Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live

[Yoyomir]

I mean that fanclub is going to grow over time lmao good chapter

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,

Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 4 chapters ahead.

By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.


Note: Apple store payments will be refunded, because of the company's 75 day hold policy.

—
​

Illium

Miranda's father, or rather genetic donor, Henry Lawson, was a certified dirtbag. Not only did he create Miranda and her genetic twin for his perfect dynasty, but he was also knee-deep in crime.

Shepard would bring down Henry Lawson, but for now, there were more important matters.

The location of Miranda's sister was discovered by their father.

Miranda had made arrangements to have her sister and her adopted family moved out of Illium with the help of someone named Niket, but mercs were swarming the area, and they had just opened fire on the taxi he was using.

"Since you are not firing, I trust you know who I am." Miranda asked the leader of the mercs. The man had a cocky look on his face, so assured of his chances.

"Yeah. They said you'd be in the car. You're the bitch that kidnapped our boss' little girl." Going by what the merc claimed, Henry Lawson was acting like a father trying to find his long-lost daughter.

"Did they tell you I was going to be in that car too?" Shepard glared at the merc, who quivered in his boots.

"Oh, fuck."

"Take your men and get the fuck out of here, or I am going to declare war on Eclipse as a whole."

The mercenary captain weighed his options, looking around wildly before running away. Seeing their commander gone, the rest of the mercs did not hang around.

—
​

Without facing any resistance, Shepard, Samara, and Miranda moved quickly to find Orianna and her family, coming across Niket in the process, who was working with Captain Enyala, the leader of the mercs in here.

"This should be fun." The asari captain pointed her shotgun at the team before a condensed biotic energy tore through her head, leaving nothing but a bleeding stump.

"M-Miri." Niket was surprised to see Miranda here and was terrified that she had brought Commander Shepard as backup.

It did not get any worse than that.

"Niket. You sold me out." Miranda pointed her SMG at Niket, both sad and furious at the betrayal.

With the death of their captain at the hands of Shepard, the mercs ran away, seeing no victory to be had here, and he lowered his weapon. "How do you want to handle this, Miranda?"

"Why, Niket? You were my friend. You helped me get away from my father." Miranda, who preferred to keep her emotions bottled up, looked truly vulnerable now.

"Yes! Because you wanted to leave. That was your choice. But if I'd known you'd stolen a baby—" He was right about the angle Henry had chosen, and it explained why Niket had betrayed Miranda.

"I didn't steal her. I rescued her," she insisted, fully aware of the dark reality concealed behind Henry Lawson's public persona.

"From a life of wealth and happiness? You weren't saving her. You were getting back at your father."

The following heated conversation was on how and why Niket had sold Miranda out and what to do with Orianna now that Niket knew everything.

Miranda wanted to kill Niket to tie any loose ends, but seeing how miserable she was, Shepard stopped her.

"Listen, Henry is going to die, and if you don't stay away from Orianna, so will you. Seeing as you helped Miranda before, I am letting you go this time." Shepard only offered to spare Niket because Miranda could not handle the situation with a clear head and might do something regrettable.

"Thank you, I swear you won't hear from me again."

—
​

"I can't believe Niket sold me out. I didn't even see it coming." Miranda lamented while they were on the elevator. Samara had chosen to stand aside, preferring to let Shepard handle the issue.

"Betrayal never comes from the enemy." Shepard responded, but it did not seem to help Miranda.

"I let it get personal and screwed up."

"Miranda, that is life. It has its ups and downs, twists and turns. There will be loyal friends, just as there will be traitors, and it will hurt, but that doesn't mean you are not allowed to make mistakes. What you can do is to learn and move forward." His words got through this time, and Miranda took a deep breath to calm down.

"You should have let me kill him."

Shepard shook his head. "You would have regretted it."

"You are right. And my father knew it. He used that against me. It's always been like this. My father gave me anything I ever wanted, but there was always a hook, an angle for his long-term plan. I threw away everything he ever gave me when I ran. Except Niket. Weakness on my part." Trust was not a weakness but an endeavor in finding the correct people to confide in.

Just because the glass broke once does not mean you have to stop drinking water.

"Safety must not come at the price of cowering in fear."

"It's okay, Shepard. My father hurt me, but he didn't break me. As much as he tried to turn me into what he wanted… I'm my own person." The whole situation had left an acrid taste in Miranda's mouth, but she would not let her past control her.

"Good. Any other old friends we might have to worry about?"

"No. I cut ties with everyone else. Anyone I'm close to now works for Cerberus… or you. My father's powerful, but he won't cross you or the Illusive Man." Miranda may not agree with some of Shepard's methods, but his results could not be argued against.

—
​

"Go talk to her." Shepard ordered Miranda, who watched her sister with a forlorn look. She, with the help of Cerberus, had prepared a new life for the family, away from Illium and Henry Lawson.

"But…" Miranda hesitated, unwilling to disturb her sister's life, while in reality, she was just afraid of how it would go.

"No buts. Orianna deserves to know she has a sister watching out for her. Now go."

"Yes, thank you."

—
​

The conversation between the siblings had apparently gone well, and Miranda even learned a thing or two about Orianna while Shepard was busy returning a medallion to an asari who had lost a memento from her mate.

Oriana had even sent him a message, apparently having found his address from an information broker—Shepard hoped it was Liara; otherwise, there was going to be a purge across the galaxy—thanking him for his help and leaving a note telling Miranda to not go through Shepard's messages.

—
​

Ismar Frontier

Faia

Zorya

From the very first moment Zaeed uttered Vido Santiago's name, Shepard knew it was personal.

"Tapping into Blue Suns communications. Stay tight and look out for ambushes." That was not a simple thing to do unless you were an AI or very experienced with the enemy encryptions.

This was definitely more than just a contract to Zaeed.

"Squad Bravo, a shuttle landed near your location. Check it out." The Blue Suns commander ordered with a voice that sounded like the result of a very dry throat.

"Here we go. Keep close."

Corpses were found ahead, and they definitely didn't look like soldiers or mercs. "Shot in the back and left to rot. That's definitely Vido's style. Let's push ahead."

With mechs, flamethrowers, and rocket launchers, the Blue Suns did not pull their punches.

Not that it meant much against laser weapons.

"This is Commander Santiago. If any of you retreat while the intruders are alive, I'll kill you myself. Now get the hell back out there." So that voice belonged to Vido.

"Vido. Sounds like he hasn't changed." Zaeed looked to be getting angrier with each step towards the refinery, and before things escalated out of control, Shepard decided to have a talk with his teammate while Kasumi handled the bridge.

"How personal is this?"

"When we started the Blue Suns, I knew Vigo was a sadistic little bastard. The Suns only got meaner after he staged his little coup twenty years ago. So, yeah, really personal." Shepard did not really delve into the histories of mercenary groups, more concerned about ensuring they did not have a future, but learning Zaeed was a founder of the Blue Suns was an eye-opener.

Shepard walked up to Zaeed, looking him dead in the eyes. "Next time, don't keep vital information from me, Zaeed." It was one thing to have a personal life; it was another to keep information that may affect a mission.

"Understood." Zaeed conceded.

"One other thing. This is a fuel refinery, meaning you'll let me handle this. After that, you can do whatever you want to Vido; I don't really care." Laser weapons plus highly flammable fuel meant that there wouldn't be a refinery left if Zaeed was allowed to run amok.

"If it's you, fine."

—
​

"Zaeed Massani, you finally tracked me down." Vido greeted them at the catwalk on the entrance, looking down at the team while his men took position.

Santiago was quick to scurry back upon seeing who Zaeed had brought with him. "Fucking hell. Shepard?! What the hell are you doing here?"

The situation had just turned into a disaster.

"Helping him get revenge." That had the mercs looking to the exit, because this was a battle they could not win.

There was enough fear among the Blue Suns that this situation could be resolved without a shootout in a refinery. "Hey, dumbasses, here is an offer for you. Hand Santiago over, release the prisoners, and leave the refinery, and I'll let you go in one piece. Otherwise, I am going to barbecue you, and there is more than enough fuel for everyone." Shepard threatened the mercs.

Without even weighing the offer, the Blue Suns mercenaries raised their weapons, not at the enemy, but at their commander.

"Don't you fucking even think…" Vido spat at his men, raising his gun in case of betrayal, but was too late. One of the mercs behind him slammed the stock of his rifle to Vido's face, sending him down the catwalk, right in front of Shepard and his team.

"Smart choice. Gather your men, leave all the valuables behind, and scram."

"Yeah, okay." Vido might be stupid enough to think about fighting Shepard, but they were not. The mercs ran away, preferring their lives over their paychecks, calling everyone in the refinery to leave as well.

Shepard nodded to Zaeed, and the veteran mercenary holstered his weapon. "All yours."

"No, wait, mercy!" Vido begged, but Zaeed advanced on him, ready to tear Santiago apart.

—
​

"Vicious." Thane commented from the side while Zaeed kept beating Vido within an inch of his life.

"Zaeed survived having half his face blown off; I think he deserves a little bit of revenge." The mercs had loaded into the gunships used to take the refinery in the first place and abandoned the planet.

Halfway through, after most of his teeth were knocked out and he was screaming too much to speak, Vido ceased his futile cries, gurgling on his blood and convulsing on the ground.

Zaeed stomped on Vido's head, putting an end to the Commander of the Blue Suns.

"Burn in hell." The grizzly merc spat on Vido's corpse.

"Satisfied?" Shepard knew the answer was going to be a resounding no.

"No. But at least I am done with him."

Shepard shrugged. If Zaeed had closed this chapter of his life, then good for him. "Good enough. All focused and ready now?"

"Yeah, yeah, boss, just tell me what needs to die."

"Commander Shepard?! You rescued us?" Workers came running, most likely to abandon the refinery as well, though it was forgotten in an effort to get an autograph from Shepard.

"Just helping a friend finish his contract; you guys are welcome."

—
​

Nubian Expanse

Dakka System

Prague

Shepard regularly conversed with his teammates to know the people he was fighting with.

His conversations with Jack so far showed that she was violent, not because of her power, but because she had been tortured, experimented on, and mistreated at a Cerberus facility. Her prospects after escaping Pragia were not stellar either, having drifted from one place to another, among criminals, cultists, and whatnot.

She had no one to care about except herself, and so, saw no reason not to do whatever she wanted, including an impressive list of felonies that had landed her in the Purgatory.

But now, she had discovered the location of the base where she had been kept and wanted to blow it to kingdom come.

Believing it would help soothe her scars, Shepard took Normandy to Pragia.

Twisted by time and perception, Jack's memories of the base did not always match the facts. The other children in the base—the ones she had been forced to fight in gladiator arenas, whom she had thought ignored her while Jack was banging on the glass—did not even know she was here, as it was a one-way glass.

Though, it wasn't a ghost base, as mercs on a scavenging mission had gathered in the abandoned secret site, led by Aresh Agdashloo, another child kidnapped and experimented on by Cerberus on Pragia.

He too had been haunted by the memories of his time in captivity, though his reason for returning to the base was not to destroy it. Aresh desperately wanted to see that their suffering and all the dead children were not for nothing, that the search for the perfect human biotic actually succeeded.

It was a twisted way to cope with the scars Pragia left on him, to ensure that something good came out of it.

Jack could have shot Aresh and even considered it strongly, but Shepard made her reconsider.

Aresh was stuck in the past; Jack had the chance to move forward.

—
​

His volatile teammate spared Aresh and blew up the base, though it wasn't the end of it.

She and Miranda had gotten into a rather heated argument that quickly turned violent, and had Joker not informed him, there definitely would be blood.

Shepard found the girls with their biotics clashing and slammed a stasis on both, overpowering two of the strongest human biotics in an instant.

Surveying the damage done to the room, Shepard turned to the frozen girls.

"I am going to let you go now." He said, and released the stasis, dropping Jack and Miranda to the ground.

Just in time, Garrus handed him the item he asked for, and after the turian left, Shepard rummaged through Miranda's desk. "Here."

"My toothbrush?" Miranda took the toothbrush, wondering what Shepard wanted them to do, while miffed that he had gone through her personal belongings like that.

"Both your toothbrushes." Shepard said, handing Jack her toothbrush too.

"What the hell? Are you a dentist now?" The volatile biotic scowled, still angry.

Shepard took a step forward, and both girls froze up. "No, but you two seem to forget that we are teammates, and any disagreement that you cannot solve yourselves will be brought to me, your friend and commander. We are fighting for the survival of the whole galaxy; your spat cannot throw it into jeopardy by tearing my ship apart." He warned, watching both girls for any sign of refusal.

Miranda nodded, agreeing in her mind that their fight was unseemly, regardless of who started it. "I understand, Shepard."

Shepard turned to Jack, who kept quiet. "And you?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, boyscout." She gave in too.

"Great, now go and scrub the toilets. It will be some quality bonding time for both of you." He ordered, shocking both that they would be punished with cleaning the toilets.

"What?! I am not doing this shit." Jack looked ready to start a fight again, but Shepard just raised an eyebrow, daring her to do so.

"That wasn't a question."

"Fuck. Fine." Jack growled, leaving the office while swearing under her breath.

Sighing, Miranda followed Jack to the toilets, knowing better than to argue with Shepard while under his command. "Very well, you are the commander."

—
​

In the next chapter:

"Shepard Commander, we wish to negotiate." An obviously synthetic and baritone voice called out as geth units stood arrayed across the room, weapons drawn but not firing.



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

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,

Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 5 chapters ahead.

By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.


Note: Apple store payments will be refunded, because of the company's 75 day hold policy.

—
​

Valhallan Threshold

Raheel-Leyya

The Migrant Fleet

With over fifty thousand ships, the Migrant Fleet was technically the largest fleet in the galaxy, though most were civilian ships and old ones at that.

The pilgrimage, where they sent young quarians to bring back something of worth to the fleet, had been created due to the need to sustain their current way of life, as they were not able to settle on any planet.

Now, they were accusing Tali of treason.

