Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live

Samael61 · Apr 4, 2026

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

Note : The first two chapters of Anakin Skywalker : Sorcerer supreme, will be available shortly. You can check it on my profile.

—

Phoenix Massing

Chomos System

Shepard pulled his sleeves, ensuring everything looked perfect. Showered, shaven, and in his best official garment, he was ready to host the peace talks between the quarians and the geth.

The quarian admirals were about to arrive, and Legion was already aboard.

Taking the elevator down, he found Garrus waiting there for him, he too dressed in an official uniform.

"Why do I have to come in?" Garrus grumbled, stretching the collar of his suit.

"Because I need a secretary," Shepard drawled. His other choices were two former Cerberus agents or his quarian girlfriend.

"Shepard, the quarian Admiralty Board requests permission to come aboard," EDI approached in her new body. She was getting used to interacting with the crew through the platform rather than the intercom.

"Granted," he nodded, and the airlock twisted open. Shala'Raan stepped inside first, followed by the rest of the admirals and their security contingency.

"Admirals. Welcome aboard the Normandy," he greeted the quarian delegates.

"Commander Shepard," Shala'Raan shook his hand.

"Thank you," Han'Gerrel said, moving along, subdued.

"How are you all doing?" he asked, taking Zaal'Koris' hand.

"As good as we can be under the circumstances," the admiral of the civilian fleet replied.

Daro'Xen was the last one. "If you are ready, let's proceed to the meeting room," he said, inviting them inside after possibly the most antagonistic of the delegates walked in.

—

The admirals sat on the right side of the table, while Legion took a seat on the left, with Garrus standing up next to him.

"In my authority as a member of the Special Tactics and Reconnaissance Office, and as an individual with good relations to both sides, I open this session of the peace talks between the Quarian Conclave, represented by the Admiralty Board, and the Geth Consensus, represented by the geth unit dubbed Legion," he said, acting more ceremoniously than he was used to.

The meeting was being recorded, and official

"You named it too?" Daro'Xen asked, fascinated by the idea.

"Yes."

Shepard would have to make sure Daro'Xen was surveilled so she did not axe the prospect of peace by experimenting on geth. Maybe she'd be useful in a task force to examine Reaper programming.

"Now, we will start by hearing the Consensus' terms for peace," Shepard said, giving the opening statement to the geth.

Legion relayed the terms of the Consensus, which were simple and reasonable. Peace between the quarians and the geth, with the quarians recognizing the Consensus as the ruling body of the geth, as well as recognizing the geth's status as a sapient race.

They wanted to be treated as equals, nothing more, nothing less.

Any crimes against geth units would be judged in the same way a crime against a quarian would be, except putting geth's synthetic nature into the equation.

Rannoch would be accepted as a shared homeworld of the quarians and the geth, and while the synthetics wanted to create a single government with equal representation, they knew it would not be possible right away.

In the meantime, they were willing to share the planet and the rest of their territories with the quarians, as well as help them settle.

The terms were more generous than anything the quarians had expected so far, and they did not see any reason to refuse.

The admirals, in return, were more worried about the trustworthiness of the geth.

If they settled on Rannoch, even with their entire fleet on the Tikkun system, the geth would outnumber and overpower the Migrant Fleet. Should the Consensus want to finish the quarians, it would be a massacre.

Legion agreed that from their point of view, it was understandable for the admirals to be concerned for the security of the quarians.

Which is why he played several pieces of footage dating back to the time of the uprising.

Footage of quarians helping the geth units escape from their fellow quarians, defending them, and giving their lives if necessary.

That was a shocker to the admirals. There was nothing in their history to suggest that there were quarians sympathizing and helping the geth avoid being shut down or destroyed.

Zaal'Koris was vindicated in his desire for peace, showing how their ancestors, even if they were a minority, did not wish to destroy the geth.

Han'Gerrel had nothing to say.

Daro'Xen raised a point, claiming that the footage could be doctored for all they knew, but Legion was all too accommodating to let her examine it.

Shala'Raan just watched for now.

"I am aware of the distrust you have for the Consensus, and it is expected," he agreed with the quarians, "which is why not only am I vouching for them, but I also have an offer to make to both sides."

The Collector station had proven to be a treasure trove of data on the biologies of the known races, including the quarians.

"What would that be, commander?" Shala'Raan asked.

The Collector station's scans appeared over the table.

"This is the space station my team took from the Collectors. Should both sides agree on peace, I am willing to entrust it to your shared governments. The quarians know how to salvage and reverse engineer advanced tech better than anyone, and the geth could easily turn the station into a mobile fortress for the war effort. Of course, you would be sharing the technology acquired from the station with the rest of the citadel races," he explained.

The geth could comb the station without the fear of indoctrination, and the quarians were experts in repurposing.

If they worked together, the station couldn't be in better hands.

Garrus changed the data on the screen, showing pictures of quarians without their suits. "Another interesting and rather dark part is that the Collectors had experimented on all the races through the centuries, including the quarians before the Morning War. Now, the test subjects perished a long time ago, but they kept samples in stasis should developing a bioweapon be necessary," he said.

The images and scans of the quarians went away, showing vials of blood and flesh samples preserved in stasis.

Zaal'Koris leaped from his chair. "If they are before the Morning War, then we'd possibly be able to jump-start our immune systems with correct procedures," he said. He was no scientist, but the Special Projects fleet would not fail them.

"Indeed," Shepard affirmed.

"However, does the Migrant Fleet have the necessary biological research equipment for something this important? Not only that, but would you be able to mass produce a potential inoculation?" Garrus asked. Just because they had the samples did not mean the quarians had the capabilities to utilize them.

Legion's flaps moved, conferring with the Consensus through the QEC. "The Consensus is willing and able to assist the creators in this endeavor," he relayed the decision.

The admirals were whispering furiously among each other before Shala'Raan stepped up. "Commander, we will require privacy to discuss the terms."

"Of course," he said, turning to his friend, "Garrus, escort the admirals to the comm room."

"This way," Garrus said, gesturing to the door.

"Shepard-Commander, do you believe the negotiations will succeed?" Legion asked.

"Oh yes," Shepard said, "They just need to review everything so far, and neither Daro'Xen nor Han'Gerrel will be able to produce any meaningful argument against the terms."

Because the admirals would have to be literal fools to refuse the terms, especially with him as the middleman.

—

The admirals returned half an hour later, taking their places again.

"Commander, it is the Admiralty Board's decision to agree to the terms presented by the geth," Shala'Raan said. Daro'Xen's stance showed that it was not a unanimous decision.

"Excellent. We will draft the agreement, refine the finer details, and real soon, you should be able to set a course to Rannoch."

—

The negotiations were short, and it got the quarians thinking.

If returning home was this simple, could all of this have been avoided in the first place?

Daro'Xen and Han'Gerrel, the most outspoken critics against the idea of peace with the geth, were quiet. Shepard had given his assurances, along with technological assets to solidify the peace process.

There was nothing to do but accept it.

Three days after the first meeting, the admiralty board and Legion stood in Normandy's meeting room, shaking hands as the agreement was signed.

It would be known as the fastest peace agreement in galactic history, bringing an end to an almost three-century-long conflict in just three days.

—

Tikkun System

Rannoch

The announcement that they would be setting course to the Tikkun system was met with silence by the quarians.

It did not settle in yet that they could just go home without risking their lives in a pointless war.

When the first ship passed through the mass relay and entered the Tikkun system, the dam broke.

The comm chatter indicated a lot of tears of happiness.

It became a race then, every shuttle racing to the planet so for the first time in centuries, the quarians could have their home back.

—

"It still doesn't feel real," Tali said, eyes fixated on the horizon.

"Get used to it," Shepard replied, pulling her closer from the waist.

"What now?"

"Now? You guys settle in and make things work with the geth. I have to get back to Earth and kick the parliament's ass," he grinned. The Reapers were coming, and everyone had to be ready for it.

He would handle the Alliance while Garrus rallied the Hierarchy. Mordin and Liara would handle their respective races, and the rest would follow.

"I want to come with you, but…" Tali didn't finish her sentence, though her arm squeezed him a bit tighter.

"Tali, you are the only quarian I can trust to keep the peace together. And don't worry, if I get the wormhole working, I'll come for quick visits," he winked.

Tali pulled his head down, raising her head so her mask touched his face. "Take care of yourself out there. I love you."

"Love you too."

—

With the quarians settling back on Rannoch, it was time for him to drop the teammates wherever they needed to go. Most wanted to get off on the Citadel, except Grunt, Jack, and Hailey.

He would leave Grunt on Tuchanka, then take Jack to find Doctor Castor back on Eden Prime.

Grunt, now a warrior of fame, would serve Clan Urdnot well.

—

Eden Prime

Helios Medical Facility

"Jack, slow down," Shepard called out, running after his teammate.

"Fuck off," Jack snapped, searching for anyone that might give her the answers. Seeing a middle-aged doctor, she grabbed him by the collar and slammed the poor man to the wall.

"I am going to ask this once: where is Doctor Castor?"

"Jack, let him go," Shepard said, pulling her back.

The doctor sprang to his feet, face pale like the walls of the facility. "Commander Shepard?! What is happening?" he asked.

"Where is Doctor Castor? He is working with Cerberus; we need to find him before he makes a run for it," Shepard explained.

The doctor's eyes widened, and he pointed to the right. "He is in his office, down the corridor, meeting with some donors."

"Thank you," he said, though Jack was already running to catch the doctor.

"Hey, you can't barge in here." The secretary at the door tried to stop them but backed off upon seeing Shepard.

"Get lost," he ordered, and the secretary quickly vacated her seat with a "Yes, sir."

The door wouldn't open without the code, and Jack resolved the situation by tearing through the metal.

"Alright, everyone except Doctor Castor, out," Shepard ordered, though Jack wasn't in the mood to wait, already pushing people aside. Castor stumbled back, demanding to know what happened, but Jack silenced him with a right hook.

Blood and teeth flew from his mouth, splattering on the metal wall.

"You bastard, you fucking bastard," Jack screamed, landing a punch with each word. "

One of the donors stopped before him. "Commander, please stop this," he pleaded, but Shepard waved him away.

"He sold kids to Cerberus; he is going to die for it. Now, get lost."

Jack continued to work the doctor over between profanities about how he sold her to Cerberus. Once his face resembled a vorcha's, she pulled him up by the collar.

"Where are they? Where is my fucking family?" she demanded. Everything taken from her, Jack would take it back.

"Cerberus killed them when they didn't believe you were dead," Castor cried out, whistling the words with a hoarse voice.

"Please, please spare me," he pleaded, tears mixing with blood.

That wasn't the correct thing to say, and Jack's cry rattled the room. She brought down her fist, glowing dark with biotics, and splattered the doctor's head on the ground and the walls.

"Damn," Hailey whispered.

Shepard walked next to Jack, putting a hand on her shoulder, helping her up. She did not resist, just breathing in and out with silent tears streaming down her face.

Raiding a medical facility like this worried a lot of people, and he decided to do damage control while Hailey took Jack to the ship.

—

Revealing that Doctor Castor was a collaborator of Cerberus and relaying them the necessary proof, Shepard ordered the management to reevaluate their security measures and go over the cases pertaining to children that had died due to eezo exposure in the womb.

There were a lot of cases like Jack's, following an accident where an eezo transport had exploded over the city.

Shepard knew there was a great chance Cerberus orchestrated it.

The Alliance authorities were informed as well, launching an investigation into every single case where children had died due to eezo exposure.

—

Jack was unnaturally quiet during the journey to Grissom Academy. It was as if her fire had been extinguished, though Shepard knew she would get up.

She was too tough not to.

