Chapter 26: Love and War
I would like to thank everyone who has enjoyed my story so far and especially those who wrote a positive review about it so others can know that it's a great story: it really means a lot to me.
I would like to give special thanks to "Karamafan12" for giving me ideas on this chapter so I can make it more enjoyable for you guys, and I would like to give special thanks to "coduss" for being such a great person to chat with, and get feedback on ideas from.
Thank you all for reading and enjoying this story and motivating me to make this into a potential hobby to have. I'm sorry if I get vague on certain details or events: I don't really want to go into detail on things that would look and feel like cut and paste of cannon with minor alterations. This will not be the case for a lot of events: It's just that we are getting to the real meat of the story, the real "Crucks of the situation" as Sheogorath would say. I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Tali was talking with her mother and father near a field of grass that was being plowed to make room for farming while was away and catching them up on current things and told them that she was getting married. Rael and Kana could already guess who the man was that she was marrying and they were very supportive and proud of her. Malen soon appeared behind her with calm and collected domineer. Tali turned around and hugged her beloved with glee written in her steps and movements.
Tali:" Did you finish what you needed to do?" She asked as she released him.
Malen:" Yes, but there are other things that I need to do. I would like to make the preparations today for the wedding, and have it tomorrow at dawn."
Tali:" That's perfect Love! So what kind of preparations do you have in mind?"
Malen:" I was hoping that you and some other quarian workers could set up the small arch and reception area with food and drink, but I will help with that if it is needed, while I go and invite guests that are not quarians since they will be somewhere else besides Rannoch."
Tali:" That sounds great! Just a question on your opinion: Who do you think should be the one to wed us?"
Malen:" I think Raan would be the most appropriate one since she has known your family for a long time."
Tali:" I couldn't agree more. I'll see you when you get back!"
Malen:" I'll try not to take too long." He says as he opens a portal into Oblivion and teleports away.
Malen reappears in front a staircase that leads to a palace: two chrome obelisks sit on either side of the bottom of the staircase, in the little grass areas next to the stone walkway.
Malen:" Let's hope he is in the mood for a party and to repay a favor later on." He thought to himself as he made his way inside the palace of New Sheoth.
The Saints and Seducers did not impede his progress because he did not break any of the Mad God's rules when he entered his realm, that and he was technically invited to visit a little while back.
Malen entered the palace and made his way down the small walkway with split color carpet on it. On the far end was the Mad God himself sitting on his throne of Madness. When Malen was in a few feet of Sheogorath, the Madgod greeted him.
Sheogorath:" Well look who's here, You! How about that! Did you really have to get offended when I called you an expendable little mortal that you decided to pull a me and become a brother of mine?! Anyways, what can I do for you brother?"
Malen bows his head in respect
Malen:" I was wondering if you would like to join me in a party of mine. I am getting married tomorrow."
Sheogorath:" A bit odd for a Prince to be that committed to someone, I mean Malacath had his son that I still have the head of "chuckles", and Molag just violates them and leaves them to endlessly suffer as an undead vampire. I always enjoy Meridia and Molag going at each other's throats. Sure I will come to your wedding brother, Just one question though. Will you be serving cheese there?"
Malen:" Yes" He answers as he mentally face palms himself.
Sheogorath:" GREAT! CHEESE FOR EVERYONE! And I mean it this time! It looks like you still have another question for me brother."
Malen:" I do. I would like to call in that small favor."
Sheogorath:" So long as it's not boring I will do it, just name it."
Malen:" I need you to protect a race called the Salarians in the realm that I'm getting married them. Salarians are amphibian like creatures with high pitched voices and high metabolisms. You can use what means you want to protect them, but I don't want you to push back the invading reapers, an organic/machine hybrid race, I need them to see the need to unite the other races, but still have hope that they will live through the coming war."
Sheogorath could read in between the lines of Malen's statement and found the burdens, and choices that would probably be made quite exhilarating since it could drive any sane hearted mortal quite mad.
Sheogorath:" HAHAHAHAHAHHHAHAHAHAHAHHA! I love it! Just call when you need me to start!"
Malen:" Thank you. Here is a portal behind me * summons a portal back to Rannoch*that will take you to where the wedding is being held. Please try not act too crazy when you're there."
Sheogorath:" We'll see about that. Let me just get Haskil to hold the fort while I'm gone. I just hope he does a better job than last time I left him in charge of things, I swear the trouble that Haskil lets happen while I'm away. I'll just get my luggage and I'm off."
Malen bows in respect again as he takes his leave through another portal that leads to another plain of oblivion. Malen went to the Colored Rooms and asked Meridia if she would like to attend his wedding which she agreed to do. Malen did the same thing for Azura who agreed to attend as well. Malen didn't think that the other Daedric Princesses, except Vaermina, would be good to invite to the party, Malen only invited Sheogorath because he knew that Sheogorath would be the most upset by not being invited to a party and he really needed him to do that favor for him.
