Author's notes:
2022-03-11: Hey, here is a preview of the next chapter of the story. Please, bear in mind that it is, as mentioned, a preview. Some parts of it might not be included in the final release.
2022-03-15: Hey, I have managed to finish the chapter. Let me know what do you think.
Don't forget to comment. I really appreciate your feedback.
Note that the dialogues written in italic are thoughts.
As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)
Changelog:
[2022-03-11]: A preview was released.
[2022-03-15]: The chapter was updated, and its final version was released.
Info: Overall, the current plan is for me to write 'My home is where my heart lies' and 'Family tree' alternatively. Between the updates of these stories, I will try to upload other texts. Maybe, just maybe, I will be able to finish some of the short stories. However, I truly doubt that. It seems that most if not all of the stories will be extended both in terms of the time and the number of chapters.
Info: I will try to rewrite some of the older chapters between releasing new ones. I expect to start working on that goal in the middle of January. So, please be informed that the new chapters might take a bit longer to be finished and published.
Bonuses' section:
A new story taking place in the Warhammer 40k universe.
Story of one lost soul: The war call: rewrite.
An entirely new story (possibly Akali x [Irelia, Syndra, Katarina]).
A new short story (Vi x Cait).
An entirely original story (possibly even 2 stories, one taking place in medieval times, the other in the far future)
References:
*bonuses will be worked on when I don't feel like writing the chapters pointed out in the schedule :D
End of the author's notes section.
"Damn," Vega continued to complain, sighing heavily. "It'd have been much easier to transport a tank here. So why the heck was it that challenging?"
"It would have been easier if you had not been complaining all the time, Vega," Garrus commented. "But, let's look at it from a brighter side; we are finally done. Shepard is soundly sleeping in her king-sized bed, cuddling Miranda's pillow. I call it a successful operation."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," James spoke. "I'm just happy that the job is finished."
"Actually," Glyph's voice sounded out of the sudden. "I do think I will need your help. But, unfortunately, considering the Commander's current state, she will be of no use, at least, as of now. So, Mister Vakarian may address you as the second-highest-ranking officer within the crew?" the AI construct continued its speech.
"But of course," Garrus responded immediately. "What is the matter, Glyph?"
"The preparation for the party must be started immediately," the synthetic construction uttered. "Of course, the plan had been already accepted by the Commanded. But some parts of it need to be carried out by the living. Can I expect and rely on your help?"
"Yes… you can, Glyph," the turian replied a bit slowly, thinking through the matter. "Please, send me the necessary data. I will deal with these immediately."
"It would have been a welcomed reaction," Liara's AI responded. "The data has been uploaded into your storage. If you excuse me, I shall take care of other matters now. Thank you for the cooperation, Mister Vakarian," it added, floating away immediately after.
"What was that?" Vega asked.
"I assume the fun is about to begin," the turian responded, starting to walk away. "Thank you for the help, Vega. I appreciate it," he added, waving with his right hand.
An hour later (Anderson's apartment):
When Mia finally woke up from her dreamless slumber, she felt pretty good. Who was she trying to lie to? In the current setting, it was a true gift to daze off without reliving the horrors of the past. Yet, it felt wrong to have such a luxury to some extent. After all, there were always bothering thoughts in the back of the Commander's mind. What had happened when she was out? How many people had died when she could not have done anything to prevent it? The questions like these could have never been pushed out of her mind entirely.
Nevertheless, once her still sleepy eyelids finally opened, she noticed the change of environment nearly instantly. Even though Normandy was a state-of-the-art technological prototype, it lacked cosiness. Nevertheless, it was an understandable choice; it was a navy vessel, after all.
Mia found herself surrounded by walls covered with natural, dark wood. As she continued to lay down on the comfortable mattress, she opted to look around to spot more details. After a few moments, she could form her first opinion regarding the room. Overall, it was empty, left in a bare state. Though it could have been forged into an advantage in the longer run. However, there was no point in making extended, complex plans with tomorrow's uncertain dream.
