Lucent Redoubt is one of the two outlying fortifications supporting Bastion in its ill-fated vigil over Eden; the other being its sister fort, Vespertine Redoubt, which didn’t see much action during the Nephilim invasion and, as far as I know, still serves the troops of the Faneguard.
In the early days of the war, War and I were holed up in there for three days, alone, as victims of a plan gone awry. Death and Fury were supposed to taunt and harass Absalom’s main force into committing to open battle in the area between Bastion and the Redoubt, where they would become surrounded from all sides: Abbadon and the main body of the angelic army pouring out of Bastion, Barachiel leading a smaller host as bait, Death and Fury in pursuit, and War and me as the element of surprise.
“If we don’t find a way forward soon,” War growls, destroying the last of the partition walls in an almost casual manner, “I’m going to—”
“Blow a gasket?”
“Bah.”
Sitting atop a pillar that has somehow survived his frustration—for now—I gaze absently at the expanse of the labyrinth around us. It’s a strange pocket in the Void, both like and unlike the sanctuary Vulgrim has carved out for himself and his guests. This one seems to stretch on forever, and it looks the same in every direction: an endless succession of floating islands, their hexagonal tiles extending vertically to form the walls and pathways of an insanely complicated and, from what we’ve seen so far, completely vacant and pointless maze.
I am here today to divulge, in gratuitous detail, my unexpected obsession with Darksiders. Although I’ve known of this franchise a long while, and even sought out soundtracks and the like in the past, it has only been now, with Darksiders Genesis, that I found myself attracted to the setting and the characters, thanks to the amazing bromance between the protagonists, War and Strife, who can be played together in coop multiplayer.
During my many years in the Mass Effect fandom, I’ve seen many fanfiction authors embrace the “No Reapers AU”, where AU stands for Alternate Universe, marking a departure from canon large enough to affect the entire setting. This may be done for a number of different reasons. The author may dislike the notion of the Reapers and the save-the-world narrative framework; they might want to distance themselves from themes such as indoctrination or ignore the existence of factions like Cerberus; from Shepard as the protagonist and their tired hero’s journey; last but definitely not least, this might be the means to keep favorite characters, like Saren and Nihlus, alive past the timeline of the first game. This comes at the price of effectively deleting much of the official content and usually requires supplementing it with much of one’s own world-building.
Needless to say, all sorts of AUs are possible and “No Reapers” is only an example.
Well, lately I’ve been thinking about a “No Humans AU”.
While excavating the drawers of my former desk, I came across a bunch of development sketches for Thinker Traitor Soldier Spectre (TTSS), my Mass Effect novel from 2019. It’s mostly maps and scenography plans.
