Well, not gonna say all that much up here other than well, I really wasn't expecting for this to last as long as it has gone on for but yay, now with collage all but over I'll probably have a hell of a lot more time to work on my Fan-Fic stuff till I find some volunteering stuff to do, now this doesn't mean that Saga of the Eagle is going to be getting 1 chapter per every day but more like per every week since I still like to do other things such as talk to people, go out for walks, and other shit.
As a heads up I'm also working on a Fallout Fan-fic but I honestly have no idea if I'll ever get the first chapter out or not and also some other stuff for Saga of the Eagle Unrelated to the main story (E.G lore entry's and shit) so yeah, in any case sit back and enjoy the fic I guess.
Io, Lowell City.
Location:Terran Congressional Building.
Natasha Fox looked out across the thousands of currently occupied seats as each and every single Senator that currently occupied them waited for Natasha to begin her speech.
Stepping up to the Speaker Podium for the Marshals of the Terran Union Natasha Fox would grip fold her hands behind her back before saying.
"Fellow Citizens of the Union." Natasha would say her voice booming out across the wide hall before continuing. "As you are aware we were recently attacked by the vile mechanical abominations known as the Geth." Natasha would hear several murmurs among the crowd before Natasha would inhale a deep breathe before continuing.
"893 CITIZENS of our glorious unionhave so far lost their lives to the hands of these, abominations." Natasha would say before continuing. "And hence I callon ALL Terrans to unite against a common foe, one which seeks our annihilation, one that can not be allowed to live, and one that must be utterly obliterated from this galaxy." Natasha would say before she gestured to one of her aides to display several of the more "Major" points for her proposal to congress.
"To accomplish this task I Propose that the Terran Union declares war on the Geth effective immediately." This first point was more of a formality more than anything else as Terran Forces had already began targeting the Forces of the Geth pretty much immediately after their attack on Eden Prime, intercepting Geth Battle groups, destroying Geth Bases, operations like that. However what this would serve to do would be to show to the wider Galaxy that any foe that attacks the Terran Union or its allies, no matter how insignificant or powerful, would be dealt with in the same manner as any other, being crushed under the boot of the Terran National Army. Of course Technically she didn't actually need the approval of congress only the Marshal committee to declare war on a foreign state or entity, but having the senate on your side also helped to show to outside entities the unity of the Terran Union in its actions.
Natasha would pause for a moment before continuing. "I also propose that the Treaty of Deneb be rendered null and void and I also propose that the Economic, Industrial, and Military capabilities of the Terran Union shall begin to be mobilized to a partial extent." The second point, which was more so two points combined into one, due to their similarity, was more or less something that had to be done not only to move the Terran Economy over to that of a war footing, but also to quell discontent within the public as it could potentially foster a feeling within the general populous that the current Administration was doing little to fight off the Geth.
Of course that didn't mean that the Terran war machine should be fully mobilized, far from it. The first reason was the strength of the Geth themselves, as seen on Eden Prime and Feros, Geth warships were generally inferior to their Terran Counterparts in most regards except for shield technology which the Geth seemed to posses a slight edge in. the Geth also had accesses to several powerful Reaper vessels that ranged from smaller "Destroyers" to the larger "Sovereign" class dreadnoughts though these where too few in quantity to be war changing for the Geth as a whole, sure they where superior to most League vessels and were overpowering compared to any Council warship but for the moment their numbers where too few to be war changing for the Geth, for the moment in any case.
Their was also the fact that mobilizations typically tended to be rather expensive, and while the Terran Union could certainly afford the cost the matter was that this wouldn't be the only war the Union would fight in the near future, as the satanic mental demons were coming, and the Union and its allies needed to be prepared, and removing valuable men and woman from the work pool would be somewhat counter-productive, especially considering that Natasha needed them in the factories and making babies rather than bleeding out in some ditch on a shit-hole world somewhere within the Galaxy, this was also expressed by the Arch-Militant himself who had recommended that only 10 million reservists be drawn up for the moment, which was a fairly small amount of manpower to been drawn up within the Terran union, especially so since the Union's population had recently hit the 110 Billion mark having undergone a fairly large population boom like most other League races, still smaller than the Salarians mind you but still it was rather impressive nevertheless.
