OK, so I got the alert email...

You know, that this place was back up and running? At first, I was tempted to ignore it too, that little email that said it's been over a year since my account was last accessed. I guess I thought coming back, seeing those old names, old threads; being reminded of those six months of hell would bring back a lot of, for lack of a less whiny term, angst.

But, here I am. I couldn't resist the urge to catch up, reconnect with the greater galaxy. It's nice to see everyone so... positive. Optimism's an in demand commodity these days.

So, for those who remember me, well, I quit C-Sec. After what happened in those final hours (or days, shit I'm still not sure how long I spent convinced I was about to die) I... Can't be on the Citadel. Too many awful, awful memories. I've managed to settle for a bit in France, on an estate near Avignon. The town got the shit kicked out of it by the Reapers, but a few miles out things are almost as beautiful as they always have been. The homeless camps, the odd Reaper footprint and the black skeletons of a couple of homesteads are pretty ugly reminders of the War, but things could be a lot worse.

We even had some semblance of summer. The ash clouds broke, we've been having fewer and fewer storms and the rains started to reach sane levels again. Shit, there's a vineyard down the road that might even have something to pick next year.

I... I got word from Terra Nova too. My bandwidth's only afforded me a couple of shortish text messages every couple of weeks, so I haven't pieced everything together yet, but my parents made it. God, I can't tell how happy that made me. No, literally. Words like relief, joy... I want to use them, but they don't feel real. I dunno, it's a good feeling, that's all the description I can express in words. But yeah, the folk in Yggdrasil (my hometown) got word when the Reapers hit Scott. They packed up and ran, spent the better part of a year camped out on the Western Archipelagos, hiding from the Reapers. They didn't even know the War was over till six months down the line, when someone finally remembered them. You know how the Alliance is these days...

It's not all good news, though. My sister's... gone. She was at uni in Scott when the Reapers hit. No record of her after that, and no... no body. I don't need to tell you how the Reapers operate, I'm sure you've made your own conclusions about... Well. I think I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm never going to see her again.

No, that's a lie. But it's easier to say that than the truth.

God, I know most of you don't give a shit about this. It's nice to just talk though, you know? It's so much easier to be able to be able to type all this out than have to choke words out to someone, all the while knowing from the way they look at you that they want to interrupt with their own stories about how shitty their life's been for the past year and a half, until it all ends in a big masochistic circle jerk of misery and self loathing.

Ugh. The August's gone too. For those of you who have known me since I joined, I guess that means most of my identity on these boards has gone too. The August, C-Sec... They were my life, man. She got shot down over Earth, trying to bring some asari troops from Thessia. Almost half the crew didn't make it...

It's not all doom and gloom though, some good came out of it. I'm... I've been in a relationship for the past year. Me and Elise, August's pilot hooked up and, well, it's getting pretty serious. And I mean like 'thinking-of-popping-the-question' serious. She's... pretty much the only good thing I have these days.

Along with one other thing. So, for the bits of the year where I haven't been helping out on the estate, I've been working with the orbital salvage teams, decomissioning derelicts from the battle. And I snagged one.

Yup, paperwork's gone through, and I am now the proud owner of a badly maimed, unspaceworthy former turian long range courier. Slowly, we're getting her fixed up. She's almost done. I've got a slot on the relays in three months time, should be just about long enough to get her running again. And then I'm gone, man. Me and Elise, we're burning out of here. I can't stay on Earth, can't stay near the Citadel, near anywhere I used to know.

I don't know where we'll go, or how we'll keep going. But we'll manage.

Jesus, I'm sorry this has turned into such an essay, but like I said it feels good to talk. And now you know, anyone who gives a shit anyway.

So after all that, hi! Hey guys, it's been a while. Hope some of you still remember me. I met a bunch of you at various points, you guys still kicking? Still around? Hope you're reading this, I'd love to know you guys made it, and that you're doing okay. Shit, I don't wanna mention names, in case I forgot anyone or... well, you know.

Welcome back.

Good to hear from you again Tanner.

Have fun in three months then.

Thanks, RTB. Nice to see a familiar... Well, not a familiar face. Name? Nope, unless you actually have square brackets on your birth certificate (if you even have a birth certificate-. Erm, nice to see a familiar absence? Yeah, let's go with that. Keeping well, I trust?

Heeey LC! Great to hear from you! Still in the blues and blacks I take it? How are you and the fella?

Oh, I will Palmer. I also meant two months, relay window's right before Christmas. Whatever. Yeah, you're stuck with me till then. And every time I hit a comm buoy after that. So better brace yourself, cuz blurry amateur space cam photos of nebulae and planetary rings are probably coming. Never say I'm not good to you, CDN.