Chapter 164

Harry let Wrex patiently think about his offer, it was a big decision to make after all, one that can't be rushed, so Harry was more than happy to wait for Wrex to come to his own decision.

Wrex took a few minutes thinking, but eventually, he nodded to himself and then began to speak "Harry, will the krogan be free in your world? Will we be used for war?".

Harry shook his head "We don't need the krogan to fight our battles Wrex, even children in Neo Kyoto can destroy planets if they want, we're more than capable of fighting our own wars.

And yes, the krogan will be free, we, in the Yokai Faction believe and advocate free will above everything else, though I might just ask for some help and assistance with some plans, I have but you're more than welcome to tell me to fuck off if you want".

Wrex suddenly chuckled and then nodded "Then, I'll take you on your offer Harry, I'll get in contact with as many krogan as I can find and I'll let you know just how many we can bring with us".

Harry smiled at Wrex and then waved his hand over Wrex, a wave of blue mana flowed from his hand and engulfed Wrex, the spell immediately began to modify his very own DNA changing and fixing it as much as possible.

Harry then nodded "Alright, you can have children now Wrex, though I must warn you, it won't be the same numbers as it was before".

Wrex grinned "That's fine! The fact that I can now have healthy children is enough, the number doesn't matter! I can have kids!".

Wrex looked rather happy, which in turn made Valerie and Shepard happy for him, Wrex then excitedly left to go to his room and get in contact with more krogan.

His being cured will be a big incentive for more krogan to want to join the migration of krogan to Harry's world, for the first time ever, Wrex had hope glowing in his heart, and with that hope came excitement as well.

Valerie turned her head towards Harry and then gave him a kiss on the lips "You did a good thing, Harry, you should feel proud".

Harry smiled at Valerie and caress her face "I am, it took a while, and I had to combine, time, healing, and even some alchemy to create that spell, but I'm glad it worked".

Shepard smiled "Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen a krogan so happy, Wrex almost skipped his way to the elevator just now".

Everyone shared a laugh, the image of a krogan skipping anywhere was just too funny for them, Valerie then stretched "Well! I'm going back to the workshop.

I think Le Fay should be done with Talitha and we were going to start working on some other weapons for the rest of the group, everyone has a pistol, Wrex has his shotgun, and Garrrus his sniper rifle, so I'm thinking of working with an assault rifle next, see what we can design for it".

Harry and Shepard nodded to Valerie, she then waved at them and suddenly turned into mist and disappeared from the area, Shepard suddenly chuckled "I don't think I'll ever get used to the way you guys travel".

Harry smiled and shrugged "You're just jealous we can get anywhere that fast".

Shepard grinned and then said "Yes".

Harry just shook his head while laughing, at least Shepard was honest and that amused Harry to no end, after that, they both then made their way to Ashley who was close by.

-----

Ashley was just relaxing a bit while watching some vids, when she noticed Harry and Shepard walking towards them "Hello Commander, Harry, what are you guys up to? I would have thought you both would be too busy to make your rounds".

Harry smiled "We always make time for everyone Ash, why, were you feeling lonely~?".

Ashley scoffed "As if, but don't you have to deal with the whole "I destroyed Peak 15 which belongs to Binary Helix situation?".

Harry shrugged "Nah, not really, I brought out Binary Helix and Peak 15 before I destroyed that thing remember? What are they going to do? complain because I blew up my labs?".

Ashley sweatdropped "You really bought Binary Helix?".

Harry nodded "Sure did! Though I didn't do it just so I wouldn't get in trouble, I also did it to take it away from Saren, the bastard will be hurting for a while now".

Ashley laughed and shook her head "Damn, that's vindictive as hell... I approve!".

Shepard just smiled as he watched Ashely and Harry get along so well, it certainly seemed like they were having a lot of fun on their own like this, suddenly Ashley said "Anyways, are you guys interested in a quick drink? It's a special occasion".

Shepard chuckled "With all we've been through lately? Hell yes!".

Harry nodded "Alcohol doesn't do shit to me, but I'll drink with you guys".

Ashley smiled and nodded "I only have enough to toast the day, not the captain and a dragon though.

It's Armistice Day when the First Contact War ended, my family always marks it, since I'm the only Williams aboard, I thought I'd ask you".

