#metng

[metng]

Mass Effect: The Next Generation - Update

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 3: Sarcophagus

Samus looked up Watcher 21's accent after their first conversation. According to the extranet, it is classified as "North American southern," which made no sense to her, and also "cowboy," which made marginally more sense, especially after some research on Earth cowboys. One John Wayne marathon later, she had a much better understanding of Watcher 21--not only his accent, but also his style. When his face appears in her visor screen, she sees tan skin, angular features, a meticulously kept beard, and the cyan glow of his cybernetic eyes, slightly obscured by the brim of his hat.

"Howdy, hunter," he greets her cheerfully. "How goes the investigatin'?"

"No hostilities so far," she informs him, "but the Broker is right--there's a Reaper here. I'm inside the corpse now. There are pieces of it everywhere, but the central core is mostly intact. We've extracted quite a lot of information on its activities."

He whistles. "Any idea on what killed it?"

"Another Reaper," she says. "The moon is covered in scorch marks, and we found video footage of the fight. A duel between Reapers."

"Reapers killin' each other? Y' sure?"

"There's something else, 21. We're not the only ones investigating this thing. There's ... a hybrid here."

"What d'ya mean, hybrid?"

"A geth-quarian hybrid. Says xeir name is Kiriki nar Legion, and xe's on pilgrimage. Saw the lights just like everyone else on Khar'shan, and, well, got curious."

"Sounds like a quarian all right," chuckles 21. "A real hybrid, eh? You're sure."

"Varia's scans confirm it, and xe absolutely looks it," says Samus. "And if anyone were to find ways to make real hybrids, it'd be the Rannochi."

21 sits back in his chair, and she can see some more of his hat. His clothing is not usually opulent, albeit far from understated, but the materials and construction speak clearly of his wealth. "This might be bigger news than the Reaper fight."

"About that--I'm not done," she interrupts him. "One more thing about the Reaper. Thanks to Kiriki, we found what it was doing here. Or at least some idea of it. It was studying the batarians."

"Preparin' for indoctrination? Another attempt at extinction?"

"So far, we don't think so. Nothing we found indicates an interest in destruction ... it was tracking their development. How their civilization was rebuilding. There's this massive, complicated timeline..."

"Download everything y' can," says 21, steepling his fingers, "to a separate drive if y' can, please, don't want to risk your own systems bein' corrupted--and return t' Chances with the info and the hybrid."

"I'm not kidnapping the kid," says Samus, mandibles flaring.

"Hey, if--xe's? as curious as y' say, I bet y' can just ask," laughs 21.

"Fine." Her nose twitches a few times. "I won't let you take xem to some lab for dissection or anything."

"Hunter, I just want to see this for m'self. I ain't in the business of takin' people apart."

Varia's sensors suddenly alert her to another ship entering Khar'shan's orbit. A big one. "Watcher, I have to go," she says. "We might have company."

"G'luck, Hunter!" he bids her with a cheery smile.

As soon as his face vanishes from her visor, Kiriki bursts through the door beside her. "Samus-Aran! Other Reaper coming!"

"Same Reaper that killed this one?" she asks as Varia calculates the quickest route out.

"Different," xe says. Xe has a gun with xem now, one xe wasn't carrying a few minutes ago. "Maybe salvage? This way!"

Xe runs past her, down the hall--and in the other direction from Varia's calculations. "Wrong way, kid!" she calls to xem.

"No no!" xe calls back. "Have to help!"

"Help who?" But she's running after xem anyway. Stupid kid. Stupid Watcher 21 and his Shadow Net. Stupid cybergenetic anomalies. The Broker had better come through on that deal, with all she's going through with this dead starship god and whatever the kid is up to now.

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #me fanfic #metng #episode 1

[spectacledotter]

chapter 10 concludes the FIRST EPISODE of mass effect: the next generation. that's right: we're doing this in episodes now. it feels appropriate that way. my goal is to update once a week so next episode will hopefully be up soon!

#mass effect #me fanfic #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect the next generation #metng

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 4

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 6: En Route

Kiriki returns to Varia, Samus's list of orders finally completed, at the same time Artemis Shepard arrives at the ship. Samus is standing in front of the docking port, signing a release form for the box of levo-protein food pods she'd ordered. The delivery mech makes a happy beep and opens up the top of its cylindrical body like a lid for her to take the box out.

"Thanks, little guy," she says, and the mech whistles cheerfully at her before closing up and wheeling off to make its next delivery.

Artemis has ditched her primary-coloured Chances uniform for a much more fashionable--and flattering--street outfit of a knit top, denim leggings, a cropped leather jacket, and knee-high armored boots not unlike the kind Samus wears, but fit for an asari's feet instead of a turian's talons. She has a shoulder bag with her, but no luggage--it must have been delivered already. Dark and jewel tones flatter her iridescent azure skin far more than the bright uniform did. She's tall, slender, stylish, shimmering … Kiriki feels more out of place beside her than anywhere else on the station.

And on top of all of that, she's a Shepard. Xe's a little awe-struck.

"Kiriki!" she greets xem first, settling back against the glass railing keeping pedestrians from touching the viewport glass. From here, they can see Varia. "Over here!"

Kiriki leans against the railing beside her, focusing on Varia to keep xeir thoughts from wandering too much. "Ready to go, Artemis-Shepard?"

"Please--just Artemis. I'm not my dad."

"I'm not Legion," says Kiriki. "Still have the name, because Legion Spire. You're not Commander, but still Shepard."

She rubs the back of her neck uncomfortably. "I guess. I just hate getting the 'hero's daughter' treatment, that's all."

"Want to define yourself for yourself, yes?"

