Epilogue
The Citadel wards were crowded with people. The crowds I had become used to over the long weeks of debriefings, awards ceremonies, and a short victory tour, the loneliness I had not. The crew had scattered after the death of Sovereign on Ilos. Tali had returned to the Flotilla almost immediately upon setting foot on the Citadel with all of the data she had gathered on the Geth. Wrex had also left with a hefty payment and a look of determination. Garrus had stayed on longer, dodging C-Sec's pleas to rejoin them, but he eventually left too. The Alliance members of the crew where in it for the long haul. I spent the whole tour swapping stories with Kaidan and Ashley, but our victory lap soon came to an end. The lion's share of the credit had gone to Admiral Hackett and his Fifth Fleet, though the entirety of Admiral Olmos' task force had been awarded high honors by both the Alliance and the Citadel. The defeat of the ship that had attacked Eden Prime was still being trumpeted through the colonies. Officially, it was still being called a Geth ship. Some things would never change, apparently. I watched the flow of foot traffic through the wards. It too was unchanged. No geth had set foot on the Citadel. To all these people, Sovereign was something that happened to other people. Just one more sign that Humanity was poking its nose where it didn't belong and getting bitten for it. I sighed deeply.
Liara I missed most. She had stayed on Ilos when we left. We had all been there when Vigil had been unearthed. The blue-skinned scientist had almost fainted there and then. She was scheduled to give a presentation on her findings to a closed committee in a week.
And now it was my turn to separate. I sat back on the bench in my civilian clothes. Shepard sat across from me in her dress blues, new medal proud on her chest.
"I'm sorry, Liddle, I did what I could. The only way would be to enlist, and even then, I couldn't guarantee you a place on my ship," She gave me a half smile. And with that, my chances of staying on were scuppered. If I was honest with myself, the news came as somewhat of a relief. The Normandy was full of memories. Too many empty spaces that should have been filled. Too many strangers.
"Thanks anyway, I don't think the navy's really the place for me."
"If you ever reconsider, you know who to call." Shepard made to stand up, a motion which I mirrored. The Commander clasped my hand and shook it lightly before stepping back to offer me a salute. I returned it and smiled. "You're a good kid, Liddle, but the Alliance is leery of having an undocumented colonist running around one of their ships, even if he does carry a Prothean cipher. Especially now that we've rejoined the fleet. A Spectre's badge only goes so far on Arcturus." That was a cruel blow, although not an intentional one. Shepard couldn't have known about the non-disclosure agreement that had been slapped on me by the Alliance officers of the new Ilos Quarantine Commision. A little reward for being a civilian who had seen both the Prothean ruins and the remains of Sovereign cooling on the ground.
"I understand, Commander," I lied, "Doesn't make it any more fun to sit around here day after day."
"I hear you've decided to fix that little issue. Booked a ship to one of the colonies," Shepard responded. She put on a valiant effort of injecting a hopeful tone into her voice.
"Yes." I nodded. It had taken the sale of all my weapons and armor barring the chunky red pistol I still had clasped to my belt, but the ship to Cook's Landing was well appointed, and the planet pleasant enough.
"What will you do?" Shepard began to walk beside me as I made my way through the wards towards the docks.
"Oh, I don't know, find something to fill the days," I said knowingly. In truth, I had considered striking off on my own to try and prepare for the coming of the Reapers, or else striking out for Omega to try and find a place in Aria's organization, but I eventually dropped them as overly ambitious and overly dangerous respectively. And besides, my yellowjacket sources had all gone dark, wrapped up in the same black hole that had swallowed Ilos. For now, I was Michael Liddle, private citizen. "I thought I might try my hand at farming." We arrived at the spaceport just as the bulk transport began loading.
"Goodbye, Liddle."
"Goodbye, Shepard." The hatch slid closed, blocking my view of the platform. With a rumble of engines, the great ship took off for the stars. Cue M4, Pt. 2.
