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onedismay · 7 months

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Mass Effect Tag Game

Stole this thing from @messydiabolical. :)c Anyone is welcome to steal it from me as well!

I am a fan since: Forgot what year it was but I remember ME2 had already been out for a while before I bought ME1. But I caught up quickly and got to experience the release of the Arrival DLC in real time. :D

Favourite game of the series?: It's hard to pick between 1 and 2, but I'll say 2 because the concept of loyalty missions is MY JAM. Also ME2 is my favorite graphics-wise, it's got that high contrast I love so much. (hate the simplified skill trees though)

MShep or FShep?: Most of my Sheps are fSheps because the character creator for mSheps isn't versatile enough for me. :( Where's the long hair! Let me look impractical!

Earthborn, Colonist or Spacer?: I might slightly prefer Earthborn. I enjoy playing characters who've had a rough start in life and made some bad decisions, but grew up to become decent people anyway.

Biotics or Tech: Can't pick, I like variety!

Paragon or Renegade: peace for everybody in the galaxy :') But I reeeaally love the Renegade eyes so I do have some mean Sheps as well.

Favourite Class: I used to main the Infiltrator class but in my most recent run I really enjoyed the Adept. Hard to pick a favorite but I do know my favorite class is NOT the Sentinel, it always feels clunky to me somehow.

Favourite Companion: Tali or Javik. Kaidan and Thane are nearby too. Tali's character development feels very natural and wonderful to me on every playthrough and I always love to see it. Javik is a fave because he's haunted and completely alone and that combo always hooks me like, I MUST see to it that this sad man has at least one nice thing in his life.

Least favourite Companion: It's the writers' fault but Liara. It gets really old when the same companion treats you like her love interest in all 3 games no matter what. I haaaate forced hugs in roleplaying games, don't put me through that, it'll ruin the character for me.

My squad selection: In my most recent playthrough it was unsurprisingly Javik and Tali. But I also ran with Vega quite often in the early game and I kinda missed him in the end game, haha.

Favourite In-game romance: Kaidan, especially with mShep because I really enjoy a slow burn of several years. 🔥

Other pairings I like: I am motioning at my blog and presenting to you Tazzik and the Shadow Broker...... no i don't have anything else to offer at this time

Favourite NPC: I like all these shady-ass salarians like Anoleis and Jaroth and Maelon and Linron (yes) (no i'm not defending her, i just find mean characters interesting sometimes) and Chorban and probably others. Valern isn't all that shady but still a fave. Charn! And Balak, I always look forward to finding out how my Shepard reacts to him. Zaal'Koris vas Qwib-Qwib I always loved you and I knew you were the best admiral before ME3 ever happened

Favourite Antagonist: the Shadow Broker, I was so into the mystery in ME1 and man I was not disappointed when we got the reveal. I would have loved to learn more about his early life.

Favourite Mission: ME2's Suicide Mission because I lovvve how it's a culmination of all your previous actions. It felt really scary and chaotic on my first playthrough and like anything could happen. Now I know all the mechanics so nothing surprises me, but I still look forward to seeing every little detail play out.

Favourite Loyalty Mission: Tali. Also Mordin. And Samara, ugghhh I love Omega and I love playing bait uwu

Favourite DLC: Hmmm I love about half of LotSB very much but I might like Bring Down the Sky more as a whole? The mood is great, it's not super long, and nothing about it annoys me. :D I've only played the Leviathan DLC once so far so I'm not confident enough to call it a fave yet but I liked it a lot, too.

Control, Synthesis or Destroy: I just wanted an ending where we finally talk the Reapers down and they go "yeah u right actually, let's not fight anymore. :( handshake?". All this star child borderline magic stuff is kinda goofy to me. I've picked Destroy almost every time tho.

Favourite Weapon: Recently enjoyed the Blood Pack Executioner... Historically I've probably used the Widow the most. Also I LOVE the way the Revenant looks but I can't stand using it myself lmao. My hand hurts just thinking about it.

Favourite Place: nnnoooo there's so many good places. I adore the Shadow Broker's ship, first of all. Such a cool concept. Noveria for the snow and miserable people. Feels like home. I loved visiting the Migrant Fleet! But my absolute favorite place is probably Omega because it's so rough yet there's still a weird sense of community.

A quote I like: The first that came to mind is "I have a home." Idk, I don't really remember quotes unless they're repeated over and over and by that point I start hating them.

