The Legacy Of Humanity

[This Is Still A One-Shot If I Just Combined The Chapters Together But Technically A Two-Shot If You Prefer]

Establish

Forewarning: The narrative is going to be rather jumpy.

As the two starships dropped out of Real-Shift, the Normandy's surviving crew marveled at the sight before them: Earth. The planet of verdant green, golden brown, deep blue, and snowy white - the very home of humanity. To them, it seemed as if it was only two short months ago that they had departed to battle the Velvars and Horesques but three-hundred years had truthfully passed them by.

It was good to be home.

Dropped off through instant-teleportation from her ship to a private port-zone, Shepard and Normandy found themselves greeted by an old friend.

Standing proud and tall with arms behind his behind, suited in a steel-colored powersuit, with a rugged face adorned with wrinkles, hair and beard already graying from old age, Grand Knight Kahoku looked much older than they had last seen him. Though, standing behind and to the right of him, was a focused dark-haired man dressed in outdated military fatigues - his new Partner-AI presumably.

"Shepard, Normandy," Kahoku greeted first, his expression full of warmth, "The two of you are a sight for sore eyes."

The Grand Knight's helmet automatically collapsed to reveal her youthful face framed by strong brown-colored hair and her emerald eyes. She gave him a respectful nod as they engaged in a strong handshake that quickly evolved into a hug, "Kahoku, it's good to see you again. I hope I'll look as good as you when I get to your age."

Normandy seemed content at letting Shepard do the talking while she silently conversed with her fellow AI.

The man chuckled as he pulled away, hands still on her shoulders, his eyes twinkling as he began to recall old but fond memories, "It's good to have you back."

"Likewise."

"We have a lot to catch up about... but, for now, you'll have to settle for an informal debriefing, Shepard. A lot has changed in three-hundred years."

"I imagine," she replied casually.

Kahoku jerked his head in a follow-me manner but didn't seem to have a particular destination in mind. Normandy and the other AI, Eisenach, quickly stepped into line behind their respective partners. The four of them walked quietly together, the elder Grand Knight was thinking silently to himself about what to start with.

"Three-hundred years..." he let the words fall off his tongues with somewhat distant eyes. "I was only picked-up about one-hundred years ago when Anderson and Hackett sent out the search teams."

Shepard's ears perked up at the mention of her veteran knights, "Anderson and Hackett, they're still alive?"

"Yeah, alive and kicking, they've been active even after the end of the war. Oldest humans alive and - can you believe this - they're Supreme Judges now!"

She laughed, "They never did seem to be the type to retire."

"Indeed. Been active ever since myself too, though I declined becoming a Supreme Judge and stayed on as a Grand Knight - politics aren't my things, you understand."

"Of course," she snickered and then paused, her voice a margin quieter, "...How many of us are still left?"

Kahoku sighed, "Not including Anderson and Hackett, there's only four of us left from the old knights: me, Harper, Lawson, and you. There's been some promising new recruits - one of them is my pupil in fact - and they certainly have the skills and discipline to succeed, but they're too rigid - great at receiving orders but not so much at giving them and their ability to think critically and quickly in tense non-battlefield situations isn't completely up to standard."

He continued, "That's not the only problem we have, of course. Firing the God Driver has fucked us up something nasty, Shepard. The most ancient and enigmatic Precursor Artifact we own, Shepard, and we fired it. We fired a weapon that we had no idea about how to control as a final fuck-you against the Velvar and Horesques... We were lucky that the shot hit them where it hurt and even luckier that there was still a planet for us come back to."

Normandy decided to chip in at that moment.

"According to the various reports compiled in the aftermath, the God Driver produced hundreds of peculiar phenomenons with no particular pattern. An assortment of spontaneous combustion, aging, swapping of gender, memory wipes, flesh-flaying, being turned inside-out, etc; entire areas turning into salt, feces, slime, etc; mysterious disappearances, ranging from the possibility of being teleported elsewhere in the universe to being erased from known existence; the entire land masses of Japan floating to reside on the moon, while Africa had fused with the Eurasian continent; and so forth. Naturally, an innumerable amount of technological failures had also occurred that made it difficult for humanity to reorganize itself."

