r/masseffectlore • u/Choice-Welder6409 • 7d ago
**28 September: Following the Missing**
Left the Normandy with a list of unfinished business.
Missing people. Unanswered transmissions. Small entries in the journal. Presumably larger matters to those waiting for news.
Ashley and Garrus joined me on the surface.
Red hills. Grey skies. The Mako approached the terrain with more confidence than dignity.
We searched the abandoned structures, opened containers, and followed the missing survey team underground.
Found them.
Husks.
The ExoGeni researchers had been converted by devices like those on Eden Prime. We fought through what remained of them. Another search concluded. No rescue to report.
How the machinery reached this distant place remained unanswered.
Back outside, the landscape offered its own resistance. Steep climbs. Awkward landings. Scavengers firing from below while the Mako explored the practical limits of being upside down.
Recovered an artifact along the way. A small piece of history beside a much more recent tragedy.
Then another name from the journal.
Garoth’s brother. Willem.
We searched the Strenuus system and followed the trail to Xawin.
Snow this time. Poor visibility. Dangerous cold.
Also a thresher maw.
Apparently the weather was insufficient.
We crossed the frozen hills and reached the mercenary base. Fought through its defenders. Searched the rooms.
Found the answer Garoth was waiting for.
His brother had not survived.
Two searches. Two endings nobody would have chosen.
Returned to the Normandy. Spoke with Joker.
His confidence in the ship remained intact. His confidence in its pilot was even stronger.
Then back to the Citadel.
Rear Admiral Mikhailovich met us at the dock. He wanted an inspection. He also appeared to have written most of his conclusions already.
The layout displeased him. The stealth drive cost too much. The alien crew raised further objections.
I defended the ship and the people aboard it.
By the end, he promised a report less negative than he had planned.
A modest victory. Very modest.
Ashley and Kaidan accompanied me into the station. Soon another examination began.
This one had a camera.
Khalisah al-Jilani asked about humanity, the Council, and the Normandy. Then Noveria. Then Saren.
I kept the answers measured. Humanity had joined a larger community. Cooperation deserved more credit than her questions allowed.
Strange to leave a battlefield and find the argument waiting in a cleaner room.
Finished with the merchants.
Compared Spectre weapons. Sold spare equipment. Made room for whatever the next expedition would bring.
Garoth still needed his news.
That could not be reduced to an inventory entry.
Ended the night with fewer mysteries, heavier answers, and a ship I had spent an unexpected amount of time defending.
I was glad to have her.
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u/R4V3M45T3R Agent 7d ago
It was determined years ago that fanfiction is allowed here.