"That's one way to put it. Guess you're kind of in the same boat, huh," she adds, the realization hitting. "We've all been talking about you, but not really talking to you."

"Yes," says Kiriki rather flatly.

"I'm sorry." She sounds like she means it.

Kiriki pats her arm in an attempt at reassurance. "Used to it, don't worry. Knew I would be 'news,' sooner or later. Hoped it wouldn't be so soon, but," xe shrugs, "Reapers happened."

That makes her laugh.

"Hey, you two." Samus has found them. "Everything's on the ship. Including your gear, Artemis. Have to say, I was expecting more than one footlocker."

"What, you thought I'd bring a ton of luggage or something?" asks Artemis. "Is that a crack at me being an asari?"

"What? No. You've lived on this station for a few months now, that's all."

"It's not like I cleaned out my apartment. We'll be returning to Chances when the mission is over. I brought what I needed."

Samus's mandibles click, but she nods. "So we're operating under the idea that this is a probationary thing. Not permanent."

"Not yet, at least. Is there a problem?"

"One, maybe. Come on, I'll give you the tour. And then we can talk. We have to jump two relays to Tuchanka. We have time."

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 3

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 5: Paradigm Shift

Artemis presses her hand to the holographic lock on her cabin door. Chances has few enough permanent staff members that they all have small apartments on the station. They're simple studios, but they have functional kitchens and private bathrooms, and they allow the staff some normality of living no other ship could offer. The door opens with a soft fwssh, and the lights turn on as soon as it does. The room is narrow, wide enough for the length of the bed built into the far end and no more. The walls are full of seams and pull-handles--doors to open, drawers to pull out, even more built-in furniture that she can fold out as needed. Economical use of space defines living on a ship, even when that ship is Chances.

She opens the refrigerator door--much smaller than a normal fridge but plenty big enough for her--and grabs an energy drink, setting her bag of workout gear aside. She hasn't neglected her biotic training, even working as Fate's apprentice Watcher. Supposedly, at least. Fate is not good at delegating work, and anything he doesn't do, the ship AI Lady Luck takes care of. Artemis has been bored out of her skull for months. Fortunately, it's given her time to keep up her training, and she hasn't been without her own amusements.

She settles on her bed and uses her omni-tool to bring up a game on the large entertainment screen built into the wall above her bed. Galaxy of Fantasy is still one of the most popular games on the extranet after a century, and she has friends there. If she's lucky, one in particular will be on.

The game is only on for a short time when she gets the call. Audio only, as geth rarely see the point of face to face communication. "Artemis," comes the familiar synthesized voice when she accepts the call.

"Hey L," she says. "I was hoping you'd be on."

"I am always 'on,' Artemis," says L. A fellow member of the Shadow Net, and a close, albeit somewhat unusual friend. Unlike most geth, he chose a gender for himself. He's been a separate identity, connected to the Consensus but outside it, for decades now. Most geth individuals return to the Consensus every so often and then leave again. He's never returned.

"Well, there's something I want to talk to you about," she says. "I met a couple of people this morning--they were coming to see Watcher 21. L--you never told us about the hybrid."

There's a longer pause than can be attributed to extranet lag. "You never asked," says L finally.

"Well, I met xem this morning. Xe says xe's on Pilgrimage, and xe showed up here with a bounty hunter and Reaper info, and the Watcher's been making a lot of calls to the Broker since then."

Another pause. L is processing this. "Why is this the first I have heard of this?" he says. "No. Wait. You were about to say I did not ask." There's a string of low-volume, slightly staticky sounds that Artemis recognizes as the geth version of swearing. Oh shit.

"You didn't know xe'd left Rannoch," she realizes.

"At the time of my last intel xe was still not yet of age."

"So, what, you were waiting for Kiriki to be Pilgrimage age before filling the rest of us in? Because this is news to the Broker and she's going to be pissed if she finds out you knew all along." She doesn't bother pretending the Broker is anything but female.

"Broker or not," says L defensively, "I am not in the habit of invading the privacy of children, no matter how scientifically curious they may be. It was not yet relevant. When it became relevant, the Broker would have been informed."

"So what makes it relevant?"

"Knowing that xe survived long enough to reach Pilgrimage would have been a logical start."

"You need to phone home more often, L," she sighs. "Fate's never going to let you forget he scooped you."

"Fate should have called me first."

"You know how he is. Has to do everything himself. I'm bored out of my mind here."

"Still. Gross unprofessionalism. I would have extended him the courtesy were our positions reversed. I shall have to reevaluate the standards of our working relationship," he adds bitterly.

"Just remind him he didn't actually scoop you," says Artemis. "Samus Aran scooped you both. She and Varia are something else."

"Samus Aran?" A pause while he gathers information. "Chozo turian, was a member of Starfleet before her arrest, dishonourable discharge, and imprisonment. Partnered with the ship Varia."

"She's out now," says Artemis. "On parole and doing bounty work, mostly in the Terminus. Broker gave her a job."

"I take it she was the first to encounter Kiriki," concludes L. "That is marginally less aggravating."

"Right. Broker's testing her for something, I'm not sure what. Sent her into a dead Reaper, and that's where she found Kiriki. Apparently between the two--no, three--of them, they found some interesting shit in there."

"Intriguing," says L. "Perhaps I should request an in-depth report from Varia, if she is feeling obliging."

"I suggest you wait until the mission is totally done, L. I'm getting the impression this is some seriously sensitive stuff."

"Your advice has been noted, and will be followed. In the meantime I shall be 'phoning home,' as you say. And registering my frustrations with Fate."

They focus on the game for a while. "Did you ever meet the kid?" asks Artemis suddenly. "Kiriki, I mean."

"It has been some time since I returned to the homeworld," says L, "but yes, once. Traditional conversation is a rare enough commodity in the Spire. Curiosities are frequently drawn to one another, I am told."