"Enough to set us back for three-hundred years since and more," Kahoku added.

Shepard could only answer back simply in a somewhat clipped voice: "Wow."

The Grand Knight shook his head, "Part of the reason why Anderson and Hackett joined the judges was to make damn sure that nobody else was going to fire the damn thing - Not that any of us are saying the previous judges made a wrong decision but we can hardly ill afford to activate the God Driver again without any measure of control this time." He snorted and then softened up his face with a thin smile, "They've been real busy these days but I'm sure that, after our little walk-and-talk, they'll both be happy enough to push back some of their schedule to chat with an old friend, eh?"

"Sounds good," Shepard nodded, a smile on her own face.

[...]

He gave a good-natured laugh at the joke with a warm and satisfied smile on his face. "It was nice catching up with you, Shepard, but I think it's about time that we get down to business," the Supreme Judge, David Anderson, stated as he leaned forward from his seat, hands under his chin as he stared directly into her eyes, "According to the reports that Miss Normandy has sent us... you've apparently stumbled upon a galactic-community."

"Yes."

Hackett spoke next, "Shepard, the Judges have given you their full approval to interact with these aliens at your own discretion."

The knight blinked as she fell comfortably back on her chair, "Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought that we short on manpower here in the home-system?"

She knew that Kahoku was to soon depart for the many outer-colonies to assist them with their troubles while also securing their resources. Meanwhile Harper, and by extension Lawson, were tasked with studying the new types of humans that appeared after the God Driver's firing. It made little sense to send a valuable asset such as a Grand Knight on something so far out of the way of human-controlled areas.

"We are," Anderson answered, "But look at it this way, Shepard: we've been out of the game for three-hundred years and lost most of our eyes and ears. Now there's a galactic-community, has been for some time, that are also our neighbors and we're definitely not going to let them get the drop on us anytime soon, if at all."

"According to their Codex," Hackett said as he skimmed through the floating holo-panels before him, "Their only method of long-distance travel is through these things they call Mass Relays. Naturally, we can't take this information completely at face value, or anything else from this codex of theirs."

"So it'll be my job to confirm the facts?"

Anderson nodded, "That and you'll also be collecting as much knowledge and samples as you can about their Precursor Race... these Protheans they call them. We have to admit - while their Mass Effect Technology isn't quite as spectacular as what our many Precursors have done - it's not necessarily inferior, just different."

"Likewise," Hackett added, "You'll also be looking out for any substantial gifts they may have left behind."

"I'll be sure to keep an eye open for any surprises," Shepard replied with clasped hands.

Precursors... Humanity had much love and hate for each and every single one of them. On one hand, many-a-various races had left behind a wealth of relics on Earth from which many of Humanity's advance achievements and advance technology were derived or reverse-engineered from; the words 'newfound precursor remnant' practically made scientists and developers around the planets salivate in anticipation. On the other hand, every newfound precursor remnants - that weren't discovered on Earth - so far have all tried to kill them; the Velvars and the Horesques simply being the latest ones in a long line.

"Normandy," Hackett called out, "We have transferred you to a titan-class dreadnaught - fully supplied, fully crewed, and fully armed with a strike-force at your disposal - along with two frigates as your guards. If you need anything else then acquisition requests are now open to you."

"Affirmative," the AI acknowledged, "Shame though, I was pretty fond of that frigate."

"And, Shepard, one last thing."

"Yes?"

"You need a new suit."

[...]

"These new powersuits are being created for the next generation of Knights," Normandy happily explained with a raised finger, "The R&D Club is even claiming that the newer models are way better than the previous generation. The numbers are actually pretty awesome, you know? Of course, those numbers come from N6 members as opposed to a N7 like yourself, Shepard. In fact, I'm sure you could handle any of these newbies with your current suit."

She chuckled, "Is that so? I'll try not to show them up too much when I take one of those suits on a practice run."

"Oh, come on, Shepard, where's your sense of seniority? You should stop being so modest and totally show your stuff!"

