Hydrus Xotl
The drell sits in Huerta Memorial Hospital and brings a fist up to his mouth to cough violently. His species is not a common sight on the Citadel and he would not be surprised if he was the only drell there currently. But due to Kepral’s Syndrome getting worse recently, he had to retire from the war and become a hospital resident.
It still astonished Thane how much things have changed these past couple years. Able to relive a moment with perfect memory, he often remembered his assassinations now that he has settled down. After losing his wife, Irikah, to the very enemies he was trying to protect her from, he became lifeless. He lost his wife and destroyed his relationship with his son, Kolyat, by leaving him and taking on assassination after assassination. He was giving up and accepted that he would die. But that was when Commander Shepard found him.
She gave him reason to live. Taking on something that was deemed a Suicide Mission would be seen as stupid to anyone else, but he took on the task with no hesitation. If he wouldn’t die at battle, then he would die to his disease. It seemed like a more honorable way to die, but he never expected to survive the mission. He never expected to rekindle a relationship with Kolyat. But above all, he never expected to fall in love again. This was all thanks to Shepard.
As much as he wished to be by his love’s side to rid the galaxy of Reapers, his disease simply limits him. It hurt the drell so much to reject Shepard’s offer of re-joining the team, especially after going so long without seeing her, but he wouldn’t be a noble ally. He’d be a liability. A responsibility. A distraction. With the amount of faith and admiration the entire galaxy puts into Shepard, she needed a clear head. Worrying over Thane and wasting their medical resources on him would be of no help to Shepard, nor the Normandy team.
Thane takes in a raspy breath. He had hoped that he would die at battle. To be remembered as a hero. But he lived, and now he would die to this horrible disease. The inability for his lungs to take in oxygen. It was a miracle that he even survived past the expected life expectancy, but he is not getting any better. The disease will catch up with him eventually and he would have to spend his final days cooped up in this dang hospital.
He was deep in thought when a noise snaps him back into reality: Screams.
Thane looks out the large hospital windows to see smoke. He listened to horrified screams and gunshots. The Citadel was being attacked. It was as if the galaxy was telling him no, you cannot retire from this war. The galaxy needs you as well. Sick or not, Thane had to help. He still has combat experience and although it would be exhausting on his body, he had to help the Citadel.
The drell had raced out of the hospital. In case of emergency, he knew exactly where to go to stock up on weapons and ammo. It was then when he learned that Cerberus was behind the attack. He needed to tell Shepard. It is a pity that when the galaxy is at war with the Reapers, Cerberus has to become an unnecessary distraction.
He sends an urgent recording to Shepard and prays that she will receive it quickly. The Citadel will need her and the team in order to recover from this mess. Thane looks behind him to see two Cerberus soldiers approaching him. He picks them off one-by-one with his pistol and then runs in the direction of the most chaos.
Maybe his wish will come true. Perhaps he won’t die to Kepral’s Syndrome after all. As he runs and coughs violently, he begins to accept that these next few hours could very well be the last he has in this galaxy. This battle could very well be the last that he will fight in. But he will be able to fight by Shepard’s side one last time. And he wouldn’t have it any other way.
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Story by 
Tali
Amazing profile by User not found: sentinel
Drell is a fanpet dedicated to Thane Krios, a character of the drell species which can be found in the Mass Effect Trilogy. His character is owned by Bioware. In addition, any other characters mentioned in this story are also owned by Bioware.
