The Unexpected
Up in the cockpit of the Normandy SR-2, Shepard moved up behind the now infamous Flight Lieutenent Jeff ‘Joker’ Moreau as the pilot slowed their speed drastically, bringing them out of FTL-Speeds at the edge of what had been dubbed the ‘Equus’ system.
“Drive-Core disengaged.” Joker stated, his tone strangely flat and mechanical, as if he were merely going through the motions. “Moving up to the Equus-4 gas giant to discharge.”
“Well, what do you think, Joker?” Shepard asked, trying to keep his tone light.
Trying to ignore the fact that, aside from a nod and the occasional confirmation of orders, the Normandy’s pilot had not said more than five words to him.
“I think... we need to discharge the drive core before the Tantalus drive goes into meltdown.”
“Okay...”
Shepard stood there, waiting patiently as the pilot’s fingers moved across the holographic panels.
After a few moments of awkward quiet, Joker finally huffed, breaking his silence.
“You know, Commander. Maybe you... you know.. ‘should go’.”
“We need to talk.”
“About what?” Joker demanded.
“We both know about what. I’m sorry, Joker, I wish that there had been another way,” Shepard said. “I wished I could have saved her... but there was no other choice.”
“That’s it?” Joker gave a disappointed grunt, his pilot’s chair turning to face the Commander. “After all that stuff about how it doesn’t matter if we’re synthetic or organic... after Rannoch? You went out of your way to save the Geth and then--”
“You’re angry because I couldn’t save her--” Shepard stated, knowing full well why the pilot
“DAMN RIGHT I AM!” Joker interrupted.
“--but it had to happen or we would have lost ‘everyone’.” Shepard continued as if Joker had never said anything, the lie making him wince internally. “Without the Crucible, the Reapers would have been unstoppable. You know me... you know that... if I could have saved them ‘and’ destroyed the Reapers... I would have.”
Joker deflated for moment, his gaze dropping as he shook his head.
“Yeah... I get that. I mean, in my head I know you had to do it and I understand there was no other way. I get that in my brain. But deep down, emotionally... I can’t help but blame YOU for taking her away from me!" He jabbed an accusing finger at Shepard. “Encouraging me to go for it... putting us together... making me realize that there was more than just circuits and data-transfers... and then... then...”
Joker lowered his head, the bill of his cap obscuring the wetness of his eyes.
Shepard winced internally again at the very true accusation but he didn’t let it show on his face.
“That’s... understandable, Joker. I wish that it hadn’t had to happen, but it did and-”
“And I’m not going to move on and forget about her just because you’re asking me to!” Joker shouted angrily, cutting Shepard off. “I’m here for Normandy... even if... she’s lost her heart and soul. She’s still mine.”
Joker’s pilot chair turned around, facing the holographic panels again.
“All I have left.”
“Joker... Jeff... I know how much EDI meant to you,” Shepard assured the man gently. “And I don’t blame you for hating me.”
“You... you don’t?” Joker asked, clearly caught off guard.
“No, of course not, EDI was everything to you.... the love of your life, Jeff. I would never ask you to forget about her or to move on,” Shepard told him. “The war took so much from you, from all of us. We’ve lost friends... allies... we lost the Geth. You lost your father.. your sister... EDI.”
“Yeah... sucks to be me.” Joker shook his head. “And you got to be immortalized, you got Tali, still got your ship and crew. Even the swanky apartment Anderson left for you. But hey, I guess not everybody can be ‘Commander Shepard’. Some of us have to be born with Vrolik’s Syndrom, used as bait in sushi restaurants, and sit at the chair while everyone else is out shooting stuff.”
The words struck Shepard like a blow to the face, but as always, he didn’t show it.
“Trade you.” Shepard offered.
Two words, and Joker’s momentum ground to a halt.
There was another minute of silence as Joker seemed to consider those words. Considering the pressure, the impossible odds, and the sheer will that it had taken to survive all of the things that the commander of the Normandy had survived.
And now that it was all over... the fact that the repercussions of what had happened would never cease to haunt the Commander’s steps.
“Oh... well there goes the rest of my speech right there.” Joker shook his head. “I’m... I... Sorry, Shepard.”
“Hey, it’s alright, Jeff. And you haven’t just been sitting in this chair. You’ve been through just as much as the rest of us, lost as much as the rest of us and even more. You miss her...” Shepard told the man, walking up to the pilot and putting a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “... and that’s human.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Joker muttered, pulling his shoulder carefully from the commander’s grasp. “Anyways, we’ve got the Curiosity on sensors. We can rendezvous in half an hour if Major Kirrahe is good to go.”
“Thanks Joker,” Shepard told the pilot. “Are you sure there’s nothing else that I can-”
“No thanks Commander,” Joker said flatly. “You’ve done enough.”
Shepard winced.
“Jeff. Remember, if you ever want to talk about it, come find me,” Shepard removed his hand and began to walk away from the pilot.
“Yeah, you and your psychology degree,” Joker called after him, a trace of his trademark snark in his voice.
“Oh, and one more thing.” Shepard paused, looking over his shoulder.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not your Commander anymore. But, if you still want to be friends... then it’s just Shawn for you.”
“I’ll...” Joker took a deep breath, clearly affected by the offer, but unable to reach a clear decision on how he felt. “Keep that in mind...Shepard.”
With that, the Commander of the Normandy left the pilot to his controls.
It wasn’t much... but it was a start.
Now the healing could begin.
Commander Shepard stood patiently in the elevator as it sped downwards towards the shuttlebay. As Salarain and Alliance ships had contradictory designs, the two vessels were not able to physically dock with one another, so as a result Major Kirrahe’s shuttle had just entered the Normandy’s Hangar and Shepard had to leave the CIC to meet him. Kaidan stood on his right, and Tali at his left.
Strangely enough, Shepard just couldn’t shake the feeling of Deja Vu whenever it was him and two of his crew in an elevator. On the bright side the trips didn’t take anywhere as long as they used too.
“I wonder how Kirrahe is, it’s been a long time since the last time I saw him,” Kaidan stated.
“Yes, that’s something that I’ve been wondering as well,” Tali agreed. “Garrus and Liara mentioned you had met him back in the first month or so of the war, something about a mission before you cured the genophage?”
“Well, when I ran into on Sur'kesh he seemed to be doing fine,” Shepard told them. “But let’s not forget that he’s been stranded on an uncharted garden world for the last seven months, so be prepared for anything.”
The elevator dinged, announcing that they had reached their destination and the door opened.
