Chapter 19! Yes! I can get my head out of the past and start a new plot now! Shepard is now a fully rounded character! Or at least a more rounded one! Yippee! Enough celebrating, let's get back to the story. Mass Effect is owned by Bioware and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Ch.19: The Rubble

Khar'shan

Commander Shepard

Shepard gazed out of the cargo bay doors, shaking his head at the sight; the Batarian home world of Khar'shan lay before him, covered in rubble and ash. It looked far worse than Earth, Palaven, and Thessia combined; everything had been destroyed by the Reapers. As the Normandy landed Shepard saw a small tent village; they were supplying these few Batarian survivors with food, water, and construction equipment so they could rebuild. Even if they could rebuild Khar'shan, however, their civilization would never be the same.

The Normandy landed and Shepard walked out of the cargo bay and onto the surface of Khar'shan. Balak, the current leader of the shattered Batarian Hegemony, walked up to Shepard with a small group of Batarians and a slight glare.

"Shepard."

Shepard glared back. "Balak."

Balak shook his head and gestured to his men. They began moving forward and started lifting the supplies out of the Normandy. Balak then turned to back to Shepard. "Tell the Salarians we're grateful for their assistance."

Shepard nodded. "And what should I tell the captain of the ship that brought these supplies?"

Balak grumbled and looked down. "Tell him that his assistance is also appreciated…"

Shepard nodded again. "Good, I'm sure he'd be happy to hear that. I assume the Batarians won't be shooting asteroids at any planets anytime soon."

Balak sighed and continued to look at the ground in defeat. "No, we will rebuild and assist the other species." Balak looked up with a glare. "Happy, Shepard?"

Shepard smiled. "I'm just happy you haven't tried to kill me yet. And remember to chose a senator soon, the Galactic Senate wants a Batarian among them ASAP."

Balak grumbled again. "We have already chosen a senator, all he needs is transport to the Citadel."

"I can offer to transport him there myself, the Normandy would keep him safe."

Balak grumbled as he opened his omnitool and typed a few words. Soon a small group of Batarians began walking towards the Normandy.

Balak continued to glare at Shepard. "His name is Kelpin Her'doh, you might have heard that name before..."

Shepard's eyes widened. "Her'doh? Is he... related to her?"

Balak chuckled darkly. "Yes, he was her brother. The brother of a Batarian you failed volunteered to become councilor. He's always been politically minded, and he became famous after you killed his sister. Had he joined the military he might have had a promising career, but I suppose everything has worked out well for him now."

The group of Batarians then arrived and looked at Shepard. One Batarian in traditional Batarian political garments walked up to Shepard; he must be Kelpin.

Kelpin reached out his hand. "Hello, Commander Shepard. My name is Kelpin, and I have been told you have offered safe transport to the Citadel."

Shepard shook Kelpin's hand. "Yes, Balak said you needed transport, and there is no safer vessel than the Normandy."

Kelpin nodded. "Good, as long as you're done trying to kill us off I would gladly accept."

Shepard rolled his eyes. "As I have said before, the Bahak system had to be destroyed to slow the Reapers down. I wasn't happy with what I did, and I tried to warn them, but it had to be done. We really need to stop living in the past."

Kelpin glared. "That wasn't the incident I was referring to, but I guess it's good to know just how many of my people you have killed." Kelpin sighed and shook his head. "This will help nothing, I am sorry I brought it up. I just... I assume Balak has told you of my sister?"

Shepard nodded and sighed. "Yes, and I am sorry. She didn't deserve her fate."

Kelpin smiled. "That's all I wanted to hear." He gestured to his guards. "I assume it will be ok for me to bring my bodyguards?"

Shepard nodded. "Of course."

Kelpin nodded back and walked onto the Normandy with his guards behind him. Shepard followed him, eventually showing him where he could stay. After a few minutes the rest of the Batarians finished unloading the cargo and the Normandy began to lift off. They now had a new mission: return to the Citadel with the Batarian senator.

20 minutes later

Shepard sat in his cabin looking at his terminal. He looked at his report one more time and pressed send. He was glad the Batarians had finally named a senator. 'Now all we need to do is find a smart Vorcha.' Shepard thought with a smile.

Shepard's omnitool beeped and he turned it on. He opened his alerts and noticed the message; Garrus wanted to speak to him in the gun battery when he had a free moment. Shepard had nothing else to do for the moment, so he got up and walked to the elevator, wondering what Garrus wanted…

Normandy SR-2: Gun Battery

Shepard opened the door to the gun battery and walked inside. Garrus was typing at his console, but quickly turned around when he heard the door open.

"Hey Shepard, sounds like we're babysitting politicians again, huh?" Garrus said with a turian smile.

