Traynor, Samantha

Okay, sorry, this is really stupid. Sorry Shepard.

I'm writing this as an email. Why am I writing this as an email?!

I just... There were all those times that green light would be flashing and then I'd let you know and you'd check and...

I'm not even going to send it. I don't know what I'm expecting.

Is your ghost going to pop back to check its email? Is there an extranet after death?

I just hate you not being here to... tell stuff to.

Or to impress.

You were really good at that. You know, letting people know when they'd done a good job. Making people realise that they were... actually good at things.

After Earth - that's such an awful phrase but its what people are saying now - I got involved in fleet coordination.

I know right? Let's put Sam Traynor in charge of a hundred ships at once. Suddenly I had to be the one making decisions.

But I realised something: you did so many different jobs, you were a leader, a fighter, a tactician, a diplomat... and... and a friend.

And you did it by buckling down and playing to your strengths.

I had a lot of time to watch you on the Normandy, and I think I saw that you went about everything the same way.

I... I might be wrong. But you were just... dedicated to everything you did.

And that's what I tried to do. And I worked out that, deciding which ships needed to go where was a lot like Chess. So I tackled it like that.

And that went pretty well.

And I realised something else: the reason that you were always having to do these important things, was because people knew that you could do them. And if that was true, then the people who asked me to do this job must have believed that I could.

And of course, it started with you. You were the first one who really trusted me, believed in me.

And you know what else?

I am going to send this.

A/N: Hey guys I am the worst. Sorry for the wait (again). Please enjoy some Sam Traynor. This is actually one that I dreaded for ages - I liked Samantha as a character, but wasn't sure I'd be able to get inside her head quite right.

Anyway, let me know what you think.

Unfortunately, this is also the last instalment that I have written up, so between exams and writing a new entry, the next upload might be a while (again).

I'll see what I can do.

But hell's bells. We're nearly at 30 chapters and I can hardly believe that I've made it this far. When I first started these, it was partly as a cathartic reaction to my first playthrough of ME3, and I only really got as far Grunt. So I want to thank you all for giving me such great feedback, and for actually deciding to read these entries in the first place, and most of all, for dealing with my erratic uploading.

I'd like to do something special for chapter 30, but I really have no ideas. So I'm throwing it out there to you guys: if anyone can think of something particular they'd like to see, let me know and I'll see what I can do. I'd suggest a Q&A about this series, but I'm not sure that it would be very interesting...

Before I sign off, I'll get around to some responses:

General: Assume that every character that has been suggested in the reviews is going to be done at some point. I'd already planned a lot of them, but you guys picked out quite a few that I'd missed, so they're now on for the long haul.

And yes, that includes the Geth.

bluninja: If Bakara seemed friendlier in her entry here, then I can only assume that she was bowled over by the special sparkly personalities of my Shepards.

Fuenoable: Out of interest, is "understated" good or bad in this context? That's actually a word I'd use to describe the proper, in-universe Bailey. A quiet, loyal man with a lot of good opinions under the surface. Just a curiosity, I'm a fan of him as well.

Let me know if I've missed any outstanding queries or reviews and I'll respond in the next upload.

Thanks to you all once again, and I hope everyone is well.

-Nevery.