Major Kirrahe was in plain view, standing stood next to his shuttle as his eyes scanned the room, he was wearing what looked like a mint-condition model of his black STG armor and the highly prized STG- Scorpion pistol sat at his hip. He looked up once the elevator door opened and a wide smile spread across his face.
Standing just behind him was another salarian, in matching armor but wearing one of the all concealing helmets typical of the salarian special task group’s operatives. Oddly enough, rather than firearms, a pair of short-curved blades rested on either hip. This immediately sent up a red flag for the commander, who was used to seeing salarian military operatives carrying more... ‘modern’ weaponry.
“AHA! Commander Shepard! So you DID survive the war!” The major said as he walked up to Shepard with an energetic gait.
The Commander offered his hand to shake, but was caught unaware as the salarian moved closer, his arms raised.
Shepard seized up as the salarian pulled him into an unexpected, brotherly embrace.
“What the...” Tali drew back, torn between shock and amusement by the behavior of the trained military professional she remembered from Virmire.
Shepard was likewise surprised and found himself resisting the urge to push the salarian away... although he did not have to resist for long as the Major drew back after only a second.
“It’s... uh... good to see you too, Kirrahe,” Shepard replied awkwardly.
Apparently, he had failed to follow his own order to be ready for anything.
“Apologies, Sheppard, too long in Equestria, think I have started to go native,” Kirrahe said, chuckling awkwardly into his hand before looking to Shepard’s compatriots. “Ah, Major Alenko. It’s a pleasure to see you as well! Last I heard, you managed to end the Cerberus coup by putting down Udina. A bold move, and thankfully, the right one.” Kirrahe recounted with a smile as he prepared to give Kaidan a hug as well... before thinking better of it and instead offering him his hand to shake.
“A pleasure to see you again, Major.” Kaiden shook his hand, grateful the Salarian caught himself. “It’s been a long time since Virmire.”
“Indeed... I haven’t forgotten your actions that day, Alenko. Your talents saved several of my men.”
“Wish I could’ve saved more,” Kaidan told him with a slight shake of his head.
“And Tali’Zorah.” Kirrahe nodded. “Still keeping these humans from blowing up their own ship with their crazy maneuvers and tendency to melt their engines?”
“It’s a difficult job, Major, but someone’s got to do it,” Tali answered with a small chuckle.
Once the salarian had finished greeting both Kaidan and Tali, he made a gesture towards the other salarian. “This is my ‘bodyguard’, Tanlan. He’ll be accompanying us as an observer during our dealings on Equis”
At the mention of his name the other salarian nodded once to Shepard and then went back to scanning the crewbay from behind his obscuring helmet.
“The strong silent type huh?” Shepard asked eying the helmeted salarian.
“Indeed,” Kirrahe nodded. “I convinced the Union to allow me to continue acting in the capacity of Ambassador, but they are understandably concerned given my prolonged absence. Tanlan is intended to keep a sharp eye and make sure I don’t do anything that might be considered ‘compromising’.”
Shepard snorted slightly. “I’m sure that that’s unnecessary,” he told the salarian.
“No, it’s a reasonable precaution. I would be lying if I said my time here hasn’t had an effect. And after dealing with Reaper Indoctrination, our leaders cannot be too careful.”
“I see,” Shepard said with a small nod before continuing. “Well, now that we’re all introduced why don’t we go up to the conference room?” Shepard asked, nodding towards the elevator
“A splendid idea, Commander,” Kirrahe said with a smile.
The group made their way to the elevator and Shepard pressed the up button. The elevator began to move upwards.
“So, Shepard, I heard a rumor onboard the Curiosity that you died again,” Kirrahe said conversationally while Tanlan situated himself at the rear of the elevator car, ready on the off chance that something could attack. “Keep coming back like that and people will start to form a religion around you.”
“Trust me.” Tali stated with absolutely zero amusement in her voice. “They are already trying.”
“I didn’t actually die. It was just a coma this time,” Shepard corrected. “And please don’t talk about those people.”
“Well, at least you managed to get through it with all your limbs attached. Just a few new scars then?.” the major offered.
“Not really, six months in a coma with as much Medi-Gel as Sirta Foundation could spare did wonders for scars, the physical kind anyways,” Shepard replied.
“The other kind take longer,” Tali said, putting one arm around the Commander’s “But we’re working on it.”
“Yes, most of the galaxy has a similar problem at the moment I’d imagine,” Kirrahe nodded. “I’ve been briefed on the aftermath of the Crucible. Now that the Reaper threat is over, all that is left is to pick up the pieces.”
Before the conversation could continue the elevator came to a halt. The door was about to open when Kaidan said.
“Shepard there’s something that I need to check on with Garrus,” Kaidan told Shepard before they could go anywhere.
“And I want to run a few tests on the engines before we leave,” Tali said, speaking up as well. “Just in case there are any unexpected gravity distortions.”
“You’re both free to go,” Shepard said. “I’ll see you later, Tali,” he added, giving her a small grin.
“Yes, yes you will,” the quarian agreed in a slightly playful tone of voice.
The elevator door opened and the three of them stepped out into the room containing the galaxy map. Shepard nodded to Traynor who turned away from her terminal to look at him.
“Everything set up here Traynor?” Shepard asked.
“Yes, Commander, everything’s ship shape up here, although the Council wants to give you a bit of final briefing once you have a spare moment,” Traynor said, her british accent easily detectible.
“I’ll talk to them once I’ve been briefed by the Major,” Shepard said indicating Kirrahe with a nod. “Thanks Traynor.”
“Of course, Commander,” Traynor said before turning back to her terminal.
Shepard led the way to conference room with Kirrahe right behind him and Tanlan several paces behind him before they entered the small glass box that made up the ‘Conference’ room. Once inside with Shepard and Kirrahe comfortably seated and Talan standing ridgedly at the door, Shepard took the first step in broaching the subject.
“Seven months stranded on an uncharted planet, Major, it must have been rough.” Shepard started his tone apologetic.
Kirehe’s reaction was absolutely the last thing he expected.
“Quite the contrary, Commander. In fact, if it wasn’t for my obligations to the STG and my need to ensure that the Reaper Threat had been defeated at Earth, I would have considered retiring in Equestria. In fact, I still may once this is all said and done.”
“Really?” Shepard asked, taken completely by surprise. “I thought it was a backwater world, why would you want to stay there?”
