Cover image by Episode Skywalker AKA Pirate Wars
Fight for the Lost
is a very, very popular fan novelization of Mass Effect 2 written by LuxDragon. The story expands upon the original content to make it more realistic, while also providing fresh and insightful character development, while remaining largely loyal to canon.
Has three sequels, Legacy of the Shadow Broker, Zero Hour and The End of an Era.
This story provides examples of the following:
- Adaptation Expansion:
- Kuril's motivation for trying to imprison Shepard is changed from the original game, from merely simple greed, to trying to cash in on a bounty put on him by the Shadow Broker.
- The Atoner: Thane initially aimed to meet Samara so she could kill him.
- Ascended Extra: Jacob gets quite a bit more development shown than in the original game.
- Many of the minor characters are given at least one moment to shine.
- Armor Is Useless: Deeply subverted. Everyone goes into battle with fully sealed Powered Armor not unlike Shepard's. No designer heels, leather-strap bras, or open-cleavage costumes for Miranda, Jack, or Samara on the battlefield, thank you.
- Blade Enthusiast: Thane and Kasumi – Thane uses throwing knives, while Kasumi has a wakizashi, a pair of kodachi, and a few throwing kunai. Given how Kinetic Barriers do not stop something so slow (compared to a bullet), this means most people have no defense against them, particularly against such keen aim.
- Captain's Log: Appears in the epilogue.
- Death by Adaptation: Legion is critically damaged during the suicide mission. Tali helps bring it back, though.
- Drives Like Crazy: Shepard. As it turns out, he hasn't actually passed the Hammerhead training simulator. It keeps failing him for unsafe practices. Unfortunately for his team, he's the only one who has spent any time at all in the simulator.
- Heel Realization: The thing that finally makes Miranda see Cerberus for what it truly is is Project Overlord and the realization that the Illusive Man knew and condoned it.
- Helmets Are Hardly Heroic: Averted. The team routinely wears helmets when going into combat. Played straight and deconstructed in Jacob's loyalty mission, however, resulting in head injuries; Shepard then tells them that this is exactly why he insists on wearing helmets. Wearing a helmet also saves Miranda's life on the Collector Base.
- I Call It "Vera": Kal'Reegar actually calls his favorite weapon "Vera".
- In Medias Res: Some of the chapters are done this way.
- Named by the Adaptation: Shepard's first name is John – the default male name.
- Novelization: Expands the content of Mass Effect 2 in almost every which-way possible.
- Pragmatic Adaptation: Many of the characters' abilities are changed to fit the universe:
- Shepard himself is a mix of many classes – he is able to use any weapon, although he also has the ability to cloak and use biotics.
- Many of the other characters use weapons and powers that they wouldn't have used in the game – for example, Miranda uses a Geth Pulse Rifle, Jacob uses a missile launcher, and Kasumi uses swords. Those with Biotics also have a greater variety of abilities not available in the game, like Jack having Warp, or Samara knowing Singularity.
- The ammunition powers are available in the form of ammo converters.
- In Jacob's loyalty mission, the weapons used by the Hugo Gernsback crew use the cooling system from the first game.
- Shepard brings the whole team on most missions, instead of just two members.
- The power "Reave" is treated differently; instead of stealing health from an enemy, it sends out a sliver of biotic energy that can bypass armor, shields, and barriers, and then creates an explosion within the target.