Malen made his way back to the mass effect universe by teleporting himself onto the Normandy.
Shepard was a little busy trying to smooth things between the Terminus Systems and Citadel before the Reapers arrived and was have some luck with it, but not as much as he had hoped for. Shepard wanted to take a break from the political bullshit since he felt that it was driving him mad from all the questioning, nit picking, arguing, and other political crap that came with trying to smooth out political relations in the galaxy to help fight the reapers. His desire came in the form of Malen appearing on deck floor of the alliance retrofitted Normandy.
Malen invited each of the crew members to his wedding, though he did have a conversation with Vaermina and Shepard.
With Shepard:
Malen:" I need you to do something when the reapers arrive."
Shepard:" I already plan to do something when they get here *chuckles* but what did you have in mind?"
Malen:" I am not that well known in the galaxy, as such: I need you to broker some sort of peace agreement between the Krogan and Turians since are well known and respected by both parties. The Turian's need to see the need for the Krogan in this conflict and will probably, and unfortunately, would have to experience heavy loses before they see that need. The Krogans, whose representative will probably be Wrex, will most likely ask for a cure for the genophage. It must be a Salarian that finds it since the Krogan hate them for making it, I would say that Mordin would be the best job for that. Once you have brokered that agreement and found a cure, I will join you on Tuchanka to help deal with any problems that you may encounter on the planet."
Shepard:" That sounds like a great plan actually. It might take me months to set it up, but it is more than worth the effort."
Malen:" Good. I will see you at the wedding tomorrow Shepard. Send Liara an invite to the Wedding: It's not like she can solve the reaper invasion by staring at monitors."
Shepard:" HA! That is true." He says as he nods in agreement.
With Vaermina:
Malen:" I will see you at the wedding then Vaermina, but there is something that I must ask you to do, and considering your growing relationship with Garrus, what I must ask of you might be hard to take."
Vaermina:" Ok brother. Ask." She says calmly and slightly braces herself for what she is about to be asked to do.
Malen:" When the agreement between the Krogan and Turians has reached the terms of its creation, I need you to help defend the Turian race from the reapers…"
Vaermina:" That isn't what you are worried to tell me is it?" she asks as she senses his hesitation.
Malen:" While I do need you to defend them from extinction, I don't need you to outright destroy the reapers attacking the Turians. The Turians need the hope that they will live to see another dawn, but not so much that they don't see the need to unite with the Krogan. What I'm asking you is to not push the reapers back and allow a number, most likely a lot, of Turians and Krogans to die in battle, defending their respective races."
Vaermina paused and thought for a while about what Malen had asked her and the logic behind Malen's plan. Eventually she concluded that this was the best for both races.
Vaermina:" Alright brother. I will do it." She said solemnly
Malen:" I know this is tough on you to do, but you are not alone sister." He says as he gives her a quick hug.
Vaermina:" Thank you."
Malen:" I will see you at the wedding!" He says as he teleports back to Rannoch.
The next day just before the dawn:
The wedding took place on a cliff near the ocean. The archway that Malen and Tali were currently standing under was white with reeds woven in it. There were two different columns to the chairs as the Daedric Princes, who were invited, sat on the right side, while the Normandy crew, Vaermina sitting next to Garrus, Liara, The Quarian admirals, Kana Zora, and the other well-known quarians sat on the left side. Vis were recording the precession as it took place so that the rest of the quarian race and some other race, if they wanted to see it on the extra net.
Tali and Malen said their vows, gave their reasons for marrying each other, and did their I dos. They kissing tenderly when Raan said they could kiss. The sun rose just above the cliff as they embraced one another.
The reception party was very lively, thanks to Sheogorath, with so much cheese for everyone that everyone was getting sick of cheese and sometimes even drowning in it.
I should probably tell you that this next part might be considered lemon even though I won't be giving any discussing details about it like describing it with words/phrases like "Cum shot".. yeano none of that here. Enjoy!
Once everyone else had departed for their own endeavors/devices, Tali grabbed Malen's hand and led him down to the ocean shore. She turned towards him when their feet were a few inches in the water. She stripped down to her birthday suit and Malen did the same since he did this with her before. She leaned on him to such a degree that Malen fell on his back with Tali on top of him. Tali placed her lips on Malen's neck and gently sucked on the smooth scales of his neck while occasionally vibration her lips.
