Part 1: Just Another Mission
Mass Effect 2 - DLC
The Equestrian Equation
By Loyal2Luna
Warning: Contains Spoilers for Mass Effect 1 & 2
From the Normandy Galaxy Map, a new star system opens up in the Hawking Eta Cluster following the download of the new DLC, labeled "System AR-43281."
As the player moves the Normandy’s icon into the unexplored system from FTL speed, rather than bring up a map of the local solar system, the loading screen pops up, images of mass relays replaced by a swirling icon of two winged unicorns, one black, one white, circling around one another.
There was a darkness to this place that deadened all of the senses.
Not a sound could be heard, nothing could be felt. There was no orientation as a weightlessness settled into the stomach of the man who was experiencing this, his mind struggling to make sense of the alien environment as he tried to determine if he was awake or asleep… Alive or dead.
“System update: Unscheduled supplicant introduced into system. Genotype analysis indicates species compatibility,” a soft feminine voice stated in a calm, rational manner.
It came from everywhere, giving no sense of direction as the human attempted to lift his arms, to move at all, without success.
“Not another one! This has to stop! Sister, discontinue the introduction process. Activate Security Protocol 'Kickback.' We cannot allow this to keep happening,” a second, more regal-sounding female tone interrupted. Unlike the first, this one was clearly emotional, giving the immediate impression of one that had been knocked from her comfort zone.
“...Who’s there?” the man asked, fighting to keep his head clear as the darkness seemed intent on oppressing his senses.
“It’s conscious?” a new tone asked, this one male, the flow and pitch giving the human the impression of a whimsical personality. “Impressive… Most impressive.”
“Warning: Cybernetic implants detected in new supplicant maintaining critical biological processes. Biometric rewrite interrupted,” the first voice came again, remaining calm. “Introduction Protocol A-087 commencing.”
“NO! LUNA! DISCONTINUE! Discontinue, I said!” the second voice came again, this time barely containing a wrathful outrage.
“Discontinuation of introduction processes at this stage will result in immediate termination. Secondary confirmation required.”
Termination? No… He couldn’t let it end like this…
The human in the dark struggled, not for the first time, against his certain death.
“No,” the male voice came from the dark. “Let it through.”
“DISCORD! Don't… you… dare!”
“There is something different about this one…” the voice named Discord teased, at ease in spite of the anger of the elder-sounding female voice. “I want to see what it will do.”
“Your whims will bring doom upon us all!”
“Doom is already upon us, Celestia, my sister,” the factual, calm voice called Luna stated. “This one may be our last hope.”
Still trying to struggle in the dark, a feeling of warmth swept up through the human’s body as he struggled to maintain consciousness, his mind running over a specific train of thought that kept him focused on his purpose no matter what the obstacle.
“I am Commander Shepard. Alliance Serial: N7-42. The Reapers are coming… I have to stop them… Commander Shepard… N7-42… The Reapers are coming… Have to stop them… Shepard… Reapers… are coming… Have to…”
Then… there was nothing.
————————————————————
“Oh my gosh! Is he okay?”
“Put him on the bed.”
“I’ve never seen him before… Where did he come from?”
“I found him on the edge of the Everfree Forest… Oh, please be okay, Mister Seven…”
Commander Shepard began to focus again as he slowly climbed into the world of the awakened and voices could be heard as if through a distant haze. His head pounded as he tried to clear his mind of the heavy cobwebs that had formed. The feeling of pins and needles ran over his entire body, deadening any tactile sense of his surroundings, although he could feel the weight around his body to indicate he was still wearing his armor.
It felt… strange somehow, as if the proportions were off.
“Wow, he’s like, SUUUPER heavy!” the first voice came again, female in tone, sounding as if she was straining against something.
“Yeah, he really is… You brought him all this way yourself, Fluttershy?”
“Well, he looked injured… so I thought… Should I have taken him to the hospital? Oh, I’m so sorry, I just thought that you would know what to do, Twilight.”
Fluttershy?
Twilight?
Before his still-dazed mind could puzzle over these strange-sounding names, Shepard felt his world go vertical, throwing off his growing sense of orientation as he was hefted upward… Or was he falling? No… more like gliding, gently being pushed along in the air while his weight was negated.