#mass effect

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commander-krios · 1 year

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Happy SpecReqs 2023, @alyssalenko! I didn't have time to make you a treat with some spice, but here is something else for you! I hope you liked it.

~~~~

Title: Worth Fighting For

Summary:

Shepard is sent to save Admiral Zaal'Koris, but there's a complication. She has to choose between him and the civilians who crashed on the planet with him. Civilians who are being protected by the the man she loves.

As if the war with the Reapers hadn't taken enough from her...

Words: 2738

Rating: T

Relationship: Kal'Reegar/Female Shepard

Additional Tags: Fix It Fic, Rannoch, Geth, Quarians, Referenced Character Death, ME3, Minor Injuries, Angst, Established Relationship

Read on AO3

~~~~

“Admiral! Can you hear me?”

The comms were still fuzzy, but with the jammer offline, Admiral Zaal’Koris came back clear enough that she could at least make out the words. It took a moment to adjust the frequency but finally his modulated voice spoke in her ear.

“Dorn! Are you there?”

Tali and Garrus hurried ahead to the shuttle, the thrusters firing up for takeoff. It wouldn’t take long for them to fly to wherever the Admiral had crashed. Then they needed to get to the Normandy, confer with the other Admirals, and figure out a plan to take the planet back. It was a simple enough task, but if there was anything that Shepard could count on, nothing was ever that easy.

“I’m sorry, Admiral. Dorn didn’t make it.” She glanced back at the fallen quarian with a pang of guilt. Too many lost in this war already. And here she was trying to stop more from dying. But they still had a job to do and not much time left to do it. “Give me your coordinates and we’ll get the shuttle to you.”

Her feet landed on the floor of the shuttle as his response arrived. “My surviving crew found their way to a clearing. I’ll upload their location.”

Her omnitool pinged a moment later and she glanced at the message quickly before relaying it to Cortez. He immediately got the shuttle in the air, headed for their waypoint. Shepard stared at the passing scenery, wishing she was visiting Rannoch and not fighting to save it.

“Stay together. We’re on the way.”

“No, the geth have cut me off. I hear another wave approaching.” The sound of gunfire was clear in the background. Zaal’Koris was fighting for his life.

Gripping the side of the shuttle, Shepard waited for the noise to clear.

“How many?” If they could get to him, maybe they could finally finish a centuries long war.

“It doesn’t matter. Continue to my crew.”

“Admiral,” Shepard began, glancing at Tali and knowing that this wasn’t going to be a choice she could make. The other quarians were important, all of their people were, but not as important as the Admiral of the civilian fleet. Without Koris, they would get obliterated by the geth. “Your people need you. If you don’t return-”

“These are civilians, Shepard.” Koris snapped, the emotional toil of the fight finally making him crack, the pressure too great even for a man who’d seen so much war. “They’ll die against the geth.”

“So will you!”

“Save my people, Shepard. Kal’Reegar can’t protect them alone.”

It felt like a stone settled in her gut at the name. Reegar. Closing her eyes, she sucked in a tight breath, her heart pounding in her ears as she realized she’d have to choose. Choose between the Admiral that could help end this war… or the man that she loved.

She hadn’t even known Reegar was on Rannoch.

What sort of girlfriend did that make her?

She’d barely spoken to him during this war, so many other things kept her attention but he was here… he was so close and now she had to choose whether he would be just another name on a memorial at the end of this.

The soft touch of Tali’s hand on her arm pulled her from a downward spiral and her eyes met her friend’s through the visor of her helmet, knowing that she couldn’t do this. If she condemned Koris, the entire fleet was at risk. And she knew that. He was more important than a marine, more important than those civilians.

It didn’t make it any easier.

She would’ve given anything to swap places with Reegar, knowing that she would regret this decision for the rest of her life. However long that was.

“Without you, Admiral, the entire fleet is lost. Please.”

She knew her voice broke on the please and knew that her friends heard her.

Garrus stepped forward as the Admiral relented, uploading his coordinates to her omnitool. “Shepard-”

“Don’t, Garrus. We have a mission to complete.” She turned away, entering the small cockpit of the shuttle and collapsing into the copilot seat.

Silence descended as Cortez entered the new coordinates, trying his best to focus on the instruments in his hands. But he glanced at Shepard a minute later, a look of understanding on his face. “Ma’am-”

“Please, Steve. I… can’t talk about this right now.”

“I have a solution.” He continued, ignoring her. Any other day, she might’ve be upset that he was refusing to listen to orders, but well… “I can drop you and Tali off on that landing there.” He pointed into the distance at a flat outcropping of rock about a half mile away. “It’s close enough to the civilians that you should be able to get to them in time.”

“What about the Admiral? He’s the entire reason we’re here.”

“Garrus can use the minigun to keep the geth off of the Admiral until he makes it to the shuttle. Then we’ll swing back for the civilians.”

Hope settled in her chest, a tinder of a fire that threatened to consume her if she thought about it too much. What if they were too late? If they concentrated on saving the civilians and Garrus couldn’t get Koris to safety, what then? And if she had to see Reegar die anyway? Could she handle that?