Shepard pushed herself onto her feet. She had already wasted too much time relaxing. The woman knew that it was one of her bad habits, but she simply could not have mustered enough strengths to break it. There was no point in beating herself down even further. She would not have saved everyone. Her experience, proficiency, prowess meant little to no in a grander scheme of things. What could have been achieved by a unit in the vast galaxy? The war against the Reapers, or rather, the desperate defence against the sentient machines, would have never been easy. There would have never been a simple solution to reduce the casualties. After all, if such measurement existed, their precursors would have used and introduced them already. It was just a shame that the price of their survival must have been paid in the blood of young.
The Commander needed to take a walk. In her mind, it was the only possible solution to deal with the overwhelming negativity that had flooded her mind. So, Mia pressed forward without further delays, leaving the bedroom behind within moments. She expected to enter an open space of sorts; however, she found herself in a corridor to her mild surprise. Even though the construct was not long by any metric, here was it. To her right, some stairs could have been spotted. The corridor extended into some area where a coffee table could and two sofas were located to her left. Without a moment of hesitation, the raven-haired soldier chose to walk there.
Once there, she found an impressive bookshelf that had been pushed into a wall. Even by laymen's standards, the collection was impressive, though the container was packed over its initial capacity. Some of the books seemed squashed, pushed into the limited space forcefully. Mia came closer, looking at the gathered volumes, led by sheer curiosity. As stated previously, books were far outside her expertise; however, some of the titles she had noticed scattered over the shelves sounded familiar. The Commander had a feeling that she had heard about some of these in the past. Then, the woman's fingers began lingering over the solid covers, marking a visible trace through a thin layer of dust.
"Hmm… it is not like someone has been cleaning up here," the dark-haired woman hummed in her mind. Then, driven by her experience and instincts, she opted not to speak up loud. "Kind of a surprise. Considering that this locum might have cost a good penny, one could have expected it to be cleaned regularly. However, times have changed. Now, after all these years, we are in an open war against the Reapers. It would have been wonderful if the Council had believed me from the very beginning," she allowed her thoughts to run freely.
A moment more was allowed to be wasted to reflect on the past. Then, Mia dug it in the darkest part of her mind to focus on the current events. But, of course, delving in the past would not have helped her right now. After all, she was supposed to be on shore leave. She should have been trying to relax and forget about the war, even for the slightest moment. Though, apparently, it was not that easy to pull off.
Then, she heard the sounds of the door opening. Instantly, the trained body tensed, preparing for some action. As she readied herself for the escalation, relief washed over her, for she heard her team. To be precise, the voices belonged to Tali and Garrus. However, the latter seemed to be leading the conversation. A small smile was allowed to creep its way in. These two should have been together but seemed too clueless about their mutual feelings.
The Commander made her decision. Without an ounce of hesitation, she pushed forward toward her friends' voice. Then, just like a moth drawn toward the flame, Mia tried to reach them as soon as possible.
An hour later:
"Isn't it a little too much booze?" Tali asked as they walked down the street. "I mean, I know that some of us love to party, but this amount should be enough to kill."
"Well," Garrus started. "These are Glyph's instructions. As far as I know, these amounts were precisely calculated. And, frankly, knowing Glyph, the whole process was run at least twice, if not more. So, though I am on the same boat as Tali, the night might be tough."
"Oh, is that so, Vakarian?" Mia asked, choosing to taunt her best friend. "I thought you could withstand a little of booze. Yet, it seems I have been misled."
"Shepard!" the quarian woman uttered. "I don't think it's a good time for banter. You'll have all night for these pushovers of yours," she added, a little bit upset.
"It is fine, Tali," the turian spoke up, gesturing. "Sometimes, I feel like I live for moments like these. I mean, the moments when our arses are not being used as shooting targets," he added, allowing himself to joke openly. "Come on, we are on shore leave; let's have some fun. Let's cherish this bottle to its inevitable end till we can."
"Uhh," the Commander grunted. "You have killed the mood, Garrus," she added stoically, just to burst into laughter a moment later. "I totally agree. Even though I was against this break, it is high time for us to forget about the war for a moment. It will find us on its own soon enough."
"Ughh… fine," Tali uttered, giving up. "So, what's next on the list?"
"Hmmm… let me see," Vakarian responded, checking his feed. "Oh yeah, Glyph suggested we change the apartment's layout and furnishing to suit our needs better. Do you have any crazy idea regarding this?"