Wait, he knew this sensation.
Biotic lift… But… such control… He doubted even Samara, with all her centuries of experience, could have manipulated a mass effect field so precisely as to carry a living thing with such grace.
“Unnngghhh…” Shepard tried to speak, the world seeping in as he shook off his exhaustion, trying to work up the strength to move… or at least open his eyes.
“Hey, I think he’s waking up.”
“Hello… Mister Seven… are you alright?” the softer tone cooed over him as he started to move, feeling returning to his limbs.
“Aahhhhh…” was the first thing out of his mouth as he brought his hand up to his head.
Wait… This felt weird.
He felt his arm move, but there was a feeling of restriction, as if his arm was pushed at an awkward angle from his shoulder.
Then his… hand… touched his… face.
Something was wrong…
Commander Shepard’s eyes snapped open.
“OH! Good, you’re awake. We were so worried.”
Shepard was quiet as he took in his surroundings… the most immediate thing in his field of vision being a pastel yellow creature with a soft, swirling pink mane standing over him with large eyes, a smile, and obvious intelligence. Although it possessed very human expressions and features, the creature was unlike any intelligent species that the well-traveled Commander had ever encountered.
Pulling himself up, he got a better look, his eyes running down the creature’s body to notice a set of feathered wings sprouting from the middle of the creature’s back, while a tattoo-like print was obvious on her side, depicting three pink and blue butterflies.
Quadrupedal… with legs ending in hooves… The creature was equine in nature… like the horses of Earth.
Turning his head, Commander Shepard scanned the area around him, realizing a natural setting… like wood… with a multitude of books piled into rustic-looking shelves all around.
Slightly farther away, two more equine creatures stood, both watching him more cautiously than the first… One a deep shade of purple while the other had a neon-pink body and curly hair that Shepard would have normally attributed to a clown… They were each branded in a similar fashion… but the purple creature had a horn sprouting from its forehead while the pink one lacked horn or wings, seeming (oddly enough) to be the most normal of the three.
No stranger to alien encounters, Shepard managed to fight back an initial reaction to panic in the face of the bizarre as he pulled himself up, attempting to push himself to his feet.
“Oh, no… Wait… You’re hurt. You shouldn’t…” the purple equine creature started forward, but too late, as Shepard felt himself shift awkwardly.
Something was wrong… and not just with his surroundings, the Commander realized... Something was clearly wrong with him.
Shepard’s center of balance was all off, causing him to fall forward towards the floor where he had to throw his arms out to catch himself.
*Clop-clop*
Shepard was now facing the floor, noting the knots in the smooth wooden surface scuffed by triangular marks before he caught sight of his own hands.
Or lack thereof.
Rather than his expected gauntlets, Shepard was looking down at the white and black of his armor which ended on his arms just short of a set of furred red hooves.
His heart hammering, Shepard looked about at the three alien creatures, all of them watching him cautiously.
“Careful, girls… I think he’s confused… Just give him space,” the purple one started, holding a hoof up to the pink one in an obvious attempt to keep her from rushing forward.
“Oh… Mister Seven… are you alright?” the yellow one drew back in a fearful manner, as if she were about to burst out crying should he answer negatively.
Again suppressing the panic, something that took all of his N7 military and combat training to do, Shepard pushed himself up on his hand… hooves... and felt his legs straightening in a manner that should have been impossible.
Human legs don't bend like that… How could…?
Then, he caught sight of a mirror, and took a step sideways to catch his own reflection within it.
Clad in a full, custom-made suit of black and white armor that curved perfectly over an equine body stood a creature like the three he was with, but rather than a brand, a familiar "N7" symbol was emblazoned on the armor’s backside. With cold steel-grey eyes looking back from a red-furred face that had a short crew cut of black hair, the creature gaped in shock at Shepard.
He realized that his mouth was hanging open and closed it.
The reflection did the same.
Commander Shepard’s eyes went wide as he watched the red equine alien wearing his armor copy his expressions… mouth moving in sync with the mirror’s image as the one thing unaltered about him hit his now-pointed, flicking ears.
