I don't own the Mass Effect.


Author's prenote: Two things. First, massive thanks to everyone who reviewed the last two chapters, it really improved a rather unpleasant few days for me to get as many as I did, and I'm glad that everyone seems to have enjoyed them. It's been a good two years of writing, far more than I ever thought would happen when I started Arrival as a first-person POV experiment... and I wanted to thank everyone whose reviewed and inspired me to keep going with this series.

Second, a quick story recommendation. The Blocked Writer (my beta) is posting a new ME story named "" that I've been allowed to beta for, and I would seriously appreciate everyone going over and checking it out. It's an intriguing take on an OC insert.

Thanks, Kat


Epilogue II: Concluded Stories

Date: 01-06-2185

Location: Omega, The Terminus


Four shot glasses rose and fell back in the privacy of the Executive's cabin on the Reliant, the door locked and sealed even against Joa's intrusion.

Three of us set the small cups down quickly, while the fourth glared at hers before turning to scowl at her girlfriend. "You said you put rum in this."

"I lied." Voya replied unrepentantly, already grabbing a bottle to refill the others. "When you can walk on your own, you can drink. Until then, enjoy your water."

Shyeel's scowl deepened as she sank back in her hover-chair, the machine quietly whirring as it supported her battered body. Natural regeneration combined with advanced medical technology, and expert application in the form of Mordin Solus, meant she was already well on the mend... but even with all of that it was going to be a bit before she was close to combat ready again.

"What about him?" She jerked her chin in my direction, "Half of his fucking ribs were shattered and he gets to drink?"

"More like a third." I corrected her as I accepted the second shot, electing to sip this one instead of just downing it. "And my ribs are armor plated now."

"They've got a nano-weave around them." Illyan corrected me.

"Same thing." I replied dismissively, shifting to lean against her side as I did. Her free arm wrapped around my shoulders on reflex, "Honestly I feel better now than I have in a long fucking time, my left leg isn't constantly sore anymore for one."

Shyeel's expression softened a little, and she nodded. "They replace anything vital?"

Illyan shook her head on my behalf, "Mostly that crazy Salarian just repaired and reinforced everything that was already there. Skeletal lattices and muscle weaves, he won't break quite so easily anymore. He wanted to replace his eyes too, but I told him to fuck off."

Voya snorted, "You actually like those tiny things? They're the color of dying grass."

"At least they don't glow in the dark." She retaliated with a smirk, "Even if yours do make it easy for Shyeel to tell when you're looking up at her in the dark."

The Quarian's left cheek twitched. "I really do hate you, you know that right?"

"I hate you more."

I smiled a little into my drink, "Going to miss your bickering."

Voya's eyes lowered slightly, her hair rustling as she shook her head. "There's... things I have to take care of back home. It's been a very long time since I've talked with the Elders, and they need to be briefed on what's coming."

I couldn't really argue with that need, or the fact that Voya was the best person to do so. "And you're all right with staying there after?"

"Not really." Shyeel admitted, "But Ayle is right. We're going to need more elite teams, and keeping them all on Omega doesn't make much sense. At first, anyway. Once we get them trained up, we'll be back, and fuck whatever she says."

"Once the next war is done with you mean." Illayn grumbled quietly, finishing off her second drink and shaking her head. "Just finished one and another is already getting started."

"We aren't getting involved." I reminded her, "I don't care that Nynsi and Ayle are."

She glanced down at me, "So is Sederis."

"Good for them." The shoulder against her side rolled in a shrug, "If they want to try and clean out the Hegemony, that's their right, just like its ours to sit around Omega and fucking relax."

"Which is why we aren't going anywhere for a while yet either." Shyeel added, flicking her gaze to Voya. "At least until that giant party Aria's planning to celebrate her victory."

Voya shrugged, not looking terribly bothered by that statement, though her lips did curl a little as she glanced at me. "Do you even know how to relax? And building weapons doesn't count."

I blinked. "Since when?"

Illyan snorted, "Since I'm going to be keeping you in bed whenever we aren't drinking."

"Athame's ass..." I elbowed her in the side, which merely made her snort and shift a hand to grab the back of my neck. I hissed in discomfort as she tightened her grip, then said nothing at all when she used the leverage to put me in a better position to press our mouths together.