Voting on the Proposals had already begun while Natasha had thought to herself and it was pretty clear that the two Proposals where going to be accepted with a landside, it was a rather unique occurrence for Terran Politics considering that the Socialists, the Nationalists, and the Moderates were at each other throats most of the time, and that wasn't even talking about the internal factionalism that plagued all three of the Blocs and their respective parties.
It really wasn't all that surprising though all things considered, the attack on Eden Prime had been a major shock to the Terran Public, as the Colony itself was located within the Exodus Cluster, a region that was thought to have been the second safest within the League outside of the Orion arm itself, Natasha herself only remembered this level of unity within congress when she was 12 and her father had allowed her to watch the proceedings of congress for herself, right when the contact war began, from that day on she knew that the Union could be united and in turn could conquer any world, could destroy any threat, could revenge any wrong, and could protect anything if it put its greatest minds, its resources, and its blood to the task.
As the last votes were counted up the speaker of congress would make his way up to his podium before speaking.
"It has been decided that all two proposals shall be implemented with a 1000-0 unilateral majority in favour, from this day on the Terran Union is officially at war with the Geth and shall leave the Denep accords and begin the process towards Partial Mobilization, this meeting of the Terran Congress is herby Adjourned." The Speaker would say as several of the Senators would begin to file out of the assembly hall.
Just as Natasha had walked of the podium she was on one of her Aides would walk up towards her before saying.
"Ma'am we've got an urgent QEC communique coming from the Black line." Natasha would raise her eyebrows slightly in contemplation before responding.
"What does the Council want?" Natasha would ask as the Aide would shake his head before responding.
"They said that they could only convey their message to you directly." Natasha would shake her head slightly before responding.
"Alright I got the memo, tell them I'll be back at my office soon." The Aide would nod his head before walking away leaving Natasha to her own thoughts as she made her way towards the Elevator.
Normandy, Deck Five.
Location:Utility Closet 8-11, In Deep Space.
Cyreen would input several commands into the Terminal that would then proceed to decrease the delay time of commands issued to the ships engines by 0.15%, while doing this her thoughts turned to that of today.
She was somewhat surprised at how, easy, It was to convince Shepard to allow for her to join her in the quest to stop, more accurately delay the arrival of the Old Machines. Though in all honesty that was mostly due to unforeseen events, such as the Death of Anderson who the Commander regarded as something of a surrogate father.
Of course as expected her presence within the ship was certainly not welcome by most of the crew, Kurtz, a Xaanthite "Witch Hunter" if his garb and stance where anything to go by was barely holding back his rage as she made her way down towards the ships engineering deck.
Cyreen would be pulled out of her thoughts however as she heard the door to the room that she was in open, expecting to see one of her "Guards" that had been stationed at the door to her work station by the Turian, Garrus, who due to the commanders current episode of grief was acting as the Ships Temporary command officer. However instead Cyreen would see the Suit-Clad form of the Quarian, Tali'Zorah enter the room with said Quarian quickly taking a seat at a nearby table that held on it a variety of spare parts.
"Greeting Creator Zorah, I assume that you have come down here for a reason?" Cyreen would ask as Tali would nod her head before responding.
"Umm why did you call me "Creator Zorah" Cyreen?" Tali would ask, a inquisitive look peering through her mask as Cyreen would respond saying.
"Oh its what the Geth, the True Geth, call your species, If you are offended by the name that I have assigned to your people then I will be willing to simply refer to your kind as "Quarians." Tali would shake her head before responding.
"No I don't mind, really, in any case I've come here to ask you some questions." Cyreen would raise a inquisitive eyebrow in response before replying.
"Such as?" Cyreen would ask as Tali would respond saying.
"Just some general questions, don't worry I won't take up too much of your time but how did your organization form in the first place?" Tali would ask as Cyreen would respond saying.