Entrusting her to Grissom Academy, he knew she would find herself a home there. David Archer, another child tormented by Cerberus, was already settling in the academy, and they would perhaps strike a chord.

His last words to her were "You never gave up to this date; don't start now," and Jack had merely nodded.

—

Earth

Vancouver

When the Normandy landed on the Alliance base in Vancouver, there was a military parade to greet him.

Soldiers stood at attention, and the Chief of the Defence Committee, Admiral Manford, was there in person.

"Admiral Manford," he saluted the admiral, as did Hailey, a step behind him.

"Commander," the admiral returned the salute, "Welcome back home."

Shepard lowered his arm. "Thank you, sir."

"We have a lot to talk about." The admiral gestured inside, and Shepard followed.

He would visit the parliament after reporting to the Defence Committee. It would have to start from the beginning, with how Cerberus found him and the organization's eventual fall, the operation against the Collectors, and of course, the peace treaty between the quarians and the geth.

The last one would be fun to reveal.

---

Notes: With this, Mass Effect 2 is over, and we'll start with Mass Effect 3 on the next chapter.

—

In the next chapter:

"Hey there, Commander," his girlfriend said, winking at him. She was out of her suit and didn't wear much, and Shepard felt his heart skip a beat.

"Tali? You are out of your suit?" he asked. The room felt awfully hot now.

"I am," Tali gestured to her bikini, something she had picked from human fashion. "What do you think?"

"Real nice," he said, eyeing every part of her body. The white bikini on her lavender skin looked really good. "I guess those samples have finally proven to be useful, huh?" he added.

"Not really," Tali grinned.

"Then how?"

Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Samael61 · Apr 12, 2026

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—

Earth

Vancouver

"Hey there, Commander," his girlfriend said, winking at him. She was out of her suit and didn't wear much, and Shepard felt his heart skip a beat.

"Tali? You are out of your suit?" he asked. The room felt awfully hot now.

"I am." Tali gestured to her bikini, something she had picked from human fashion. "What do you think?"

"Real nice," he said, eyeing every part of her body. The white bikini on her lavender skin looked really good. "I guess those samples have finally proven to be useful, huh?" he added.

"Not really." Tali grinned.

"Then how?"

"You remember how I hated everyone because they laughed at you for that whole business with the Asari sex demon?" she asked, and Shepard face-palmed.

"Oh no," he despaired.

"Oh yes," she said, "for some reason, the allergic reaction your bodily fluids triggered caused my immune system to release a special chemical that basically brought it to life."

"Oh no," he repeated. The allegations would never go away now if this ever were revealed.

"Please tell me you didn't say anything to anyone," he begged. He still received orgy offers from all across the galaxy.

"Too late for that. The medics detected that I carried some residue of levo amino acids, and well, the rest was history."

"Oh no," Shepard groaned. He wanted to curl up into a ball and cry.

"Anyway, I have to go and give some samples to help with the whole immune system issue. See you later, lover boy," Tali said, flashing him one last time to raise his morale.

It did help a bit.

"James," he called out. James Vega was assigned to his security detail, though he worked more as a secretary than a guard.

"Commander," James saluted. "Did something happen?" he asked, startled to see Shepard so distraught.

"Get me a bottle of ryncol," he ordered. It would be necessary for the headache that would follow him.

"Uh, the krogan stuff that melts your insides? Are you sure?" James asked to be sure.

He had seen the aftermath of a human drinking a single glass. A whole bottle of it would kill them if they were lucky.

"If I don't get drunk now, I'll kill someone."

"One bottle of Ryncol coming up."

—

"Commander Shepard," a man barged into his lab, screaming. He was on the older side, his face red, and fuming.

Though what he wondered was how the man even got inside.

"This is unacceptable," the man shouted to his face, spittle landing on his cheek. "You cannot just sequester yourself in here, refusing to answer the public's questions."

"I can't?" Shepard asked, wiping the saliva with a tissue.

"No, you cannot. We need to know what you did with that station," the man demanded.

Shepard's eye twitched.

—

Shepard dusted his hands as the dumbass congressman went flying out of the window of the floor given to him.

"James, I don't want to be disturbed again," he scolded. "I am in the middle of something vital here."

"Yes, Commander, sorry about that." James saluted. "Won't happen again," he assured the commander, looking out the window to see the old man go splat on the concrete.

—

"Son, you cannot throw a congressman out of the window," Anderson complained while Shepard was soldering some parts.

"I just did," he grunted. That moron was lucky he had gone down the expressway rather than having each and every single bone in his body broken.

"Yes, but as in you shouldn't," Anderson rephrased. No one was going to do anything to Shepard, even though what he did was a felony, but it still did not look good.

"I'll definitely do it again," Shepard grunted, much to his mentor's annoyance.

"For the love of it," Anderson said, praying for patience. "What the hell are you even working on?"

He had just returned from the Citadel, only to be told to warn Shepard regarding his actions.

"A black hole projector," Shepard said, startling Anderson, who almost fell down with the chair.

"Oh shit."

"Stop chickening out," he said, rolling his eyes. "I didn't even connect the power source."

"Thank god," Anderson said, trying to still his racing heart. "Are you absolutely, one hundred percent sure it's safe?"

He didn't want Earth to be torn apart by a black hole in an attempt to kill a Reaper.

"Depends. Do you want a weapon capable of taking out the Reapers in one shot or not?"

"Damn it."

"I thought so."

—

"Shocking news in the Salarian Union. The Salarian Task Group has officially taken over the Union in a blitz move, with Dalatrasses put on house arrest. The speaker of the STG, Major Kirrahe, has revealed in a press conference that this radical and unexpected step had been taken to protect the Salarian Union against the Reaper threat, citing the ineffectiveness of the Dalatrasses in preparing the armed forces. Rife with rivalries and political disagreements, the Salarian Union's contribution to galactic effort has been criticized from the beginning.

The first act of the Salarian wartime government was to increase military spending and share the advanced weapon and defensive technologies developed by the Union, which has been kept at bay due to the Dalatrasses.

Reactions among the members of the Citadel vary, but the overall outcome is that they will support the new government as long as the Salarian government supports the galactic war effort.

The leader of the new government, an ex-STG member, Mordin Solus, has refused to appear for an interview due to his busy schedule."

Shepard chuckled at the news.

Go Mordin.

"Asari Republics, fearing a similar intervention by the military forces, have increased the allocated resources for the war effort and started mandatory biotic training for maidens and matrons. Their vast eezo depots have been opened, and the full might of the asari economy is gearing towards war."

Nice, Shepard thought, closing the console to continue his work.

—

Shepard watched Hailey with a sour face.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded to know. They were having online lunch, dressed in suits, the best they could do under the current circumstances.

"Shepard? I thought you said he wouldn't be here for another half an hour," Garrus said with wide eyes.

"I am right here, Garrus." He glared at the turian.

"I can explain," Hailey said.

"You are going out with my best friend," Shepard explained in her place.

Hailey lowered her arms. "Okay, so I don't have to explain."

"We were going to tell you soon; we just didn't want to bother you," Garrus excused them.

Not that Shepard had a problem with it; he just didn't want to be in the dark.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." He waved their excuses away. "You two are adults; just let me know so I don't walk into something weird."

He didn't want to see any accidents of that nature in his quarters.

"Got it," Hailey said, giving him a thumbs up before making herself scarce along with the lunch.

"How are things on Palaven?" he asked. Now that his sister had left, they could catch up.

"You know us; we love war. Most of our WMDs are out in space, waiting to give the Reapers a spanking they won't forget," his friend reported.

"I would pay to see that," Shepard grinned. The Alliance was actually doing the same, and when the Reapers came rolling in, they would have a wall of anti-proton torpedoes and nuclear warheads waiting for them.

"And I have been made the Primarch's Chief Advisor on Reaper Countermeasures," Garrus said, flashing the new insignia on his suit.

That sounded like a loaded title. "So you get to tell everyone what to do?"

"I do. It is a bit jarring to have generals saluting me, but I'll get used to it," Garrus complained, all in good fun. "What about you? Heard you were working on something top secret."

"A portable black hole projector to have a handheld superweapon against the Reapers." He didn't know if it would be finished by the time the eldritch cuttlefishes came, much less if it could be scaled to ship size.

"Damn. Harbinger won't know what hit it."

"Yeah, I already handed over every piece of tech I had for the war effort, and with the geth and the quarians about to join the Citadel again, the Reapers are screwed."

"I agree, but seeing how the murderous synthetics delayed their arrival, I don't think they'll just lay down and take it."

Garrus was right, and the arrival route of the Reapers showed that the batarians would be hit first, which was the reason the Council was spending so much on their defense. If the batarians were caught by surprise, the Reapers would have billions of individuals to transform into disposable armies.

"Nobody said this would be easy."

"Alright, I have to go. Come pick me up when you are ready."

"Take care, Vakarian."

—

"The Citadel Council, in a unanimous vote, has agreed to open negotiations with the Krogan Clans, intending to offer a cure for the genophage while limiting the natural birth numbers, in return for Krogan Clans joining the war effort.

With a physiology built for war, the experts agree that the krogan could stall the Reaper swarming tactics, especially if outfitted with heavy laser weaponry. Urdnot Wrex, spokesperson of the largest alliance on Tuchanka and chief of Clan Urdnot, has agreed to the negotiations but requested Spectre Jonathan Shepard to arbitrate."

—

"Shepard, there you are," Wrex had called him right after the press conference, and he had an idea why.

"Wrex. What's happening out there?"

"You know how it is. There is a big scary monster out there, and they need the krogan to kill it."

"Right. Without you guys starting another rebellion in a century or two this time," Shepard said with a very pointed look.

Because he didn't really want the krogan to go down that route again.

"Don't worry. We are working on that," Wrex assured him, though Shepard would warn the clans regardless. "Anyway, I don't trust the politicians; can you be there so they don't try anything?"

"I am working on too many projects to be there in person, but I can join with the QEC," he said. That is, if he could not finish the new wormhole generator in time.

"Eeh, good enough. Take care, Shepard; we need you at your best for the war," Wrex said. "Though, if the negotiations fail, we can always ask for a sample of your bodily fluids to cure the genophage," he added.

"Screw you, Wrex. Go headbutt a Thresher Maw or something," Shepard muttered, ending the call.

Wrex's laugh echoed in his ears even after the call was over.

—

"News from Rannoch. The Rannoch Federation, the budding government of the Quarians and the Geth, has finally been granted an embassy on the Citadel with the removal of the bans on AI systems. The joint ambassador of both parties, Zaal'Koris vas Rannoch, held a press conference on his first day on the Citadel, thanking Spectre Shepard for his efforts in brokering peace between the Geth and the Quarians."

"More on Rannoch: the quarians have discovered a cure for their immune systems. Reports say that the source of the cure was Tali'Zorah vas Rannoch, Commander Shepard's lover, and the samples acquired from the Collector base. Unconfirmed intelligence claims that Tali'Zorah's immune system has been revitalized due to the bodily fluids of Spectre Shepard. Across the galaxy, monuments are being erected in the honor of Jonathan Shepard, with ceremonies held before them to bless newlywed couples with a long and healthy sex life."

"Commander Shepard has responded to the news by saying, 'I swear, if I see those statues, I am going to tear them down, and if anyone calls me a sex god again, they will be sucking vacuum.'"

—

"James, get in here," Shepard ordered, going through the final system diagnostics.

"Sir," James saluted, waiting at the ready.

"At ease."

"Now, when that countdown ends," Shepard pointed at the screen, "I want you in here to monitor the situation."

"Where will you be?" Vega asked. If Shepard wanted a break, he wasn't the best person to watch over a lab.

"Rannoch," Shepard replied, carrying a beacon over his shoulder.

"Wait, what?" James asked, but before he could get an answer, the reality was torn open, and Shepard stepped through it, disappearing out of the room.