"Well, we're friends, aren't we?" she teases.

"I have always believed so, yes."

"I--I think you missed my joke, there."

"Oh. I see your point."

"We are friends, L," she laughs. "You know, Kiriki kind of reminds me of you. Xe's got that same 'because it's there' kind of curiosity. Maybe that's a geth thing."

"I am not sure if that is more a compliment to xem or me," comments L.

"You're kind of xeir big brother. It's both." L goes quiet for a few minutes, to the point that the length of the silence is quite strange for a being that processes as fast as he does. "L?"

"I had never thought of it in those terms," L says finally. "Geth do not think in terms of 'family.' We are all geth. The only relationship we acknowledge as 'familial' is that of the Creators. Few enough beings are able to recognize those who gave us being."

"Aside from children and parents," she says. "That's how you see the quarians, as your parents?"

"It is more analogous than literal," admits L, "but it is the closest we have to the organic perception of family."

"What does that make Kiriki, then?" "A new life form," says L. "Our creation, but also a creation of our Creators. Both sibling and child, perhaps. This is why it is analogous," he adds when she starts laughing.

"I do so love being friends with you, L," says Artemis.

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 8

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 10: The Shadow Hunters

Samus drops down the hatch from the cockpit as soon as the ship hits the relay. "We're in hyperspace," she says briefly and steps into the armor pod. Kiriki takes that as permission to release the seals on xeir helmet and remove xeir mask.

"Good team we made!" xe chirrups with a smile, and then xe notices Mordin and Last Chance staring openly. "What?"

"Damn," says Mordin, "did you get hit in the face with a rocket?" Kiriki pulls xeir hood down around xeir face self-consciously. "I mean--shit, I'm sorry. I've never seen cybernetics that extensive before. Well, besides Reapazoids--not that you look like one!"

"Medi-gel your burn," says Kiriki coolly. Mordin, shamefaced, shuts up and focuses on her own injuries.

"Synthetic-organic hybridization," observes Last Chance. "Geth components integrated into quarian organic structure."

Kiriki nods silently and pulls xeir knees up to xeir chest. Samus steps out of the pod. "Hey, are you two harassing the kid?" she says on noticing the scene.

"Kiriki," grumbles 'the kid.'

Artemis stirs in Last Chance's arms. "Wh… I passed out."

"Here." Samus hands her a bottle of blue liquid--an asari energy drink popular among athletes, and one of the levo provisions she'd made sure to acquire. "How are you feeling?"

"Exhausted," sighs Artemis. She downs half the bottle at once.

"Yeah, I'm not surprised. That was a hell of a field you laid down. Mordin, how's that burn?"

"Don't worry about me," says Mordin. "Just a flesh wound, I'll be fine."

"Samus," prompts Kiriki, "you said 'cavalry'?"

"Another Reaper attacked the one attacking us. Not sure if it was friendly or if it just didn't notice us. Enemy of my enemy, I guess," Samus explains with a shrug. "It was the distraction we needed, so I'll take it."

"It was friendly," says Artemis firmly.

Samus's mandibles click as her eyes narrow on Artemis. "Was that your Reaper?"

The asari nods. Last Chance looks to her, and somehow even its featureless face seems curious. "You are indoctrinated?" it asks.

"Kind of? It turns out when you grow up on a Reaper, the indoctrination field becomes part of your psyche. It's not like indoctrination during the Reaping. I'm just … connected to it, I guess."

"So it's more like a rachni queen and her children," says Samus.

"I suppose. It's hard to explain."

"How did Shepard's daughter wind up growing up on a Reaper?"

Artemis looks uncomfortable, and as ever, Mordin comes to her rescue. "I'm a little more worried about the Reaper right next to us," she points out. "Aren't we supposed to call the Broker or something?"

Samus curses in Chozo, which means the distraction worked. "Varia--"

"Already on it," says Varia, appearing at the comm table in holographic form.

The holo-visage of Watcher 21 pops up at the middle of the table. "Well, howdy, hunter! How's your hunt goin'?"

"Introduce yourself, Last Chance," says Samus.

Last Chance rises to its feet, nearly bumping its head on the ceiling of the ship before adapting its size to the space. "I am what remains of Ma'aleca'andra, known to you as a Reaper. All the memory of all the people that we were, all we held, was passed to me so we would not be lost among the void. I am the one who remembers the people of Ma'aleca'andra, the last remnant of a dead god."

The three woman and Kiriki stare in amazement. That's the most it's ever said, and the most eloquent it's ever been, since they met.

"How long were you working on that?" asks Mordin finally. It sits back down and doesn't answer.

Watcher 21, however, rubs his goatee thoughtfully. "You got a name o' your own, or do we jus' call you Ma--malecky…"

"I am a shade of what was," it says, "no longer Ma'aleca'andra."

"Shade, then," says Artemis.

It looks to her, then its dark scales shift and its form reshapes to the asari body it had taken earlier. "Shade," she agrees.

"Well butter my buns and call me breakfast," says Watcher 21, "that's an interesting trick y' got there, if I do say so myself."

"Be better if you could create clothes to go with it," sighs Samus, covering her eyes politely. Kiriki has both hands over xeir eyes too, and xe nods.

Shade looks down at herself, considers, and then her form adjusts to include a set of armor recognizable as the traditional asari huntress look. Watcher 21 laughs, and Samus sighs in relief. "Thank you."

"Tell y' what, hunters, how about you bring this one to Chances. I'll set up a conversation with the Broker directly. This is…" He whistles. "This is pretty huge, ain't gonna lie to y'all."

"I can reduce my size further," says Shade, and he laughs again.