“Let’s just say the place, and more specifically the inhabitants, grow on you after a while. Annoying at first... Childish even... but after spending time with them, learning about their cultures and histories... I have found that they are a charming, remarkable people. One that deserves our protection.”
“Care to elaborate, please” Shepard told the salarian.
“It is... hard to explain Shepard. But once you are there you will see what I am describing. They seem... so... naive about life and the majority of them are happy to a fault. However that just makes it more surprising when one of them points out something that you never would’ve seen before. The ponies are... unique in the galaxy and I believe that the galactic community will be greatly benefited by their inclusion,” Kirrahe explained.
“You’ll forgive me if that makes me a little more hesitant, Kirrahe. You see I’ve encountered a somewhat similar mentality on Feros a few years back.”
Kirrahe shook his head. “Yes, I read a report on the Thorian creature. But no, there were no spores in the air. No mental conditioning or any form of indoctrination. Believe me, I checked and so did the medical crew that was aboard the Curiosity. By all accounts, I came to this conclusion without any external influence.” He paused for a moment. “If you wish to take further precaution, I understand, but you’ll see what I mean when we arrive.”
“Before we move groundside, Major there are a few things that I would like to know.” Shepard said slowly. “I trust your judgement as much as any good soldier’s but I would like to know more about what actually happened.”
“Straight from the Horse’s mouth... I believe the expression goes.” Kirrahe nodded to himself, clearly amused. “I completely understand. After all that we have been though, I could hardly expect you to completely trust the data I sent without first-ho-- I mean ‘first-hand’ experience, Shepard.” Kirrahe told him. Shepard raised an eyebrow at the salarian’s slip of the tongue but said nothing of it.
Instead he switched topics.
“Alright Kirahee. Let’s start the debriefing.” Shepard asked.
“Go right ahead Shepard. I’ll answer everything that I can,” Kirrahe told him.
“Alright. Well... ever since the Council told me about this assignment, there are a few things that seemed off to me. I wanted to wait until I could speak with you directly to ask. The first question of course is the Thresher Maw in the room: Why did it take so long for the Salarians to find this place? We’re in your home cluster. Only a few hundred lightyears from Sur’kesh, No offense Major, but your people have had, what, almost two thousand years of space-flight to find this Garden World.” Commander Shepard said.
“A fair question, Commander,” Kirrahe said. “And with a simple answer: Space is BIG. As you know, the Council has managed to explore only about ten percent of our galaxy directly. Perhaps a total of twenty percent using unmanned drones. In spite of our previously held delusions of being ‘masters of the galaxy’ the truth is that we actually are familiar with very little of it.”
Shepard could understand this explanation. After all, the Local System, the home cluster of Humanity and Earth, was still being slowly charted, a project that would likely not see it’s completion within the next millennia.
“Of course Mass Relay travel makes a completely ‘thorough’ charting moot. It is far easier to get across long distances and to more easily accessible systems in other clusters. On a cluster-scale, even with constant exploration, we haven’t mapped the Annos Basin. Couple that with the odd bit of space-weather acting as a smoke-screen over this system due to a nearby neutron star and it is very easy for this ‘one’ system to hide away. Unseen by galactic eyes.” the salarian explained.
“Wait, you mean you discovered this place by chance?” Shepard asked, his eyebrows knitting together in surprise.
“It was...” The salarian’s grin faded for the first time since he had come onboard the Normandy... a sad expression tinting his black, amphibian eyes. “Less chance...and...more crash.”
--The STG Defiant--
--Seven Months Earlier--
Kirrahe’s pulse quickened as a series of red warning lights and sirens suddenly filled the bridge. He ran, stumbling as the ship rocked, towards the bridge and found Captain Mahato, the Defiant’s Commanding officer, lying dead at the controls.
Kirrahe’s eyes widened in horrified surprise “Captain...” he shook his head before the ship rocked harder and he was thrown to the ground.
He struggled back to his feet and began to move as rapidly as he could towards where the Nav officer was frantically trying to draw out data from the malfunctioning terminal.
“Soldier! Sitrep! What’s going on!” Kirrahe shouted over the sound of the warning sirens.
“Something happened to the Relay!” The nave officer shouted back. “Some sort of energy pulse! I don’t know where we are now, but we were propelled far past the rendezvous on Sur’Kesh!”
“Sir, all critical systems!” Another of the bridge workers shouted before his terminal exploded, sending him flying backwards into the far wall.
Kirrahe wasted no more time and turned to the Nav officer.
“Are there any planets available for splashdown?” He shouted.
The nav officer glanced down at his console before nodding rapidly. “Yes, one looks to be a garden world. I think... sensors are going haywire!”
“Inhabited?”
“Unknown, Sir!”
The Major nodded and moved up to the Com system, quickly inputting an STG command override and sounding the alarm thoughout the ship. “This is Major Kirrahe, Acting Commander! Initiate Order 13! Repeat! All hands abandon ship!” He said, his voice firm and clear despite the explosions and fires all around him. Once he was done his message he turned to the Nav officer and the rest of the bridge crew who were looking at him apprehensively.
“LIFEPODS! NOW!” Kirrahe commanded firmly before he started to lurch towards the escape pods. The others followed him. As they stumbled down the hallway the ship shook horrendously and a series of explosions sounded in the distance. “Hurry! The Core’s going critical!” Kirrahe shouted, no longer able to keep the hint of panic out of his voice.
“Do you think that this pulse is some kind of Reaper weapon?” The nav officer shouted to Kirrahe while they walked by a pair of slumped bodies. “Boobytrap maybe?”
“Doesn’t matter!” Kirrahe shouted back.
After what felt like an eternity, but was probably no more than five miniutes they reached the escape pod bay and filed in. Kirrahe’s fist smashed into the launch button and the pod was ejected out into space with a puff of released gas.
“Sir, the nav VI is down!” The nav officer shouted as the panel flashed in a dangerous shade of red. “It has to be piloted manually, I... never received that training!”
Kirrahe blinked rapidly before he moved up, pulling the nav officer back and setting himself at the console. His hands flashed over the panel, attempting to compensate for momentum, angle of descent, and stability as his view-screw angled towards the large green and blue planet below him.
“Come on... Comeonnnnnnn,” Kirrahe murmured , gritting his teeth as the view screen of the pod showed the tell-tale mach cone of re-entry and the planet’s atmosphere began to put pressure on the hull.
The image of dark green landscape and trees filled the viewport as they broke cloud-cover while the screaming alerts increased in volume, now joined by the screaming of the bridge crew. Kirrahe’s eyes suddenly saw a clearing in the woods below them, seeing no option other than trying his luck with the trees he directed the pod towards the clearing.
