#ambassador udina

[the-worst-bracket]

[tealenko]

Best. Moment. EVER!

I was going to do a poll to ask about "favorite moments of Mass Effect 1" and then I thought: What for? It literally has the best moment of any videogame in existence, and we all know what it is lol

The elephant is in the room, the truth is in your face when you hear Anderson's cannons go boom! 🎵

XDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I'm dying lol

[acciokaidanalenko]

Taking on the Universe: Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fourteen: The Council

Summary: The Normandy's shore party arrives at the Citadel Tower, where they are to meet with the Council.

CW/TW: None.

Preview of chapter below the cut. AO3 link: here.

The most exclusive place on the Citadel was the Tower where the Council hosted all their meetings. Only the elite of the galaxy had access to the top floor, which overlooked the whole of the Presidium. Natasha, Alenko, and Williams stepped off the elevator and glanced around, taking in every immaculate detail of their surroundings; the fountain that greeted them, the garden full of exotic plants that teased their sense of smell with sweet aromas, and the curious eyes that seemed to follow them as they progressed across the shiny tiled floor that led up to the Council. When they reached the final staircase they were met by Captain Anderson and Ambassador Udina.

“Good, you’re finally here. Just in time for our meeting with the Council,” Udina huffed in an impatient tone. Natasha recognized it immediately, as it was the same way he’d spoken when she’d first met him at Alliance HQ. He even glanced at his omni-tool for the time before he looked at each of the soldiers in turn, appraising them with a critical eye before turning to the captain. “Make sure they behave while we’re in front of the Council. This is a serious matter, and it must be navigated delicately.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll leave the politicking to you, Ambassador,” Williams interjected with a pointed glare. Udina’s eyes widened as he prepared to respond.

“See, Ambassador, nothing to worry about,” Anderson assured him as he softly clapped Williams on the back and grinned widely at Udina. His expression told them he wasn’t amused.

“The Councilors will see you now,” an Asari called down to them from the top of the stairs. The group turned to see her standing above them, clutching a datapad in her hands like a clipboard as she glanced down at it briefly. Her eyes flicked up from the screen and landed on the Humans gathered together at the base of the stairs, a courteous smile flashing across her lips before she disappeared from sight.

Udina nervously straightened his suit jacket and glanced around at the soldiers once again, a pointed expression on his face, warning them to be on their best behavior before leading them up the stairs and down to face the Council.

It was a bit foreboding to walk out onto the platform, the very heart of the Council’s chamber. This was where they made the decisions that shaped the politics of the galaxy. Natasha felt a shiver run down her spine as she looked upward and found the Turian, Asari, and Salarian Councilors peering down at them. She could feel their gazes focused on her, knowing that she was still under their scrutiny as a Spectre candidate. Even though her mentor had been kidnapped on the mission she’d failed.

[comcumfeia10]

STREM TIME

Now that we've survived a Reaper, let's deal with Udina on the Citadel.

Check it out at comcumfeia10!

[shyfrog-says]

Udina voice: "Of course you have purple hair and pronouns."

[the-rogue-mockingjay]

Either the Citadel is allergic to Shepard or Shepard's allergic to the Citadel, because things never seem to go quite right when she's there.

[pancoleon]

I forgot how comical the start of Mass Effect is. Shepard is sent off to find clues of Saren being evil and immediately starts recruiting companions. Ambassador Udina sents you off like 5 minutes ago to find evidence with 2 human companions, and then upon your return the 2 human companions are nowhere to be seen as they have been replaced by a Turian C-SEC officer and a Krogan mercenary, while Shepard confidently goes "This Quarian has the info we need :)"

[sol-consort]

Do you think in reverse, any of the alien races also tried those tips on befriending humans? Aliens bragging online how they totally rizzedd up a human with ridiculous advice, humans are just like "lol silly little guys" and humor it happily.

Are we bringing the "loser high elf with a human obsession" trend in here from my other blog? Because I am fully down to making a loser friendgroup of aliens who are creeps towards humans as much as they are endlessly curious.