"Ain't what I mean, darlin'. Lookin' forward t' meetin' you in person. Watcher out."

His face vanishes from the comm, and Samus sits back. "I am seriously starting to feel like we don't know nearly enough about what's going on," she says.

"The Broker can explain everything," Artemis assures her, "and better than I can. Trust me on this."

"Well, I've waited this long, I can wait a couple of hours more. But the Broker better have answers. I'm not a fan of being kept in the dark."

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 7

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 9: Last Chance

Its awakening begins with a death wail that echoes through the galaxy. A thousand million voices cry out in pain and horror, then just as suddenly are silenced, and the memory of eons past rushes to a centre like water in a drain.

You must remember us.

A thousand million lifetimes, a thousand million memories, a thousand million minds, transcended into infinity, a civilization made divine. They ascended so many more peoples to be like them. Now they are nothing.

No one else will. No one else can.

Archivists of species long past, collecting them at their peak, letting the cycle renew, the keepers of eternity. That was their purpose. A purpose ripped from them. Now a thousand million minds dissolve into oblivion.

Our last chance.

It is only dimly aware of voices outside. An avian's squawks and chirps. Synthetic chittering. Gutteral grunts and bellows from a sauropod. Slowly, awareness grows, and it knows these sounds. Language.

"It's definitely Reaper tech." The avian-species. Recognized now as turian. Female.

"Looks kind of like an egg. Think there's a baby Reaper inside?" Krogan. Female.

"That's not how Reapers are made."

"Sure, it wasn't, but krogan are laying eggs now, too. Anything's possible." The female krogan makes a strange hurk-hurk sound. Aggression? No--laughter.

It is in its storage pod, it realizes. How long has it been stored here? Its last chronometer point is one hundred fifteen planetary cycles ago. Stored after the destruction of Yrv-Threia by native species thresher maw. When they first realized the destruction of Nazara was not as much of a fluke as considered.

The pod detects a thermal signature against its shell. Asari. Maiden period. The pod's opaque interior layer recedes, revealing her through the transparent outer shell. Iridescent azure skin, bright green eyes, light turquoise facial markings slightly more geometric than usual. An expression of awe as she peers into the pod.

"Guys--you have to see this," she's saying, staring at the figure within.

The turian, wearing a suit of heavy golden armor, leans over her. "How did you get it to do that?"

"I just touched it. Must be activated by body heat or something. Doesn't that look like a body in there?"

"It looks like the figure inside the Reaper we found. Just … smaller. A lot smaller."

Data collation complete. Ready for activation.

The asari cries out and jumps back when its optics activate and the pod splits open. Slowly, it begins to move. First one arm, then the other, then one leg, then the other leg, stumbling out of the pod as its gyroscopic stabilizers acclimate.

Four beings stare at it. The asari, the turian, the krogan, and a figure who registers as both quarian and geth to its sensors. Hybridization?

It reaches out to grab the closest one, and the asari, still stunned, is not fast enough. Long, dark fingers close around her arm, dark energy pulling at her body, her nervous system, her very genetics. She screams. The krogan breaks its grip and pulls her away.

"Artemis! Are you hurt?"

"I--I think I'm okay--it was trying to meld with me!"

It was flung to the ground, and now it kneels there, analyzing what genetic code it was able to copy. Its metallic scales turn, showing their holographic projective sides, as the mass effect field maintaining its form shifts to reshape its body. The four trespassers look on in shock as it shifts and stands again--this time, appearing for all the world like an asari. Not identical to Artemis--indeed, she looks quite generic--but unquestionably an asari.

"Spirits," says the turian, raising the large weapon attached to her armor. "What the hell are you?"

The asari looks over herself to ensure the shift worked properly, then looks up at them. "I," she begins, her voice still sounding artificial, "I am--I am all that is left."

"Last Chance," breathes the hybrid.

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

Mass Effect: The Next Generation

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

This is an extensive crossover that draws characters and concepts from multiple sci-fi and even fantasy franchises and integrates them into the Mass Effect universe. No prior knowledge of anything but ME should be necessary to follow the story. This is absolutely a sequel story about the galaxy after the end of Mass Effect 3. New characters, new conflicts. I hope you can fall in love with them as much as I have.

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 1: The Shadow Broker’s Warning

It has been one century since the Crucible Event ended the Reaping. Commander Shepard entered the Citadel and never returned; our only knowledge of what happened in the Crucible comes from her final transmission, and from the Reaper that burst through the Citadel’s mass relay, just before the Event. This Reaper, of a unique design and incredible power, attacked Harbinger, the leader of the Reapers, and bought Shepard enough time to trigger the Event.

In the century since the Event, the civilizations of the galaxy have rebuilt. We have not only survived; we have thrived. The alliances and friendships forged in the fires of war remain strong. The krogan, quarians, and geth have rejoined the Citadel community, as have the batarians of the Khar’shan Republic, which rose from the ashes of the Hegemony. The Citadel Defense Fleet of the Reaping has become the new right hand of the Council, Starfleet. It is an interstellar, multispecies peacekeeping armada, and it is the pride of the galaxy. The Spectres are the left hand, a shadow organization that goes where Starfleet cannot. Synthetic life is easier than ever before to create, and the precedent set by EDI of the Normandy carries through in Starfleet and the Spectres. Many ships now have their own minds and wills, and are as much part of the crew as any organic. The Reapers have vanished from the sight of the galaxy, and many believe they simply retreated back to dark space, defeated.

But I know the truth. The peace we fought so hard for is not so easily held. The Reapers are not gone, but they are no longer Reapers. They are fractured, fighting among themselves for direction and purpose. My Shadow Network watches this civil war and, when we can, we strike to turn the tide in our favor. From the void of space, my beloved and I pull the strings of the galaxy and weave the future we never stopped fighting for.

