Things are really starting to heat up (as if they ever truly cool down) in the universe of Marauder Shields, culminating in the first of a two-part mid-season finale that is set to change the course of the greatest war the galaxy has ever known.
In Episode 39: The Debt, Part 1, I continue to portray Admiral Hackett, who makes a decisive call and rallies the United Fleet.
Over the past few weeks there have been a few audiobook releases for Marauder Shields; I predominantly play the role of the Codex Narrator (with the exception of Episode 24, where I also appear again as Admiral Hackett). You can check those audiobooks out at the links below:
Episode 16: Brothers Till the End
Episode 22: Maggots
Episode 24: Never Alone
That brings us to the latest release of Episode 30: The Protégé. Here, the eponymous character of the series, Marauder Shields (better known as Nihlus from Episode 21: Keys and Echoes), appears once again as we draw closer to the mid-season finale. This episode expands on the backstory first touched on in Episode 21, giving you pause to consider the series of events that have led up to this final confrontation–and leaving you wondering what comes next!
I was asked to try my hand at Thane Krios to fulfill the role for Episode 27 of Koobismo’s Marauder Shields comic. To practice with Thane, I read the following letter that was written in his personal journal, as seen in his dossier in the Lair of the Shadowbroker DLC (Mass Effect 2) or in Mass Effect 3 (if Thane was the player’s love interest).
Siha,
I write this with a heavy hand, knowing you will read this letter when I am no longer able to share my thoughts. I am dying, Siha. Perhaps because of the differences between our species, I can hope that time will treat you with kindness and dim the hurt of my passing to faded recollections that a drell would forever remember with perfect clarity.
Selfishly, however, I could not leave this world without leaving a piece of me behind that would never fade.
I once accepted my fate. Nothing remained but a shell destined to die. I only had to choose the when and how of my passing. I had refused to be confined to a bed, gasping horribly as my life beeped away to machinery I had no use for. I thought of my Irikah, broken, bloodied, and betrayed by my absence. Of Kolyat, small and afraid, bravely pushing at his eyes to stem the flow of tears I had entrusted to him to cry… for both our sakes.
The expectation to move swiftly to my end vanished upon meeting with your cause. You awoke me, Shepard. My heart quickened its sluggish beat if only to remain at your side and protect you with everything that I am. I was simply content to watch, take the time left given and praise all I know for allowing me to walk my final days with hope and certainty that I am worthy of more than my cold isolation, solely because you believed.
I love you. If all else whispers back into the tide, know this for fact. By grace given me by the Goddess Arashu, I bid her divine protection to you, my warrior-angel, my Siha, to succeed in your destiny. To light your path through the coming darkness. To give you hope, when all seems lost.
I will await you across the sea.
Thane