Marauder Shields 39: The Debt, Part 1

The 39th Episode of the "Marauder Shields" Mass Effect Comic.

In this one... A decision that promises to change everything is made, as the allied fleet musters to engage the enemy without doubt or remorse.

^{BACKGROUND MUSIC}

"Atlas" by Two Steps From Hell: [link]

^{AUDIO VERSION}

The audiobook version of this episode is already up and available here: [link]

^AFTERWORD

Repaying the Debt

This is a pretty special episode for me. It was one of the first ones I've written completely back in April (even though some rewrites were had in the last couple of days). Hell, I had the background music chosen for it before we even arrived at episode 12 (same goes for the upcoming "The Debt, Part 2").

The reason for all of this is that... This is what Mass Effect meant for me, in a nutshell, or at least a big part of it did. This is how I felt about the story way before I started analyzing it, way before Mass Effect 3, all its ups and downs, way before its ending. This is the tribute to my Mass Effect experience. This is my Mass Effect.

The whole episode is meant to work on two levels - the first one, emotional, is as straightforward as it can be. It's my own little cauldron of feels and hopes, boiling down to a speech that puts certain things in a certain perspective. That makes an emotional story point out of the usual way how our games and sci-fi experiences are handled and organized.

The second level, intellectual, analytical, isn't as direct as it was in many of our previous comics. It actually depends a lot on previous developments, slowly building an actual strategic decision out of something that might look as just an outburst of emotions... Allow me to say it out loud: this episode is constructed upon a narrow thread of little setups I've been planting for months now. It calls back to Anderson's lines from the last episode. It calls back to what Rodriquez said to Jack, back in episodes 29 ("This Ain't Oz") and 12 ("Breaking Point"). It ties into what Nihlus told us in "The Protégé". It touches upon both the title and the meaning of episode 8 ("The Beacon of Hope"). It is a "little act of defiance" against the Crucible. It delivers a desperate "plan b" that relies heavily on "the fire within".

Finally, it touches upon what this whole story represents and always did, what "Marauder Shields" has been telling you from the very beginning, more or less clumsily. That we're not alone in this. Never alone. That when the hero falls, others will raise to protect him (or her). That there will always be someone to pick up the shield. To hold the line. To hope, even if foolishly at times.

And when the push comes to shove, everyone - even someone who never really surpassed the term "NPC" or "background character" - has to unite, stand arm in arm and fight for things that are just worth fighting for. And we're all the closest to Spectres they've got...

This is my Mass Effect.
I hope it will be yours as well.

^{GENERAL INFORMATION}

This is an ongoing story providing an alternative fan-made ending to the Mass Effect trilogy, with our own game-changing maverick transforming the course of history: Marauder Shields. Be sure to start reading at episode 6. Special thanks to MichelKobayashi and my awesome team, especially our editor - AdoreeLyssa!

Hope is Alive!

[The Mass Effect universe, its design and characters are owned by BioWare/EA Productions. This is a work of parody and fan-fiction, created under the terms of fair use. Special thanks to BioWare for creating the world we all love and care for!]

P.S. If you haven't checked out our awesome interview with Obsidian's Chris Avellone, do it now! An epic hour of epic epicness: [link]

P.S.2. The audiobook version has already been uploaded! Check it out here: [link] - and, in case you've missed it, here's our previous audio chapter publication (35): [link]

P.S.3. Help me spread this series around - retweet, send out links, share this with your friends and post it on your facebook wall!