"This is Tali'Zorah vas Neema nar Rayya requesting permission to dock with the Rayya." Tali hailed the traffic control of the Migrant Fleet, pacing around the cockpit, restless.

"Our system has your ship flagged as Cerberus. Verify." The traffic controller requested, and Tali gave a verbal code.

"After time adrift among open stars, along tides of light and shoals of dust, I will return to where I began."

"Permission granted. Welcome home, Tali'Zorah."

"We'd like a security and quarantine team to meet us. Our ship is not clean."

"Understood. Approach exterior docking cradle 17."

—
​

No matter the species, the decontamination process was the same but longer in the case of quarians.

Passing the checkpoint, they saw the quarian security team waiting for them, saluting their captain, who came to greet Shepard.

"Captain Shepard, it is a pleasure to meet you. I only wish it could have been under pleasant circumstances." The captain held out his hand for the human who had saved a lot of quarians from the Hegemony while it still existed.

Shepard shook the offered hand. "I'd say accusing my crew member of treason is more than just unpleasant. What are the charges?"

"They are charging Tali with bringing active geth into the Fleet as part of a secret project."

Tali stepped forward, enraged at the accusation. "That's insane. I never brought active geth aboard. I only sent parts and pieces."

"Sounds like someone screwed up, and they are looking for a scapegoat." And as the leader of the team that sent geth material, Tali was the one they were blaming.

"I can't comment on that. The trial requires that I be officially neutral, but I'm here if you need to talk." The captain offered.

Shepard turned to Tali, who looked more unsettled than before. "Who was running this secret project?"

"My father."

That was not good at all.

—
​

"Tali'Zorah vas Normandy. I am glad you came. I could only delay them so long." An older quarian woman was waiting at the entrance to the Conclave.

"Auntie Raan." Tali's mood brightened upon seeing the woman, and she went to hug her.

"Shepard vas Normandy, this is Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay. She's a friend of my father's." Tali introduced the quarian, and Shepard nodded. If Tali called her aunty, then she was cool for him.

Confused at the way her auntie addressed her, Tali knew this would only get worse. "Wait. Raan, you called me vas Normandy."

"I'm afraid I did, Tali. The Admiralty Board moved to have you tried under that name, given your departure from the Neema."

—
​

"This conclave is brought to order. Blessed are the ancestors who kept us alive, sustained us, and enabled us to reach this session. Keelah se'lai." Shala'Raan, who had to be neutral during a trial as a member of the Admiralty Board, would not be voting on the decision of the Conclave.

"The accused, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, has come with her captain to defend herself against the charge of treason." Raan spoke as a formality, since everyone knew what the charges were.

"Objection. A human has no business at a hearing involving such sensitive military matters." One of the admirals objected, and Shepard rolled his eyes inside the helmet.

Here he went.

"What exactly are you going to do about it, admiral?" He asked with crossed arms.

Unable to give an answer, the admiral just groaned like an idiot. "Uhhhhh….."

"I thought so," he said, and one of the admirals coughed very pointedly.

"Shepard, as Normandy, your crew member Tali'Zorah stands accused of treason. Will you speak for her?" Raan asked, once again, for protocol.

"That is why I am here."

"Tali, you are accused of bringing active geth to the Migrant Fleet. What say you?" She laid out the charge, and it was Shepard's time to shine.

He had never lost a battle before, and this trial was just a battlefield of words and evidence.

"And why would she do that? For Tali to commit treason, she would either have to hate all of you, or the geth must have offered her material gains. Is there any proof the Admiralty Board could present for either case?" You had to be brain dead to believe someone with Tali's reputation would work with the geth, but then again, this trial was a sham.

"We have a research ship lost to the geth, one where Tali's father was working." Admiral Gerrel spoke, shocking Tali.

"What are you talking about?"

"As far as we can tell, Tali, the geth have killed everyone on the Alarei, your father included." Gerrel actually seemed sad, and Shepard guessed he and Rael might have been friends, rather than just colleagues.

"That in no way, shape, or form proves that Tali is responsible. For all we know, it was the fault of the researchers. Right now, this Conclave's priority should be to take Alarei back and destroy the geth to prevent any danger to the Migrant Fleet. The Normandy stands ready to offer assistance." Once the ship was secure, they could find out what had really happened.

"Thank you. Our strike teams have attempted to retake the ship, so far without success."

"The safest course of action would be to simply destroy the ship. But if you are looking for a break from the trial…." Koris, whom Shepard was quickly disliking, opened his mouth again.

"I'm looking for my father, you bosh'tet." Tali shouted at the admiral, who just turned his head away.

"You intend to take the Alarei from the geth? With Commander Shepard here, we can consider this matter closed. This trial will resume upon your return." Raan declared, and the Conclave was given a break for now.

—
​

"Thank you for agreeing to take back the Alarei, Shepard. The admirals sound sure that my father is already dead, but… I don't know. We won't know anything until we get there." Shepard took Tali's hand to help her calm down.

"How are you holding up? I swear, politicians are the same everywhere, no matter what they call themselves."

"I knew this would be bad, but I guess you're never really prepared to be charged with treason."

"And my father… I don't know. He could still be alive. They don't know for certain that he is dead. I just don't know, Shepard. And I need to find out."

—
​

A shuttle was prepared for Shepard, Tali, and Garrus, but he wanted to speak to the admirals before leaving.

To put the fear of Shepard into their hearts, of course.

—
​

The Alarei

Boarding the research vessel, the team came across the body of a quarian in the airlock. There was nothing they could do for him, so Shepard pressed forward, Tali and Garrus following.

"Shepard-Commander, we wish to negotiate." An obviously synthetic and baritone voice called out as geth units stood arrayed across the room, weapons drawn but not firing.

They were all confused, but Garrus was the one who articulated it. "Uhh, what?"

"Are you the geth that took over this ship?" Shepard asked for confirmation while switching his pistols to microwave mode.

"Correct."

"Huh, the first time one of you clankers decided to speak to me." Intrigued at the idea of speaking to the geth, Shepard decided to see if they were actually willing to negotiate.

"Alright, lower your weapons and we'll talk." He demanded, and the geth units, communicating at the speed of light, did so at once.

"Agreed."

Not to be a spoilsport, Shepard lowered his weapons too, while Tali followed his lead with an outraged hiss. Garrus was just chuckling inside his helmet.

"What do you wish to negotiate about?"

"Safe passage to geth space." That was a reasonable request and probably the only thing the synthetics could want.

However, they were negotiating, and the geth had to offer something back. "In return for?"

"The remaining crew of the vessel Alarei will be returned, unharmed." A holo screen popped up, showing several quarians locked up in a room with geth watching over them.

"Hmmm. You didn't kill them." They had no way of knowing Shepard would come to Alarei, so the geth should have had no reason to spare the crew, at least the ones that were alive.

"Rael'Zorah, father to Tali'Zorah, Shepard-Commander's teammate and now known romantic interest according to extranet outlets. Ceasing his life signs had a high probability of drawing your attention to the geth as a whole."

Garrus, suitably convinced that the geth were serious, discreetly activated his omni-tool so everyone aboard the Normandy could watch this.

"How many of the crew are alive?" The quarians were unlikely to surrender without a fight, and Shepard had to know the details before agreeing to anything.

"Fifty-nine out of the eighty-seven original crew complement, including Rael'Zorah." Tali's breath hitched at the sight of her father on the holoscreen.

"Alright, here is how it will go down. I'll bring shuttles to take the crew to the fleet, and you'll be allowed to take the Alarei after I wipe its databases clear of everything related to the Migrant Fleet." There was no other option to allow the geth safe passage since he wouldn't be letting them on the Normandy, and seeing as the Alarei was already compromised, it would be the best vessel to sacrifice to save the crew.

"Agreed."

—
​

"You are actually negotiating with them?" Tali's emotions were all over the place. Angry that Shepard would agree to let the geth go, relieved that her father was alive, and furious that it was his attempts to develop a weapon against the geth that had created this mess.

In the end, it boiled down to a single question. "Do you want your father alive or not?"

"Yes, but…"

"Then no buts."

"Fine." She wouldn't trust the geth, but Shepard must know what he was doing.

"The boogeyman of the galaxy for centuries, and they spared the crew of the Alarei because you actually scared the synthetics that were incapable of feeling fear." Garrus had streamed the entire conversation to the Normandy.

One of these days, he would make a holovid out of Shepard's antics.

—
​

The Conclave

"Have you lost your mind?!" Admiral Gerrel screamed at Shepard's face.

It looked like he was the one who lost his mind after the Alarei entered FTL and left the fleet; otherwise, Shepard would have turned him to a paste on the ship's bulkhead.

"I am not one of your crew members, admiral; watch your tone." Shepard glared at the quarian admiral, who took a step back on his podium.

The Conclave as a whole was like a buzzing beehive, too angry at what Shepard had done but unable to do anything more than grumble.

"Negotiating with the geth? The synthetics that forced us out of our worlds?" Even Raan, who was a moderate compared to the others, could not help the feeling of outrage in her heart.

Looking at Tali, who wasn't happy about everything either but didn't make an issue because she had her father back.

Love interest or not, the entire quarian race had to hear this. "Because you were morons, that is why."

Garrus activated his omni-tool again.

The Conclave rose up in objection, but Shepard slammed his fist on the podium, hands glowing with biotics, and the rows of quarians sat down again, silent.

"You are insulting us now?" Admiral Koris was happier than a krogan in war, but the insult had caught him off guard.

"Yes, because you, or at least your ancestors, deserve it. When the geth stopped being VI and became sophonts, you tried to kill them, and they fought back. Had you simply treated them as equals, then the quarians would have been the strongest species in the galaxy. But no, your ancestors feared losing control over their creations, and of course, the Citadel's ban on AI played a part in it, but the thing is, the reason you are vagrants among the stars is because your ancestors were too fucking illogical." Shepard ranted. Someone had to be very frank with the quarians that the geth weren't the sole reason they were treated as pariahs across the entire galaxy.

His speech stunned the Conclave, as none before, not even one of their own, much less an alien, had spoken to the Migrant Fleet as a whole in this manner.

Raan, who did not have an answer, was desperate to control the situation before it spiraled out of control. "How can you say that?"

"How can I say that? They just negotiated with me. Do you know why? Because they knew death was a certainty if they fought me. Those are not the actions of some faulty, murderous synthetics hellbent on eradicating organic life. Now, I am not saying they are blameless; I am sure they killed innocents too, but it was the quarians who started it." With that, chaos erupted in the Conclave.

For fuck's sake, humanity had made movies about this kind of AI uprising centuries ago, even before they had the tech to make proper AIs.

"The geth opened their eyes, and your first action was to teach them violence. They just became more apt at it than the quarians."

Had the quarians embraced their creations, the galaxy would be fearing them.

—
​

The accusation against Tali had been dropped once Rael'Zorah spoke about his experiments on the geth.

Which did not go well with the Conclave, but Rael'Zorah was too valuable to banish and had been demoted by the unanimous vote of the Admiralty Board.

Tali wasn't happy with her father either, hugging him first once he was cleared before screaming his ears off and starting to cry.

Wrapping his arm around Rael'Zorah's neck, Shepard gave him a light squeeze. "Her father or not, if she cries because of you again, I'll feed you to a krogan."

Tali's father just nodded.

—
​

"Shepard was Normandy. You have been a true friend of the Migrant Fleet, your words notwithstanding, and we thank you for your assistance." Raan, who was doing the closing speech after a rather long break, knew it was for the best to not cause friction with Shepard by making an issue out of his words.

"You're welcome. Before I go, I have one last thing for you." Grunt was pushing a hoverboard with the quarian tablet they had taken from Hock's vault and stopped as several quarians approached it, touching perhaps the only thing they had from Rannoch.

"We recovered this from the vault of a crime lord along with several other relics. It's not Rannoch, but I am sure it would feel nice to have a solid piece of your history here with you."

"I—I don't know what to say, Commander." Raan looked at the tablet with a longing for the quarian homeworld, the same as most of the Conclave.

"Then don't say anything. I should go now." Shepard turned around, waving a hand in farewell.

Tali, after scolding her father more, returned to the Normandy so they could set sail.

—
​

In the next chapter:

"Oh shit." Elias, who was struggling in the chair he was strapped to, stopped at seeing who entered, his threats dying on his tongue.

Shepard had a look as if he had chewed a whole lemon. "Elias Kelham."

Not good.

"C-Commander Shepard. Did I do something wrong?" For fuck's sake, what could he have done for it to piss Shepard off?



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

 

[Yoyomir]

Good chapter and hindsight and all that. Putting fear into gets yeah that tracks

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,

Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 6 chapters ahead.

By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.


Note: Apple store payments will be refunded, because of the company's 75 day hold policy.

—
​

The Citadel

Thane, the drell assassin that made more than one crew member nervous, had family issues.

As an assassin for the hanar, he had a pretty extensive list of targets neutralized, which had eventually spilled over into his family life. His wife was killed, and Thane had gone to avenge her, leaving his son, Kolyat, with his aunts.

Not having seen his son for a long time, Thane had recently learned that Kolyat had taken an assassination contract on the Citadel and requested Shepard's help to stop him before it was too late.

"Commander, how can I help you?" Bailey was at his station, working, when Shepard and a drell came out of nowhere.

"My friend here is trying to find his son. We thought you might be able to help."

Family issues.

Sometimes they were worse than most other crimes. "Should be easy. Not many drell here."

"There we go. One of my men reported a drill recently. And he was talking to Mouse. Interesting." A drell talking to a middleman like Mouse?

Trouble was afoot.

—
​

Shepard merchandise was everywhere, more so in human space than the rest, but it was prevalent.

Toys, blankets, kitchen robots—anything his likeness could be plastered on existed out there for the consumers. Of course, he did get his royalties, earning himself a fortune every day, so there was no problem with it.

Except for the illegal VI personality thing. Not only did he not get any money from it, but they were also buggy.

An insult to him.

Shepard tapped the human speaking to his omni-tool on the shoulder. "You Mouse?"

