#like why would you kill the colonists on feros

[corpocyborg]

it's honestly a tragedy that so few people chose morinth over samara that they didn't even bother putting morinth in me3. like i don't blame the players bc the narrative clearly discourages most players by positioning choosing morinth as the evil choice. but i swear to god if you actually talk to her after choosing her you will see it is not that simple. the situation isn't nearly as clear cut and black & white as they make it out to be and either choice could be justified as the "good" or "evil" choice.

[n7cloacadestroyer]

Very true. I also have doubts that the thorian that Shepard fights on Feros is well and truly dead. Shiala and ExoGeni's recovery team are the only sources we have that confirm its apparent demise. ExoGeni has a vested interest (as well as a demonstrated willingness) to lie. They were willing to purge the colony to protect their secrets and probably would have if Shepard hadn't intervened. So we know that we can't trust them.

Shiala, on the other hand, seems trustworthy at first. She's vital to the plot of ME1, as the prothean cipher would be lost to Shepard after the thorian's supposed death had she not intervened. She wishes to stay with the colonists to atone for their suffering which she feels responsible for. Even if you take the renegade option to kill her, it still reflects well on her character.

But something we often overlook is that she was definitely indoctrinated by Sovereign, following Matriarch Benezia to join Saren. A reminder that Matriarch Benezia was so far gone that she couldn't stop herself from trying to murder her own daughter. Sovereign probably couldn't have exerted any more control over her without turning her brain into pudding.

Indoctrination is stated to be a degenerative condition by multiple characters throughout the series, but we hear about it first from Rana Thanoptis, who was studying the phenomenon at Saren's base on Virmire. We learn that Sovereign (and later, all reapers) emit a kind of energy field undetectable by contemporary technology that subtly alters brain waves and thought patterns, making organic minds more susceptible to suggestion by slowly removing the capacity for independent thought.

If we take the narrative at face value, Shiala remains the only character in the entirety of the Mass Effect series that has experienced any degree of remission in their level of reaper indoctrination. This isn't extremely suspicious on its own within the context of Mass Effect 1, but given what we learn about it going forward? Gigantic red flag.

It's also worth noting that Saren offers Shiala to the thorian in exchange for the cipher, a fate she willingly accepts as an indoctrinated slave. Saren then betrays the thorian, as he has a reputation for. No surprise there. What is surprising is his apparent lack of target priority.

If Saren/Sovereign wanted to breach the colony to destroy the main thorian node beneath it, why didn't they just bombard it from orbit? Instead, they send the geth to attack the humans in the colony and the nearby ExoGeni building. "Killing the flesh that would tend the next cycle," as the thorian says.

There is another creature within the Mass Effect continuity that reproduces via spores--the Thresher Maw. That's the reason we find them on so many different worlds in-game. Their microscopic spores are hardy enough to survive dormant within the vacuum of deep space and atmospheric reentry, so they are unwittingly spread by space travelers, both past and contemporary.

What if Saren was cutting off the thorian's vectors of propagation without directly attacking it? Because large-scale disturbances like bombardment risk throwing its spores into the atmosphere or worse--into orbit where it could cling to passing vessels along with other bits of magnetized space dust.

I also suspect that the geth platforms on Feros were so entrenched because they were never intended to leave. If the thorian's influence can indeed overpower reaper indoctrination, as it seems to be doing with Shiala, the machines have a very good reason to be concerned and act accordingly. They seemingly intend to starve it out/quarantine it--a smart move, all things considered. Especially if my suspicions are correct.

We meet Shiala again on Illium in Mass Effect 2. Her skin has turned green, and she seems fatigued, to put it mildly. We learn that the colonists continue to experience strange side effects and rudimentary linked nerve signals, even sharing sensations like heat and pain when near one another. In addition, they experience headaches and muscle spasms similar to when they were under thorian control seemingly at random. She also notes that her biotics have become 'unstable'.

The colonists contacted a Baria Frontiers survey group to perform some medical scans to diagnose and resolve their chronic issues and were offered a contract to get them for next to nothing. The problem was that they had unknowingly agreed to "invasive follow-up procedures" at the company's behest. With enough charm or intimidate points, Shepard can help Shiala by convincing the Baria Frontiers rep to revise the contract.

Now we're led to believe that these procedures are being forced on the colonists simply because an uncharacteristically racist asari just wants to see them suffer… but what if the initial scans showed some kind of anomaly? If there are parasitic spores within their bodies controlling (or at least influencing) their minds, discovery of this fact would certainly spell doom for the parasite in question. So would it not be in the parasite's best interest to avoid anyone looking at the colonists too closely?

Furthermore, it's strange that the symptoms result in biotic instability for Shiala, an asari commando who has been training her biotic abilities for at least a few hundred years. Unless the thorian spores have begun to sprout and grow throughout her central and periphery nervous systems, thereby disrupting/altering the path that nerve signals must take to reach the eezo nodules in her nerves?

In Mass Effect 3, we meet her on the Citadel presidium after the evacuation of Zhu's Hope. She confirms that she is indeed indoctrinated, but says that her connection to the colonists through the residual thorian spores "is louder" than the tell-tale whispers. She and the colonists have seemingly adapted to the presence of the thorian spores and can now "feel" one another, and "act with one mind" as they fight against the reapers, "ignoring pain when the need arises." They can share some degree of learned experience as well, as Shiala further elaborates, "with one mind, the untrained fight with the skill of veteran commandos."

She's also, notably, still green. So it seems like the colonists just abandoned the whole "let's get medical care" idea and just learned to live with their new hivemind? Yeah, that's extremely suspicious given everything we know about the thorian.

Conclusion: Shiala and the colonists are simply an extension of the thorian, and this is how the creature propagates itself. Feros was not the Thorian's home world, and it was likely carried there by the protheans or a space-faring civilization that predated them as spores within their bodies. When they die, their bodies will be consumed by the spores within them and begin a new "cycle" for the thorian. (got to thinking about this reply from @dragonflight203, but it got a little too big for the reply box.)

[dragonflight203]

Edit: Fixed a few word choices, added a few missing words.

Mass Effect 1 replay. Feros, part two. This is a long mission:

Refugee Camp

-The refugee camp is supposed to be hidden, but there's a lamp conveniently lighting up the ramp.

-When introducing Shepard to Jeong, the Alliance option is neutral and the words are the same the paragon choice.

-Jeong is very firm about not wanting his band to join the Zhu’s hope. Someone doesn’t want to join the Thorian thralls.

-Jeong is such a company man that’s it’s hilarious. Under attack by geth, and the priority is still to protect the company. Keep firing to a minimum! ExoGeni is not responsible if you sustain injuries on their priority! He gave me an ad read when I asked about the company.

-The security is very suspicious. They talk like evil mooks out of a kids show. What do they mean the colonists won’t remember the planet exists in a few weeks? Is that line left over from a scrapped plot point?

-These refugees are not as hard core as Zhu’s hope. They’re very willing to go back to Earth

-No red herrings about artifacts. They’re blunt that there aren’t any and are clueless about why the geth are here.

HQ

-What exactly is the chatter on the second skyway? Sounds like there were looters and the geth caught them. Presumably those are the two human corpses found under the bridge.

-Why is there a geth armature sleeping behind the door that needs to be decrypted? It doesn’t respond until it’s attacked.

-Lizbeth is the first to mention the Thorian, and even suggests the geth are after it. Nothing about why at this point, though – it’s just a plant

-Renegade Shepard is laser focused on the geth in every conversation. Very little interest in anything else.

-Ah, more varren. So they show up at least twice in ME1

-There are yellow tarps(?) all over this planet. What are they, exactly? Prothean ruins or ExoGeni rehabilitation?

-The bit between the Krogan Commander and the VI is very well done. Humorous, natural, and a good lead into learning more about the Thorian

-Shepard outright calls the colonists slaves. ExoGeni prefers the politer “thralls”

-Hmm. ExoGeni doesn’t know if the Thorian is intelligent or not. How did Saren learn about it?

-So the Thorian covers much of surface of lower Feros. It’s been around since before the Protheans. Is that why the surface is covered in debris, and the towers are so tall? To avoid the Thorian? But the colony is in a skyscraper… Well, plants will grow anywhere if the conditions are appropriate

-Do we actually kill the Thorian, or just a part of it? Or just one member of the species? It’s a diffused creature with multiple nerve bundles. It’s rare (unheard of?) for there to be just one of a species. Could that be related to why the colonists continue to experience side effects in ME2 and ME3?

-Interesting that enthralling is done as a defense measure, not aggression. If the geth hadn’t come after it, would the Thorian have left the colonists alone?

-ExoGeni let the infection spread for about a month. When did the merchant land? If he landed during that month, that feels like the potential for a diplomatic incident – you deliberately infected a member of the Salarian Union with a parasite(?)

-For once, Tali and Liara agree!

