The Invisible Pretender: Thank you! ME:2 is my fav specifically because of the loyalty missions. It was so much fun getting to delve deeper into all the characters so for me it's going to be even more fun doing the same with my own little twists of flavor!
zealot24: Yeah there was so much that I loved about ME that changed with ME:2. The ammo system adds a new little wrinkle for sure, but I won't lie the changes in sound was what threw me the most lol. I've played all of the single player DLC for all three games. Citadel on ME:3 was by far my favorite!
darkerego: Looking forward to providing it ;)
Never Morrison: Happy to hear it's leaving an impression! What drew me to the games initially was the development of the characters, and tongue in cheek humor that punctuated the seriousness of the Reapers. If I can recreate even a tenth of that feeling I'll be a happy man! Glad to have you along.
BulgarianBarbarian: Thank you! I know I tend to upload a bit slow, but still chugging away. If a few things fall into place for me here I'll have some more free time to devote to it. Believe it or not the relationship I'm building between those two is inspired by the relationship I have with my wife. Without the domestic abuse of course ;P
*HUMAN COLONY - FREEDOM'S PROGRESS*
'This has got to be a dream.' Tali thought to herself fully expecting to wake up aboard the Neema any moment. She could feel the clammy moisture in her gloves and prickling along her back which seemed to discredit the notion that this was all just some petty trick of the mind. Yet at the same time the situation was far too outlandish to ever be real. He was gone. Gone for over two years in fact. Not just gone, but dead. So dead that almost no traces of him had been found after extensive searching by multiple Council, and Alliance expeditions. Yet she'd seen him, spoken to him, as if coming face to face with a ghost from the beyond. He'd known everything the real Shepard would know. His mannerisms were the same, his body language and inflection. For all intents and purposes he was the genuine article brought back to life. However that notion was sorely at odds with her own understanding of the universe, and how mortality worked. Memory of the last two years flickered back to the fore of her mind to replay like a depressing slideshow as she advanced through the Human Colony of Freedom's Progress with her team looking for one of their own people.
Commander Kraven Matthew Shepard, first Human Spectre, and the hero of the Citadel had died in the sky over Alchera over two years ago. The Normandy had been blasted to dust by some unknown enemy leaving her surviving crew drifting in space to wait for Alliance vessels to heed their distress beacons. Upon returning to Council Space the squad Shepard had brought together had disbanded almost immediately. There had been a rather spartan memorial service for him that had hardly done him justice before the heroic exploits of he and his team were quietly brushed under the rug by both the Council, and Human Alliance.
Before she could even begin to process the grief weighing on her heart over losing the man she had considered to be her closest friend, as well as saying goodbye to the rest of her shipmates, she was shipped back to the fleet aboard an aging cargo freighter. Prior to leaving she had experienced an extremely bittersweet parting with her team which only served to highlight how different she'd become since embarking on her pilgrimage.
Instead of being excited to return to her own people carrying one of the most valuable pilgrimage gifts she could have possibly acquired, she was apprehensive and nervous. Those feelings were only compounded as the small group said goodbye to one another at Chora's Den. The place where they'd all started their journey together.
"Take good care of yourself Tali." Garrus had said. Although his words had been warm, the strain in his subharmonics and the haunted look in his eyes told of something festering within. Herself not included, he'd seemed to be the one hardest hit by the Commander's passing, and although he did a relatively good job of keeping his emotions hidden, anyone that really knew him could see he was suffering inside.
Regardless of what festered underneath he'd placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder and graced her with a rare Turian smile. Then he'd nodded to the others and headed off to board a ship bound for the unknown. Not long after Liara had awkwardly said her farewells to the group before excusing herself without mention of where she was going. Then it was Kaidan and Ashley's turn. Unsurprisingly the pair decided to leave together as both had been ordered to return to active duty in the Alliance. Tali, and Wrex had given each other knowing looks as the two walked away knowing that wasn't the only reason they were leaving together.
