MASS EFFECT: INTERCEPTOR 2

*Foreword*

Oh, Tali'Zorah, what did you do to me? To paraphrase the great Al Pacino, just when I thought I was out, you pull me back in.

A lot can happen in ten years.

Yes, it's a statement of the obvious but sometimes it just needs to be said. Mass Effect was a series of games that coincided with the best times of my life. I say coincided because despite the fact that it inspired me to start a career in writing, introduced me to my closest friends and even connected me with my future wife, it still feels incredibly corny to say that it defined my life. Even though it's probably true.

A lot can happen in ten years.

Mass Effect itself has had its own journey, one that I'm not going to recount because if you're reading this then you know the story anyway, and because there's so much to say on the subject that I'll be here for another ten years getting it all out. Suffice to say, the journey of Mass Effect hasn't been a smooth one. Whatever your opinions, I think it's accurate to point out that this wonderful universe had the potential for so much more. The possibilities were limitless, perhaps so much so that to take real advantage of that potential was always going to be an uphill struggle in the world of games development, a world that had changed vastly between even the first and third Mass Effects' releases.

It's complex, and maybe because my expectations were so massive, maybe because Mass Effect fired my imagination so keenly, I held a standard that was very difficult to meet even without the external difficulties. But that's just me, I'm someone who's all or nothing. Sometimes it's a harmful trait but it does mean I care deeply for storytelling and the writing craft, and I find it hard to accept imperfection. It's why I've spent ten years continuing to learn and hone and analyse, learning from my mistakes and the mistakes of others. Throw in the craziness of the world in that time and you've got someone in dire need of recapturing that time in their life when, yes, the world was no less crazy but it didn't matter - because a part of me lived in another one entirely. A world of discovery, hope, regret, fear, pain and love among the distant stars.

So why am I here again after all this time?

Well, it's simple enough, at least on paper. A couple years' introspection and a chance flirtation with the Legendary Edition (a title I dispute but that's another story) reminded me of exactly why I fell in love with this universe. It's both more complicated and more simple than the races, the characters, the art direction or the music. After some thought, I think I managed to narrow it down to one overriding factor. It gave me a story to tell. Well, several, in fact.

Interceptor was one of those, a real passion for intrigue, espionage and conspiracy thrillers poured into the Mass Effect universe. A story that tried to balance familiar mainstays of the series, memorable bit-actors and my own personal concoctions in a jet-setting rollercoaster that tried to shock and surprise even to its own detriment at times.

It was always my intention to turn Interceptor into a series and now, as I embrace once more the love I've always had for the Mass Effect universe, I feel it's time to embark on this journey again. Even as I started typing I felt a genuine fondness as the characters I'd worked so hard to bring to life in the previous story greeted me like old friends, and an excitement as new ones were released from the vault of my imagination after ten years locked away.

You can expect from I2 the same thundering pace and shocking twists of the first story but, being a sequel, there is a different feel to this one. I've become an objectively better writer down the years and I feel the solidity of the plot here is much better. As with any story of this nature, there will inevitably be some small holes and inconsistencies but I believe these are far, far less noticeable than in the first story.

Things are a bit different this time, but that's not necessarily bad. Life is funny, and getting older has given me new perspectives on many things. Writing in a professional capacity for the games industry in these intervening years has been a sobering, sometimes even bitter experience but I've finally learned to separate writing for love and writing for any other reason. And I can honestly say that nothing has ever given me the same buzz of satisfaction as seeing a review come in letting me know how someone has enjoyed my Mass Effect fanfiction. It might sound silly, it might sound unambitious but it's the honest truth.

What really matters in these short years we have in this universe, to me, is telling stories we truly want to tell. And Mass Effect still holds a fair few of those. I will endeavour to update once a week, my time is less precious these days which means I can devote it to what is precious.

I know at least one or two of you out there have read my old stuff and are coming back, and to you lot all I can say is it's good to see you again, truly. Absolutely nothing in the past ten years has given me the same pleasure as seeing you Mass Effect fans enjoy these stories, and it was honestly humbling to know some of you became fans of my writing in of itself as well.

There are other stories I want to write, including a full reboot and rebranding of Dark Saga to tell my full comprehensive story of Commander Shepard, but Interceptor 2 has to take precedence for now. I'm not spreading myself thin again, that serves no one. It is my honest intention to make this a reliable source of quality original Mass Effect fanfiction once again, a haven for all those who still and probably will always hold a candle for the trilogy.

As always, don't forget to fave and review if you have a second, I appreciate feedback of any kind and make sure you fave and follow me so you don't miss a thing in the future. I live to entertain you fine folks.

Thanks for reading and, after ten years, Keelah Se'lai.

Let's do this.