It was his own voice.
“Oh, you have got to be kidding me!”
————————————————————
5 Hours Earlier
On board the Normandy SR-2, Commander Shepard looked over Yeoman Chambers' latest reports on the crew’s state of mind as he tried to relax in his quarters.
Relax…
As EDI would say: “That was a joke."
They were preparing to go into the eye of the storm… literally. To strike directly at the Collector Base and put an end to their attacks on human colonies… preventing whatever work they were doing in the name of the true masterminds behind the abduction of entire settlements… the Reapers.
So suffice it to say, there was a little bit of pressure on all of them right now.
Kelly’s conclusion was spot on, he knew. Everybody was tense. They handled it in different ways… but still, the black cloud of what they had to do was hanging over them, made all the more real as EDI and the engineering team worked to integrate their most recently acquired asset; a Reaper Identify Friend/Foe device, into the Normandy’s systems.
They were as prepared as they could be… All of the crew’s unfinished business had been squared away… All possible upgrades had been made to the new Normandy. Once the IFF was ready… it would be time to hit the Omega-4 Relay and end this. One way, or another.
Shepard sighed as he set down the datapad, closing his eyes as he tried to fight off the strain from reading the holographic text. He tried to remember what shore leave felt like. He was pretty sure that his last attempt at R&R had been (quite literally) in another life.
The intercom chimed, pulling Shepard out of his self-indulgent musings as the holographic representation of EDI, the Normandy’s Enhanced Defense Intelligence, projected into existence from the console near his aquarium.
“Shepard: I have an update.”
“Haven’t you ever heard of knocking, EDI?” Shepard sighed slightly. He knew the silence couldn’t have lasted.
“I have attempted such formalities, but organics lack the appropriate handshake protocols to acknowledge my pings and I lack the hands to properly emulate the motion of ‘knocking’ without a query of ‘Who is there?’” EDI clarified.
Shepard looked at the hologram for a moment with a tired expression.
“…That was a joke,” the A.I. explained flatly.
“Of course it was… Is the IFF ready, then?”
“Negative. There are still security measures I wish to implement before physical installation. However, I have received an urgent contact from the Illusive Man. He wishes to speak with you immediately.”
Shepard’s mood dropped like a hanar in high gravity. Their "generous benefactor" was hardly on the top of his list of people he wanted to speak with at this point.
“Why didn’t you just let Kelly call me down, then?”
“Yeoman Chambers was hesitant to interrupt your, as she put it: ‘You time.’ The Illusive Man is far less restrained by such concerns.”
“That’s an understatement,” Shepard sighed. “What is this about?”
“His contact message only indicated it was a matter of galactic importance.”
Shepard huffed slightly as he shook his head.
“Why can’t he ever just call to say ‘Hi’?” the Commander mused as he stood up and stretched.
————————————————————
The image of a unique star, ringed in blue and centered in a burning red took shape in front of Shepard as the Normandy's on-board Quantum Entanglement Communicator recreated the scene of the Illusive Man’s office.
His arms crossed, Shepard kept his stance firm as he prepared for whatever insanity the head of Cerberus was preparing to throw at him, and was not surprised to see the influential leader standing with his back to the hologram projector, taking a drag off of a cigarette.
“Shepard,” the Illusive Man started without turning around. “I understand your mission with the geth you recovered on board the Derelict Reaper was a success.”
“Somehow, I doubt you called just to talk to me about Legion,” Shepard stated, his tone very matter-of-factly as he tried to plow through the superficial statements.
“No… Although I do find the continued cooperation between yourself and this particular geth to be quite... enlightening, you are quite right. That is not the reason for this interruption.”
“So what’s the emergency?” Shepard asked, wanting to get to the heart of the matter.
The Illusive Man turned as he took another puff from the cigarette, his glowing blue cybernetic-enhanced eyes giving the impression of spinning in place as he focused his gaze on the hologram of Shepard before continuing.
“You remember Doctor Chandana’s science team? The one that found the Reaper corpse that you recovered both the IFF and your new synthetic compatriot from?”