"You know that I don't like to give a free show on the first date, Nor," she teased.

The AI rolled her eyes.

"Oh please, you always give me a free show!"

"Everybody gives you a free show."

"I can't help it that you people are inside of me! Turn off the camera feed if you want some privacy!"

[...]

"That's Kaidan Alenko," Normandy pointed out the first of two new knights-in-training. The man looked very ordinary for a person who had supposedly gone through the major but necessary human modifications to become a Grand Knight and for the most part appeared more like that of a rank-and-file soldier. "He's what people are calling an 'Esper' right now - 'Psychics' in other words."

"So, he moves things with his mind?" Shepard asked as she observed her junior telekinetically snatch the firearms from his droid opponents and then tear said drones apart from half-way across the room.

"And tear things in half."

"I saw," Shepard quipped.

"By the way, get this: Alenko's senior is Lawson."

"Grand Knight Lawson? You mean...?"

"Yeah, she's an esper now. Suddenly developed her powers a couple weeks after the incident. Little Miss Perfect even claims that it took her less than a month to master her control over it." The AI snorted. "Anyways, Alenko's list of abilities includes things like be able to create or cause stasis fields, throws, barriers, etc. If he wasn't already part of Harper's team then I would have suggested you to recruit him for our mission; would have been handy to have an esper around."

"You mean so that you could compare him to those alien biotics, right?"

"Yup!"

Normandy smirked and the screen automatically to a different display. This time it was that of a training field rather than that of a room, the cycling view depicted dozens of droids, strewn all over the field, with a single clean bullet hole in the head before finally settling onto a white-with-pink-streaks entity. "And this is Ashley Williams. Her records are all top-class, making her easy Grand Knight material. Even without a powersuit, she could make most knights break a sweat," The AI wiggled her brow, "There's even talk that she might be better than you."

The Grand Knight didn't particularly rise to the challenge and simply shrugged her shoulders, "Well, her records are better than mines, isn't it? I know that I didn't score this well when I was trainee."

She snorted, "There you go being so modest again. Shepard, everybody knows that you trained under Hannibal Cain."

"He wasn't that bad," the woman scratched her cheek.

Normandy rolled her eyes, "Yeah, right, that explains why Anderson hated the guy for scarring all the trainees for life. Or when Hackett was just barely keeping a big fat grin off his face when Cain announced that he was retiring both as an instructor and as a knight."

"Alright, alright, you've made your point. Now, if you'll excuse me, Nor, I think it's about time that I get suited up."

[...]

"I have to say that it's a tad of shame that the schematics for Phantom Lord was lost after the God Driver incident... along with every other stealth-model, unfortunately..."

"Mmh."

"One of Mikhail's finest armor, if not his very last if I recall correctly; a one-of-a-kind model that was designed just for you!"

"Mmh."

"A bit flashy looking but that hardly mattered when its invisibility mode was one. Completely undetectable without Precursor-Tier equipment and every Spec-Ops' wet dreams come true to be sure."

"Mmh... And you don't consider this one to be flashy looking?" Shepard spoke up when her helmet sealed shut.

"No, my Emperor Dragonslayer is perfect," the scientist stated as a matter of fact.

The Knight looked at her partner who was simply pointing her finger at her head and rolling it in a circle. 'Loon' she was describing and Shepard somewhat agreed with that assessment.

Shepard's old armor was all polished and thin with smooth curves - as though someone had slapped on a bunch of crescent-shaped plates together and called it armor - looking more like it had belonged in an art gallery or fashion show than for actual combat. The suit that she was now wearing was almost the exact opposite. The armor was thick but elaborate with a deliberate roughness to them, the edges flaring out just enough to give them an imposing style. Though both were colored a noble white with gold and could be described as being overall sharp, the Phantom Lord's sharpness was sleek and delicate while the Dragon King's sharpness was all predatory.

"Were the horns and tail really necessary?" Shepard asked politely, only somewhat grateful that he didn't include wings as well. While they didn't exactly interfere or impede with her movement, she didn't see a point to them besides intimidation factor... a factor that Humanity had long quit using because the concept of fear was usually absent in most of their foes.