Shepard smiled and then said, "It seems like an odd thing to celebrate, that was 26 years ago too".

Ashley nodded "In our family, it's not really a celebration, more like an obligation, don't tell me you don't know about my family? My commanders always find out, it's not in my files or something?".

Harry raised an eyebrow "Hm? Did something happen?".

Ashley nodded "Yeah, it's rather odd that the Commander doesn't know about it".

Shepard looked up and began to think back when he read Ashley's files, a few seconds later he said "There's almost nothing in your files, technical scores and a list of crap assignments".

Ashley seemed a bit perplexed, she suddenly frowned and sighed "There's a reason for the crap assignments... I'm General William's granddaughter, the commander of the Shanxi Garrison into the war... the only human ever to surrender to an alien race".

Shepard sighed "I see, that's why you drive yourself so hard".

Harry nodded "And why your racist as hell".

Ashley rolled her eyes at Harry "I'm trying to be better okay?".

Harry chuckled but nodded, he had noticed that Ashley has been less hostile towards the aliens on the crew, in fact, she's more friendly and open with them now.

Ashley scratched her head and then said to Shepard "A Williams has to be better than the best if only to avoid suspicion... that's what my dad told me the night before he retired.

It takes a special kind of thickhead to march into a job where your family's blacklisted, I did it anyways, I'm not going to let our name go down with Arnold and Quisling, Granddad deserved better than that".

Shepard nodded and was more than happy to help Ashely with her goals, but he was also curious about all of this as well, as usual, this prompted him to ask a question "what happened to your grandfather after the war?".

Ashley sighed and looked down, she didn't look particularly enticed to talk about this, but she still answered Shepard's question "He was relieved of command as soon as Shanxie was liberated, they brought him back to Earth in irons, but there was never a trial.

They quietly demoted him and stuck him behind a desk, he retired a year later and spent the rest of his life working construction in the colonies, sometimes we hear about attempts to get him exonerated in some official way, but nothing ever comes of them".

Harry raised an eyebrow "But, he had to have a reason to surrender, he had to, he doesn't sound like someone who would be intimidated, something else was going on that forced him to make that decision".

Shepard looked down and hummed as he thought about what he knew about Shanxie, a few moments later he said, "As I recall, your grandfather held out for a long time".

Ashley nodded "The turians wrecked the orbitals in the first wave and occupied the major cities, they sat in orbit, dropping rocks on anything that moved... granddad dispersed the troops, but when they went into the cities for supplies, the turians would wreck a block to eliminate one fire team.

Civilians were dying, his troops were starving and he couldn't contact Alliance High Command, so he surrendered the garrison".

Harry sighed "Damn, what a horrible situation to be in... he was forced to make a very difficult decision to save lives and in the end, he paid for it, it wasn't fair at all..".

Shepard nodded "I should have figured this out myself... but I don't know how I can help you though".

Ashley shrugged "Look at who I am Shepard, do you ever hear me ask for help?

It's not that bad things don't happen to me, if you stay with me long enough, maybe I'll tell you about some of them, but I deal with them myself, I don't need a shoulder to cry on, a knight to rescue me, or a man to make me happy, this is who I am, I like her, and you better like her too... so, you still interested in me? Baggage and all?".

Shepard smiled and then said, "Everyone comes with baggage, Ash, the trick is finding a matched set".

Ashley and Harry suddenly laughed, Ashley even shook her head "That's awful, tell me you got that out of a fortune cookie".

Harry nodded "Yeah! What the hell was that? Hahaha".

Shepard just smiled and watched as both Harry and Ashley laughed, he was being serious though, but he had to admit that his words sounded very cheesy.

Ashley stopped laughing and then said "But hey, once we save the galaxy, maybe the Alliance will get its act together, and start acting like an actual government.

Shepard nodded "Hopefully they will, the Alliance isn't perfect, but it's all we have at the moment".

Ashley sighed "Yeah, I just wish things were different you know?".

Shepard nodded, and Harry then spoke up "Balance is needed here, there's a lot of things wrong with the Human Alliance, the Council, and alien races, things in this universe are like the wild west.

The more I look the more things I find I don't like, but there are good people, people who want things to change, people who try to be good, it's those people we have to find and work with and maybe this galaxy will be better in the future".