Steve glanced at her, eyebrows raised. He knew the fear of losing someone you loved more than anyone else. “Orders, Ma’am?”

“Fuck.” She muttered before opening her comm channel to Tali and Garrus. “Tali, get your gear. We’re going to save those civilians.”

Cortez nodded, positioning the shuttle to do a jump landing.

“Garrus- I need you to bring that Admiral back safely. Understood?”

“Anything for you, Shepard.”

She hoped this was the right call because if it wasn’t, she could lose everyone.

~~~~

Bullets ricocheted off of cliff face she’d found cover behind and Shepard winced, trying to keep her fear contained. She wasn’t afraid of the Geth or even the Reapers at this point. No, fighting synthetics that wanted her entire species to cease existing was a normal day. Somehow, she knew it should concern her more than it did but at that very moment, she was more worried about the quarians that were huddled together behind a few rocks and scattered crates. The AA towers had taken their shuttle out and this was what was left of those who’d been inside.

They hadn’t counted on the heavy geth presence.

Now they were pinned down with no escape, their only hope of survival being Shepard and Tali who were also being attacked by the bulk of the geth force.

“Dammit!” She shouted, loud enough that Tali glanced at her, a dangerous move when they were being actively shot at. “Any ideas, Tal?”

“If I can hack the Prime, we might be able to wipe out most of the geth before they close in on the civilians.”

It was a big if, but it would definitely take the pressure off of Reegar and the other quarians. He was still firing from wherever he was, but she hadn’t been able to contact him, the geth jamming their short range comms.

“I’ll try to get its attention. Just be ready.”

Shepard didn’t wait for a response. She gripped her gun tightly and left cover, aiming her Carnifax at the Geth Prime that was headed for the civilians. A few shots bounced off of its shields, sparking briefly, but it didn’t fail. Not yet.

She crouched behind a large rock as the geth aimed rockets in her direction, the explosions setting off alarms on her suit. Gritting her teeth, she waited for them to end before popping up, firing off a few more shots. It did little to damage them, but it kept them from hurting the quarians.

Then the Prime caught sight of her.

It ran in her direction, its much larger legs carrying it to her hiding spot quicker than any organic would be capable of. She fired another couple shots, feeling a small amount of relief as its shields shattered in a shower of sparks, leaving it open for Tali.

“Tali, now!”

Omnitool glowing, Tali lifted her arm and sent her hack program at the geth. It glowed for a moment and halted, nearly falling to the ground with the speed it was going. Then it lifted its rifle.

“Uh, Tali.”

Suddenly, it turned towards the other geth, firing on them before the machines realized what was happening. The rest of the fight was over in less than a minute. The Prime stood over the graves of its soldiers before bursting into pieces, leaving nothing but a husk of metal behind.

The battlefield fell silent, the geth smoking and sparking. It took a moment for Shepard to realize the fight was over, her heart pounding in her ears.

Mumblings from the civilians floated towards her, reminding her of the urgency of their mission.

“Tali, check on the others.” She ordered, finding her feet despite the sudden drop in adrenaline. “Make sure no one is injured and call the shuttle.”

Tali hurried to the small group of quarians that began to appear in the clearing, omnitool out to scan them for injuries. Many looked more traumatized than hurt and she hoped that was true of Kal’Reegar as well.

Shepard took a step, then another, and once she was positive her legs wouldn’t give out, she practically ran to where she’d last seen Reegar. As she tore around the corner, relief crashed over her at the sight of him leaning against a boulder, injured but breathing.

He laughed slightly, breathlessly, raising a weak hand at the sight of her. “Ma’am.”

She collapsed at his feet, adrenaline and fear disappearing only to be replaced by exhaustion. Reegar reached a hand out towards her and she took it in hers. Blood stained his red envirosuit, but she couldn’t see an injury. They didn’t have much time, the shuttle would be landing soon, and Chakwas would need to check him and the others for things Tali couldn’t.

She moved closer until she could press her helmet against his faceplate, tears streaming down her cheeks. He squeezed her hand slightly, as much as he could in his condition, a relieved sigh leaving him.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve seen all day.”

She sniffed before a small laugh escaped her. “Save it for the ship, soldier.”

She could hear the smile in his voice when he responded. “Yes, Ma’am.”

~~~~

Shepard heard Garrus’ voice, subvocals wavering slightly, as she approached the medbay. She paused, taking a breath to steady her nerves, knowing that rushing in wouldn’t look good for the savior of the galaxy. But fuck it, she deserved this. After all of the sacrifices she made to get here, she deserved some hope for herself as well.

Everyone was safe, Rannoch was free from Reaper control, and now they were on their way to the Citadel.

