Hello people, welcome to the rewrite of Talons Like Iron. A lot has changed since I first started this story, and I must say I have to thank Ralmon for giving me the much needed constructive crictism that I desperately needed, someone who gave a shit about my writing and wanting me to improve myself. TLI was a complete mess with filler and all that jazz, leaving me feeling that it was for the best that I fix it and improve myself in the long run.

So now I've shorten the prologue to four chapters instead of the boring 13 pieces that eventually kicked in at Chapter 14.

There will be no drama with Tarquin Victus and Oraka's idiot of a granddaughter like I had originally intended. The boot camp arc was not the boot camp it had intended to be, but rather a school drama that I hadn't realised I was doing. Dalena Bellarius' name has also been changed to Nephyra Aquilius to give her name more meaning, but Viatrix remains the same. Her parents' names were also changed to be more turian like rather than something randomly named in latin.

Eltha's name was also changed to Sahenia T'Lana as well to be more appropriate as well.

I really want to give Ralmon a massive thank you for being so considerate, thank you ever so kindly for what you've done.

And now... please enjoy my fixes.

Chapter 1

The Awakening

I didn't remember anything.

All my brain can think about was the darkness.

The last thing I remembered was a blinding flash of light, and then nothing.

It was as if whatever had happened had switched my brain off and then rebooted it like a computer. Yet, despite the darkness, there was a welcoming warmth that did not want to let me go. It was as if it was holding onto me, sheltering me like a protective parent for whatever was due to come.

Whatever was coming, it had to be better than this.

"Skyler, open your eyes, my child."

Must be imagining things. Was that a voice?

It didn't sound feminine nor did it sound masculine. It actually sounded like two voices were overlapping with each other, blending in until they were speaking as one.

Whoever, or whatever it was, the tone was calm, kind, and gentle.

I didn't really have much of a choice in the matter, anyway.

I obeyed the voice, blinking my eyes open.

It wasn't what I was expecting.

Instead of darkness being everywhere, there was a bright illuminating light before me. Behind me was the same darkness, but it was colder, while the light in front was warm and inviting. I turn back around, searching for the voice, but I don't see it anywhere.

What the hell is going on?

Suddenly, the light became even brighter and cover my face with my arms to shield my eyes. It becomes almost unbearable until eventually subsides. When I lower my arms, I blink with surprise.

There, hovering in front of me with almost no clothes on save for some light covering most of its features, was an… asari?

I blink and rub my eyes. How did I know what she was? My mind's so blank that I can't remember anything except what she was. I don't understand how I knew any of this, but I don't know much else beyond that. My brain's so muddled up and confused.

The "asari" raises a five-fingered hand, her eyes calm and motherly.

"You have nothing to fear, my child," the same voice from before whispers, and I realise that the voice itself was coming from the "asari" but her mouth wasn't moving.

"Who are you?" I demand. "Where am I? What am I doing here?"

"I cannot answer all of your questions, Skyler, but I will be specific on what I can answer. You are standing in the void between life and death. You died."

I… I died?

But… I don't even remember it happening, and now, all of a sudden, it's all gone and forgotten. My life, my friends, my family, where and when I was born. Just like that…

This was all too much for my brain to take and suddenly I wish could just lie down and die again just so I could get a glimpse of my life again.

"H-h-how?" I ask.

The asari shakes her head. "You do not need to know how you died, my child," she explains softly. "You are better off not knowing. What's important is right here and now. As your life is now over and you have ceased to exist, you have been presented an opportunity."

I raise a brow.

"An opportunity?"

She nods.

"An opportunity to start again in another life, another time."

"Sounds… interesting, but… I feel like there's a catch."

Her shoulders slump somewhat, her eyes no longer looking at me. Something definitely seems a little off about this whole thing. Why does she seem so sad when I made the point? If anything, she looked a little… defeated?

She raises her shoulders and her expression changes to firm.

"Skyler, I never usually make this kind of offering unless there is a reason. I have been watching many universes come and go over the course of billions of years, long before yours existed."

"I don't understand, and you never answered my question," I state firmly.

"I'll tell you the catch, but you must be aware of what I'm about to say, I will not be repeating myself: Long have I watched the universes come and go, as I've said before, but when I looked into the many futures of a certain universe, I had to do something. It had many futures of terrible consequences. I had to save it, and I needed someone who was aware of this universe's existence."

"Mass Effect?"

She nods in confirmation.