There was a sound of disgust from Voya, and something more amused from Shyeel.

I ignored them both in favor of focusing on what her tongue was doing, and letting myself relax against her broad form.

"See?" She asked when she pulled back, "That is relaxing, especially when you taste like rum."

"Doesn't he always?" Shyeel asked in turn.

"Mostly, but sometimes-"

"Conversation over." Voya growled, slamming her bottle of Turian liquor down after refilling her glass. "We just won, fucking won everything, and I refuse to let it devolve into you two talking about crap that Cieran and I would rather you didn't."

Illyan snorted, "What do you want to talk about then? Not shop talk either, going to be enough of that soon."

Glowing eyes narrowed, then looked down a little, as if she'd remembered something. After a moment, I did as well, and let out a slow breath as she spoke again. "Glasses on the table. Yours too Shyeel, you can have rum for this."

The scarred woman blinked, but followed our lead as we put our glasses back down. Our friend quickly filled them all, then set the bottles aside and frowned down at the little cups of liquid. It took her nearly a minute, though none of us bothered her or said anything as we waited.

"Thul." She said finally, taking her glass, tilting it in salute to no one in particular, then throwing it back. "That crazy bosh'tet always knew how to make you feel better, even if he also made you kind of want to kill him."

Shyeel snorted softly, reaching down to take her own. "Callada. Always up to join me and Cie in fleecing idiots from their money in cards. Didn't always think before she spoke, but she was there if you needed her."

"Yeah..." I smiled at the memories of simpler times, then carefully hefted my own shot of rum. "Dietrich. If you needed loud, boisterous company, he was there and ready to mix whatever kind of drink you wanted. He'll fit in with the others in Valhalla."

"Jarik." Illyan offered quietly after I'd downed my drink. "He was a good kid... ready to help with whatever you needed, cook whatever food he thought would make our days a little better."

Voya wordlessly refilled the glasses once we had set them down, and again we went around our little circle, remembering everyone we'd lost.

Marcus, toasted for his burning hatred of slavers and his utter infatuation with Jacqueline even with her being... well, her. Hesh and Ullak were remembered for the utter loyalty to each other and to their Tarath'shan, and the times we'd all teased them about the obvious bite marks on their shoulders. Trisren and Dorvahn, the original Blades, the friendship they'd offered and everything about them that we missed. Glitch, the machine's remains damaged beyond any hope of repair, and the thing's utter love of violence and battle.

"Rane'li." Illyan murmured finally, her smile becoming sad as she glanced at me. "I do miss her Cie, even if you'd have never let me be with you both."

I opened my mouth to reply to that, then closed it when I realized that there was really nothing more to say. Instead I just lifted my glass once again, everyone else following suit as we finished our little ritual.

"Well.." Shyeel drawled as Voya pointedly took the bottles away, her eyes watching the Quarian's hips longer than was actually necessary. Considering that her wounds made sex impossible for now, the ogling seemed somehow masochistic to me. "That was a thing... let's brighten things up, when in Athame's name are you two going to leave this ship?"

Illyan groaned and rubbed at her face, "Never. Never sounds good."

There was a snort from the smaller Asari, "Oh come on, it wasn't that bad."

"It was worse than bad." I corrected her irritably. "We couldn't go more than five meters without being propositioned five times."

"That bothered me less than the goddess-damned staring." Illyan shuddered. "Can't say I'm not a little used to that, but Athame's ass..."

"Shit will calm down eventually." Voya spoke as she came back, dropping into her seat. "You were left alone in Afterlife."

I snorted, "Because Aria made it clear that we aren't to be fawned over, she wants that shit saved for herself."

The Quarian shook her head bemusedly, "She's that bad?"

"She's worse." My shoulders fell as I sighed, "I would rather have to deal with Sederis and T'Ravt at the same time than with her. She always has to have the last word, always has to have control of the conversation, and always tries to make it seem like she knows more than you do."

Illyan grimaced, "Even when we both know she doesn't."

Voya blinked, "Wait, you go up there with him? Aria lets you?"

"She has the assist for the kill on Ganar," I shrugged, "And Aria's aware that I tell her everything anyway. If you two want to listen to her bitch about the latest theories on Ilos feel free to come with the next time she calls me."

