Hackett looked Kaidan in the eye, raising one eye-brow. “And what would you have done if I had told you? Shepard would’ve still been with Cerberus.” Kaidan threw his hands in the air. “I don’t know! Tried contacting him, maybe! Talk to him! Reason with him! Anything!” “And lose your focus on what’s important,” Hackett retorted and raised his hand when Kaidan opened his mouth. “I know you think I’m a heartless bastard and that I don’t care, but that’s not true. Deep down inside, you know it. You know that Shepard was exactly where he needed to be – no matter how much we don’t like Cerberus. He brought back valuable intel and a frigate with an unshackled AI. He destroyed the Collector base.” “And he destroyed a solar system,” Kaidan shot back, glowering at Hackett. “During a mission you sent him on.” “I won’t deny that either.” Hackett stood up and clasped his hands behind his back. “This war is going to get ugly real fast. There’s no black and white anymore, and you of all people should know that.” “War doesn’t command me to commit atrocities or genocide.” “No. But if your choice is to either let the Reapers walk through our back door, or sacrifice 300.000 lives, the answer suddenly becomes very grey.”

1. Minimum word count for a fic gift is 1,000 words. There is no max.
2. An art gift MUST BE AN ORIGINAL work. Photoshop manipulations or AI art will not be accepted.
3. For fic and art, DNWs must be respected. If you ignore your recipients DNWs, you will be banned from future participation in the exchange.
4. Gifts are DUE June 25th, however, they aren't revealed for another week, so you can still edit them until that point. But a full draft must be turned in by June 25th.
5. For fic, your gift must be complete. We won't accept anything that will be continued later. If your submission says 5 chapters, ALL FIVE HAVE TO BE SUBMITTED.

1. For fic treats, the minimum word count does not apply.
2. However, DNWs must still be respected if you gift a treat to a certain participant.
3. There are no due dates on treats, but after the exchange is over, I'll check the archive less often, so ping me if you submit one (it still needs to be approved).