Many Partings

I stood in front of my team and looked at each and every one of them. I thought about what we had achieved together in our time on the Normandy. Stopped the Collector attack on Horizon, raided a Collector ship and destroyed their base, wiping out the slave race for good. We had killed the Shadow Broker and replaced him with Liara who was loyal to far more than just herself. A woman I could trust, who would no doubt work tirelessly for the good of the entire galaxy.

When we had been on Tuchanka, we had found information that could be the first step in finding a cure for the Genophage, though the information remained in Mordin's safe-keeping. I had built a rapport of respect with the Admirals of the Migrant Fleet, which I hoped would be of some value should I ever need to ask for their aid against the coming Reaper threat. We had removed an army of Geth Heretics who would have joined with the Reapers when they arrived, making the war against them much tougher.

On Aite we had stopped a dangerous VI from being unleashed on the galaxy and causing all technology to turn against all life, causing a galactic crisis, and had saved a disadvantaged young man from being exploited by Cerberus at the same time. We had achieved more than any other living beings could ever have done so in only a few short months. However, just as when I had defeated Saren and Sovereign, it was not enough. We were far from victorious.

Tali stood in among my squad and she gave me an encouraging nod, she knew what I was about to tell everyone and was prepared for it.

"I want everyone to know just how proud I am of each and every one of you!" I started, "the entire galaxy owes you all a great debt. Unfortunately, very few will actually even know what we've done, what we've been through together. But now… our mission is over."

"Over?" Jack said.

"We still have to stop the Reapers, Commander," Jacob said.

"We do," I said, "but we, the Normandy and its crew, can no longer do this alone. We're going to Illium and from there each of you can go wherever you need to. After that I'm handing myself and the Normandy in to the Alliance, and I doubt any of you will want to end up in an Alliance prison with me. Fighting the Reapers is going to require the strength of every soldier, every fleet and every species."

I implored my friends to take the initiative,

"If you have high level contacts you can convince about the Reapers, then do it. If you have the means to help prepare for the Reapers, I need every one of you to do what you can. It'll be easier for some of you. Urdnot Wrex knows all about the Reapers, so your job won't be too difficult, Grunt. Tali," I nodded at my girlfriend, "the Quarians are more inclined to believe in the Reapers than most, but if you can convince the Admirals not to waste their strength and resources against the Geth then do so. And Legion, your people know the Reapers are real. You build as many ships and guns as the Geth are capable of, because we will need all the power we can muster if we're going to win. And do everything you can to avoid war with the Quarians."

My message was clear and my friends all knew I was right. I had led them through the most hellish fights and situations that you could find in this galaxy, but I had always led them from the front and got them through to the other side alive. I had stayed true to my beliefs and been a Commander and a friend to all of them, and now I knew that I could rely on all of them to carry out this last order.

After my squad had been informed of the plan, I assembled the regular crew members of my ship. They had all been Cerberus at the start but had all come to realise how wrong the morals of the organisation were, that Humanity and the other species could work together closely and effectively to beat the odds. They were coming with the Normandy and I to the Alliance, for their own protection. Cerberus would be hunting them and I could barter with Admiral Hackett and Councillor Anderson to protect these brave men and women.

I promised my people that protection, and they were all prepared for what was to come. They may not have been down fighting the Collectors face to face with my team and I, but they had all signed on for a suicide mission which had almost cost them all their lives and served with honour, skill and admirable determination. The Alliance's opinion of Cerberus was understandably harsh, but there was no way that they were going to treat my crew unjustly. In Joker's case, they owed him a great deal for all his service as pilot of the SR1 and being the man who fired the killing shot at Sovereign during the battle of the Citadel. He was not about to be side-lined again.

With the short-term future of the Normandy and the men, women and AI onboard it set, all we could do was collect our thoughts and make our plans for what each of us was going to do. I retreated to my room for some much-needed rest while we travelled to Illium which was still a couple of days away. The atmosphere on the ship was quiet but satisfied, nobody onboard doubted that we had pulled off the impossible and saved countless millions of lives with all the good work that we had done, but now we were finally at the end of our journey.

I was glad to see Tali in my cabin when I arrived. Of course, "my" cabin had really become "our" cabin after we had stopped Project Overlord. She looked over at me when I came in and I went to sit next to her on the couch.

"So that's it then," she said, "we'll all be going our separate ways soon."

"Yeah," I said sadly, "I'm not going to like seeing them all disappear. It'll be like losing my family…"

"But not forever," Tali said, stroking my cheek, "you said that we will be brought together again in our war against the Reapers."