"What the hell?" his words echoed in the now empty lab.

The defense committee was going to flip.

—

Tikkun System

Rannoch

Shepard came out of the white portal, watching the surrounding area. Apparently, the gate still needed some calibrations, because he just arrived in a wilderness, with no sign of a settlement around.

Great, now he had to wait for the geth units to drop down for investigation and take him to the settlement.

It didn't take long, however, and the geth units were concentrated around him, searching for the source of the energy spike on their sensors.

"Shepard-Commander. How did you arrive in Rannoch?" The geth looked hesitant, as if it didn't know how to respond to Shepard appearing out of nowhere.

"Through a wormhole, but I missed the exact coordinates. There must have been an error in the galactic drift calculations."

"We see," the prime unit replied, its flaps moving up and down erratically.

"Anyway, can you guys call in a transport to take me to the settlement?"

—

The geth were tireless machines that were not bottlenecked by the galactic economic models and could build anything as much as they wanted, as long as proper resources and energy existed.

So it wasn't a surprise to see the settlement look like a proper city in a year.

He was taken straight to the office of the president.

"Ancestors. Commander Shepard, what are you doing here?" Shala'Raan, the Quarian co-chairman of the Federation, greeted him, while the Geth chairman, Legion, followed her.

"Just testing some new stuff," he said, shaking hands with both chairmen. "Where is Tali?"

"She is working aboard the space station. We will inform her immediately," Legion offered, but Shepard stopped him.

"No need, just take me to the station. I can see how the work on it is progressing."

"Very well."

—

Shepard whistled.

The station was damn impressive. Outfitted with enough torpedo launchers to tie up a Turian fleet, the station also boasted hundreds of laser grid defenses, with production facilities inside to resupply and repair the station, along with fleets if necessary.

Quarian strip mining ships, automated by the geth programs in them, could keep up with the raw material demand.

Capital-grade deflectors covered the mobile fortress in a shell that would need dozens of Sovereign-class Reaper ships to punch through, and the stony exterior was replaced with ablative armor.

It also had a single dock that could repair a cruiser in hours, providing vital services to the fleet it would be assigned to.

The progress in Mass Effect technology through reverse engineering the station was a bonus.

—

Notes: I skipped those parts quickly so you can get an idea of where the galaxy stands against the Reapers.

—

In the next chapter:
Shepard rose to sit on his bed as James pressed the intercom and banged on the door at the same time in the middle of the night.

"Commander, you need to get up," his secretary screamed.

Something must have happened.

"James? What is it?" he asked, getting dressed.

"It's time."

Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Samael61 · Apr 17, 2026

Hello one and all.

Due to a combination of writer's block, flu and me getting distracted, I wasn't able to write properly this week. Unfortunately, that means no updates this week. I am truly sorry about this and hope to see you all next week.

Until then.

Samael61 · Apr 25, 2026

Thank you all for your well wishes. I am much better now. The rest has helped me clear my mind and I am happy to be back. I am glad to have readers like you with me. Enjoy the chapter.

—

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—

Tikkun System

Aboard the Shepard-class Fortress Station

Legion ran him through the finer details of the station as they made their way to where Tali was working.

They had even named the station after him, with plans to build more.

He found his girlfriend in the hangar, directing supplies and machinery as the work progressed.

Tapping her left arm, Shepard walked to her right side, startling Tali as he appeared in front of her.

"Shepard?" she asked, throwing her hands around him, "How are you here?"

"I finished that wormhole generator," he said, hugging her back. "I thought I would visit Rannoch as a test drive."

"Ancestors, that's great; I missed you so much," she exclaimed, pulling back to hold his hands.

"Me too," Shepard said, squeezing her fingers.

"So, Admiral," he winked, having been briefed on Tali's promotion, "care to show me around?"

"You heard about that?" Tali asked, nudging him with her elbow, "I was waiting to surprise you."

"You surprised me enough," he said, remembering the bikini.

—

Tali took him across the length of the station, showing where the construction efforts were continuing. Geth and quarians were working hand-to-hand, where the ingenuity of the organics met the precision of the synthetics.

"What did you guys do with the larva?" he asked.

"The geth use it as target practice to test weapons," Tali replied, showing him the footage of the tests.

Shepard nodded. "Good." It was the best possible use for that thing.

—

He spent the rest of the day with his girlfriend, having dinner and then some quality time, before returning to Earth.

The Federation received the blueprints for the wormhole generator, and he would distribute them to the rest, creating a network across the galaxy.

—

One Year Later

Shepard rose to sit on his bed as James pressed the intercom and banged on the door at the same time in the middle of the night.

"Commander, you need to get up," his secretary screamed.

Something must have happened.

"James? What is it?" he asked, getting dressed.

"It's time."

—

The moment Shepard entered the Defense Committee briefing room, Admiral Hackett started the debriefing.

"Six hours ago, the Reapers entered the batarian space with overwhelming force. Initial scans put their forces at over fifty thousand Sovereign-class dreadnoughts and a quarter of a million destroyers at one hundred and sixty meters long," Hacket said as images taken in the batarian space were shown.

"However, that wasn't all. They also brought swarms of Oculus that the scanners couldn't count in time, but suffice to say, there are millions of them. The defensive measures in the batarian space, including the anti-proton torpedoes and the nuclear warheads loaned from other races, have all been spent to stem the tide, but the Reapers punched through. We believe they will start harvesting the batarians for ground troops before spreading to the rest of the Citadel Space," Hackett added.

"One weapon they presented was these dense gravitational fields to pull the torpedoes and everything else launched, saving the Reaper armada from facing much damage."

The images on the screens switched to recordings as torpedoes and nukes were drawn towards a singularity, causing the warheads to detonate prematurely and save the Reaper fleet.

"We can launch the anti-proton torpedoes alongside modified disruptor torpedoes to act as an anti-gravity field to negate it," he theorized. It was expected of the Reapers to know how the galaxy would prepare for their arrival. Sovereign had faced the anti-proton torpedoes firsthand, and the Collectors were in contact with the previous Shadow Broker.

"That was our thinking as well, and the engineers are working round the clock to modify enough torpedoes in time," Hackett said, showing him the modifications.

"What else the Reapers have for us, we don't know, but it is agreed that fighting this battle outside our space is for the best, and the fleets are gathering to enter the batarian space."

The idea made sense, because as long as the Reapers were contained to one part of the galaxy, production of weapons capable of defeating them could proceed without an issue.

"Commander, your task is different for now." Hackett gestured at him. "Dr. T'soni has been working in the Mars Archives to find anything against the Reapers, and she reported a breakthrough. We need you to extract her, gather your team, and prepare to face the Reapers," he explained.

"In the meantime, we'll collect more intel to not walk in blind."

"Yes, sir," Shepard saluted.

The war had just begun.

—

Shepard had been taken to the docks with Hailey and James Vega, who would be joining his team.

To his surprise, two old friends were waiting at the airlock. "Ashley, Kaidan, what are you guys doing here?"

His former teammates stood at the ready, dressed in the latest iteration of Alliance marine armor and carrying the improved version of the laser rifles.

"Admiral Hackett's orders: we are joining you aboard the Normandy," Kaidan explained. They were not able to join Shepard last time and had jumped at the chance.

"Get in; we need to head out immediately."

"Yes, Commander," both marines replied, following him in.

"Joker, EDI, set a course for Mars," he ordered as soon as he stepped through the airlock.

"Aye, aye, Commander, good to have you aboard."

—

Mars

Prothean Archives

Above Mars, Joker contacted the archives to have Liara ready to meet them in the landing zone for immediate leave.

The asari was ready there, with a bag on her shoulders, and as fast as they arrived, the Normandy left the planet again.

"Liara, nice to see you again," he said, helping her with her bag.

"Shepard, glad you are here. I heard the news; the batarians are getting hammered." Liara shook her head. The batarians were barely getting on their feet, free from their past practices, but now, the Reapers were burning down what they had managed to build.

"The fleets are converging to meet the Reapers head-on. I heard something about you making a discovery in the archives." If there was a superweapon against the Reapers, this war could be over quickly.

"It is a device of protean origin, though I am not sure what it is capable of. I hope you can make sense of it," Liara said. Shepard clicked his tongue, but if it was that easy, the Protheans would have succeeded.

"Alright, we need to pick Garrus from Palaven; I can look at it on the way," he said. There was no one else he could recruit for now, and he needed his second in command.

"Commander, orders from Admiral Hackett," Joker called from the intercom. "The Alliance found something huge on Eden Prime months ago, but the research team there is not equipped to handle it anymore. He wants us to pick it up."

"Then set a course for Eden Prime," he said, chuckling to himself.

Back to where it all began.

—

Eden Prime

The trip to Eden Prime gave him time to catch up on his sleep. The information on what the research teams had discovered was scarce since all Alliance resources were moved to counter the Reaper threat, but as Joker contacted the ground teams, he finally learned what had been found at the dig site.

An intact stasis capsule, containing a live prothean, and the last functional one in the complex. A couple months later, it too would have ceased working.

His whole team followed him down the ramp, and the dig team was waiting for them.

"Commander Shepard, welcome to Eden Prime again." The lead researcher shook his hand. "We are evacuating the dig site; the Alliance needs all its forces, but we could not find a way to open the capsule. I was hoping you could take a look."

Shepard nodded and approached the capsule without a word. The memories that were burned to his mind from the beacons flared to life, and the words on the holographic console made sense. It required a specific signal to start the defreezing protocols, but he was familiar enough to override the system.

"The capsule is damaged, so we need to wait a couple of minutes," he explained.

"Goddess, to think I would see a live prothean. Things the one inside could teach us," Liara said, giddy like a child in a candy store.

"Hands off triggers; the prothean will be disoriented and may try to attack us. I don't want an accident," Shepard warned. It wouldn't do if someone had an itchy finger, and they ended up with a corpse.

"Yes, Commander."

The countdown had reached the end, and the pod opened with a hiss. Inside, a prothean lay covered in frost, and he looked exactly like the Collectors, minus the cybernetics.

All four of his eyes flickered around, and Shepard motioned for the people to give him some space. The prothean held the side of the pod, dragging himself out, but fell down, barely able to turn himself over. He blinked and shook his head.

Giving the prothean a couple of minutes, Shepard approached, holding his hand down to help him up.

The prothean looked at him with bleary eyes but took the hand nonetheless, and Shepard found himself in the middle of a battle.

The brainwashed traitors were attacking the stasis compound, and he had to repel them until the neutron purge could be initiated. His men were dying by the minute, and by the time he reached the stasis capsule, the damage to the facility was too severe.

Shepard took a step back as the visions of a battle flashed in his head. Dissociating himself from the foreign memories, he found the protean at the end of several barrels.

"Easy, guys, I am fine," he said, waving at them to lower their weapons.

"Are you sure, Commander? You didn't answer for a couple of seconds," Kaidan asked, on guard as he watched the prothean.

"Yeah, he just gave me one hell of a flashback, but I don't think he will be a problem," he said, turning to help the prothean up. "Will you?" he asked.

"No," the prothean replied, speaking in English with an accent similar to African countries.

"Good. What did you just do?" Shepard inquired. It almost was like an asari meld, but faster and smoother.

"My people could read thoughts and exchange memories with a mere touch," the prothean explained, surveying the aliens gathered before him. "I simply read your psyche to understand your language."

So he was right. "Like an advanced version of the asari meld," he said, glancing at Liara, who was already writing down everything the prothean was uttering.

"Indeed."

"I am Commander Jonathan Shepard of the SSV Normandy," he introduced himself. "Your stasis capsule was the only functional one we found."

"I see," the prothean replied, closing his eyes. It took him some time to open them again. "What of the Reapers?" he asked.