Shepard chuckled. "Yep, more of the usual. So what did you need, Garrus?"

Garrus turned back to his console and began typing again. "You came here faster than I expected, but I won't complain. I wanted to talk about this 'best man' thing."

Shepard crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "What, don't you want to do it anymore?"

Garrus chuckled. "Of course I still want to, Shepard. I just need to know when it's going to happen, my dad and sister wanted to come, and I don't have a date to tell them."

"Is that all you need to know, Garrus?" Shepard asked curiously. "You could have just told me that in your message, you know."

Garrus continued typing. "I have something else I wanted to talk about as well, but right now I need to know if you've set a date for the wedding."

Shepard sighed. "No I haven't, Garrus. I don't really think it would be a good idea to do it too soon, maybe waiting a few months..."

Garrus cut Shepard off. "A few months? Shepard, don't you understand how important this could be if you went through with this right now? Seeing the Savior of the Galaxy getting married would not only fill you with happiness, but it would fill everyone with hope. They might actually be able to accept the Reapers are gone now! They would be able to truly celebrate for the first time in months! They would realize they don't have to be afraid anymore!"

Shepard chuckled. "You make it sound political, Garrus." Shepard shook his head. "But you're probably right, sooner might be better than later. And I could throw that party Joker wanted."

Garrus nodded and smiled. "See, everyone wins if you do it now."

Shepard sighed. "Fine, I'll talk to Tali and we'll get it set up. I'm sure people would be willing to help us, so we should be able to have it in a few days. I'm sure glad the Citadel didn't blow up, that would've been horrible."

"Yeah, just think about how many people were trapped on it? Millions of deaths... of course, it would've been worse if the Mass Relays blew up, now that would've destroyed the galaxy, and we'd all have been screwed."

Shepard nodded. "Yeah, I think we got off lucky, it could have been much worse."

Garrus continued to type on his console. After a moment of silence Shepard spoke again.

"So, what was the other thing you wanted to talk about Garrus?"

Garrus sighed. "Well... it's a... personal matter, Shepard..."

"And?" Shepard asked.

"Remember Doctor Michel?" Garrus asked as he continued typing.

"Of course, if I remember correctly she gave you some Turian chocolate the last time we spoke to her." Shepard smirked.

"Yeah, she did..." Garrus shrugged. "I still don't understand why you and Tali think that's such a big deal."

"Maybe whatever happened has something to do with what we were both thinking." Shepard chuckled. "So, what about Doctor Michel?"

"She sent me a message, asking me if we could... meet up, next time we're on the Citadel." Garrus explained. "Normally I would think nothing of it, but there are all these... what do humans call them? Emoticons? I don't know, but it made me feel like we're two teenage girls talking about boys or something."

Shepard laughed. "I doubt a grown woman thinks of you as her bff, Garrus. Maybe there's a different message in there you're not seeing..."

"Like?" Garrus asked, genuinely confused.

"Really?" Shepard looked at him for a moment, and realized he still didn't understand. "I hope she lays it out for you when you go meet her, then. I'm not going to spoil your fun."

"Fun? I don't know what you're talking about, Shepard." Garrus shook his head and turned back to his work. "It's not important, I really should finish these calibrations. Talk later?"

"Alright Garrus, see you later." Shepard said as he exited the gun battery and let his clueless friend continue his work...

Normandy SR-2

Javik

Javik stood quietly with his hands on the trough, looking into the gently swirling water. His writings were still opened on his terminal, but he didn't feel like writing right now. The Liara primitive had opened an old wound that he never imagined he even had... yet, he was somehow glad she had. Was this what people felt during peace? Is this why the Commander fought so hard for his friends? Was this... what love felt like?

Javik splashed the water with his hand and turned away. Love was a pointless emotion for a warrior like himself! It went against everything he believed! To think at one time he may have had it... It made him wonder if, perhaps... he could have it again...

He turned to the Echo Shard, resisting the temptation to touch it. If he did, he could relive the happy memories he clearly had, and see whoever this mystery woman was. He wouldn't have to wonder who she was... or associate these new feelings with the Asari who accidentally reawakened them...

'Let old ghosts rest.' The voice of the Commander said in his head, and he turned away. He was right, it was not worth the pain... He had sealed those memories away for a reason. He growled, then sat at his terminal. He would continue writing these notes for Liara, and would stop connecting these foreign emotions to her. They would only cause him pain...

Author's endnote: Ah, build up. Now we're back to the key plot points! Batarians on the Normandy and Shepard and Tali's wedding! What's going to happen next? An intelligent Vorcha? Some more action? Or a beautiful, long-lasting peace with rainbows, bunnies, and the Shepard family living quietly on Rannoch? Come back next chapter to find out, and as always any reviews, favorites, follows, etc. are appreciated!