"In our war for survival," I stated. I pushed the thoughts from my head and got up off of the couch and went over to the bedside drawer to retrieve something that Liara had given to me just before I left her at Hagalaz,

"I have something I want to give you, Tali," I told her as I went back to her side.

"What?" she asked and I could tell that there was a surprised smile behind her mask.

I held out the pair of dog tags for her to see, their reflection plain to see on Tali's helmet as she looked at them, wondering what their significance was.

"These were my dog tags from way back when I was just a plain old Alliance Marine. These tags saw me through the Blitz on Elysium, a dozen small skirmishes and through all of our missions against Saren and Sovereign. They're from before Cerberus, before the Collectors, before I… died…"

"When you sacrificed yourself for me," Tali quickly added as she realised that these tags were of extreme personal importance to me.

"I was wearing these when we first met," I told her, "and now, before we reach Illium, I want you to have them."

Tali wanted me to put them around her neck and took off her helmet, hood and undid the top of her suit and slowly unveiled her soft shoulders. I ran my fingers through her silky hair and down her neck, the sensation that her skin made me feel was more pleasurable than anything else I had experienced in life.

When the chain was fastened and the tags rested in between her barely covered breasts, Tali took them in her palm, reading over my name again and again.

"Commander Scott Alexander Gardner," she read aloud, "service number, three-zero-zero-five, zero-eight-three-five."

"That's me," I said as I clasped my hands around hers, "but there's a… catch that comes with you having these tags."

"What?" her lilac eyes met my blue ones.

"One day in the future I'll be wanting these back. So that means…"

"That we will just have to see each other again," she leaned in closer to me and I could smell her alluring scent wash over me.

"No matter what stands between us," I said to her, "no matter how dark things get. I will be there for you again, one day. This is just something that I have to do."

Tali let my tags fall from her hands back to her chest again and finished removing her envirosuit before turning her attention to removing my clothes. I lay on my back on the couch and kissed her lovingly as her hands made quick work of my buttons and zips. Soon both of us lay together as naked as the day we were born. My hand came to rest over her heart and I felt it pound hard inside her chest as she lay over me, her beautiful body inseparable from mine. This was where Tali and I belonged, in blissful peace together with the heavenly sight of the universe all around us.

Tali motioned for me to sit up and straddled my lap, hovering her sex just above my hardened member. Our mouths closed together as she lowered herself onto me, causing her to moan longingly into our kiss. Gently rotating her hips, she pressed her body as close to mine as possible and I enveloped her in my arms. My hands stroked her back, my mouth moved to place affectionate kisses down her neck and along her collar bone. She pushed her chest up to give me easier access to her breasts while she moaned in pleasure.

I was beginning to thrust up into Tali now, making her crumble against me as the waves of euphoria washed over her. Soft lips caressed my neck and her hands gripped my shoulders like vices. The sensation of touch, real touch without the emulators in her suit, was still such a sacred treasure for my Quarian love and I wanted to give her everything she had ever desired. I ran my fingers along her toned back down to her backside, where they took a firm hold. Tali, feeling electrified by the experience, repositioned so that she was squatting over my lap rather than kneeling. That way, she had a better range of motion when she lowered herself back down, losing herself in the feeling of me sliding inside her.

These moments were so precious, memories both of us would carry until the end. Tali rapidly increased her pace, moving up and down my length faster and faster until I was barely holding together. I moved my hands to support her rear as she bounced herself continuously, bringing herself closer to climax. I finished first, but Tali was so close and her face so flushed with joy and arousal that I kept going and met her hips with my own. With a squeal of sweet release, Tali climaxed and sank down on top of me, our heaving chests pressed against one another.

"I love you more than I could ever describe," the beautiful Quarian woman whispered in my ear. I kissed her and stood, carrying her to the bed while my shaft remained inside her for just a minute longer. Laying her down and positioning myself next to her, closed our lips together again before telling her,

"You're the only one for me, Tali. I've never loved another woman like I love you."

As we both lay side by side, the tips of our noses occasionally brushed each other and our breathing steadily grew slower. I dreaded seeing her leave the Normandy. I realised now more than ever how hard I would find it to cope without her. I had no mission to focus on and so she was all my mind could fixate on. However, as I thought more and more about Tali, I realised that all the memories that I had of her were good, heart-warming ones that would serve to drive me onwards, make me want to get through each and every coming day until I could see her again. Tali saw me smiling and asked what was going on in my head,

"I'm just thinking of all the time we've spent together. You know… when we weren't getting shot at by Geth or mercs or Collectors…"

"That doesn't leave much time in between," she giggled.

"We do have unique lives, don't we?" I chuckled back.