And yes, oh definitely yes they are bragging online about tottally rizzing up this new shiny species who stumbled their way into the stars.

A turian posting on his twitter about how he's been assigned with a human in C-SEC, how he has been studying a lot of human rituals by watching Hollywood movies and reading mammal herd behaviours, not realising humans are categorised as predetors.

It's a long thread of him describing his "successful" attempts and encounters with the human.

He followed the human to lunch and made sure to eat next to them since the extranet articles talked about the importance of eating together in human culture.

Except the human was a messy eater and the turian's food ended up getting contaminated, resulting in the turian having a coughing fit, throwing up, passing out and waking up in the emergency care.

-

A salarian saw this thread and left a very long comment mansplaining human behaviour and how the turian was absolutely wrong and an idiot. The two of them argued back and forth in the comments during the turian's stay in the hospital.

Resulting in the salarian claiming he could befriend a human much faster and easier than the turian's pathetic attempt. Leading the turian to daring him to post it.

So he read any books he could find about human evolution and history. Confident that he could apply them on the next human tour group coming to Sur'kesh.

Human primitives loved climbing trees, correct? And Sur'kesh has lots of trees! Their closest relatives are in apes huh? The salarian knows just what to do with this information.

Imagine with me, you're a human tourist in an alien planet, following the polite salarian guide in the front and taking pictures of the lovely view. You're having a wonderful time.

Then out of nowhere, comes another salarian who stops in front of the whole tour group. The tour guide seems confused and you wonder if this was preplanned or not.

This random salarian begins speaking to the entire group very slowly as he states the fact that there are a lot of trees around here. Asking if anyone would like to join him in climbing one as a mutual show of trust and friendship.

You raise your camera as you watch this salarian who's worked in a bio lab all his life, struggling to climb one tree and very slowly making progress. When he reaches the top, he is reminded of the fact oh, heights and gravity exist, this is so much more terrifying than he thought it would be.

Now he's stuck on the tree, and the salarian tour guide is dialing up security to both come and get him down but also kick him out before he causes a human diplomatic incident.

The salarian's terrified at the top like a scared kitten. You climbed a lot of trees as a kid, and this one isn't even that tall, so you climb up there and offer to carry the salarian down, which he enthusiastically accepts.

Everyone is taking pictures and smiling, the tour guide is relieved that an incident was avoided.

Then the salarian in your arms, reaches into his pocket says he has just the thing to thank you with, kind human.

He takes out. A banana. Offering it to you.

The pictures and videos of him doing that end up on the galactic news the next day, you get word that the human ambassador Udina wants use this incident to demand compensation and sanctions on the salarians offensive gesture to a human tourist. The salarian government is very apologetic and panicking, ready to throw credits at the problem to solve it.

But you post a video on your social media laughing it off and saying it's fine. Putting an end to the incident before it escalates.

-

An asari sits in her office as she looks over the latest galactic news, the salarian's pathetic attempt at befriending a human that resulted in a diplomatic incident.

She sips on her coffee, a human delicacy, as she finally decides where she wants to spend her once-a-year break.

Booking the nearest ticket to Earth, she thinks, befriending humans cannot be that hard, right?

She has seen many humans in Thessia. She even talked to one once when they asked her for directions! Sure, she never really befriended any before, but they can't be that different from all the other species. After all, an asari can get anyone wrapped around their finger if she tries hard enough.

Landing on Earth, she realises just why it was called the blue planet. The sky is very blue, almost aggressively so and the sun here hurts to look at, unlike the gentle one in Thessia.

There are so many humans around, not a sign of a single alien in sight. All of them walking with a purpose, some taking their animals to a stroll and oh wow that dog is bigger than any varren she has ever seen, how did that human tame it?

Some give her a pacing glance, and others are indifferent to her. She keeps trying to strike up a conversation but everyone just declines and say they're busy or in a hurry.

Strange, the humans on the citadel are much more friendly. An asari could walk up to a group and demand their attention just like that, why are the ones here so different?

Eventually she spots an older woman, ah yes a human Matriarch! Just perfect. She goes to the elder woman sitting on a bench while feeding the pigeons.