Ashely smiled and nodded "That's a very optimistic way of thinking Harry, not the sort of thing, I would expect a god's mentality to be".

Harry grinned and shrugged "I was born human Ash, before I even got an ounce of power, I was just a small, skinny, starved, and abused little kid, I've seen the bad things in life during those first ten years of my life.

Then, I saw even more during my adventures, but I also met and witnessed wonderful things, I've seen worlds on the verge of destruction only to be saved by determination, hope, and pure grit.

So when I become a dragon god, I thought to myself 'I have to do better, I have to be careful, I have to be a good person' regardless of whether I was human or not".

Ashley nodded "Huh?... I guess I've never thought of things that way, sometimes I forget you're way older than anyone here Harry, it certainly adds weight to your words, I just wished my granddad didn't have to go through all of that".

Harry nodded "Yeah, that was really unfair".

Shepard agreed as well and then said "What happened to your grandfather shouldn't have been allowed to happen".

Ashley sighed "Yeah, at least someone knows that... you and he would have gotten along, he was a tough old bastard, I have a feeling things will come to a head soon, but don't worry, Shepard, I'll protect you".

Shepard smiled, while Harry grinned "What about me? You're not going to protect me?".

Ashley rolled her eyes and then grinned at Harry "You're a big ass dragon Harry, your scaly butt doesn't need protection".

Harry laughed "It's the thought that counts jerk!".

Ashley laughed and shook her head, Shepard smiled and then decided to ask Ashley another question "What's your opinion on the last mission?".

Ashley hummed as she thought about Shepard's question "You mean the rachni right? Well, all I can say is that they were dangerous, skipper, they proved that two thousand years ago.

I wouldn't have personally let them go, but since Harry is making sure they're not part of this universe anymore, then they're really not our problem anymore, that should keep everyone happy too.

I'm also glad that Liara's mother was saved, with the way she has been acting since we got back, she would have been hit hard if the matriarch had died, might want to talk to her and check on her guys".

Shepard nodded "Alright, then we'll be speaking later Ash".

Ashley nodded "Looking forward to it, Skipper".

With that said both Harry and Shepard left Ashley, and both then decided to go talk with Tali and see how she was doing.

-----

It didn't take them long to reach the engine room and there they found Tali working on a terminal, she was typing pretty fast too, so both Harry and Shepard approached her carefully, so as to not startle her.

She obviously heard them because she stopped what she was doing and turned around to speak with them "Shepard, Harry, I'm glad you're both here".

Both Shepard and Harry smiled since Tali seemed to be in a good mood now, which was always good, Shepard nodded and then said "Good to see you smiling again, so to speak".

Tali nodded "I'm sleeping much better now, I guess I'm getting used to how quiet your ship is, but I don't want this to get in the way of our mission, Shepard, first, we stop Saren, then I'll worry about my own problems".

Shepard nodded "Don't forget Tali, you can ask for help from us at any time".

Tali nodded and seemed very happy, Harry then spoke up "Oh! That's right! We just finished Liara's armor, so we're ready to speak with you at any time!".

Tali nodded "Sure! Just tell me when and I'll be there!"

Harry grinned "Great! Just come down after a few missions, we'll be ready for you then, well just have to watch your back until we get your armor ready".

Tali nodded "Sounds great!".

With that said, both Harry and Shepard said their goodbye to Tali and left the engine room, Tali seemed busy anyways and they didn't want to take much of her time when she was working on the engine.

-----

With that done, Shepard and Harry then went to speak with Liara and check in on her, both knew she's been worried about her mother and even though she was not in danger, what had happened to her was pretty serious.

So she's been stressed lately, and thus both headed to the medical bay and then walked over to her room at the end of it, when they got inside her room, they found her working on her computer.

But she stopped when she heard them come in and got up to talk to them "Harry, Shepard, how can I help you?".

Shepard smiled "We're just checking up on you Liara, what happened in Peak 15 was pretty rough, especially for you".

Liara smiled "I'm okay, just a bit tired but Doctor Chakwas is making sure I rest, what happened to my mother is rather horrible and when I think about it, I can't help but feel worried about her.

Thankfully Harry is helping her with that and she seems to be physically okay, I just worry how she's going to take everything she did while being under the control of Saren".

Harry smiled "I'm happy to help and your mother is handling everything just fine, she is more disappointed in herself for being so easily corrupted by Sovereign.