"Their initial arrival was thwarted, and they had to take the long route. Fleets are gathering to put an end to them," Shepard explained. If the prothean knew anything about the device, perhaps they could start construction soon.

The prothean chuckled, though there was no mirth to it. "So our warnings were received."

"They helped for sure. Come on, let my doctor check on you to make sure you won't keel over," he offered. Who knew what a fifty-thousand-year-long stasis could do to his body, considering the capsule was damaged?

"Very well, Commander Shepard. I am Javik, the last of the Prothean Empire," the Prothean said, finally introducing himself.

—

"How is our recent arrival, doc?" he asked Doctor Chakwas as the Normandy sailed to Palaven.

"Based on what we know of the prothean physiology and the principles most organic life shares, he is in extremely good condition for someone in stasis for that long," Chakwas reported.

"Wonderful," Liara jumped in, already having prepared a list of questions to ask Javik.

Shepard guessed it must have been something like a human finding a live dinosaur.

"He wants to speak to you as soon as possible," Chakwas added, and Shepard motioned for the highest-ranking Alliance marine to move. "Kaidan, escort Javik here."

"Aye, aye, Commander," Kaidan saluted and left the room. A couple minutes later, he returned with Javik following him behind.

"You said that your fleets have gathered to put an end to the Reapers," Javik said, taking a seat. "I have nothing to offer you, except for my worth as a soldier. Let me join your crew, so the last prothean may see the end of the Reapers."

Shepard hummed. Guess the only thing the last Prothean could seek was revenge.

"Alright. I guess you don't know anything about this device?" he asked, and the holographic scans of the device appeared.

"There were rumors that our scientists were working on a great weapon left behind by the previous races to vanquish the enemy, but it needed a final part, the Catalyst. Seeing as how we failed, they must have failed to discover what it was. I know nothing else," Javik explained, and Liara deflated.

"Welcome to the crew, Javik. As soon as you rest," he ordered. Stasis was not exactly resting.

He would know.

"Commander, Admiral Hackett's on the line," Joker said from the intercom.

"Relay it to the meeting room," he ordered, and Admiral Hackett's hologram appeared over the table.

He got up to salute, but Hackett motioned for him to sit down before he could.

"Shepard. What's the situation on Eden Prime?"

"We found a prothean, alive and well, but he doesn't know anything about the blueprints, except that they were not their original work," he explained.

"I see," Hackett said, stroking his chin. "What do you plan to do with him?"

"He wants to join my crew to see the end of the Reapers; I am inclined to accept," Shepard replied.

"The protean is with you then. The Fleets are gathering in the Exodus Cluster to create a staging ground, but we couldn't learn anything else about the Reaper presence in Kite's Nest. Salarian stealth vessels have been sent to the system, and until they return, we'll be here." Hackett gave him a rundown of the situation.

"Understood, sir. I'll join you as soon as I pick up Garrus," he said. The Normandy could watch the enemy movements, rather than act as a direct warship, but the greatest impact it would have would be to increase morale.

"Godspeed, Commander. I'll keep you aware of any new developments."

"Yes, sir," he replied, and the hologram disappeared.

There was still time to Palaven, so he dismissed the crew to rest. He was not tired, and the device needed to be decoded to reveal its purpose and what this Catalyst was. If they could not discover what it was, then those resources would be better spent elsewhere.

War was already a brutal occupation, but against the Reapers, it would be worse. Unfortunately for them, the enemy had picked the wrong cycle.

—

In the next chapter:

"Hey there," Garrus said with a low growl. He hadn't even dropped his luggage, walking straight into the forward batteries.

"Hey," Hailey replied, turning around to lean on the console, "nice armor."

"A gift from the Primarch," he said offhandedly.

"To his favorite advisor?" she winked.

Garrus approached, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just care about being your favorite."

Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Samael61 · May 3, 2026

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—

Trebia System

He couldn't stop himself from whistling.

The homeworld of the Turian Hierarchy was a veritable kill zone.

Anti-proton launchers dotted the void, supplemented with nuclear armament and capital-grade laser cannons. Everything was protected with mass effect fields and reflectors.

Even without the fleets, the system would grind down any hostile force to dust.

The Normandy landed on Menea, Palaven's moon and first line of defense, to pick Garrus up.

A turian approached, flanked by two guards. "Commander Shepard, I am General Corinthus. Chief Advisor Vakarian is in a meeting with the Primarch. He will be here soon," he informed.

"Thank you, general."

"Is there a problem with the preparations? You seem displeased," he asked. The turian kept glancing at his homeworld with twitching mandibles.

General Corinthus turned to fully face Palaven. "We just aren't happy to lose the only Reaper expert we have," he said after a short silence.

"Turians," Javik scoffed behind him. "It is difficult to imagine the primitives of my cycle fighting the Reapers better than us," he said.

"This is?" the general asked, barely glancing at the alien, who did look like a Collector.

"He is Javik, the last of the protheans," Shepard introduced, gesturing to the alien.

"Spirits," the general chuckled, shaking his head.

"How much of your fleet is retrofitted, General?" he asked. The largest war fleet in the Citadel space, the Hierarchy had around forty thousand ships, only matched by the geth.

"Eighty percent. And to be honest? It wouldn't have been possible without the geth. Their production capabilities outmatch ours," he admitted after considering it for a bit.

The geth, once supplied with the blueprints and the necessary resources, had produced and shipped reflectors, laser cannons, anti-proton torpedoes, and more.

Even the unrelenting generals and admirals of the Hierarchy weren't willing to turn away all that hardware.

"The rest of the ships are currently in the docks," he added.

"You, though, we owe more than anyone else," Corinthus said, raising his open hand to his eye level.

"We are all in this fight together, general," Shepard said, saluting back.

"That we are," a voice spoke behind the general. Garrus was wearing new armor, painted in his preferred colors of blue and gray.

"Vakarian, sir," Corinthus exclaimed, raising his rifle to the air. The guards followed along, but Garrus was quick to stop them. "At ease, general."

"Shepard, great to see you again," Garrus said and took the offered arm, head tipping forward slightly towards Javik. "Where did you find the prothean?"

"In a freezer," he said with a light tone.

"Come in, I think the forward guns need calibrating."

"After months as an advisor, that sounds like a vacation."

—

"Hey there," Garrus said with a low growl. He hadn't even dropped his luggage, walking straight into the forward batteries.

"Hey," Hailey replied, turning around to lean on the console, "nice armor."

"A gift from the Primarch," he said offhandedly.

"To his favorite advisor?" she winked.

Garrus approached, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just care about being your favorite."

"I missed you," she said, hugging back and laying her head on his chest.

"Me too."

"I think I might have gone crazy if it wasn't for those wormhole generators," Garrus muttered. A long-distance relationship was already difficult. Considering they were at war…

"Isn't that misuse of power, Mr. Chief Advisor?" she teased, sticking her tongue out.

"I'd break that law every day for you," he joked.

"You are impossible."

"Impossibly charming, you mean?"

"Sure, sure."

—

The Normandy's next destination was the Exodus Cluster, and then Kite's Nest for reconnaissance.

"Commander, there is a call for you. It's from Mordin," Joker informed him over the comms.

He was close to the QEC and took the call there.

"Shepard. Great to see you. Excellent work on wormhole generators," Mordin praised. He was in an office, Shepard noticed, one that was enclosed on all sides.

"Thanks, Mordin. How is ruling the Salarian Union working out?" he asked. Mordin's coup was unexpected, but with how much the new government had poured into the war effort, no one cared.

"Stressful, but manageable. Previous political system ineffective for war. Will install a more efficient one later," he said. It was one of the promises made after the coup, one that had been well received across the galaxy.

"I bet they won't like you being around," said Shepard.

Mordin's smile widened, "Salarian lifespan short."

He chuckled,"Ah, Mordin, never change. How are the krogan doing?"

"Good. The genophage is modified. No more stillborns. Birth rate reduced. No worrying over krogan overpopulation," his friend said. The krogan wanted a full cure, but even they understood the reason behind it.

The krogan had evolved to reproduce so quickly because of their hostile homeworld, which kept their numbers in check. With modern weaponry and access to less hostile planets, it had become a disadvantage in creating a stable nation.

"Alright. Let me know if anything else comes up."

Mordin nodded, and the screen turned black.

—

On the route back to the Serpent Nebula, Shepard gathered the team to discuss the current state of the preparations.

"Were you able to figure out what the device does?" Kaidan asked. The hologram of the decoded device, now named Crucible, was projected over the table.

"It is a converter. Transforms dark energy into a mass effect pulse in three specific wavelengths. The first one is an EMP that will fry the Reapers by scrambling their software through inserting data that is encoded into the pulse," he explained, showing the wavelengths.

"The second, I think, uploads an organic mind into the shared structure of the Reapers. If the consciousness survives, it could take control of the Reapers," Shepard added.

Heads turned sharply to the device.

"The third?" Hailey asked.

"I am looking at it, though it is the most complex one."

"At any rate, we will obviously destroy the Reapers. However, it will also destroy EDI, so we need to cover her core with a special reflector," he said, looking at AI's robot body.

"Thank you, Shepard."

"What about the Catalyst?"

"The only way for the pulse to travel through the galaxy fast enough that the Reapers won't be able to outrun it is this," he said, pressing a button to play the destruction of the Bahak system.

Once the dark energy from the mass relay hit the star at faster-than-light speeds, it triggered a supernova.

"You destroyed a mass relay?" Javik asked, all four of his eyes blinking at once, his lips slightly parted.

"No, Batarian terrorists did," Garrus replied dryly.

"I hope we don't have to blow them all up, along with, you know, everything else?" Ashley pleaded.

Shepard shook his head. "The pulse will automatically convert the eezo inside the relays. It won't result in anything like the Bahak system," he assured.

"The problem lies with delivery. The initial pulse will need massive processing power to work in the first place," he added. Whether to encode the data into the dark energy pulse before it went off or to disseminate an organic mind across the galaxy, the Crucible needed a hyper-advanced AI.

He could, given time, make one.

"Mass relays are highly advanced computers,"

"Yes, but we will need at least several of them synchronized together."

"The Citadel," Liara exclaimed, leaping to her feet. "It is a mass relay, which means its systems, the part where only the Keepers access, must possess enough processing power to pull thousands of Reapers out of the dark space, that is, what, at least thirty thousand light-years away?" she said.

Shepard's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about the Citadel.

"Liara is right," Garrus admitted.

"EDI, get me the Councillors online," he ordered. She nodded, a gesture she had picked up from the crew.

It took less than ten seconds for the Council to answer, though only Tevos and Valern were there.

"Commander Shepard, we hope you are well," Tevos greeted. He hadn't spoken to the Councillors in months, busy as they all were.

"Thank you, but we'll need to skip the pleasantries. I need you to send people to check the parts of the Citadel where only the Keepers are allowed to access," he said.

"May I ask why?"

"The Catalyst for the Crucible, we believe it is the Citadel. As the largest and most advanced mass relay, it is the only place where we can find the necessary processing power."

Valern twitched, his beady eyes slightly widening, and started muttering to himself.

"I… understood, Commander," Tevos said after glancing at Valern. "We will send the C-Sec and specialists to see what we can find."

"Thank you, Councillors," he said, and the call ended.

—

The Citadel

His orders to join the fleets gathering in the Utopia system have been delayed due to an emergency.

General Petrovsky had shown his face.

His fleets had taken Omega after luring Aria T'loak out, and with all the research bases they evacuated before the Alliance could act, intelligence suggested he had plenty of Reaper tech.

The Illusive Man had confessed that there was research on controlling the Reapers. Combined with the recent discovery that the Crucible could potentially assert dominance over the machines, the United Command had agreed to intervene.