The woman smiles, wrinkles in her face from a life full of happiness, greeting the blue lady. The two of them sit together and have a talk, the old woman is very patient and understanding with the asari as she explains that this is just how humans are, how the ones on the citadel are a very select view who are enthusiastic about aliens.

The asair is stunned to learn that this woman is merely 78 years old, yet she holds so much wisdom and charm. They spend the entire day talking and watch the sunset together.

By the end, the old woman apologises for having to leave, saying her grandkids are visiting tonight and she must go back home. But she will be here tomorrow if the asair wants to continue the chat.

Day after day, week after week. The asair keeps meeting up with her snd talking, about nothing and everything, life and its meaning, the sky and its colours, love and its sisters.

The asari asks if the old woman has her spouse in her life still, the old woman smiles, full of melancholy as she shakes her head no.

Reading on human mating rituals, the asari starts bringing the old woman flowers, red in colour and varied in shapes. A box of sweets that the old woman kindly declines because of her blood sugar, yet the asari doesn't give up and comes the next day with a box of dark chocolate.

By the end of the month, the asari brings her final gift to the old woman. A small red box that fits perfectly into her balm. The old woman has to put her glasses back on as the asari opens the box to be able to see what's inside.

Getting on one knee, the asari opens the box to present a shiny ring inside, she asks cautiously if she'd like to come back with her to Thessia to live the rest of their lives together.

The old woman smiles, the asari grew found of her smiles, so gentle and warm. Reaching with her shakey hands, she takes the box and admires the beautiful ring inside. She chuckles with delight at the flattering implication as she puts the ring back in the box and hands it to the asari.

Patting her head, the 78 human woman tells the 600 asari woman to go find a young girl her age to marry. How she basically sees her as a granddaughter.

The asari comes back home with a newfound hatred for Earth, attempting to cope with having her heartbroken by a single human who hasn't passed their first century yet.

[favoriteblogonthecitadel]

WIP Wednesday

The main fic-in-progress is draining me a bit this week, so have an older WIP featuring Xiomara being a terrible influence as per usual!

“It’s a bad idea,” Kaidan says, and from across the room, Shepard smiles.

He knows that face; the one she makes when she takes a normal, matter-of-fact statement and turns it into a challenge. Things like, The food is really hot, or that hill has a dangerous slope, or Ambassador Udina looks happy. “Because this shore leave is meant for errands,” he adds immediately. He knows where this will lead them, so it’s good to get the facts laid out before she starts trying to persuade him. Before he starts letting her.

“Pressly can handle the staffing.” As she speaks, she closes the door of her cabin behind her. Does not bother being subtle about locking it.

He meets her gaze and begins shaking his head slowly. Xiomara, no.

She takes a step towards him. Xiomara, yes.

[astorythatwritesitself]

Survivor's Guilt

Read on AO3!

Title: Survivor's Guilt Fandom: Mass Effect Rating: T Length: 2,634 Content notes: Xenophobic (as applied to non-human ME species) rhetoric, general Cerberus bullshittery, Poor Parenting I guess? Summary: A general, an ambassador, and a commander walk into a bar to discuss the most important part of any tragedy: How will this look to the wider galactic scene?

Characters: Hannah Shepard, Donnel Udina, Original Human Character(s)

Tags: Cerberus (Mass Effect), Akuze (Mass Effect), I feel Hannah's whole... Deal here needs a CW but fuck if I know how to describe it, Contempt for your kid? Xenophobia?

Addy's fighting for her life, and I'm raiding the bar in a fucking penthouse.

The situation will be what it is either way, though, so why bother facing it sober? Hannah snatches up a good-looking bourbon and considers the glasses neatly lined up along the counter.

Donnel and Sandra walk in to her taking a swig straight from the bottle.

“Is this… necessary, Shepard?” Don says, while the General takes the nearest stool and buries her face in her hands.

“Oh, absolutely, Ambassador,” Hannah says with a sharp laugh. “We've lost a colony. We've lost a lot of good soldiers, and the one we have left is-”

“Would you care to share, Hannah?” Sandra says, mostly drowning out Don's muttering of something to the effect of ‘political nightmare’.