But other than that, she has accepted what she had done, we still have some more to fix within her mind, but she will be fine".

Liara softly smiled and nodded "That's good, does she know about having to move to your world?".

Harry nodded "Yes, I explained to her what we talked about, the Council, and how we reported her dead.

She agreed that it was the best course of action and doesn't mind having to move to Neo Kyoto, in fact, she seems eager to move to our world and be away from this galaxy.

Not that I blame her, what happened to her wasn't pleasant at all, but overall, she's okay with the move".

Liara nodded "Thank you, Harry, for helping her and for not killing her when you fought her, it really means a lot to me".

Harry nodded and then gave Liara a smile "You're welcome Liara".

Shepard looked very happy, Liara seemed okay despite looking a bit tired, but given the circumstances, it was normal for her to be in that condition, so he decided to continue the conversation they had a while ago "Maybe we could pick up where we left off, you were telling me about your interest in the Protheans".

Liara tilted her head "Actually, I think I was talking about my interest in you, and making a fool of myself in the process, as I said, I'm not used to dealing with people, especially humans.

I did not really know much about your species when we first met, Shepard, I found it hard to take humanity seriously, your kind always seemed so rushed and high-strung".

Harry chuckled "That's because they're short-lived Liara, they don't have a lot of time, but most have a lot of dreams and hopes to fulfill".

Liara seemed to think about what Harry said for a few seconds, but nodded in understanding soon enough, Shepard nodded "We don't have the luxury of time, an asari can live for a thousand years, we're lucky if we hit 150".

Liara nodded "You're both right, at first I thought that was a weakness of your species, but after spending time with you and your crew, I think, it may actually be an advantage.

You, humans, are creatures of action, you pursue your goals with almost indomitable determination, it is an admirable trait, but also an intimidating one".

Harry crossed his arms and nodded "Yeah, humans can be scary as all hell, they're stubborn and very determined, but that's just how they are, it certainly is a bit scary, and trust me, I've seen humans pull off some crazy stuff".

Shepard raised an eyebrow "You're both scared of us?".

Harry chuckled "More like respect, I'm definitely never underestimating humans, that's a sure way to get a nasty surprise".

Liara nodded "Unfortunately, the rest of the galaxy sees humanity as something of a bully, you run over anyone in your path to get what you want, it's up to people like you to change their minds, Shepard".

Shepard smiled "I'm doing the best I can, Liara".

Liara smiled back at Shepard "There's a reason why all of us follow you, Shepard, we all believe in you and trust you... I looked into your history, and I know what happened on Akuze, the fact you survived shows remarkable strength".

Shepard smiled "You know, you could have just asked, I would have told you whatever you wanted to know".

Liara looked down for a bit "I apologize, but after our last conversation, I was afraid I would say something stupid again, I wanted to know more about you, to understand what made you into the man you are, there's something compelling about you Shepard".

Shepard raised an eyebrow "Are you sure you're interested in me, or is it my visions of the Protheans?".

Liara sighed "I admit, your connection to the Protheans had something to do with my initial interest, but it has grown beyond that, you intrigue me, Shepard, but I was not sure if it was appropriate to act on my feelings... I thought there might already be a relationship between you and Chief Williams".

Harry was starting to feel like a third wheel, but decided to just stay quiet and see what happens for now, Shepard stared at Liara for a bit and then said "Williams and I are just friends, nothing more".

Liara nodded "My mistake then, I am not adept at understanding human relationships as I thought, but what about us, Shepard? Is there a mutual attraction? or was I wrong about that, too?".

Shepard nodded "No, you were right, there is something between us".

Liara then smiled and seemed very happy "I knew it! and I knew you felt it too, but... does this not seem rather strange? Why do I feel so close to you?

We have only known each other a short time, we are from two different species, and we have nothing in common, this makes no sense!".

Harry chuckled "Love just hits you like that Liara, take it from a guy who has many loved ones, species, time, and even common sense, don't matter when it comes to love".

Shepard nodded "These things never make sense, they just happen, and we get swept up in the storm".

Liara looked down "You both make its sound so... chaotic, so... dangerous".

Harry grinned "But so much fun~".

Shepard smiled "I'll keep you safe".