Shepard grunted slightly, remembering all too well the "scientists" that had assaulted his team in that deathtrap. “Yeah… They were driven to insanity, indoctrinated, and then turned into husks. It was a total loss.”
“That is what we believed as well… However, new evidence indicates that this was not the case.”
Shepard didn’t want to admit it, but now he was intrigued. “I’m listening.”
The Illusive Man allowed himself a brief smile.
“We had thought that all members of Chandana’s team had been accounted for on the Derelict Reaper when it was destroyed…” the Illusive Man explained. “However, three hours ago, we received a coded subspace message on Cerberus encrypted frequencies… Specifically, from Doctor Chandana’s second-in-command, one Doctor Horace Milligan… a specialist in xeno-technology. He sent us a text report followed by an S.O.S.”
“Tell me about the report,” Shepard inquired.
“It was not included in Chandana’s records. Why? We don’t really know... But it appears that Milligan was put in charge of studying the weapon that Cerberus discovered using trajectories from the Great Rift on Klendagon, while Chandana took the bulk of the science team to the Derelict Reaper’s location.”
“That was the weapon that disabled the Reaper… I thought you said it was defunct.”
“It is. Shepard, this weapon predates the evolution of every single sentient species currently in the galaxy by more than fifteen million years… When it fired, mammals on Earth hadn't even learned how to walk upright. The vast majority of its components have been worn away by time and what little we have recovered tells us nothing about its function or design. However, according to Milligan’s new report, he and a team of seven other scientists pursued a new lead based on an energy signature residue that was present inside what we now believe was the weapon’s power source.”
“An element zero core?” Shepard assumed, knowing that nearly all advanced technology in the galaxy was based on the harnessing of Element Zero and the mass effect fields it generated.
“No… That is what intrigued Milligan… and why I myself have taken a personal interest.” The Illusive Man took another drag on his cigarette. “Whatever this energy is, it’s even more advanced than anything the Protheans created. It's capable of lasting for tens of millions of years, can be produced without eezo, and can supply power to a weapon that can destroy a Reaper Capital Ship from clear across a star cluster.”
Shepard gave the Illusive Man a sideways look. He sounded excited, just a bit; the possibilities breaking though his perpetually calm mask. Apparently, the head of Cerberus realized this as well and regained his composure.
“This could be the godsend we’ve all been waiting for, Shepard. While it may not be on the same level as Reaper tech, this energy could give humanity the edge we need to fight back when the Reapers finally do come in force.”
“And here comes the snag…” Shepard said, already seeing where this conversation was going.
“Indeed.” The Illusive Man shook his head. “The text report was corrupted when it was transmitted, suggesting that Milligan’s team had to improvise in whatever was used to send the message. That indicates that their ship was either disabled or destroyed before they could catalog whatever it is they found. The S.O.S. is likewise vague, as it used an archaic analogue distress pattern.”
The Illusive Man brought up an omni-tool on his arm, tapping the holographic interface for a moment before a series of intermittent beeps could be heard.
Shepard was visibly stunned. He hadn’t heard anything like this since a class in ancient military history back at Alliance Academy. Of course, having passed that class with flying colors, he was able to place it.
“Morse Code?”
“That's right.” The Illusive Man nodded. “It took our futuristic computer-obsessed techs an hour to realize it was more than static and then another twenty minutes to realize what it really was… And then they had to brush off a centuries-old manual just to translate it. But I believe that someone with your training will have an easier time of it.”
Shepard listened for a moment.
“We… are… still… alive… Send… help…” Shepard’s eyes narrowed as he listened to the beeps, his mind scrambling for everything he could remember during his training relating to old military codes and protocols. His eyes widened as the last series of beeps ran though his mental translation. “Send… Shepard…”
“The message repeats on a loop after that.” The Illusive Man pressed another button, disabling his omni-tool and causing it to vanish. “And use of such an archaic form of communication may also suggest they were attempting to send out the message under the radar, so to speak.”
“It could be another trap,” Shepard reasoned, remembering all too well the last "distress call" they had answered, which led them into an ambush at the heart of a Collector ship. An ambush which the Illusive Man was all too eager to send them into.