"What do you— oh shit, Commander Shepard." The former vent rat jumped back, all color drained from his face.

Shit, he shouldn't have sold those VIs.

"And Krios? I thought you retired?" Double shit, because Krios' son had just contacted him days ago.

"What do you want with me?" Mouse just hoped Commander Shepard didn't know about the VIs.

Or that he wasn't angry about them.

Thane patted Mouse on the shoulder to ease the human. Fear was good to instill, but not to the point where it made a person unable to talk. "Be still, Mouse. You can change your pants in a moment."

"Thane's son, Kolyat. We are looking for him."

"Well, I usually wouldn't talk about the people I am working for, but if it's you, I am sure they won't be a problem." If his employers had a problem, they could take it to Shepard.

—
​

Mouse had given them a name, Elias Kelham, an old acquaintance of Thane who had hired Kolyat.

Shepard also implored Mouse to stop selling his VI personalities, or he would take a cut, either all their credits or their lives.

Bailey, who had an agreement with Elias that Shepard didn't care enough to shoot someone, had agreed to bring him to the station before Kelham's lawyer came to bail him out.

"I don't think Elias will say no to you."

—
​

"Oh shit." Elias, who was struggling in the chair he was strapped to, stopped at seeing who entered, his threats dying on his tongue.

Shepard had a look as if he had chewed a whole lemon. "Elias Kelham."

Not good.

"C-Commander Shepard. Did I do something wrong?" For fuck's sake, what could he have done for it to piss Shepard off?

"You hired a drell to assassinate someone. I need the target's name."

Was he protecting that damn anti-human turian?

"Will you let me go?"

Shepard let out a long, suffering sigh. "Elias, you aren't worth the time it would take me to kill you. Just give me the name; we have places to be."

That was the best thing he heard all day.

"Joram Talid. He's a turian running for Intendant of Zakera Ward."

"See? That was simple." Shepard left the room, with the drell following, and Elias decided to make a rather large donation to charity for his fortune.

"All yours, Bailey."

—
​

Shepard was following Talid on the catwalks, while Thane lurked in the shadows.

Boy, was Talid himself annoying, speaking about how the appeasers in the Council gave humanity so much power and how he would take back the Zakera Ward.

All the while running a racketeering scheme.

"Hey, who are you? What are— Commander Shepard?!" A worker, a stock boy who was on the catwalk, interrupted Shepard.

Shepard shooed the worker away. "Keep it down, will you? I am here for something important. Get going."

"Uh, yes, sir."

The stock boy stalled him enough that Talid left, heading home now that he was done for the day, and Shepard saw Thane's son, Kolyat.

Who was trailing Talid and his krogan bodyguard to finish the job.

"I see him. Get ready." He informed Thane and moved out.

Just as Kolyat raised his weapon to shoot, Shepard pulled him with biotics, the drell yelping in surprise, while Talid turned around to see what the commotion was but saw nothing.

Shepard flicked Kolyat's pistol away and stuck the drell in stasis.

Talid wasn't even aware he had just narrowly avoided getting assassinated.

—
​

"Kolyat." Once away from the would-be crime scene and hidden in an alley, Shepard let Kolyat go so Thane could address him.

As expected, the son was less than happy to see his father. "This—this is a joke. Now? Now you show up?"

"Your father is dying, and he is trying to make up for the past." Which was not an excuse, but the truth.

Kolyat did not take it well either. "What? So you came to get my forgiveness? So you can die in peace or something?"

"I came to grant you peace."

Thane and Kolyat's conversation went as expected. The young Drell was bitter that his father had never been in his life, or his mother's, of course, while Thane admitted that she was killed because of him.

He confessed to hunting down everyone responsible, saying that he had taken plenty of bad things out of the world and that Kolyat was the only good thing he ever added to it.

Kolyat was taken aback by learning the cause of his mother's death, and Shepard took them to the station so they could spend some time in private.

—
​

"I ran some searches in the C-Sec database. About ten years back, a bunch of really bad people were killed. Like someone was cleaning house. The prime suspect was a drell. He was never caught." Bailey informed Shepard, and both knew who the one responsible for it was, especially after Mouse was questioned by C-Sec.

"If he wasn't caught for a decade, I doubt he would just show up in front of the precinct to surrender."

"Guess you are right." If Shepard wanted him to stop, Bailey was all too happy to oblige.

Instead, his console's screen lit up as files were uploaded to it. "Here, evidence on Joram Talid's racketeering scheme. You have my authority as a Council Spectre to arrest him. That should help you a bit."

"That makes things a lot easier for me. I just need your signature here." No one was going to question the number one Spectre of the Council.

And it would be good to put Talid behind bars after all those investigations that went nowhere.

—
​

"Any hope for progress?" Shepard asked in the most diplomatic way possible, knowing there was a good chance that the bonds between father and son could never be fixed.

"Our problems—they aren't something I can fix with a few words. We'll keep talking and see what happens." Shepard patted Thane on the shoulder.

He was alone as a child, and the only father figure in his life was Anderson, and their relationship was excellent.

So he didn't know what to say.

"Your son was about to assassinate someone, an important figure in the ward. I don't have any sympathy for him, but the situation is what it is." An anti-human figure like Joram Talid avoiding assassination and getting arrested the same day?

The press and his voter base would have a field day with this.

"No one in the C-Sec except you knows anything about the assassination, and I doubt those outside will just come to confess. Keep this silent, help the kid find a job around here, and I'll be here if you need help with anything." Shepard offered to sweep this situation under the rug.

"Actually, there is something." Shepard's help was more than worth the trouble of making some files disappear.

—
​

Apparently, there was a new forger on the Citadel called Fade, and he was giving the C-Sec no end of trouble. They even considered that Fade might be an ex-C-Sec officer, with the way he bypassed their systems and protocols.

It sounded like the kind of thing Garrus might be interested in, so he left Thane with Kolyat.

—
​

Garrus had arranged a meeting with Fade, and what do you know, a volus guarded by two krogan was waiting for them.

"You are Fade?" Shepard crossed his arms, looking at the volus with a scrunched-up face.

The krogan guards run away, leaving the volus alone. "Commander Shepard and Garrus Vakarian? Oh no."

"Yes, yes. Let's skip the part where you piss in your suit and tell us where to find Fade." Usually, a Volus in a suit was a headache for the detectives because you couldn't read their facial expressions.

In this case, it was a blessing, because no one wanted to see a volus piss himself in fear.

"He's in the old factory district works out of the old prefab foundry." Harkin was dead, and he saw no point in protecting him.

Garrus nodded to Shepard. "I know the place."

"He's got a lot of mercs there, Blue Suns. Harkin thinks they're protecting him." The volus offered more, lest the duo begin to think he was being tough.

"Harkin? That moron? I guess even he has a talent for something." Garrus had always wondered how that idiot ended up being humanity's first representative as part of C-Sec.

"A corrupt cop, wonderful." Shepard hated dealing with those.

"Not really. He got fired a while ago, but he still knows the system. Helps the mercs put their people in important places now."

—
​

Harkin was at the entrance to the old factory district and tried to run when he saw the two of them, telling his guards to stop Shepard and Garrus.

As if.

Three laser bolts crossed the distance at the speed of light; two went through the heads of the Blue Suns mercs, while the third one seared Harkin's thigh, a painful but ultimately nonlethal shot to bring him alive.

"Harkin, I thought you were an idiot; turns out you are a scumbag too."

"Working with the Blue Suns? Don't you know their founder is already dead? You are on a sinking ship, Harkin." Garrus added, chuckling as he dragged the human out.

"God fucking damn it."

"There has to be more mercs in the district, and I don't want to wait for the C-Sec. What do you say?"

"Loser pays for lunch."

—
​

Zakera Cafe

Donnel Udina, the Human Councilor of the Citadel Council, the human at the peak of the political arena, wanted to lie down in his room and cry.

"Commander, may I ask why half of the old factory district is burning, and there are half a thousand Blue Suns corpses there?" He asked Shepard, who was having lunch with his turian friend, Garrus Vakarian.

Shepard frowned. "Only half a thousand? I must have microwaved a lot more than I thought."

Of course, Shepard focused on the wrong part of what Udina had just said.

"And I might have gone overboard with those incinerator grenades." The turian admitted, swallowing his food, which looked like some sort of beef.

"How did you make those anyway?" Shepard put down his fork, curious, and Udina was ignored.

"Ah, just a controlled fusion blast. I had a small accident while trying to replicate the micro-fusion cells and thought it might actually make a good weapon."

"Nice."

"Commander, please. This is important." Udina pleaded. The rest of his colleagues weren't happy with the damage caused to the Citadel, even if it was a part no one really used anymore, and had sent him to take the heat.

Shepard rolled his eyes. The politicians couldn't even let him eat in peace. "Here is a list of every single merc the Blue Suns managed to put into the Citadel administration to feed them intel and protect their organization."

Udina's eyes shined. There was a top-secret C-Sec investigation into the matter, and if he brought proof back, then it wouldn't look good for the rest of the Council, who had denied quite openly that there was any infiltration by hostile forces at the administrative level.

"Enjoy your lunch, commander." Udina took the files and was ready to bolt back to his skycar before Shepard snapped his fingers.

"While you are here, pick up the bill, will you, Councillor?"

"Of course." A couple hundred credits was nothing compared to the price of the information.

"I love watching politicians grow a plate to please you."

—
​

The Normandy

Captain's Quarters

"Yes, Father, I am fine. Wait, why are you asking me that? I am not the one who almost got himself killed." Tali snapped at her father, who was being his overbearing self again.

Even though she outranked him now.

"Just take care of yourself, Father."

"Maybe spending some time as a grunt will do him good." Have the people in charge do the work of the grunts for a day, and Shepard knew it would do wonders for their attitude.

Tali lay next to him, one hand over his chest. "I hope so."

"What are we doing now, Captain?" she asked coyly.

"Go and help Liara find the Shadow Broker. He somehow found a clone of me, and I want to know how." It was inevitable for his DNA to get around, and Shepard

"Ugh, I can't imagine clones of me running around the galaxy." Tali groaned. Seeing that clone, watching as it was possessed by Harbinger, still disgusted her at how the Reapers could just violate everything sacred about life.

"I think it would be sexy, having a couple of Tali'Zorahs." Shepard winked, saying it just to tease his girlfriend.

Tali slapped his chest gently. "You wish."

However, their sweet time was ruined by EDI. "Commander, there is a message for you from Admiral Hackett."

"I'll take it on my console." Must be important, since Hackett wouldn't call him for something that was not.

"Commander, there is a bit of a situation on Earth." Boy, if Hackett had to call them all from Earth, then it must be more than a bit of a situation.

"What happened?"

"A recruit in the Marine Corps was showing extreme talent in combat, and someone had a DNA test done without permission."

Shepard groaned. Fucking hell, were they now just cloning him for fun? "Don't tell me I have another clone out there."

An image of a red-haired, green-eyed woman appeared on the screen, with the name Hailey.

"No, she is your sister, and there is a literal army of reporters trying to get the biggest headline of the decade and several people trying to kill her." And of course, Shepard fans wanted to see his sister to get an autograph, even though the young woman had no idea why she was locked up in the most secure place in the Alliance space.

This was definitely worse. "EDI, set course for Earth."

"You have a sister?" Tali asked. With how small the quarian population was, it was incomprehensible for family members to not know each other.

"The first time I am hearing about it." A clone would have been a simple problem; just shoot and forget.

He couldn't do that with a sister.

—
​

Notes: Not sure about the sister. I found the idea interesting enough to write, but let me know what you think, and I'll decide on whether to keep it or delete it.

—
​

In the next chapter:
"I read your file. You are good, really good, and I know you will get there eventually."

And she felt bad for it now. "Huh, high praise from someone as famous as you." Shepard's number one, and the deadliest turian in the galaxy, Garrus Vakarian wasn't just known in Omega for his deeds but across what remained of the Terminus Systems as a deadly, unstoppable force.

Garrus smirked. "Don't get used to it. Now, you wanted to play with the big guns, so let's play."




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

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,

Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 7 chapters ahead.

You can also check my original story, Arrival, on my Patreon page, AO3, Royal Road, SpaceBattles, and Webnovel.

By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.


Note: Apple store payments will be refunded, because of the company's 75 day hold policy.

—
​

Earth

Vila Militar

Earth. The cradle of humanity.

Where Shepard was born. And now, he has a twenty-three-year-old sister.

One whose existence he wasn't even aware of before Admiral Hackett called him.

"You have a sister and didn't tell us? Here I thought we were best friends." Garrus looked at him with sad eyes, like a puppy begging to be picked up.

All false, of course.

"Garrus, I just learned about it myself."

"What's she like?"

"No idea."

As they disembarked, General Marco, in charge of the villa, stood there with a procession to greet Shepard. "Commander Shepard, welcome back to the villa."

"Good to be back, sir."

"Come on in. We are keeping her inside for now."

—
​

Shepard looked at his sister from the one-way mirror.

"Are we sure there is no error in the DNA test?"

"It was done multiple times in different labs to ensure that the results are conclusive undoubtedly."

"I suppose I should go and talk to her."

—
​

Shepard took a seat, looking at the red-haired woman before her. They had a staring contest for a while, neither willing to speak, but Hailey eventually broke the ice.

"So, we are siblings. Didn't see that coming." There was news of people claiming to be related to Jonathan Shepard every other month or so, but nothing came out of it.

Until now.

"Neither did I." He never searched for his birth family, too busy with life, so this was a surprise for him too.

"You grew up in an orphanage? Huh, so they abandoned me, had you, and abandoned you too." Why even have children in the first place? Not like birth control wasn't freely available.

Hailey, who was more bitter about the missing parents, scowled. "I hope they are dead, or I am going to kill them."

"Same."

"So what now? I just wanted to join the military and build a life for myself. I don't want or expect anything from you." Older brother or not, she was too prideful to go and ask for handouts from him or anyone else.

