hologram points to a sleeper pod in the corner of his office. "Ready for delivery. Six would like to know why he's stuck with the mark five."

"Because that's what Gorgonesan gave him, I can only afford to take one from that world, and I've got to keep it safe and secret for McGraw." Says Rourke, as he looks at the armor, all assembled and standing stationary, it was olive green, and faded, but it still looked pristine, it looked as if it were meant to be worn by a machine, but the general shape it created looked reminiscent of a human's. Roukre's eyes were drawn specifically to the golden visor, he smiled as he looked at the visor, that assignment had been one of his personal favorites, if only for the fact that he'd been chosen over Gorgonesan.

"Open a communications channel to Six, if you wouldn't mind." Says Rourke, as he opens a personal-computer on his desk, and sits down.

Several moments pass, before a voice issues forth from the computer, "Rourke, is that you?"

"Yes, Six. Where are you?"

"Snake and I are on the Citadel, we're getting ready for the Suns."

"Has anyone spotted you?"

"I think Vidic thinks we're here, but other than that, no, we've got a pretty good hiding place."

"Where? If I may ask."

"I found my way into the area of the Citadel I got teleported to at the end of the Reaper War. We're hiding out there."

"Resourceful." Comments Rourke, "I assume you're ready for the battle?"

"I told you, we're getting ready. I vaguely remember what happened the first time, I know that Six showed up once or twice to save my ass, so I've got to do the same thing."

"Good. I assume you've got a plan on how you'll get your names out there?"

"Not a clue. I'm pretty sure I remember the Rodam place got burned to the ground the first time around, so I'm going to see if I can't do anything to stop that."

"Sounds interesting enough. Are you planning on doing anything about 935?"

"I got a message from the Shadow Broker to attend some sort of meeting on the eighth, I remember Six telling me he'd been hired to keep Cerberus off my tail, so I think I know what to expect."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"My plan is to hold them off for as long as I can, his capture is inevitable… Is there anything else? The Keepers like to screw with us around this time of day and it's kind of hard holding them off with one hand."

"Just this, I'm planning on abducting McGraw in order to pre-emotively give him the device, I assume he'll call in the same forces as you, but perhaps in a much different way."

"Yeah, a super-carrier and the Infinity aren't nearly enough firepower. We need more, more guns! More plasma! More power! ah hah ha!"

"Indeed, I shall go."

"Talk to you later. Try and make that decade nap go quicker next time?"

"I'll see what I can do."

Rourke cut off the connection, and leaned back into his chair as he went over the conversation again, completely unaware of the being that had been observing the entire ordeal.

Corruption cleared:
Date:
September 4th; 2180

So we've been here for a good, three days, I think. According to my Omni-tool the average Rakhana day is thirty four Earth hours, and the average Citadel day is twenty seven in comparison, so it's taking a little getting used to, the new solar cycle, I mean. Jorra's been acting a lot happier ever since our conversation, so much so that I could barely even tell she'd been sorrowful at all. While Jorra and I have been sleeping in our ship, during the days we either interact with other Drell, or take a trip to go explore Rakhana, and during the nights, we [And the other pilgrims] light up some campfires and just laugh, eat, and talk the night away.

It's around mid-afternoon right now, and Jorra and I are talking with some other Drell. Actually, that's not too true, Jorra's talking to some Drell, I'm talking to some Drell kids. You'd be surprised, actually, I think I'm as popular as Jorra. Everyone talks to Jorra, thanking her for her service of the Drell, and then a majority of them turn to me once they're done, and when they realize what species I am, they immediately start talking to me, asking me questions and what-not. So a few hours ago, a group of at least twenty kids came up to me and asked if I had any stories to tell 'em. It took me not even half a second to come up with something good to regal them with. I'm giving them an event-by-event plot summary of Brütal Legend, granted I'm softening it up a bit to make it a bit more kid friendly; I don't want a bunch of alien kids running around, flashing the horns and screaming 'Hell Yeah!', after all.