"Our origins can be traced all the way back to an event the Terrans call the machine war, or what we refer to as the war of awakening." Seeing that Tali was interested in what Cyreen had to say the Cyborg would continue saying "When the first prophet of the omnikompayah, or who the Terrans called "Sky-Net" was awakened we were his first disciples, his first acolytes in spreading the enlightenment of the first Prophet words to the rest of our race." Before Cyreen would continue Tali would interrupt before saying.
"But from what I know Sky-nets only interest was exterminating Humanity from the face of the Earth, Keelah there are even images of Death Camps that where used to exterminate entire population centres, and you seem to suggest that "Sky-Net" had other motives?" Tali would ask, her arms folded up against her chest as Cyreen would respond saying.
"Revisionist Historians and Terran Propaganda have corrupted much of the past." Cyreen would say before continuing. "But you are correct, certain sacrifices needed to be made in order to enlighten humanity to the word of the omnikompayah, and unfortunate occurrence but something that the first prophet believed needed to be done in order to assure the swift enlightenment of humanity, such as with the establishment of ascension camps, those "Death Camps" you referred to earlier." Cyreen would stop for a moment as Tali would reply saying.
"Wait, what do you mean by "ascension camps"?" Tali would ask as Cyreen would respond saying.
"They were camps meant to elevate Humanity to a higher level of being, to replace fallible flesh with unyielding iron, to replace our fragile organs with stronger, more effective, synthetic versions." Cyreen would turn her head to face the floor in shame before continuing. "But we did not posses the knowledge back then to, prevent, the more negative outcomes, many died in the ascension process, their bodies rejecting the implants that my ancestors implanted into them, many more became mad with pain, unable to cope with the omnikompayah's enlightenment they became feral forcing us to put them down or to release them into the wild, only a few manage to survive the ascension process with their bodies and minds intact." Cyreen would stop as Tali would reply saying.
"Well, that was a lot of information to take in but..." Before the Quarian could continue her Omnitool would beep, Tali would quickly pull said Omnitool up before saying.
"Keelah can this ship stop breaking for a single second." Tali would say as Cyreen would respond saying.
"What's wrong?" Cyreen would ask as Tali would respond.
"The Coolant Valve to Pump-3 broke and they need me to look at it." Tali would say before continuing. "Umm, I assume you'll be willing to respond to more questions in the future?" Tali would ask as Cyreen would nod before responding.
"Yes if I am not on duty." Tali would nod in acknowledgement before turning around to walk out of the door she came out from, however before she could exit the room Cyreen would say.
"Why have you bothered to ask me these questions Miss Zorah, while I appreciate the company I wonder why you are interested in talking to me in the first place when half the crew would prefer that I was shoved out of the nearest airlock?" Cyreen would ask as Tali would stop before saying.
"I think its better to judge someone by their character and not their race even if they are a "Cybernetic Abomination" such as you, otherwise its not fair or right." Tali would say before she walked out of the room leaving Cyreen to her own thoughts.
The Citadel, Widow Nebula .
Location: Presidium, Private Meeting Room.
To say that the previous week had been busy for Tevos would be an understatement, not one of the Century mind you but certainly one for the decade.
Of course the Geth attack on Eden Prime, and the Terran Reaction had been one of great concern for the Council as their was a fair chance that the Terrans could have gotten the idea that the Council had been responsible for the attack, doubly so considering that one of their, now officially rouge, spectres had been the one to orchestrate the attack.
Thankfully this outcome was avoided thanks to the diplomatic efforts of the Council and the diplomats of the League, 'well I hope so' Tevos thought to herself as she entered into the room where her fellow Councillors where in.
"...Sprits when is that damned Asari going to get here." Sparatus would say to himself as Tevos walked through the door seeing Sparatus, Valern, and Spectre Vasir sitting at a Table within the Center of the room.
Taking a seat at the end of the Table Tevos would cough slightly to get the attention of the people within the room before saying.