“Definitely,” the Illusive Man agreed. “To my knowledge, Doctor Milligan was in no way acquainted with you, so such a specific request in aid is questionable, at best. But if they recovered anything that could help us learn about this power source, it would be well worth the risk.”
“And saving the remaining science team might be a good idea…” Shepard’s tone was accusing, as, clearly, the preservation of these scientists' lives was not at the top of the Illusive Man’s priority list.
“If at all possible, their survival would be preferred…” the Illusive Man agreed in an offhanded manner. “But your primary concern on this mission has to be the recovery of Doctor Milligan’s research and anything that he has discovered in relation to this power source. I am sending EDI all of the data we have, including information on where we believe the transmission originated from: an until now unexplored star system in the Hawking Eta Cluster of the Attican Traverse.”
“Any idea what we’ll find out there?” Shepard asked, not caring for the lack of intelligence or the vagaries of the assignment.
“None… But if there’s anyone who can accomplish this, Shepard… it’s you,” the Illusive Man noted. “You’ve done the impossible before; this should be a walk in the park. You have my complete confidence.”
—————————————————————
“Complete confidence…” Jacob Taylor shook his head. “Another way of saying ‘Go take care of this while I sit back on my lazy ass.'”
“Well, nothing’s been able to stop you so far, Shepard.” Miranda Lawson, the top Cerberus operative on board the Normandy nodded over the conference table to Shepard as the fourth member of the meeting, the salarian Mordin Solus, stood by in uncharacteristic silence. “I can understand why the Illusive Man would trust you with something like this.”
EDI’s holographic form erupted from the projector on the conference table at this, the ship’s A.I. giving her own opinion.
“At our current speed, we will arrive at the star system in approximately two hours, Shepard. The sample of the power source residue energy signature should allow us to narrow our search using the Normandy’s mineral scanner.”
“How will that help? Shouldn’t we try to find the science team’s ship transponder?” Miranda asked.
“Attempts to track the Cerberus transponder signal have failed. However, it was confirmed that Doctor Milligan’s team took the original sample of the energy residue with them. Thus, it should still be in the possession of the survivors, if any remain.”
“Or whoever took it from them,” Miranda noted dryly.
“We still have no proof that Milligan’s team is compromised. They could still be alive out there,” Jacob interrupted.
Shepard nodded and turned to the salarian who was looking off into space. “Mordin, what do you think?”
“Uncertain. Not enough data. Too many unknown elements. Promise of power source could be lure. Same with S.O.S. Playing on human predisposition towards search and rescue. All methods used to draw out response. Unlikely the Collectors would use same method twice. But… could have predicted that we predict they would not use the same method. Difficult call…” Mordin paused a moment, taking a deep sniff of air. “…Glad it’s not mine.”
“We are also approaching a critical stage with the installation of the Reaper IFF,” EDI interrupted. “Cerberus Protocols indicate that all senior officers of the organization remain on board while the physical integration takes place.”
“She’s right… If something goes wrong when we plug that thing in, we need to be here to counteract it,” Miranda agreed.
“Which means that Miranda and I will be sitting this one out…” Jacob sighed in agitation, pushing away from the conference table.
“Grateful I am not a Cerberus officer. Doubt resumé would meet standards in any case. Much better employment opportunities available. Waste management in vorcha habitat for instance,” Mordin mused in his usual rapid-fire manner. “Should decide now, Shepard. Unknown what you are heading into. Need to prep and brief squad. Recommend rest of crew focus on IFF installation.”
Miranda nodded in agreement.
“So… who will you be taking with you?”
Choices:
"Let's see what we can learn." (Mordin and Tali)
"We need to be discrete." (Garrus and Thane)
"I need people I can trust." (Garrus and Tali)
"We should expect hostiles." (Jack and Grunt)
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First!
(Proofreader's privilege)
Also, I pick option 2. I'm trying to imagine Garrus as a pony, but my mind can't fathom that much awesomeness.
Garus and Tali
Mordin and Tali FTW
I AGREE WANDERER D
Oh, this is going to be gooood!
But who to choose, there just seems to be one from each of the choices that I really want to see interacting with ponies (Jack + Ponies = lol). The one I want to see the most is Garrus but I'm not that interested in Thane, but Mordin and Tali...