Malen places his left on her back and slowly rubs her smooth, supple skin, while he places his right hand on her posterior and gently rubbed and squeezed it. Tali began licking random parts of Malen's upper body while he licked her neck. This lasted for almost an hour. Malen was able to control himself so that he could "last as long" as Tali, but this started to quickly change as Tali began to slowly work her way down, licking lower and lower on his body. Malen knew where this would lead and hope that Tali is already "there" so to speak since this would end up being great, weird, or embarrassing.
10 minutes later:
Quarians that were a few miles away from the coast could swear that they heard singing with instruments off in the distance. To them it sounded like humans singing a chorus that they never heard before and wondered who was playing it and why they were playing it so loudly: they didn't know that 1 person was vocalizing the entire chorus + instruments.
The Chorus that they heard in the distance was "Hallelujah" by: Handel Messiah.
The next day:
Tali and Malen woke up to see that they had slept in very suggestive positions on one another. Both laughed and giggled the awkward feelings away as they got dressed: fortunately for them, the tide washed away the "mess/ponds" made from yesterday.
Once they were dried off and fully awake, Malen decided that it would be a good thing to train Tali in her new found powers and discuss with her his plans.
Over the course of the next few days and weeks, Malen had taught her all the spells that were known to mortals, including the master level ones, taught her how to conjure a gun that uses magic instead of mass effect rounds.
It was a bit more challenging to train Tali on how to access and control her reality warping abilities, that took months to train her in, or to have her even understand it. Malen solved that problem by using the Skeleton Key to unlock the unlimited potential of her mind. He trained her to use it by having her change what someone was saying on the extra net or news reports into what she wanted her to say. Examples of these changing what people say are:
-Batarian:" Here on Omega, Aria's cunt smells like dead fish. So remember Omega to avoid her pussy stank." (You can probably guess what happened to him after that)
-Shepard:" I'm Commander Shepard and this is the best shit on the Citadel."
-Male news reporter on the Citadel:" In other news, my tiny nipples went to France. I'm getting word that they made it there softly but got molested as soon as they left the transport hub."
Asari voicing over for a commercial on Ilium: Are you an Asari looking to get tips of all kinds? Does the thought of having an orgy where someone dies from a crushed pelvis get you sexually excited? Then stop by and fill an application at Whores'R'Us: Where we are always open in the front and back."
5 months after the wedding:
Malen had finalized the last parts of his plan for the galaxy and told Tali about it and what he wanted her to do for it, though the plan was very similar for the one he gave Vaermina, except it is to protect the Asari.
Malen went to Earth and set up his plan for reapers when they arrived to Earth since it involves placing magical turrets across the entire planet as well as some bells.
A month later when the Reapers arrived:
The reapers tore through Earth's defenses and rained on the frightened cities of the world as they left destruction and sadness in their wake. The screams of so many humans dying tore into his soul like razor wind, but he knew he had to wait for a little bit longer before putting his plan into motion.
Malen got himself into position after a few hours of waiting as he floated up in the sky and held his position a few miles above the surface of Van Cover. He changed his wardrobe to be that of a military uniform of no specific faction. A banner made of magic was held aloft behind him with a depiction of the Milky Way on it. Pah Zun's appearance was changed to that of a military saber that Malen held in front of his face in a military stance.
Every functioning Omni tool that can record vids and every VI and other device that could do the same was forced to focus on Malen and listen to his words as he floats above the city that was under assault from the reapers.
"1812 Overture" by Tchaikovsky, starting from minute 11 second 30 ( 11:30): Can be heard clearly across the entire planet, including the reapers still entering Earth's atmosphere.
Malen:" It is said in non-verbatim that we hold these God given rights as self-evident that all men will be treated equally and be given the un-alienable rights of Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness. This is the right of all sentient creatures that hold the life and sanctity of their own souls and every soul around them dear and for the ones who fight for their peace, Liberty, Life, Happiness, and morality. You seek to preserve life by taking away this galaxy's Liberty and Happiness. I speak for the voices you try to silence and ignore as they defy and rebel against you. "Give us Liberty or give us Death.", but this galaxy has had enough of death by your hands! The sins of this galaxy will be washed away with blood of Patriots! * raises his sword above his head*"
Banners of all the different races and factions appear in choke points, streets, forests, deserts, and homes across the planet as conquered soldiers that take on a indistinguishable appearance of the races they represent begin to take arms against the reapers forces while fighting with the other races side by side and as one whole, as one voice, as one declaration. Bells could be heard ringing across the entire planet as to emphasis the Earth's and by extension the entire galaxy's resignation of the reapers' cruelty.
Malen:" AND TYRANTS!" he shouts as he swing his sword down to his side and then aims the tip towards the invading reapers.
