AN: There's gonna be fluff in this one too, as well as far more optimism which is kind of a theme in my fanfic. If you want close adherance to plot now would be a great time to stop reading. Well, I mean chapter one would probably have been a better time. Humans are going to be better than in the games and WAY better than we are in real life. Part of why I do this is because it's healthy to escape from time to time into a fantasy world as a way of escaping the festering shit pile that our world is. Don't like it? Go read some weird twilight harem fic or some shit.
Chapter 3
"Well well well, what have we here?" Harry said, grinning up at the Asari Maiden suspended in a series of mass effect fields under the crust of Therum.
"Please! You must help! I'm trapped!" The asari said.
"No worries, Dr. T'Soni, I'll get you out of there." Harry said.
"How do you know my name?" She asked. Harry frowned, cursing himself mentally. Aethyta had been specific about not revealing her existence to Liara. His mind raced, until he remembered that during his downtime he'd read one of her publications on the Protheans.
"I assumed as much. This is a Prothean ruin, and I've read 'Society and Culture of the Prothean Empire'" Harry said.
"You've read my work?" Liara asked, completely forgetting that she was trapped and badly dehydrated. Harry nodded, reaching out with his magic.
"How did you end up trapped?" He asked.
"I was being pursued and fled into the chamber behind me. I pressed my hand against a glyph and it trapped me." Liara said.
"So there's a chamber behind you?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but you can't access it because of the cave- where did you go?" Liara asked, shocked at seeing him disappear before her eyes.
"Right here." Harry whispered into her ear causing her to shriek in terror.
"Sorry I couldn't resist. Hang on a tick." Harry said, fiddling with the archaic Prothean controls before the field suddenly vanished. Harry's quick reflexes allowed him to catch Liara before she could hit the ground.
"You ok?" Harry asked.
"Goddess..." Liara said. She regained her balance and turned to look at Harry who grinned at her.
"Thank you, I'm afraid I don't know your name." Liara said.
"Harry Potter." Harry said, offering her his hand. She gaped at him
"You're Harry Potter? The immortal wizard?" Liara asked, incredulously.
"Don't leave me hanging here." Harry said. Liara look down and blushed, taking his hand and shaking it.
"Forgive me. Liara T'soni, though you knew that. Is the way up still clear?" Liara asked.
"I think so, let's get out of here." Harry said. They climbed down the rock face, and started up the path towards the exit.
"I'm surprised you've read my work. The University of Serrice almost refused to publish it." Liara said, stumbling. Harry caught her again.
"Woah there, why don't you sit down for a minute." Harry said.
"I'm sorry, I just need a moment." Liara said
"When was the last time you ate or drank anything?" Harry asked. Liara's stomach growled in response, causing her to blush again.
"Yesterday, I think.. I don't know how long it's been honestly." Liara said. Harry reached into his uniform jacket and withdrew a box, which he enlarged with magic, causing Liara's eyes to widen in shock.
"So it's true!" Liara said.
"Magic? Yeah. Used to be a lot more rare, but now lots of people are born with it. Half the Alliance military are magic users now." Harry said, withdrawing food and water bottles from the box.
"Let's see... You're levo protien like us, right?" Harry asked. Liara nodded and he handed her a blue ration box.
"I don't know how good it will taste but it should sustain you." Harry said.
"You keep levo and dextro rations with you?" Liara asked. Harry frowned but nodded.
"I encounter a disturbing amount of starving Quarians on the citadel. You'd think with a society as advanced as they are... Nevermind. Debate for another time." Harry said, bringing up a screen on his omnitool while Liara tried desperately not to devour what she'd been given too quickly.
"We should probably get moving soon." Harry said.
"I'm sorry, am I keeping you from something?" Liara asked. She then shrieked as she felt the cavern they were in shake. Harry lurched forward, tackling her to the ground several meters back just in time to avoid a rock that had dislodged from above them.
"That's why." Harry said with a grin that Liara couldn't understand given the gravity of their information. He pulled her to her feet, grabbed her hand and ran towards the exit. They arrived at the elevator and slowly ascended, with Liara cringing every time the cavern shook.
"Kind of silly digging holes in such an unstable planet..." Harry said.
"I doubt it was this unstable when the Protheans were here." Liara said, her gaze darting around at the ceiling above.
"Good point." Harry said He looked at his omnitool and swore.
"Fuck, we're not going to make it." Harry said.
"What?!" Liara asked.