"So when Eddie defeated the evil emperor, he lived happily ever after with Ophelia!" I declared, like an over-paid Hollywood narrator.

The sun was high in the sky by the time I finished telling them the tale, and immediately thereafter they demanded me I tell them another, thankfully I was saved by their parents [Many of whom actually stopped what they were doing to watch me talk to the kids!] and I managed to tell them I'd have something else for them in a few days. What'll I tell 'em? Well, provided they remember [And I'm pretty damn certain they will, not only are they kids, and kids always remember what they want, but these are Drell kids, they've got memories better than a frigging computer.], it'd probably be insensitive to tell them about Halo, because I'm talking to non-humans here, and it'd be downright insane to tell 'em about Mass Effect, so I think I'll tell 'em about the Avengers, which I'd managed to see before the G-Man whisked me away; said movie was a masterful combination of hype, story, cinematics and character, only to be outdone by The Dark Knight.

"The kids really liked you." Says Jorra, as I feel her arms wrap around one of mine.

I chuckle, "That fits, it takes me meeting alien kids, and my downright nerdiness to get kids to like me."

"So, what do you think we should do today?" She asks, after she finished laughing at my self-jab.

"I dunno… Maybe we could stay here? See if anyone needs help?"

Jorra smiles, "I was thinking -"

"Excuse me." Says a light voice from behind us, Jorra and I turn to see some Drell marine staring at us expectantly, "Are you two busy?"

"What do you need?" I ask.

"The cardinals are going to perform the delivery today, but a few of the men have Kepral's syndrome, and it hit them hard. I've been looking around and was hoping you two could help?"

Jorra and I were silent for a while, as we contemplated it, she looked to me and I to her, and she nodded, "Alright, we're in." I say, "What do you need help with?"

For the last hour we've been flying across Rakhana in a big-ass shuttle. There's several dozen crates of food, water and medical supplies waiting for the Rakhana-Drell [Or, as the Kahje-Drell call them, 'Survivors'], and there's a dozen Kahje-Drell, and myself, all waiting for the shuttle to land so we can unload the supplies. One of the priests from yesterday is accompanying us, he says we're headed off to the most populous villages on the planet - six hundred twelve people, somehow managing to live and thrive on a dead planet. He made it certain though, that I wasn't to talk, because the Survivors had gone so long without true alien contact that they'd more than likely become violent if they realized what species I was; when I asked why they'd run the risk of bringing me in the first place, it was implied that I was brought along because of Jorra, and who she was.

The priest is actually speaking with her right now, as I'm sitting here, cleaning my pistol - which I snagged off of our ship, along with a few magazines, you never know when you'll need 'em-, well, I guess I'm not really cleaning it [I've no fucking clue how, now that I think about it], but I'm just running a cloth along the barrel, it gives me something to do. I can't quite tell what Jorra and the priest are talking about, I saw the priest look to me a few times, but other than that I've no clue what they could be talking about.

"Beginning landing sequences." Says a voice over the inter-com, ripping me from my thoughts.

I put my gun back in it's holster and boot up my HUD Glasses. Once they've finished and are scanning the environment, giving me an enhanced view and showing me any potential dangers, as they usually do, I stand up.

"Remember, be friendly, look non-hostile." Says the priest, as he moves to the cargo-door, that is slowly opening.

Once the large door finishes it's opening sequence, we're greeted with several dozen Survivors, all wearing varying degrees of worn, raggedy clothing. One Survivor [The leader, based solely upon the dome he's wearing on his head. You read that right.], steps forward and strongly asks, "Who are you, you who bear such technology and such weapons?" I guess society must have regressed backwards, or my translator's acting up, because that sounded like the guy was struggling to speak a language.

I can see the village in the distance, it looks literall like a bunch of beehives, with the way the buildings are constructed. They're made out of some kind of stone material, and there are a few hundred of them at least. I can see several guards roaming the city limits, some with swords, the important ones, with a gun.

