Samael had already recovered from the conversation with the Stargazer. After all, what he had learned from that was almost nothing. But, he would remember what happened. In the end, he was just human, and had no way of exploring the whole galaxy in depth, even with the time loops, so there are things even he was unaware of.
Of course, now he was aware that there was a possibility of another ancient species out there that knew about his story, and that it was coming to an end. He had no control over both things, so there was no need to act on them now.
He then continued on his path to meet with Tali, Liara, EDI, and RR. Samael had already bought gifts for them before he met with the Stargazer, but he bought some more on his way.
A few minutes later, he arrived at the location they sent him. It was a restaurant/bar, and the quartet was at a table, drinking something and laughing. Tali was the first one to notice, '' Samael!''
The Quarian got up from her seat, went in his direction, and kissed him when she reached him. Samael reciprocated the gesture.
After a few seconds, Tali broke the kiss and asked, '' How was the meeting?'' She and the whole crew knew that Samael had come to honor his deal with Tevos, and he had left just a few hours ago. She was preoccupied that the 'meeting' went wrong.
By this point, both had arrived at the table and Samael gave Liara and RR a small kiss, and EDI gave a small hug. '' It all went well, and now I just need to meet some people and we can leave.''
A waitress came, and Samael asked for a drink. After that, he smiled and said, '' I bought you guys a few things.''
Samael then passed on the gifts he bought them. For Tali, he purchased a piece of technology he knew she loved. For Liara, he bought a few clothes, and for RR and EDI he purchased a few ... peculiar clothes.
'' Thanks for that.''
The four of them thanked Samael. They liked the gift and RR was already thinking of ways to use the peculiar clothes later on. EDI too, but with another person.
'' Oh, by the way, Liara. I met your mom.'' Samael smiled internally. His first meeting with Benezia, in this cycle, was brief but solidified the way he viewed the Matriarch. Tough on the inside, and even more tough on the outside. She was, by all means, a good mother and person.
The only reason she was a small villain in the first game was because she was indoctrinated... after she tried to help Saren and guide him towards a better path.
Liara paused and sighed, '' How it went?''
She was already expecting the worst. After all, her mother was rigorous and by the kiss Samael gave her earlier on, in front of all Matriarchs, she knew her mother acted on that. ' Let's hope it wasn't severe.'
'' It was normal, actually. She just threatened me if I ever broke your heart. I said to her I have no plans on ever doing that.''
Liara was touched by what he said and relieved her mother was reasonable, '' That's .... was nice of her.''
'' It was.'' Tali interjects at this point. She grew up with a single father, Admiral Rael' Zorah, who had a high position in Quarian society. He was strict with her, in hopes she would grow stronger and lead the Quarians, but that upbringing made them somehow distant over the years. So, seeing a mother care so much for her ... girlfriend, was nice.
The waitress arrived with the group's drink and they started to chat around. At some point, EDI said, '' Oh, by the way, Shepard is coming to Thessia.''
'' Oh?'' Samael paused. The Stargazer did say they were also paying attention to Shepard, so one of the reasons he revealed himself to Samael may be because of that.
'' Yeah, she is on a mission from the Alliance or something along those lines. She wanted to surprise us, but Joker told me about it.'' EDI smiled a little, thinking about the human.
'' Resonable.'' Samael knew the reason Shepard was coming here was mostly likely for her to be pronounced as a Spectre. The Council right now was basically Tevos, and seeing as she was in Thessia, it made sense. He then checked his messages, and sure enough, the agents he put in Shepard's crew sent a message saying they went on a mission, but not where.
An idea started to blossom in Samael's mind as he smiled and said, '' How about we surprise them instead?''
RR sensed fun, '' Oh? Tell us about it.''
'' Well, I can ask Tevos for a favor, and she will let us receive them.''
Just from that, RR has already thought of a few things to do. '' I'm in.''
Tali and Liara looked at each other and smiled. They were also in.
Even EDI is hooked now.
After a few more minutes and planning the surprise, they all went away. The Asari had given them a place to stay, but they decided to stay on the SSV Phoenix instead.