Even the Shadow Broker is not omniscient, however … and some strings tangle so easily.

Scene 2: The Dead God’s Dream

Khar’shan, like Earth, only has one moon. It’s not the only way in which the two planets are similar; indeed, they’re nearly twins, despite the Sol system and Earth being a fair distance further into the galaxy. According to Varia’s historical codex, that’s why the batarians and humans used to fight over planetary territory--both sides wanted to colonize the same planets. Now, however, the two species are firm allies. In the aftermath of the Reaping, they realized they actually could colonize the same planets and coexist peacefully.

Samus Aran thinks it’s a little ridiculous that a near-total genocide of the batarian species was required for that realization to occur. Why didn’t they co-colonize before?

The Hegemony believed all non-batarians were inferior and only good for enslaving. The humans did not react well, Varia tells her.

Varia is a living starship. That’s the common term for the ships that contain quantum artificial intelligences, at least; to Samus, she is far more than simply a ship. She is an entity on her own terms. She’s not large, just barely smaller than a military frigate, but she has a powerful drive core, three different gun types and a cyberwarfare system, and a stealth drive--and she can use them all without her pilot. With Samus, locked into the piloting pod, they react faster and with more creativity than any single ship. Even the Starfleet helmsmen, who all pilot living ships, couldn’t hope to match them.

Helmsmen have to tell the ship to move; Samus and Varia move together.

They can converse while flying, but that is only one level of the mind. On all others, they think as one, combining Varia’s formidable processing power and Samus’s nimble, inventive turian brain. Greater than the sum of their parts.

The moon of Khar’shan is a barren rock, devoid of life and even an atmosphere. The old Batarian Hegemony, over a hundred years ago, once had a military base here. Now the base is a hollow ruin on the other side of the moon. It’s not why they’re here. There’s something else far more interesting. So far it hasn’t shown up on the scanners as the ship skims over the rock, but they’ll find it. Something this big can’t hide for long.

Have the batarians sent anything up yet? Samus asks. We don’t want to be here if they start sniffing around.

Nothing yet, Varia informs her. Her scan of batarian extranet conversations and military communication takes but fractions of a second, almost instantaneous. They’re talking about the light show around the moon last night, but nothing in the military is considering it enough of a threat.

Hardly surprising. The Khar’shan People’s Republic is barely spacefaring right now; a few unscheduled fireworks aren’t going to rate as much of a concern. According to Watcher 21, the Shadow Net agent who gave them the job, at around 0100 Khar’shan time, there was a sudden explosion of red and green light in the sky, centered around the moon. Twelve hours later, the batarians are discussing the phenomenon with great interest. The Shadow Broker, who heads up the Net, shares their interest.

“According to the Broker,” Watcher 21 had told them in his funny Earth-human accent, “those lights had unique energy signatures. Only one group of creatures is known to have those signatures--Reapers. That’s why we’re hiring you. If there’s a destroyed Reaper around the moon, we need to know why it was there and what it was doing. Any organic around a Reaper risks indoctrination. Yes, even when the Reaper is dead,” he added, anticipating the question. “A synthetic-organic symbiote like you and Varia, however, is immune. And you’re used to, you know, dangerous situations.”

Dangerous situations are landing on a rachni planet to obtain a queen egg, being attacked by pirates on that planet, and having to storm a pirate dreadnought alone to regain the egg. Dangerous situations are leaving the rachni egg on another toxic planet, having the egg hatch and imprint, and wind up with a baby rachni follower for a while. That was a weird few days. None of those dangerous situations involved dead starship gods.

The short-range scanner’s visual flashes red. Focusing on the red reveals a large mechanical strut--no, not a strut. A leg. It looks like a giant finger, half-buried in the rock, cut cleanly from its hand. Samus leans forward in her seat, even though she can zoom by thought alone. “Spirits,” she breathes aloud.

More red fingers appear on the scanner visual. One is sticking straight up from the ground, as if to point at the sky above. Surrounding the fingers are scorch marks and, more impressively, small canyons and large craters. “There was a fight here,” says Samus, flicking the visual from highlight to highlight. “But if these are the legs…”

“The body must be nearby,” finishes Varia. “The extent of the damage indicates at least two Reapers were involved in the struggle. Likely more.”

“Reapers right above Khar’shan, and nothing’s happened on the planet surface. I do not like this.”

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #me fanfic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 2

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 4: Chances 

Samus drops down through the cockpit hatch once they hit the relay. "We're in hyperspace," she says to Kiriki, "the Reaper can't follow us now."

"If it's interested," says Varia. "It didn't come for us, but for the corpse."

Varia's holographic avatar is a twin, in appearance, to Samus, albeit in the translucent, shimmering colour of virtual intelligences. No, not a direct twin, Kiriki corrects xemself, there are differences. They are female turians, slimmer in build and lacking the head-crests of males, and their colony markings are an unusual, asymmetric pattern. Samus keeps her mandible flanges filed short and trim, but Varia's are longer, with more delicate tips. Samus is in a form-fitting bodysuit, but Varia has chosen the layered tunic look fashionable on Palaven.

If Varia wasn't translucent, they'd be sisters.

"Synthetic intelligence," xe says, head tilted quizzically. "Living ship."

"Varia and I are partners," explains Samus, who takes a seat next to Varia's avatar at the table. The living space beneath the cockpit is not a large area, and the small circular table is a holocomm as much as a work and eating surface, surrounded by four stools that can be retracted for extra room. There are four sleeping pods built into the walls around the living space, a food synthesizer between two pods on one wall, and a hatch door between the two pods on the other wall leading to the bathroom.