Edit post after addition of Garrus and Tali Option (Don't know if I should change this post or make another, but going to change this one):
Changing choice from "Let's see what we can learn" to "I need people who I trust" Garrus and Tali is the best possible combo. Shep needs his bro Garrus while in Equestria.
Can't wait to see where this goes.
Hmmm.... 'Lets see what we can learn'.
Oooh! Nvrmind, "I need People I can Trust". Because as much as Mordin could be amusing as a pony, Garrus and Tali make even more of a crazy team.
I'm with Wander D. Tali and Mordin. Imagine Tali as a pony. Mordin would go crazy with experminetal ideas. But most importantly, if they find this new tech, they need to analyze ASAP then find a way out. The second I assume will take sometime.
I would also like to note that Mordin and Tali could benefit ponykind as well as the mission.
However, though I choose the paragon choice, I would like to not that the Garrus and Thane choice is a friendlier approach; they seem more civil and able to talk the mane 6 and co. better the other opinions. Grunt and Jack will probably just bring about intimidation and fear. Leading to problems with Applejack, RD, and, possibly, Royalty.
Though, this is assuming our choice partners will come to Equestria. Again, Mordin and Tali is the best.
Learning route. Mordin and Tali
I agree. what can we learn?
Mordin and Tali. Just hope you can get Mordin's personality and speech habits down. And if Tali comes along, remember, she is our romance option.
Mordin and Tali! Twilight will be so pleased with Mordin and all of his rapid-fire questions and I would love to see how Tali reacts to being pony-fied. And it's only three days till update!
This has been tracked and liked to death!
If I had my choice, I would choose Mordin and Garrus, because Garrus is a bro and Mordin is quite possibly my favorite character in ME. Of course, Tali is cool too. Mordin & Tali it is. You knew everyone would choose it. :P
My votes for Tali and Garrus.
Garrus/Thane. They have the most amount of cool without sacrificing the whoopass
Let's see what we can learn.
im stuck between 'lets see what we can learn', and 'expect hostiles'.
on the one hand... basically what everyone else said.
on the other, JACK AS A PONY!
i now use my allmighty powers to make you imagine a deathmatch between ponyjack and rainbow dash.
Interesting. Tracking.
Oh, and my choice is:
Mordin and Tali: Let's see what we can learn.
You serious lol not even mad, LETS READ THIS SUMBICTCH
Lets see what we can learn ( Mordin and Tali )
Also, I love the way you presented Mordin.
Garrus, would find the situation absurd and would probably be dying to fix himself.
Thane would probably feel humbled by the God-like Princesses and enjoy the ideal peaceful society. But I imagine he'd want to leave because he's feel he has no right to be in such a pure place after what he's done.
This is why I pick Mordin and Tali. Those two would have tons of questions... For Science and the Flotilla.
Tali and Mordin.
We need to be discret.
Renegade: Expect hostiles.
Never know what could be lurking out their.
Great story so far
Tali and Mordin, Let's see what we can learn
Tali and Modrin--I'd like to see him try and keep up with Pinkie.
I say we go with Tali and Mordin "Let's see what we can learn."
But I would also want to go with Tali and Garrus, I always used that setup, other characters were never used by me, hehe.
Anyway, this is great and awesome, like the rest of your work Loyal2Luna. Keep it up
I'd say Mordin and Thane as they would make the best combo of stealth/intel but since that isn't an option, Mordin and Tali.
Edit: Of course the voting is over, not sure how I missed that, any way just want to add that the story is off to a good start.
Tali and Mordin. I want more of That Salarian.
447564
Voting isn't over, this chapter is technically early (L2L is impatient...) voting on this chapter ends on the 22nd.
Also, after thinking about it I get the impression that whoever Shepard takes with him won't get ponified, going by what goes on in the beginning of the chapter. I still vote Garrus though, Garrus is best squadmate.
Mordin and Tali, but I would Find it more interesting with Thane and Tali going instead.
447646
What else can I say... 'AH WANT IT NOOOWWWW!'