--
WITH SHEPARD
It didn't take long for Shepard and her crew to arrive at Thessia, as they were using a handmade and exclusive new SSV Normandy, courtesy of Samael and LD, with the latest upgrades. It was almost on the same level as the SSV Phoenix.
20 % better than the last ship, and with Joker's abilities, they were 30% faster than before. So, they arrived earlier than they initially planned. This was, after all, the first voyage of the new Normandy.
'' Commander, the Asari had given us permission to land.'' Joker's voice came through the cooms to warm everyone.
Shepard nodded internally and made a mental note about it. She checked all her things and made sure they were in order. She then tapped her Omni tool a few times and sent a message to everyone in the crew, '' Status.''
It didn't take long for an affirmative message to start to arrive.
'' All good here.'' Ash, as always, was the first one to be ready for action. She was, after all, a battle maniac, but don't ever tell her that. She doesn't like it.
'' Ready.'' Alenko was a decisive man. He normally talks a lot, but when it is time to get serious, he only responds if necessary.
The rest of the crew, like Jacob, and Dr. Chakwas, were also ready.
After she receives an okay from everyone, Shepard sends a message to Joker, '' Joker, permission to land.''
'' Aye, aye, commander!''
Then the Normandy started to descend into Thessia, into what would be a new age for Shepard and her crew.
Shepard was looking at the scenery with excitement in her eyes, not just because of the view, with the high-end buildings and beautiful scenario, but because she was going to make history. Granted, she had a lot of help, but she knew her worth.
' I look forward to the future.'
She knew about the Reapers, but also knew they had time to prepare. So she was confident it could work.
Shepard and the crew reunited close to the hangar and waited for clearance to leave the ship.
The SSV Normandy landed on Thessia not long after, and the hangar door opened. Shepard was the first one to get out and noticed that there was no Asari present to welcome them.
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That made her pause, ' Tevos said there would be-'
'' SURPRISE!''
NORMAL POV
Shepard flinched a little, and her hand went to her gun, but when she calmed down, she noticed it was a friendly face and smiled, '' Samael! I wanted to surprise you, but it seems you beat me to it.''
The person who 'scared' Shepard was no one other than Samael, and then other people started to show up. Basically, it was the whole SSV Phoenix crew there, including the new additions.
RR, EDI, Tali, Samael, and Liara had a lot of ideas on how to surprise them, but they chose the simplest. Just a small jump scare.
Of course, the intention was to scare the whole crew, but Shepard came out alone, so only she got 'scared'.
RR said after sighing, '' A shame.''
Samael ignored that and watched as the Normandy crew got out and were surprised by them too. Both crews then blended it, as they were close friends.
'' A bird told us you were coming, so we decided to be the group to welcome you.'' Samael said that while looking at Joker, who was already talking with EDI.
Shepard had a vein pop on her forehead, '' It seems I will have to have a talk with my pilot.''
'' Don't be too harsh on him, we make dumb things when in love.'' Samael knew that very well, as he had done a lot of stupid shit across time.
'' .. I'll think about his punishment later on.'' Shepard then hugged Samael, '' Nice to see you.''
It hadn't even been two weeks since they parted ways, but she missed her friend. In their lines of work, making friends was something difficult.
Samael hugged her back, '' Likewise.''
At this point, Tali and Liara had already greeted everyone from Normandy and were beside Samael. They had also made peace with their strange relationship with Samael, and now they were at a crossroads with Shepard.
But, that would not stop them from being good friends with the human.
Samael and Shepard broke the hug, and Tali and Liara greeted her.
'' Nice to see you, commander.'' Tali hugged her.
'' You too.'' Shepard would be the first one to admit she had a lot of fun in her life, but the situation with Tali, Liara, and Samael was new to her, and she didn't know how to react.
It was Liara's turn to greet the Commander, and they hugged.
'' Welcome to Thessia. If you want, I can guide you to beautiful places.''
'' I'll hold you on that. After I officially become a Spectre , maybe.''
Liara nodded and then broke the hug.
Shepard then noticed new faces on the SSV Phoenix crew, '' Who are they?''
Samael looked proud and started to guide Shepard towards the new members, who were talking with others. '' Shepard, meet Grunt. He is a Krogan under us.''