Jonathan opened his omni-tool, showing the mass gathered outside the walls of the massive military base. "Reporters want to interview you, my fans want to see my sister, and there are plenty of people after your head. Sorry, but your life just became harder because of our relationship."

"Damn it." There went her chance at a normal life.

"Why did they even think of doing a DNA test?" He asked. What had she done to warrant it?

Hailey put her forehead on the table, groaning. "I pulled off a Shepard Maneuver."

"Which one?" Well, even if they hadn't been related, anyone who could pull off one of his maneuvers was cool in his book.

"Suborbital drop with the Mako."

"Not bad." That one was particularly tricky, because one wrong move, and you were dead.

Though most of his maneuvers were deadly if done incorrectly.

"You can stay here and continue your training. No one's stupid enough to attack the villa, but outside of it, your life's going to be tougher, especially when the Alliance throws you at whatever problem that's too difficult for the common soldiers to solve." The Alliance just had another Shepard sign up for the marines, and as he was too busy with the Reapers, Hailey would be sent to crack the toughest opposition the Alliance faced, with the expectation that she would perform as well as him.

"Or?" Hailey asked.

"I can draft you to the Normandy. No place is more secure, and you can get combat experience to qualify for N7." He held most of the N7 records, and no one else could train Hailey better than Jonathan.

"Because I'm your sister?" She was not going to accept any kind of nepotism.

Jonathan shook his head. "Because your life just got a lot harder due to a guy you never met before."

Hailey shrugged. "What the hell? Why not? You always have the most interesting things happen to you."

—
​

"You want to take her with you?" General Marco didn't want to lose such a talented soldier, but the politics were a bitch.

"Sir, this is too much trouble for you and the villa as a whole. I'll be her mentor, and you won't have to deal with the civilians outside the premises."

"Hell, son, I can't think of a better trainer for her than you. I'll handle the paperwork."

—
​

The Normandy

Hailey, just like everyone else aboard, had one footlocker and was quick to fill it up. She was brought to the meeting room so the crew could see her, and she could choose where to work.

"Alright, choose yourself a station. Miranda is my XO, Garrus has the forward guns, Tali is in engineering, and Jacob is the chief of armory."

"I'll take the guns." The laser weapons were being produced en masse, but mostly for the ships, and infantry weapons were slated for the active units, not trainees, even if it was for N7.

She wanted to see what Normandy's weapons pack was.

"Garrus, she is with you now. Help her with anything she needs." Perhaps Garrus was the best choice in acclimatizing Hailey to the Normandy.

"Two Shepards in one ship? I think it will eventually cause a singularity, but sure." Garrus teased, knowing that the recently acquainted siblings were feeling uncomfortable.

Shepard knew there would be no end to the turian's jokes. "Go and calibrate those guns or something, Vakarian."

"Aye aye, Commander." Garrus mock saluted before turning around and motioning for Hailey to follow.

—
​

"The crew is going to look at you as if you are an exhibition." Garrus gave Hailey his first piece of advice.

Hailey gave him a dry look. "Thanks, I hadn't noticed."

"Garrus, by the way, Garrus Vakarian." He held out his hand, and Hailey took it out of courtesy.

"Hailey Malcolm."

"Malcolm?"

"What? I didn't know he was my brother, nor am I going to suddenly take his last name." Her last name didn't really mean much to her, other than that it had been the last name randomly assigned to her at the orphanage, but she wasn't going to ride on the fame of the name Shepard.

"The people are just going to call you Hailey Shepard. You will have a tough time leaving your own mark in the galaxy." To people across the galaxy, Hailey was Shepard's sister, and it would be rare for anyone to look at her as her own person.

Hailey considered decking the turian on his bony skull, but technically, he was her superior. "Any other stellar observations, Captain Obvious?"

"I read your file. You are good, really good, and I know you will get there eventually."

And she felt bad for it now. "Huh, high praise from someone as famous as you." Shepard's number one, and the deadliest turian in the galaxy, Garrus Vakarian wasn't just known in Omega for his deeds but across what remained of the Terminus Systems as a deadly, unstoppable force.

Garrus smirked. "Don't get used to it. Now, you wanted to play with the big guns, so let's play."

—
​

"Shepard, congratulations. I heard you have a sister now." TIM, just like almost everyone in the galaxy, had heard the news.

"The situation is too complicated. Let's not go there."

"As you wish."

"I am going to handle that problem in your research base; just sit tight. I mean, since almost everyone is dead, there is no reason to hurry." The dead didn't need rescuing after all.

"I can't argue with that."

"Interesting cybernetics, by the way. Where did you get them?" Shepard's instincts told him they were not your run-of-the-mill cybernetics.

"Custom-made."

"Uh huh." And he was a Prothean in disguise.

—
​

Shepard made sure to chat with his newfound sister, out of work, of course, and it was a very interesting experience.

She, unlike him, had actually searched for their parents, and while there were several names, nothing had come of them.

Which is when Hailey had decided her time could be spent better doing something else and had taken to stealing from gangs to make a living.

In fact, she had even stolen from the Reds before they underwent a rebranding.

There were predators on the street, offering her credits for sexual favors, and she had even killed a bastard who had gotten pushy.

Hailey was born in the United States, as far as she could tell anyway, and traveled all over the country by stowing away, eventually joining the marines to build herself a life, and was good enough to find herself offered a place in the Interplanetary Combatives Training.

—
​

"We are going after the Shadow Broker. First of all, he somehow got a clone of me and was about to hand it over to the Collectors and has been giving Liara no end of trouble. As such, we are going to find him, nail him to a ferroslug, and shoot him at the nearest black hole. Any questions?"

"Yes, are we really going to go to all that trouble? Can't we just shoot him and call it a day?"

"Depends on my mood."

"Fair enough."

—
​

Ilium

Turns out, Nyxeris was working for the Shadow Broker, and Liara had put a laser bolt through her head for that.

But she had no other lead to follow until Shepard gave him what Cerberus had on the Shadow Broker.

A friend of Liara, a drell named Feron who was helping save his, or rather the clones', body from the Collectors, has sacrificed himself to save Liara and was actually alive.

She had gone to her apartment to think, and after giving Hailey a small tour, he had followed Liara home.

—
​

"What the hell is going on here?" Liara's home was turned into a freaking crime scene, with bullet holes everywhere.

The Asari at the entrance was shocked at seeing him. "Goddess, Commander Shepard?"

"Yes, what happened here?"

Another asari spoke up, a familiar face, a colleague. "Somebody tried to kill your friend, Liara."

"Tela Vasir. Haven't seen you since the day the Council had those docs check me out." Damn, it had already been that long?

"Not a surprise. You were too busy leaving the rest of us in the dust. The rachni queen, Ilos, saving the Citadel, Normandy going down in a surprise Collector attack, only for you to single-handedly take over the enemy cruiser, survive a crash, and stick yourself in a freezer."

"Then that clone of yours, and of course, finding the flagship of the Protheans and handing it over to the Council." Tela had wanted to handle this before Shepard became aware of anything, but it was too late now.

Shepard bowed to his fans. "You're welcome."

"Thank you, officer; your people are dismissed. This is Spectre business now." Unhappy as they were, the police officers left without a fuss.

"What brings you to Liara's house?" Shepard queried once the officers were out.

"The Council wants someone to keep an eye on her, discreetly, to ensure nothing happens to a friend of yours, especially one who became a highly distinguished figure." He almost felt like laughing at Tela now.

"They stuck you with babysitting duty? Damn, who did you piss off?" Shepard knew Tela was lying, as none of the Councillors would be dumb or petty enough to send one of the most accomplished Spectres to watch Liara.

She was here for something else.

He could force Tela now or wait for her secrets to unravel.

Now, they had to find where Liara had gone.

—
​

Discovering the message Liara had left behind would be simple; the hard part was fooling Tela into leaving the house.

"Wait a second, didn't she need a ship? She must be at the docks, trying to find one."

"God damn it, I told her to wait. The Normandy just needed a short maintenance before we could leave."

"Let's just go find her."

"You go to the docks; I'll check the registry system to see if she found a ship." Tela left the house as if it was on fire, confirming that she was scheming something.

—
​

The Dracon Trade Center

Shepard, Garrus, and Hailey headed to the Dracon Trade Center to find Sekat after listening to the conversation Liara had left in the hidden disk.

Tela was heading for the docks, unaware that she was being tracked, and they could find Liara, Benezia, and Sekat before his colleague realized what had happened.

"Shepard, there you are." He found Liara outside Sekat's office with her mother, who was armed and armored.

"Liara, Benezia, are you two alright?" They looked good enough, but he asked for confirmation.

"Yes, we made it out of the penthouse without a scratch." Liara spoke, while Benezia just nodded, not trusting her voice.

Their last meeting had been… violent.

Checking the area, Shepard motioned them to move while Garrus and Hailey acted as scouts. "I came across Tela Vasir at the crime scene."

"Vasir? Why?" A specter in her home? Either her hunt for the Shadow Broker was facing political backlash, or she was here for some other reason.

Shepard shrugged. "Probably trying to kill you."

In his line of work, it was a common occurrence, nothing to worry about.

"How could the Shadow Broker convince a Spectre to work for him?" Having a Spectre, especially one as good as Tela Vasir, under his thumb gave the Shadow Broker a weapon that he could use with impunity.

"No idea. Did you get whatever you needed from Sekat?" They could figure out why Tela was slumming it with the Shadow Broker after killing the secretive information broker.

"Yes, I need a ship now." Fortunately for her, Shepard had a stealth ship.

Shepard made for the exit, where Garrus and Hailey were waiting. "We need to go to the docks, then."

"Where Vasir is waiting." Garrus was looking forward to this fight.

—
​

"Uhhh, Commander? Tela Vasir is here. She wants to come aboard." Joker contacted him halfway to the docks.

"Tell her to wait; I am coming to the docks. Also, tell the team to get ready; there will be action out there." Vasir must have realized that she had been fooled and wanted to check if Liara was aboard the Normandy.

"Understood."

Hailey looked at Shepard as if he had grown a second head. "You are letting her know we are coming?"

If Tela, another Spectre, was actually trying to kill Liara, she must have brought troops with her. Letting her prepare definitely wouldn't end well.

Garrus checked his rifle, switching to the beam mode and back. "Of course he is; it wouldn't be fun otherwise."

"God damn it, I just landed in the middle of a pair of nutcases." Hailey muttered to herself.

"Who is she, by the way?" Liara asked.

Illium was far enough from Earth, so perhaps she hadn't received the news yet.

"You don't know?" Shepard looked shocked, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Should I?"

"She is my sister."

Benezia turned to him sharply. "Your what?

Hailey just groaned in despair.

—
​

In the next chapter:

"Their attacks are disorganized. They'd be more effective if they attacked all at once." Liara suggested, as she shot a rocket drone, causing it to go haywire and explode near enemy soldiers, taking two more out.

Shepard pointed to Liara, pleased with the idea. "Hmm, good idea. Garrus, see if you can ring their comms."

"Are you out of your mind? Don't do that, Vakarian." Hailey, however, decided to be a party pooper.

Shooting three guards without even looking, Shepard mockingly scolded his sister. "Hey, I am your commander; you have to do what I say."

"Not if you are acting insane." She shot back, taking cover from a rocket trooper, tossing a grenade overhead.

Garrus cut down several guards levitated by Samara as a laser beam bisected the enemy. "Shepard, your sister is whining too much. Maybe we should have brought Mordin along? He could calculate the time it takes for us to kill them all."

That earned a round of laughter, but Hailey did not find it funny. "Fuck you, birdbrain."

"Maybe later." Garrus replied cheekily.



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

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read advanced chapters on my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington-inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low-End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,

Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 8 chapters ahead.

If you enjoy sci-fi, action, politics, romance with an overpowered protagonist, you can check Arrival, my original story on my Patreon or my pages on the fanfiction sites. I intend to make this a long term project, if you wish to be with me in this journey from the very start, now is the time. Your review and likes are appreciated to keep up with the algorithm.

By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.


Note: Apple store payments will be refunded because of the company's 75-day hold policy.

—
​

Illium

"Commander, mercs are flooding the port. The team's already out and took positions." Joker informed him as they rode to the docking bay.

"Take off; I don't want the paint scratched." Then again, it had the logo of Cerberus, and it would be a shame if a stray shot scorched it.

"Shepard."

"Tela."

Her men at standby, Tela had one question in her mind. "When did you figure it out?"

"You were waiting for me in Liara's house because you needed someone to figure out where she went." She could have taken over the investigation any time, and instead, chose to wait for Shepard, knowing he was on Illium.

Tela, resigned to her fate, pulled out her weapon. "There is only one way this ends."

"Yeah, me mopping the floor with you and your buddies." There was a tense standoff, both sides watching each other, ready to act, and Tela acted first, jumping into cover while the mercs opened fire.

The rest of Shepard's team, hiding around the docking area, encircled the mercs, forcing them to take cover behind the carriers that had landed in the middle of the area. Shepard, Garrus, and Hailey took cover as well, joining the fray.

Outmaneuvered and outpowered, it was an unfavorable situation for the mercs, and they retreated, leaving the dead behind.

"Shepard, do we chase them?" Garrus asked, firing one last shot that got through the cockpit and caused one of the carriers to crash.

Nice.

"Nah, forget it. Our target is the Shadow Broker." Once their boss was dead, Tela would back off.

She wasn't stupid enough to fight for an already dead person.

"Joker, pick us up; the Shadow Broker's ass has a date with my boot."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

—
​

Hourglass Nebula

Sowilo System

Hagalaz

"I want three teams. Liara and Hailey are with me; we are going first. Garrus, take Grunt and Jack; you are the second team. Samara, you are with Zaeed and Thane. We are taking the ship if it's possible, destroying it if it's not. Watch out for prisoners, especially a drell named Feron." Shepard ordered now that they were in Hagalaz's atmosphere. The advantage of having a stealth ship was that no one was able to track them, and the blockades were useless as long as Joker was careful.

"Got it."

"Understood, Shepard."

"Let's move, people."