Also, yes. This was put up a couple of days early just in case there was a concern from the site moderators as my original CYOA format (which was a tad different) did not meet approval when I discussed it with a mod whom shall remain nameless.
I know there were a great number of awesome combinations and it was hard to narrow it down, but my desire in the first choice was to put together teams that would be 'specialized' for a certain task.
So this wasn't just me putting forward favorites of mine.
Well, except that Tali, Garrus, Mordin, Thane, Grunt, and Jack ... actually are my favorites... and I never used boring Jacob, b**chy Miranda, Bland Samara, or the DLC characters....
Uhhh wait, what was I originally saying?
Tali and Mordin. The idea of that salarian singing along with Pinkie Pie would be hilarious.
Mordin & Tali.
Plus the way you've done Mordin's dialog was SPOT ON!
Tali and Legion
What?
447890
I...suggested this to the crew members
images.wikia.com/masseffect/images/b/b5/Legion_Tali_Loyalty_Confrontation.png
... It didn't go over well.
447918
Exactly! What better way to make an amusing story than to have the two who will never see eye-to-eye?
On a more serious note, I vote for Thane and Garrus.
Tali and mordin, though I would love to see tali and legion together. That was how I played anyways.
Mordin and tali
or Garrus and thane
Hard choice
Cant I take Garrus and Tali
Wow, alot of calls for Garrus and Tali. I wonder if I should allow write in campaign for choices like this.
Would have to REALLY shake the stars to get it in though.
*throws down the gauntlet of Democracy*
448662
Can I change my answer to Garrus and Tali?
(Not that it would matter all that much, Mordin/Tali seems like the most popular choice at the moment.)
Mordin and Tali, they should be fun( as well as being my team when I played). As a soldier we can bring the heavy firepower and having 2 combat drones is always tons of fun.
I vote Mordin and Tali, though if you're allowing a write-in ballot, Tali and Garrus would be awesome.
Tali and Mordin for me, although I would like to see Tali and Garrus. I like what you have so far. Keep up the great work!
Aside from being a soldier (prefer infiltrator myself personaly) we pretty much have the same Shep
Tali and Mordin have my vote, can't wait for the next update of this and Along Came A Spider
...It's obvious I need to at the very least partially familiarize myself with Mass Effect if I want to enjoy this story, because honestly I can barely tell what's going on. It would be nice if there were a little bit more explanation about what's going on with some of the concepts and the characters and past events because I honestly don't know much of anything about the ME universe. I know there's a guy named Shepard and I know there's some kind of thingamajig that allows things to achieve 'negative mass' (hence Mass Effect) and that allows for them to do all their cool sci-fi stuff, and that there are things called Reapers and they're the bad guys you're supposed to shoot at... and they MAY be similar to the Borg?
Beyond that though, I basically know nothing. SO when you're up there talking about 'Physical Integration' and 'Protheans' and all the various factions and races and characters... I get a little bit confused. Especially since none of these concepts are really explained, like... at all.
I dunno, maybe I just need a wiki open while I read this, but in my opinion, a story should be able to stand on its own. I should be able to read and enjoy a story without having to do supplementary reading... or playing. No matter how good the Mass Effect series may be, I should be able to enjoy a crossover story like this without having played it first and, in fact, a really good story should be able to draw me in and get me interested in the series by itself so I feel compelled to pick it up. This is how I got into Beast Wars, Dresden Files, Silent Hill, and Alan Wake, by the way. Really good crossover fanfictions that got me interested in the thing they were crossing over with and inspired me to broaden my horizons.
This story... has not convinced me to pick up Mass Effect... which is a shame because it's written really well, as your stories usually are (love your Doctor Whoof series btw. Possibly the best one I've seen ever). But sadly, it relies upon too much knowledge of the Mass Effect Universe for me to enjoy properly. I understand in your foreword that you instructed us to go out and buy all three ME games and play them nonstop for the next 120+ hours, but sadly, some of us aren't willing to drop 30-70 dollars on games (x3) at will just on somebody's recommendation without being thoroughly convinced it's worth the money, and the utter lack of explanation isn't helping me to be convinced. I also understand that you don't really want to include spoilers, but that doesn't mean you can't explain concepts, factions, races, and characters, you just need to be a bit more vague and be careful about how you go about doing it to avoid events that happen in-game. Sadly, as is, I can't help but merely be confused by a lot of what's going on, and making me utterly confused does not reflect well on my opinion of the story... nor the series it's representing.