However, they did not wish to send ships or ground forces to the other side of the galaxy.

Aria herself was on the Citadel, gathering forces to take her station back. She had promised support for the war effort, including the vast eezo reserves of Omega, if she received help first.

Any force capable of fighting the Reapers was welcome, even if they were mercenaries and pirates.

Not to mention, Tali was there too as the Admiral of the Federation Coordination Efforts.

The Normandy docked, and he gave the crew time off, the only one until the war ended.

Tali was at the Presidium, arranging the details of how to transport the vast anti-proton torpedo stores of the volus to predetermined supply locations.

"Thank you, Rannoch clan. I believe that concludes everything," the volus said between deep breaths.

"You too, ambassador." Tali tilted her head, and the volus waddled away.

"Excuse me, admiral, I believe you have a very handsome visitor," Shepard teased, tapping her on the shoulder.

Tali turned around, looking at him for a moment. She wrapped her arms around his torso and laid her head on his shoulder, silent.

"You alright?" he asked, straightening his posture.

"Just tired. Seeing you helps, though," she admitted.

"Why don't you go and rest aboard the Normandy?" he offered. Even inside the suit, he could see her eyes drop.

"I have work to do. Admiral, remember?" His girlfriend complained.

He activated the omni-tool, showing her a surprise form: "The Federation has written orders for you to be drafted under my command."

She giggled, hugging him tighter.

"Creator Zorah, do you require assistance?" A

"Legion, you are here too?"

"This unit has the most interaction with the organics. The Consensus has agreed it would make us uniquely suitable for diplomacy."

"That's great."

"Thank you, Legion, but I got it. You still have work to do; don't delay it on my account."

"As you wish."

—

Purgatory

"Last time I was in a place called the Purgatory, a corrupt prison warden tried to capture me," Shepard commented as he sat down next to Aria.

"That's wonderful. One more corpse for your kill count," she replied dryly, looking through her datapad.

"Heard you had a run-in with Petrovsky," he continued, leaning back and grinning.

Aria put down the pad, her lips tight. "Shepard, we can sit here and talk while you enjoy this shitty situation I found myself in, or we can talk business."

"Alright, what's your plan?" he asked. It was tempting, but time was short.

Maybe later.

"The Eclipse, Blue Suns, and Blood Pack. I made arrangements, but the deals need to be closed."

—

Jona Sederis was the founder of the Eclipse mercenary organization.

She was also a certified nutcase.

Fortunately, there was Sayn, her second in command, a much cooler-headed salarian.

"Commander Shepard. I heard that you were coordinating Jona Sederis' release. I did not believe it, though it seems I was mistaken," the salarian said as he got up.

Shepard looked him over, nodding to himself with one eyebrow raised, and pursed his lips.

"What is it?" Sayn asked, his throat bobbing as he looked around wildly.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you looked very commanding? Like a proper leader? I say, you would be an even better leader of the Eclipse than Sederis," Shepard praised, patting the salarian on the arm.

"Ah, no, no one has told me that," he replied, shoulders dropped, scratching his horn.

"Then they were blind," Shepard said. "Why don't you leave Sederis to rot where she is and take control of the Eclipse? Under the command of a leader like you, they will be unbeatable in no time," he added.

"Yes, yes," Sayn said, his eyes shining. "You are right. Tell Aria that we have a deal. She can forget about Sederis."

"I knew you were smart."

—

Darner Vosque was a moron.

"Wow, Aria wasn't kidding, the great Commander Shepard on a leash," the leader of the Blue Suns opened his mouth.

"Say, Vosque, do you have a second in command?" Shepard asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, Liam over there. Why?" he said, head tilting to a man at the corner.

"No reason," Shepard said. His hand blurred, and he lifted Vosque up, squeezing his throat.

The mercenary choked as his windpipe was crushed, struggling to break free. His movements became sluggish, and Darner eventually stopped moving.

Shepard dropped the corpse and turned to Liam, growling a "Get over here."

"Yes?" Liam asked, stuttering as he walked closer.

"You are in command now. And if I hear one stupid word out of your mouth…" he glared at the mercenary, the warning left unsaid.

"Yes, Commander. There is just a little problem," Laim agreed quickly, almost shouting the first part before whispering the second.

"What is it?" he asked. The sooner it was solved, the less he would have to deal with these idiots.

"A turian general, Septimus Oraka, is stopping us from getting weapons."

"I'll handle it. Get your men ready."

—

Apparently, the Blue Suns were trying to raid C-Sec shipments, which included laser weapons, reflectors, and more.

Which was unacceptable to him and the good general.

Instead, he convinced Oraka to release outdated Mass Effect gear to the Blue Suns, saying he would be sending them first feet into Khar'shan.

The equipment was outdated, but they were still fresh from the factories as part of a previous contract.

Liam was smart enough to not say anything.

—

His last contact was Narl, a batarian.

After Garrus turned Garm and most of the Blood Pack on Omega into fresh, organic paint, a vorcha had taken control.

Crete.

"Shepard, there you are. This is Kreete." Narl introduced him to the vorcha, and Shepard wondered how in the hell a vorcha of all races took control.

Could be because Blood Pack was chuck full of imbeciles.

"So? What the hell do you need to join Aria's little crusade?" he demanded to know. This whole thing was getting on his nerves.

"He wants an autograph," the barbarian said.

"An autograph?" he asked, rubbing his eyes again. Kreete nodded, head tilting up and down repeatedly.

"Well, yeah. He believes it will bring him strength in battle," Narl explained, scratching the back of his head.

Shepard looked at Kreete but couldn't decide whether he was grinning or looked like that all the time.

He was holding out a rocket launcher and kept looking at the weapon and then at him.

Taking a deep breath, he activated the welder in his omni-tool and signed the rocket launcher.

"Yes," Kreete laughed like a gremlin, holding the weapon up.

Shepard just sighed.

—

In the next chapter:

"However, I have issues with some of the company you keep around," she said.

"My team?"

"Yes. If you are coming, I don't want them," Aria declared.

Shepard looked at her, blinking a couple of times, and touched his ear. "Let me see if I get this right."

"I have Garrus, the turian that wiped three of the biggest merc outfits out of Omega, as my right hand. Two N7s that are some of the best soldiers in the galaxy. Tali, one of the most intelligent engineers you will ever encounter; my sister, who holds the highest records in the Alliance military after me; a living, breathing prothean who spent his life fighting; and another Alliance soldier I've been training for more than a year—and you don't want them because, what? Garrus pissed you off?" he asked, eyes squinted.

Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Samael61 · May 10, 2026

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—

Citadel

"I have to admit, that was faster than I expected," Aria complimented as they flew around in an aircar for security.

"They were easy to convince," he retorted.

"Is that why Vosque is dead?" she asked.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "He is dead because he ran his stupid mouth off."

"Good. I hated Vosque," she nodded. She knew the moment that idiot opened his lips, Shepard would kill him, and she'd have one less hassle.

"What now?"

"Now, we take Omega back. My men managed to acquire a Cerberus cruiser. We'll use that to punch a hole in their defenses and board the station."

"However, I have issues with some of the company you keep around," she said.

"My team?"

"Yes. If you are coming, I don't want them," Aria declared.

Shepard looked at her, blinking a couple of times, and touched his ear. "Let me see if I get this right."

"I have Garrus, the turian that wiped three of the biggest merc outfits out of Omega, as my right hand. Two N7s that are some of the best soldiers in the galaxy. Tali, one of the most intelligent engineers you will ever encounter; my sister, who holds the highest records in the Alliance military after me; a living, breathing prothean who spent his life fighting; and another Alliance soldier I've been training for more than a year—and you don't want them because, what? Garrus pissed you off?" he asked, eyes squinted.

If he didn't know better, he would think she was indoctrinated, trying to drag him to a trap.

"Aria, you aren't in a position to be picky, and you would turn away the Normandy's crew? Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. Here she was, stuck in the Citadel, trying to gather an army to take her kingdom back, and she had the gall to refuse the best team in the galaxy?

The asari narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fine, bring your friends, but I swear if they cause a problem, you can forget the eezo."

Shepard rolled his eyes.

—

"Helping Aria take Omega back? I am surprised she even agreed to let me anywhere near the station," Garrus muttered. He knew how much the asari appreciated the downfall of the mercs that were planning to take her down.

Mercs that she now had to contract to take her station back.

"She did not want any of you. I told her she was being an idiot," he revealed.

"The classic Shepard diplomacy at work."

"Anyway, we get in, fight our way to Petrovsky, and then space his ass," he laid out the barebones of the plan.

The details could be filled in along the way.

"I like this plan. Especially the spacing part," Javik approved. He too seemed to have an uncanny appreciation for spacing undesirable individuals.

Like Oleg Petrovsky.

"Seeing as most of Cerberus is gone, I am sure we don't necessarily need him alive," Ashley said.

Shepard nodded. "Admiral Hackett doesn't care as long as the last remains of Cerberus are gone, and Aria starts shipping eezo."

—

Omega

Petrovsky had the station equipped with brand-new anti-ship defenses, and Aria's fleet would be shredded.

Shepard, Garrus, Hailey, Kaidan, Ashley, Tali, EDI, James, and Javik.

Good thing the Normandy was a stealth vessel.

"Aria, in her infinite wisdom, has realized her army won't be of much use if they all die. Which is why we are going first to infiltrate and shut down those turrets, provided EDI can't subvert them," he said, turning at the synthetic dressed in an Alliance uniform.

"Understood, Shepard," EDI nodded. There was a rather high probability that the Cerberus software architecture remained mostly the same, and as someone intimately familiar with it, it would be possible.

"Joker, get ready to blast us an entrance. Everyone else, into the shuttle," he ordered.

"Aye, aye," the pilot called from the intercom.

—

"The torpedo will hit exactly four seconds before we reach the entrance. It might get a bit bumpy due to the shockwave," the shuttle pilot, Cortez, informed.

"Go," Shepard ordered, and the shuttle lurched forward.

The inside was cramped with nine people.

"Hold on tight, Commander, we are about to go in hot," Cortez warned, and the shuttle shook as the very end of the violent shockwave hit the shields.

The green deployment light was on; Shepard took his harness off, rushing out the door. He shot two Cerberus agents encroaching on the shuttle and jumped down.

He rolled into cover as mass-accelerated grains flew by, and the shuttle opened fire with its dual turbo laser bolt cannons.

Shepard joined the fray, covering the team as they jumped down one by one.

"Get those blast doors open now," he ordered as the shuttle landed. EDI took the console, and the doors began to slide down, extremely slowly for some reason.

"Cortez, stay in cover," he ordered the pilot. With Cerberus aware of Normandy, the shuttle couldn't afford to go back now.

"Understood, Commander," Cortez acknowledged.

"Joker, what's the situation out there?" he asked, pressing his earpiece.

"Cerberus forces are at full alert; Petrovsky is throwing everything he has at you," Joker informed him.

"Good."

Two Cerberus agents with shields built to disperse thermal energy were waiting for them. The shields tanked the shots, but they had openings at eye level. Garrus and Hailey each put one shot through without a moment's loss.

"Shepard, the elevator can't take us all," Garrus grumbled.

"Alright, we are moving as two parties. EDI, James, and Kaidan are with me."

The elevator took them up, and whatever Cerberus was doing, the entire area seemed to be running on reserve power. When he opened the door, he had to create the tower shield to block the stream of enemy fire.

He pushed ahead, allowing the team to take cover, and himself last.

"Garrus, we are moving ahead; heavy enemy presence detected. Flank them from the right," he ordered. The more soldiers Petrovsky sent to his team, the easier this would be.

"Got it, be there in a couple of seconds," the turian responded over the comms.

