Perpetually in the works, I jump fandoms like an Olympic ice-skater jumps her competition. Primarily Mass Effect, feel free to ask about additional fandoms, or check out my AO3(@Liminally_challenged) Additionally, I am an adult! My work is SFW, but please do not contact me directly/privately if you are a minor.
Shepard is so funny because she's the only being in the entire galaxy that the Reapers are scared of (aside from like, the Leviathans and maybe that one thresher maw) and it's genuinely just her and her continously shifting band of freaks against the greatest threat ever observed. And she wins.
It's always fun getting really in-depth with the roleplay in ME1 because you'll be going about your business and then you suddenly get diverted to go disarm a literal nuke of unknown stability as if that's not a huge fucking deal.
Like, this is galaxy-condemning levels of risk. Saren wins because Shepard got fucking eviscerated into irradiated ash, potentially the whole Normandy too unless they back off into a decent safe margin. Whichever squadmates Shepard takes have absolutely zero chance of survival if things go south. Shepard can even openly state that they don't have anyone on-board trained in bomb disposal, and, yeah, Shepard can do bomb disposal but on a potentially malfunctioning 30-year-old nuke? They're heading in there with some rough odds...
"Listen up," Grace shouted, cutting over the din of the roundtable room. "I know the situation is strange. I'll talk to the crew about this too, but I wanted you all to be the first to hear it: This mission is more important than anyone will admit. I know we're a strange group of soldiers here, but we need to put any prejudices aside. If anyone has anything to say, now's the time, because after this, I expect unity. We have too much at stake for arguments. Can everyone handle that?"
Everyone nodded slowly as she looked around, even Garrus, who looked sideways at Wrex, and Wrex, who returned the favor.
"Alright," She said. "You two get to know each other. Kaidan, Tali, I need you with me on this. We're headed for Feros, specifically to Zhu's Hope, a colony, and ExoGeni, the local company. There's been geth activity reported on and around both. If nothing else, we can eradicate the current threat. Everyone else, stand by for backup."
Kaidan followed her out, falling into step next to her as she headed towards the vehicle bay. "Commander?"
"What can I do for you, Kaidan?" She glanced over at him as they came to the elevator, the doors sliding open with a pneumatic hiss.
"I don't want to overstep my bounds here…" He started. She immediately stopped him with a raised hand, fully turning to look at him.
"I'm going to say this once, Alenko. Things are weird right now, and you're my right hand. I need you to speak candidly. Please don't apologize for doing your job."
"Yes ma'am. I'm worried about you." He said, the words rushed. "You have an unprecedented amount of power and we're about to go on a crusade against a threat most people don't believe exists."
"I know it sounds crazy—" She started, falling silent again as he continued.
"Shepard, I was there on Eden Prime. I saw what happened, and I want you to know I'm behind you one hundred percent, but you have to know that this'll look like chasing ghosts."
"I know." She said, and the elevator slid open once again, exposing their conversation to the vehicle bay. She made for the equipment lockers. "But I also know what I saw, and if I'm right, we don't have an option. It's war or death. Was there anything else? I need to figure out what Tali can take into the field."
"Anderson asked me to report on your mental state before and after missions as well as twice weekly during down time." He said quietly, glancing over at the requisitions officer, who was deep in conversation with one of the engineering crew.
"Why tell me?" She fought to keep the surprise out of her voice. Why risk my anger when it'd be so much easier to fly under the radar?
"I thought you should know," He said simply, a hint of a smile touching the corners of his mouth and eyes. "I'd want to. I thought we might make the whole process simpler, do a sanity check every now and again."
"A sanity check?"
The pistols felt nice in her hands, cool from disuse and worn from years of combat. They were neatly arranged, placed there by a dedicated hand.
"Sure. Might be good for both of us. We can call it something else," He added hastily.
"No, no, I like sanity check. Let's do it."
"Perfect," He really smiled this time, his eyes fully crinkling around the edges, and she felt herself smiling back crookedly. "I'll go catch Tali up on the mission."
"Thank you, Kaidan." She said, watching him turn away. He headed toward the engineering bay, the lights flickering as he went. As soon as the doors shut behind him, she strode over to the requisitions officer.
"I need you to start stocking non-human armor as soon as possible." She ordered, and he nodded, typing at his omni-tool.
"I'll get those in the next time we dock at the Citadel, ma'am. Anything else?"
She thought for a beat. "Biotic Amps…oh, and Omni-tools. Do we have any of those? Non-standard preferred."
"We have a few left. They're all the same model, we got them bulk from Kassa. They don't have a ton of bells and whistles but they're field-tested and ready."
"Perfect. Set one aside for Tali, she'll be dropping with me on this one and I want her prepared."
"Yes, ma'am."
She walked back to the elevator, this time alone. It was a moment of silence before the chaos of the bridge and the impending chaos of the mission. Feros loomed.
Concept: Desperate Commander Shepard in a situation where they've been disarmed of all guns, dual wielding omni-tool blades. Could be a preference or a necessity, a Bruiser Shepard could be cool too.
And somehow I've become a missing person...I promise I'm here I just got absurdly into fallout and have been doing that but I have slated a new chapter to come out soon ok love you bye
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