#'why doesn't Kaidan use tech armor'

[husband-steve-cortez]

Mostly trying to decide how talented I think Miles is given how much the vibe of Sentinel changes over the trilogy to be technically more tech focused. Barrier -> Tech Armor pipeline.

In my mind the advantage of biotic barriers is that you can consciously fine tune how much you're putting into defense and quickly fortify them when needed, while shields and tech armor flatly are what they are.

Kind of like the idea that because tech armor is so volatile you really shouldn't combine it with using biotics to reinforce your shields.

[clericofshadows]

18, 28, 38 and 48 from the fifty shep questions if you’re taking em!

thanks for the ask :D

fifty shepard questions

18. Who’s the dream team? Which companions does Shepard fight best with and why?

For Regis... (Talking game canon, his fic canon is definitely different, especially for ME3)

In ME1, it's Kaidan and Ashley. Two Alliance soldiers, especially his boyfriend of ten years, there's no one he feels more comfortable with.

In ME2, it's mostly Zaeed, Miranda, Kasumi, Samara, and Tali, occasionally Jack. Zaeed and Kasumi are the main team until he learns to trust Miranda, but Regis largely doesn't connect to most of the ME2 ground team at all. One thing is for certain, Zaeed is going to be on the team. He's got to have his other boyfriend with him

In ME3, it's pretty much James and EDI until post-coup and it's back to being mostly Kaidan and Ashley all over again (thank you virmire savior mod).

For Nyx, my ME1 only Shepard, it's also pretty much just Kaidan and Ashley.

28. What about hyperfixations? What’s the topic that will get Shepard rolling no matter the person or place

For Regis, talking about omnitools, biotic amps, or cybernetics. Do not get him started on Serrice Council

For Nyx, anything engineering, sniper, First Contact War, or drone related. He's always up for war stories about the FCW and will gladly talk about his own experiences... he'd rather you be informed about the reality versus not.

Also don't get Nyx started on Serrice Council.

38. Does Shepard do any activities with the companions and crew during downtime?

Regis tends to prefer private and quiet time, but he does make a point to do rounds and make sure everyone is doing well (except for 2, he doesn't make as much of a point to care about anyone but the people he trusts. The non-ground crew is effectively nothing to him). He will join in on board games, sparring, and cooking (especially deserts), but what he really enjoys is a quiet cup of tea or mediation.

Nyx likes getting to know the crew and will spend a lot of time in engineer as an engineer himself. He's also big on card games, sparring, and teaching the ship detail all his favorite tricks when it concerns weapon maintenance and snipers.

48. What abilities do they rely on the most in a fight?

Regis uses a mix of his biotics and programs as a sentinel, and he sticks to a lot of warps, singularities, and reaves once he learns how. Tech armor and drones and overloads are also used a lot, alongside his sniper skills.

Nyx, a secret biotic because of his abnormal exposure being too old (60 by ME1) to obtain ability the typical way, tends to only rely on his tech and sniper skills out in the field. He'll sabotage, hack, and blow up to his heart's content with his two drones, and snipe the rest. If he wasn't hiding his biotics, he'd rely on crowd control for easy pickings.

[aricazorel]

"You came back." "I promised, didn't I?" Prompt

Kaidan Alenko x Kori Reese; ME3, post- Citadel II (1465 words)

When the away party departed the shuttle after decommissioning yet another Cerberus base, Major Kaidan Alenko did not count on a personal visit by the Normandy’s XO. Yet there she stood in the docking bay, attempting to disguise her fidgeting with unnecessary fiddling with her Omni-tool. Lieutenant Commander Kora Reese might be able to fool some with her antics but not him. Kori was nervous and worried about something, and he was reasonably sure it had something to do with him.

With a nod to Shepard, the Major made his way over to Reese who stood next to one of the computer stations near the weapons modding table. She glanced up into his whiskey brown eyes and then quickly back at her omni-tool. Maybe nervous wasn't the correct word at all. Worried was but there was something else. Reese wasn't one to avoid eye contact especially with him unless…

Unless she was scared.

