Earth, Central Canada

The pod gently thumped against the ground, the metal scorched from re-entry, the three white parachutes catching the wind, yanking the pod from side to side.

"Well, I hope everybody enjoyed that," Vega said, "Cause without any eezo or electricity, that is probably the last time anything of significant size is going to be airborne."

Liara unbuckled her harness and tapped her omni tool with no results.
"Nope, nothing. Everything really is down."

"So now what," Jack asked. "We go sharpen some sticks and spear wild pigs in the forest like a bunch of Neanderthals?"

"Hey, as long as I get a big conch shell to blow into like a horn." Vega muttered.

Jack's eyebrows went together. "What in the fuck are you talking about?"

"Hey," Vega said, a note of reproach in his voice. "I read books, so what? And sucks to your ass-mar anyway."

"Well can you two eye fuck each other later?" Wrex grumbled. "I'm hungry and I have to shit."

Jack levered open the pod door to reveal the sunny and graceful pine forests of Manitoba. She hopped out, Liara and Wrex quickly following, Vega coming out last, carrying the pod's survival pack.

They took a moment, breathing in the fresh, cool air.

"You think we should stay here in the pos for the night?" Liara asked. "It's probably going to get cold here when the sun goes down."

"Might not be a bad idea." Vega mused. "But on the other hand, I have no idea where the hell we are other than somehwere in Canada, and finding other survivors and civilization is on our to do list. We are coming up on winter here, and we are way north. We won't survive it alone. Some local advice would be great."

"Speaking of which, who are these assholes?" Wrex said, gesturing to the group of people stepping out of the treeline, about half a kilometer away.

Vega waved his arms over his head, although the group was already headed towards them, having probably seen the pod as it fell.

As they approached, more detail came into view. They were heavily armed with a mismatch of battered weapons, clad in a strange combination of modern combat armor and handmade armor, heavy on the spikes and the chains.

"What the fuck are they wearing?" Jack muttered under her breath as they approached. "It looks like the guys from Road Warrior were on Queer Eye For the Straight Guy."

"Be nice Jack." Liara chided, as Vega snickered loudly.

The eight men reached them in a staggered line, stopping about three or four meters away and facing them.

"Good afternoon gentlemen." Vega said happily. "It is my great pleasure to inform you that the Reapers have been defeated. Now, where can a guy go to get a drink around here?"

"Fuck your drink." The leader, a stocky, white, bearded man in his thirties said, stepping forward and leveling a pistol at Vega's chest. "We'll take that nice survival kit." he gestured his pistol at the orange bag Vega wore.

"Oh, you have got to be fucking kidding me!" Jack shouted, earning a few guns pointed her way.

"Oh, and a piece of that inked up ass." He added, giving Jack a once over. "Blue over here is coming with us too. She's going to embrace my eternity later tonight." Liara's hands clenched.

"So let me get this right." Wrex rumbled, ignoring the four guns pointed at his head. "The whole time the Reapers have been attacking, you shitbirds have been playing in the woods and stealing people's stuff."

"We did what we had to in order to survive." The bearded man said, turning his attention to Jack. "Now there sweetcheeks, take of those clothes and give the boys here a preview."

"Oh you motherf-" Jack started, instinctively flaring her biotics in preparation to compact the asshole into a human meat cube.

Nothing happened.

"Oh shit." She said, eyes going wide. "No more eezo. I forgot."

"Enough of this talk!" The leader pulled the trigger on his pistol, aiming square at Vega's chest.

Nothing happened.

Vega sighed. "I don't suppose you guys have any guns that don't run on batteries and mass effect fields?" Vega asked, a cruel grin forming on his face.

The man stopped fumbling with his pistol. "Fuck it, you guys have knives. Get to it."

Hunting knives and hatchets appeared in hands, Vega drawing his foot long combat knife and preparing for battle.

Wrex stepped forward, shouldering past Vega, letting out a low chuckle.

"I've got this, Vega." Wrex growled, drawing his massive sword. "Enjoy the show."

/

Forty five seconds later.

"I like this planet." Wrex said, wiping blood and entrails off his sword.

The four friends walked off into the field, no destination in mind. They would find a way to survive, to make this savage world a brighter place. They were soldiers. It was in the very essence of their being. There would still be war, now waged for survival, rather than politics. Lawlessness would fight against order, goodness would fight against cruelty. Without soldiers, the world would descend into a wasteland of anarchy and fear. War was their business, their past-time, and their chief talent.

And war.

War never changes.

/

/

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So, that's all folks. I hope I didn't botch the ending too bad. I intend to return to previous chapters and clean them up a little, but the story is finished.

Thank you guys for reading, and for reviewing. This story would have been really boring without all the great ideas from readers.

I find myself without a project now. I have a few things I am rolling around in my head, some of you already know what I'm talking about, and the epilogue here left an opening for a crossover sequel. Just imagine Wrex vs Deathclaw.

If anybody has any suggestions for future projects, or wants to collaborate/ get some input on my next story ideas, PM me. Other than that, I have nothing else. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing this.

Sincerely

570K4