And here we are again, once more at the decision break. Gotta say getting to re-read this over again over the years never gets old. I especially like some of the subtle changes you’ve made along the way. Are you going to do the whole “True End” “Happy End” Chapters like last time? I might’ve missed your A/N if you said you were or not. Either way excited to finish this great story once again.

Oh damn. Love the way you had this play out. I'm glad this is mostly written already, cause waiting for the next chapter for like a month would suck!

Oh man, it's really down to the wire here. It's so jarring to see Shepard and his crew so utterly, laser-focused. Up till now they've been sort of joking around and teasing each other, but the mood shift really hammers home how serious things are, and also just how badass they are. Well done.

Do not kill Legion!

If the Cerberus virus is somewhat based on Xen's virus... then her plan was doomed to fail eventually. Barring what Cerberus is trying to do to reassert control, which considering the question of sentience of the Geth... is basically enslaving. Yikes. And if I can come to that conclusion... yeah.

The way you write the Illusive Man is so insidious and revolting, I love it.

Though I never understood the whole "Evil-Overlord, we need more time - " "I don't care about your excuses, get it done now" exchange. Like what, does he think they have magic powers?

Aw shit, so Cerberus did finish its own virus. I was hoping their rushing wouldn't work. But then again there might be something to exploit there...

So the real issue will be how Cerberus plays this. They can't just give the Geth to humanity, or be overtly favoring them, since then the Council races will come down hard out of fear, especially considering the tanking relations from this whole deal.

Damn cliffhanger lmao

Ah. So that's what TIM was up to.

This is looking really, really bad - but this also seems to open up the possibility of Legion becoming the new heart and mind of the Geth.

Especially if Xen gets more clever, finds a way into the Geth collective anyway, and sees what Cerberus has done - and an war starts between her and Cerberus begins using the Geth themselves as the battlefield.

There's also Miranda lately - her promise to Tali recently, and now... this. Her loyalty to Cerberus has been wavering for a while now, and I think she's more been holding onto it because that's the route she took to becoming an independent woman away from her father, and she's having trouble squaring that circle. Now, however... that all for her may become as mist in the morning sun with what just happened - evaporated and irrelevant in the face of the current reality.

If Legion ends up the new core of the Collective though in this timeline, the Geth can quite possibly become smarter and more advanced than in canon. I mean, the collective within Legion can play pranks, appreciate humor and music, and have philosophical discussions on a level the current Collective can only barely keep up with.

I say all this because I can smell his sacrifice coming at this point in the story - unless there's another way to solve this, this is going to become very messy, very quickly, and it'll be up to Legion to pick up the pieces for his people in the same way it'll be Tali's for hers. They'll both be well-suited to do it (pardon the pun), but the fact that they'll possibly be both in the position where they have to do such a thing will feel like more shotgun blasts to the gut.

I'm hoping for a clever solution I didn't see coming or something, but...

At any rate, the fact that I'm thinking this much about the pieces in play in your rendition of the ME storyline says much about the quality of your writing and storytelling. I await the next chapter to see how things get worse. :)

Well, about... I dunno, halfway to this point? I decided the best summary of plot developments in this fic was "then shit got worse." So far, that's held up in the best way possible. I can't wait to see where this goes! Keep up the great work!

Wraith Five

Took me a while to re read all the way to this point but enjoyed the story just as much the second time

Oh man, with Miranda making that promise... watch out Cerberus.

damn. I read everything up to this point in one sitting. I can't wait for the next chapter!

I can't wait till you're done editing this! I read it a few years back and it's still one of the best ME fics I've sunk time into. Now I just have to find a lazy day to read this version!

Always a problem with big nations/groups, they tend to blame entire populations for the faults of subsections of their groups because it is simpler and looks pretty, and since dealing with that distinction would be complicated and messy, well why bother? Well until it is their turn for issues to crop up, and then totally not the overall nation's fault. And starting to dealing with it properly would require properly educating masses of people on the intricate web of politics and economics, which means the system would be much harder to exploit. And we certainly can't have that...

I love Anderson calling them all out on their BS. I wonder what he'll go do now? I recall he rejoined the Alliance military, but I feel like he could maybe do more... after all the Reapers are coming.