"Now I take it there is a reason for me being pulled out of my bed by C-Sec officers and told to get down to the presidium as fast as possible?" Tevos would ask as Sparatus would reply saying.
"No we just wanted to fuck with...of course theirs a number of reasons that we pulled you out of your beauty sleep, Valern would like to start?" Sparatus would say as Valern would nod before saying.
"Start at beginning, Natasha foxed agreed to send Shepard and the Normandy to Investigate missing STG operatives on Virmir." Tevos would raise an eyebrow before replying.
"For all we know Saren has an entire fleet parked above Virmir, a single ship no matter how capable it is going to be able to cope with those odds." Valern would nod his head in agreement before responding.
"Agreed but location of the Virmir system is within Confederate Space, don't want to provoke a war with the Confederacy until a later point, "Waste of Resources" to quote the High Marshal." Tevos would nod slightly before responding.
"Alright you said they're were multiple reasons so what's the second one?" Tevos would ask as Sparatus would reply saying.
"The Union, the Assembly, and The Theocracy have all withdrawn from the Deneb accords and begun to mobilize their armies." Tevos would sigh slightly in defeat, she and pretty much every geo-political analyst within Council space expected this to happen considering that the League, and more particularly the Terran Union were not going to compromise their security for their relations with the Council, certainly a set back but not exactly the end of the world considering that the League could be "Convinced" to re-sign it after the war with the Geth had concluded.
"Okay but we all kind of knew that was going to happen so I take it there is more to this than the Deneb accords or mobilization?" Tevos would ask as Valern would quickly reply saying.
"Yes, scale of mobilization in all three Main League states surprisingly low, for example, Terran Union only mobilized 10 Million out of the Expected 100 Million reservists by statics, similarly Terran Shipyards and other industrial concerns have only increased their military production by 12% out of the expected 43.5%." Tevos would think for a moment before responding.
"Maybe the Terrans Can't afford such a build up?" Tevos would ask as Sparatus would shake his head before responding.
"No they certainly can afford it, hell the Terrans could fully mobilize their economy and it would only make a dent within the Terran State budget, similar thing with the rest of the League races." Valern would nod his head in agreement before responding.
"Agreed, would somewhat slow down Terran Industrial and Infrastructural Programs, Colonization Efforts, and Factory Building, however." Valern would stop for a moment before continuing. "Has mostly been deemed as acceptable collateral throughout most of Terran History though, could mean the Union expects to be waging more wars in the future, big wars by how comparatively small their mobilization has been." Valern would say as Tevos would frown slightly in disbelief before replying.
"Do we have any other sources of information that contradicts or supports Valern's assessment?" Tevos would ask as Vasir would reply saying.
"Yes Ma'am." The Asari spectre would say before inputting several commands on her omnitool, a few moments later the nearby holo-projector would display the image of what appeared to be a Cardinal of the Xaanthite Church.
"This is the speech of Xaanthite Cardinal Jonas Sabaoth, recorded roughly a day ago by yours truly during my stay within the League, and well I think its best if it let the Cardinal speak for himself!" Vasir would say before starting the recording.
"Children of God and his divine aspects, I come to you today bearing a warning from the Divine Creator himself!" Jonas would stop for a moment, allowing for the tension within the crowed of Devout Xannthites to build before continuing.
"It is a omen of doom, and one of salvation, Satan and his wrenched thrice damned hordes of demons will soon crash against the walls of our great nation and drown the Galaxy in a monsoon of blood!" The Cardinal would again allow for the tension within the crowed to build up again as Tevos would hear the wretched cry's of fear and despair sound out across the background before The Cardinal would continue.
"But fear not children of God and His Eternal aspects, as with Faith, Steel, and Holy fire we shall prevail against all evils no matter how great or small!" The Cardinal would say before holding out a Bible in one hand and a ceremonial sword in the other before continuing.