“BRACE FOR IMPACT!!!” he shouted over his shoulder to the others.
Before he could turn back to the screen... the life-pod came aground, shattering a swath of tree-limbs before it careened into the hard ground with a colossal crash.
As G-Shock overwhelmed his armor’s kinetic barriers, Kirrahe’s world went black.
----
An undetermined amount of time later the salarian awoke, his fingers clutching the controls in a deathgrip. Slowly, his head pounding, he pried his fingers off of the console and turned to look for the others. He found them...
The bridge crew was strewn about the interior of the pod their bodies in various states of... disrepair. Green blood coated the floor of the pod and Kirrahe found to his horror that more of it was spattered across his chest and head.
Alone, he stared at the scene for several seconds before his armor’s automatic reboot system pinging.
Kirrahe looked down at his flickering omni-tool and his eyes widened in horror at the statistical data flickering on the holographic screen. .
Kinetic barriers:offline.
Armor integrity: twenty percent.
Medigel Dispersal system: Offline
Overall power: five percent.
Additional systems: offline.
-Medical Alert: Vital signs erratic: Four broken ribs, healing punctured lung, sustained internal trauma consistent with G-Shock. Seek Medical attention immediately.
“Right...” Kirrahe huffed, feeling specks of blood paint his lips as he spoke. “I’ll... get right on that.”
The list of damage was worse than he’d feared it possibly could’ve been, and the death of the crew was such a waste.
To have lived out against all the odds they had seen... to reach the final deciding moment... Hoping that the Crucible had delivered it’s promised salvation.
Only to meet their end like this.
Such a waste.
But he had no time to mourn. First, he had to get out of the craft.
Kirrahe stumbled towards the exit. Upon reaching the exit he pushed the door open to reveal a lush, green clearing, hitting the recording function on his omni-tool Kirrahe began to make what could’ve been his last log entry.
“This is Major cough Kirrahe, STG Unit Marloa Six-Two. Commanding Officer. I have crashed on an uncharted garden world following catastrophic damage to extraction ship ‘Defiant’. Life Pod’s systems compromised. I’m the only one left here. cough. Overall survival rate of crew unknown. I will try and find a way to contact either the Union or it’s allies as soon as possible cough if I am unable to then...someone will find me and I hope they will be kind enough to cough send my remains where they belong cough Major Kirrahe, signing off.”
That done, he scanned the clearing for any immediate threats. Finding none, he sighed to himself and muttered.
“Well, this couldn’t get any worse if a Reaper showed up.”
ROAR
A sudden roar drew Kirrahe’s eyes to a large creature that was stalking out of the dark woods around the clearing.
“I stand corrected.” he stated, reaching for his trusty Scorpion pistol.
Princess Celestia sat beside Twilight in her throne room. The younger Princess had just finished off the last of her court appointments for the day and was beginning to fidget slightly with impatience in her slightly less magnificent ‘throne,’ that consisted of a scuffed up wooden chair from the library topped by a puffy pink pillow, as she waited for news about the aliens and read over her prepared speech repeatedly. Sensing her ex-student’s anxiety now growing to critical levels, Celestia rose from her throne.
“Come along Twilight, let’s see what they’ve made us for lunch,” Celestia suggested as she gave Twilight a kind smile.
“But, what about the preparations?” Twilight asked. “They could be arriving any minute.”
“We’ll be alerted once the guards receive word of their imminent arrival, so come on, let’s go get some food,” Celestia told Twilight.
The purple alicorn still looked uncertain, causing Celestia to sigh internally, it had always been easier to get Twilight to do what she wanted before she’d become an alicorn. Of course Celestia prefered the way Twilight acted now compared to the unrelenting ‘worship’ of how she used to behave.
Where before Twilight the Faithful Student had latched onto Celestia’s every word, Princess Twilight had begun to see the crown for what it truly was and started think for herself more and more as her awe of Celestia had worn thinner. Not that Twilight no longer respected Celestia, instead she was merely capable of talking to her former mentor as an actual pony instead of an almost divine figure.
Of course the downside to that was she could also now disagree with the elder Alicorn.
A sly thought suddenly occurred to Celestia.
“And we’ll see if they have any of that carrot cake you love so much,” the elder princess said with a tiny smirk.
Twilight’s eyes opened wide as the prospect of cake zipped through her head, for she had inherited Celestia’s weakness for baked goods, and after having Pinkie Pie as a neighbor for so long she’d grown used to having them easily available. However ever since coming to live in Canterlot, Twilight had been under a strict diet. It wouldn’t do for a princess to get fat.
“Really?” Twilight asked with excited eyes.
“Yes, Twilight, really,” Celestia replied with a small smirk. “I think that given the occasion, we can allow ourselves to indulge a little.”
“Well... I guess the guards can find us when the aliens get here,” Twilight said before she hopped off of her smaller throne and trotted over to Celestia.
Celestia gave Twilight a smile before the two of them set off in the direction of the kitchen. A pair of guards unobtrusively flanked them on their journey. As they neared the kitchen they heard the telltale cursing of the head chef.
“You cockheaded moron! What in the hell was that? You thought that that was how you make a fucking steak?” The chef’s voice shouted, easily discernible despite the sound dampening spell that had been placed on the kitchen.
“Chef Cloudwing seems to be quite loud today,” Celestia observed with a small smile.
“You know, we really should try and make him clean up his language,” Twilight replied. Celestia sent her an astonished look.
“Twilight Sparkle, you should be ashamed of yourself for even suggesting such a thing! It is a chef’s sacred right to swear as much or as little in their kitchen as they like!” Celestia told her with mock indignation.
“That’s not what you said when I learned my first dozen curse words from him and asked you what they meant,” Twilight shot back playfully.
Celestia chuckled. “Forgive me for being angry when my eight year old student comes up to me and asks what it means when someone says that they’d rather-” the princess was cut off as the kitchen doors opened and one of the new interns ran out, eyes wide with fear.
He was pursued by Head Chef Cloudwing. The large black hippogriff was holding a long wooden ladle in a claw and he was in the middle of waving it menacingly at the fleeing stallion with a foreclaw. His chest was covered by a large white apron and a matching chef’s hat sat atop his eagle head. The hippogriff’s sharp beak was opening and closing rapidly as he shouted at the intern.
“That’s right you testical eared, asshooved, excuse for a lamb’s penis, run, and keep running until you learn how to cook meat without burning it!”