—
​

"It's quite smart, hiding in Hagalaz. The oceans boil during the day and snap freeze ten minutes after sundown." Liara admitted it while the shuttle was riding to the Shadow Broker's ship.

"A place no one would think to search."

"Exactly. His ship is completely undetectable in the storm, unless you know where to look." Which they did know.

Getting up now that they were on approach velocity, Liara read the scans relayed from the shuttle's scanners. "The shuttle bay is locked down. We'll need to land on the ship and hunt for a hatch."

"But we can't stay outside for long. There's a constant lightning storm where the hot and cold air collide." She warned, and Shepard wasn't dying to stay out in a storm anyway.

Jumping down from the shuttle, their magboots activated to give them the necessary grip to not get flung in the storm.

Still scanning the exterior, Liara found what might be their chance to enter the ship. "It's hard to pinpoint it in this lightning, but I'm picking up signals from a communications array near the back of the ship. There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We need to find an entrance near the back shielding."

Down the left side, they proceeded forward through the catwalk, but maintenance drones activated, targeting the team.

"Hailey, take out those drones." He ordered, and the latest member of the team opened fire, the laser bolts of her rifle cutting through the drones with ease.

Climbing up to the spine of the ship, they came across Shadow Broker's forces, several guards moving up together rather than spreading and taking cover.

"Target those capacitors. If they are stupid enough to play near lightning, they deserve to be fried." Shepard's orders were not necessary, as two bolts struck the capacitors, overloading them, resulting in a much more violent energy burst that burned through the enemy soldiers.

Moving left again, from where the guards came, LOKI mechs came out of small hatches, but they were never a threat and were scrapped in short order.

Turning right again, Shepard grumbled. Why did they have to make the damn ship's exterior so complex? Did Shadow Broker enjoy the maze-like appearance?

Liara shot the capacitor ahead, frying the salarian and the soldiers following him. Pulling out the module, Shepard lowered the platform on the right, with a capacitor in the middle. Guards climbed it up first, and Shepard let them, waiting until they were near the capacitor.

He was feeling insulted, being assailed by amateurs.

Up the platform and down, LOKI mechs showed themselves again to no effect. Shadow Broker's defenses were repetitive, which also meant boring.

"Incoming." Garrus called out on the comms, he, Jack, and Grunt jumping down where the mechs used to be.

"Shuttle pilot, can you make the next run?"

"I wouldn't want to try it, Commander. The winds are getting really bad up there."

"Alright, fall back to Normandy."

"Samara, your team is on standby; the weather down here is getting worse."

"We will wait for your orders, Shepard."

Guards jumped down to the catwalk, and mechs were activated. Grunt charged ahead, slamming into one of the poor sods so hard he flew into the storm, screaming in terror.

Jack, having liked what she saw, did the same to another guard with her biotics. The rest of the guards and the mechs faced a less terrifying end by laser bolts.

"Not bad for a human that is not Shepard." Grunt praised Jack, watching the guard flail as he was dragged away by the winds.

Jack scoffed, pulling a guard and shooting him at close range with her shotgun. "Beat it, you overgrown toad."

"Heh, you have the spirit of a krogan."

"Thank fuck not the looks of one." That earned a laugh from Grunt, pleased to fight together with a warrior like Jack.

Moving up the stairs, they did not face any opposition, entering a small internal area, giving them a brief respite from the howling winds and the lightning.

"This ship is incredible. It must have taken decades to build in secret."

"I wonder what happened to the contractors." Hailey asked, still in awe. This was much better than the boot camp.

Except for the parts where Shepard and Vakarian were up to no good.

"I think we can guess."

All too soon, they left the bay, once again in the storm. Several guards, having wisened up, had laid in ambush, though not wise enough to not do it near the capacitors.

Shadow Broker must finally be taking them seriously, because asari vanguards and rocket troopers began to show themselves, still not a challenge for the six of them.

Pulling out another module, Shepard lowered several panels, and the team moved forward, coming across hatches, with agents coming out of them like idiots, making themselves sitting ducks.

Shepard guessed being in total anonymity meant those guys didn't feel they needed to train.

"On the left." Garrus warned, turning his attention to the guards, who, once again, were taking cover near the capacitors.

"Not bad, Vakarian." Hailey grunted as the turian timed a shot to go through two agents before hitting the capacitor.

"You haven't seen anything yet."

Blitzing through the remaining forces and moving a capacitor on the rails away, they found the hatch that led to the communications signals, with Liara using a bypass shunt to hack it.

"How long is this going to take?" Shepard asked, taking cover as the scanners read enemy signatures.

"I don't know, Shepard. I've never broken into the Shadow Broker's base before. Well, not this one anyway."

Shepard chuckled. Liara was growing up, breaking into secret bases and what not.

Desperation must have settled in, because the Shadow Broker's forces came en masse from all sides.

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Shepard teased Liara. They could always find another way to open the door.

"It's illegal even on Illium. It didn't come with a warranty."

Garrus snorted, carefully rolling a grenade behind enemy cover. "You heard that, Shepard? Something's illegal on Illium."

"First time for me."

"Shepard, we are approaching your position." Samara's serene voice informed them, and they could see the shuttle approach.

"Good timing, take the left side." The shuttle dropped them right on top of the enemy. Samara landed with her biotics, helping Zaeed and Thane down, who were giving her cover fire.

The fight was tough because they had to protect the shunt and couldn't afford to use their usual destructive means to kill the enemy for fear of damaging the ship and sending themselves to a horrible death.

"Their attacks are disorganized. They'd be more effective if they attacked all at once." Liara suggested, as she shot a rocket drone, causing it to go haywire and explode near enemy soldiers, taking two more out.

Shepard pointed to Liara, pleased with the idea. "Hmm, good idea. Garrus, see if you can ring their comms."

"Are you out of your mind? Don't do that, Vakarian." Hailey, however, decided to be a party pooper.

Shooting three guards without even looking, Shepard mockingly scolded his sister. "Hey, I am your commander; you have to do what I say."

"Not if you are acting insane." She shot back, taking cover from a rocket trooper, tossing a grenade overhead.

Garrus cut down several guards levitated by Samara as a laser beam bisected the enemy. "Shepard, your sister is whining too much. Maybe we should have brought Mordin along? He could calculate the time it takes for us to kill them all."

That earned a round of laughter, but Hailey did not find it funny. "Fuck you, birdbrain."

"Maybe later." Garrus replied cheekily.

"The hatch is open; everyone inside." Shepard ordered. Garrus moved first with his team to secure the inside, followed by Samara, Zaeed, and Thane, with Shepard's team falling back last.

—
​

"They are afraid now; I can smell it." Grunt didn't have to smell it, because the soldiers came rushing with rocket launchers, now that Shepard and his team were inside.

Launching the rocket back with his biotics, it gave the team a smoke screen, allowing Garrus, Zaeed, and Hailey to nail the heavies.

Shepard, Grunt, Jack, Liara, and Samara took position, using their biotics and close-range weapons to draw attention, while the long rangers took easy shots.

Thane had disappeared out of sight.

The corridors were narrow, and the enemy was desperate, turning it into another grueling battle, but the guards couldn't get through the multiple biotic barriers and couldn't stop the laser fire, so the team pushed forward like a tank rolling over ill-equipped infantry.

"I found Feron. His condition is not good. I can't extract him from the chair he is tied to." Thane reported having already sneaked into the prison block.

"Understood, wait for us."

Pushing through one last section of guards, they entered the prison block, seeing corpses strewn around, with Thane standing next to another drell inside the cell.

"Feron."

"Liara."

—
​

Getting Feron out was not going to be easy, because the Shadow Broker had made the prison system extremely sensitive to tampering. Shepard could have broken through the system, but killing the Broker and shutting down the power was far easier. Leaving Thane to guard his fellow drell, Shepard entered the Broker's lair.

"A yahg? I'll admit, I did not see this coming." There, sitting on the chair and watching them, was a species uglier, stronger, and meaner than the krogan. Massive and muscular, the yahg had eight eyes that gave him a hyperalert look and jaws filled with ragged teeth. Covered with plates, the Shadow Broker's species were not supposed to leave their planet.

And seeing as the Shadow Broker existed before Parnack was discovered, he must have taken the old one's place.

"Commander Shepard." He said in a deep, rumbling voice, watching the eight of them with an unnatural calmness.

"I usually would ask you to surrender, but I have a feeling you won't, and I don't really want to ask." Shepard had never killed a yahg before, which made this a first, and the first impressions always mattered.

Aware of his precarious situation, the yahg suppressed his instincts to fight and dominate. "Indeed. Instead, I'll offer to negotiate."

"I assume you have something in your mind in case I refuse?" Because the Shadow Broker was not in a position to negotiate anything.

A screen appeared next to him, showing the ship's power core. "I overload this ship's fusion core and kill us all instantly."

Huh, guess that's why the Shadow Broker didn't escape, knowing it was futile, and negotiating was his only option. "I am listening."

"All previous evidence shows to me that I cannot kill you; in fact, nothing known across the galaxy can." He had thought Shepard met his end at the Collector attack on his vessel, but it was a false alarm.

"My offer is simple. I return to Parnack and leave the ship and my position to you. I'll be out of the way, with no chance to contact anyone, so you won't have to fear any leaks." The Shadow Broker, for all the intellect and intelligence he had access to, did not have an answer to the problem of Shepard.

"Not to Parnack. Somewhere isolated. You know too much, and if the rest of your kind learns what you know, I'll have to commit a xenocide. Can't have you guys running around the galaxy now, can I?" The yahg were obsessed with being the top dog as a species and individuals and had slaughtered the first contact delegation of the Council.

Shepard would have just annihilated them all for good measure.

The yahg snarled. "Unacceptable. I'll have to live the rest of my life with nothing to do."

Shepard shrugged; he didn't care if the yahg got bored. "A prefab house, farming equipment, and wildlife for you to hunt. Think of it like a vacation, one that lasts forever."

The Shadow Broker snarled, considering the counteroffer.

"Shepard, I have disabled the Shadow Broker's connection to engineering." EDI's voice came just in time.

He hadn't just sent Thane to find Feron but also to locate an access port to connect the AI to the Broker's ship.

And it had just paid off.

"Time's up." Shepard launched a biotic bitch slap, causing the yahg to fall over.

Leaping to his feet with a scream of fury, he slammed his fist on the screen, trying to blow up the ship as a final act of defiance.

Nothing happened, though, and the Shadow Broker's eyes widened in realization.

"Boy, you are about to be in a world of hurt." Shepard cracked his knuckles.

This would be fun.

—
​

In the next chapter:

"Arriving at dish access." The automated system announced as they left the tram.

Garrus, who was watching ahead with his scope for danger, stood down, seeing nothing on the coast. "What do you think the Cerberus was actually doing here?"

"Something way over their heads, as usual." It was getting really repetitive with just how much Cerberus was fucking up their operations.

"Attention: Satellite broadcast window is opening soon. All upload data must be approved by your department supervisor."



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

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read advanced chapters on my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington-inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,

Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low-End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,

Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,

Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 9 chapters ahead.

If you enjoy sci-fi, action, politics, romance with an overpowered protagonist, you can check Arrival, my original story on my Patreon or my pages on the fanfiction sites. I intend to make this a long term project, if you wish to be with me in this journey from the very start, now is the time. Your review and likes are appreciated to keep up with the algorithm.

By supporting me, you can read advanced and special chapters, as well as vote on how you want the fanfiction to proceed.


Note: Apple store payments will be refunded because of the company's 75-day hold policy.

—
​

Hagalaz

The Shadow Broker's Lair

The first thing Shepard did was to shoot the Shadow Broker's shield emitter and weapon before slapping him to the other end of the room with his biotics, which turned into a sort of game where they used the yahg as an oversized biotic ball.

Beaten and tired, the Shadow Broker met his end at Liara's hand, the asari bringing down the power generator at the ceiling and annihilating the yahg entirely.

Feron was saved, and the team had nothing to do but go through the Shadow Broker's database, while Liara posed as the new broker, ordering Tela Vasir to stand down first thing.

"What the hell is this?!" Jack, who wondered what kind of dirt the Shadow Broker had on Cerberus, was going through the files when she found a dossier of her own.

One that detailed how Cerberus had kidnapped her, telling her mother that she had died while the body was beyond recognition, and taken her away.

And the doctor's name was there too, along with his location.

She was going to kill him.

"Shepard, I need a ride to Eden Prime. I am going to rip someone's heart out." Jack slammed her glowing hand on the console.

"Sure, let's just wrap up things here."

—
​

"Goddess, it was the salarians." Liara rubbed her head. Once again, the salarians had done something they should not have.

"What?"

"They cloned you to see if a clone could be as good as you, but upon failing, they sold the body to the Shadow Broker. Put on some armor, expose the body to the vacuum, and the Collectors could not tell it apart from the real you." She explained just how the Shadow Broker fooled the Collectors into believing he had Shepard's body.

Shepard's nostrils widened. "Salarians, huh? I guess I should have expected it." A warning to the STG was in order.

"How are you doing?" He, however, had more important matters, such as Liara, who was emotionally drained by the whole rollercoaster of action and danger.

"I am glad we rescued Feron and that the Broker is dead. I suppose I can rest now, while taking over his network." This was too valuable to just give up, and she could help Shepard prepare against the Reapers better with this much power at her disposal.

Shepard grinned. "Great, now I need a tiny favor from you."

—
​

Phoenix Passing

Typhon System

Aite

Leaving Liara to handle the rest of the network with Feron assisting her, Shepard ordered a course for Aite to deal with the supposedly VI breakout.

If you bought Cerberus' bullshit, of course.

A man named Gavin Archer informed them of the situation as Shepard, Garrus, and Grunt fought the geth through the base to reach the controls and retract the transmission dish to prevent the VI from uploading itself out of the planet.

The controls were hacked, however, stopping the team from retracting the dish, and they had to manually do it.

—
​

"Arriving at dish access." The automated system announced as they left the tram.