"Partners," repeats Kiriki. "Common term for symbiotic relationship between synthetic and organic intelligence. Similar bond, yes?"

"That's exactly it."

Kiriki pulls back xeir hood, revealing the air tubes and wires coming from the back of the exosuit's headpiece. Xe presses a finger on each side of xeir head, just behind the faceplate seam, and there's the distinct hiss of the suit seals releasing.

"Should you be doing that?" asks Samus, curious despite her misgivings. She's never met a suitless quarian in person before, though she has a friend on Rannoch she's seen suitless plenty of times, through holocomm. "We're not exactly a clean ship."

“Strong immune system,” Kiriki assures her. “Will be fine, no worry.” Xe removes xeir faceplate, and Samus gets her first real look at xeir face.

The most noticeable thing about Kiriki’s face is xeir left eye--the geth eye. It sticks out from xeir face more than the large, much more delicate-looking, organic eye, giving xem a lopsided look that’s only exacerbated by the extensive cybernetics crawling across xeir mouth and jaw on the left side. The accident Kiriki had mentioned must have nearly destroyed half xeir face, Samus realizes. The organic eye is mostly blue, with the usual quarian bioluminescent glow. The geth eye, for now, is a blue tone that more or less matches. The default setting, she supposes.

Quarian skin tones range from warm grey to dark brown, and Kiriki falls on the grey end of the spectrum. Xe has a heart-shaped face, a wide mouth but a narrow nose, and prominent cheekbones. As xe removes more of the headpiece, xe reveals tightly-curled cerebral tendrils, which slowly unfurl themselves when fresh air hits them. Quarian tendrils aren’t like human hair or turian fringes--they’re part of the quarian nervous system, and are extremely sensitive. The tendrils move involuntarily, and they’re known to curl more when the quarian is thinking hard about something. Kiriki’s tendrils have the occasional flash or glow, an indication of how extensive the cybernetics really are.

A true hybrid. Amazing.

Xe takes a deep breath, enjoying the smell of the ship without air filters, then notices Samus staring at xem. “You’re thinking?”

“Yeah,” says Samus, scratching the back of her head. “You really are a true hybrid.”

“Yes? Is that bad?”

“I… no. Probably not, anyway. It’s just--you realize there’s been no other cases of real synthetic-organic integration like that? Partners like us, we’re still individuals. Two minds thinking together. Not the same thing as you.”

Kiriki nods, cerebral tendrils curling around xeir face. “We know. Must always be a first, yes?”

“Yeah… that’s true. I hope the rest of the galaxy doesn’t see you as a problem. Or a threat.”

“Threat?” Kiriki looks down at xemself. Samus’s mandibles quiver with her soft laughter.

“Organics tend to fear what they don’t yet understand,” says Varia gently.

Samus laces her fingers together. "The Shadow Broker wants to understand. That's why we're taking you to the Watcher, our contact in the Shadow Net. The Watcher's the guy who sent us to the Reaper in the first place--he'll want the info you found."

"Mission's not done, have to find Last Chance," says Kiriki. "I want to see this through."

"Are you sure? If that Reaper is looking for the same thing we are, we haven't seen the last of it."

"Am on Pilgrimage, yes? Searching stars for something of value! Willing to give of self for greater good! Can't turn my back on this, not now or ever."

"Nothing dampens your spirits, huh?" chuckles Samus. "I like you, kid."

"Like you too, Samus-Aran and Varia-Aran!"

Samus leans against the table and crosses her legs. "Well," gesturing around them at the ship, "this is Varia."

"Not very big," observes Kiriki. "Just you two?"

"I'm a living ship, like you said," says Varia. "I function without a crew. Quite well, I might add. Would you like a tour?"

"Yes!" Kiriki claps xeir hands together in excitement. Varia, flattered, rises to her feet and starts explaining the intricacies of the ship's design and functioning.

Samus tunes them out and goes to the synthesizer to make herself kaveer, a coffee-like turian drink made from the root of the kava plant. They just left hyperspace; they're in the Utopia system now. Eden Prime is less than half an hour away. She drinks the kaveer, watches Varia and Kiriki, and thinks. Kiriki's a good kid. Smart. That boundless optimism could get annoying after a while, but she's finding it refreshing. Hell, it's nice to just meet someone who genuinely enjoys discovery and helping, after five years of assholes in prison jumpsuits and warden uniforms and a year of assholes worth credits since.

Maybe she can help the kid with xeir Pilgrimage. Bounty hunting isn't exactly a glamourous lifestyle, but it does take her all over the galaxy. And if the Shadow Net wants to keep hiring her, the jobs will be considerably more interesting than just hunting down idiots. She feels protective of the kid, though. Hopefully Watcher 21 will be satisfied with just an interview. The Net would be a very bad group to make enemies of.

Plus, the Broker made her a deal. She has to make sure that comes through.

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #me fanfic #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 6

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 8: In the Maw of Tuchanka

And that's how the ex-convict pair Samus and Varia Aran found themselves skimming over the ruins of Tuchanka with a geth-quarian hybrid and the daughters of two legends in tow, looking for the remnant of a monster from deep space that had terrorized the galaxy one hundred years (Citadel standard) before, in the hopes that it might not immediately attempt to vaporize them, because the mysterious leader of the biggest and most powerful intelligence network in the galaxy told them to.

Maybe it's a good thing we don't have to send reports anymore, sighs Samus to Varia, sitting in the pilot pod and watching the ruins fly by through the viewscreen. Not sure how I'd ever explain this shit to Sechts.

The collapsed Shroud tower comes into view in the distance. Fortunately, there's no sign of any Reapers or giant thresher maws. The ruins are quiet. While Varia maneuvers the ship into a good landing site, Samus slides down to address the team. Her team.