The poor stallion didn’t even see Celestia until he’d run headlong into her chest, face first. He fell backwards onto his haunches, rubbing his head slightly. Then he looked up and saw who he’d run into, and let out an embarrassed squeak.
“I-I-I’m sorry P-P-Princess!” The stallion stuttered.
“It’s quite alright,” Celestia said kindly. “Were you hurt?” She asked, bending down to eye level with the nervous stallion.
“I-I’m fine Princess,” the stallion said, beginning to regain control of his voice. “I was just on my way to get something for Head Chef Cloudwing.”
“Were you now?” Celestia asked him with a slightly mischievous smile on her face.
“Yes, Ma’am!” The stallion said.
“Well then, I suppose that you had better get going,” Celestia told him before whispering. “Before he gets any closer.” The stallion jumped to his hooves with a starta, gave Celestia a thankful look, and sprinted away.
Cloudwing walked up to Celestia, who was conveniently blocking the hippogriff’s path, and let out an outraged squawk.
“What are you doing you white excuse for a peacock? You’re letting that butter-hooved pinhead get away!” He shouted. Celestia chuckled.
“I’m sure that you can find somepony else to antagonize Chef. Oh, and remember that this ‘peacock’ controls whether or not you work here,” Celestia told him.
“Listen you pink peacock, I could work at any restaurant in Canterlot, or Manehatten, or Las Pegas, so don’t try and threaten me!” Cloudwing told her condescendingly.
“Yes, but I doubt that they would let you be so colorful with your language,” Celestia replied with a smirk.
“Maybe not,” Cloudwing consented with a chuckle, his ‘anger’ fading in an instant as he took on a more suave and charming tone, the monster that terrified the cooking staff vanishing for the moment. “So Princesses what can I do for you?”
“A little lunch would be splendid, and a slice of carrot cake for each of us if it isn’t too much trouble,” Celestia told him
“You better be careful Princess, or else I’ll stop calling you peacock and start calling you sow!” The hippogriff informed her with a smirk while still managing to sound debonair.
“I’m not fat, my rump is just very well proportioned,” Celestia retorted airily.
“Keep telling yourself that Princess,” Cloudwing said with a smirk.
“I will thanks,” Celestia told him. “Now will you get us our food or will we have to get it ourselves?”
“It’ll be out in a few minutes, sow,” Cloudwing told her with a small chuckle before he turned away and strode back to the kitchen.
“I cannot get over how you let him talk to you like that.,” Twilight said with an amused smile on her face.
“Considering the stress he is under, I suppose he’s entitled. It’s not everyday a hippogriff is asked to cook for a set of creatures with a completely unknown diet.” Celestia chuckled with a grin. “I’m still happy that I managed to snag him from that restaurant in Manehatten. I doubt that anypony else could handle what we’ve asked of him.”
The two princesses made small talk about the day’s court hearings until one of the kitchen staff came out of the kitchen, two trays of food balanced in a red telekinetic grip. The lunch consisted of a pair of grilled cheese sandwiches, two bowls of tomato soup, and two slices of carrot cake.
“The Chef sends his regards,” the mare said.
“Send him ours as well,” Celestia told her as she enveloped the trays with her golden aura.
Twilight grabbed the trays in her telekinetic grasp and the two set off down the hall towards Celestia’s royal suite, on the way they noticed that the guards were out in force, with patrols made up of at least six ponies, two from each of the three races. It only took them a few minutes to walk to the suite and they settled down in the main room to eat their meals.
“So, Celestia.” Twilight started, surprising the elder Alicorn with the casualness of her tone and the refreshing absence of her title. “I have been wondering... would you mind telling me about how it was you met Major Kermalee? I know that you told me the day before yesterday, but I’d like to hear it again just to make sure that I have my details correct before we meet with these uhhh... visitors..” Twilight said.
“Kirrahe,” Celestia corrected. “And of course Twilight, you see I was taking a short stroll through Everfree Forest, heading for the old castle for... nostalgia's sake when I heard a loud crash...”
Celestia walked along the darkly lit path quietly, her mind a thousand years in the past when the forest had been smaller and the trees less imposing. The creatures of Everfree had long ago learned not to antagonize the Princess of the Sun and as usual, were giving her a wide berth.
It was a path she had walked a thousand times before, and likely would walk a thousand times again should the fates be kind...or unkind depending on one’s perspective.
But today was marked by a sudden difference as an ear-splitting crash off to her right made Celestia’s eyes snap open and her ear’s flatten in surprise, turning to look in the direction of the sound’s origin. Several small animals ran over the path in front of Celestia as she pondered what to do. In her younger, more adventurous days when she was more foalish than wise, she would’ve charged towards the noise immediately, now however she was struck with hesitation.
Should she charge recklessly on alone towards the sound to see if there was something that required her help, or would it be more prudent if she instead alerted her sister and await her arrival before investigating? Celestia instead decided to take a third option.
Though their bond was still rebuilding after Luna’s long absence, it had grown strong enough for them to communicate no matter the distance, and with a bit of focus, Celestia’s mind brushed against that of her slumbering younger sister’s.
Luna, I’m investigating something in Everfree, tell the guard to send a carriage incase I need assistance,
Luna’s irritable reply sounded in her head a few moments later.
Unngghh, Sister, what have we told you about waking us in the middle of our afternoon nap now that thou hast Twilight to bother!?
Luna, you’re using the ‘Royal We’. Celestia said apologetically, Luna snorted inside her head, clearly now having two reasons to be annoyed with the elder diarch of Equestria.
Celestia continued regardless. Will you please do it for me?.
Very well, thou... I mean... ‘you’ owe me though, Tia, Luna told her before her mental signature faded from Celestia’s head.
The alicorn rolled her eyes, Luna could be so grouchy sometimes. Then again, she supposed that was the price of the night life.
With that sorted, Celestia she set off in the direction of the crash. It didn’t take her long to reach what looked to be the impact of a falling star.
This was something she had seen before of course, many star stones (what the scientist now called ‘meteorites’, had fallen to Equestria before,, but what she saw when she got there tore her breath from her body in a surprised gasp.
Standing in front of a broken and bloodspattered metal object the size of a large carriage was a medium sized biped unlike anything she had seen in all of her long years. Wearing what was obviously a suit of torn and tattered armor, it gave the impression of pain as wet splashes of green were painted across it and along tears. As Celestia looked at it with her head cocked slightly to the side she noticed several things immediately.