The conquered armies below him suddenly charged forward with defiant roars that could be heard for miles and miles. Magic cannons appeared out of nowhere across the entire planet and fired continuously. The Reapers that are invading Earth numbered in the tens of thousands, but the cannons that Malen conquered up and fired numbered in the millions. Each spell shot from the massive conquered cannons completely annihilated a reaper that each shot made contact with and each reaper hit exploded in a colorful array of lights like fireworks. The sounds of cannon fire and explosions filled the air as the reapers themselves we being severely overwhelmed and pushed back violently by the amount of spell shots that was fired at them.
The reaper forces didn't fare any better than their masters did as a sea of soldiers of all races and genders washed over them like a tsunami.
The sight of such a terrifying force being so fiercely driven back by an even greater force that seeks to protect the galaxy spurred an overwhelming feeling of hope throughout the galaxy as the reapers that were sent to Earth were almost completely annihilated and were forced to retreat with only a hand full of reaper ships when their invading fleet originally had thousands sent to Earth.
The song ends
The cannons and armies that had driven off the reapers invading Earth disappeared as quickly as they arrived. Malen began a slow decent back to the ground and received a call from Shepard when he touched ground.
Shepard:" Malen?!" He says with the sounds of gun fire echoing in the background.
Malen:" What do you need Shepard?"
Shepard:" I made the agreement with the Krogans and Turians and we are on Tuchanka to spread the cure, but a Destroyer is blocking our way to the Shroud and we could use your help right about now!"
Malen:" I'll be their immediately Shepard!" He said as he locked onto Shepard's location and teleported to Tuchanka.
Malen appeared in a small labyrinth of ruined structures in close range of a reaper destroyer that was standing in front of a tall tower. Shepard, Wrex, Mordin, a female Krogan, Garrus, and a strange four eyed person that resembled a collector in a small way were there and seemed to be expecting him.
Shepard:" Can you get rid of the destroyer without damaging the Shroud?"
Malen:" *chuckles* please Shepard. Remember that you're talking to a guy with phenomenal cosmic powers here." He answered with a grin.
Since it was only one destroyer and Malen didn't feel like wasting much time or effort so he decided to do something simple.
Malen:" Hey you there Dickhead!" he shouts at the destroyer.
A strange green glow envelops the reaper for a moment and then directs its full attention to Malen without hostile intentions.
Malen:" Go fly up to that star and kill yourself!"
The destroy does as Malen told it and takes off the ground and flies towards Tuchanka's star.
With the destroyer out of the way, Malen proceeds to the Shroud and once inside, he finds out that the Shroud has been sabotaged and that Mordin seems like the only one who can fix it. As much as Malen hated to think about it, Mordin sacrificing himself to end the genophage would probably end a lot of the hostility that Krogans have towards Salarians, so Malen did not intervene, but decided to make something special for Mordin when he got to Apocrypha.
Once the Shroud was activated and Mordin gave his life for the Krogan, Malen searched through the rubble and recovered Mordin's burnt and broken body. Malen brought his body back to the Hollows and buried it next to some female krogan bones.
In Apocrypha:
Mordin wakes up to find that he was laying down on a beach shore.
Mordin:" So there is a life after death!? Good! Life would have been so wasted if ended there. Hmmmm? Sea shells?"
Mordin looks across the shore line and find shells of so many different colors, types, sizes, and shapes that he doesn't even believe that he knows a fourth of what nomenclature of the shells are. Mordin lightly smiles at the sight.
Mordin:" Will run tests on the sea shells!"
On the Citadel:
Malen Teleports himself in an undisclosed location of the Citadel and makes his way to the Council chambers to explain his plans for the reapers. Malen does not want to have to deal with political bullshit when he talks with the councilors and decides that if he needs to that he would "persuade" them to see the logic in his plan. Luckly due to the war, The council members seemed to be in constant session and that he wouldn't have to go find them or set up a tedious appointment.
After an hour or two of explaining and debating that was actually shorter that Malen expected considering what the last part of his plan was (Probably had something to do with them seeing vids of what Tali, Sheogorath, Vaermina, and Malen could do), Malen left the Council chambers and was approached by Wrex.
Wrex:" I see that you just got done with some council business yourself. I got some time to kill while waiting for another session to come up. I heard that was in a firefight in the wards, want to go check it out?!"
Malen:" Sure! Anything beats having to listen to those four idiots talk!"
Wrex:" I couldn't agree more! Hope there is stuff to kill when we get there."
Wrex called in a cab to pick them up. Wrex and Malen boarded the cab when it arrived and made their way to Shepard's guessed location.
Author's notes: I'm very sorry that took me a month or so to get back to… was busy with things. I hope you enjoyed this awesome chapter! If you would like for me to make a short story about how Tali, Sheogorath, and Vaermina handled the reapers during the war, just let me know in the reviews. The next chapter will be the most hilarious chapter in the story, in my opinion. The next chapter will be called " A Day of Madness and Debauchery"