That thought set alarm bells off in the Specter’s mind as he came to a stop in front of her. What could have happened while he was on the away mission to cause her to be scared? And what did it have to do with him?

“Hey,” he said quietly, drawing her attention back to him.

“Hey,” she echoed as grey eyes met his again, her omni-tool still open, still running numbers on a simulation for a project she was no doubt working on. She always had multiple projects and sims running, hoping one of her ideas would prove viable enough with EDI’s help to use against the reapers or Cerberus.

Kaidan tilted his head slightly, all too familiar with her tendency to use it as a distraction as well. “What brings the Normandy XO down here? I thought Shepard told you to make sure not to scratch the paint.”

The Lt. Commander made a face at him. “I oversaw the retrofits with Traynor. The only paint that ever got scratched was that ugly-ass Cerberus orange.”

The Major smirked as he said, “Okay. Okay. Fine. But really, why are you down here?”

“Can’t I come down and see how the mission went?”

“Kori, you were listening in on our comms the whole mission. You know exactly how it went and you know that we took out another Cerberus base,” Kaidan said reaching over and switching off her ‘tool.

She opened her mouth to protest but stopped when the rest of the ground team passed them, heading towards the elevator. Shepard called out of his shoulder, “Not a bad ending for your first mission back on the Normandy without your girlfriend along to babysit you, Alenko.”

Kaidan made a face as he waved the first human Specter off. “Laugh it up, Shepard! I'm sure I can ask Liara for some embarrassing stories of her saving your ass.”

“Just because my girlfriend is a Shadow Broker doesn't mean she knows everything I've done or that she’s assed my ass!”

“Are you sure? I seem to remember something about coming back from the dead…”

Shepard scowled as the door shut. The Major just grinned. “You don’t actually babysit me—”

Alenko trailed off when he glanced down and saw the expression on Reese’s face. The same concern laced with what she could only label as fear reflected in her grey eyes. Something definitely wasn't right. Hearing Vega and Cortez banter back and forth as they checked over the shuttle for damage, Kaidan gently ushered Reese to the elevator. “We need to talk, don't we?”

“I don't—"

“Yeah,” he said as he summoned the lift. “We need to talk.”

Reese fidgeted but said nothing in reply. As the elevator doors opened, Kaidan glanced over at the Lieutenant Commander who continued to stare straight ahead. After boarding the lift, the Major said as the doors closed, “EDI, can you give us a few moments alone?”

“Of course, Major Alenko,” the sentient AI replied as she paused the elevator. “I will inform you when the elevator is needed.”

“Thanks, EDI,” he said as he crossed his arms turning to face Reese. “I feel like we've been here before.”

Grey eyes finally met his as she said quietly, “Hopefully less yelling this time.”

Kaidan's eyes went wide at the remark. Two days after he rejoined the SR2 he confronted her about the fact she was ignoring him. Tempers had flared as they discovered they still had unresolved issues even after rekindling the relationship on Earth. “I.. only meant that we talked in the lift. Not the other part.”

“We didn't talk in the elevator. You kissed me and pressed me up against the wall. We actually talked in the engineering sub-deck.”

Kaidan sighed as she once again corrected him. “Do we really have to go down there or—"

“You came back.”

Her words were spoken in a whisper, her eyes flickering between his gaze and his armor’s chest plate. Dawning struck the second human Specter like lightening. She was afraid he wouldn’t return.

He used a gloved hand to tilt her head back up to his level. “Of course, I did. I promised, didn’t I?”

“I just…” Reese began, her expression showing embarrassment at her admission. “It’s stupid but I just had to see you get off that shuttle. I—”

“Oh, hey! It’s okay, sweetheart,” Kaidan said as he drew her into a tender embrace. His Spec Ops armor really wasn’t conducive to it but he managed any way. “I’m here. I’m back with you where I belong.”

A he cradled her head to his chest the best his armor would allow, he realized she had folded her arms in against his chest. He was effectively cocooning her in his embrace. Reese had never been one to show vulnerability in public and it had taken a long time for her to do it with him on the SR1. Now as they struggled to begin again, he was continually surprised when she did so with him. It was especially unexpected considering the issues the incident on Mars had caused between them. The initial confrontation in the very same elevator after he’d joined the crew was a direct result of that.