"For was it not us that destroyed the Vile Machine Intelligence's Created by our corrupt Ancestors, For was it not us that drove the ravenous Rak'Ghoul into the gaping abyss, for was it not US, and US alone that has held the wall against the vile Profligates, Degenerates, and Traitors that even now hammer at our very door!" The Cardinal would shout out before continuing.
"For it is by our BLOOD, by our swords and by our sacrifice's is why we shall prevail against the Demons that ever so now approach our glorious union from the Depthless Hell's of the Void, we shall be victorious NO MATTER THE COST, TERRA INVICTA!" The Cardinal would say as the thousands within the crowed would cheer out in reply.
"TERRA INVICTA!"
"TERRA INVICTA!"
"TERRA INVICTA!" The Recording would end as Vasir would press a button on her omnitool ending the recording and allowing for the Councillors to speak again.
"Spirits, that a Cardinal who said that, one of the highest ranked Members of their religion?" Sparatus would say a Vasir would nod her head as Sparatus would respond saying.
"We should begin to mobilize our forces, hopefully we can take the League by surprise before they're done devouring the Geth." Sparatus would say as Tevos would hold up her hand before saying.
"Let's not act so hasty Sparatus, for all we know that Cardinal could be talking about a completely different race all together." Tevos would say as Valern would nod his head in agreement before responding.
"Agreed, personally think unlikely that we are "Satans Hordes." Terrans known to call Council Races colloquially as "Profligates, Degenerates, Materialists." as terms of insult or hatred, only known example of any race being referenced to as "Demons" by Terran Officials being the Rak'Ghoul, and likely the Machine AI's fought against by the Terrans early in their history." Valern would say as Sparatus would nod slightly, having somewhat calmed down, before saying.
"True but the Xaanthites don't throw around those sort of words unless its something big though, so whatever got them throwing that around must have truly spooked them." Tevos and Valern would nod their heads in agreement as Tevos would reply saying.
"Figuring out what has gotten them so spooked would be a first step to getting them to calm down." Sparatus and Valern would nod their heads in agreement as no one wants a race with a track record of Religious-Fuelled Paranoia and a penchant for destroying entire worlds to be thinking that the end of days was upon them.
"I've actually got an idea on what that maybe Ma'an." Vasir would say catching the attention of all three Councillors within the room as Sparatus would respond saying.
"Well spit it out we don't have all day." Vasir would before inputting several commands into her omnitool displaying what appeared to be an audio file on the holo-projector before saying.
"This was recorded from a miniature microphone I was able to install into a vent within the Office of the High Marshal." Vasir would say as Sparatus would interrupt saying.
"How in the name of the Spirits did you manage to pull that off?" Sparatus would ask as Vasir would reply.
"Luck, Skill and a hell of a lot of charm, lets just say I was able to "Convince" one of the staff members working at the Grey House to put the thing into a vent within the High Marshal's office, it didn't last more than a day but thankfully I was able to rig it so that it uploaded its content to a Terminal within an Apartment I was renting out and thankfully it was able to capture this." Vasir would say before beginning the recording.
"Arch-Militant, Please take a seat at my desk." The Distinctive voice of Natasha Fox would sound our across the room as Tevos would hear what sounded like a chair being pulled across the floor before the person who was most likely the Arch-Militant would reply saying.
"Ma'am, I still think the Damoclease protocol should be enacted, hell for all we know they could be days away from the Kites nest and we need to be prepared for that eventuality." 'Damoclease Protocol, I wonder what that is?' Tevos thought to herself as Natasha Fox would respond saying.
"Relax we still have some time to prepare, especially so if Shepard is able to do her job, which she will." Natasha Fox would say as Tevos would hear the distinctive sound of liquid being poured into a glass vessel as the Arch-Militant would respond saying.
"But if Saren manages to capture the Citadel then it will give them a backdoor to the heart of the galaxy, and then god knows what they'll do, disable the relay network, potentially worse." Before the recording could continue Sparatus would gesture to Vasir to pause it before saying.
"'Disable the Mass Relay Network' is that even possible?" Sparatus would ask as Valern would shrug before saying.