The scientist rolled his eyes as though she had asked the most ridiculously absurd question in the known universe and apparently deemed it not even worth answering. Moving on instead to explain just how perfect his creation was.

At that moment, Normandy decided to poke in with a question.

"Can you move that tail?"

"Yes," the Knight answered in slight amusement, the extra limb swaying left and right before curling up and going motionless.

"Aw, that's cute."

"Impractical, more like."

"I didn't say it wasn't. So, what do you give this suit?"

"A seven. An eight-point-five if you take out the horns and tail. And probably more than a nine once I get used to it."

"Hoh? Exactly the same as the Phantom Lord?"

Shepard shook her head, "I'll give credit where credit is due but I don't think I'll ever find a suit that'll feel as right as the Phantom Lord does."

The AI snickered, "Guess you won't be handing it over for research when you move onto the new suit, huh?"

"Not a chance," she happily replied back.

[...]

It all started with one simple taunt: "Give me everything you've got, rookies." And it all went to hell when his shield flared up with three pings. Kaiden Alenko was fairly quick to take cover.

'This might be rough,' he thought but the trainee quickly corrected himself, 'This is going to be rough.' He couldn't see it as anything but.

Even though he and Williams had the advantage of numbers and the experience of fighting Grand Knights, there was a certain level of trepidation about how well they would fare against Hannibal Cain's sole surviving pupil. No, that wasn't entirely right; Eve Shepard was certainly famous for that but her combat abilities had always stood out even amongst the other Knights. It didn't help that this test involved the use of real weapons.

Yes. Test. This was nothing but a test for Alenko and Williams before they could officially become Grand Knights themselves.

Out of the Grand Knights, there were only four of them now: Jack Harper, Miranda Lawson, Kirk Kahoku, and Eve Shepard. Harper and Lawson were vouching for him, while Kahoku was vouching for Williams, that left Shepard free.

In the past, there was a limit to how many Grand Knights there could be in active-service at any given time, so traditionally a non-bias party was needed to test the new candidates. If Shepard had not returned from the far reaches of space then he and Williams would have become Grand Knights without a final test. But it seemed that Harper, Lawson, and Kahoku respected Shepard enough to ask for a second opinion.

The soft but rapid noise of tats reminded Alenko that there was a firefight in the room. A firefight that he should be participating in too.

Peeking over his cover, it took him less than a twentieth of a second to spot the white-armored Grand Knight and less than a split-second for his enhanced body to react. Conductor and pathway, power flowed through his thrusted arm and was then released as a bolt of energy from his palm.

Whatever it was expected to do however had failed to occur when the bolt splashed harmless over the Knight's shield. And - for catching her attention - Alenko was forced to duck his head again, though not before his own shield flared up once again with three pings. He grimaced mildly, 'Of course she would have a psychic dampener installed.'

Pulling out his pistol and changing his position, Alenko reassessed the battle.

Shepard and Williams were zipping across the battlefield - their boosts burning an aqua-blue - in a blurry haze. Their firearms fired nearly nonstop as their shields bubbled from the fast accumulating hits. They could keep going on with a stalemate like this; Alenko contacted his ally.

"Williams, I've got a plan."

"Does it involve you staying behind cover and not helping me?"

"Look, do you want to hear it or do you want to keep dancing around with Shepard?"

"Alright, fine, what's the big plan?"

After explaining his method. Alenko pushed with his mind and the various covers all around the field were pulled out from the floor like troublesome weeds and then sent hurtling toward the lone Knight from all direction, leaving only a small opening to guide her into the killzone. Obscured from sight, Alenko jump-boosted to the ceiling as his magnetic clamps activated. From there he plucked out his grenade from his belt and tossed it, timing its explosion on when he had expected the Knight to escape, while also readying a shield-breaker and stasis in his hands.

...Except she didn't escape.

His grenade denoted with nothing to show for it and his barrage of makeshift debris piled all over Shepard with no resistance.