"Why would we change Anderson's apartment?" Mia asked. "It is not really my place. Anderson only gave it to me for now, and I intend to give it back as soon as this chaos ends."
"Oh, that might take some time, Shepard," Tali pointed out. "And… on top of that, Anderson did give you the locum. So, I don't see the blocker toward some changes," she added, carefully picking her words.
"As long as we are not going to build a dance floor, I am all in," Garrus spoke up. "I do not think I will survive seeing Shepard dancing again. Hmm… it resembles me a turian trying to swim, but it is way more miserable," he added, chuckling.
"How about a swimming contest then? What do you think, Garrus?" the Commander riposted. "I wonder how would a certain turian fare up to that task," she continued to giggle.
"Fair enough," Vakarian responded, trying to hold up the laughter. "Tali, I will be watching your alcohol intake this time," he informed the quarian.
"Why would you need to do that?"
"Oh, I have an idea why," Shepard giggled. "Tali, do you remember the time when you tried to introduce filtered brandy through `emergency induction port` as you had called it?"
"Don't you dare to remind me of this!" Tali replied, squeaking a little. "It wasn't the straw; it was an emergency induction port. But, of course, I told you that already."
"That is precisely why I will be keeping my eye on you for the party," the scarred turian giggled. "It took you a while to get over that alcohol intoxication. So let's make sure it does not happen again, shall we? "
"You're going to keep an eye on me or my alcohol consumption? Would you elaborate, Garrus?" this time, the quarian started to giggle.
"Ehhh… hey, it is our next destination," Vakarian swiftly changed the topic, embarrassed evidently. "Give me a moment; I will deal with that store," he added, then pushing forward fast, quickly vanishing from their sight.
2 hours later:
They had managed to deal with all of Glyph's instructions by some Gods' mercy, obtaining nearly everything. These few pieces that they had not brought back with them had been ordered and should arrive the next day. With any luck, they should be able to focus on other preparation whilst not worrying about these missing pieces. However, Mia was not that confident in that speculation. As far as her life was concerned, she always had needed to deal with obstacles.
"It is just the calm before the storm," the Commander allowed herself to whisper under her breath.
"Is it, though?" Garrus's voice sounded nearby.
"Ehh… sorry for bothering you, Garrus," the dark-haired woman whispered, scratching her nape. "I thought, I uttered it so quiet that only I would have heard it."
"Not necessarily," Vakarian replied slowly. "I know it is challenging to adjust, but what is to lose, Shepard? I mean… we are here to catch a breath before going gun-blazing back to the field. It might be very well our only chance to relax. At least till the end of the war."
"I know… I know," the Commander mumbled, covering her face with the right hand. "I just feel like a piece of me is missing. As if… something dear is missing," she added, resting against the call wall.
"Mia, look," the turian called out. "I know that there are some taboo topics between us, but… maybe it is high time for you to forget about your pride? Instead, perhaps you should reach out for some help?
"I assume you are referring to…?"
"Yes, I am referring to Miranda," Garrus stated calmly. "You are not the same person since she left. You can deny that all you want, but the truth is that she is that missing piece you are seeking. Give her a call. Given your last awkward encounter, she would want to have some answers."
"I can not."
"Bullshit, Shepard!" Vakarian commented. Even though he did not raise his tone, it felt as if he was yelling at her. "Come on, do yourself a favour and just do what I am suggesting you."
"Ehhh…" the Commander sighed heavily, allowing her weight to carry her downwards. "Ok, I will do it," Mia uttered quietly once she reached the very bottom of the wall. "I will call her. It seems she is as much part of the equation as we are."
"There is no Shepard without Vakarian?" the scarred friend chuckled. "I think it should have been long rephrased to `there is no Shepard without her crew`, or `there is no Shepard without Lawson`, but I admire the recognition," the turian turned the situation into a joke, as always.
"Let's settle for `there is no Shepard without Vakarian and Lawson`," Mia proposed, closing her eyes and trying to calm down. "I need you both to keep my sanity in check."
"Oh, about that, I am pretty damn sure, Mia," Garrus commented. "And… now, stand up, soldier. You have a mission to fulfil."
"Ay, Mister Vakarian; ay, Sir," Shepard laughed.