"No." Grey lips twisted as she shook her head, stiff strands of hair clicking against each other. "The less I have to deal with that bitch, the better. If you didn't have to, you wouldn't either."

Since I couldn't exactly deny that, I merely shrugged.

Glowing eyes narrowed. "You just wanted us to suffer as well, didn't you? Fucking keshin."

Since I couldn't deny that either, I shrugged again and smirked a little. "It was worth the attempt."

"Was it?" Voya growled, "You're healthy enough for a spar or five... it's been a while since I kicked your ass. We can see how well your new body handles pain."

My lover made a huffing sound of amusement, "Goddess but I'm going to miss this. And seeing you two beat on each other. All the sexual tension and denial..."

I joined the petite woman in glaring at her, my voice annoyed, "You're still on about that?"

"Always." She replied with a grin. "Your face gets all pinched and she looks like she just smelled vomit... yeah, just like that."

Growling, I tried to push myself away from her only to be hauled back with little effort on her part. A very brief struggle preceded my head ending up in her lap with my body reluctantly stretched across the rest of the couch, my eyes narrowed as I kept glaring up at her.

"Are you sure you need her alive?" Voya asked darkly, one of Shyeel's arms thrown in front of her to stop her from getting up. "You've got options now, can always just replace her with someone far less annoying. Maybe a Batarian girl."

"There's days when it's tempting." I muttered, glaring up at Illyan.

She merely rolled her blue eyes in bemusement, a hand shifting to run through my loose hair. "Hey, if you want to invite a new third along, I probably wouldn't mind. Joa might get a bit jealous though, she seems the type."

Shyeel perked up a little at that, "How is that going by the way? Nice and awkward?"

"Yes." I supplied at the same time that Illyan said, "No."

My fellow Reyja'krem snorted out a laugh, "Let me guess, she's way more into Illyan than you?"

"No, that would probably be less awkward." I admitted, "It's more that she seems determined to show us both equal amounts of affection. I think she's hoping to be able to sleep with the both of us individually on top of together."

"Well..." Shyeel shook her head, "She did just lose her favorite sister not all that long ago, probably wants some comfort. And sleeping with subordinates is never a good idea for a ship's captain, no matter what organization you're in. You two are attractive and not terribly dangerous from her perspective."

"More or less what I got from the meld." Illayn nodded slightly, "Cie's just awkward about it because he's Cie. Trena says she'll move on in a few weeks, couple months on the outside."

I pursed my lips, "And you trust Trena? Also, when the fuck did you talk with her about this?"

Blue cheeks darkened a little, and she ignored the second question entirely. "I trust Trena to have an unnaturally good idea how a relationship will go."

"The little bitch is rather good at reading that kind of thing." Voya grudgingly allowed, "Although... now I have to wonder what she thought about the two of you?"

I frowned a little, trying to think back on the few conversations that scales and I had had lately. "I don't think she's said. Illyan?"

A shoulder rolled, "She said she'd already told me, but I honestly don't remember. It might have been on Redcliffe... lot of crap I did my best to forget from that place."

"Illyan..."

She glanced down at me, shifting her free hand to brush against my face. "Hey, you don't get to yell at me about repressing things, remember?"

I sighed and shook my head as best I could in my position. "Still not-"

The hand covered my mouth before I could finish. "Cie, that's what I've got you for. And these two short idiots."

Said short idiots both let out annoyed sounds at the reference to their average heights.

I tried to reply to that, but she didn't move her hand. After a few moments of trying to get my muffled voice past her skin, I settled for nipping my teeth at her palm. The pain made her flinch a little and narrow her eyes, and then the hand in my hair was covering my mouth as her other slid down to my chest and stomach.

"Hey!" Shyeel snapped, "No foreplay while we're still here."

Illyan stopped herself from reaching down further, but only just. "Then you two should probably get going."

"Typical." Voya muttered as she rose, ignoring my narrowed eyes and mental signals telling her to hit my lover, and that there had been more I'd wanted to discuss. "We'll see you two for that meeting next shift, make sure to shower when you're done this time."