It's too bad because given what the other comments are saying, it sounds pretty interesting. Sadly, all I can really get from this story is "there are these guys on a ship going to rescue some stranded scientists and retrieve data from an unexplored planet." And that's a fine setup and all, but it's the story to hundreds upon hundreds of things. And if you want me to really care at all you need to make your story somewhat original and define your characters and concepts from all the rest... which I'm sure you are, but you're not doing it in a way that is accessible to the reader that is not in the Mass Effect fold, making your story limited to the reader.
Also, I'm not a fan of 'human turns into a pony' at least not in crossover fanfiction. I tend to feel that, unless a) there's a really REALLY good reason for it for genre or immediately apparent story reasons, or b) it's a Doctor Whoof fic (since he has his own background character of course), the character should be able to go to Equestria and remain unchanged... ESPECIALLY in spacefaring fics where they meet alien races all the time and DON'T suddenly turn into a different species every time they land on a new planet. I get that this is a personal preference, but honestly, at least so far as I've read, it doesn't make sense to me at all why anyone should turn into a pony when they land on Equestria... unless there's some reason for it in Mass Effect, like to make first contact go smoother or something? If that's the case then that's just one more disconnect between this story and an outside reader.
Look, you write well. You write really REALLY well... but I honestly can't give this story any kind of good review because NOTHING is explained. It's like Quest for Camelot for me... things are just happening or being glanced over with no reason whatsoever and it's really jarring.
I can really only give this a 6/10. It sounds like it could be really really good, and if you stop and/or go back and explain the concepts being brought up, then I'd be willing to up my review. I really want to like and follow this story, but as is...
Also, I guess I may not be entirely qualified to say this since I can't make an informed choice... but I guess I choose Garrus and Thane. I have no idea who these people are or what they can do, but here's my line of logic: You're going into potentially hostile territory to rescue hostages and retrieve data. Personally, I'd want to try and be stealthy and try and get in and out without a fight and with as minimal detection as possible, but be ready with somebody who can be capable in combat if absolutely necessary. If it were me, I'd say I'd want somebody like Solid Snake on my side, but well, he isn't a choice.
That said, if these two can be 'discrete' I'd guess they'd be the closest to that option. Of course, I can't be sure I'm making the right choice since I don't know who these people are like, what they can do, what their personalities are, or even what they look like...
after reading the Conversion Bureau stories. I just hate human/alien to pony stories.....good concept...but i am going to have to pass this one. sorry.
Good luck.
I choose a different answer!
I choose Garrus and Tali!
I CHOOSE TALI AND GARRUS AS MY NEW ANSWER!
450633 ...Um... IMO... a good chunk of that review can't be taken seriously due to the fact that you don't know much about the game... The story that Loyal has shown so far fits perfectly with the storyline in the game. Much of the confusion you are having is directly related to the fact that you haven't played it. Most of the readers have, hence the demand for Tali and Garrus, as most everyone knows those two. Not attacking you or anything, as your review WAS solid, but I'm just pointing out that you don't really have sufficient information to review a story like this. Just my two bits on the subject. Also, I don't believe Loyal was trying to get you to pick up the game... I think this was written for people that were already fans to enjoy. Please correct me if I'm wrong, Loyal!
451745
^ What this guy said. If you don't care for a story based on not knowing the source material, then either you educate yourself, or just not read it. Other franchises don't need to do a total recap on everything that happened before. Why should fan-made material be held to a higher standard?
Just take this site for instance... Would you even be here if you didn't like the show? The stories here take for granted that their audience doesn't need to be spoon-fed details about everything about the universe, we're just here to read some fun stories and be entertained.
Well If I have to go with the options given then it has to be "Lets see what we can learn (Mordin and Tali)"
But if I can put in a write in option, then I choose Garrus and Tali. Either way, let the awesomeness ensue.