“Get your own. It's not your kid patched up like a quarian ship out there, is it?”

Her eyes sting.

Her throat burns.

It's just the alcohol, Hannah tells herself.

For a few moments there's nothing but the sounds of Hannah rummaging for a glass and some ice, while Sandra pours herself a healthy dose of wine. Don opts for a bottle of water. Hannah considers doing the same - should do the same, she’s not exactly young anymore, even the one pull there means a hell of a headache awaits her tomorrow.

This entire month has been headache enough already. Raids and pirates and smugglers galore, the Council giving humanity the shaft yet again by refusing to allot the barest of resources, refusing any allowance for more troops in this sector or that one - but being ever so eager to allow the Alliance to push forward on some new class of ship, so long as those plucked-chicken shits were involved in every step, and now -

Hannah pours a double shot and downs it like the crap she used to smuggle onto campus back in Kingston, pointedly ignoring how much of it ends up on her sleeve as she pours one more.

It's Don who finally breaks the silence. “How do we even begin to approach something like this?” he says. The calm in his voice is borderline offensive.

“Carefully?” Sandra replies, removing her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose. “We start from the top -”

“We lost a colony,” Don shoots back. “That's bad enough - we could have recovered from that. Even the asari have lost colonies in the Traverse. Losing so many soldiers on top of it-”

“To threshers. Everyone is afraid of those things-”

“Which is precisely why they know to look out for them!” Don storms forward, slamming a fist on the countertop, hard enough to make the ice rattle in Hannah's glass. “To avoid them! While we, instead, build a town on top of a nest, without having the slightest idea of their presence! How on Earth must that look?”

God, is that all it's ever going to come back to? Hannah thinks, taking a slow sip and rubbing her temples as Don and Sandra continue bickering. Image - it always comes back to the image. She'd joined the Alliance to advance humanity and leave a legacy to the stars. Joined with the C's after Shanxi turned those dreams into a nightmare of survival, stayed on as they became Cerberus, because it was clear the Alliance wouldn't do enough, not when it could make them look bad to some glorified animals who'd happened to get their first. Days and weeks and years of bureaucratic bullshit, while innocent people got rounded up and branded and sold like cattle-

And yet here you are, sitting pretty in the PR department after all, she thinks, closing her eyes. The other projects advanced humanity, but here were the lucky bastards who had to make sure they looked good doing it; two Alliance grunts and a politician who'd made Hannah genuinely consider snorting her weight in red sand, just to flip him upside down and see if that'd shut him up for a few minutes.

“Do you have anything to contribute, Shepard?”

Speak of the goddamned devil.

“Oh, I think I've contributed plenty to the situation already,” Hannah says through a wretched sort of smile, one that only grows as Donnel's expression sours further.

Sandra, meanwhile, has started pacing. “No matter what, we need to do some damage control - we're not going to come out of this looking good, but something like this could absolutely tank colony enrollment, among other things. Could go as low as after Mindoir. Lower, even, this is the second major hit inside of two years…”

“Exactly. Why in god's name would anyone even want to be a colonist at this point?” Hannah snorts. “Leave the comforts of Sol for a rural pisswater that makes Earth's slums look luxurious in comparison, and if you're lucky, you can assist smugglers and pirates for a few credits! Lord knows the Alliance can't help you, we're spread so thin we can barely hold ourselves together; and the Council won't help us, because god forbid they take some responsibility for bombarding a new species who had no idea they had stumbled into someone else's backyard. Now they tell us we can't make so many ships, can't go here or there without risking interstellar incident; but oh, we're useful guns to take out their fucking four-eyed problems, so they dangle just enough help until the Alliance is in too deep to actually pull out, and we're too damn scared to say fuck them all and strike out on our own.”

“That would be suicide at this point, anyway,” Sandra says, shaking her head. “That's why we need someone in their ranks - they've got a millennia’s head start, but that's all they have on us- god.” She rubs her forehead and leans against the wall. “Can we just blame Anderson for this?”

