The Grand Admiral. That was her title, as it had been for a few decades now. How well did she remember the years she had been naught but a lowly slave ripped from her home planet by Batarian raiders. It was the miracle of fortune, such a spirit that touched maybe one life in a generation, that led her to where she was now. She had made a decision to fight. A cowardly slave, abused and tortured as naught more than a piece of forgettable clutter in a collection, deciding to stand up for her master in the moment of his greatest need. She had saved him, and in return he had decided to loosen her bonds, to see just how far her potential stretched.

That had been then. But this was now. Admiral over a raider fleet of twelve of the most feared freighters of the Traverse. She had embraced the life of a pirate, for what other choice did she have? The verses of her youth had rung true. Once a soul wanders beyond the embrace of planet home, loathe would they ever be to return. She had no interest in going back to the primitive way of life her species had sentenced themselves to so long ago. She was happier out here, where her race was all but unheard of, and her influence all the more for it.

But one wonders if good fortune comes with a price. For her years had come with the end of the galaxy. Or threatening to, anyway. Those...Reapers. She had seen the aftermath, if not the creatures themselves. She had heard the news reports. All technologically advanced races were being wiped out.

Garial cared little to return home. But she still cared for her race. Thousands upon thousands of years ago, her people had sentenced themselves to privitiveness in order to save the balance of their beloved, but resource-scarce homeworld. To mine the materials needed to continue to build and power their fleets would destroy their beloved planet. Garial knew the stories. And as she had learned more about the Reapers, she wondered. Had her species' choice now proved their saving grace? Would the Reapers overlook her home system?

And if they did...would her home planet be in danger? Surely those desperate billions searching for refuge would see that Skarthix II was untouched. If they came, if they tried to take what had long been ignored...what would happen then?

The Grand Admiral had a choice to make. There was only one place where refugee ships could enter her home system. If she brought her small fleet in, stood guard against the onslaught, she could defend it. She could...if only...

So many possiblities. So many undecided outcomes. Which one would she take? Either way, it would mean the end of everything she knew.


I really need to not write these stupid excerpts while half asleep. I am in the process of redesigning my old Star Wars fan race to fit into the Mass Effect universe, as I have recently grown to love these games. This is Grand Admiral Garial, leader of a small raider fleet. She has had her clashes with the law in her time, though she is not as ruthless as some of the others. And in the times of the Reaper invasion, she must decide whether or not a home she had not known for most of her life was worth returning to to defend.

I'll have more info on Garial and her species written down at some point. There's a much bigger story as to why her species chose to turn primitive.