So, you probably have questions. I can answer a few at the very least. Let's get the first one up front. I envisioned here... the absolute worst case scenario for both Halo and the Mass Effect universes. And then multiplied them against each other. Thus creating... a dark future.
Part of this was inspired by one path open to your character in "Dragon Age: Inquisition", most of it was inspired by the idea of the bad future trope. Where we see our heroes end up in the darkest timeline. I've always kinda wanted a chance to do one of these, but never really found an opportunity. Lucky me, time travel crystal already established in the canon lore! And the best thing about time travel? You can make up the rules as you go because it does not exist. Quantum physics is fun like that. As are all theoretical sciences.
The most obvious question you have on your minds is "what the hell exactly happened?" I feel like I gave a lot of details, but I left others out deliberately as to not overload you all with an information dump. I gave what was most narratively expedient for the moment and what was needed for Shepard and Chief to get up to speed with what they missed. I even outlined a ton of it, the general plotline of how this future came to be. The choice of who survived and who didn't mainly relied on what would be the most soul-crushing for readers. Garrus was one of the more obvious choices, because Shepard's best friend dying would signal how wrong this world is. More details than I gave would run the gambit of spoiling future plot points, for both this story and beyond. So I eased off on those with the excuse that our survivors don't know everything.
Next up, the crew from the Andromeda games. Confession time... I don't hate the game. I got it later than most for my Birthday and only installed when the first round of graphical fixes had been implemented. Regardless, none of those issues really featured in my main criticisms for the game. Graphics, in my opinion, even bad ones, aren't as important to me in the grand scheme of gaming. I don't let that influence my experience too much. It's like focusing too much on plot holes in a movie, you miss the overall thematic weight and point of the story and the characters.
To be honest I was highly sceptical of Andromeda because I felt it was ditching some key races and overemphasizing others, mainly the quarians. I've made no secret of my disagreement with BioWare over their treatment of the quarian people in recent years and their lack of basic existence within the storyline of Andromeda pissed me off. I was even angrier when DLC plans were cancelled that would've featured the quarians in the plot. Possibly even a new squadmate if we were lucky. So, yeah, I was rather unhappy about that.
But, I did like the characters, even if the story itself was nothing special, they all more than salvaged it for me. I don't even have the same level of hate some people have for Liam, mainly because they overemphasize his mistakes when that's the entire point. He makes mistakes, big ones, bad ones. Peebee, in the same vein, is one of my favourite characters! Does she do things that are rash? Yes. That's the point. That's her character. Her actions aren't bad writing, they are in line with who she is. And because of who she is and what she represents thematically, I cannot help but love her. She is my main love interest and I feel no shame in saying that.
Also, an aside, while I respect people's decision to mod the game however they want... removing Peebee's mask is a mistake. It is a thematic mistake, character mistake and a really, in my opinion, superficially created mistake. The mask exists because she does not readily identify with her own species, she is deliberately separating herself from them by not adopting their usual customs. The mask makes her unique, forces her to stand out and by removing it so she looks "pretty" is missing the entire point of her character. Please stop doing it, if you want to up her graphics wise fine, but give me a mod where you leave the mask please because you are quite literally missing the entire point of her character and I feel sorry for you.
So, other than my love for Peebee as a character, which I could go into further but won't right now because we have other topics to touch on, why did I put the Tempest crew into the story? Well, because I feel they have more potential than some people give them credit for. Way more potential. If there was any mistake in Andromeda it was removing your sibling from the main narrative. They should've been another squadmate on your ship as they would've added a whole other dynamic to the game itself. A chance to see that sibling dynamic was one of my goals for this story. The other was to see Alec Ryder in action.
This guy is more or less a legend in the Mass Effect universe, one of the people who were with Jon Grissom when he began exploring the galaxy beyond the Milky Way. He was one of the original N7 Marines. In my mind, he would be a hero of heroes. He'd be Shepard's inspiration in real life and I wanted to explore the idea of your hero, a person you admire, looking to you to save everything. Not just the world, but for him personally. For Shepard that would be difficult, but not with the right person in that role. Plus I get to have Wade act more like who he really is in my mind, not just the persona he puts on to get the job done. He is a bit of a fanboy at heart.
Kayap in the Goblin Mech was just something I had to do. The idea that the weakest little alien in both franchises can become a badass was something appealing to me in this scenario. Because while the darkest timeline brings out the worst in the world, it can bring out the best in people. Seeing that in Kayap was important in my mind to give people a bit of joy in a dismal, dark storyline where people die and worlds are destroyed. It's my little attempt at a Captain Marvel Space Beeper is what I'm saying. The hope spot to let you know there's still a chance to make things right. I hope it looked badass, there's a lot more of Kayap in it soon enough.
Tali's mental degeneration into insanity has probably got a few people wondering what is going on. To be frank, it wasn't as simple as the obvious culprit getting into the Mass Effect universe. It had to do with several factors. Her mental defenses being utterly destroyed with the extinction of her race and the knowledge that it was caused by one of her closest friends under the direction of something even worse along with the fact the love of her life was seemingly gone. All of that would break the strongest of wills. I hate making Tali suffer, I really do, but it was the easiest way in my mind to illustrate how terrible things were and why it was imperative that this timeline never come to be.
And before you get started with your own theories of time travel, to avoid some insane "Marty Replaced Himself" nonsense, here's the deal. This timeline exists because Shepard, Chief and Cortana were removed from it. By returning to where they disappeared, they can correct everything that went down. So, yeah, there it is. No need for further explanation. That's the Word of God or the author as it were.
Oh and Zek's more noble side winning out, in the end, is some obvious foreshadowing for his character arc. Trust me though, it's going to take some time before we even get that far. More importantly, Cerberus' involvement is another wrinkle we will discuss in due time, but that's for a future arc down the line. Something to speculate on for ya.
That's most of what I have to say on this portion of the chapter. Next time is a bit more... dire. You'll see.
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