"The earthquakes, they've dislodged a lot of rock at the entrance. Our way out is blocked." Harry said calmly.
"WE'RE GOING TO DIE DOWN HERE?!" Liara yelled. Harry looked at her calmly.
"I never said that. Sorry in advance, this is going to suck." Harry said before wrapping his arms around her. Liara was about to squeak in indignation, but the sound died in her throat as saw the world around her twist into a vortex of ugly dark brown and felt as though her body was being compressed and squeezed through a small tube.
"Godde-HURK" Liara said as they arrived inside Harry's ship, before vomiting violently onto the deck plates.
"I didn't have time to prepare you, I apologize for that." Harry said, rubbing her back.
"What in the Goddess' name was that?" Liara asked, coughing.,
"Apparition. A bit of magic we've never managed to make more pleasant. It essentially takes the point of origin, and the point of destination, and warps the space between them allowing for nearly instantaneous travel. It also fucks your guts up something awful." Harry said, rubbing his own belly.
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"I really should have taken that position with Thanix designing mass accelerators." Garrus Vakarian said into his omnitool.
"I told you you'd hate C-sec." The voice on the other end said.
"It's ridiculous. I see violations of dozens of laws happening around me right where I'm standing now and I'm not allowed to act on it." Garrus whined.
"I spoke to Pallin, he's as frustrated as you are. Our councilor has his hands tied." the voice on his omnitool said.
"That makes no sense, the only reason I could think of Spartaus doing that is... oh... Spirits." Garrus said
"Yeah.." The voice on the other end said.
"I have to quit. I can't be a party to this.." Garrus said.
"I understand, son. Come back to Palaven, I'm sure the militia could use a soldier like you." The voice said.
"Mom, I can't do that either. The militia is too rigid, they refuse to think beyond their doctrine." Garrus said.
"Well whatever you do, you'll always have a place here, Garrus." Asta said.
"Thanks, mom. I've got some thinking to do, I'll call you tomorrow." Garrus said.
"Of course, dear. I love you." Asta said
"I love you too." Garrus said, disconnecting the call. That had been a hard pill to swallow. He'd served under Spartaus during his conscription, he'd been a fine, honorable leader. When he took the position of councilor once the previous one had died, he'd begun a slow decline. Garrus had thought at best he was chained by restrictions of office, and at worst he'd become soft in the head as he aged, but this... This was irredeemable. This was un-Turian. Garrus had to weigh his options.. One thing he knew, was that he was going to continue his investigation of Saren Arterius regardless of what that fool Pallin ordered him to do. If he was going to be fired, he'd be fired for following his conscience. He cursed as he collided with a wall of armored Krogan that had wandered into his path.
"Watch where you're going, Turian." the Krogan said.
"I'm sorry." Garrus said, and continued along his way. The Krogan looked at him as he walked away with a raised eyebrow.
"A C-Sec officer just apologized to me... a TURIAN C-Sec Agent...I must have hit my head harder than I thought." The Krogan muttered to himself as he continued down the road towards his destination: Chora's Den.
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"My Daughter, I am so proud of you." Admiral Rael'Zorah said as he embraced his daughter.
"Thank you father. I promise I'll make you proud." Tali'Zorah said, hugging him again, one last time before boarding the Honrata. While on pilgrimage, she would retain her birth ship name of Tali'Zorah Nar Rayya, but he had no doubt that before he knew it he would be addressing his letters to her as Tali'Zorah Vas Honrata. It was a bittersweet moment for him.
He had, sometimes to her frustration, worked hard to not interfere with her accomplishments in schooling as well as shipboard operations. She'd thought when she was younger that he was avoiding her because of the pain he still carried from the death of her mother. Rael had been mortified when he discovered that, and spent weeks glued to her side to demonstrate to her that wasn't the case. As a result the two were very close, even though their jobs, hers as a crew member of the Rayya and he as a fleet Admiral kept them physically separated.
"Hard, isn't it?" A voice said behind him. Rael turned to see his colleague and closest friend Admiral Shala'Raan Vas Tonbay.
"It's the second hardest thing I've ever done, but so very worth it." Rael said, looking fondly as the Honrata detached from the docking ring and flew off into space.
"When my Sheer went off on pilgrimage I couldn't stop crying for weeks." Raan said.