Tali: Geth are thorough. They’ll have killed everyone

Liara: This is a place of learning and knowledge. It shouldn’t be a slaughterhouse

-And here are the Reaper claws, with the orb and the geth worshiping it. Still want an explanation for this.

Is the orb related to the orbs the Leviathans use to brainwash people? If so, is it influencing the geth somehow?

-Tali: Geth blur the line between organic and synthetic life. It’s natural to assume they seek understanding from a higher power.

I don’t quite see how that’s a natural assumption, but it’s certainly thought provoking. Tali considers geth being religious natural… A common interpretation I see is that AI wouldn’t be religious, because it would know its creators. Geth do know their creators, and have a troubled relationship with them, but desire a better one. Someone could probably write a thesis on how that relates to religion.

-The standard corpse starts showing up here and will be scattered around the rest of hq.

-Zhu’s hope was infected for about a month, and Cerberus is already salivating at the chance to study Thorian creepers. How did they even find out about them so fast?

-In one of the entries about Cerberus, a doctor mentions that they’re working on an antidote. To what? The Thorian spores, I presume. Again, that seems fast.

-Sovereign has a claw cut off by a shuttle bay door. How embarrassing is that? An eon old creature that has genocided multiple species, and it loses a claw to a door that closes really fast. No wonder he’s so aloof on Virmire – must be struggling to regain a bit of pride.

-And that claw is just abandoned… You just know someone grabbed it to study it. And since that’s A REAPER, someone – likely multiple someones – got indoctrinated.

This is what makes Reapers so damn frustrating: Even when they’re dead, they’re still dangerous.

Edit: I've been corrected, the claw was from a regular geth ship. I maintain it's still embarrassing though.

-And Lizbeth tells us that the colonists covered the way to the Thorian with the freighter. Yep, that’s the “heart of the colony” they kept saying needed to be protected.

-How did Lizbeth get out of the one way drop your companions warn you about? Did she take the long way out and risk meeting geth or perform the climb that eluded Shepard?

Refugee Camp Part 2

-Jeong was hoping the geth would kill Shepard. Love you too, buddy.

-Even the basic paragon option is to kill Jeong. Someone on the dev team was working through a lot of frustration and using Jeong to vent.

-If you go blue paragon, you appeal to him as a corporate man. That will never not be funny. Appeal to his better nature? No! All hail to ExoGeni!

And he still wants to kill the colonists because they’ll make the company look bad. This man.

-If you pick an option on the right, you’re given the Thorian grenades. If you go blue paragon, you have to follow up with Juliana to get the grenades. Why is it like that?

-Renegade Shepard is funny. They are determined to kill the colonists. Even if you’re outright handed the Thorian grenades, you can still insist on killing them.

-On both Feros and Noveria, security are very willing to kill innocent civilians that they’re supposedly there to protect.

I’ve heard it said that ME2 takes a grittier look at the galaxy than ME1, but I think that ignores much of ME1’s implicit criticisms. ME1 isn’t as in your face as ME2, but it comes down harshly on various institutions and especially corporations. There’s corruption everywhere, no institution is composed solely of noble people, and a lot of innocent people get hurt for no good reason.

-The refugees are all very chill that Jeong wanted to kill them minutes ago. At least security acknowledges that shit almost went down.

Zhu’s Hope

-Why do thralls look human, but have only four fingers? Are they based on a species in one of the former cycles?

-Also: Yet another mini cutscene intro for a new enemy. Feros is full of them.

-Renegade Shepard is still hilarious. We’re killing the colonists. Doesn’t matter that we have options, we’re killing them.

And Liara is… totally chill. Shame, but if Shepard says they need to die then so be it

-Nice of the game to make knocked out colonists disappear so they can’t get caught in crossfire

-Fai Dan’s scene is very well done and moving. It also lays the ground work for Saren breaking free of indoctrination at the Citadel, if Shepard plays their card right.

Take note, ME3 – THIS is how you make the ending of a game feel natural, rather than like it comes out of nowhere. You have to build up to it!

-I will point out, however, that I have remaining grenades. Fai Dan’s death was not necessary

Thorian

-Tali’s commentary is if the Thorian is a plant or animal or in between them. This is very similar to what she said earlier about the geth blurring the line between organic and synthetic life

-What is with Asari and being mind controlled in ME1? Shiala on Feros by the Thorian, dying commando on Noveria by the Rachni queen, and of course Benezia is indoctrinated.

ME1 keeps telling us that Asari are wise and powerful, but then continually shows that everyone mind controls them. This is an issue with show vs. tell.

-If you go renegade, you lose all the background information and go straight to killing the Thorian

-So we learn later that the Thorian traded the cipher to Saren for Shiala. However, here it states that “cold ones” (geth) started to kill flesh “fairly given” – the colonists? - and that’s why it won’t trust Shepard.

It certainly sounds like part of the bargain (or one of the bargains – the Thorian said trades, plural, were made) was the colonists to the Thorians.

-Also, “the flesh” will tend the next cycle. Certainly seems to imply that the Thorian reproduces

-How long is the Thorian’s Long Cycle? Is it the same as the Reaper’s cycles?

-The structure around the Thorian is built, not natural. An old Prothean structure the Thorian was born into or moved into? A structure it had thralls build for it a long time ago?

Shiala

-Shiala doesn’t seem aware that Sovereign is alive. She knows that it’s the ship that indoctrinates people, but she blames Saren for the indoctrination. She seems to believe that Saren controls Sovereign

-Again, we hear about how matriarchs are some of the most intelligent and powerful beings in the galaxy, while discussing a matriarch that has been brainwashed.

The game really needed an established asari that wasn’t brainwashed to sell the asari better. Liara’s well loved, but she’s very young and impressionable in this game and that does not help counter how malleable asari are in ME1.

-Shiala says she’s free of Saren and the Thorian. Seems to believe she’s free of indoctrination… side effect of Thorian?

In ME3 she says she’s still indoctrinated, but can resist it. She credits it to her bond with the colony, but the cynist in me is more inclined to believe it’s a side effect of the Thorian spores. No one else can resist indoctrination for a prolonged period, no matter how emotionally attached they are to others.

-If you go renegade with Shiala, you outright execute her. ME1 renegade can be very dark.

-Sovereign’s defenses are virtually impenetrable… except to automatic doors, apparently. He must be so embarrassed.

Edit: Still not the victim of the door. I'd like to give it a shot, though.

-You’d think Liara would have something to say when Shiala discusses Benezia, but no.

-If you end the dialogue neutrally, Shepard just leaves and Shiala stays with the colonists. Paragon or Renegade, you choose to kill her or not.

Zhu’s Hope

-Hana wants to go back to Earth. Given the side effects of the Thorian, what happens with her in ME2 and ME3?

-Slavery is an odd theme in ME1. Standard slavery, the Thorian, indoctrination… The game keeps touching on it and the impact it has on people, but it doesn’t actually dig into it very deep. It’s odd that it keeps bringing it up in so many different contexts but only engages with it lightly.

[mythomagic29]