“Get in line,” Hannah mutters, glancing over at Donnel, who looks rather like he's chewing his own tongue for a moment.

“His being a Spectre wouldn't have made a difference in this situation,” he finally says.

“Might've. Fourteen years is a long time - we could have more weight in decisions. More information. Even if the Alliance's general standing didn't increase, we could have sent him - or another one; I imagine if he'd succeeded, we'd have at least one more by now - in alone, instead of an inexperienced lot-”

“With all due respect, ma'am, shut the fuck up. You know damn well we wouldn't have sent a Spectre even if we had one,” Hannah snaps, raking a hand through her hair. “Yes, the colony went dark, but how the fuck were we supposed to know what was down there? Akuze has never even been targeted by pirates, it was supposed t-” Her breath hitches, and for a moment her voice won't work, and when it does, it's so quiet, there's no hiding how it shakes. “It was supposed to be safe, goddamn it.”

All those families. All those kids.

It's too long before Sandra speaks up again, and Hannah nearly misses the words anyway. Too busy trying to tally up all the names.

“You raise a fair point, Shepard,” the general says in a measured, thoughtful sort of voice. “Udina - you're also right, everyone else knows to keep away from the threshers. That's… likely why Akuze was so quiet, now that I think about it. But do we know what to look for? From orbit, or on the ground? Could we have prevented it in the first place?”

“The most I've ever heard is to be suspicious of flat circles,” Hannah shrugs. “Nothing about how to detect them from orbit, god no. Seismic readings are the most we can get for any lead time.”

“Both the settlement and the unit's camp were on a hill, correct?”

“Yeah.”

“Then we'll work with that,” Sandra says briskly. “It's not much, but it is honest - we genuinely had no idea what to be wary of, and if anyone else did have any clue… well, clearly, they didn't think we needed to know.”

“A tragedy,” Don says, and Hannah wants to throw the watered-down remains of her drink in his face at that tone, that smarmy, holier-than-thou tone all politicians got. “A tragic, fatal mistake. The Alliance, naturally, will do all in its power to prevent such another lapse of information - but will the Council do its part? Will they deign to share their knowledge with the newest additions to the galactic community, or will they show that they simply want us out of the way?” He sighs, shaking his head. “It's as good a start as any, I suppose.”

“Might wanna omit that last part for the masses, but cheers otherwise,” Hannah says, forcing herself to down most of what remained in her glass.

“Then, the next matter-”

Oh, motherfucker, you’d better not-

“Shepard. Do we know yet, if she will pull through?”

“Adrian's stable. It looks like the grafts should take,” Hannah says, staring into her glass and gripping it far tighter than is necessary. Deep, slow breaths, she tells herself, but god it's hard to do that and conjure up her husband's voice as he'd rattled off the assessment. “Damage was. Mild, all things considered. Deepest injuries were to her head and neck, but nothing debilitating, nothing some weaves and metal can't patch up. She inhaled some of it, even, but they're pretty sure she'll be able to breathe on her own, once they can take her off the sedatives, doesn't appear to be any irreparable damage. Just some scarring to her throat.

“By current projection - if there are no surprises, she should be physically fit within a month. Isn’t that lucky? But it's only three days in, who knows what the aftereffects could be? We barely know how to detect those things, much less what happens if anyone survives.”

She stares into the glass, into her own murky reflection, trying to shut out Don's relieved sigh. Trying to shut out the question she knows is coming, trying to shut out the subsequent thought, because it is such a terrible, hideous thing, but -

“Do either of you have any idea what will come down, then?” he asks.

God, it would just be so much easier, if Addy had died as well.

“Still in the air.” Sandra at least has the grace to sound somber. “The reports are still… I'm still going over the data, as it were, and discounting Shepard herself, the three of us are the only ones who know the exact… circumstances…”

“Oh, just fucking spit it out. It looks like Adrian fell asleep on her watch, and then abandoned her fucking unit to the worms, is that so goddamn hard to say?”