"I know, I was there, remember?" Rael said, with mischief in his voice. Raan poked his shoulder gently with two fingers, it was the Quarian equivalent of a punch on the shoulder. They always had to be conscious of suit breaches or even bruising under the suit. Raan gestured for him to follow her as they made their way towards a wide open meeting area aboard the liveship Rayya. As with everything above the fleet, the room was used for multiple purposes. It featured stadium seating for ceremonies, and every possible surface was covered in vegetation, both for food as well as oxygen production. Having the plants took a lot of pressure off their aging o2 scrubbers.
They made their way to a corner where a long table had been set up, the other admirals were already seated.
"Little Tali finally leaving the nest?" Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema asked. Rael sighed.
"I don't see what the fuss is about. We all left our birth ships at one point." Admiral Daro'Xen Vas Moreh said.
"Are you ok?" Rael asked Korris who was openly weeping.
"They grow up so fast.." Korris said. Nobody could see it but Xen rolled her eyes at that. Korris had always been the bleeding-heart of the group.
"Perhaps a change of subject then? Does anyone have anything to report?" Gerrel said, in a vain attempt at salvaging his colleague's dignity.
"Fuel reserves are low throughout the fleet. If we don't find a source of Helium-3 we will be in trouble soon." Raan reported.
"We could always go with my plan..." Xen offered
"Absolutely not!" The other four admirals said simultaneously.
"They call us thieves anyway, why not give them reason?" Xen asked angrily.
"I don't care what they call us, we do not steal!" Raan shouted.
"Then you get to tell our people when we have to do another purge!" Xen shouted, before standing and storming out. The other four slumped their shoulders at that. While they were not nearly to that point yet, they had all been alive during what they called 'the purge.' Twenty years before, the Quarian migrant fleet was critically short on fuel, which lead to them considering resorting to thievery or piracy in order to simply survive. Without fuel, hydroponic gardens, water reclamation, oxygen processing and heat would all fail.
Then the conclave of the elderly, a group of elder Quarians who generally worked to keep their history and culture alive in a changing universe, came up with a solution that would haunt them forever. Twenty thousand Quarians, all over the age of 60, left the fleet to "settle" on a world at the edge of the Perseus Veil. They settled there knowing the Geth would arrive within days to slaughter them all, which they did. The most tragic part of it was that a week later, the fleet acquired millions of metric tons of Helium 3 in a trade with a Volus merchant.
"I will reach out to the humans again." Rael'Zorah said, effectively ending their meeting. He made his way back to his office on the Alarei and sealed the hatch. He didn't want his crew to hear him begging for help. He had almost finished the process of dialing the extranet address for the Human embassy on the Citadel when he remembered a conversation he'd had with a Quarian who'd returned from Pilgrimage a few months previous.
There was a human on the Citadel that Quarians told each other to see if they needed food or shelter. He always had space for pilgrims in his quarters, and food for them in his pantry. He also happened to be an admiral in their Navy, and there were wild rumors about him wielding magic and being immortal. Rael discarded those easily enough but wanted to reach out to this human, on even the off chance he would be able to help. Thankfully several returning pilgrims had given him the man's contact information. He sighed and dialed the extranet address in.
"This is Harry, what can I do... oh are you a pilgrim? I'm away from the citadel right now, are you safe?" Harry asked.
"Forgive me, Admiral Potter, I am not a pilgrim. My name is Admiral Rael'Zorah of the Quarian Migrant Fleet, are you available for a brief conversation?" Rael said.
"One second, please." Harry said, reaching behind him and closing the door, drowning out a soft sound in the background that sounded curiously like snoring.
"I apologize, my companion is asleep and she's had a very rough time. What can I do for the Quarian Migrant Fleet?" Harry asked.
"We are... well.. this is difficult, Admiral." Rael said
"Harry please, and take your time." Harry said with a kind smile, a gesture he was unused to receiving.
"The fleet is experiencing trouble acquiring helium 3 fuel for our ships. Given our nomadic nature we don't have any gas giants we can freely harvest from, and our usual suppliers have been convinced not to sell." Rael said.
"So it's true is it? Those bastards. What's your current status?" Harry asked.
"We have enough fuel for about a month before we need to start shifting people around and abandoning ships." Rael reluctantly revealed. Harry's eyes widened.
"Shit... Ok go to these coordinates, they'll have some waiting, that should get you through until I can make it over to where you are so we can find a more permanent solution.
"Of course, how much will this cost?" Rael said. Harry stared at him blankly.
"Just go there and get the fuel, don't worry about credits, we'll figure something out." Harry said
"Harry I can't accept-" Rael started to say but he was interrupted.
"Shut up and take my helium." Harry said.