Shyeel turned her chair around easily enough, the thing floating forwards with only a minimal bit of a push from Voya. The pair were only just reaching the door when Illyan was hauling me into a seated position in her lap, easily batting my hands away before pulling me into another deep kiss.

I went along with it for a little while, breaking apart for air and ducking my head to avoid her second effort. "Illyan, what the fuck is this-"

"Because I want to." She interrupted me impatiently, grabbing my chin and shifting me so she could kiss and bite at the side of my neck. "Stop complaining."

"Not complaining." I protested, shuddering as she bit down a bit harder. "Just... Athame's ass, I wanted to talk with them about... what we'll all be doing..."

"Time for that later." Her mouth moved against my skin, "Time for us now. It's finally over, we're both alive, and I want to make the most of those things."

I felt myself sag a little, my eyes half-closing as I realized, again, that she was right. It wasn't my first realization that our, that my quest was finally over... but each time the thought seemed to sneak up and hit me over the head with raw relief and emotion.

Letting out a breathy little sound, I batted her hands away and pushed myself out of her lap and onto my feet. She had enough time to frown at me before I grabbed her shoulders and pushed her sideways, following her down onto the couch with myself on top.

Krom was dead, Ganar was dead, and the war that we'd been fighting for two years was over. Even better, we were still alive... so were Shyeel and Voya, and Ayle and Trena, and Ghai and Joa. We'd lost friends along the way... but we hadn't lost everyone, and we'd gained new companions along the way. Their losses would always hurt, but we'd avenged their memories, and would always honor them as we slowly moved on with our lives.

We could do that... because we were still fucking alive, and it was definitely time to make the most of that.


Next up is: The We-won-the-fucking-war Party

And some private time for Cieran and this three friends, finally getting the break that they've been waiting for for a very, very long time. A little melancholy thanks to remembering everyone that they lost to get to this point, and the fact that they'll temporarily be splitting apart for a while, but relieved thanks to this chapter finally concluding.

We're only two chapters away from the conclusion to this fic, though in reality the next epilogue is going to be the last actual chapter. Epilogue four is merely a short recording of a conversation between Cieran and Aethyta to leave you all pondering about a few more things. All of the mysteries remaining/being dragged up in these last few chapters will definitely be explored in AR:VI.

In terms of Chevalier, I can't say when I'll begin working on it. It's fully outlined, and will be about the same length as Terminus (with the same 2 act, interlude act from a single side-pov format) though it will cover about two years worth of 'story-time'. My goal is to finally finish Strange Bedfellows before I really get started.

I won't say I'm taking a break from writing, because I always say that and always fail to. Assume AR: VI will begin posting sometime in March, April at the very outside (depending on how much of my life Andromeda consumes).

Lot of reviewers asking about the Reaper graveyard and throwing out theories... going to be a lot those being thrown around in story too. Glad that seemed to intrigue everyone, ;)

Please read and review, criticism is welcome, flames not so much, as usual. Reviews are my lifeblood as a writer.. every-time my email goes off with a review it makes me want to write more, so please take the time to leave one. Guests can leave them as well, and it only takes a minute, so please. Even if it's as simple as "I enjoyed it, please continue."

Thanks, Kat


Review Responses:

fan-rei → No one 'gave' Ilos to Aria, she went and took it, though the situation is complicated and will be explored further in AR:VI.

Guest → Terminus politics between the warlords is going to be a large feature of the next story.

Lavacaverns → Doru is the main docking ring of Omega, doubling as the main market area for those who aren't actually living on the station full time. Its where the main Eclipse enclave on station is, and its also the area that most in-universe people would think of when someone said they'd been to Omega (its filled with bars, casinos, slave markets, food markets, hotels, etc etc). Doru is the second largest district after Cala (which lies directly below it, and is where most of Doru's workers actually live).

Lord Mortem → More or less, his position is a little complicated by Ayle and Nynsi's role in the Blades, but Aria, Sederis, and T'Ravt all consider him to be the 'warlord' who runs the corp.

gods-own → He was probably tied with Garrus for second strongest, with either of them capable of killing the other in the right situation. Patriarch would have killed either in a one-on-one despite his issues.

L8lnleyLurker → Garrus is currently MIA, will be referenced next chapter and the one after.