Firstly the creature was severely injured, its breath was coming in and out rapidly and she could easily see green bloodstains coating its chest and face. Secondly she noticed one of the Everfree’s more ‘aggressive’ creatures, a manticore, who’s territory had clearly been breached. The monstrous lion creature was about to pounce the helpless biped, who carried no shield, spear, or sword... only a small, odd-looking device that it had shakily drawn and was pointing in the manticore’s direction.
She was about to intervene when several round, dart-like projectiles suddenly fired from out of the device that the creature was holding and slammed into the manticore’s face. Celestia’s eyebrows rose in surprise as the manticore let out a roar of more of and anger than pain as the innocuous looking, pulsing green balls seemed stuck to it’s nose and snout as if by glue. Clearly enraged, the manticore leapt at the biped, Celestia’s muscles tensing as she suddenly feared her inaction had cost the life of a defenseless--
That thought was quashed in a fraction of a second, the considerably horrified alicorn’s jaw going slack when the manticore’s head simply...’exploded’ into a red mist halfway through its leap.
Celestia’s brain froze up... unable to process what she had witnessed.
It-it had just killed that manticore.
The creature had just accomplished something that normally took an entire eight pony squad of seasoned, battle trained guards half an hour to do. And it had done so in a few paltry seconds. Not only that, but Celestia had never seen something kill so easily. All it had taken was a simple pull on a small trigger and suddenly the manticore’s life had been over.
But then... the thing that really impacted Celestia the most was the ease with which the obviously injured creature had displayed as it pulled that trigger. There hadn’t been a trace of fear or panic at the charging monstrosity... not an inch of sorrow at the tragic waste of life, nor a second’s hesitation like there would’ve been if the creature had been a pony.
The creature had simply defended itself, not even most gryphons were capable of such.... such cold detachment.
Then Celestia snapped back to reality and saw that the creature had been knocked to the ground underneath the manticore’s beheaded corpse, clearly to injured to move out of it’s way.
Now... Celestia was presented with a choice.
Perhaps one of the most difficult she had had to make in over a thousand years.
She could either leave the obviously dangerous and possibly insane inequine creature to die beneath the manticore, or she could take a chance.... a leap of faith... and rescue it.
It could have been violent.. in fact, it was absolutely violent.
It could have been diseased...it could have been a flesh eating monster on an order of magnitudes worse than the Manticore could have imagined.
….
It could die.
Of course Celestia knew that she really only had one option to choose.
She quickly willed her magic into her horn, taking ahold of the manticore’s bloody corpse (with a definite shiver of repulsion running down her spine), and easily pulled it off of the creature.
Then, ever so slowly Celestia approached, keeping an eye on the device that the creature had used to kill the manticore, weary of it being pointed in her direction and ready to send it, and any projectiles it emitted, flying away with her horn.
Thankfully the creature appeared to have no desire to inflict a similar fate on Celestia,for it was too occupied with futilely trying to move its limbs and gasping for breath.
Slowly, cautiously, Celestia brought her face into the creature’s view.
“Hello, can you understand me?” she asked in a calm voice.
“Help me... please... please be intelligent... and friendly... that would be great,” The creature rasped in an alien tongue that Celestia didn’t recognize. Several droplets of bright green blood were expelled as it tried to speak, staining Celestia’s face and making her eyes widen in surprise and disgust as the warm green liquid fell across her muzzle.
Of course, Celestia was no stranger to blood, or conflict for that matter. Living five thousand years tended to allow a pony to experience the horrors of war more times than she cared to admit. That experience, coupled with how long it had been since she directly took part in such conflict, meant only that it required a small effort of will to mentally shrug off the blood.
Apparently he cannot understand me, nor I him, Celestia thought to herself. However, that did not sound like a threat, more like a plea for help than anything else.
“Just hold on, I’m going to get you somewhere safe,” she told the creature, her tone as kind and gentle as she could make it as her horn began to glow again. She lifted him with ease, for he barely weighed anything. Celestia heard the creature gasp in surprise but when she turned to look at it she found that the creature had fallen unconscious.
Hoping that she had not made it’s injuries any worse by moving it, Celestia quickly rushed with the bleeding being in her magical grip and carefully carried the creature back the way that she’d come, finding that a carriage pulled by two pegasi had begun its descent from above the forest and was now waiting expectantly for her. As Celestia and her cargo came into view the two pegasi stared at her in surprise.
“Princess, are you okay?” One of them asked her worriedly, clearly unsure what the green fluid she had been splattered with was? Some sort of tree-sap perhaps?
“Yes, I’m fine. This creature on the other hoof is not,” she said with a glance towards being she carried aloft.
“I... Wh-what is that, Princess? Some sort of... lizard creature? I’ve never seen anything like it, not even from the Everfree.” the other guard asked Celestia, clearly shocked, but not enough to lose his voice.
“I’m... am not entirely sure,” Celestia said as she stepped into the carriage. “But I intend to find out.. Sergent! There is a large metal... container back in that clearing. I want you to stay here and guard it... do not approach it. I will send a company of guards and our top magisters and scientists to examine it.
“Y...yes your majesty.” The guard saluted sharply, clearly not liking the idea of being left alone in the Everfree, but certainly not about to disobey an edict from Celestia herself.
Needless to say... the ride back to Canterlot was a silent one.
Kirrahe’s tale had given Shepard the oddest feeling of Deja Vu, at least to begin with. It had reminded him slightly of his talks with Thane about his past and his wife. What he’d been told so far was interesting... but it failed to reveal anything about why the salarian was so... passionate about the natives of Equis. All it had really illuminated was that they had a kind ruler who happened to have taken a chance on a dangerous, if half dead, alien creature.
“Commander, I’m sorry to interrupt the Major’s debriefing, but the Council is requesting a status update,” Traynor’s voice came from over the coms, interrupted the Commander before he could ask Kirrahe to continue. “Well, I say request... ‘demand’ would be more accurate.”
Shepard let out a small sigh of annoyance.
“My apologies Major, but I’m sure you know how the Council is,” Shepard said as he rose from his seat.
“Of course Commander, Tanlan and I will find something to entertain ourselves with until you are finished, there is still time to bring you up to speed before we introduce you to the Equestrian leaders,” Kirrahe replied with a small shrug.
Shepard nodded and stepped out of the conference room, quickly making his way into the War Room.