Mass Effect Legendary Edition - 30 Day Character Challenge

I've made a Character Development Challenge for your Shepards. I've taken inspiration from a bunch of different challenges. I love fleshing out my characters. Giving them a History, figuring out their feelings and thoughts. It really helps me connect with my character. Hope you enjoy expanding on your character! Day 1. Introduction· Name/Sign/Gender: Where does your character stand with their morality? Anything else you want to include? Day 2. Appearance· Hair color/cut - Eye color - Notable scars? How did they get them? Any tattoos? What do they represent? Day 3. Preferences· Favorite color?· What kinds of food do they like?· What is her Fashion Sense? What type of environment do they prefer spending time in?· Favorite type of music? · Genre of books? Vids?· Anything else that needs mentioned? Day 4. Service Record· Pre-Service History (Spacer, Earthborn, or Colonist): Psychological Profile (Sole Survivor, War Hero, or Ruthless): Training (class)? What made them pick that? Why did they join the military? Day 5. Personality· Overall summary of their personality Character strengths?· Character weaknesses?· Does your character grow at all during the game? Does anything change? Day 6. History/Character· Outside Game Canon, Did you expand on Shepard’s Past? What Language(s) does your Shepard speak? What Interests do they have? What Skills do they possess? Day 7. Fear· Does Shepard have any trival fears, like spiders or clowns?· What about more complex fears, like losing someone?· How do they deal with their fears? · Do they have any nightmares? What about? Day 8. Mass Effect 1 Squad· How does Shepard feel about their squadmates? Garrus- Tali- Liara- Wrex- Ashley- Kaidan- Day 9. Normandy SR-1 Crew What about the rest of the crew? Joker- Chakwas - Engineer Adams - Navigator Pressly - Jenkins- Day 10. Mass Effect 1 Romance· What’s your Shepard’s sexual orientation?· Who did they romance? What type of relationship is it/how do they handle the relationship(s)? Does Shepard and their romance have any interesting kinks?· What drew them to each other? What do they talk about? Day 11. Citadel· What were their initial thoughts about the Citadel? What is Shepard’s Relationship with the Council? What was the initial impression and future impressions of the people below: Anderson Udina Conrad Day 12. Mass Effect 1 Decisions· Did Shepard Recruit Everyone to her team? Did Shepard Save or Shut Down the Colony on Feros? Did Shepard Save or Kill the Rachni Queen? Did Shepard Save the Hostages or pursue Balak on the Asteroid? Does Wrex Live or Die on Virmire? Who did you save on Virmire and why? Did you Save the Destiny Ascension or Focus on Sovereign? Who did you Appoint to the Council and why? Day 13. Mass Effect 1 Reflection What was Shepard’s favorite Mission? Worst Mission? What was Shepard’s hardest decision? Favorite NPC? Day 14. Cerberus What were their initial thoughts about Cerberus bringing them back? What were their thoughts about working with Cerberus? How did Shepard change from when they were in the Alliance as a Spectre to working with Cerberus? What was Shepard’s relationship with the Illusive Man? Day 15. Faith and Death Does your Shepard believe in a religion? Why or why not?· How devout are they to their faith? Or how militant are they with their atheism?· How does Shepard feel about dying twice? Did they see anything? Day 16. Mass Effect 2 Squad· How does Shepard feel about their squadmates? How was their Reunion if from ME1? Garrus- Tali- Grunt - Thane- Jack- Miranda- Jacob- Legion- Samara &/or Morinth- Mordin- Kasumi - Zaeed- Day 17. Normandy SR-2 Crew How does Shepard feel about the rest of the crew? Joker- Chakwas - Kelly Chambers- Kenneth Donnely & Gabriella Daniels- Mess Sergeant Gardner - EDI- Did Shepard take care of her Fish? Were they able to keep them alive? Day 18. Old Squadmates How did Shepard feel about seeing their old squadmates? How was the reunion? Liara Kaidan or Ashley Wrex Day 19. Mass Effect 2 Romance· What’s your Shepard’s sexual orientation?· Who did they romance? Was there a love triangle? What type of relationship is it/how do they handle the relationship? If they romanced someone different, how do they feel about their old partner and what made them end the relationship? Does Shepard and their romance have any interesting kinks?· What drew them to each other? What do they talk about? Day 20. Mass Effect 2 Reflection What was Shepard’s favorite Mission? What was your favorite Loyalty Mission? What was Shepard’s hardest decision to make? Favorite NPC? Day 21. Mass Effect 3 Squad· How does Shepard feel about their squadmates? Garrus- Tali- Liara- Ashley or Kaidan- Javik - James Vega - EDI - Day 22. Normandy ME3 Crew What about the rest of the crew? Joker- Chakwas or Chloe Michel - Samantha Taynor - Steve Cortez- Engineer Adams - Diana Allers Day 23. Mass Effect 3 Romance· What’s your Shepard’s sexual orientation?· Who did they romance? Was there a love triangle? What type of relationship is it/how do they handle the relationship(s)? If they romanced someone different, how do they feel about their old partner? Did your Shepard have a hard time choosing between partners? Does Shepard and their romance have any interesting kinks?· What drew them to each other? What do they talk about? Day 24. Mass Effect 3 Decisions· Did they pick Destroy, Control, Synthesis, or Refuse? How did they feel when making their decision? If Shepard could leave any last message, what would they have said? If they pick Destroy and Lived, what happens to Shepard? Day 25. Mass Effect 3 Reflection What was Shepard’s favorite Mission? What was Shepard’s hardest decision to make? Favorite NPC? Day 26. Beliefs & Opinions What are Shepard’s opinions on the Genophage? What are Shepard’s opinions on the Quarian/Geth Conflict? What is Shepard’s favorite Alien Species? Day 27. R&R Does Shepard relax, or are they itching to get back into action?· Do they have any hobbies or talents?·. How often do they take a moment when they go to different planets? What do they do in different cities to relax?· What is Shepard’s alcohol tolerance? What does Shepard like to drink? Favorite way to relax? Day 28. Personal Style· What do they wear when they’re on duty? What about when they’re not? How do they decorate their cabin? · How do they dance, if at all? Are they clean or messy? Favorite Place on the Normandy? Favorite City? Day 29. Fighting Style· What was their favorite skill? Least favorite?· Favorite gun/guns?· How are they in hand to hand combat?· Do they tend to rush in or stay back and dictate action? Day 30. Mako Was your Shepard a good driver?· Favorite driving terrain? Least favorite? What Squadmates hated or loved traveling in the Mako Day 31. Ending What happens to your old companions after the final decision? How does the Day of the Final Decision go down in history? What was Shepard’s saddest or most difficult moment? Day 32. Face to Face How much of your Shepard is based off of you? Where are you alike? Where do you differ?· Would you get along with your Shepard? What would you do if you spent the day together? Day 33. Playlist· Find any number of songs that you feel fit your character, their relationship with any of their companions, or a specific moment in their story. List them here.

[ghostxofxartemis]

John x Ashley: hugging for too long?

Thank you for submitting this amazing prompt! Not only did I manage to get a birthday fic done for John, I also managed to fit this in! From this prompt list!  Fic also available on AO3.

A huge thank you to @bardofheartdive for beta reading for me! You are simply amazing! 

Happy Birthday, Shepard!

Shepard is sitting at his desk in his cabin in the Normandy SR1. His chair is hard, uncomfortable, his back is sore, though that’s the least of his concerns; he feels like it should be Anderson in here and not him. His mind is unfocused, his thoughts keep going back to their mission on Feros a few days ago. The Thorian still churns his stomach as he remembers how it was controlling the colonist. It’s not the only thing keeping him distracted, there is an awful lot of commotion coming from the mess hall just outside his cabin, making it difficult to finish his report from their mission on Elatania this morning; those space monkeys were just a pain in the ass to deal with. Having Ashley and Liara giggle away at him while on all fours didn’t exactly help with his mood either.  He’s certainly not feeling like someone who spent months and months on end through a grueling program to achieve N7, but more like a serviceman grunt at this moment. 

"What in the devil's work is going on?!"

Frustrated, he flicks his stylus onto his desk, then stands up, makes his way to his door and steps into the mess hall. He’s not one to usually lose his temper, but the persistent migraine he’s had the last past two days after receiving the cypher on Feros has been driving him insane. The commotion was just making it worse, souring his mood that much more. 

There is an unusually large crowd, most of whom should be working, gathered around the tables. Plates, cups, bottles of varied drinks, beer, and bowls full of different snacks were set on the tables. 

Ashley and Kaidan are at the kitchen counter, their backs facing him. They are in the middle of sniggering at something Shepard clearly missed out on. 

He walks up behind them very quietly, his head peering over their shoulders.

"What are you two doing?"

Ashley yelps, dropping her spatula. Kaidan jumps slightly at the unexpected visitor, face turning red from embarrassment, his expression resembling that of a kid getting caught with their hand in the cookie jar, knowing very well they aren't supposed to do that. Looks like two squadmates forgot they have an infiltrator among them. 

Ashley turns to face Shepard, a guilty look on her face, icing splattered on her cheeks and the tip of her nose.

Shepard's breath hitches, his heart skips a beat or several for that matter, and his lips twitch upwards into a half-smile. Just when he thinks she couldn't get any more adorable, she somehow manages to prove him wrong at every turn. His mind races, thinks about all the things he would very much love to do to her, then forces them back down just as quickly, out of mind. He's not that guy anymore, if he's to be with Ashley, he is going to do it right this time. Though… something tells him she wouldn't mind too much. First, they have to get rid of a little problem, a Rogue Spectre problem.

Shepard looks at her sheepishly.  

"Chief… you got….er," Shepard clears his throat, "you've got icing on your face."  He points in the general vicinity of her face.

“Oh!”

Ashley wipes the back of her hands, also covered in icing, against her cheeks, resulting in an even worse smear than she had just moments ago. 

“Did I get it?” She asks him, her eyebrows furrowed together. 

His grin widens just a fraction more, breath caught in his chest. He can feel his cheeks turning a little pink. He reaches for a napkin on the counter, then lifts it up to her, raising an eyebrow.

“May I?” 

Ashley’s cheeks turn a bright pink, her eyes take on a look of utter embarrassment as she nods at him. 

“Where did you learn how to bake, Ash? Normally you put the icing on the cake, not bury your face in the container,” he teases as he wipes the icing with the napkin off her face. 

“My mom and I would bake cakes together for every special occasion. Birthdays, holidays...you know.” 

Shepard throws the dirty napkin in the trash, “Question still remains...why are you and Alenko baking a cake?” 

He looks around, still confused. He certainly doesn’t remember giving everyone permission to gather around. He isn’t opposed to down time, but there have to be at least a few people manning stations. Was there a special occasion he was unaware of? 

“Shepard, it’s your birthday…” Kaidan says incredulously. Wondering how someone could possibly forget it’s their birthday. 