Now it's starting to make more sense and why she's presented before me as a being that was highly respected and almost completely trustworthy. She wanted to gain my trust somehow, make me feel more comfortable despite my terrible situation.

"So… what is the catch?" I ask again, more slowly this time.

"The catch is that your memories will be wiped of your old life. The only thing you will remember is the futures of the universe. I want you to steer Commander Shepard in the direction of the good ending, and never encourage the bad. If you fail, you will bring destruction upon everyone and everything. Otherwise, you are free to do whatever you want as long as the Reapers are stopped."

At first, I want nothing more than to jump at the chance of being reborn in my favourite video game, but something causes me to stop in my tracks. Something about this feels… wrong. My back is tingling with terror, screaming at me to not do it and forget about it.

"And what if I choose to not help the universe?" I ask. "What happens then?"

The asari sighs but her expression remains calm.

"Then you'll be sent to whatever afterlife you believe in: heaven or hell, it doesn't matter. You will also regain the memories of your old life, but you will never live again. I'll then choose the next person from your universe and offer them the same opportunity. If they don't choose either, then the process will be repeated over and over until someone decides to accept it."

So, it's a never-ending cycle in order to prevent the bad ending from happening but it would eventually happen regardless of what takes place. Sounds familiar, at least to me it does.

Then again, it does present me an opportunity to see a world I've only viewed in the games. The problem was, it would be extremely real and I would have no experience whatsoever. I mean, what could I do to make a difference? I know I must convince Shepard to somehow trust me and push towards the good ending, but it might be a lot easier said than done. Make it up as I go along, I guess? One final question plagues the back of my mind as I rattle through my thick skull: what will I end up becoming?

There was only one way to find out.

"Alright, I'll do it," I finally reply to the asari.

The moment those words leave my mouth, the asari's expression changes from passive to mildly pleased. If anything, she seems more than pleased, more like… relieved or some shit.

The light behind the asari begins to shimmer and darken, as though heaven was closing and reopening to become something else. Eventually, the light shifts toward her right and forms a rectangle shape… a door.

"Past this door," she explains, gesturing to it with one hand, "lies the beginning of your new life as a whole new being. Here, you will grow and gain the experience and knowledge to become the champion that the universe needs."

Champion of the universe? Meh, doesn't ring well to me. It feels like that should be reserved for Shepard before the whole galaxy explodes with Reapers.

I shrug as I walk over to the door and prepare to open it, only to stop with one last question lingering at the back of my mind. She seems to sense my question and waits with infinite patience. "You never told me your name," I finally say. "What is it?"

"Ah," she smiles softly, the first genuine smile she's ever given since I met her, "my name was lost to time itself, sadly. It is all but forgotten. Only those who knew me are long past gone, cast aside like stardust." She shakes her head, her expression saddening. "I have simply watched over the entire multiverse, watching many planets form and life rise, fall, and be born again as something more. If you want to address me by name… just… well… call me the Observer."

The Observer huh? An odd name, but it makes sense, given she has watched over the multiverse for billions and billions of years with those she once knew and loved passed on before her. She must be something truly awe-inspiring.

I just nod and slowly pry the door open. I step inside and found myself engulfed in the fierce, bright light.

Once more, darkness swallows me, and my mind and my body begin to take shape.

I feel my arms and legs become longer, my four fingers and finger merging into two to become three, and my legs crunching backwards into an upright position. My teeth become thinner and sharper, perfect for tearing into flesh, and my toes merge into two on each foot. My cheeks split from my face to form mandibles, and it all hit me on what I was becoming the moment my skin begins to harden into a metallic carapace.

My vision's once again consumed by darkness, but instead of it being cold and lonely, it felt warm… and a sense of safety pours over my inner being, as though I'm shielded by something completely unknown. And yet, this warmth feels so familiar that I couldn't recall where.

Then, I hear a voice. It's soft, gentle and soothing to my ears. I have absolutely no idea what it was saying, but the voice was comforting as it sang through the safe walls.

Time passed, but it had no meaning to me.

Eventually, I knew my time would come to be free.

Suddenly, a sense of vertigo overwhelmed my stomach and I dropped like a heavy stone. I immediately panicked, and attempted to kick out desperately, struggling to breathe as something coiled around my neck.

I choked out a desperate cry!

I hardly realised how my world had changed from warm to freezing in such a swift amount of time. Everything was so damn bright that my eyes hurt to even open them. I continued to wheeze and cough out a scream as whatever had me around the neck sapped me of breath. Not even minutes alive and I was about to die again!