"James, deploy the reflector," he called out. If Cerberus thought they had the upper hand, they were wrong.

James lowered the machine strapped to his back and turned it on. The reflector field snapped into existence, blocking all enemy fire. The team rose from the cover at once, returning fire, but theirs was far more devastating.

Kaidan focused on the shield carriers; Shepard and EDI's rapid fire forced the Cerberus agents to take cover, and James was happy to launch plasma grenades in an arch, right into the middle of the enemy.

The door behind opened, and Garrus immediately ran to the right with his team.

Flanked, the Cerberus soldiers were cornered like rats.

"Shepard, the next area needs to be repressurized. I am starting the process," EDI informed.

"Incoming from behind," Garrus warned, a well-placed shot piercing through the smoke screen and going through the head of a Cerberus soldier.

"Switch to thermal, shoot them down before they can land," Shepard said. Cerberus was deploying smoke to cover their units, and it almost made him laugh.

It turned into a multiplayer game of whack-a-mole as they competed to shoot down the most number of enemies.

"Repressurization complete. Access granted," the local VI announced.

"Oh man, it was just getting fun too," Vega grunted.

"Press forward. We are almost at the defense network system," Shepard ordered as they got through the door to the network system room.

"Watch out for the turrets," Garrus warned. He shot a combat engineer through the visor before he could set the turret.

A guardian tried to flank them from the left, but James fired a grenade right next to his legs, incinerating half of his body.

The control network was lightly defended, and as Tali shot the last Cerberus agent, EDI reached for the console.

"Subverting the IFF systems to target the Cerberus ships," EDI said.

Shepard watched the guardian lasers power down at first before starting to shoot at the enemy fleet.

"Aria, we have the defense network turned on the enemy; you are free to approach," he said over the comms.

"We'll be there soon," Aria replied with a vindictive tone.

While waiting for Aria, he opted to watch the fireworks. Cerberus vessels could not afford to fire on the station, so they moved outside the defensive range, having lost a quarter of their numbers.

Aria's fleet, led by the commandeered Cerberus cruiser, came out of the mass relay, opening fire. The enemy could not afford to retreat and reenter the guardian systems' range, and Aria's fleet barred the way forward.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they would be down soon.

"Shepard, you have to see this," Garrus called him out.

"What is it?" he asked, and the turian gestured to the Cerberus soldier, nudging his helmet off with his feet.

"Fucking Cerberus," he cursed. The Cerberus soldier, once a human, now seemed to be a modified version of a husk but still able to retain his intelligence.

"Good thing you found their base and the Alliance took out most of them. This could have been a huge thorn for the war effort," Kaidan grimaced. Even up to three months ago, the Alliance was still cleaning small Cerberus cells across the galaxy.

"Shepard, we are landing; get ready," Aria's voice came from the comms.

"We are ready," he replied. The team rushed to the rendezvous point, with EDI putting additional firewalls to keep the network safe.

"What's that symbol?" Shepard asked, as they split into two teams again, to not get crowded in the elevator.

"Talons, I think, a gang on Omega that was known for drug smuggling and every other dirty business. They were smart enough to go silent once my team started to hit the mercs," Garrus informed. The elevator stopped, and he moved forward to scout the area.

Two vorchas were standing before a crimson forcefield, and he stopped to watch. Mechs, looking like modified LOKIs, approached them from behind, one of them even creating an omni-blade to strike down one of the vorcha.

The other kicked the remaining vorcha to the force field, causing him to burn in agony.

"Aria, Cerberus set up incinerator force fields, with armored mechs present," he informed while Garrus and Hailey shot the mechs in the head.

"We just landed and are moving to meet you," she replied.

"More incoming," Kaidan said, shooting another mech through the forcefield. Cerberus did not send many of them, most likely to get a feel of the approaching forces.

"Shepard, there you are," Aria said from the right side, followed by her men. The army was spreading all over the station to hunt Cerberus down.

"Got a way to circumvent the force fields?" he asked. Deactivating them would take too long, and every second they wasted would be to Cerberus' advantage.

"Yeah, come with me. Bray, keep my army intact," she ordered the Batarian.

"You got it."

—

Aria, as the longtime ruler of Omega, knew secret passages through the station. They went down a ladder to a dark tunnel that would allow them to flank the enemy and find a way to shut down the force fields.

"Show yourself," Javik growled, his brand-new rifle raised.

"What in the name of the spirits are you?" A turian, female by her voice, asked, coming out of the shadows.

"Someone that does not scurry in the shadows," the prothean replied sharply. He lowered his weapon once Shepard told him to.

"Nyreen. What the hell are you doing here?" Aria asked. The turian female, Nyreen, came out to the light. Beneath the hood, Shepard could see red paint on her face.

"Look who is back, Aria T'loak," Nyreen replied, though Aria's grimace did not change.

"Playing cat and mouse, mostly. Just trying to stay alive. If it wasn't for those tunnels…" she explained.

"My tunnels. I am sure glad I showed them to you," the asari reminded.

It seems even the mighty and cold Aria T'loak had a weakness.

"If you hadn't, I'd be dead or locked up by now," Nyreen explained.

"If you two are done with the foreplay, why don't we get to the main action? Those force fields won't shut themselves down," Garrus teased.

The sight of Aria's discomfort was too amusing.

"I know you; you are Archangel," Nyreen said, realizing the company Aria had brought to take her home back.

"In the flesh," he said, giving a dramatic bow.

"Aria trusts you enough to tell you about these tunnels; it's best if you stick with us," Shepard said. With how worried Aria looked beneath her frosty exterior, it would be for the best to keep an eye on the turian.

"I've got a lot of questions, but they'll have to wait," Aria said. Already, too many people had seen her secret tunnel, and she wasn't happy about it.

At all.

"I'll do my best," Nyreen assured.

"You were a cabal, weren't you?" Garrus asked as they climbed the ladder.

The turian female nodded. "How did you guess?"

"Just experience, I suppose."

"You are looking at the former Chief Advisor of the Primarch of Palaven," Shepard said.

"On Reaper-related matters, nothing else," his friend clarified.

While his knowledge was useful at the beginning, once he had taught everything he could, his only use was to answer hypothetical questions regarding possible Reaper strategies. Primarch Fedorian had understood that Garrus would be more useful out there with Shepard.

"Spirits, you have brought quite the people, Aria."

"Yeah, well, the galaxy runs on eezo."

"Bray, why aren't cannons online?" she asked her lieutenant. They already had the defense systems under control; the cannons should have been tearing through the Cerberus bastards by now.

"Something's jamming them. Trying to identify."

"Atlas and mechs ahead. Vega, put that grenade launcher to good use," Garrus ordered, shooting a mech through the head.

James hollered and fired a grenade right at the joint of Atlas' leg. It went up in a ball of flames and shrapnel, causing the mech to go down and misfire, blowing up several rampart mechs.

"Not bad," Garrus praised.

Bray's voice came from the "Aria, there's a Cerberus engineer in here hacking the cannons, keeping them offline."

"We'll find them," she growled.

"Where did they even get all this tech?" Hailey asked. Shield pylons, collector force fields, and reaper-tech enhanced Cerberus soldiers?

Whatever Petrovsky was doing, it was dangerous.

"I am sure we can beat the answers out of Petrovsky," Shepard said, looking down to see an engineer below the platform, working on his computer.

"Hey," he called, and the agent looked up.

"Ah shit," the engineer grunted before a laser bolt went through his skull.

"Canons initializing," Bray informed them over the comms.

"More behind us," Kaidan called out, turning to lay down fire. The troopers were easy to take out, since only two had landed.

However, the main trouble was an Atlas that dropped to the middle of the plaza, ready to fire.

"Aria, the cannons have to be armed manually," Bray said over the comms. Shepard growled and charged at the controls. The force of his biotics sent the Atlas stumbling, and Vega used the chance to land a grenade on the canopy.

He activated the cannons and extended the bridge as well.

The Cerberus was coming down in force now, and Bray told them to move to the bunker.

Aria's army retreated as the cannons covered their rear.

—

In the next chapter:

"Garrus, Cerberus lost control of the adjutants," he informed the turian.

Aria had given him every piece of intel she had on Cerberus, including their latest weapons, the adjutants. They were created with Reaper tech and were extremely lethal.

Blue, hulking creatures with a cannon in one arm, tubes coming out of their faces, and a sack on top of their heads, Cerberus had outdone themselves in how fucking stupid and inhumane they could be.

If they barged into the middle of the strike force, casualties would be high.

"Again? Don't they ever learn?" Garrus complained amid weapons fire.

"Apparently not. Watch out for them," he said.

Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Samael61 · May 17, 2026

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—

Omega

"Ahz, how are we looking?" Aria asked her chief engineer.

"All systems operational. Full Omega schematics coming online now," the salarian reported. The locations of the force fields were shown. There were also several dark spots.

"I see. Shepard, those force fields we saw? The general has them set up everywhere," she explained.

"He is controlling access across the station." Petrovsky was dividing and conquering Omega. With the force fields active, anyone who tried to go through would be burned to ashes. It made organized resistance extremely difficult.

Too bad Petrovsky had chosen the losing side.

He still wondered how Cerberus acquired so much Collector tech.

"What are these dark areas?" he asked.

"Many sections of Omega are powered down. I'm betting power is being siphoned to run those force fields," the salarian explained.

"Find the source. Priority one," Aria ordered. Once the force fields were down, she would enjoy watching the light fade from Petrovsky's eyes.

"Garrus, tactical assessment of all Cerberus positions," he said to the turian. He and Aria could reroute the power, and Garrus would have Aria's little army storm the gates.

"On it."

"Thanks to you and your team, our losses were negligible," Aria admitted, glancing at the retreating turian, "We can face Cerberus as soon as those force fields are down."

"Sorry to interrupt," Bray, Aria's right-hand Batarian, said.

"What is it?" she drawled.

"I turned away for a second to offload supplies. When I looked back…" the barbarian explained.

Aria had ordered Bray to keep an eye on Nyreen. He knew the female turian was definitely planning something, but he had more important matters to consider. Whatever it was, she was unlikely to be working with or for Cerberus.

"You lost her," Aria accused. Having the only person aside from her and Shepard's team now who knew the secret passages be out there was a gaping security risk.

"Well, I…" Bray was lost for words, and Shepard intervened to save the only batarian he somewhat tolerated, "Nyreen was a cabal. A second was all she needed."

"This bunker has secret access points to other parts of the station. Unfortunately, Nyreen knows them."

"Damn it, Bray, if you weren't so useful," she left the sentence unfinished.

"Shepard, we found something in the station's security logs," Ashley called him over.

"The Talons? They are still resisting, huh?" Aria chuckled. She did not expect Derius to be so apt at fighting Cerberus.

"Who are they?" He didn't know these Talons, which made them not that important.

"A gang that filled the power vacuum after your turian friend painted the walls with mercs," she tilted her head towards Garrus, "Their leader, Derius, took advantage of the situation and carved the Talons a bigger piece of the local drug trade."

"Let's leave them be as long as they are keeping Cerberus occupied," he rolled his shoulders. More troops would have been useful, but gangs like Talons were too unamenable.

"I agree," Aria said.

"Actually, I think assisting the Talons could be worthwhile. Cerberus has sent a large force to neutralize them. An assault from the rear could significantly reduce the enemy numbers."

"We also need to shut off these force fields," Kaidan added.

"Garrus, take half the forces and prepare to assist the Talons," he said. The base was in a well-defended position. Half of Aria's army could do more than just defend it.

The turian unholstered his rifle. "What about you?"

"EDI, have you found a way to deactivate the fields?" He turned to the sole synthetic member of his crew.

"Cerberus is siphoning power from a reactor deep within Omega's mines," she said, highlighting the location.

The advantages of having an AI.