Grunt stopped talking with Jacob when he noticed Samael approaching. When he saw Shepard, he sniffed a little and nodded, '' You look strong.''
''... Thank you. And nice to meet you, Grunt.'' Shepard held her hand out.
Grunt accepted the handshake and said, '' Likewise... say, how about a spar?''
'' Maybe later.''
'' A shame.'' Grunt then looked at Samael, with a gaze that said, '' And you?''
Samael just smiled at the young Krogan, '' Later, when we finish helping them tidy things up, I'll train you.''
Grunt smiled savagely, '' GOOD, GOOD. Don't forget it.'' The Krogan then went back to his conversation with Jacob and Samael continued on his way.
Thane was the next one. The Drell was talking with Dr. Chwakas, but stopped when he noticed Samael, '' Captain.''
'' Thane. I want to introduce you to a friend, Commander Shepard. She is here to be put in the Spectre ranks.''
'' Oh?'' That was surprising to Thane, as humanity wasn't that high on the list. So, she either was strong, had connections, or both. But, the Drell was long past the point of caring about that, '' Nice to meet you. If you need any help in ... taking out bad people, just give me a call.''
Thane passed his contact to Shepard, who said, '' Likewise. And thank you, I might use it in the future.''
While she didn't really have any enemies right now, it could change in the future, so having an assassin promise to help was nice. She had dealt with them before and knew they were a hard bunch to deal with.
After that, they parted ways with Thane and went to Kasumi and Keije, who were talking with Ashley and Kayden.
'' Guys.'' Samael said that and gathered the attention of the quartet, '' I want you to meet someone.'' He pointed at Shepard, '' This one is our friend, Commander Shepard. Be nice to her, as we will interact a bunch of times.''
Kasumi and Keiji approached, '' Nice to meet you, commander.'' Kasumi extended the hand to Shepard, who accepted the handshake but didn't notice Kasumi had stolen something from her.
Samael did notice but stayed quiet.
'' It was an honor to meet you.'' Keiji bowed a little.
'' The pleasure is mine.'' Shepard noticed Samael was smiling a little too much, '' What's wrong?''
Samael said while looking at Kasumi, '' What have I said yesterday, on the ship?''
Kasumi was a little shocked when someone noticed her. She knew how 'strong' Samael was, thanks to the crew telling her, but she really didn't think he would notice. She sighed, '' Sorry.''
Under the shocked gaze of Shepard and the others, Kasumi passed the object she stole back to Shepard.
Samael explained, '' Kasumi here is one of the best bandits in the galaxy. If you need to steal something, just ask her.''
Shepard was taken aback by how easily she stole from her but was even more glad she was on her side, '' I'll keep that in mind.''
She then remembered something, '' I'm not seeing Jack nor Miranda...''
Samael made an award face and said, '' Both of them are on leave... They got pregnant.''
'' Oh, that's nice for them. I'll send a congratulations to them later.'' While Shepard was friends with both, she wasn't aware of Natasha and their predicament. Still, she was happy for both, as this was mostly likely planned in advance.
'' Please do.''
Then, they joined the crew, and everyone started to chat away, all while organizing their things. The new members of the Phoenix quickly blended with the Normandy and exchanged contact with them.
After a while, everything was tidied up, and now everyone was free to do whatever they wanted, as per Shepard's orders.
After all, only she had official business here, and she promised a few days of shore leave. It's not every day they have a chance to visit Thessia, even more so with another group of friends.
'' Now what?'' Shepard asked. She was supposed to be guided by a group of Asaris, but that clearly went astray long ago.
'' Well, our job was to help you tidy things up, then we would guide you to Tevos. Now that one of the parts is finished, let me guide you to where Tevos is.'' Samael said that while looking at the crew's talking.
It was nice to see his family being friendly. After all, THIS was exactly what he was fighting for: Peace for his loved ones.
'' Sound good.'' Shepard then got ready after a few minutes and said to Samael, '' Let's go?''
Samael also got ready. '' Let's.''
Soon after that, Shepard and Samael left to encounter Tevos and make the female the first-ever human specter.