“But she did send the distress call before they surfaced-”

“Oh yeah, a whole two minutes before; if she'd been awake and paying attention-"

“- and who in their right mind would blame anyone for running in those conditions? We have provisions for extraordinary, unprecedented, or unforeseen circumstances-”

“Which is great for avoiding a court-martial, but how the fuck is that going to sound to those freaks who've been watching her?!” Hannah pounds the countertop, just barely resisting the urge to shatter the glass instead; god but she just wants to see something break.

Don sinks onto the stool beside her. Slowly, fucking primly, he takes another glass and the bottle, pouring out a drink with shaking hands.

“Fourteen years,” he finally says, barely more than a whisper. “Fourteen years before they even thought to give us another chance. Shepard was our best hope, now…”

Now we're lucky if we get one in our lifetimes, Hannah thinks. The alcohol's finally working, it seems, because the thought conjures nothing but a numb, detached disappointment. At the situation, yes - but mostly, (and she's less loath to admit this to herself) at Adrian. The only child she'd ever have, and goddamn blessed - sturdy, smart, strong. Stellar aim. A human biotic who could make some true use of the skills, and what did she do with it? Tech, medicine and diplomacy; thank god she'd at least found the idea of sabotage as interesting as negotiation, enough to accept those invitations to the villa-

God. Would that still continue, after this?

“Shepard is our best candidate,” Sandra says. The words almost echo, the silence had been so complete. “She saved those aliens during Elysium, when their own kind were willing to let them be collateral damage, the Council loved that. The exact details of Akuze can be sealed - the important question is, would she say anything?”

Hannah closes her eyes, considering - Adrian could be so goddamn stubborn sometimes, but… “I don't think so,” she says. “I’m not positive - but I'm fairly sure, especially if I can talk to her when she wakes up.”

“If she can keep this quiet, then so will the Alliance,” Sandra says. “No demerits. N training remains open. We treat this as nothing more than the tragedy it is. We had no way of knowing the worms were there. There was no time to evacuate, they struck before she could distinguish them from an errant tremor. Circumstances being what they were, Shepard made a call no officer should ever make, let alone one so new to the position, and it ensured there was a survivor to even tell the tale.” The general nods, almost smiling now. “We could even play this nicely to the Council species - at the Alliance's expense, unfortunately, but personally I'd rather one of ours among their ranks, get us into shaping policy instead of being shaped by it. The asari will patronize us no matter what, so why not use that? Shepard's barely more than an infant so far as they're concerned, let them pity her. The salarians might have some respect if we frame it as a tactical retreat, they're always criticizing our refusal to admit defeat.”

“And the turians?” Don asks.

“Oh they'll blame the Alliance no matter what,” Hannah says, surprising even herself with a downright chipper tone. “Hell, we could tell them the whole thing down to the last detail, and those idiots wouldn't put any of the blame on Adrian either way. It's always on the superior officers for not knowing if a recruit isn't ready - now how in the fuck are you supposed to know that before put them out there?”

“Correct, if not the most… eloquently put,” Sandra says, narrowing her eyes slightly as they meet Hannah's. “The Alliance takes the brunt of the blame, and Shepard… well. Everyone's afraid of the thresher maws - even batarians, even the krogan. Yet here's one of ours, alive and fairly well in the grand scheme of things, after being ambushed by a nest of them… quite the angle, isn't it?”

“I suppose,” Don says, though his expression still looks grim. “This is, of course, assuming Shepard recovers, and that she's found mentally sound - “

“This isn’t gonna break my kid, Christ,” Hannah says, heedless of how the words begin to run into each other.

“- what's to say this won’t happen again?”

“I might’ve raised a fool, Donnel, but I didn't raise an idiot.” Hannah pushes away from the counter, getting unsteadily to her feet. It sounds like they've got a handle of things, no sense exhausting herself further, not when there's a hangover in the works. Not when she has more work in store later on. “Adrian knows better than to make the same mistakes twice. Hell, if I were a betting woman? I'd say she'd rather die before let herself fuck up like this again.