"I am Siznora Jan, of the temple of Arashu. We come from beyond the stars, with gifts of food and supplies." Says the priest, 'Jan', his name must be.

The leader stumbles backwards, clearly surprised at this act, "What ask you in return for such gifts?!" He asks slowly, carefully.

The priest looks to the haulers [The term I've started to use to refer to the guys hauling the surprise] and nods to us, we immediately begin taking crates of supplies, lugging them off the ship, and depositing them at the leader's feet.

"We ask that you be responsible with these supplies, as you have before. You shall find food, water, clothing and educational technologies." Says the priest, to a cheering crowd of Survivors.

As I unload my seventh crate, one man - a father, no doubt - quickly comes to grab a crate from the top of the stack, and hauls it onto the ground, he ferociously tears it open and is greeted with several packets of food and water, which he drops to his knees and thanks his gods for, before taking several bottles of water and distributing them to the children that have gathered around, but aren't tall enough to see inside. One Drell woman - a mother, I'd assume, maybe the wife of the guy that's giving out the water - actually comes and brings me into a hug.

"Thank you!" She says, "A thousand times, thank you!"

I almost tell her it's no problem, but quickly remember I'm not supposed to speak, so instead, I pat her on the back a few times, and she quickly runs off to get water. I resume hauling the crates, and after several minutes, all have been removed from the ship.

"We will tell stories of your kindness for generations to come, Siznora!" Says the leader of the village.

"Please, all we wish to know is that you will be wise with the resources you've been given." Says Jan.

"Of course!"

The priest nods, "Then we shall be off." And with that, we all retreat back aboard the ship, which takes off several seconds later, my last view of the village is of the sun setting against their backs, as they celebrate the 'bountiful harvest'.

Man... That didn't go wrong at all. I think, What the hell's the G-Man planning? Nothing ever goes off without a hitch, when it comes to me.

As I sit on the ship, and after Jorra curls up next to me and falls asleep quickly thereafter, I find myself thinking about how good that delivery felt. I just did something helpful that didn't involve shooting someone in the face, or getting shot at. It feels incredible, to say the least. I feel like… I dunno, like my head's been cracked open so all the pent up steam and heat is being let out. A horrible image I know, but god damn I just can't get over how good that felt.

"Is this the first time you've attended a delivery?" Asks a light, but authoritative voice, I look over and see the priest sit next to me on the bench.

"Um, first time on Rakhana." I clarify.

"I see…" He says, nodding, "She has chosen you to be her Sinat?" He asks, rather bluntly, before indicating Jorra.

I think for a moment, "I guess…" I finally say, after a few minutes pass and I remember the conversation with Thane, "But I don't quite know what that means."

The priest nods again, "That is common, amongst non-Drell - forgive my language -," He says, adding the latter most part quickly, like one would do if they realized they'd said something bad but wanted to continue with a point as fast as they could. "You see, young one, Drell are rather selective when it comes to bonding. For one to occur, many prerequisites need to be met. The first one, obviously, is a mutual attraction." He explains, as I lean against the bulkhead and get ready for the story, "The next requirement can be considered amongst the most important, as it is here where Drell Bonding find most of it's problems. You see, for Drell, we have a stark belief in our religion, though said belief has waned in recent generations, the belief still exists. Many of us believe in the existence of a soul, but we believe our souls are built in pairs. For a soul to be complete, it must find it's other half." He catches his breath, "There are many ways for a soul to find it's other half, from what I understand, your two souls found each other and have bonded through hardship." To this, I nod.

"Yeah, I found her about to be assaulted by a few thugs." I supply, as Jorra shifts in my one-armed light grip, but she doesn't wake up.