Williams had found the situation strange - if not outright unnatural - and prepped her own grenade to be tossed.

Their suspicions proved true soon enough.

A shot was fired at Williams' grenade, it imploded and stunned her. Then, from the cluster of crunched up debris, Shepard shot out with her molecular-blade unfolded. Alenko was swift switch his powers and placed a barrier to stop her midflight. It worked, though for all of less than a second, anyways.

Shepard twisted midair, using the newly-made barrier as a temporary foothold to send her boosting toward the still disoriented Williams. Alenko cursed under his breath as he attempted to throw in another barrier in front of her. But - to his misfortune - he had notice a little too late that Shepard's reptilian tail had a grenade coiled around it, a grenade which was flung to his feet.

Alenko was promptly knocked off the ceiling, crashing into the floor with a short screeching scrape. Only to suffer an attack from another grenade almost moments after he landed.

Meanwhile, Ashley Williams found herself receiving a very heavy shoulder-tackle before being rammed onto the corner of a wall with pure momentum and then suffering from a bludgeoning ground-and-pound. Despite that, Williams was able to recover quickly and overpowered the Knight mounting her.

Shepard had only backed away a few steps and taunted her with a come-hither. The trainee gritted her teeth as pushed herself off the floor and reassembled her molecular blade, only for opponent to point down to the floor.

Williams didn't even have the time to cuss as the grenade by her feet depleted the remains of her shielding.

The Knight's shield on the other hand was still standing, absorbing much of the impact, allowing her to rush in and unaffected by the blast. In a blink of the eye, she lopped off both of Williams' arms and then finished her off with a vicious elbow to the back of neck.

Alenko was barely on his feet when he attempted communication.

"Williams, you there?"

He was instead answered with rifle shots riddling his shield to a thin lining.

The man instantly dove and scrambled to the floor, firing back potshots at where he thought Shepard was shooting him from, as he mentally gathered up debris to create some cover and breathing room. He was fast to spot the two grenades trying to sneak past the holes of his crude defense and he punted them far away with his mind.

He was so focused on those decoys that he had not realize that Shepard had snuck up on him until he found her sword jutting out of his chest.

Alenko grunted as she kicked him in the back, her weapon sliding out of him, and he collapsed onto the floor. But she wasn't done with him yet, she stomped and grinded on his head several times before quitting.

"Well," the Grand Knight spoke cheerfully as she deactivated her molecular-blade, "Congratulations, Rookies, you pass. Welcome to the Grands!"

Shepard would later receive a message that day from Kahoku thanking her for taking it easy on his pupil and one from Lawson requesting her for future spars with her pupil.

[...]

A new player now enters the stage.

And with them, they carry big guns.

[...]

It had taken one month after Sha'Tlar nar Potemai - now Sha'Tlar vas Volun - for the Admirality Board to decide whether to ignore or greet these aliens known as Humans. In the end, they had finally chosen to make contact with them and it did not take long for Sha'Tlar to realize the device his new friends had given him was both a communicator and beacon.

Normandy told him that they could meet in a week's time.

And so the Migrant Fleet prepared and waited, with both fear and eagerness, in a remote location for the Humans.

On the promise day, they arrived.

Three behemoth ships appeared from Keela Se'lai knows where. To the left and right were ships nearing or longer than 1.5km but the true beast was the lone ship that they flanked. 9km? 10km? They could only guess at the size of such a tremendous monster.

Then the transmission came and revealed a faceless demonic figure, its bright colors a stark contrast to its appearance, gazing upon them with an indiscernible look.

"Greetings, Migrant Fleet. I am Grand Knight Eve Shepard, representative of The Legacy Of Humanity; let's make this first-contact a pleasant one, shall we?"

Author Notes

Totally still a one-shot! Or a two-shot, what have you.

I wrote this second chapter because I wasn't sure if the first chapter portrayed enough of what kind of Humanity that the ME-verse would be dealing with... that is to say, they're advance but also fairly nutters with a good dash of up-beatness.

Anyways, that's it, expect no more updates for TLOH.