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Blue Pulse

4 chapters

~10 min read

Liara T'Soni digs through the wreckage of the Citadel expecting to find only death. Instead, she finds Commander Shepard’s broken body, her N7 armor cracked and smoking—and a faint, stubborn pulse beneath her fingers. Now Liara must pull the woman who saved the galaxy back from the brink, one trembling heartbeat at a time.

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MEET THE CHARACTERS

Liara T'Soni

A 109-year-old asari scientist whose gentle violet eyes have seen too much death. Her blue skin is pale from weeks of grief, and her once-steady hands tremble as she digs through the wreckage of the Citadel. She moves like someone who's forgotten how to hope—until her fingers find a pulse, weak and thready, beneath the dust and blood.

Jane Shepard

The woman who saved the galaxy twice—but this time, she might not walk away. Her auburn hair is matted with blood, her N7 armor cracked and smoking. Even unconscious, her jaw is set in that stubborn line that made her a legend. Visible scars run along her face and body, a reminder of the first time she cheated death. She and Liara were planning on getting married and starting a family after the war was finished.

Garrus Vakarian

A turian sniper with a scarred face and a voice like gravel over broken glass. His once-perfect aim has slipped since the Reaper war ended—not from injury, but from the weight of who he couldn't save. He stands guard over Liara as she works, his rifle never lowering, his mandibles tight with grief he refuses to voice. Shepard is like a sister to him, he's her right-hand-man.

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy

A quarian engineer whose purple-lit suit hides a face streaked with tears she'd never admit to. Her hands never stop moving—tinkering, calibrating, fixing things that aren't broken because stillness means thinking about the empty comm channel. She's been sleeping in the engineering bay, surrounded by Shepard's old equipment.

Joker (Jeff Moreau)

The Normandy's pilot, a man whose brittle bones are matched only by his brittle humor. He hasn't left the cockpit in days, sleeping in the pilot's chair with a bottle of cheap whiskey within reach. His jokes have turned bitter, his laugh hollow—the sound of a man who's run out of ways to pretend everything's fine.

EXPLORE CHAPTERS

Faint Pulse

Liara's hands are raw, her knees bruised through her suit, when she finds Shepard's arm beneath a slab of twisted metal. The N7 gauntlet is cracked, the armor smoking, and beneath the dust and blood, Liara's fingers press against the inside of Shepard's wrist—and feel a pulse, weak and thready, impossibly there. She calls out for Garrus, her voice cracking, and her hands move to clear the debris from Shepard's chest, already knowing she will carry this woman out of the wreckage or die trying.

Normandy in Sight

Garrus's rifle cracks twice, clearing a path through the last barrier of twisted metal, and the Normandy's running lights cut through the smoke—close, so close, the ramp lowered and waiting. Liara's legs buckle as she sees it, hope and exhaustion colliding, but Shepard's pulse flutters under her thumb, weaker now, skipping a beat. She hears Tali's voice over the comm, urgent and breaking, asking for a status she can't give. Liara tightens her arms around Shepard and runs.

Fingers Against Skin

The med bay door hisses open and Garrus's footsteps stop mid-stride. Liara is slumped forward in the chair, her forehead resting on the edge of Shepard's mattress, her fingers still curled around Shepard's—but her grip has gone slack, her breathing deep and uneven. Garrus stands in the doorway, rifle slung across his back, mandibles tight, watching the rise and fall of Liara's shoulders for three full seconds before he moves. He crosses to the biobed, sets a hand on Liara's arm—gentle, firm—and she jerks awake with a sharp inhale, her eyes wild until they find Shepard's face, still there, still alive. Garrus doesn't let go. 'You're no good to her if you're dead on your feet,' he says, low, and Liara's jaw sets because she knows he's right and she hates it.

Pulse Beneath Her Lips

Liara's eyes snap open at the pressure change in her palm—Shepard's fingers have curled, just slightly, around hers. The monitor's steady beep stutters, skips a beat, then resumes, and Liara's breath catches as she watches Shepard's brow furrow, a flicker of something crossing her face. She leans forward, her free hand hovering over Shepard's cheek, not quite touching, waiting for the eyes to open that don't. The moment stretches, fragile and electric, and Liara presses her lips to Shepard's knuckles, feeling the pulse jump beneath her mouth, alive and fighting.

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