"I'll miss you, you know that?" she said, "all you've been through and you're still the strong, brave and dedicated man that rescued me from Saren's assassins back on the Citadel. You came through death itself to find me again, I wouldn't be complete without you, Scott."

"I've had you with me the entire time," I replied, "there is no Scott without Tali. I love you Tali, and I want you to remember that while we're apart."

"I will. And I want you to remember that I will always be waiting for you when you're… a guest of the Alliance."

"Oh, I won't forget," I smiled.

"It will be strange being back on the Flotilla this time around," Tali said as her thoughts turned to home, "with my father gone, the Admirals will still be bickering about what to do."

"Maybe they'll ask you to fill his spot on the Board," I said to her, "Admiral Tali'Zorah."

"No… no," she thought about it for a moment, "I'm too young to be an Admiral…"

"But no one else on the Migrant Fleet has the kind of experience you do. If you were a hero before for defeating Saren and the Geth, then you'll be absolutely invaluable to the future of your people now."

"You think so?" Tali questioned me, "they put me on trial and almost exiled me…"

"Because of a personal argument between themselves, not directly because of you. You'll see, once you get back to your people it won't be long before the leaders of the Quarians come to you for advice and guidance," I grazed her cheek with my fingers, "and I don't think they could find anyone better in the galaxy to help them."

"Thank you, Scott. If you believe in me, then I can believe in myself too," she said.

Tali and I got under the bed cover and lay together as one and went to sleep. The usual nightmares played themselves over in my head all night long and I know that I woke up a couple of times through the night. Thankfully, I was able to look at Tali's peaceful face and drift away again, dreams of a normal life able to infiltrate their way into my mind through all the hell I had seen in my years. Had it been worth it? Absolutely. I would give all to safeguard the galaxy and all the species that lived within against the threat of the Reapers, and I had to inspire Humanity to do the same.

People say many things are impossible, but I had proved three times over that they were only impossible until proven otherwise. I had made it to Ilos through the lost Mu Relay, I had come back from the dead and then been to the galactic core to battle and defeat a most dangerous and foul enemy. The vision that marked me when I touched the Prothean Beacon back on Eden Prime showed the utter destruction of the entire Prothean civilisation at the hands of the Reapers. Saren had thought it impossible to defeat the Reapers, and my next great challenge was to disprove his assertions. If I did fail, however, it would not be without one hell of a fight. If I was to die, then I would die on my feet as a free man.

The city of Nos Astra enveloped the Normandy once more as she docked and my squad, my group of heroes, my brothers and sisters in arms, disembarked from the frigate for what could be the last time. I went with them, of course, to say a heartfelt farewell to all of them. Miranda, the one who had brought me back from the void to serve a purpose and protect the innocent, told me that she was proud to have served with me and was glad to have seen the truth of the Illusive Man's intentions. She would definitely not go back to Cerberus, but she did not disclose what she was planning to do either. However, I did hear mention of her sister that she looked after in secret, and I assumed that she would work to ensure her safety in the meantime.

Jacob had shown me that he was a brilliant soldier through all of our endeavours and I was glad to call him my friend. He was aware of the stain that being part of Cerberus had left on him and when I asked him if he would return to the Alliance he refused, claiming that he would be dishonouring the uniform if he did. He planned to go to Earth and find somewhere quiet to contemplate his next move for a while and I wished him luck.

I thanked Samara for her service to my team and I released her from her oath to me. No words were spoken between us about our mission to kill Morinth, but I could see it in her eyes that she wanted to thank me for helping her with such a personal matter. She was going to return to Asari Space and continue on her lifelong mission to root out injustices and seek Ardat-Yakshi in the remote corners of the galaxy. To have known such an esteemed and skilful warrior was an honour for me and I made it clear to her just how important her part in our war against the Collectors had been.

Zaeed would return to his mercenary role and was set to head off to fulfil a contract he had obtained a while back. It was something to do with taking back a refinery from a band of mercs on the planet Zorya, but Zaeed had trouble seeing the importance of such a small job considering what he had been through with the Normandy. He knew that he wanted to do more to help the fight against the Reapers when they came, but for now he still needed to work. He assured me that when the Reapers invaded, all I had to do was seek him out and he would join me in the galactic war, fight for something more important and bigger than credits.

Mordin stated that he was going to return to Sur'Kesh and push his government as hard as he could to be better prepared for what was coming. He still had many high-level contacts from when he had worked on the Genophage modification project, and promised to pester and badger them as best he could. Also, when asked if he would rethink his outlook on the whole Genophage issue, he told me that serving with me had offered him a new perspective that no amount of simulations could ever have made him see.