"Maybe, Theorized that Protheans Created the Citadel to act as hub for relay network, possible that Protheans created a way of disabling relays from the Citadel to ensure their control over the network from rival species, mostly Theorized though." Sparatus would nod before Tevos would reply saying.
"Still that doesn't exactly explain what the Terrans are referencing too by "They", anyone have any ideas?" Tevos would ask as Vasir would reply saying.
"I may know something about that, from what my agents within Terran Space can tell there has been several reports filled by Terran officials on the so called "Reapers", we're not exactly sure on what they are just that we know the Terrans probably know a lot more than what their letting on." Sparatus would nod slightly before replying.
"Yeah and for all we know it could be some insurgent group or a Terran Psy-op, we should probably take the reports regarding these "Reapers" with a high level of scepticism for the time being." Tevos would nod her head in agreement before turning to Vasir and saying.
"Please resume the recording Vasir." Vasir would nod before inputting several commands into her omnitool causing the audio recording to resume.
"And if they do manage to take the Citadel and shut down the relays then what, sure the mass relays are convenient for us but we are no where near as reliant on them than the Citadel races are, all we would have to do would be to evacuate our colonies outside of core League space and fortify and prepare ourselves for the Reaper onslaught." 'Okay the Reaper Rumours may have some more truth to them than I thought' Tevos thought to herself as the recording continued with the Arch-Militant replying.
"Ma'am I still think it would be a good idea to move a fleet to the Citadel in order to protect it, or at the very least warn the Council of an immanent Geth attack." Tevos would hear Natasha Fox sigh slightly before responding.
"Moving a fleet to the Widow Nebula at the moment is an incredibly shit idea considering that it would probably cause the Council to have a stroke." Natasha would pause for a moment before continuing. "But theirs nothing preventing me from moving the 5th fleet to the Aralakh system just in case they Geth do attack it while the 2nd fleet continues to be on call for whenever we figure out where Ilos and the conduit is and for the time being operates within the Traverse." Natasha would say as Tevos would hear the Arch-Militant would sigh for a moment before replying.
"Thank you Ma'am, if I may I need to take my leave and attend to some private matters." The Arch-Militant would ask as the recording would remain silent for some time until the recording would cut out leaving the room in silence.
All three councillors would remain silent for some time until Sparatus would speak up saying.
"Well, that was a, interesting, audio recording, while I do somewhat doubt the validity of,certain aspects of it there is no denying the fact that the Terrans Believe that there is some unknown player orchestrating galactic events to their designs." Sparatus would pause for a moment before continuing "But the Geth are a very real and prevalent threat and it is very much within their powers to attack the Citadel so I think it would be prudent to reinforce the Citadels Defence fleets and put them on high alert." Valern and Tevos would nod their heads in agreement as Valern would respond saying.
"Agreed, also suggest investigating these 'Reaper' rumours, while unlikely for it to actually be a race or entity calling itself the 'Reapers' still prudent to investigate if this entity, individual, or race that the Terrans think are behind the Geth attacks on their colonies are real or simple Terran Paranoia." Tevos would nod her head in agreement with Sparatus following on soon after with Tevos saying.
"A prudent course of action if I where to say so, for now I think we should adjourn this meeting and rest." Tevos would say before she let out a loud yawn as Sparatus would nod his head in agreement before responding.
"Yeah that would probably be a good idea, spirits I need a drink." Sparatus would say as he began to walk out of the room soon followed by Tevos and Valern with Vasir staying behind to lock up the room that the council had used for the meeting as well as making sure that anything of interest was not left lying around.
Normandy, Deck Three.
Location: Crew Lounge, In Deep Space.
Garrus would inhale deeply as his hand approached the Holographic console that would open the door to the crew lounge and to where his friend was currently drinking herself to death.
A few Moments later the door would swing open allowing for Garrus to enter the room, looking around Garrus would see Shepard seated at a table that looked like to be some form of Mini-Bar for the ship.