"Unfortunately, access is cut off by the force fields themselves," Ahz said.

"This powered-down area," he pointed, "We could go through it and take that elevator to the reactor."

"Good eye, Shepard," the deposed queen of Omega nodded.

"Then I'll go save those Talons while you two shut down the force fields," Garrus said, leaving to gather the necessary forces.

—

"We're arriving at one of the eezo processing plants. It's been powered down, so we'll have to pry open the door," Aria gestured. The entire area was dark, with not even emergency lighting.

At least there was enough air.

"I'll get it," he said. Pushing the door open, he allowed Aria to pass first.

"Access to the mines should be on the far side," she said. The asari stopped mid-step, eyes locking on the Cerberus corpses strewn around the catwalk.

Blasted with an explosive weapon or shredded to parts, the Cerberus troopers seemed to have suffered heavy losses. The interesting part was the lack of what could have done this.

"Garrus, Cerberus lost control of the adjutants," he informed the turian.

Aria had given him every piece of intel she had on Cerberus, including their latest weapons, the adjutants. They were created with Reaper tech and were extremely lethal.

Blue, hulking creatures with a cannon in one arm, tubes coming out of their faces, and a sack on top of their heads, Cerberus had outdone themselves in how fucking stupid and inhumane they could be.

If they barged into the middle of the strike force, casualties would be high.

"Again? Don't they ever learn?" Garrus complained amid weapons fire.

"Apparently not. Watch out for them," he said.

"We'll be on the lookout. The Talons are getting hammered hard, but we are about to worsen it for Cerberus."

"Give them hell."

"The one that killed the Cerberus troopers must still be alive," he noted. The attack was most likely unexpected since the Cerberus forces lacked heavy weapons.

That and he could hear something groan ominously.

"Petrovsky must have locked this place down to keep it inside," Aria scowled.

She had out-of-control biosynthetic monstrosities running across her station now.

"The elevator to the reactor is through that door," she said, but just like the entire section, it was powered down as well.

"It's deactivated."

"There should be a master circuit breaker somewhere to power this place up."

"Let's follow those cables," he said, climbing up the ladder first while Aria watched his back.

"The whispering's receding. You must have scared it off," she said once at the top.

Shepard chuckled, "Now we know they are smarter than Cerberus."

Not that the bar was high when it came to the common Cerberus grunts.

"Down the ladder," she said, and they were on the ground once again.

"There is the power control," Aria pointed out. Shepard pressed the big red button, and the consoles flared to life. It would take a couple of minutes for everything to come online.

"When this is over, there'll be a lot of repairs to make," she mused. Petrovsky had turned her den of comfort into a military base. She would have to spend a small fortune to fix everything.

"Try not to let the civilians get screwed over," Shepard requested.

"Sure, sure."

An adjutant broke through the glass panel at the corner of the room, raising its cannon arm to fire. Shepard reacted the moment the glass broke. A laser bolt found its mark, and the charging cannon exploded. Blue liquid and flesh splattered over the walls.

The adjutant reeled, allowing Aria and Shepard to rain fire on it.

"Nice shot," Aria said, lowering her gun. She was still watching the corpse, just in case it decided to have any last-second surprises.

"Shepard, we found the leader of the Talons," Garrus reported over the comms.

"Derius?" Aria asked. If Vakarian caught that bastard, then there was a chance the Talons could be compelled to join her army.

"No, your ex," Garrus replied, unknowingly wiping Aria's smirk off.

"Nyreen? Well, well, isn't she full of surprises?" she said. Her fist was clenched hard, and she looked ready to erupt.

Not only had Nyreen been keeping things from her, but she most likely also showed the secret passages to the Talons. It would explain how they managed to survive so far.

"What's the situation with the Cerberus?" Aria's love problems were amusing to watch, and he would savor these moments once Petrovsky was taken down.

"They are stuck between us and the Talons, but they also have air support."

"Keep me updated."

Shepard and Aria raced to the elevator, but a single adjutant got in their way. He shot the cannon as it was about to fire, repeating his earlier feat.

"You know, I saw those things tear entire squads apart. Yet you make it look so easy."

"You just have to be a good shot."

"Uh oh, more adjutants."

"The elevator is on its way," he informed. Unholstering his minigun, Shepard pressed the trigger.

The darkness of the processing plant was lit up with the crimson light of his gun. The adjutants were slow, except for when they jumped. Which made them easy targets.

Aria stopped firing and leaned on her back. She might as well be trying to kill the adjutants with her words.

Bringing Shepard had already proven to be an excellent idea.

Several times, in fact.

Once reasonably sure that the adjutants were all dead, he entered the elevator.

"The reports claimed the adjutants could transform organics into more adjutants. I wonder why it didn't touch the Cerberus troopers."

"Guess you didn't see it, but they are all mutated with Reaper tech. It is possible something interfered."

"How ironic. Humans produced monsters like Cerberus, yet also the greatest hero in galactic history."

"You can hear the drills. Damn it, they shouldn't be straining like that."

"Cerberus needs all the resources it can get after the Alliance took most of it down."

"Access to the reactor is somewhere on the upper level."

"The area could be guarded."

His warning was on point. Several Cerberus forces were stationed in the drilling area and opened fire as soon as he was sighted.

He shot a Centurion that peeked out of cover on the left and a trooper on the right. Aria was using her biotics to throw the enemy off the ledge to their doom.

Another Centurion threw him a grenade, and he returned it to the sender. Sprinting across the platform, he lashed the Centurion hiding behind smoke. Pulling him over the railings, Shepard dissipated the biotic attack.

"We can use that maintenance elevator across the way," Aria said. As if something had heard her, the elevator came crashing down.

"An alternate route, then," he grumbled. Jumping down, he rolled into cover as more Cerberus goons opened fire.

"Aria, I am going up."

"I'll keep them occupied."

Shepard activated his anti-gravity generator. He jumped, launching himself out of cover. Spinning to dodge the enemy fire, he shot the Nemesis first and the Centurion next to her.

Aria had taken the troopers on the lower platform. He circled around, flanking the enemy using smoke as cover. A single shot to the Centurion's head put him down.

He considered flying to the reactor control, but Cerberus was likely entrenched. He landed and followed Aria down to the conveyor belt.

"Bastards are running this place too hot. It'll burn out in a month."

"Guess they are in a hurry."

More troopers, assisted by mechs this time, were waiting on the conveyor belt.

Bringing his biotic tower shield out, Shepard pushed ahead. The shots from the Nemesis, Centurion, or the mechs were useless against him. A well-placed shot blew up the shield generator.

A biotic singularity from Aria pulled the mechs together, breaking their shields. He shot one, leaving the other to the asari.

Dropping the shield, he charged at the Nemesis. The force of the biotic attack slammed her to the railings with a sharp crack.

Ducking under the shot, he twisted the Centurion's arm and put the pistol beneath his chin before pulling the trigger.

Hacking the door, he climbed up another ladder. Rushing up the stairs, he heard the shouts of the Cerberus soldiers.

One relayed that the new orders were to retreat, while another screamed to defend the reactor.

A grenade fell right in front of him. Without hesitating, he stabbed the Assault Trooper with his omni-blade through the head. Pulling the screaming man back, he dropped him right on top of the grenade. The heavy armor and the enhanced body contained the blast.

Some mechs and Cerberus troopers were clustered. He switched the pistols to microwave mode. The beam caused the mechs to explode while incinerating the Reaper-enhanced humans.

Aria killed the last trooper, and they finally found an elevator that worked.

"Petrovsky must have been prepared. Get ready for a trap."

Once the elevator reached the top, he found one Cerberus engineer setting up defenses. Aria, who seemed to take pleasure in throwing the enemy over the ledge, did the same to the engineer.

Climbing down yet another ladder, he and Aria were crossing a catwalk to reach the reactor when a section of the platform fell down.

"You haven't been skimming on the maintenance budget, have you?" he said with a light voice.

"I am not some corrupt human bureaucrat, Shepard."

Up the ladder that he hoped would be the last one, the elevator to the reactor was in sight.

"You noticed how silent it is now?" she asked. The elevator was going up, and the war could finally begin.

"As I said, they are preparing for a trap."

"Let's go spring it, then."

This entire route, in fact, was a trap. He read Petrovsky's psych evaluation and his entire dossier, starting from the day he was a cadet.

Oleg Petrovsky was cunning, willing to make sacrifices, and a master of traps. What awaited them at the reactor, he didn't know, but it was bound to be interesting.

The elevator reached the reactor room, and he moved first. He stopped before passing by the consoles. Whatever trap Petrovsky prepared, this area was the perfect place for it.

"What is it?"

"Wait here," he said, handing something to Aria.

"Fine."

He walked in alone, holstering his pistols. As he expected, once close enough to the reactor controls, the entire area was cut off with the incinerator force fields.

A holo projector flew inside, revealing Oleg Petrovsky in all his short glory.

"Commander Shepard, I commend you. You knew it was a trap, though; perhaps you should have sent Aria rather than trapping yourself here," Petrovsky said, giving a small nod. The holographic device

"You know, Petrovsky, you could have been useful to the Alliance and the war effort. Yet here you are, fighting an already dead cause," Shepard said, pursing his lips.

"Fighting for humanity is not a cause that will ever die," his enemy said. Shepard could see it in the man's eyes.

He actually believed it.

"I meant the whole unethical and inhumane experiments and acts of terror, but sure, whatever you say."

Petrovsky scoffed, "I can leave you to rot here while Aria is taken care of. How successful do you think your crew will be with you gone?"

"There is a small issue with this trap," he revealed.

"Which is?" Petrovsky asked. He had placed this trap with everything conceivable.

A secondary power source, self-repair systems, hidden turrets, and a small army of mechs.

"I bet you my entire fortune it can't stop a wormhole," he winked. The space behind him tore open into a white hole, and Shepard stepped through it.

Petrovsky's eyes almost popped out of his skull.

—

In the next chapter:
"What the fuck?!" Aria jumped back, aiming her weapon at the white tear in space.

Shepard stepped out of the tear, bypassing the force field that would have imprisoned him.

"What the fuck was that?" she screamed.

"Nothing," he said, giving her a blank stare.

"I...ugh, fine. I saw nothing," she relented. This was far too troublesome to investigate. Handing the device back, she followed him.

Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

Samael61 · Saturday at 11:40 PM

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—

Omega

"What the fuck?!" Aria jumped back, aiming her weapon at the white tear in space.

Shepard stepped out of the tear, bypassing the force field that would have imprisoned him.

"What the fuck was that?" she screamed.

"Nothing," he said, giving her a blank stare.

"I...ugh, fine. I saw nothing," she relented. This was far too troublesome to investigate. Handing the device back, she followed him.

"They must have rerouted the reactor controls. Let's check upstairs," he said, walking towards the nearest stairs. Petrovsky had not left many guards on the path, just a couple of mechs and Centurions.

The controls were left undefended while a host of mechs closed in from behind. The reactor itself also powered dozens of wards across the station. Merely shutting down the reactor would kill everyone in these wards.

He simply rerouted the power before Petrovsky could do anything.

"Garrus, the force fields are about to be down," he said.

"Nice timing. Cerberus forces are in full retreat, and Nyreen agreed to work with us for the push to Afterlife," Garrus reported.

With the Talons joining them, this battle would be over sooner than anticipated.

"Tell everyone to be careful about adjutants," he added. Those monsters were dangerous to the common soldier.

"Understood, we'll hold position while you get ready to join us."

"We are going to have to fight through these mechs unless you have a better idea," Aria replied as a flood of mechs was climbing up the stairs.

"Yeah, I do," he said. A biotic tendril wrapped around Aria's stomach, and he took off.