“Wha…?” John squawks, now he’s the one with the incredulous look on his face. He checks his omni-tool, hoping this is somehow all a big joke. When he notices the date his eyes widen, and he mutters something under his breath that sounds along the lines of  “you’re shitting me.” 

“It’s April 11th… your birthday…” Alenko drags the last two words like it’s the most obvious thing in the whole galaxy.

John crosses his arms across his chest, and shifts his weight onto his hip. His M.O. that he’s about to be stubborn and stand his ground. 

“That’s nice. But I don’t celebrate my birthday. So clean this mess up, and get back to work. That goes for everybody,” he says as he uncrosses his arms, turns on heels to make his way back to his cabin. Instead, he comes face to face with a seven feet tall wall...a krogan wall to be exact. Wrex had come up behind him, blocking his way. 

“Out of my way, Wrex.” 

Wrex growls, Shepard’s scowls.

If there’s one thing that puts a sour taste in his mouth, it is people wanting to celebrate his birthday. He hasn’t celebrated since he was five and that’s simply because his mother was still alive that year. After that the birthday celebration ceased to exist, other than occasional shots he’d share with fellow soldiers, and wasn’t going to start now. 

“Anderson told us you might object so... Wrex here volunteered to be your personal bodyguard for tonight,” Alenko smirks and John balls his hands into fists, nails digging in his skin because he’d rather feel that pain than punch his friend in his smug-faced expression. 

John inhales loudly, he’s about to argue until he thinks better of it. He really isn’t in the mood to go head to toe with a Krogan at the moment. He uncurls his fists, exhales while throwing his arms up in the year in exasperation.

“Fine!” 

Engineer Adams cracks a beer bottle open, and hands it to Shepard with a sheepish look on his face. Shepard growls slightly before muttering a barely audible “thanks.”

“Chief, just one request… no candles” 

“I make any promises, sir.” Ashley gives him mischievous smiles. Shepard shakes his head before turning away to make his way to the table and sits next to Tali who seemed to be overjoyed by seeing human customs for the first time.

~~~~~~~

Ashley waits until Shepard finds a seat next to Tali at the tables before she turns around and picks up the spatula. 

“Great, the icing is ruined now’” she grumbles.

She feels Kaidan elbowing her just a bit. She looks to see him with a coy smile on his face.

“What?” She demands, one eyebrow raising to her hairline.

“Nothing,” he shrugs and takes the spatula from her hand. 

“You’re withholding something.” She sneers at him.

“Me?!” Kaidan feigns innocence. “I would never!”

Ashley rolls her eyes and snatches the spatula from Kaidan and washes it. It’s always the quiet ones you have to look out for, she thinks to herself. 

“I think the icing is fine, chief.”

“It really isn’t. Has to be perfect and there’s a spot missing icing and since someone sneaked up behind us, it’s going to be tricky to get it right without messing the rest of the icing.” She sighs as she dries the spatula with a dishcloth. 

“I didn’t take you for someone who demands perfection.”

“Really?! Have you seen your pistol, LT? Has it ever been in any better condition until I started taking care of it?” She scowls him.

“Good point.”

Ashley sighs. 

“Why don’t you let me give it a try.” Kaidan offers her a hand.

“I...oh alrighty.” With resignation, she sighs louder as she hands him the spatula and takes a couple of steps to the side to give him room. 

Kaidan eyes the cake for a moment before scooping up more icing from the container. He feels Ashley’s hot breath down his neck.

“Chief. I can’t focus while you’re breathing down my neck.” Kaidan looks down at her with raised eyebrows.

“I’m sorry! Okay. I won’t watch.” She sucks in her breath as she puts her hands over her eyes, though peaks through her fingers. She rolls her bottom lips between her lips, a nervous tell. 

Kaidan chuckles, shaking his head, slaps on the icing, and follows the trajectory that Ashley was doing earlier, somehow even making the icing look smoother than it had when she had done it. 

“Is it done?!” 

“It’s all good.”

Dropping her hands, she inspects the cake, a sly smiling making its way at the corner of her mouth.

“Not all heroes wear capes! Now, where’s that candle I had brought up earlier?” Before she can even look for it, Kaidan lifts up the candle to her eyes. She snatches it and places it next to Shepard’s name on the cake.

“I hope he doesn’t kill us. I am pinning this on you if he gets even more in a soured mood. Everyone should get to celebrate their birthday. You know what Anderson told me, last time we were on the Citadel?” She looks up to Kaidan, her eyes now distant deep in thought.

“No. What did he say?” Kaidan asks her, curious.

“The Skipper skipped out on his own birthday dinner with Anderson last year. Just no show. Anderson asked him about it later and the skipper just simply said ‘he didn’t feel like celebrating another year of making it out alive’.”

Kaidan’s mouth gapes open, and he closes it just as quickly. No words come out. Ashley couldn’t blame him. She had had the same reaction when Anderson had told him. 

“Anyways. Let’s go give him his cake.” Carefully, Ashley lights the candle with a lighter and picks it up while Kaidan picks up the cake they made for the dextro-amino crew mates and they make their way to the table while singing ‘Happy Birthday Shepard.’

Ashley’s gaze locks in with Shepard’s, his cheeks turn red and she feels hers heat up, forcing her to look away embarrassed. By some miracle, she manages to get the cake in front of him and chuckles when he covers his face with both his hands and mutters “for the love of God” at it.

“I told you I made no promises.”

“I know!” He grunts behind his hands before rubbing his face and blows out the candle.

“Now you get the honors of cutting, commander.” Kaidan smirks as he puts down the cake for the dextro.

“Yeah, no thanks. You know what,” Shepard picks up the cutting knife and hands it over to Dr. Chawkas, handle first, “why don’t you do me the honors, good doctor.” 

“Oh, Commander. I couldn’t.” She lifts her hands and shakes her head.

“Please. I insist. This is already too much.” Shepard levels the knife in his hand, giving her a sly smile.

“Well, in that case,” she sighs. 

While Dr. Chawkas cuts the cake, Shepard hands her the plates and she lays them on the table for anyone to grab until both cakes have been symmetrically cut. 

“So, Tali, I’m curious,” Ashley says as she slides in the seat next to Shepard and takes a bite from her cake in hand, “how do Quarians celebrate birthdays?” 

“Well. Quarians are only allowed one toy as personal possession while we’re children, and on our birthdays we part with them for us to get a new one.”

“Wait? You only get one toy?! Do you get to choose what it is at least?” Ashley asks Tali, perplexed. 

“Oh yes! We do get to choose among what is available, but we don’t always get what we like. We just have to make do. With limited space, we can’t get too choosy. That’s why on our birthdays we get to choose who gets our old toy, and we get to pick another one from what’s available in the storage.”

“Like a hand-me-down.” Ashley says as she licks her fork. She catches Shepard shuffling in his seat next to her in her peripheral vision, his hands grab hold of fabric from his trousers and he adjusts them slightly, pulling down on them. It took everything she got to resist looking down at him to see if she had managed to get a reaction out of him. She smirks. She reaches for an opened beer bottle on the table and opens it, gulping a good draft from it.

Ashley puts her bottle down on the table. “My parents couldn’t afford much on my father’s salary, so often, whatever I didn’t use anymore would get passed down to my sisters. But my parents always made sure we got something new for our birthdays. Something we wanted.” 

“Right. Something like that. But it wasn’t new.” Tali agreed.

“Heh! You humans and Quarians are soft. On our birthdays we drink ryncol and blow things up.” Wrex’s booming laugh shook the table. 

“Remind not to give you ryncol while on my ship,” Shepard shakes his head. 

The thought of the ship blowing up while they were in space was not a comforting one. How would he explain that one to the Alliance? Ashley could only imagine how the conversation would go for the Skipper’s side. Yeah, my krogan passenger decided to light the Mako on fire and send it off through the cargo door while it was still down, is probably what he would say. 

“Relax Shepard! After a few hundred years you don’t really care about celebrating anymore.” 

Ashley feels a shift beside her. Skipper. She gets a whiff of his musky scent mixed with cedar as he stands up and moves behind her to make his way to the counter. Her heart skips a beat, his signature scent always seemed to get her all warm inside. How can people not smell him coming? He just smells so good. She locks eyes with Kaidan who sits in front of her and feels herself starting to blush. Kaidan's eyes tell her he is on to her. Is she that obvious of her feelings for the Commander? Oh Gosh, what if Kaidan reports her? No. She tries to put those thoughts out of mind. 

Kaidan clears his throat, and he pulls her back to the present. Maybe she was panicking for no reason after all. 

“Now’s probably the time to give him what you got him, while he isn’t at the table,” he whispers. The others are too immersed in conversations to pay attention to the two of them. 

Ashley exhales deeply. “Right. Well here we go.” Standing up, she picks up the gift bag she had tucked under the table, and somehow Shepard had completely missed, at least, she thought he did and made her way to the skipper. 

Shepard’s back faces her and she inhales before she taps him gently on the shoulder. He looks back to her while washing his hands. 

“Williams.”

Ashley lifts the bag to him. “I...er… I got you a little something. Picked it up last time we were at the Citadel.”

He turns his head away from her, hiding his expression, and for a moment she thinks she has overstepped and maybe made a grave error. He dries his hands on a dishcloth before he turns completely to face her.

“Ash. You really didn’t have to do this. All this.” He looks back to the table where his crew conversed with one another. She could hear them laughing.

“Skipper. Really. It’s no big deal. In my family, we always celebrate everyone's birthday. It’s important.” She reaches her arm out towards him more, insisting he takes it. 

Reluctantly, he does. Slowly, he opens it up and takes a peek inside. He reaches inside with one hand and pulls out a weapon upgrade. An eyebrow reaches his hairline as he inspects it.

“How on Earth did you manage to get your hands on a Scram Rail X?! I thought only the Spectre Requisition officer had time in stock?”

“A girl needs to keep some secrets, now. Doesn’t she?” Ashley gave him a coy smile.

“Fine. Keep your secrets then Williams.” He returns her a smile. “Thank you.” 

Ashley rocks on her toes and points to the bag. “That’s not all. There’s more inside”

“Ash…” Shepard rolled his bottom lip between his teeth. A tell-tale sign he was feeling a tad uncomfortable. He places the Scram Rail X onto the counter and looks back down to the bag.  Ashley’s heart sinks a little when she remembers he’d been orphaned so young. Has he never celebrated his birthday before?

She waves him off. “Come on. Open it,” she urges him while bouncing on her toes. 

Sighing, he reaches down again and this time pulls out a box. He places the bag onto the counter and inspects the contents in his hand. 

“How-” His eyes widen, “how did you manage to get your hands on a WWII A-26 Douglas Invader aircraft model?!”

Ashley shrugged her shoulders.

“A girl has her secrets.” Shepard chuckles as he repeats her words and gently puts down the model box onto the counter.

Ashley suddenly gets pulled into a hug. She hadn’t expected this. For a moment she’s shocked, but it doesn’t take her long to return the hug and they hold onto each other tightly. She feels him bury his face in her hair. She feels him shake against her slightly. 

“Is it that bad?” She chuckles nervously as she rubs his back. She knows she should pull away, that this is against protocol, but she doesn’t care. There is just something about being in his arms that makes her feel at home and her heart sinks a little. She can’t imagine not celebrating the birthday of someone in her family. Every year, she and her sisters would always send vidmails to her father who was posted somewhere, eventually her sisters did the same for her when she joined the Alliance. In fact, she knew she would find one in her messages in a few days for her birthday. Shepard… Shepard has no one. He spent most of his life alone on his birthday. 

She rubs her face against his chest to wipe the tears that escaped her eye and trails down her cheek.

“No. Thank you, Ash. No one’s ever given me a gift quite like this one before.” He mumbles against her head. 

She hears footsteps coming up from behind her. She can’t tell who it is as her face is still buried up against Shepard. All she can smell is Shepard’s musky scent mixed with cedar, and she lets herself get lost in it. No care in the world, just the two of them at this moment, and she can count on her fingers how many times she has wished for this since he had shown interest in her and admitted he had feelings for her. 

Someone clears their throat behind her, bringing both her and Shepard back to the present and they separate. Shepard looks away, wiping his face with the back of his thumb. 

“I don’t mean to interrupt this moment, but I don’t want anyone making any fraternization complaints, Commander.”  Ashley turns to face the owner of the voice and sees Kaidan cleaning some of the dishes. She rubs her forehead with a hand.

“We weren’t...there’s nothing between us, I mean.” She starts to panic.

“Don’t worry chief. I didn’t see anything. It’s a birthday after all.” Kaidan reassures her as he picks up the dishcloth and dries the dishes.

Shepard picks up the mod and hands it over to Ashley. “I trust you’ll take good care of this.” 

“You bet, Skipper. The targeting system will be ready for our next mission. Sir.” She says as she picks it up and places it in her pockets.

Shepard gives her a wink before heading back to sit down next to Liara who sat with the others, yet still managed to be distant from them, this time.

Ashley feels a hard elbow to her ribs, and grunts. “What?!” She looks hard at Kaidan, trying to read his mind. 

Kaidan gives her a coy smile, his eyes twinkle with mischievousness Ashley didn’t think was possible for the goody two shoes Kaidan. He brings both his index fingers together and moves them around against each other, “Williams and Shepard sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”

Horror struck, her eyes widen and her cheeks turn red, but what horrifies her most is that her eyes meet with Shepard’s and his eyebrows are raised quizzically at them’ his head slightly tilted to the side. He definitely saw something.  

“You’re blushing, Chief. I mean, I’m pretty sure you’re the same colour of beets right now.” Kaidan chuckles as he crosses his arms and leans up against the counter.

Groaning, she buries her face into her hands. “Oh dear, God. Shoot me now! This is your fault!”

“Hmm. I did no such thing.” Kaidan shuffles away and Ashley scurries to grab a plate of cake and a couple more beer bottles to bring up to Joker up in the cockpit to get away from everyone for a moment. She just barely manages to see someone placing a party hat on Shepard and immediately thinks who did that is a dead man or woman. 