Unsurprisingly, the Normandy had been refitted with a new QEC while it was being finished, the last one clearly set up in a manner similar to the original Illusive Man direct channel, which allowed all four members of the Council to speak with him directly from the Citadel.
As he was confronted by the holograms of the four highly influential leaders of the united galaxy, he found himself feeling somewhat nostalgic.
“Greeting, Commander,” Councilor Tevos said, giving him an approving nod. “We are sorry to pull you away from your briefing with Major Kirrahe but...” the asari continued.
“Have you initiated contact with the Equestrians yet?” Sparatus asked, his tone rushed.
This was unusual, and set off several red flags in Shepard’s head as he considered the glare that the asari councilor was giving her turian counterpart.
“Not yet,” Shepard said with a slight shrug. “Kirrahe was just telling me about how he discovered Equis. It will help negotiations if I understand what he went though. ”
“Yes. We recently received the Major’s briefing from the Curiosity. That is actually why we have called. To think that we missed such an anomaly so close to my homeworld for so long is... disturbing,” Councilor Valren said with a shake of his head. “No matter, we have found it now,” the salarian said shrugging.
“So Councilors, there was something you needed to discuss with me?” Shepard asked.
“We could just dance around this all day, Shepard. But let me get straight to the point.” Hackett spoke up, nodding his head as he took charge of the situation. “The more we find out about this planet and the rest of the system, the more crucial it is becoming that we get things off on the right foot here.”
“It sounds like there is something I should know.” Shepard said, a small smile forming on his face.
“Commander you haven’t received the full amount of information required to properly carry out this mission,” Councilor Tevos told him.
“What do you mean?” Shepard asked her.
“Well you see Commander, we were previously unaware of several key facts about the planet of Equis from you when you were briefed by Councilor Hackett,” Councilor Tevos said. Shepard was about to protest but the asari held up her hand to forestall his reply. “We are aware that you were in the midst of discussing this very thing with the Major, however, upon reviewing the report, we thought it best to offer a more... comprehensive perspective of the situation.”
Shepard frowned before sighing slightly.
“I suppose I can live with that,” he said. “There’s something you can tell me that Kirahee can’t I take it.”
“The Curiosity took the extra time to reach the system because the Salarian Union wanted to fit it with their best sensory equipment more mapping the system. Yet another thing they were ‘hesitant’ to tell us. ” Councilor Sparatus said firmly, his natural pessimism seeping into his voice.
“Which was of course brought to our allies’ attention when the scale of what was found was realized.”
“As Sparatus was saying,” Councilor Tevos interjected preventing an argument from erupting between the two men. “What the Curiosity has found has changed the circumstances of the mission and granted insight into various... capabilities of the planet’s dominant species.”
“Like what?” Shepard asked.
“Commander, they can control their weather,” Councilor Valren said.
“They have access to weather-modification technology?” Shepard asked.
“Not exactly...” Valren said, turning to Tavos.
“We are not entirely sure HOW they do it. To begin with the winged sub-species of Equestrians can exert complete control over the weather patterns of their entire country,” Tevos paused for a second before continuing, letting the full power of what she’d just said settle in. “They can make it rain on schedule, they can make it stop raining, they control weather patterns so thoroughly that tornadoes, droughts, and even hurricanes have ceased to be a problem across their civilization. Not only that but they can change the seasons from one to another at a whim depending on the situation.”
“With abilities like that... they could revolutionize terraforming,” Shepard said, his voice was steady, but the possibilities of what could be accomplished with such technologies were staggering.
And they did it all with hooves?
“Indeed, Commander. They could turn a multi-generational process and reduce it to a matter of decades,” Councilor Valren said with a swift nod.
“That however is not all,” Councilor Tevos said.
“Yes, while the winged ponies have the ability to control the whether, the hornless sub-species are not like what we have back home. They apparently have a way with agriculture,” Councilor Hackett informed him. “According to what Major Kirrahe was told these so-called ‘earth ponies’ have an inherent talent when it comes to growing things, famine has been all but rendered tripe because their fields boast such prosperous harvests, taking up a quarter of the area a garden world like Eden Prime would need to grow the same crops.
“Their most surprising, and valuable skill however, appearns to be the ability to cultivate certain non-precious ores and minerals as if they were plants,” Councilor Tevos added. Shepard was about to say something but Councilor Valren interrupted him.
“However, both of those talents pale in comparison to what the horned sub-species can do,” Sparatus stated. “If Kirrahe's report can be believed, and I have no reason to doubt his sanity... then their ‘magic’ makes our mass effect technology and biotics look... paltry by comparison.”
“Commander, I believe that you know of the impossibly gravity manipulation ability that the ‘Princesses’ appear to possess, correct?” The Valren asked him.
“Yes,” Shepard stated. “I would really like to have an explanation for that.”
“Well unfortunately Shepard, we do not know how they do it,” Tavos told him, shaking her head. “However we do know that we want this, and the other abilities under the Council’s authority before they are approached by any of the other galactic powers. The last thing that we need is the Terminus Systems gaining control of this civilization... or perhaps even worse... for them to become actively hostile towards Citadel Authority.” Councilor Sparatus added.
“I can understand that,” Shepard said with a nod. “I’ve seen enough of the Terminus systems to know that that would be... bad for everyone involved.”
The asari councilor nodded, but Hackett looked annoyed with the other three.
“Something wrong, Sir?” Shepard asked, turning to address Hackett.
“Yes, I find it very tiring when politicians ignore the main issue in an attempt to make themselves look powerful,” Hackett told him, giving the other three councilors an annoyed grimace.
“What do you mean?” Shepard asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Shepard, I’ll be frank with you, because apparently these three won’t,” Hackett began. “With the Reaper threat gone the Council is completely broke. We barely have enough credits to keep the economy afloat, and those credits are disappearing rapidly.” his voice was hard and worn out, reminding Shepard of what the man had sounded like during the last legs of the war.
“But what does that have to do with Equis?” Shepard asked, still not quite understanding.
“The planet is... to put it bluntly... rich,” Valren stated. “Rich beyond the galaxy’s wildest dreams. Precious metals like gold, silver, and platinum cover most of the planet's surface just below the crust. Natural gemstones are, if anything, more common and the supply seems to be inexhaustible. The Curiosity’s scans of the other three planets in the system indicate that this trend continues. Equus-One’s’ surface is practically coated with liquid iridium. Equus-Two has mountain ranges a chasms where heavy elements are contained in equally accessible and vast quantities. Finally the Gas Giant Equus-Four indicates it has a helium-3 reserve that could match the oceans of Kajei.”