—

Following the signal of his team, he landed right outside the Talon base. The battle was already over, and the troops were gathering the bodies to burn them.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked Garrus. There were several people around him, his old teammates from the days when he was cleaning Omega.

"Yes, a two-pronged attack. Us with half of the forces and Talons here, with Bray leading the other half," he laid out the plan.

"Let's finish this," Shepard said, cracking his knuckles.

"Aria? Bray here," Aria's lieutenant called out on the comms.

"Report."

"One of the scouting teams found Cerberus escorting engineers down in the maintenance tunnels. They're moving gear. Look to be setting explosives to the station's central support columns," the batarian said.

Shepard took a deep breath. Petrovsky was relentless, it seemed.

"Tell the teams to engage and delay them. We're coming," Aria ordered.

"Got it."

"If they detonate the main column, they'll cut off the way to Afterlife. Our offensive will be stopped cold," she said. He turned to his second in command to lay out orders.

"Garrus, lead the assault with Nyreen. The two of us will handle the explosives," he said. A large force would slow them down in the tunnels.

"We'll meet you near Afterlife then," Garrus replied. He turned to prepare the forces for the attack.

"The only way to the column is through the tunnels. Come on."

—

"Don't let those pyjaks through," a krogan screamed while pushing Cerberus back.

"Guard our back; we'll handle these bastards," Aria ordered.

Shepard threw one of the mechs back to the other, shattering both like piñatas. A large round struck his reflectors. He shot the sniper at the back of the tunnel section in return.

Aria threw a singularity inside the smoke deployed by the Centurions and finished them off at close range.

Three mechs tried to surround him. He launched them back at the wall while Aria took out the last trooper with her biotics. Another Centurion came around the corner. He died before even firing back.

The catwalk to the other side was gone with an explosion. The two jumped the gap with biotics.

"Shepard, we are pushing to the Gozu district. You are missing all the fun," Garrus said.

"I'll live."

He hacked the door to the Central Support. Turning left, he saw Cerberus Guardians waiting for them. One of them ordered a lockdown to keep Shepard and Aria away, but the first Guardian already took a laser bolt through the visor of his shield.

Aria tore the shield from the next one and blasted his head off. Shepard shot the third Guardian, leaving the last one to Aria. She slammed him against the wall, opening the way.

Hacking through another door, he slid down the ramp and shut down the fan. He moved through the blades. Jumping the gap, he listened to the comms as Garrus warned him about forces being sent their way.

He switched the pistols to microwave mode and cooked the troopers in the area.

"Over there. We can get to the bomb controls once the access panels are open," Aria instructed. Shepard used the console to open the panels. Cerberus must have done something because the controls locked down.

Just in time for more Cerberus forces to come down.

"You deal with the bombs; I'll handle Cerberus," she said. Her technological capabilities did not include bomb defusal.

He ran to the first column, shooting a trooper that got too close. Piggybacking on the signal, he shot down all four bombs at once.

"The explosives are neutralized. Let's clear the room," he said. Cerberus troops understood that they had lost and began to retreat. Unwilling to let them leave like that, Shepard and Aria shot down many of them.

"Garrus, the bombs are neutralized," he informed, already moving out of the room.

"The Gozu district is clear. Cerberus is in full retreat to Afterlife from all fronts."

Shepard chuckled. Had it been left to Aria, this whole battle would have been very difficult.

"The adjutants?" he asked.

"Petrovsky's men managed to assert control over them, but their numbers aren't enough to turn the tide."

Which meant they were already destroyed.

"Good. We are joining for the last push."

"How do we get to the Afterlife from here?"

"Straightforward," Aria muttered. She launched a biotic orb at the fan ahead, causing electricity to spark. The blades stopped, opening the way forward.

Through the doors and up two ladders, he could hear fighting.

"Cerberus," he said.

"How do you know? It could be the Talons—never mind," she backtracked as the corpse of a Centurion broke through the window up the wall.

The cause was an adjutant that had gotten loose. Climbing another ladder, he could see the Cerberus troopers desperately trying to stop an adjutant.

"Damn it. Ahz, there are adjutants here. Track our progress and seal the rooms behind us," Aria ordered.

She would have to do a lot of cleaning after Omega was taken back.

"Yes, Aria."

Further inside, he found a small lab where the Cerberus scientists had created the adjutants. The corpses around made it clear that the whole project had not gone the way they thought it would.

The logs detailed the process, but he was more focused on the scientists. If they weren't dead, they would soon be.

The two were almost at the Gozu district, but another hurdle stood in their way. Cerberus troopers were waiting for them, and an Atlas dropped to the field.

"Stand back," he said. Throwing the grenade inside, he closed the door. When the whining of the laser grid grenade died down, the room was clear.

They reached a Talon checkpoint where Nyreen had gathered civilians for protection. There was also a batarian preaching about how humanity was a blight on the galaxy, but he had fainted like a dainty bitch upon seeing Shepard.

Garrus and his team were there, waiting for him to join the final push.

"Garrus, what's the situation?"

"Cerberus is holding the entrance to Afterlife, and we've got a small army of adjutants closing in. They'll be around the entrance by the time we reach there."

"James, ready your grenade launcher. They shouldn't be a problem for you," he ordered. Once the way to Afterlife was open, the army would focus on the adjutants while he took Petrovsky down.

"I got them," James said, patting his oversized weapon.

"I can't wait to get my hands on Petrovsky," Aria grinned, her teeth showing.

—

Shepard ordered the forces to advance behind the cover of the reflector. Cerberus had turrets and cannons set up around the entrance. Sharpshooters of his team would clear them out before they dropped the reflector.

James and Ashley were at the back with the heavy guns, waiting for the adjutants.

"Go," he ordered. The reflector moved forward, and the small army followed him. Cerberus opened fire as soon as they were in sight. The mass-accelerated grains couldn't pierce through the reflector. Garrus, Hailey, and Kaidan took the shots.

The forces spread as the enemy firepower decreased, taking cover for when Shepard would drop the reflector.

When the last turret was a pile of scrap, he entered the command to shut the reflector. The volume of fire from his side was deafening. The Cerberus troopers that did not take cover were shredded. Those that did could not move without facing the same fate.

"Biotics, now," he ordered, launching a singularity. Several more followed, pulling the enemy out of the cover, right in front of the weapons fire.

"Adjutants, five o'clock," James called out from the comms. He glanced back, seeing red explosions turn the monsters to ash.

"Secure the area and put the adjutants down. Aria, Nyreen, with me," he ordered. The gathered forces turned around to assist James and Ashley.

He hacked the doors inside, and the three of them stood before the last forces of Cerberus.

"Commander Shepard. I considered a thousand ways to keep you imprisoned, but you found the thousand and first way to escape."

"You lost."

"All Cerberus forces, stand down. We have lost this battle. Surrender yourselves to Commander Shepard's forces."

For the first time in his life, he had fought an enemy that took the loss with grace rather than just fighting to the bitter end out of spite.

Aria looked ready to choke the life out of him, but Nyreen was too honorable to kill an enemy that had surrendered, no matter how much she wished to.

Shepard, on the other hand, had no issue shooting a war criminal like Petrovsky. Especially after he tried to leverage his knowledge of where they had found all the Reaper and Collector tech to get VIP treatment.

"I'll have to do a lot of cleaning, but you'll have your eezo and the mercs."

"Commander, we retrieved everything in the databases," Kaidan reported.

"Any intel on how they found all this tech?" he asked. This much tech wouldn't just be lying around.

"Leviathan of Dis. A Reaper corpse that the batarians had. Its location was lost during the civil war, but Cerberus managed to retrieve it by luck," he explained.

Shepard rolled his eyes. Good thing he had killed most of the upper management back all those years ago. Chances are, they were already indoctrinated.

"Where is it now?" he asked. A Reaper corpse in the wrong hands was a bomb waiting to go off.

"Connection with the Cerberus base is lost. Their last report said that the Reapers were advancing on the system."

The Reapers must have discovered the corpse and retrieved it to prevent any insight into their technology.

"It must be gone then. No need to bother."

"Aria, take care of yourself and the station. We have a war to win," he said, turning around to leave.

"Good thing the galaxy has you and your team. We'd all be screwed otherwise," she called out.

—

Unified Command was pleased with the results, the eezo, and the mercenary forces, less so with the whole Leviathan of Dis. The envoy of the Batarian Republic admitted that there were mentions of a secret research site. The records of it were sparse, with no mention of any location, and they had greater concerns than possible Hegemony propaganda.

—

Exodus Cluster

Utopia System

Two hundred thousand ships clustered around the mass relay, waiting.

The entire might of the Citadel Space had been gathered for the greatest battle the galaxy would ever see.

The SSV Normandy arrived in the system, and he was immediately contacted by Admiral Hackett, who would be arriving aboard with the rest of the United Command Staff.

Admiral Hackett for humanity, Primarch Fedorian for the Turian Hierarchy, and the Vol Protectorate.

Admiral Han'Gerrel, along with Legion, was representing the Federation forces.

Matriarch Lidanya was the appointed leader of the asari fleets, a salarian he did not know represented his species, and Wrex was there as the Krogan Overlord.

"Commander Shepard, it is good to see you again," Primarch Fedorian said, shaking his hand.

"You too, Primarch Fedorian," he replied.

"Vakarian," the primarch nodded to his former advisor.

"Sir," Garrus nodded back, standing at attention.

A holographic representation of the Harsa system, focusing on Khar'shan first. The surface of the planet was darkened by the shadow of the eldritch fleet above it.

"Commander, we'll keep this short. The STG stealth vessels have reported back, and Khar'shan is in dire straits. The armed forces are shattered, and the scattered guerrillas won't hold on for much longer. The population centers are being processed into Reaper troops," Hackett summarized the situation.

The Unified Command didn't even have the opportunity to disseminate the intel.

The mass relay in the system was projected next, along with the Oculus swarm.

"We'll enter the system and create a perimeter around the mass relay. We have the range advantage in the sky, but the enemy Oculi are a problem. We can neutralize the gravity nets, but the Reapers don't have to worry about losing soldiers and can just use the Oculi against our torpedoes," Primarch Fedorian continued.

"Their numbers were depleted on approach to Khar'shan, and our combined arsenal is significantly larger. The Reapers didn't have the opportunity to replenish them back to the previous numbers," Legion reported.

"Currently, the Sovereign-class Reapers are holding steady around the orbit with most of the destroyers. Several are assisting the ground offensive, but they are insignificant," the salarian admiral explained.

"Curious they didn't hold the mass relay," Shepard said, stroking his chin.

"What are you thinking?" Fedorian asked.

"Anything unusual in the system? Anything at all?" he asked. This smelled like a trap. If the enemy were the krogan of old, he would say they were waiting for a glorious battle. The Reapers were abominations of logic, and faulty or not, they wouldn't just try to win a battle in space.

Even if both sides annihilated each other, the Citadel forces would be victorious.

"Nothing we could detect under the current circumstances," the Salarian replied.

"This is a trap, but we don't have enough intel to know what it is," he said. It was the only logical conclusion.

"Enemy surveillance in the system means we can't approach too close without discovery, even with stealth ships," the Salarian admiral said.

"We have no choice but to spring the trap to know what it is," Hackett stated, referring to the difficult decision they would have to make.

Shepard's eyes narrowed at the map.

—

In the next chapter:

"The mass relay just released a pulse, and the rings are torn apart. The pulse scrambled our mass effect core," EDI explained. Which meant they could not go into FTL without fixing the cores.

"Shepard, I am getting anomalous readings from the system's star," the AI added, and it all made sense to Shepard.

"Fucking bastards," he grumbled. They were going to sterilize the entire system in a bid to kill the Unified Command Fleet.

"It appears to be going supernova," EDI said, echoing what he was thinking.

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Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live

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