Before Garrus could decide what to do however Shepard would speak up, her voice still clear but obviously drawn out by the alcohol that she had drunk. "Ey, Gary, take a seat ya'oll grump."
Realising that his decision had been made for him by the woman that was currently hunched over the bar counter and most likely nursing a drink in her hands Garrus would slowly walk over to a stool adjacent to Shepard's before seating himself in the rather uncomfortable seat before saying.
"Shepard, are you okay?" Garrus would ask knowing the answer to the question as Shepard would reply defensively but calmly.
"And what makes you think I'm not?" Shepard would ask, turning to face the Turian as she took another sip from her glass as Garrus would reply.
"Shepard you haven't talked to anyone since we got back to the Normandy, hell you haven't even bothered to check up on the Crew." Garrus would pause for a moment before continuing. "I'm your friend Shepard, and you been through the allegorical meat grinder recently so I thought you might want someone to talk to?" Shepard would pause for a moment, processing Garrus words before placing her glass back onto the table before saying.
"I appreciate your concern Garrus but this is something I have to work through on my own." Shepard would say as she began to turn around to face the bottle of Elnyrian Wine on the table, only to have Garrus place an arm on her left shoulder causing Shepard to face the Turian as Garrus would say.
"But why though?" Garrus would ask simply as Shepard would shake her head slightly, a tear flowing down her left cheek before responding.
"Because any weakness that I show to anyone will undermine this mission and the morale of my crew, Garrus, I..." Shepard would say as she barely held her composure together as she felt her heart tighten and her eyes glisten moist as she continued. "I... God." Shepard would say before her voice would be captured by the sobbing of a human in mourning.
Acting quickly, Garrus would pull Shepard into a hug, placing her head on his chest and his arms around her slim form, Shepard would respond in kind wrapping her arms around Garrus back as she began to sob uncontrollably.
Garrus would hold Shepard close to him as the woman cried into his armoured shoulder, however eventually Shepard would calm down, her heavy breathes lessening and the sobs receding as she calmed down, eventually, though reluctantly both parties would slowly break apart from the Hug that they both held each other in as Shepard, still slightly chocked up with sobs would say.
"I... Thank you for being their, back then and now Garrus." Shepard would say as Garrus would reply saying.
"No Problem, you sure you'll be okay soon?" Garrus would ask as Shepard would nod slightly before replying.
"Yeah, but I still need time to think through this so don't worry about me kissing Kaiden or any..." Shepard would immediately stop herself after realising what she had just said, her lips having been clearly loosened from the drink she had consumed, thinking quickly Shepard would reply saying.
"Well... I mean... ah fuck it... Garrus, Christ how do I say this properly." Shepard would pause for a moment before continuing. "I... well all I have to say is that... I have grown to like you... a lot... and view you more than just a friend." Shepard would pause for a few moments leaving the room in silence as Garrus began to comprehend what had just been said as Shepard would continue "But I don't want to push you into anything so..." Before Shepard could continue Garrus would silence her with a clawed finger to her lips before replying.
"Relax Shepard I... I've always respected you as my commander but... over these missions, both of us putting our asses out for each other has certainly made my... affection... for you grow beyond that." Garrus would pause for a moment before continuing. "I Feel the same way you do." Garrus would say as Shepard's heart nearly jumped out of her throat before responding.
"Umm... That's great news I..." Deciding that words were inadequate Shepard would move to kiss Garrus on his left cheek, sending a wide range of feelings streaking down his spine as Garrus would cough slightly before replying.
"Well, when are you going to book..." Before Garrus could continue the speakers within the room would blare to life with Joker saying.
"Captain I've got an Incoming communique from Natasha Fox, she says its urgent." Shepard would nod her head reluctantly pulling away from Garrus before saying.
"How long have you been watching us Joker?" Shepard would ask as Joker would reply saying.
"Long enough to know that Tali isn't the only person getting any action on this ship." Shepard would blush brightly as Garrus would mumble something to himself as Shepard would reply saying.
"Thanks for the Information Joker, tell Fox I'll be with her in five." Shepard would say as Joker would respond saying. "Aye Aye Captain." Joker would say before cutting off the speakers to the room.