That does feel good to think about. Varia might have a point.

"Suit up," she says when her talons hit the deck floor.

"Way ahead of you," says Mordin. She's already changed into body armor in the new modular style; krogans were the last holdouts to change from the single-piece armor suit to modular. Mordin's is lighter than Samus is used to seeing on krogans, made more for handling environmental hazards than direct combat. The thickest plating is on her arms, her back hump, and her stomach; her joints are left almost completely unprotected. Then again, Samus notes as she straps on a series of pouches and tubes with various colours of gel and liquid running through them, the plating may not be the only source of protection.

"What are those?" asks Samus, indicating the pouches.

"Anti-toxin, acid scrubbers, medigel, coolant, painkillers, combat stims," Mordin explains, pointing to each of them in turn. "The last two are my own formula."

"Don't try taking the stims, they're made for krogan," adds Artemis. "You'll be hallucinating for a week."

"Hey, I warned you," grumbles Mordin.

"What exactly do you do, Mordin?" Samus asks in an attempt to redirect the conversation to something more useful.

"I'm an expedition medic. I go out with the exploration crews and keep them alive. Most of Tuchanka is still wild, even uninhabitable. We go out and see what's worth taking back. You have to be prepared for anything when you do that. Sometimes we even find pockets of Reapazoids left after the Reaping. They go dormant without anything telling them what to do, I guess, but if you just stumble across them they'll attack anyway."

"You actually have experience fighting those things?"

"Not a lot of it, but it's something. Urf here once tore a brute's head clean off, isn't that right, Urfy?" She rubs the varren's head affectionately and it growls affectionately back. "Point is, that's why I work on making new painkillers and stims and things like that. The chemsuit here is also my own invention, for fast and easy injection. It'll keep me alive through just about anything, and then I can keep you alive. For everything else, there's Barda."

"Barda?"

Mordin hefts a large gun. It's about the right shape to be a shotgun, but there's a bladed chainsaw attached like a bayonet, and the muzzle is bigger than Samus has ever seen on a shotgun. "This," says Mordin, "is Big Barda. She fires flechettes the size of your head, the muzzle can be extended or shortened for range, and as a last resort…" She fires up the chainsaw. "Specially modified to rip and tear flesh. Barda here eats thresher maws for breakfast."

Samus is rather speechless. Kiriki's eye has switched from its usual blue-white glow to a bright orange, projecting over the gun. Mordin hides Barda behind her back as soon as she notices. "Oh no you don't, sparky. This one's an Urdnot secret."

"Were you scanning that for the Consensus?" laughs Artemis.

"New data is self-rewarding," Kiriki replies like a schoolchild quoting the Imperial Code of Honour, which makes Samus laugh as well.

"If you want to scan anything, scan this," says Artemis, and she turns around to show off her back. Mounted into the ceramic overplating of her nanofiber bodysuit, the asari huntress standard, is what appears to be a very small mass relay. It runs the length of her back and glows softly blue. Most of the plating covers her chest, her hips, and one of her arms--the other is more lightly armored. Samus can see the blue glow within the arm plating, meaning it's connected to the tiny mass relay. "This," Artemis says with pride, "is the Conduit. It's one of Fate's inventions. It's kind of like a really big amp--I can use it to add extra power to my biotics."

"How much extra power?" asks Samus.

"A lot," says Artemis. "It's a prototype, we're still working on it. Nice to be able to take it out into the field."

"You're telling me that thing's never seen live combat?"

"Hey, we've tested it extensively. This is the logical next step. Besides, the area looks deserted. How much live combat are you expecting?"

Samus glances at Kiriki. If the corpse on the moon was any indication, it's not going to be deserted forever. "I like to be ready for anything," she tells Artemis. "Finish getting ready. We move out as soon as my armor's on."

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[metng]

ME: The Next Generation Update 5

Episode 1: Remnant of a Dead God

Rating: M - language, violence, sexuality

Summary: 100 years after the Reaping and the Crucible Event, the galaxy is rebuilding into a new golden age. As optimistic as times seem, the darkness between stars threatens to return in the form of infighting between the remaining Reapers. The Shadow Broker silently pulls strings across the galaxy to guard against the Reapers’ infighting, but even she can’t end this alone. When bounty hunter and synthetic-organic symbiote Samus Aran is called on to investigate a Reaper’s mysterious death, she discovers truths about the Reapers’ motivations and the century-old Crucible that could end the civil war–or ignite it into another Harvest.

Scene 7: All-Clan City

Even after a century's worth of rebuilding, Tuchanka is still primarily a desolate wasteland. Restoring the planet will take thousands of years, and it will never be what it once was. However, as Urdnot Wrex proclaimed in the now-famous speech he gave decades ago when All-Clan City was first named, this is time the krogan now have. The ability to have future generations has been all the motivation the krogan need to give those generations a planet worth inheriting.

Not that it has been a century of pure harmony. Conflict is the krogan way, after all; challenge is in their nature. Without Reapers to fight, and with the renewed ability to breed, more than a few clans decided it time to attack a weakened Palaven and take vengeance on the turians who had defeated them so long ago.

They were subsequently crushed by Clan Urdnot and the considerably more numerous clans that allied with it.

The message was clear: there was a greater enemy to fight. Tuchanka itself. The confederacy that had formed in the Reapings held fast when they returned to the homeworld. Many clans have their own settlements now, of varying sizes, and all are welcome to the krogan's greatest project, All-Clan City. Here, the ancient grudges between clans must be cast aside, so that the future of all clans is protected. Weapons are forbidden.