~~~~~~

Shepard currently finds himself alone in the mess. Everyone has either gone back to their post to work or gone to bed. Shepard sits against the cupboards, he is holding his model box in hand, inspecting the box and reading the description. A couple of empty beer bottles are at his feet, a freshly opened one beside him.

“It’s not going to bite you know.”

He looks up to find Ashley standing in front of him. 

“I know’” is all he says. He tilts his head slightly to his left, an invitation for her to sit next to him. She does. 

“You ran off pretty quickly there earlier. Everything alright?”

“Yeah.” She shuffles a little and gets comfortable. She leans her head against the cupboards. “So who’s the dead one?” she asks him. 

“Huh?” 

She points at the party hat. His eyes follow her fingers.

“Oh! Crosby.” 

“Is he cleaning head?”

“Oh, definitely on latrine duty for two weeks. He just doesn’t know it yet.”  Shepard chuckles.

Ashley snorts.

They fall into companionable silence for a while.

“So. Whose idea was this anyway?” Shepard finally asks her after a few moments.

“LT’s and mine. Ander-”

“Anderson told you guys about last year, didn’t he?” He finishes her sentence for her. 

Ashley chews on her bottom lip before nodding. 

Shepard sighs and gently puts down his box between his legs and reaches for his beer. He is just a little upset with Anderson now, but he knows the man only had good intentions in mind. He always does when it comes to Shepard, and Shepard knows this very well. Ever since they’ve known each other, Anderson always has his back. He is the closest thing to a father Shepard would ever have. 

“He said you haven’t celebrated your birthday long before he even met you…” She stops there. Shepard knows she is holding back what she wants to say.

He takes a good draft from his beer. He isn’t sure if it’s because he wants a drink or needs to calm his nerves for what he is about to say.

“I haven’t celebrated since the year my mother was -” He hesitates.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to.”

Shepard feels a sudden weight on his shoulders and something tickling his cheek.

His eyes dart to his shoulder and he sees Ashley had let her head fall onto his shoulder. He brushes the free strand of her hair away from his cheek and tucks it behind her ear, brushing her cheekbone with his fingertips as he does so.

“She was brutally murdered, you know. I was five. Watched the whole thing happen. He didn’t even know I was watching. Hidden inside my closet.” 

“Skipper, that’s horrible. I’m so sorry.” Ashley wraps her arms around his closest to her and holds him close, tightly. She intertwines their fingers together. He doesn’t protest. 

“That was the last year we celebrated my birthday together. Wasn’t anything big, we didn’t have very much, but it was her and me and that was all that had mattered to me. Once you’re in a gang, you’re just a number to them. A tool. Birthdays don’t matter then.”

“But they matter to me. And you matter to me- us. So from now on we celebrate your birthday. Whether you like it or not.” She jams a finger against his bicep then goes back to hugging his arm.

“Hah! I guess I don’t have a choice in the matter?” Shepard chuckles.

“Nope. Not this time.” 

“That’s okay. I believe I have a few days left to plot my revenge?”

“You wouldn’t?!” She gasps slightly.

“You’re probably right.” Shepard shrugs nonchalantly as he takes his party hat off and slides it on Ashley’s head. He stares down at her plump lips and leans down toward her slightly. She tilts her head backwards, reaching out slightly, closing in on the distance. The smell of alcohol permeates the space between them as they inch closer and closer to each other. 

At the last second Ashley’s eyes widen just a fraction and she pulls away, red in the face. 

She clears her throat while she jumps to her feet. She rubs her hands on her fatigues as if to dust them off. Shepard notices the bit of nervousness coming from her. “I...er… I have some weapons to check out. I should get back to work. Wouldn’t want them to malfunction while on a mission. Sir.” She starts to walk away and takes the party hat off, holding it close to her chest. 