Mordin had Maelon's data stored on his person and told me that he would work to find out just where Maelon had been heading with his research without copying the barbaric methods exhibited by the scarred young Salarian back on Tuchanka. Mordin had been an extremely important part of our mission against the Collectors. Indeed, the surviving population of Horizon owed their lives to Mordin and his countermeasure that stopped the Seekers from going after us. The eccentric Salarian genius was very proud of his service and hoped for us to work together again someday.

Thane's future plans were of total surprise to me when he disclosed that he had a son, who he had not seen for many years. His disease had the Drell assassin dwelling on his mortality and he told me that while he had removed many bad people from the universe, he had only added one good one. He had contacted his son as soon as I had told the squad that our journey was coming to an end and was going to meet him on the Citadel. Thane did not have much time left and he wanted to spend it with his last family.

Thane had had a hard life and deserved peace. I hoped I would meet Thane again before his disease eventually killed him and he told me that, only because of the crew of the Normandy and I, had he been brave enough to reach out to his son. A son who could very easily have rejected him after all these years apart. I was glad for Thane, he was a good man and had become a very warm and caring friend to most of us on board once I had convinced him to stop hiding himself away.

Kasumi said nothing of what she was going to do, as was her way, but I got the feeling that there was something very personal which she was intending to take care of. As with Zaeed, Kasumi simply did what she did to make a living and for the love of it but now, after having fought and served beside me on missions of galactic importance, she felt the need to do something grander, do something more than steal for employers. I joked that she could turn her attention back towards Cerberus and relieve them of their best and most expensive tech and hand it over to the more honest organisations in the galaxy like the Alliance or the Council. At the mention, I suddenly saw a spark of excitement in Kasumi's eyes. I suspected that Cerberus would be inexplicably losing some valuable equipment over the coming months.

When I approached Grunt, I received a friendly slap on the back that almost crushed my ribcage, but I laughed it off and gave it back as best I could. The Krogan was going back to Tuchanka and would report directly to my old friend Wrex. I hoped that the Krogan species as a whole would start preparations for the war of a lifetime, something they would no doubt relish. Urdnot Grunt was honoured to have served under me as his Battlemaster and told me that, as thanks for getting him into some of the most brutal battles the galaxy had seen in hundreds of years, he would do everything he could to help our cause against the Reapers. Grunt was also happy when I reminded him that there had been many breeding requests for him after we had taken down the Thresher Maw together and he chuckled as he thought of the rewards waiting for him back on his homeworld.

Jack did not know what the hell she was going to do. For her entire life, she had been on the run from Cerberus and had only ever found herself in the company of scum and thugs who wanted to use her for her biotic powers, among other things. Now, however, Miranda explained that she had scrubbed all data on Jack from Cerberus intelligence databases as a token of thanks for her part on the mission. It would take years for Cerberus to track her down again.

Jack was not used to being in the company of honest and honourable sorts that made up my team and she did not have anywhere to go. She was as tough as they came and was more than used to looking out for herself, but if I could have her love for battle and destruction on my side when we went up against the Reapers, I would feel a lot better. We shared a laugh that she would fit right in with the Krogan on Tuchanka and that I could give my good friend Wrex a call. In as friendly a way as she had learned how, she told me where I could shove Tuchanka.

Garrus, my best friend and the only one who could compete with me for the title of "Top Sniper", was going to return to Palaven to raise as much of a fuss over the Reapers as he could. His father had been one of the best C-Sec agents back in his day and had made some high-level friends in his time. Garrus had become acquainted with some of them over his own years in the Turian military and C-Sec. He assured me that even if they locked him up for being a raving lunatic, he would fight to get the Turian Hierarchy ready for the Reaper invasion. Garrus had been with me since the Sovereign days and was not about to stop fighting now, for which I admired him to no end. We shook hands and Garrus looked me in the eyes and said,

"I'll see you when the galaxy's a lot more dangerous. You were born to fight this war Scott, but you'll need me along to bring some style."

Tali and I had said our goodbyes a few times by now, but there was no way we were just leaving things with just a few words. The Quarians were more likely to believe in the threat of the Reapers than the other races, but Tali would still have her work cut out for her as she moved to get them to prepare the Migrant Fleet for the war which would, without a doubt, need the strength of their fifty-thousand strong fleet.

Tali told me she was wearing my dog tags around her neck and that she would never take them off until the day I came back to her. I told her that the pictures she had taken of us would never leave my person and that they would get me through what was coming to me. As the rest of the squad said their goodbyes to each other we received many puzzled looks from passers-by. Curious Asari gazed on in wonder at what was going on as Tali and I threw ourselves into each other's arms. Tears were forming in my eyes as I touched my forehead to Tali's helmet,

"I've said it a thousand times by now," I whispered to my girlfriend, the foundation of my strength, "but I love you, Tali."