"Think they'll wait to hold hands until they're sure we can't see them?" He guffawed before throwing back a glass of glowing blue liquid.
She wanted to share in his mirth, but just couldn't bring herself to even grin. She knew Wrex felt the same loss as the rest of them, but coped with it in a completely different way. After a long time of not saying a word to one another she finally decided it was finally time to go her own way.
"Goodbye Wrex. It's been great working with…" She started to say as she stood to leave.
He set his glass down as he hauled his substantial bulk up out of his seat and waved away whatever she was going to say. "None of that crap. You just keep yourself safe out there kiddo."
To her surprise he took her by the shoulder as gently as an eight hundred pound Krogan could, and pulled her into a bear hug. "Y-You too." She stammered before the shock wore off and she returned the hug. Albeit only about a quarter of a hug since her arms couldn't even reach half the distance needed to meet on the other side. "I'm going to miss you."
"Ha. Always were a softy. Chin up girl." He laughed before finally releasing her and holding her at arms length. "You'll do just fine."
She started to smile as a single tear pooled at the corner of her eye to delicately trail down her cheek. "Stay out of trouble you big Bosh'Tet."
"No promises." He chuckled as he pushed past her to lumber out of the club.
She had stood frozen to the spot irrationally hoping all of them would come noisily piling back in as if it was all some elaborate ruse, but the sickeningly sweet scenario never materialized. After what felt like an eternity she finally convinced herself that it was all really happening, and she'd better get a move on before her passage back to the fleet left without her.
The journey back to her own people had been spent in anguish as she replayed every aspect of the attack that had destroyed her home over the past year. Self doubts, and what ifs plagued her every waking hour as she desperately tried to work out how she could have possibly saved the Normandy, and it's Captain. Yet despite her best efforts no earth shattering epiphany presented itself that would vindicate her crippling self incrimination. Even as she stepped aboard the ship where she'd been born, and lived the entirety of her childhood, all she could think of was how there must have been something she could have done.
That was until she found herself standing before her father. All other thoughts scattered from her mind like frightened birds taking flight as she mechanically presented the OSD containing the sensitive Geth data Shepard had collected for her. Overwhelming anxiety had squeezed her heart till it almost burst as she'd watched her father, Admiral Rael'Zorah, pull up the OSD of her find on a data pad to browse through it's contents. She could almost hear the detached analysis he was about to give, and advice on how best to present it to one of the lesser ship Captains in the fleet.
His actual reaction had utterly caught her off guard. After only minutes plumbing the depths of the OSD's data troves he'd excitedly congratulated her on uncovering such a monumental find. He'd even come to within inches of actually hugging her for several moments before turning back to his bench to retrieve the data pad. After that he'd whisked her out so he could make the preparations for the ceremony of presenting her gift to her new Captain.
Days later after a whirlwind tour through several of the most prestigious ships in the flotilla she found herself clad in a brand new enviro suit that her Father had had shipped to the fleet from a manufacturer on Illium. She'd stood in the atrium of the Neema to present her gift to it's Captain as her father proudly looked on. He'd even seemed like he genuinely missed her which was completely out of character for him. Everything she could have ever wanted as a child was unfolding before her eyes, and yet despite all of her youthful dreams coming true she felt nothing but hollow emptiness.
The things that used to give her life purpose somehow lacked the value they once held. She was ecstatic that he father had been so happy to have her back on the Flotilla, but even that wasn't enough to assuage the yawning pit that had settled in her heart. For two years she'd quietly wrestled with the spirit sapping void never daring to confide in anyone else about it. Especially not Rael lest the shocking shift in his demeanor toward her revert back to the cold indifference she'd endured growing up. The only thing that provided her with any relief was the numerous science, and recon expeditions she'd been assigned to carry out for the Admiralty.