“Ash?” Shepard calls out and she stops dead in her tracks. She turns around to look at him.

“Sir?”

“Thanks, and... er… sleep well, Williams” His lips curl up into a shy grin.

“Happy birthday, sir.” She turns on her heels and makes her way toward the lift.

“Goodnight Williams.” He says more to himself than to her for she had already rounded the corner and no doubt was already in the lift making her way down to the cargo hold. 

From this prompt list!  Fic also available on AO3.

[brandyxlynn91]

Galaxies Together: Jane's POV pt. 6

Jane refrained herself from going down to talk to Garrus. As much as she wanted to, she decided it was best to give him time after he said he needed to think about what happened with the doctor. She had hoped she didn't push him to wanting to leave. As upset as he seemed, she stood by what she did. Finally unable to stand it, she had decided to go talk to him when Joker announced they were approaching Feros. Damn. She thought. She'll have to wait until after to talk to him so she decided to let Wrex and Garrus know they were there and to suit up.

They had barely set foot on the planet when they saw the colonists were being overrun by geth. Jane immediately started sniping where she stood with Garrus right beside her. She took a second to steal a glance at him. She was still impressed by his skill even after so many battles with him, still hoping she hadn't angered him enough to make him want to leave. She didn't know what she'd do without him fighting by her side. After the last geth was down, she ran for the colonists. As much as she wanted to talk to Garrus, she knew she had to make sure the colony was okay. She had managed to find the leader of the colony.

"How is everyone doing?" She asked him.

"Whoever is left is fine thanks to you guys. We have a few minor problems that the others are looking over, although our big concern is the geth transmitter in the tunnels." He told her.

"Can you tell me why the geth are here?" She inquired. It seemed odd to her that they would attack such a small colony.

"I have no clue. It must have something to do with the exogeni facility." He claimed.

"Tell me more about your other issues." She said. She wanted to help as much as she could.

"Well food, water, and power. Like I said the others are looking at them. We really need that transmitter taken care of though."

"Well, I think I'll still talk to them." She told him.

Upon talking to the others, she found out about the details of their problems and told them she'd try to help out. She noticed they seemed a little strange and secretive but upon asking the leader about it, he just brushed it off as stress from the attacks. She didn't quite believe him but decided to move on to the tunnels. A little into the tunnels, they ran into the varren pack. After taking down the alpha and others, she turned to Wrex and Garrus.

"Okay. Is it bad that I seriously want one to keep in my cabin?"

"You're joking." Garrus said to her.

"Sure you could handle one?" Wrex asked.

"Why not? Sure they can be temperamental and not the prettiest thing to look at but I'm sure they just want lots of cuddles. Just like you Wrex." She told him.

"Ha! Just try it once, Shepard. Though I admit, you might just have the quads for it." Wrex laughed.

"I was talking about the varren."

"Sure you were." He laughed.

"Uh, maybe we should move on." Garrus interrupted.

"Yeah, okay. Let's go." Jane replied although she really did want one. She grabbed some power cells for the colony before heading out.

Along the tunnels, she had turned on the water valves when they ran into a colonist.

"What are you doing down here?" She asked him.

"The voices... they won't-ugh." He yelled, holding his head.

"What's wrong?" She inquired.

"They won't-argh. Stop. I have to warn-ugh." He screamed, kneeling on the ground.

"Sir, what can I do to help?" She started stepping closer to him before Garrus tried to stop her.

"Uh, I think he might just be crazy." Garrus told her.

"He looks like he's in pain." She replied.

"Just..just go away!" The colonist yelled. She tried talking to him but he ignored her. Hesitantly, Jane decided to go on her way. They finally managed to find and destroy the transmitter before heading back to the colony. They thanked her before she headed on her way to the facility.

She took out more geth with the mako guns on the road.

"Why don't I ever get to drive and shoot?" Garrus asked.

"Because I'd like to get there in one piece and with the mako intact." Jane retorted.

"With how you drive, I'd think this thing was indestructible." Garrus retorted.

"You told me to drive off that cliff." She said.

"No. I said DON'T go over the cliff. Then you told me not to tell you what to do and over we went."

"Hey! We survived." Jane laughed before shooting down another armature. "How many is that now, Garrus?"

"How would I know?" He asked.

"I know you're keeping count." She said confidently while shooting another geth.

"I have no idea what you-- 36." He admitted with a sigh.

"Thought so." She smirked at him. Just then they caught some chatter on the comm and arrived at a tunnel where some scientists were at. They saw a woman and man arguing.

"What's going on here? Why are the geth attacking?" Jane asked them.

"I-I'm not sure but I need to find my daughter, Lizbeth." The woman answered.

"Face it. She's dead just like everyone else!" The man interjected.

"There's some colonists that survived. Maybe you should join them." Jane told him.

"I assumed they were all dead but no it's safer here." He replied sounding panicked.

"Alright. Just stay hidden then." She said before turning to the woman. "I'll keep a lookout for your daughter."

"Thank you, commander." The woman replied.

They continued on the road until they reached the garage. Upon turning a corner, a shot barely missed Jane. Garrus was the first with his gun up. She realized it was a scared young woman who immediately started to apologize profusely. Jane calmly talked to her, knowing accidents happen. She noticed Garrus had his gun up still and told him he could put it down. She then asked the girl about what she was doing there and the girl explained her name was Lizbeth and she was grabbing some research but ended up being stuck behind the geth forcefield. Jane explained her mother was looking for her and told Garrus to put his gun down again. Seriously he was paranoid, she thought. She admired his vigilance. It actually made her feel safer but she realized the girl was really scared. Lizbeth told them there was a geth ship attached to the facility that was powering the forcefield. Jane told her to stay where she was until they could get it down and headed into the facility.

They took out geth room by room until they reach an area where some geth were bowing down to some orb. Jane discreetly sniped them then turned to her squad.

"Were they worshipping that?" She asked.

"Looks like it but I'll be damned if I know what it is." Garrus replied. Jane looked at it puzzlingly for a moment before moving on. A few more rooms in, Wrex pointed out the legs of the geth ship attached to a cargo bay door. Upon inspecting the controls, Jane noticed a note saying the doors were acting faulty. She set them to max power and pushed the button and then the doors came smashing down breaking the legs of the ship and sent it crashing down. Wrex said something to Garrus while nudging him but when Jane asked him what he said, he told her she knew how to show a krogan a good time.

"Stick with me and I'm sure we'll find plenty of things to blow up." She laughed. She smiled confidently even though she hadn't even been sure it would work but they didn't need to know that.

"Fine, but next time I get to push the button that'll blow things up." Wrex replied.

"We'll see, Wrex." She said before deciding to head back to Lizbeth.

They met back up with her and headed back down the road.

"What happened to all the geth?" Lizbeth asked.

"They, uh, had an accident." Jane replied.

"Accident?" Garrus remarked while raising a brow.

"Yeah. They 'accidentally' found themselves in front of the mako's gun.. and missiles." She laughed.

They had gotten near where the scientists were holed up when they heard arguing. Jane stealthily lead the others behind some concrete cover to investigate. Upon seeing the man aiming a gun at woman from before, Lizbeth ran over. Jane tried to stop her but to no avail so they were forced out of cover.

"EXOGENI DOESN'T CARE! WE'RE ALL EXPENDABLE AND WE'RE GOING TO DIE!" The man screamed as he pointed his gun towards Garrus.

"Okay, stop!" Jane confronted the man while stepping in front of Garrus. She wasn't going to let anyone get shot, specially not Garrus. "I know about the Thorian and the experiments on the colonists."

"What are you talking about?" The woman asked, confused.

"I don't--" The man started before Jane interjected.

"Save it. Lizbeth already told me. What you need to do is put your gun down so I can save all your asses and if you don't, I'll be forced to shoot you to protect the others." Jane firmly held her ground. She could tell that Garrus was trying to get in front of her but she gave him a "let me handle this" look pleadingly and he backed off.

"Alright, fine." The man sighed. "The thorian is some kind of plant like creature that uses spores to control other beings. We were studying it's affects on the colonists here. It seems that that's what the geth are after for some reason. It's right below the colony but it'll make the colonists defend it's lair, even if that means running into your gunfire."

"There's gotta be a way to get to it without harming the colonists." Jane said.

"I could concoct a gas for your grenades that'll knock them out safely and not affect you." The woman told her.

"Do it." Jane replied. She got the gas formula from her and they went on their way. She told her squad not to harm the colonists no matter what. Garrus started to interject but she told him they'd find out if it would work and if not, they'd knock them out themselves but wouldn't kill them. He hesitantly agreed and she noticed he didn't argue with her methods very often lately and that made her happy.