On Earth before the Reapers invaded, they had begun repairing their relationship. A foundation of friendship had been remade. Slowly, gradually they had worked towards being more. Admittedly even before the arrival of the Reapers, they still had a long way to go.

But maybe there was more to what Kori worried about though. He knew a part of her still harbored a doubt that he might leave again without a proper explanation. And he owned that. He took every opportunity to prove to her through word and deed that he would not repeat past mistakes.

But Mars? That had been something else entirely. It wasn’t like before during the aftermath of the SR1’s destruction, one of them leaving the other because they chose to. Mars involved the possibility of losing each other because of their duty or succumbing to injuries sustained while in the line of duty.

The Major’s mind began putting together the pieces of the puzzle as he continued to hold the woman he loved to his chest.

His headaches. Her reaction in the hospital. Her accusation that he hadn’t been truthful about the severity of his migraines after his injuries on Mars…

The weekly inquiries into his medical records. Dr. Chakwas and Dr. Michel he expected. But a third party pinged his records on a regular basis as well. One routed through Alliance medical but without a specific name. It had to be Kori. She was that worried about him because of Mars but did not want to tell him. Most likely so he wouldn’t worry.

Kaidan closed his eyes as he continued to hold her close. He wouldn’t tell her he’d figured out her secret. Instead, he would continue to assure her he would always come back. That there was a future for them. That no matter the mission, the injury, or the pain he endured, he would always come back to her.

“Kori, I know things have never been exactly easy for us but I…” he paused as he moved his head to kiss her forehead. “I will always come back to you. Always.”

“You better, Alenko,” she murmured into his armor. “Or I’ll—”

“Kick my ass. I know,” he said with a grin as he hit the button to allow the elevator to resume its journey.

“Damn straight, tech boy,” was her murmured reply as he continued to hold her, not caring if the doors opened to reveal their current state to anyone. He’d spent far too long without her in his life, and he was not going repeat that mistake again.

He’d always come back to her. Always.

[geraskier]

bro im so fucking excited for that mass effect trilogy remaster. i think about it every day. i hope they leave the cooldown-time-instead-of-reloading-ammo thing in me1, but i think having to supply armor for every companion was needlessly difficult so maybe they'll just stick with the leveling boosts like in me2 and me3. kaidan needs to be bi in me1 and 2 bc he's bi in me3 so i hope they address that too.

and dear G-D they need to go back to how they used to model salarians and turians in the original trilogy, cause they were all jacked up in andromeda. also the lack of range of facial types for all the aliens in andromeda was kinda disappointing (e.g. all the asari except peebee had the same face model); that wasn't a problem in the original trilogy so i have hopes for that in the remaster but who knows.

im curious how/if they'll change the biotic powers also, like in andromeda they removed warp and replaced it with an AOE power rather than an enemy specific targeted power. absolutely loved the animations for the close-up biotics like the body slam one i can't remember the name of and nova, and andromeda made "pull" more useful too.

there was in-game reasoning for why the combat/tech/biotic powers were limited to customizable sets of three in andromeda; i much preferred selecting from the entire list of unlocked powers in the toggle menu in the trilogy, plus it paused combat and made enemy selection for targeting easier, so hopefully they bring that back.

OH also @ bioware please make the mako controls as janky as they were in me1. driving the nomad in andromeda was a lot easier but i NEED the mako piloting to be terrible. it makes it more rewarding on therum to jam the mako through the rocks to use it against the geth outside the dig site when the controls are ridiculously clunky.

finally i would like bioware to retcon every instance of vacuum-packed tits and camel toe. boobs do not look like that, boobs do not look like that THROUGH ARMOR, the robot lady doesn't need to have visible labia, you don't need to center camera movement around miranda's ass when she tells you how she helped her sister escape her abusive father, etc.

edit: THEY RELAUNCHED THE BIOWARE MERCH SITE i can finally replace my n7 coffee mug that i broke :3