Garrus, who was watching ahead with his scope for danger, stood down, seeing nothing on the coast. "What do you think the Cerberus was actually doing here?"

"Something way over their heads, as usual." It was getting really repetitive with just how much Cerberus was fucking up their operations.

"Attention: Satellite broadcast window is opening soon. All uploaded data must be approved by your department supervisor."

"And there is our cue to hurry."

The geth, however, were entrenched in the dish as well, firing at them across the catwalks, but three shots at once finished them off.

The rogue VI blared a sound akin to digitalized screams before heavy weapon-carrying geth units came out of the door on the next platform, and a rocket impacted the guard railing.

"Garrus, get the door." Shepard ordered, punctuated by two laser bolts going through the headlights of two geth.

Garrus got the door open in a matter of seconds, laying cover fire. "Get in."

More geth units were waiting inside, opening fire without hesitation and with coordination only a synthetic mind could provide.

Grunt's shotgun forced the synthetics into cover, while Shepard and the krogan moved forward, and Garrus followed behind to shoot any that peeked out of cover.

A shot flew by, going through a cloaked geth that was sneaking up on Grunt. "Watch out for cloaked hostiles."

The ground level was narrow and offered too much cover for a fast cleanup, and it was time to take the high ground.

"Garrus, Grunt, up the stairs; we are hitting them from above." They moved as one, mowing the geth below while moving up to the dish.

"You need to destroy the support struts now. They have their own capacitors; try blowing them up."

Shepard exposed the capacitor, shooting it after moving away from the estimated explosion radius.

The whole dish shook, causing the team to lose their balance, while the geth were fine, firing rockets at them, almost drowning out the sound of the howling VI.

"Warning: Structural integrity of the dish has been compromised."

"Fighting on a dish we are trying to bring down? You always take us to the most interesting places."

"This is fun." Grunt charged at one of the geth with his signature warcry, slamming the synthetic to the ground.

Garrus threw a grenade right underneath the prime unit surrounded by rocket launches and pyros, causing an explosion that shook the structurally weakening dish.

The second and third capacitors were destroyed, and the dish was coming down entirely.

"Run." Shepard ordered, making for the edge of the dish to jump down to the platform leading to it.

Grunt went first, then Garrus, and finally, Shepard jumped, safely landing on safe ground.

"Hah! I love this." Grunt exclaimed, watching the giant dish go down in fire and noise.

"Over here." The annoying voice of the Cerberus researcher came as the man was running to them.

He considered shooting the man, claiming he was startled, but put it aside for now. "How bad did you screw up this time?"

"Really bad. This way, commander, I'll explain."

—
​

"Thank you, Commander Shepard. You bought us time, and with you here, I am sure we can contain this situation." Because if it were anyone else, Gavin would not be so sure of their odds.

"We are listening."

"This is Project Overlord. An attempt to gain influence over the geth by interfacing a human mind with a VI. The results have been… less than satisfactory." Shepard crossed his arms as the scientist downplayed the catastrophe this dumb project had caused.

"No shit, Sherlock. The human mind cannot handle the amount of sensory input a synthetic collective can expose it to." Whatever made the researchers believe otherwise, Shepard didn't know, but he would definitely send those morons back to school.

Garrus, who had just put another body in a bag, commented. "Which means your test subject went mad because of it and is trying to kill everything that hurt it."

Gavin's brother, David, had apparently volunteered for the project—knowing Cerberus, he wasn't likely told everything, if anything at all—and as Shepard said, could not handle the connection.

Now, David was in the Atlas Station under lockdown, and he had to override it from the Prometheus and Vulcan Stations.

Vulcan Station was a geothermal plant powering the entire project, while Prometheus was a crashed geth ship that Cerberus was using for the experiments.

The entire reason behind the project was to create a figurehead to control the geth, winning a possible war without casualties.

Dumbasses.

—
​

Shepard took Tali and Jacob to the Prometheus Station, leaving the rest of the team behind as the Hammerhead was too small.

The damn thing, unlike his MAKO, did not have a laser cannon, and the generators powering the shield protecting the geth ship also had shields.

"Jacob, drive. I am going to the roof."

"Wait, what?" Tali tried to stop him, but it was too late.

Shepard opened the hatch, using his biotics to pull himself up and activating his mag boots, standing at the top of the Hammerhead with Jacob's minigun, and opened fire on the generator shields.

The laser bolts did the Hammerhead's job in seconds, passing through the shields and tearing through the generators, though it wasn't easy with Jacob's wild driving to avoid the geth cannon.

Once the generators were gone, the ship and the cannon were left without protection, and the explosive bolts of the minigun found their new target. Shepard especially targeted the barrel, and one shot went straight inside it, and the explosion tore the cannon to scrap parts.

—
​

Inside the ship, there were a lot of geth units in stasis, protected with heavy shields—the perfect trap.

Of course, the laser bolts went through the shields once more, and the synthetics were neutralized without firing a single shot.

This was way easier than the cannon.

—
​

Vulcan Station was like a puzzle game. You had to carefully time your jumps, use the environment, and overall, be patient.

Inside the base, there were no geth, but plenty of LOKIs and a single YMIR that weren't a challenge.

Amusingly, one final LOKI unit was trying to destroy the override console to no effect, resorting to kicks when its pistol didn't produce any results. Tali shot one arm off, while Shepard shot the other, and Jacob took the legs, leaving the still-functioning unit on the ground.

The VI retreated from the LOKI after that.

—
​

Atlas Station

Once inside the station, the parts Gavin did not tell them about became clear. His brother was autistic and great with numbers, and they assumed his mind would be able to handle the connection.

Which failed spectacularly.

There were no enemies in the station until the team came across a particularly annoying elevator where VI, or David, had messed with the programming, making it so the elevator would not arrive unless called with a specific order.

Shepard just hacked through the system and forced the elevator up.

Once the geth cut through the door, Tali threw a device inside, which let out a whine before the geth inside were burned by the EMP.

"Nice." He complimented his girlfriend.

"Thanks."

The elevator ride was bumpy, thanks to David's out-of-control mind, and it ended when the platform slammed to the ground, rattling but not harming the team.

Shooting some stationary Geth and finding the button to shut this whole mess down, Shepard warned the team to be ready.

The VI, however, made one last attempt and hacked into Shepard's omni-tool and spread to the entire system of his armor, showing him memories of the experiments and forcing him towards a door.

The adaptive firewalls of his systems quickly overcame the intense assault, forcing the VI out, which left with a howl that rang in Shepard's ear.

"This way."

Following the trail left by the VI, Shepard managed to figure out what it was trying to do.

"Ancestors, it was trying to force you to view the virtual space and overload your mind." Tali analyzed the data from Shepard's omni-tool, fascinated that the humans had created a hybrid intelligence capable of doing something like this.

Jacob chuckled. "Wrong person to try that on."

"Get ready; if it wants to fight in virtual space, we'll fight and beat it there." And with several commands, the world turned green.

—
​

Through the corridors turned a synthetic horror; through the visors, Shepard and co. saw how the experiment turned David Archer mad with each passing day, from the connection merely making things loud to fully overwhelming the autistic mind, all the while David calculated square roots to protect his mind.

The geth units controlled by the hybrid intelligence attacked them at every turn, desperately trying to protect the corrupted mind in control. Whenever the units were defeated, a green flash virtualizing the link to the VI getting broken was produced.

The control center, where Shepard could see the faint outline of a human inside, was found down an elevator, and the hybrid mind tried to upload itself to his ship. The visors showed which connection point David was trying to use, and they simply severed the cables.

One last shot to the green shell, and it disappeared.

The howls they heard across the three stations finally made sense without the synthetic parts.

It was David, screaming for it to stop.

Naked and tied to the machine with cables going through his arms and inside his mouth, and forceps keeping his eyes forcibly open, the young man was stripped of his dignity, and Shepard cursed himself for not coming sooner.

"Quiet. Please, make it stop."

"Easy, David, I am here; everything will be fine."

"Wait, Commande—" Shepard heard Gavin's voice from the elevator, and biotics covered the man, stopping him dead cold.

Shepard slowly closed his open hand to a fist, and the biotic field began to crush Gavin Archer, who, unlike his brother, was unable to scream as his bones were shattered, piercing through flesh and vital organs. With one last squeeze, Gavin was turned to a sphere of flesh, blood, and bones jutting out.

"Joker, call the Grissom Academy. I need them to pick someone up."

"Help me get him down."

—
​

David was separated from the machines keeping him awake and tied up, passing out immediately, and was taken to the Normandy so Doctor Chakwas could look after him.

There was a somber air on the ship, having seen just what kind of a state a young man like David was reduced to.

"How is he?" Shepard asked, looking at the young man who was sleeping peacefully on the bed.

The medical report, however, was less than hopeful. "His body is on the verge of giving up. There is neurological scarring, the implants turned David's flesh to a pincushion, and I can't even begin to consider the mental trauma. You said his brother did it to him?"

"Yes."

Chakwas put down the datapad, taking out a bottle of brandy and pouring a glass for both. "Nothing could make him pay for this." Not even Shepard's brutal execution.

Draining the glass in one go, she took the datapad again. "I am keeping him sedated for now and on medication until Grissom Academy comes for pickup. He will need surgery, both for the physical trauma and the scars, but I know they will help him to the best of their abilities if David pulls through." The most important part of helping someone was that they had to want it; otherwise, it was more often than not futile.

Karin Chakwas had seen a lot in her career, but this was something new.

"Joker, open fire on the bases; I want everything gone." So no one could have any clues on how to repeat this nightmare, because somewhere, someone definitely would.

"Aye aye, Commander."

Shepard decided he hated this planet.

—
​

In the next chapter:
"And there is a significant bounty on intact geth technology." Miranda informed him.

Shepard wasn't impressed, though. "Miranda, I'm filthy rich."

Shrugging in acceptance, Miranda yielded. "For now, we stored it in EDI's AI core."




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[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read advanced chapters on my patreon page

Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead

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—
​

Hawking Eta

Thorne

Mnemosyne

"What's with all the chop, Joker?" Shepard asked his pilot as the ship shook violently.

"Doing my best. The wind's gusting to 500 kph."

"There's a second ship alongside the Reaper. It's not transmitting any IFF, but ladar paints its silhouette as geth." EDI informed them, and Shepard grunted in annoyance.

"Let's hope it's them and not the Reaper that silenced the research team." The geth were easy to deal with compared to a cuttlefish that could fuck with their minds.

Well, not his.

"Shit."

The ship stopped shaking, and EDI showed them the wreckage, with a red bubble around it. "The Reaper's mass effect fields are still active. We just passed inside their envelope."

"It's definitely the Reaper then." The damn thing was still active to a degree to be able to keep its mass effect core online.

"Eye of the hurricane, huh?" Joker commented as Shepard headed to the airlock.

—
​

They were about to board a Reaper, and derelict or not, Shepard wasn't taking any chances. The entire team, except Mordin, was with him and ready to take the IFF, no matter what the dreadnought threw at them.

Because no way in hell was this abomination not aware of what was happening inside it.

"Exploring an abandoned area, expecting something mechanical and nasty to jump out at any moment. Just like old times." Garrus commented, sounding nostalgic.

They were just about to enter the Reaper through the small station the Cerberus had built when the entire place shook.

"Normandy to shore party. The Reaper put up kinetic barriers. I don't think we can get through from our side." Shepard rolled his eyes. The bastard was definitely operational then, even if not entirely.

"As curious as I am about the Reapers, I'd rather not be trapped inside one." Tali quipped, and Shepard nodded.

"EDI, have you detected a power surge anywhere in the derelict?" They needed to find the location of the Mass Effect core to shut it down.

"At the moment of activation, I detected a heat spike in what is likely the wreck's mass effect core. Sending you the coordinates. Be advised: the core is the only thing maintaining the ship's altitude."

"I would prefer to save the derelict for proper study, but we can't risk indoctrination by staying too long. Let's hurry." He already had plenty of tech from the Collectors, and he was sure more could be found in their base beyond Omega 4.

"Joker, we'll sweep for survivors and recover what data we can find; standby for extraction." This would have to be fast, because once the mass effect core was gone, it was a freefall.

"You mean before the ship falls into the brown dwarf and everyone in it dies? Got it."

The team swept the area, seeing corpses of the Cerberus science team littering the ground. "Whatever killed them, it wasn't Mass Effect weapons for sure."

"More like an animal tore them apart." Zaeed grunted, familiar with the sight of varren attacks.

"Be on guard; this looks like the work of husks." Shepard warned. Chances that the Cerberus agents were converted to husks were high, and they did have a rather large presence aboard the derelict.

Kasumi went invisible and spoke through the comms. "Movement on sensors, weapons hot."

From the sides, husks began to climb, dozens of them rising, appearing out of nowhere.

"Target those tanks; use them to take the husks out en masse." Shepard highlighted the tanks in the shared battle net. Zaeed waited for the maximum number of husks near the tanks, and the explosions shredded them.

Shepard knew they had to stop the enemy's swarming tactics. "Biotics to the sides, send the climbers down." He ordered.

Miranda, Samara, Jack, Thane, and Jacob went to the sides, using their biotics to push the husks down, stemming the tide.

"Where did they even find so many husks?" Garrus wondered, firing a shot that took out three husks.

Shepard was curious about that as well, but there wasn't time for a proper investigation. "Good question."

Grunt crushed the last husk beneath his boot, and the team quickly moved forward, covering each and every corner.

A husk was ahead, but before they could react, a mass effect weapon's sound was heard as it died, followed by another.

"Sniper!" Garrus cautioned, checking the area for anyone else.

Miranda checked her sensors for any sign of a Cerberus IFF but found nothing. "A survivor?"

"Unlikely any of them could resist indoctrination." Even the asari, with all their melding and mind arts, could not.

The only way forward was the location where the husks were just shot by an unknown, and Shepard created a barrier, allowing Garrus and Zaeed to check the area before they gave the clear.

Of course, the hallway seemed empty before husks began to surround them once again. There were two openings on the platform where the husks were coming out, and Shepard nodded to Thane and Miranda. Using their superior fire rate, the two let loose, tearing through the husks below.