“If the Curiosity’s prospecting equipment is accurate, then Equus may well be the largest resource motherload ever found in galactic history.” Spratus offered, sounding surprisingly optimistic.
“With these resources... we could bring a decisive end to our current economic problems.” Tavos said.
“Now hold on. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.” Hackett objected, clearly disliking the relieved tone that Tavos had ended her sentence with. “The bottom line is that the system’s wealth could be a game-changer on a galactic scale. And like any treasure it needs to be protected. That will go a great deal smoother with the consent of the natives.”
Shepard’s eyes widened at the sudden tone that the conversation had taken on.
“Councilors, I was told that this was going to be on a simple diplomatic mission.” Shepard said carefully. “First Contact and Establish relations. The way that you’re talking... you make it seem like you sent me here to fast talk them into letting us strip-mine the system!”
“Not in the least Shepard,” Councilor Tevos assured him. “You are simply there to make sure the Equestrians enter into the galaxy on the right side.”
“By which you mean, under the Council’s thumb?” Shepard inquired. “So that you can direct them where you want them!”
“Why do things always have to be so difficult with you Shepard?” Councilor Sparatus asked him with an annoyed snort. “The Council’s interests are the galaxy’s interests. We are trying to recover from the Reaper invasion and the Equestrians could be a tremendously useful resource in doing that.”
“Just like the Krogan were a useful resource to be used against the Rachnai?” Shepard crossed his arms.“I make things difficult because if I didn’t then even more of the galaxy would be a smoking ruin right now!” Shepard retorted angrily. “And because I know that the Council’s best interests are not always the Galaxy’s!”
“Enough,” Councilor Tevos said forcefully, her brow creased in very visible irritation. “Commander Shepard.... as a Council Spectre you are required to uphold the ‘Council’s’ interests above all others with the exception of the fate of the galaxy,” the asari gave him a small nod of recognition before continuing. “However this is not one of those occasions. For this mission your goal is to meet with the leaders of the of this Equestria as well as the world’s other authorities and convince them to join the galactic community on the side of the Council.” her words were delivered in a smooth voice, but Shepard knew what it was like to be issued a command.
“Shepard, I wouldn’t ask you to do this if the situation wasn’t desperate.” Hackett said, his voice, not that of a Councilor, but instead of a man who had no other options. “But things are worse than you even realize. With the Reaper Threat gone, there are forces that are coming out from their bunkers and realizing that Citadel Space is vulnerable. Our losses have been catastrophic from both a personnel and fiscal standpoint. A four and a half month war with the Reapers may not have killed us all where we stand, but we’re still bleeding.”
“Sir...” Shepard started, but, like the rest of the council, he was returned to silence by the powerful plead in the aged Admiral’s voice.
“The Volus Financial Institute has crunched the numbers. They are suppressing it for the moment, but we are spiraling towards an economic depression the likes of which no species has ever seen. If this doesn’t work out... if we aren’t successful here then... then the Reapers might as well have won as far as civilized galactic culture goes. And believe me, anyone else who comes along and finds this system won’t give the Equestrians the same ‘consideration’.”
Shepard sighed and thought about the situation. As much as he would’ve liked to deny it, he knew that the Council was right. During the month since he’d come out of the coma Shepard had noticed certain changes that had taken place in the galaxy while he’d been under.
They were small things, all but unnoticeable to those who weren’t looking closely enough. Things like the mass relays not being repaired quite as fast as they should’ve been. Another was the fact nearly every volus he’d seen on the Citadel had been very tense.
Now Shepard wasn’t the type to believe in racial stereotypes, he was in love with a quarian after all, not to mention the fact that he boasted what was probably the most interracial combat crew in Council Space. But there were some things that were universally accepted. One of those things was that when volus became tense, it meant that there was an economic shitstorm on the horizon.
“Alright. I understand. I don’t like it, but I understand.” Shepard told the councilors, mostly focusing on Hackett before turning back to the others. “But know this. I will make sure that the Equestrians don’t get ground underfoot here.”
“As always, your morals are... impeccable,” Sparatus said, a slight sneer on his face.
“Excellent,” Councilor Valren said with a nod, ignoring Sparatus’s comment. “Shepard, there is one more thing that you should know.”
“Oh, what’s that?” Shepard asked.
“The ponies are not the only sentient species that inhabits the planet, only the most technologically advanced. In fact Kirrahe was told of between eight and twelve other sapient species share the world of Equis.” Councilor Sparatus told him.
“Twelve? Councillors, I am no expert on evolutionary paradigms, but shouldn’t it be impossible that so many sapient races have managed to develop on the same planet?” Shepard asked in surprise.
“We are glad you can appreciate the absurdity of the situation as well, Commander,” Councilor Sparatus remarked with a slight smirk.
“As for your question, we honestly have no idea.” Councilor Valren said with a shrug.
“I’m beginning to suspect that this assignment is going to be more complicated than I led to believe.” Shepard said with a slight shake of his head.
“Yes it is. We are Good luck out there, Commander,” Councilor Tevos said with a nod before three out of the four of the holograms disappeared.
“I know you’ll do the right thing, Shepard,” Hackett added before his hologram disappears as well
“Commander, giving you a head’s up. The shuttle is going to be departing in thirty minutes.” Joker informed him over the intercom, his tone perhaps not as icy as before.
“Thanks, Joker,” Shepard replied easily as he set his hands down on the console and let go of a worried breath.
It wasn’t enough?
Everything that he had done... and they were asking him to save the galaxy again... only this time from... of all things... a shortage of funds.
He grit his teeth... this was supposed to have been an ‘easy’ assignment. Something fantastical and perhaps even amusing. Something without any real pressure.
He should have known better.
The only consolation was that there weren’t going to be any paparazzi.
Before he knew it a three fingered hand was gently prodding his shoulder. He looked up to see the faceplate of the woman who he cared for the most in the galaxy looking at him with obvious love in her eyes.
“It’s time to go, Shawn,” Tali said, holding him gently from behind.
It was clear she had been present for the entire meeting.
“How about we make ‘this’ the last time we pull them out of the fire... agreed?”
“Sure... and next time the galaxy catches fire.. you can stay in, put your feet up and read a book.” Tali told him with an amused tone.
“Yeah, that’ll be the day,” Shepard said with a roll of his eyes.
“Come on.” Tali nodded to him. “One last time.”
“Yeah, one last time,” Shepard nodded, cracking his neck. “Let’s go save the galaxy eh?”