Liara smiled and then nodded "I'm not looking for a protector, this is all a bit overwhelming, I'm not used to... this, you, I need some time".

Shepard nodded "Take all the time you need, Liara, I'll be here".

Liara sighed and then nodded "Thank you, Shepard".

With all of that said, Shepard and Harry thought it was time to move on, so both said their goodbyes to Liara and then left her to go back to her work.

-----

While both Shepard and Harry walked through the ship, Harry decided to ask Shepard a question "So Liara huh? Like the nerdy types?".

Shepard shook his head "Well, I do like how kind and soft-spoken Liara is, plus she's very cute as well".

Harry nodded "That's true, but be careful Shepard, Ash seems to be interested in you as well, this whole thing might actually blow up in your face".

Shepard nodded "Will do".

With that small conversation done, both Shepard and Harry went to speak with Joker, it didn't take them long to reach him and he immediately spoke to them "Boy am I glad to be off Noveria, I don't know which was worse, the cold or the corporations.

One will freeze your balls off, the other one will sell them out from under you... with all due respect, Commander".

Harry chuckled "I rather take my chances with the cold, the people and their corporations were really starting to piss me off".

Joker scoffed "Starting to piss you off? You blew up Peak 15, completely erased it from existence and that was just 'starting to piss you off' Harry that's crazy".

Harry just shrugged "Well, if I was really angry I would have blown up the whole planet, the fact that it still exists should show you that, I wasn't really angry yet".

Joker deadpanned "That's fucking terrifying".

Shepard nodded "Yeah, I have to agree with Joker, what you did with Peak 15 was scary enough, I can't even imagine you destroying a planet".

Joker nodded "The fact that you can casually say that and mean it, it's what really hits you".

Harry just grinned at his friends "I'm just being honest here".

Joker sighed and shook his head "I think you should lie a little to me, just a bit man, I'm just a normal mortal Harry".

Harry just grinned and slapped Joker's shoulder "You can take it, Joker!".

Joker just grunted but smiled, happy that he never has to worry about breaking a bone from roughhousing like this, Shepard smiled and watched both Harry and Joker have some fun.

Both Shepard and Harry stayed with Joker for a while and talked about all sorts of stuff, and joked around, but eventually, it was time to go on, so they said their goodbyes and then went on their way.

-----

Lastly, they went to talk to Garrus, they found him softly speaking with his sniper rifle, which made them both sweatdropped, Harry suddenly laughed which alerted Garrus of their presence, he suddenly jumped and stared at them in surprise "... It's not what it looks like".

Shepard grinned "I don't know Garrus, it seems like it was a very serious conversation".

Harry nodded "Yeah, what sort of naughty things were you whispering to your new sniper rifle Garrus?".

Garrus scoffed and shook his head "Very funny guys, so funny I forgot to laugh!".

All three then began to laugh for a while, when they stopped Garrus then decided to ask "So what can I do for you guys?".

Shepard smiled and then responded with "I'm just checking on everyone, that last mission was a tough one".

Garrus nodded "I'm actually glad I stayed on the ship, I'm not very good with dealing with these corporate types, they tend to make me trigger-happy".

Harry nodded in agreement "You can say that again, I actually hit my patient limit on that planet, honestly, I'm glad to be off it already".

Garrus certainly agree with Harry "I bet, then that whole rachni thing, I wasn't there for the rachni wars, but turian have passed down a lot of horror stories about those days.

I bet the krogan wouldn't have been happy about what Saren was doing up there either, I'm actually surprised Wrex is actually friendly with the rachni queen".

Shepard nodded "Yeah I saw that, but it's understandable, both of them know what it feels to almost go extinct".

Garrus frowned "... Makes sense, I'm actually glad Harry is taking the rachni queen to his world, maybe there they will find the peace they're looking for.

I'm also glad Benezia could be saved, but what she told us is very worrisome... Sovereign, I wonder where Saren got that ship and how is it capable of brainwashing people?".

Harry frowned and looked down "I wonder that too, the compulsions and brainwashing done to Benezia seemed to be subtle at first, but there's a bunch of psychic damage to her brain, luckily I'm able to fix it.

Mostly because Benezia herself was able to fight it off for a long time, so the damage wasn't as severe, I don't know if I can do the same to anyone else though".

Shepard crossed his arms and nodded "Well Benezia is a matriarch, she has a lot of experience and she's powerful, she's a unique situation".