Chakwas had assured her that Reegar would survive his ordeal. He’d be sick for the next week as his body fought off the infection from the suit breach. But he was strong and stubborn as hell. Much like Shepard, Chakwas had noted.

Shepard had laughed and with a shake of her head, said “that’s my guy.”

But now, she was terrified. Zaal’Koris had returned to the Fleet, saving the rest of the civilians there from making a mistake that would’ve doomed them. The ‘what ifs’ of her choice still haunted her and she tried to push them away, but her choices dictated whether people died or not. So many things had gone wrong already in the war, so many people were being brought home in body bags.

Then there was Legion.

Brushing the tears from her eyes, she stepped into the bright medbay, seeking relief from her thoughts. Tali and Garrus stood on opposite sides of the only occupied bed. Reegar glanced up, his eyes shining through the face plate as he stared at her approach.

She ran a hand through her hair, trying to comb the knots out with her fingers, but they pulled painfully, making her scalp throb. “How are you feeling?”

“Almost normal, all things considered.” He shifted to lean against the pile of pillows behind him, patting the spot beside him. “So how many times have you saved my ass? Two? Three?”

“I lost count.” She teased, not feeling completely as easygoing as she sounded, but she’d put on a smile for him. Reegar didn’t need to carry her burdens. Not when he needed to heal.

“Does that make you my… what’s the human phrase?”

“Knight in shiny armor.” Garrus offered, mandibles twitching in amusement. She rolled her eyes at his obvious butchering of the saying.

When Tali broke out into giggles, Shepard sighed, rubbing at her temple. “It’s ‘knight in shining armor’. But you know that.”

Garrus clapped her on the shoulder, giving her the turian equivalent of a grin. “You know I love it when you make that face, Shepard. But I know when we’re not wanted.”

“Yeah? Why are you still here then?”

Garrus laughed, the sound almost like a purr. “Ouch, you wound me with your words.”

Tali gripped Garrus by his talon, pulling him towards the exit. “If you aren’t careful, Shepard will wound you with a gun, you bosh’tet.”

“Shepard doesn’t have the stones!”

As the door shut on their laughter, Kal glanced at her with a curious tilt of his head. “Are they always like this?”

She smiled fondly. As bothersome as they could be sometimes, she’d never trade Garrus or Tali for anyone. “Yes, but I love them. I couldn’t have done this without them.”

Silence fell between them, strained by the heaviness of what had happened. Of could have happened.

“You took a huge risk.” He said, quietly playing with the straw on the drink that Chakwas had given him. “If the Admiral fell-”

“I know.” She whispered, closing her eyes and knowing that she’d made the wrong choice, but her heart refused to acknowledge it because it had worked out in the end. She couldn’t imagine the alternative. “Hackett’s already given me hell for it. You don’t need to.”

Reegar sighed, the sound strange with his helmet on. “I’m not trying to give you shit. I find it hard to believe my life is worth an Admiral’s.”

“There was more than your life on the line-”

“I’m a marine, Shepard. I know the deal. But somehow, you keep doing the impossible.” Reegar leaned forward, taking her hand in his. With his free hand, he brushed a digit over her eyelids, making a distressed sound low in his throat. “When was the last time you slept?”

With a groan, she ran a hand down her face. “I don’t know. Last year?”

Reegar caught her hand and tugged her closer. “Come here.”

“You’re hurt.” She protested, refusing to let him injure himself further for her.

“I’ll live. You, on the other hand, need to rest. You can’t save the rest of the galaxy without sleep.”

When he tugged on her hand again, Shepard gave in and crawled into the bed with him, resting her head on his chest. He covered them with the white blanket, waiting for her to get comfort before he laid his head against hers. She snuggled into his body, the warmth of him beside her, knowing that he was alive and safe and here with her was more than she imagined.

This war had taken so much from her, from all of them, but if she could take something for herself, just this once, she’d be grateful.

Turning her head slightly, she pressed a kiss against his shoulder, eager for the day when they would finally be able to rest together, no envirosuits, no wars, nothing to worry about but them. “Are you really here?”

He tightened his grip on her, a quick intake of breath the only sign he couldn’t believe it either. “Yes. And I’m not going anywhere. You helped us win Rannoch back. I’ll be there when you go to Earth.”

She swallowed down tears, burying her face into his chest as her exhaustion finally won. “I love you so much, Kal.”

As she finally drifted to sleep, she heard him whisper, “I love you too.”

#specreqs2023 #mass effect #mass effect fanfic #my writing #alyssalenko #femshep #female shepard #kal’reeger #femshep x kal'reegar #tali'zorah vas normandy #garrus vakarian #angst #fix it fic #rannoch #mass effect 3 #quarians #geth

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