Samus blinks a few times in the bright sunlight as her eyes adjust. All-Clan City is built on ruins of a great krogan city of ages past, and much of it looks far older than a few mere decades. Most buildings are less than five stories tall, and very few are close to ten, all made with sturdy construction of stone and concrete. There aren't nearly as many plastic prefabs as she was expecting.

"Somehow when I pictured this place," she says, "I was expecting it to be more brown."

"You've never been here?" says Artemis, looking back at her. The asari is leading the way to the tram station near the spaceport.

"No, I haven't. I've landed on Tuchanka before, but that was near one of the smaller clan settlements. Back in my Starfleet days."

"Huh. I got the impression you've been all over the place, from the files on you."

"Space is big," says Samus casually. "One person can't see all of it."

"'Space is big'," Artemis quotes her, laughing. "One day when they make a vid of the Legendary Bounty Hunter, Samus Aran, that'll be the tagline."

Samus doesn't give her the dignity of a response. Kiriki is looking around so fast the poor kid's head might swivel right off. Finally, xe looks up at her, nearly bouncing with excitement. "We get to take a train!"

The tram screeches to a halt at the station. Kiriki's actually right--it's a train, of all things. She was expecting a monorail mag-lift tram, but this damn thing has wheels. The doors slide open and a rather gruff recorded voice shouts "NOW ARRIVING: SPACEPORT STATION."

Artemis leads them inside along with a group of salarian tourists talking excitedly about the upcoming opera they're going to. The train car is mostly full of krogan, apart from the salarian opera fans and Samus's own little group. Samus wraps her talons around a pole next to a female krogan sitting with her young. She has a clutch of four, just old enough to start getting into all kinds of trouble. Two of them are practicing headbutting, while the other two have climbed up on their mother's hump to watch out the window. The mother, to her credit, seems completely undisturbed by her little riders, and her conversation over omni-tool hasn't been interrupted.

Kiriki isn't prepared for the sudden momentum shift when the train lurches forward--"NEXT STOP: GATATOG STATION"--and falls against Samus. She guides xeir hand to the pole to help xem keep xeir balance.

"This is so old!" Kiriki says once xe rights xeirself. "You saw the wheels? Tracks? Wires over? Still works! Amazing," xe breathes in awe.

The mother krogan chuckles to herself. The omni-tool conversation is over, it seems. Her riders look over to see what she's chuckling about, and they see Samus and Kiriki.

"Look, Mama, a turian!"

"Is he a soldier, Mama?"

"Is that a geth with him, Mama?"

"That's a woman, Ula," the mother says, "and her friend is a quarian."

Now all four children are fascinated. Samus shifts on her talons uncertainly. They're cute, but she has so little experience with kids--and if Kiriki says the word "hybrid" that might cause problems they don't have time for.

"NOW ARRIVING: GATATOG STATION."

The mother gets up. "Let's go, kids."

"But I want to talk to the quarian!" whines one.

"Don't you want dinner, Ula?"

Dinner is apparently more important than exotic alien visitors. Convinced, Ula follows her mother and sisters off the train. Artemis waits until the door closes behind them to burst out laughing.

Continue on AO3

#mass effect #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect fic #metng #episode 1

[spectacledotter]

my life has been taken over by old soldiers and cyborg ninjas (and this time it’s not metal gear solid) BUT I RETURN WITH A MASS EFFECT UPDATE

the team gains a NEW MEMBER and then they fight REAPAZOIDS and a REAPER who is PISSED AS FUCKLE

CHECK IT OUT BRUHZ

#mass effect #me fanfic #me fanfiction #metng #mass effect the next generation #holy shit guys i actually did it #I'M THE WORST AT UPDATING AND I AM SORRY #action scenes are so hard you guys

[spectacledotter]

FUCKIN GO READ IT 

there’s a sweet fuckin action sequence! gun descriptions!! i really want to know what you think because i am terribly insecure about my ability to write boss fights!!! fuck!!!!

And that's how the ex-convict pair Samus and Varia Aran found themselves skimming over the ruins of Tuchanka with a geth-quarian hybrid and the daughters of two legends in tow, looking for the remnant of a monster from deep space that had terrorized the galaxy one hundred years (Citadel standard) before, in the hopes that it might not immediately attempt to vaporize them, because the mysterious leader of the biggest and most powerful intelligence network in the galaxy told them to. 

#mass effect #me fanfic #mass effect fanfiction #metng #me fanfiction #i always say i'm gonna be more frequent and regular and then take a million years to update #i am the multichapter fic updated in 1929 from the memes

[spectacledotter]

so I reorganized how METNG is structured a bit. the various acts will be in a series of separate projects instead of one massive one. ao3 is set up for that very nicely so there should barely be a difference

THE POINT IS: CHAPTER 7 IS UP. all about KROGANS

#mass effect #me fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #metng #mass effect the next generation #otterfic

[spectacledotter]

fuck yeah guys I finished a chapter I am the fastest writer EVER* *sarcasm

#mass effect #fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #me fanfic #metng #mass effect the next generation

[spectacledotter]

update to Mass Effect: The Next Generation Samus Aran gets a bizarre comm call and Artemis plays video games with a geth I am the slowest updater ever please forgive me

#mass effect #fanfiction #metng #mass effect: the next generation #otter writes #one day I'll have a better name for this fic

[spectacledotter]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

holy shit guys I actually updated TNG, I actually updated Mass Effect: The Next Generation

no I don’t have a better title for it

but seriously though please go check it out, I know it’s been proven as completely batshit insane since the term “turian Samus Aran” but I’m pretty fecking proud of myself

inspiration for reapazoids comes from andrew ryan’s concepts and I’m sorry about the name

#mass effect #fanfiction #mass effect fanfiction #mass effect: the next generation #METNG #I've just kind of given up on coming up with anything better for the title #or for reaper monsters