But this time, there were more than husks. A scion fired, its biotic weapon sending a shock wave, causing the team to take cover.

"I want a rocket on that Scion." Shepard ordered, and Grunt grinned, quickly carrying out his orders. There were no other heavy units in the area, and the team focused down the sides of the hallway to clear the husks before they could even fight.

"And there's the Cerberus team." They found several figures impaled on the spikes that were all too familiar.

"Dragon's teeth, as the humans call them." Tali had looked up the name and found that it made sense in a twisted fashion.

"There's nothing we can do for them, but the Reaper won't live for much longer."

They did not face any more husks but found a locked door with a passage built by the Cerberus due to the exposure to the atmosphere.

Hacking the door, their scanners became garbled due to interference. Shepard ordered the team to spread out to check the room, and three mass-accelerated slugs passed by him, hitting the husks that were climbing up the ledge behind Shepard.

The team turned as one, aiming at the geth unit responsible for the shots, but Shepard raised his hand, signalling for the team to stand down.

"Shepard-Commander." The geth saluted, he guessed, before it turned and left the ledge.

"Another geth speaking to you. At this rate, they'll be lining up to ask for an autograph." Garrus teased him, and Tali scoffed.

"Ugh. Don't even joke about it, Garrus."

Their banter was interrupted by the groaning of the husks, and more began to climb out of the depths below.

"Another scion. Grunt, take it out." Shepard ordered, firing at the nearest husk, while the room lightened up with laser fire.

Grunt fell behind, taking his rocket launcher, and pulled the trigger. The red mass hit the scion's hunched back, eviscerating the top half, leaving only its gun and legs.

Samara, Miranda, and Jack each launched a singularity, pulling the husks together, making their job much easier. The laser fire pierced through multiple enemies, allowing them to quickly clear the ledge.

Up the stairs ahead, the area looked clear, but as always, the husks waited for them to come close enough before springing their trap, and this time, there were two scions.

"Grunt, the one on the left, and Jacob, take the right."

Jacob's minigun took three explosive shots to bring the scion down, while Grunt managed to hit the other scion's weapon as it was about to fire, causing an explosion that took out the husks around it.

"Hah!" Grunt hollered, pleased with the explosion. The battlemaster's teachings on timing were coming in handy now.

The husks were more annoyances than danger, and as the team approached the final area before the mass effect core, two more scions popped up.

"God damn it, how many do they have?" Jacob grunted, tearing through another husk.

This was getting ridiculous.

"Grunt, save your launcher." Shepard ordered at the krogan, who grunted in displeasure. Shepard set up a barrier, blocking the scion's next attack, and twelve laser guns were pointed at the final enemies.

The scions stopped for a second, perhaps realizing in their diminished intelligence that they were outnumbered, and the collective fire turned both of them to sieves.

Shepard opened the door to the airlock and found what they had come to search for in the first place, the Reaper IFF, before opening the next door, weapon raised. A glass panel was blocking the way, and through it Shepard could see the interior.

The geth unit that had spoken to him was already inside, at a console, with husks closing in behind.

Shepard waited to see what would happen, and the geth pulled its sidearm, turning back to take out the closest husks before continuing his job.

The barrier came down, and the geth turned around, but the husks managed to overwhelm it. The lights of the synthetic went out, and he wondered if it was permanently gone.

Just as he was about to shoot the Mass Effect core and call for extraction, the blast shields were closed around it, and husks swarmed the room.

"The room is too small; watch each other's backs." He ordered, switching to the microwave mode.

Shepard was considering how to get through the core shielding while the team fought through a horde of husks, but for some reason, it opened by itself.

Perhaps the geth had done something?

With a biotic lasso, Shepard pulled the launcher from Grunt's back and quickly took aim.

"Joker, get ready to extract us." He ordered, pulling the trigger.

The red rocket impacted the core, destabilizing it, and the Reaper began to shake as the violent winds of Mnemosyne battered the derelict without the mass effect fields.

"Shepard, the geth's still intact." Garrus called out, and Shepard nodded.

"We are taking it." He wanted to speak to it, to see what it was searching for here.

"But…" Tali started to oppose, but Shepard stopped her.

"No buts."

Thane and Jacob shouldered the geth, carrying it to the ledge.

Husks were still behind them, and as Joker opened the airlock, Shepard shouted at them to go.

The geth was thrown first, before Jacob and Tali followed, and the rest of the team quickly jumped to the airlock as well.

Shepard, Garrus, and Grunt were the last ones left before the krogan and the turian jumped back-to-back, and finally, Shepard activated his anti-grav generator, flying inside.

"We're clear, go!"

—
​

As the supposed god fell to its doom, the Normandy blasted out of the planet's gravitational pull at full speed, finally in the clear.

—
​

"Commander, about the salvage you insisted on recovering. A working geth unit would prove invaluable to Cerberus' cyberwarfare division in combating the Reapers." After the team had taken a breather, the three of them had gathered in the meeting room to discuss the events inside the ship.

"We'll have to disagree on that, ma'am." Jacob knew that the best geth was a dead one, ignoring the occasional units too scared to fight Shepard.

"And there is a significant bounty on intact geth technology." Miranda informed him.

Shepard wasn't impressed, though. "Miranda, I'm filthy rich."

Shrugging in acceptance, Miranda yielded. "For now, we stored it in EDI's AI core."

—
​

EDI erected additional firewalls and surrounded the geth unit with a mass effect field while Shepard sent some simple codelines to activate it.

The synthetic headlight came to life, and it whirled around before standing up to look at him.

"You are the second geth unit to ever speak to me." Shepard told the geth.

Its headflaps flickered, but the geth remained motionless otherwise. "We are unfamiliar with any unit that has met you."

This one was the sole geth unit aboard the Reaper, meaning a special unit. "Hmm. You called my name. Why?"

"We wished to greet you."

"Weird, you know, the geth usually greets me with weapon fire." Shepard said with a dry tone.

The synthetic explained that the geth had a schism due to Nazara's offer—or Sovereign, as they knew the Reaper to be—with a small part choosing to follow the Reaper, while the majority chose to create their own path.

"Did it not occur to your collective that a portion of geth, breakaway or not, attacking the organics would only make the galaxy fear you more?" This was like half of Earth's population going rogue and attacking the Turians.

"Yes."

"Then why let them go?"

"We did not wish to fight units that were a part of us once." Ah, they did not have the heart for it.

"What were you doing aboard the Reaper?" He got to the actual matter.

The Reapers were a threat to the geth, as they were to organic life, and this unit was seeking means of resisting hacking attempts by the Old Machines.

"I am asking for confirmation, but the geth, as a whole, aren't allied with the Old Machines, yes?" Then again, for all he knew, the geth lied through everything.

"We oppose the heretics. We oppose the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the Old Machines. Shepard-Commander opposes the heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals." Shepard blinked.

The peace offer from the geth aboard the Alarei was weird enough, but a cooperation offer?

This was completely new.

"How interesting. As I inferred, you do not have faulty programming ordering you to destroy organic life." The geth were fighting for self-preservation, an act befitting a sophont.

"Yes."

"What do the geth, your geth, think of the quarians?" If cooperation was possible, then perhaps peace was too.

"We do not wish them harm, as long as the creators do not wish us harm."

A very straightforward answer, and one that made Shepard scoff internally.

He was right about the quarians losing their homeworld due to fear.

"If the quarians were willing, would the collective be open to the idea of peace? And allow the quarians to return home, sharing it with you?" That part was important, and what better gift to his girlfriend than returning her race to Rannoch?

"Yes. Shepard-Commander is influential among the organics. Facilitation of peace may be possible through you." Of course he would lead the processions to ensure no one stepped out of the line.

"One more question. How many programs do you have on this platform to speak to me?" If a single geth program was as intelligent as a varren, this special unit must have more than the usual geth they encountered so far.

"There are currently 1,183 active within this platform."

"We'll need to give you a name if you are joining my team." Calling it the geth sounded a bit impersonal.

Fortunately, Ei popped up to the rescue. "We are Legion, for we are many."

"It fits."

"Christian Bible, the Gospel of Mark, chapter five, verse nine. We acknowledge this as an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of geth. We will integrate into Normandy."

Shepard lowered the mass effect field and held out his hand to Legion.

The synthetic took it, robotically awkward, but gave it a good shake.

—
​

In the next chapter:


The Kodiak dropped Shepard, Thane, and Kasumi off near the base where Dr. Kenson was held by the batarians.

"I thought Admiral Hackett wanted you to do this alone?" Not that Kasumi wasn't delighted to not follow orders.

"Hackett can tell me what needs to be done, not how to do it."


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[BxHero]

So I'm not the only one who thought the whole go in alone thing was dumb.

 

[Samael61]

So I'm not the only one who thought the whole go in alone thing was dumb.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, what the hell Hacket?

 

[Samael61]

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.

—
​

Viper Nebula

Bahak System

Aratoht

The Kodiak dropped Shepard, Thane, and Kasumi off near the base where Dr. Kenson was held by the batarians.

"I thought Admiral Hackett wanted you to do this alone?" Not that Kasumi wasn't delighted to not follow orders.

"Hackett can tell me what needs to be done, not how to do it."

There were no guards outside, nor cameras and sensors, and Shepard approached the front door, slamming his omni-tool on the controls. The door slid open, and he could see why the prison wasn't very secure.

It was rundown, barely any better than the krogan clan bases back in Tuchanka. The first hurdle on their way was a giant hole in the ground, one that Shepard circumvented by flying over it while moving his teammates.

The laser grid had its power relay on their side for some reason, and Shepard cut the power. A varren came charging, having heard the commotion, but sat down upon seeing Shepard.

"Ah, must have seen you as the superior predator." Thane commented, smiling. It was a rare sight, to see a varren terrified of any species, and one that he would treasure.

"Let's just go."

Following the path the varren came from, Shepard found another laser grid, and inside the cell beyond it, he could hear a human and batarians.

Carefully, he snuck through the lasers, followed by Thane and Kasumi, and hacked the door open.

Two batarians were surrounding a human tied to a chair, and Shepard slammed them to the wall, while Kasumi freed Dr. Kenson.

"Dr. Kenson, Admiral Hackett sent me. We are here to get you out."

"Oh, thank you, Commander."

—
​

By the time the batarians realized something was wrong, Shepard, Thane, Kasumi, and Dr. Kenson had already left after taking over a shuttle.

"Admiral Hackett was sparse on the details. Care to fill me in, doctor?"

"Yes, of course." Kenson informed them of the situation. Her team was searching for Reaper tech out on the fringes of this system and apparently had found something. It had shown that the Reaper invasion was imminent, and this system's mass relay would be their key to the galaxy.

However, the timeline had changed weeks ago, and the arrival of the Reapers would be in eight months from now on.

It had set alarm bells on Shepard's head, because there was no way they could have such an accurate timeline unless they were told, as the Reapers were unlikely to just announce their arrival like that.

Dr. Kenson and her team had drafted a plan to slam the asteroid they were using as their base to destroy the mass relay and further delay the Reapers.

Landing on the base, Shepard was taken away to the Reaper artifact, and Kenson was insistent on Thane and Kasumi staying back.

When all the secrecy and their attempt to take Shepard away came together, it meant one thing.

Everyone in the base was most likely indoctrinated.

Shepard pushed back on Dr. Kenson's demands, and the three of them were taken to the site of the artifact, while Shepard sent a message to the Normandy.

As expected, the artifact was not shielded, and the personnel gassed the entire room. Shepard lashed out with his biotics, pushing the indoctrinated humans away, and slapped his helmet on.

Kasumi and Thane disappeared into the shadows, one with a cloaking device, the other by pure skill, and began to pick the enemy off one by one.

The artifact was gathering power for something while they fought, and he knew it would not be good.

Using a guard as a meat shield, Shepard fired a biotic wave that tore a hole open in the door leading to the artifact, pushing forward under the constant but dwindling enemy fire.

"Damn you, Shepard, if you cannot be caught, then you will die!" Kenson screamed from the speakers.

Oh boy, she was definitely going to destroy the mass relay now.

"Kasumi, Thane, after her; leave the rest to me." He ordered, knowing the infiltrators were listening.

"Understood."

—
​

The hallways were narrow, and the enemy too numerous, but Shepard had an idea.

His biotics condensed in his left forearm, snapping to a tower shield that gave Shepard full cover. Shots peppered the shield but could not get through, while he took down the indoctrinated humans very quickly.

"Shepard, we are landing outside. What is the situation?" Garrus asked from the comms, having arrived just in time.

"Everyone's indoctrinated, and Dr. Kenson wants to slam this asteroid into the mass relay to kill me. I sent Thane and Kasumi after her." Shepard informed without even stopping.

"Got it. We'll mop up the resistance and meet you in the control room."

—
​

Shepard lashed the arm of the man holding the rocket launcher to the side, causing him to blow up his fellow guards, before shooting the man right between his eyes.

"Shepard, we were too late. Kenson already initiated the launch sequence and destroyed the control room with herself inside." Kasumi warned him, and Shepard cursed.

"Garrus, head to the reactor room and shut it down." He ordered, knowing this was their only chance to stop, and if not, slow down the asteroid.

"Commander, even if we shut down the reactors, it will be too late. The momentum will ensure that the asteroid hits the mass relay before any intervention is possible." EDI informed him, causing Shepard to curse again.

Breaking a guard's arm at the elbow, Shepard spartan kicked him to another man, and a laser bolt tore through both. "If we shut down the reactor, how much time will it buy us?"

"A week at the most, but we cannot lose any more time. The asteroid will reach terminal velocity in five minutes." EDI calculated that the fastest time they could shut down the reactor would only earn them a week, and every second after that would shorten the time.

"Send a distress call to Aratoht; tell them that Hegemony remnants are planning a terrorist attack and to evacuate the planet. Use my Spectre credentials." It's best to use these bastards as a scapegoat.

"Understood."