Upon reaching the colony, they came across some kind of zombie thralls that were beyond saving mixed with the colonists. Jane instructed Wrex and Garrus to take care of the thralls while she handled the colonists. Everytime a thrall got near her, she saw a shot go through their head. Good old Garrus, she thought. She carefully coordinated her grenades to get the gas explosion close enough to knock out the colonists. After everyone was cleared out, she found a console that opened part of the building which revealed tunnels going underground. She heard Wrex clear his throat.

"What? It didn't make anything explode." She told him.

"Yeah. But it could've." She heard him mutter. She made a note to herself to let him blow something up sometime.

Right before they headed into the tunnels, the colony leader showed up before them holding a pistol.

"It's-urgh no use. It wants... me to kill... you." He strained his words as if he was in pain.

"Let's not do anything hasty." Jane replied, as she and the others put their guns up. "I'm here to help you."

"It-it won't let me-ugh... allow- but I won't-can't...control-" He strained out before putting his gun to his head.

"No! Wait-" Jane tried to stop him but he pulled the trigger. Some blood splattered onto her face and she half turned her face away. She stood there for a second. Dammit. She thought. She just looked at him. She was disappointed in herself for not being able to help him. If only she would've been faster. She got her composure hoping the others didn't notice and led them into the tunnels.

A little ways in, they came across this gigantic plant like creature with tendrils clinging onto the walls. She told they others that they're going to need bigger guns. Just then a greenish asari was ejected out of the thorian. She spoke of a deal with Saren in exchange for a prothean cipher, he would let the thorian be. Then said he went back on his word, sending geth to kill it so she couldn't get the cipher. Shortly after, it talked about making them new thralls. The asari let out a biotic blast that knocked Jane off her feet. Garrus immediately killed the asari. Jane looked around and shot at one of the tendrils, which seemed to cause it pain. She figured if she shot enough of them, it would fall into the depths to its death. She immediately ran towards other tendrils and started shooting them down. Garrus and Wrex took out any thralls that came near her. Finally, she got the last one and it fell. Then the asari came out of some kind of pod, but she was the normal blueish tint. She explained Saren bartered her with the thorian and she had some of its knowledge. She offered to give Jane the cipher and joined with her just like Liara had done. Images flooded through Jane's mind like before but she couldn't make much sense of them and she felt a bit disoriented afterwards. Garrus asked if she was okay and she said she was. She didn't want him to worry. She could see him watching her so she did her best to walk straight.

Once they were back aboveground, they noticed the scientists had come to the colony and the colonists were awake and back to normal. They thanked her and said they were going to rebuild. She checked to make sure they were okay and after they thanked her again, she headed on her way. A few meters from the Normandy, she heard a whine and looked behind some crates.

"Oh! What have we here?" Jane exclaimed while picking up a varren pup that was tan with red stripes.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Garrus asked.

"Well, I can't leave him here. He'll die on his own. He's just a baby." She replied and started walking towards the ship while carrying the varren.

"This outta be fun." Wrex laughed while Garrus shook his head.

"Joker's gonna love this." Garrus said sarcastically.

"He'll deal." Jane said. "I think I'll call you Carnifex. Carn for short."

"Are you naming it after a gun?" Garrus laughed.

"That a problem?" She glared.

"Um, no. That's actually pretty cool." He said.

"Good." She said triumphantly while boarding the Normandy.

In the meeting room, Liara linked with Jane again. She said it was a little more clear with the cipher and it seemed to be some kind of warning but she couldn't tell more.

Finally, I can talk to Garrus. Jane thought. She headed towards the cargo bay without stopping to talk with Kaidan like she normally did. Once down there, Garrus said he wanted to thank her. He explained that he thought about what happened and decided to go back to C-sec after they dealt with Saren. Jane felt a little pain in her chest. She didn't want to lose Garrus. But she shook it off and said she was happy for him. He was doing what he thought was best for him and she felt she should support him. He started to say something else when her comm went off. It was Kaidan asking for her to come up. She told him she'd be there in a minute and turned back to Garrus. He looked a little troubled then said he just wanted to thank her and he couldn't wait to get Saren. She stood there for a second, then told him she was proud of him and hesitantly went to see what Kaidan wanted.

"Are you angry?" Kaidan asked her once she was back from the cargo bay.

"What? No. What makes you ask?" Jane inquired.

"Just you didn't stop by like you normally do." He said.

"I just wanted to check up on Garrus." She told him.

"Oh. Well, okay then." He sounded almost jealous again, she thought before changing to a casual topic. She was still reeling from the thought of Garrus leaving when this was all over.

[birdylion]

Yesterday I did a few side missions: Garrus: Find Dr. Saleon UNC: ExoGeni Facilty UNC Geth Incursions (4/5 bases so far)

I took Ashley and Tali with me for the UNC Geth Incursions mission. Together we're a 3 parts combat 3 parts tech squad without biotics, but I like to take Tali against the geth since I maxed out her AI hacking, and Ashley's firepower doesn't hurt either. Although we did most of the fighting from inside the Mako. I'm getting better with that.

The other two missions were in a way weirdly similar: Mad scientists who regretted nothing and with whom a peaceful solution was impossible. I had Kaidan & Wrex for the ExoGeni mission and Garrus & Liara for Garrus' mission.

I appreciate that it's possible to let Shepard argue for a lawful approach, for taking them in and bringing them to justice, but either way they end up dead. I guess I'm not supposed to care too much about background characters. As I did the Feros mission just before - where the game mechanic allows for sparing people who attack you - the contrast is obvious. I know I'm playing a game with shooter elements, but the Feros mission spoiled me xD I was able to save the colonists there, why can't I be able to spare evil scientists and their henchmen too, and bring them to (legal) justice? It doesn't disturb me much, but it's noticeable how 'shooting people' is the default even for a Shepard who tries to help people and be kind. He's military and all, so of course killing people is normalised. I think I would have noticed it less if it hadn't been possible to save the people fighting you in the Feros mission. I really would have liked if Dr Saleon could have been brought to the Citadel. Sure, it's always the enemy who opens fire, but still. I think in that regard, my favourite side mission so far was the one with the biotic cult where you could talk down their leader. The conversation with Garrus was interesting though, because yes, it does matter how you do things.

[corpocyborg]

Just started a full renegade play through and god some of these choices remind me why I normally play renegon. It’s not the immoral choices that bother me, it’s the inconsistency. Sometimes you come off as a no-nonsense hardass willing to do whatever it takes to get a job done and other times you just come off like a raging psychopath. Full paragon is generally way more consistent with their characterization but full renegade can’t decide if they’re willing to make harsh decisions for a greater principle or if they’re sadistic, if they’re reckless or if they have a stick up their butt, if they’re strong and silent or whiny and accusatory, etc. And this could potentially work if the hypocrisy was acknowledged and incorporated into the story as a character flaw, but half the scenes feel like you’re just terrorizing people and they’re just laying down and taking it. To be fair, they get a lot better about this in later games, but I wish the characterization was more consistent and I wish there were more realistic reactions to renegade behavior. Maybe it’s because game designers know most people don’t do those kinds of routes and they’re worried that if they had genuine consequences for bad behavior, even less people would do it, but in my opinion, that type of narrative works a lot better when it feels like there’s actual stakes and also rationale for the behavior. There’s several distinct times where renegade choices could have easily been presented as “sacrifice for the greater good” or something along those lines, but for whatever reason they put in dialogue where you’re just being an asshole instead. Killing the rachni queen, for example. The base idea is good. You’re unsure if you can truly trust her. Are you mercifully saving a benevolent creature or is it fooling you and you’re unleashing a terror onto the world? That’s a great idea, but the dialogue doesn’t present it right. And then there’s too many times where the renegade decision just seems completely illogical. Like on Feros, what reason do you have to kill the colonists instead of incapacitate them? It’s just as easy to incapacitate them, there is no loss to it, so if you still chose to kill them, you just come off as irrational and totally careless.  The narrative as a whole pushes the whole “renegade shep is ruthless but gets the job done” depiction, but they just don’t actually present it consistently. Which, again, could work if it was played off as Shepard making excuses for their behavior or believing they’re doing the right thing but just going too far due to losing sight of the bigger picture or something like that, but the inconsistency doesn’t come off as an intentional character flaw of hypocrisy, it just comes off as inconsistent writing. I know they’re less motivated to write that story well because it is so much less popular for the average player, but maybe it would be more popular if they wrote it better. Don’t get me wrong, I love renegade Shepard, just... the one that I’ve created in my head and pieced together from the well-written parts of renegade dialogue. Or more like the one that the narrative promises but doesn’t consistently deliver.

[brandyxlynn91]

Galaxies Together pt. 6

Garrus was feeling a little down that Jane hadn't come visit him since taking down the doctor. He had told her he needed time to think but he had still hoped she'd continue her frequent visits. They were always the highlight of his time on the Normandy when they weren't out shooting Geth.

"What's wrong, turian? Missing a certain female commander?" Wrex teased from across the bay.

Shit, he noticed. Garrus thought but before he could retort they heard Jane on the comm.