Then, as if by some miracle, the tension was suddenly cut and I immediately began to fall.

Something grabbed me by my tiny shoulders and wrapped me firmly in something soft. I couldn't help but release a wail of shock, discomfort, and confusion.

Where was I?

Why was everything so bright?

Who am I?

"She's so beautiful, Lytus," a familiar voice said softly. It was feminine, soft and kindly, and it felt… familiar, like I had known the voice my entire life and nothing else.

There wasn't a response for a while and I believed almost for a single moment that there was only the first voice I heard. However, I was proven wrong when a second voice spoke, this one was slightly gruffer, strained, and heavily flanged.

"Beautiful indeed, Rixera," he purred.

I finally uttered the courage to open up my eyes, and what I saw completely shook the spirit in me.

There, staring down at me are a pair of turians. One lacked the crest, so I immediately identified them as female. She had ice blue eyes that stare down at me with motherly love, and her face had light green markings going from down her nose, across her cheeks, chin and mandibles. The male's paint marks, however, were a dark blue that went across his cheeks, nose, and just his mandibles. If anything, he'd have reminded me of a certain turian were I not so small. His dark green eyes looked hard at first, but almost in an instant, I too picked up the same fatherly love he has for me.

Lytus and Rixera.

These two were my parents, turian parents to be exact, and I doubt I'm going to regret my new life as a turian any time soon.

"She has your eyes," Lytus commented dryly.

"Honestly, I never noticed she had opened them until now," Rixera replied, her mandibles flaring as she nuzzled my forehead in the form of a kiss. "What shall we name her? I was expecting a male, but I guess the doctors were wrong."

Lytus tilted his head a little, considering his options. "I had a lot of names lined up for males," he sighed almost tiredly. "This was not what I was expecting."

Rixera continued to hold me as she and her mate thought long and hard to decide a decent name for me. Finally, after what seemed like hours that were merely minutes, Rixera decided. "How about Nephyra?" she asked.

"Nephyra?" Lytus asked, staring in confusion at her. "As in naming her after a spirit?"

Rixera nodded. "Yes," she answered. "I don't know why, love, but… there's something… It's hard to describe what I see in her?"

Lytus blinked as he glanced down at me once more, as though he was trying to work out what was so unusual about me. He shook his head, as if he didn't know. "I'm not even sure what you see in her, Rixera." He shrugged his shoulders dismissively. "Did you want me to call in your brother?"

Rixera flickered her mandibles into a smile and pressed her nose into his affectionately. "You always did plan ahead for everything."

His mandibles flickered into a grin and winked a dark green eye at her before he pressed his chin to my head. "Nephyra it is," he said gently. "Nephyra Aquilius."

For a few days, I spent my time being monitored by the doctors at Avennio Hospital before my mother was strong enough to return home. Her brother, Caelus Qui'im, came to get us and drove us safely home with Lytus in tow. I learned the year, month, and day I was born was the year 2153, on the second month of Palaven, day 25.

But time had to move on eventually and I wasn't going to stop there.

For three years I learned the best that I could, learning to speak and understand the language of my new life. The Observer made it clear that I would remember everything about the future but forget my old life. I could no longer recall the life I once had, not even my old name nor what species I once was. I don't think it really mattered at that point, and I enjoyed what time I had with my parents and uncle.

Uncle Caelus spoiled me rotten whenever he came to visit, often giving me treats after he knocked off from working at the docks where he loaded cargo into starships. He once took me there for a visit where he worked when mother and father had to leave to discuss sensitive matter with the Hierarchy. I later learned when no one thought I would understand that something interesting was going on in the outer regions of our space territory.

It didn't occur to me on what was going on, but I knew for certain that something bad was going to happen.

And soon.

But it didn't bother me much nor did I really care to think on the matter.

I eventually learned at a much faster rate than my parents anticipated to speak our language, and it was going quite smoothly. Deciding that now was a good time to up the level of my advancing brain, Rixera decided to send me off to school when I was old enough to attend.

Despite all the love and attention my parents were giving me, it never occurred to me that I was going to have to share their love with something I wasn't expecting.

Rixera had announced that she was pregnant again.

I don't think I could get a little jealous, but I did when Lytus grabbed her and swung her around dramatically while Uncle Caelus watched with mild enthusiasm. Never did I imagine that my life would take a turn into a spiralling whirlpool as the reality began to sink in.

I was going to have a younger sibling, but at the cost of the love and attention my parents had so lovingly given to me.