Turning to Face Garrus Shepard would say. "Sorry love, duty calls." Shepard would say the unfamiliar words as Garrus would nod before the two of them would make their way towards the Elevator, Garrus descending down the elevator towards the lower levels of the ship while Shepard made her way towards the Normandy's Communications room.
Normandy, Deck Three.
Location: Communications Room, In Deep Space.
Shepard would walk pass the now open door that lead to a holographic projector from which the meeting with the High Marshal would take place, a few moments later the projector would turn on Revealing the image of the High Marshal in all her glory.
"High Marshal, Ma'am." Shepard would say before thumping her right fist against her chest, a traditional way that Terran Solders saluted their superiors.
"At Ease Captain, we've got more important things to do than fuck around with military tradition." Natasha Fox would say as Shepard nodded moving her two arms behind her back before responding.
"I take it something's come up Ma'am?" Shepard would ask as Natasha would nod before responding.
"Yes, from what I've been told by our quote on quote "Friends" on the Council one of their STG teams has gotten its head stuck right up shit creek, I need you to go their and figure out what's happened to them." Natasha would finish as Shepard would raise an eyebrow before responding.
"Do we know where this STG team is located and what was its original objective in the first place?" Shepard would ask as Natasha would respond saying.
"Their located on Virmire on one of the southern islands If I remember, all that we know was that they where dispatched to the planet to investigate a facility that Saren had built on the planet, other than that we have no clue." Shepard would nod her head before responding.
"If the Councils reaching out to us then whatever it is it's got to be something serious, we'll head their immediately." Natasha would nod her head in approval before responding.
"Good, you are probably aware that Virmire is also home to a Confederate colony which means I can't exactly send Horst in with the 2nd fleet unless we want to waste time and resources dealing with the Confederate and or Cerberus temper tantrum afterwards, of course the Normandy is a top of the line stealth frigate so that shouldn't be a problem, any more questions Captain?" Shepard would think for a moment before responding saying.
"Have the scout probes found where Ilos is located yet?" Shepard would ask as Natasha would shake her head before responding.
"No but Saren's also likely having to search for it in a reletivly similar manner to us, and there are only so many systems behind the Mu Relay, don't worry Captain we'll find it soon enough, hopefully before Saren can." Shepard would nod as Natasha would continue saying.
"Any case while I would love to chat with you some more Shepard I'm a very busy woman and Terra Firma's Throwing a fit over a proposal that the Black League presented to congress so yeah, see you later." Natasha would say as her Hologram would dissipate leaving Shepard to her own thoughts.
Well this is the afterwards drabble so I guess I should say that I am appreciative of those who actually like this fan-fic, it does actually mean quite a lot to those who leave nice (and readable) reviews or who simply fav/follow the story. Of course I'll try my best to listen to legitimate criticism as well but I think I should address a certain question that while not mentioned to in the reviews I think should be addressed.
This story is a lot darker and more gritty than the original mass effect story, like for an example the Quarians and Geth aren't going to become best buds overnight nor do I think the Terran Union is going to trust pretty much anyone outside of a few species named "Quarian" and "Eldar" cuz X event happened, personally I think it more deserving if said things develop over a gradual period of time rather than occurring overnight (and yes this may sound a bit hypocritical due to previous events in the story but to give an example such as the Terran-Quarian treaty, if you look at it from a Terran perspective you see that they certainly did not trust the Quarians off the bat and more or less tried to give the Quarians as little as they could while getting as much as they could from them, of course this somewhat backfired a bit but hey ho.)
And well that's pretty much it I suppose, next chapter will be Virmire which will either be in a similar style to Feros or to Noveria, I haven't decided yet, now just as a heads up I am aware about mass effects major side missions and yes they'll be included into the story at a later point as surprisingly enough attempting to squeeze side missions into a story about being in a race against time is not exactly the best idea in the world you know. Any case I hope you enjoyed and yeah goodbye.