“So long as she does it after we've got another candidate or a Council seat- and she doesn’t pull stunts like Harkin in the meantime- I’m content. Now goodnight, Ambassador, General. I’d like to get some rest before heading out to the hospital."

[theoriginalladya]

Everybody Loses It - Chapter Update

(commissioned art of Rhys Shepard and Kaidan Alenko by @xla-hainex)

Everybody Loses It

Summary: One of the first human biotics, prothean specialist Dr. Rhys Shepard has fought for years to distance himself from the events at BAaT and distance himself from his parents and their military careers. When a prothean beacon is discovered on Eden Prime, he snatches the chance to finally prove himself.

Until the geth attack and he comes face to face with a part of his past he thought long dead...

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Citadel

Excerpt:

Rhys is foolish enough to think walking away from the Normandy – from Kaidan, for a third time in his life – will be easy.  He ends up calling himself all kinds of foolish as he, Sara and the rest of the ground team from Eden Prime hit the docs of the Citadel together.  They’re at the heart of galactic civilization.  The Council, the ambassador – Someone’s going to want to hear about what happened, even if it happened on a backwater human colony. Sure enough, the very second the elevator doors open just outside of C-Sec headquarters, they’re greeted by an escort and an aide sent by the ambassador to greet them. “More like herd us to the embassies,” Rhys mutters beneath his breath.  Out of the corner of his eye, he catches Kaidan’s glance at him, but Rhys lets it go.  He’s never met Ambassador Udina, but he’s heard stories.  He isn’t expecting this meeting to go well.  What I’d give for the days of sunshine and bunnies back home.  At least there I can use my shotgun to take care of the wolves.

Read Chapter | Read From Beginning | Read Series

Just a few things to note:

1) Rhys is a slightly older Shepard, a combination of a spacer and Earthborn background, and non-military. He goes off to college and graduate school and becomes a prothean specialist

2) He and Kaidan have known one another since BAaT. They have a history together.

3) Kaidan is the Commander of the Normandy. He essentially takes over the role of Shepard in the ME canon timeline

This story isn't a retelling of all of game 1, but will use bits and pieces of it that fit for their story.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I've enjoyed writing them!

For anyone interested, Rhys has two playlists on Spotify.

This one is associated with his story The Barn called Shore Leave on Mindoir

And this is his general playlist that I listen to while writing for him. It may change some as his story continues.

If you have any questions about Rhys, feel free to drop an ask! I love to talk about my characters! :)

Enjoy!

[the-worst-bracket]

Round 2H

[tealenko]

This game sometimes likes to prove me wrong XD

So... After years and years playing this game, I just discovered that if you go to the Citadel to see Udina after any main mission he finds an excuse to yell at you no matter what you did lol

And here I was, thinking there was no way I could hate this character even more than I already did XDDDDDD

[acciokaidanalenko]

Taking on the Universe: Chapter Twelve

Chapter Twelve: The Presidium

Summary: Natasha arrives at the ambassador's office, where she finally meets the Human Ambassador face to face. The Normandy crew's meeting is interrupted by C-Sec.

CW/TW: None.

Preview of chapter below the cut. AO3 link: here.

"And the bad news?" [Natasha] prompted, raising her eyebrows expectantly.

"No one else saw what happened out on that dock. So it's your word versus a Spectre," Garrus explained shortly, though the undertones of his voice betrayed his concern.

"And Spectres are above the law," Natasha replied, quoting what Saren had said to her on the dock. Garrus nodded his head somberly, his expression serious as he drummed his talons on the cold metal table. "And what about the surveillance? There's absolutely no trace of him on Eden Prime?"

"All the systems were scrambled. Any backups were lost in the fires. I'm sorry to inform you that most of Paradise burned before the Alliance was able to put out the fires."

Natasha's heart sank. At least after the Blitz the colony had been left standing. If only Paradise had been so lucky.

"Staff Lieutenant Alenko and Gunnery Chief Williams's reports say that you were-" Garrus raised his arm and activated his omni-tool. He began reading from the holo screen that appeared with a single flick of his talon. "To quote their reports, "pulled into the aura of the Prothean beacon and lifted into the air". Can you tell me more about that?"