Garrus sighed "This means we're going to have to fight brainwashed people as well, that's going to leave a nasty taste in my mouth for a long while...".

Harry nodded "Yeah, but we can't afford to hesitate, whoever sides with Saren, brainwashing or not, will be trying to kill us and we cannot afford to try and save everyone... I know how you feel Garrus, but this is why I would never call myself a hero.

Sometimes, we have to make difficult decisions in order to save this galaxy".

Garrus looked down and nodded "Yeah, I know, don't worry, I will always have your back guys".

Harry and Shepard nodded, and both stayed with Garrus for a while and joked around for a bit, all three had some fun, but then both Shepard and Harry decided to move on.

They said their goodbyes and then left, Shepard decided that it was time to get back to their mission, so while Harry went to get ready, he went up to the galaxy map.

-----

A few minutes later, Shepard arrived at the galaxy map and began to think where to go next, but then Joker suddenly began to speak over the intercom "Commander, in coming Citadel transmission, it's under special secure channels".

Shepard raised an eyebrow, he wasn't expecting a communication from the Citadel so he was perplexed about it, still, he decided to take it somewhere else and see what was going on "I'll take it in the comms room".

Joker immediately responded "Roger Commander"

Shepard immediately walked over to the comms room and took the call, the hologram of Tevos the asari councilor appeared "Commander Shepard, we've received information that may be critical to your mission against Saren".

Shepard nodded "I'll take all the help I can get".

Soon after the salarian councilor Valern's Hologram appeared as well and began to explain "We've received an urgent message from one of our infiltration regiments in the Traverse".

Shepard frowned "You mean spies".

Tevos's hologram nodded "Spectres tend to attract attention, Commander, but they are only one arm of the Council, Special Task Group is intended as a better option for monitoring developing situations".

Valern's hologram then continued on "We currently have several infiltration units scattered throughout the border regions of Citadel Space, this particular unit was gathering intel on Saren".

The commander became intrigued and curious about what, such a unit could have found on Saren "What did they find?".

Valern's hologram shook his head and sighed unfortunately, the message we received was little more than static, the infiltration team must be in a situation where they can't set up proper interstellar communications.

But the message was sent on a channel reserved for mission-critical communication, whatever they were trying to tell us, we know it was important.

Considering your interest in Saren, we thought you might want to investigate this and find out what happened to our team, the signal originated from the planet Virmire".

Shepard nodded "I'll look into it".

Tevos's hologram nodded and then said "the Council prefers not to become involved in the specific of Spectre's activities, we only want you to be aware of all your options, including Virmire, good luck, Commander Shepard, we will keep you advised if we learn anything else".

The communication then turned off and the holograms of Tevos and Valern dissipated, Shepard frowned, but then decided to leave for now.

-----

As soon as he got back to the galaxy map, he saw that Harry was already waiting for him, he immediately went to talk to him and tell him about what Tevos and Valern informed him of.

Harry crossed his arms and then leaned back on the handrails of the galaxy map platform "So the Council does have a special unit of spies, I'm not surprised though".

Shepard nodded "Yeah, it was still a bit of a surprise to actually get confirmation".

Harry nodded "I bet, I think they decided to let you know, given the situation, they need someone to check out Virmire, they can't afford to keep secrets now, since it seems like something big is happening".

Shepard sighed "Should we investigate it right away?".

Harry hummed "I rather wait a bit, at the very least until we have Tali's armor ready, though I also would like everyone to have at least one main weapon modified by me as well".

Shepard nodded in agreement "Yeah, that's actually a good idea, we all have a pistol, but having a main weapon would be useful as well, plus Tali does really need to have her armor".

Harry smiled "For now let's do some missions, while the girls and I finish Tali's armor at least".

Shepard gave Harry a nod and then walked over to the galaxy map "Then let's choose a mission and get started".

Harry nodded and pushed himself off the handrails he was leaning on and let Shepard get to work.

-----

Shepard was scanning some planet on some system when Joker suddenly spoke through the intercom again "Message coming in, patching it through".

Shepard looked up from the galaxy map curious about the sudden message coming in, especially because it came in so suddenly.

Harry was also curious and wondering what sort of mission they were about to get, hopefully, it wouldn't be a weird one.