"Wrex. Garrus. Suit up. We're reaching Feros." She told them.

Well, at least I'll get to see her and get some geth action, Garrus thought as he smiled.

As soon as they exited the Normandy, they saw geth attacking some colonists. They immediately stepped into action. He and Jane sniped the geth from a distance while Wrex did his usually deadly head butting whenever his shotgun started overheating. Afterwards, Garrus stole a glance at Jane but before he could say anything she had started running towards the colonists. After talking with the leader they learned that they were a small colony on the planet with the exogeni research facility. The leader told them that their big problem was the geth transmitter in the tunnels and they had mediocre problems that the other colonists could tell them about. Jane decided she wanted to talk to them. Upon doing so they found out they had a water shortage, a need for power cells, and a problem with an alpha varren. Upon asking about the colonists odd behavior, the leader just excused it as an effect of the geth attacks though Garrus noticed Jane didn't seem convinced. He also told them not to worry about the menial problems but Jane seemed determined to help them with everything. Yet again she showed such compassion even though it wasn't necessary of her. Garrus had learned to admire that about her, he even stopped arguing about it or pointing it out and just went along with it.

Inside the tunnels and through a doorway, they ran into the alpha varren and after taking the pack down and grabbing power cells, Jane mentioned something about wanting a varren as a pet. He thought she was joking but realized she was probably crazy and tough enough to handle one. Further into the tunnels, she had turned on the water pumps and they ran into a lone colonist. He seemed like he was trying to warn them about something but then he started yelling at himself and Garrus thought he was plain crazy. Jane tried to offer him help but he claimed she couldn't do anything and stopped talking. They then took out the transmitter and headed back. The colonists seemed grateful but were still acting odd. They decided it would be best to head for the exogeni facility, along the way Jane took out geth with the mako guns again, even though a few times he swore she was going to drive off the edge. They intercepted radio chatter and found some of the scientists holed up. Two of them were arguing about what to do. The woman seemed to be worried about her daughter and the man was telling her to forget about it. Jane told the woman she'd keep a lookout for her and upon asking they claimed not to know why the geth were attacking. After telling them to stay hidden, they continued to head towards the facility. Upon exiting the mako in the garage, a gunshot had barely missed Jane. Garrus immediately aimed his gun at the direction to see a scared young woman.

"Shit. I'm sorry. I thought you were a geth or varren." She apologized profusely.

"Look. It's fine. Just try not to do it again." Jane told her.

"Who are you?" Garrus inquired. He wasn't happy about her almost shooting Jane and was still holding up his gun.

"Easy Garrus. It was an accident. I'd be jumpy too if I was her." Jane told him.

"I- again I'm so sorry. My name is Lizbeth. I was trying to finish up some data when we evacuated and got stuck behind this forcefield." She timidly replied.

"Lizbeth? Your mother was looking for you." Jane told her then turned to Garrus. "Seriously, you can put the gun down."

"She's alive? Thank God." Lizbeth said gratefully.

"Do you know what's causing this forcefield?" She asked the girl.

"I think they have a ship powering it." She told them.

"Alright. Stay here. Guys, let's go take down this forcefield." Jane told them.

"I hope it involves blowing something up!" Wrex exclaimed.

"Probably. but we just got done blowing up geth on the bridge." Jane told him.

"Yeah but that was like over 20 minutes ago, Shepard." Wrex said while both she and Garrus just shook their heads while they headed into the building.

They took out the geth room by room until they came into a room where it looked like the geth was worshipping some kind of tech. They were puzzled about it but decided they needed to move on. They finally happened upon where the geth ship was attached to the building. Upon reading a note, they learned the bay doors that the ship's legs were attached to were being glitchy. Jane used this to her advantage to make the doors slam down on them, making the whole ship fall and blow up.

"Look at that. Your girly human is pretty resourceful." Wrex told Garrus while nudging him.

"Knock it off." Garrus told him even though he had grown impressed with how she handled situations like that.

"You guys say something?" Jane asked.

"Yeah! You sure know how to show a krogan a good time, Shepard. I mean we get to shoot geth and blow up their ships. Whoo!" Wrex exclaimed. At least he hasn't let Jane know about his teasing and suspicions Garrus thought. Jane just smiled at him and for some reason that made Garrus lose himself for a moment. After a little banter, they decided to go ask about this Thorian creature they found out about from the VI. Upon asking Lizbeth about the thorian, she confessed that it was some creature they found that seems to have mind control powers and the real reason she stayed behind was to try to get a message out because she didn't agree with using the colonists as test subjects.

Down the road, they heard arguing on the comm again and upon investigating they saw the man aiming his gun at the woman. Lizbeth ran over there before Jane could stop her so they were forced to show themselves. The man was yelling about exogeni forgetting them and that they were expendable in a panic. Jane somehow managed to use her charm to calm him down although Garrus would've personally preferred to shoot him. She told him she knew about the thorian and the colonists. He confessed to his involvement while the woman seemed generally confused. He told them that the thorian was under the colony but its control over the colonists would force them to die defending it from being found. Jane expressed the desire to find a way to not harm the colonists when the woman inquired that she could concoct a gas for their grenades that would simply knock them out. Jane agreed to it after finding out it wouldn't affect them at all.

"Remember do not kill the colonists." Jane told them.

"Are you sure this will work?" Garrus asked her. He was a bit skeptical.

"Well, we'll find out. Just don't shoot them. They're under mind control of that creature." She told him before they headed out. There she goes being all compassionate again he thought as he smiled. It used to annoy him as a hindrance but now he was happy to comply with her wishes.

Once reaching the colony, some zombie like thralls that were beyond saving were mixed with the colonists. Garrus and Wrex carefully shot down the thralls while Jane perfectly threw the knockout gas at the colonists. Upon reaching the crane control and lifting part of the building up to reveal a hidden tunnel the colony leader showed up with a gun. They all pointed their guns back. Jane tried reasoning with him but he was incoherently talking about being controlled before shooting himself in the head. Jane looked away for a moment and seemed bothered she couldn't help him before leading them into the tunnels. Upon entering they came across a giant plant like entity that spread throughout the tunnels.

"We're gonna need bigger guns." Jane expressed.

Then a green looking asari was spit out from the creature. The asari told them that Saren struck a deal with the thorian in exchange for a cipher for the prothean beacon, he would leave the thorian be. She then tells them that Saren betrayed it by sending the geth to attack it to prevent Jane from getting the cipher. The asari then called them meat bags and attacked. After taking her and the thralls down, Jane started shooting at the thorian roots attached to the walls. Garrus realized what she was doing and he and Wrex shot down the thralls as they came at her until she finally shot enough roots to knock it down, killing it. After wards, the asari came from a pod in the wall. She explained that she was with benezia and was left as a gift for the thorian from Saren. She then told them she could give Jane the prothean cipher for the beacon and linked with her just like Liara had done before. Jane seemed a little drained afterwards but said she was fine when Garrus asked. He wasn't sure if she really was but decided not to push it but he kept an eye on her as they headed out. Upon exiting they saw the scientists had rejoined the colonists. The colonists thanked them after they were asked if they were okay. The colonists and scientists told them they were gonna stay behind and rebuild. Jane double checked to see if they were okay before they headed back to the Normandy.

In conference, Liara offered to join minds again to see if the cipher helped. Afterwards she said it seemed to be a warning but still didn't understand what it meant.

Later on in the cargo bay, Garrus heard the elevator and was delighted to see Jane.

"Hey Garrus. You up for talking?" She asked.

"Yeah." He replied, trying to act casual despite his joy. "I wanted to thank you."

"Thank me?" She asked, seeming confused.

"Yeah. After what happened with the doctor, I've been thinking I might go back to C-sec. Of course, not before we take down Saren." He told her. It looked like she seemed conflicted for a moment but then she smiled.

"That's great!" She exclaimed.

"Yeah. You make fighting for the innocent seem a little easier than it felt before. I see everything you do and how you stick to your convictions has inspired me. I don't think I've met anyone like you before. I just--" He was telling her before he heard Kaidan on her comm asking her to come up.

"Yeah. One minute, Kaidan." She replied into her comm. "I'm sorry. You were saying?" She said turning back to Garrus.

"Uh, nothing. Just like I said I wanted to thank you and I can't wait to take down Saren." He said, feeling a little disappointed.

"Okay. Well, I'm proud of you, Vakarian." She told him before heading back.

"Well, that went smooth." Wrex laughed from his corner.

"You guys know that Alenko is sweet on her, right?" He heard Ashley say from the lockers.

"Oh. Looks like you have competition, pyjak." Wrex teased him.

"No. It's not like that." Garrus replied, defensively. Of course, he's sweet on her. He thought. Who wouldn't be? She's beautiful, strong, smart, charming, and resourceful. Then he shook himself off trying to get rid of those thoughts. Thinking she'd rather be with someone of her own kind anyways.