It was a far cry from jetting around the galaxy on the trail of a dangerous rogue Spectre, but it gave her a respite from the suddenly uncomfortable closeness of the fleet. She even started to form superficial friendships with the men, and women assigned to be her escorts. Nothing she would call particularly deep, but enough to ease the cold loneliness on the darkest nights planet side. She'd even started to settle into a sort of rhythm as the days ticked by. She wasn't saving the galaxy from monsters that sought to destroy it, but she was doing good work that benefitted her people. It was enough that at some point she could see herself finally letting go of the past to move on toward her future.
That was until she'd seen the scarred, irritating, sympathetic, cocky, beautiful face of the deceased Commander Shepard. In an instant all of the miserable memories, crippling depression, and endless soul searching came crashing down on her like a ton of bricks. She'd wanted to jump on him and cry her eyes out with euphoric joy while simultaneously squeezing the life out of him for putting her through what he did. In the end she'd settled on the gut instinct of busting him in the chops that almost seemed to take control of her body before the action even registered in her brain. Then after seeing the pained expression he wore she was nearly overcome with the desire to apologize and gently caress the swelling her fist had caused.
As her team deftly weaved their way between Human prefabs she had to keep herself from screaming in irritation at her own helpless confusion. She'd never experienced feelings that were so contradictory, and so had no way to know how best to handle them. Even as security mechs appeared to hinder their progress, and bullets started to fly she was still trying to work out exactly what she was feeling. Fortunately countless hours of practice in combat situations took over for her while her brain was busy sorting through the parade of lunacy wreaking havoc on her psyche.
At least until the Ymir anti-infantry mech stomped into view, and opened up on her team. Streams of slugs from it's twin mass accelerator cannons, and clusters of rockets poured forth like a savage tidal wave as Quarians scattered in all directions.
"Keelah! The hell is a fringe colony doing with a monster like that?" Prazza shouted over the roar of unrelenting firepower. "Veetor's got to be close! We'll draw it's fire Tali, you go on ahead and try to get him to shut it down!"
It didn't feel right to abandon her team to fight without her, but she recognized the possibility that none of them would be walking away if she stayed. "Keep your heads down! I'll find him as soon as I can!" She called as she backtracked through an alley to skirt around the massive automated colossus.
As she did a thought occurred to her. She opened a channel to Shepard, and his team while trying to ignore the sounds of combat dwindling behind her. "Shepard?"
It took a few moments but his soothing voice drifted back. "Go ahead Tali."
"There's a YMIR mech here! My people are keeping it occupied, but I don't know how long they can hold out while I'm trying to find Veetor!" She frantically called back.
"Say no more. Send me their coordinates, and we'll lend a hand."
'No hesitation whatsoever. He's definitely my Shepard.' She thought to herself as she sent her team's position to his omni-tool. The fact that she possessively thought of him as hers was not lost on her. "Sent. Keep yourself safe."
"You mean don't die again?" He quipped.
She shook her head even though he couldn't see her. " Too soon Shepard." She ducked underneath a set of stairs to escape detection by a pair of LOKI mechs as they shuffled past.
"Fair enough. The sooner you get your man to flip the switch the better. YMIRs are no joke."
She stealthily slipped out from under her makeshift cover to continue her search of the area. "You don't know the half of it. They upgraded them with better shields, and most carry rockets now."
The line was silent for almost thirty seconds. "Well… Shit. Glad you told me, but I almost wish you hadn't."
"Just keep yourself safe." She forcefully reiterated.
She could almost hear his cocky smile on the other end. "Yes ma'am."
Biotic detonations, and multiple explosions ripping through the night air loudly announced the Commander's arrival into the fray several moments later as Tali desperately scurried from one prefab to another in search of her elusive quarry. At last as she nearly doubled over from constant running the colony's admin center came into view. She said a silent prayer of protection for Shepard, and her people as she broke into a sprint toward the building. Just as her foot touched the ground in her third stride frantic screams broke over the radio. A split second later they were drowned out by a titanic boom that rocked the ground so hard she went tumbling to the dirt. Her heart sank as every fiber of her body told her to run back toward the mushroom cloud swirling into the cold night sky.
"Sh-Shepard?"