Natasha sighed heavily. She'd been afraid that someone would ask about this.

"That's basically the whole of it, Officer Vakarian," she answered. It wasn't a lie, per se. But she wasn't about to go around telling everyone about the strange visions she'd seen, mixed up with her memories from the Blitz. She'd hoped she'd be able to keep those details between herself, Captain Anderson, and Dr. Chakwas.

The Turians mandibles twitched slightly, as if what she'd said had angered him. He leaned closer to her and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Commander, please don't call me that. Officer Vakarian is my father. Just call me Garrus."

Natasha smirked at the officer and nodded her head. Having followed both of her parents into the Alliance, she understood the sentiment. "Seems a bit informal, Garrus, but if you insist." Garrus nodded his approval and sat back up.

[jakesocdump]

Karen Shepard grew up as an orphan raised on the streets of one of the great megatropolises of Earth. She escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting in the Alliance military when she was eighteen. Throughout her military career, she has held fast to one basic rule: get the job done. She's been called cold, calculating and brutal. Her reputation for ruthless efficiency makes her fellow soldiers wary of her- but when failure is not an option, the military goes to her first.

Shepard had the personality of a Renegade

Shepard's class was a Soldier, specialising in guns

Mass Effect

Shepard romanced Kaidan Alenko

Shepard killed the Zhu's Hope colonists, believing them lost to the influence of the Thorian

Shepard killed the Rachni Queen on Noveria

Shepard killed Wrex, and left Kaidan to die on Virmire

Shepard defeated Saren in battle

Shepard left the Citadel Council to die, and asked Ambassador Udina to represent humanity on the Council.

Mass Effect 2

Shepard romanced Garrus Vakarian

Only Garrus, Tali and Morinth survived the Suicide Mission

Morinth killed Samara

Mordin killed Maelon

Shepard helped Legion destroy the heretics

Kasumi kept Keiji's greybox

Shepard didn't manage to exonerate Tali'Zorah

Shepard killed the factory workers, leading to Vido Santiago's death

Shepard kept Project Overlord active

Shepard didn't choose to warn the batarians in the Aratoht System

Mass Effect 3

Shepard romanced Garrus Vakarian

Shepard discouraged the relationship between EDI and Joker

The Genophage was maintaned, and Eve died. Wreav led the Krogans.

The Quarians were destroyed by the Geth

Shepard and his crew had an energetic party

Shepard destroyed the Reapers

[rotschopf-thedrow]

Write some sentences for Firestarter please!

Gladly & especially for you <3

“Heard you have a new pilot for the Normandy,” Hackett said amicably, which elicited another huff from Udina. Anderson’s eyelid started to twitch, and he took a first careful sip from his coffee. “Joker left me no choice after his stunt,” he replied. Udina whirled around. “Stunt? He stole a prototype warship!” he cried, getting into Anderson’s face. “And you go and reward that cripple with a seat on said prototype warship!” “Yes, he did,” Anderson retorted, keeping his gaze level with Udina. “Joker can barely walk, and he ran circles around our security protocols. He kept his calm under fire and brought the Normandy back into drydock with time to spare. Was his plan reckless? Absolutely. Does he need to be punished? Yes. But he is exactly the kind of man I want for this job, Udina." Udina turned on Hackett, his fist balled at his side. “And you just let him do that?” “Nothing I can do about it.” Hackett leaned back in his chair, putting one foot on his knee. Anderson raised one brow but said nothing. Hackett normally was stiffer than starch. Seeing him this relaxed told him two things: Hackett didn’t have any respect for Udina and he also didn’t take him seriously. Udina’s fist landed on Hackett’s desk, but if the ambassador had hoped to elicit a reaction out of Hackett, he was sorely disappointed. “I demand this cripple being removed from the Normandy and Crook reinstated as her appointed pilot!” Hackett’s eyes narrowed slightly. “General Invectus made a personal recommendation to give Lieutenant Moreau this job for the, and I quote ‘benefit of continued human-turian relations.’” He stood up. “You might as well get used to the idea.”