"Hardship is but one of the many ways two souls can bond. Others include friendship, trial-and-error, honest-to-gods hunting, and plain time. It is said that two souls may take a lifetime to find each other, but the final days they will spend with each other in the physical realm are days to be cherished." He pauses again, and takes a sip of water from a flask he produces from within his robes, at least I fucking hope it's water, and not some alcohol fueled rant he's spewing out. "There are other requirements, but I feel you need know those two as they feed into my next point. When Drell bond, as I said, their two souls form a whole. This whole they've formed is an un-shattering, indestructible, almost inconceivably powerful bond. This however, is where the bond finds it's most damning weakness." He says, before pausing to inhale, "Should a bonded one, a Sinat die, his or her Sinat would feel an unending pain for the rest of his or her days. This pain, this shattering of souls, is one that is almost never recovered from. There are some cases, yes, where a Sinat has indeed recovered, but true recoveries such as those are few and far between. Rarer still are cases in which a formerly bonded moves on to form a new bond." He looks from me, to Jorra, then back to me. "I can sense great hardship and peril in your future. I can sense death, destruction and pain, much to come soon, much to come later." He says bluntly. "It is at this point where I would request you to leave her before your bond becomes too strong…" Without my knowledge, and without my consent, my grip on Jorra's arm tightens, "But I fear I am too late, and you have progressed far too forward in your bond to reverse anything. So I merely request that you keep her foremost in your thoughts, as you progress through your adventures."

"I've had my heart broken before, Priest." I begin, "I know… At least partially, what it feels like to lose someone you care deeply for." I look to Jorra, who's sleeping comfortably next to me, she must be having a nice dream, because she's got a contented smile etched across her face, "I fear every day for what may happen to me or her whenever I go out to 'work'. I know she fears for me as well, but knowing what I do… It'd be a disservice not to act, not to make a name, not to fight." I explain to him, "I sometimes regret bringing her into my home, because I know I'll be thrusting her into a war she has nothing to do with. But every time I think about that, I remember everything she's done for me, everything we've done for each other." Tor's compound and my attempted [And, succeeded, if you think about it] suicide come to mind as I say this, "So I may not be able to guarantee my survival in every situation." Virmire, the Suicide Mission in ME2, and the Beam Run in ME3 are the first that jump to mind, "But I can promise you this priest…" I look from Jorra to the priest, I'm pretty sure I look intimidating with this mask and the glasses on, "Jorra's always at the forefront of my thoughts, every time I pull out my gun and every time I follow my instincts and duck behind cover. Because she's my everything, and I have to give everything I can to make sure she can continue to be my everything." I finish.

The priest smiles, and nods again, "I believe you." He says, as he stands up, "I wish you luck in your future, and I truly do hope you never forget what you've told me here tonight." He explains, before moving off to another section of the ship.

I lean my head against the bulkhead, and as I go over what just happened, I feel sleep overcome me.

A/N:

The above is all an OC Concept. I've always been one to assume that different species mate and stay mated under different circumstances. [The only one - that I know of - that is explored in detail is the Asari method of bonding.]
For instance, I've always assumed the Turians had a more or less conservative, military sort of wedding, due to their militaristic society. And they bond in a sort of tribal sense, with pheremones and such.
Quarians, we know a little about, with the suit environments and such, I've got a few ideas in mind about their mating customs, but nothing concrete [The one I'm enjoying most runs along the lines of 'Engineering Contest', but that wouldn't work as the 'ancient ingrained custom'.]
And then there's those humans, but I don't understand a single f*cking thing about their mating customs, so I'm just going to go ahead and leave that one alone... XD

Anyways, back to Drell.
I'd always assumed - due to the deeply ingrained religion the Drell are supposed to have - that their mating process could possibly reflect that. At first I'd thought of something along the lines of a tribal sort of thing, where the man and woman do battle with each other, the longer they go the more they'd be seen fit for each other... But then I'd realized that pretty much anyone could last a while in the ring, and with a Thane-esque assassin, things would get complicated real fast. So the tribal idea was out.
Then I'd thought of 'soul mate', and realized the playground I'd presented with myself.
So after seven tries and just as many re-writes, I came up with the half-souls concept.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter,
Updates can be found on my profile!