"I never get tired of hearing it," she said back, "I love you, Scott. We will see each other again!"

My heart felt like a lead weight in my chest as I watched them all walk away to arrange transportation to their respective destinations. I could not help the feeling that my ship felt very empty once back on board. The crew was still on board and despite the friendly relationship that I had built with all of them, they were not the ones who had been on Horizon with me, knee deep in Collectors. They were not the ones whose backs I had watched and who had protected my back when the enemies closed in all around us. They were my crew and they were my friends, but they were not quite like those who had fought alongside me.

The only remaining squad member was Legion, since I could not simply release him on Illium with the purpose of getting back to Geth Space. We were going to drop him on an unchartered world, where he would make contact with the Geth Consensus who would send a ship to collect my synthetic friend.

I sat with Legion in EDI's AI core where he spent much of his time communicating digitally with the Normandy's AI.

"Gardner-Commander," he said to me, "we never thought that organics could ever cooperate with Geth. Our experience with Normandy has given us new perspective on you and your people."

"Do you think there's a chance for peace between organics and the Geth?" I asked, "what about the Quarians?"

"We spoke at length with Creator-Zorah about this topic. While she desires peace, she judges that it will be impossible to make the Creator race come to the same consensus."

Impossible. There was that bloody word again,

"There has to be a way," I said, "if the Geth and Quarians go to war, or even if the Geth remain isolated from the rest of the galaxy, both parties will suffer greatly when the Reapers turn up. I know the Geth oppose the Reapers Legion and I trust you, but there has to be a way to eradicate this rift between our species."

"Affirmative," the Geth responded.

"Will your people believe that the Reaper invasion is coming?"

"With data gathered during the campaign against the Collectors, the Geth Consensus has already begun preparations for their arrival," Legion responded calmly. It was the best news I had heard in a while and I clapped him on his metal shoulder,

"With what you've just told me, I wish that all our species were just a little bit more like the Geth."

"We believe that Gardner-Commander has offered us a compliment," Legion looked at me, his face plates shifting in contemplation.

"I sure did Legion. It's been a unique experience having you fight with us, and a good experience at that. You think we'll bump into one another one day?"

"Unknown," was the short answer. As with all of my close friends that I had made during my time on both Normandy ships, I hoped to one day have Legion fighting by my side again, but for now it was enough to know that the reportedly considerable Geth fleet and army were in full-scale mobilisation for all out war when it came. At least someone would be.

We dropped Legion on an unchartered planet that was nearest to the system's Mass Relay, where the Geth assured us that his people could send a ship to pick it up. I worried that patrols of Asari military ships would detect any Geth ship trying to enter the system, but Legion told me that that would not happen. Legion did not state it outright, but I suspected that maybe the Normandy SR1 had not been the first ship in the galaxy with stealth technology, and perhaps the Geth were farther advanced than we were.

Before Legion left the ship, he turned to me and held out his hand the way I had when I had first activated him after our trip to the derelict Reaper. I shook it gladly and could not help but pat the engraved SR2 on his chest. Legion said,

"Good luck, Gardner-Commander."

"Acknowledged, Legion," I smiled back. Just like that my squad, my fellowship, had decisively finished and there was only one place left for me to go. Earth.

"It's time, Joker," I said to him when I arrived back at the bridge, "take us home."

Knowing what was waiting for us when we got back to the birthplace of Humanity, Joker took a sharp breath before punching in the commands,

"Coordinates are set and the crew is ready, Commander. All things considered, it'll be good to see Earth again," he said, trying to stay in high spirits.

We all wondered what the future held, and each of us would be lying if we said that our hopes were not very high. Yet the thought of seeing Earth again, the home of Humanity, was a pleasant thought none-the-less. We were going home.

In my mind I pictured my humble little home town. I thought fondly of the pleasure yachts in the harbour, the smell of the fish and chip shop, the calls of the seagulls as they swooped around looking for some discarded chips to scavenge. I heard in my head the sound of the waves smashing against the harbour walls when the sea was rough and the spray that they sent spouting into the air. I remembered the freshness of the crisp, salty sea-air.

I saw the red door of the home I had grown up in and where mum and dad still lived. I hoped I would get a chance to see them, but like all things, I had no idea how my future would turn out. I focused on the positives of returning to my home planet and made myself smile slightly. Taking a calming breath and letting it out slowly, I said to Joker,

"That it will Joker. That it will."