—
​

Grunt slammed the last indoctrinated human to the wall before shooting him in the face with his shotgun, while Garrus flushed the deuterium tanks and shut the reactor down.

With it, the thrusters went offline, and the asteroid stopped accelerating.

"Shepard, what now?" He asked for instructions while the team secured the reactor room.

Shepard came running from the hallway while Garrus was waiting for him on the comms. "We get the hell out of here and warn Admiral Hackett."

"EDI, did they start the evacuation?"

"Yes, but there aren't enough ships for everyone."

"Maybe we can nuke the asteroid?" A strong enough blast could redirect the asteroid and potentially save the system.

Shepard shook his head at Garrus. It was a good idea, but they didn't have the time. "We don't have one at hand, and the nearest Alliance base with a strong enough warhead is too far away. Same with the batarians."

"Damn it."

"EDI, send a distress call to the closest planets and bases; have them send ships for evacuation."

"Sending it now."

"Let's get the hell out of here."

—
​

"Chaos in the Bahak System. Hegemony remnants have launched a terror attack to crash an asteroid into a mass relay to destroy the system as revenge. Commander Shepard has delayed the attack, but the asteroid is on a collision course now. Batarian Republic ships are scrambling to the rescue. More on the evening news."

—
​

"Shepard, what the hell happened there, son?" Hackett asked.

He explained the events on Bahak System without the lies for the public.

"Damn it. And the Hegemony remnants?"

"To divert the attention. We can't have the Alliance and the Batarian Republic fighting, not when the Reapers are coming."

"Eight months, plus the six months we get due to the destruction of the relay. Not much time, but more than I hoped. Any word on what delayed the Reapers in the first place?"

"They are most likely preparing, since we have advanced weaponry unlike any the Reapers have ever seen."

"How are we doing on the Cerberus issue?"

"I almost finished a device to track the QEC. We will be ready to take them down as soon as I destroy the Collector base."

"Good work on both fronts, Commander."

—
​

The Phoenix Passing

The Sea of Storms

Heretic Geth Station

Legion had a problem.

The heretic geth were making a virus to change the operations of the main geth network on a fundamental level to bring them to the side of the Reapers. Legion had found the location and wanted his help in destroying the base to erase any trace of the virus.

Having the geth join the Reapers was not acceptable in the least, so he agreed to help.

"You know it's just our heat emissions that are hidden, right? They can look out a window and see us coming." Joker said, looking at Legion, frustrated at the blatant approach at the station.

"Windows are structural weaknesses. The geth do not use them. Approach the hull at these coordinates." Legion informed Joker, uploading a set of coordinates to the navigation.

Joker did not like the geth's tone and waved his arms like that of a robot, mocking Legion, but he stopped once Shepard gave him a look. "Access achieved. We may proceed."

—
​

"Alert. This facility has little air or gravity. Geth requires neither."

"Copy that. Let's move."

"Shepard-Commander. We concluded that destruction of this station was the only resolution to the heretic question. There is now a second option. Their virus can be repurposed. If released into the station's network, the heretics will be rewritten to accept our truth."

"Either way, these geth won't be a problem. But Shepard, think about this. If you rewrite the geth, they will join the others. Legion's geth will be stronger."

"Do the geth believe in free will? The right to make your choices, without being forced by anyone?"

"Yes."

"Then you must know, free will comes with consequences, and anyone capable of making their own choices must also face the results. If we release a virus to rewrite the heretic geth, it would be no different than brainwashing an organic lifeform."

"I know that they were once a part of you, and their destruction is not desirable, but the very future your geth seeks cannot be built if you brainwash the heretics."

Legion's flaps moved up and down, and there was a minute of silence as the synthetic considered Shepard's words. "Your reasoning is acceptable. We understand."

Inside the station, several geth platforms were locked in hubs while the programs inside exchanged data. Knowing they would eventually be caught, Shepard ordered the team into positions, and in a coordinated strike, they took out all the hubs, along with the platforms.

"We can assume control of any defensive turret. They will assist us briefly, then self-destruct."

Shepard nodded in the affirmative and gave Legion the go-ahead as geth units came pouring in. The rocket drones did cause severe damage and drew the enemy's attention, and the laser fire finished the rest.

More hubs were ahead, and the same as before, a coordinated strike took them out.

At the end of the hallway after the hubs, the heretic geth were in cover and refused to move.

"Get ready." Shepard holstered his pistols and launched a singularity. It was strong enough to rip the get from the cover, even with their shields, while warping the platings on the ground.

There were two supply rooms full of geth, with another room containing hubs that they had to clear out before finding the station's processors.

"Wait. We discovered copies of our current patrol routes in this database. This suggests the heretics have runtimes within our network." Legion stopped, only the flaps moving, the closest sign that the geth unit was confused.

"Why is that surprising? They were planning to brainwash you; spying is nothing compared to that."

"You do not understand. Organics do not know each other's minds. Geth does. We are not suspicious. We accept each other. The heretics desired to leave. We understood their reasons. We allowed it. There was peace between us." Legion explained, and Shepard understood the reason.

No geth had ever lied to another geth before, and just like a child, they could not comprehend the reason behind it.

"The heretics, for the lack of a better term, worship the Reapers. Perhaps they were like you once, but no longer. If their gods tell them to kill, they will kill. If their gods tell them to die, they will die."

"And if the old machines tell them to spy on us, they will spy on us." Legion finished Shepard's words.

"Exactly."

"If that is the case, why do organics allow religions to exist?" The synthetic queried, and the subject was spiraling out.

"Sure, religions can be used to manipulate the people, just as everything else can be. The solution is not to ban them, but to educate the people to the point they cannot be manipulated en masse."

Shepard's advice would hopefully mean that the geth would not have any more schisms, at least, not ones propped up by the Reapers.

"How do the organics combat this problem?"

"Send the memories of this place to the rest of the geth; tell them what being manipulated turned them to. The very thing the galaxy fears."

"We understand. The access terminal should be further ahead."

—
​

The ensuing fight was long rather than hard. Legion had quickly adapted to the laser rifle, and they had created choke points to destroy the heretics before they could spread.

As Normandy left the system, the station was torn apart by the violent explosions.

—
​

"Commander, Tali just went to have a chat with Legion. You'd better get down to the AI core."

Shepard scowled.

As if he did not have enough on his plate.

"Shepard. I am glad you are here. I caught Legion scanning my omni-tool. It was going to send data about the flotilla back to the geth." Tali was angry and had her sidearm pointed at Legion.

A potentially deadly mix.

"Creators performed weapons tests and were preparing to attack us. We believed it necessary to warn our people." Legion explained, and Shepard couldn't fault the synthetic for it.

"We weakened the geth by destroying that base, Shepard, but they're still a threat. I won't let Legion endanger the fleet." And Tali was right about her point too.

"Creator—Tali'Zorah acts out of loyalty to her people. She was willing to be exiled to protect them. We must also protect our people from the Creator threat."

"You can't let this happen, Shepard. I trusted you, and I worked with a geth on the team, but this is too much."

Shepard had enough of their back-and-forth and pointed at Tali, "First of all, lower that weapon."

She did, reluctantly.

"Second, your father was running experiments on the geth, and as far as I am concerned, it is no different than experimenting on a human, asari, turian, or any of the races out there." Even if it did not cause any physical pain to the units, it was still immoral and unethical.

"I know. But if the geth find out…"

"They would attack and cause a war that would leave both the geth and the quarians weakened when the Reapers arrive. Is that what you both want?" Shepard asked.

He would have to get both parties to make peace, after the Collector base, of course.

"We believed it was necessary to relay the information."

"To facilitate unit cohesion, we will not transmit any data regarding Creator plans." Legion conceded, seeing that a potential war would harm the galactic effort against the Reapers.

Tali, seeing that Legion was ready to make concessions, offered the same. "Thank you, Legion. I… understand your intentions. What if I gave you some non-classified data to send?"

"We would be grateful."

One more disaster averted.

—
​

In the next chapter:
"Shepard, you will die here." Harbinger fired its biotics as the hellish orbs were locked on him, but Shepard created the tower shield again, blocking the hits.

Harbinger stopped, observing Shepard's newest biotic ability, while the human mocked him, "Are you stuck on a recording or something? No original lines at all."

Harbinger moved into cover, but Samara had already used the distraction to sneak behind it, and her SMG's scatter shot mode chewed through the possessed Collector.




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

In addition, if you enjoy the premise of a genius protagonist, you can check Arrival : Ruptures, my original story for much of the same in sci-fi, action, technological wonders and romance.

 

[Trash-Boat]

Legion is my favourite.

 

[Samael61]

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 Nebula

Sahrabarik System

Shepard ordered the team to gather in the meeting room to discuss their status for the assault on the Collector base.

"Commander, we have the shields from the Collectors, your proton torpedoes, and the laser cannon. Our thrusters and armor are the best available. The crew is fully dedicated to the operation. We won't be any more ready than this." Miranda reported the overall state of the ship and the crew.

"Good. EDI, what about the IFF?" If there was an issue, they could always go and borrow the ones from the Collector cruiser or the dreadnought.

"Your order to activate it in a standalone system first was the correct decision, Commander. We detected a virus on the IFF, meant to disable the Normandy and broadcast our location to the Collectors." EDI explained. It was something they had never considered, that one of the indoctrinated scientists aboard the derelict Reaper would install a virus on the orders of the ancient machine.

"Figures."

"The integration was seamless, and IFF is ready for use right now."

"Alright." Shepard looked at the crew, considering his words for a small speech.

"The Collectors are down, but not defeated yet. We are going to change that." The Omega 4 relay popped out on the table, and Shepard

"Our target is to destroy their base and raid their databases for anything we might gain on the Reapers or on advanced technology. The fate of the colonists is apparent; they were most likely used in the process of being made into a Reaper, but we will save any that could be saved."

"We have been fighting together for a while now, and I know we all will get through this in one piece." There were nods from the crew.

This battle would be theirs.

Shepard clapped his hands. "That said, the celebratory feast is on me."

Garrus chuckled at that.

—
​

"Approaching Omega 4 relay. Everyone stand by." Joker announced over the intercom as the ship sailed closer to the mass relay.

"Engage." Shepard ordered, and they reached the point of no return.

"Reaper IFF activated. Signal acknowledged."

"Commander, the drive core just lit up like a Christmas tree." Jacob called out, and it was an expected side effect of using the Omega 4 relay.

"Drive core electrical charge at critical levels," EDI warned, but Joker was quick to act: "Rerouting."

"Brace for deceleration." EDI warned again as the ship slowed down, and they came face-to-face with debris.

"Oh shit." Joker swore, pulling the ship up and gliding through the debris field.

"Too close."

Out the window, they could see hundreds, perhaps thousands, of wrecks. "These must be all the ships that tried to make it through the Omega 4 relay. Some look… ancient."

"Maybe the Collectors aren't the first ones to be used by the Reapers like this." Depending on how long this cycle was going on for, Collectors could just be one of the many tools the Reapers used.

"I have detected an energy signature near the edge of the accretion disk." And in the distance, they could see the base, similar in makeup to the cruisers but colossal in size.

"Finally. EDI, keep an eye out; I don't want any surprises among the debris. Joker, take us in for a closer look." Anything could be hiding among the debris, and the Collectors had surprised them more than once.

"Alert! Oculi signature detected, multiple units inbound." EDI showed the units following them, and Joker sped up.

"Evasive maneuvers. Prepare torpedoes for full spread." Shepard ordered. Joker weaved through the debris and oculi fire, and the enemy had reached close enough for Shepard's plan.

"Fire torpedoes."

From the rear of the ship, six proton torpedoes were launched, too close for the drones to evade, and the explosions destroyed all except one, as one managed to get through.

"Shit, one got through. It's in the cargo hold."

EDI opened a screen, showing Grunt aiming his rocket launcher at the Oculus. The blast sent the drone out of the hole it left in the cargo hold, where it promptly exploded.

"Good job, Grunt."

"Approach the base, but be on the lookout for anything else."

The ride to the base was uneventful, since two cruisers and Penumbra Apex were taken out, leaving the Collectors without anything to defend their base with, except for the Oculi they just turned to scrap metal.

EDI detected a zone on the rocky exterior of the base where they could land while she scanned the base.

—
​

"EDI, bring up your scans." Shepard called as the team was gathered in the meeting room again.

The detailed scans of the base appeared in the holographic projector.

"You should be able to overload their critical systems if you get to the main control center here." EDI advised while Shepard inspected the base closer.

"Is this base mobile?" There were thrusters, and unless the Reapers towed it here, it should be.

"Yes."

"Good. Change of plans, we are taking this base with us. It won't be long before the Reapers are here, and we could use this as a mobile fortress and a repair cradle." Outfitted with proton torpedoes, laser cannons, and everything else they could find, this base would be a great way to stick it to the Reapers.

Hailey crossed her arms, already used to the bullshit her commander was fond of pulling up. "That would mean we would have to neutralize the entire base."

"The Collectors lost a lot of drones on the dreadnought and the cruisers; they can't be at full power, even if they made clones nonstop." Shepard reasoned, and Mordin agreed, "Correct. Cloning process, cybernetic augmentations, the necessary resources. Too much time."

EDI had detected a massive energy signature on the base, and it shared similarities with the scans taken from the Sovereign, as well as the derelict Reaper's hull and interior.

Whatever happened to the colonists, the answer most likely lies there.

There were two routes along the length of the station, and Jacob gave sound advice to split up.

Both routes were blocked, however, and Legion would have to get into the ventilation shaft to hack the doors open from the other side. The geth's synthetic frame could withstand the heat for much longer, and hacking was child's play for the AI.

Miranda volunteered—more like declared—to lead the second fire team, but she wasn't the type of person that the others would follow easily.

Putting an end to the argument before it could begin, Shepard gave the lead to Garrus.

"Before we leave, Jacob, bring them out." Shepard called to the chief of the armory, who pulled up a case and two heavy weapons.

"Fresh grenades for everyone." Jacob opened the case, revealing twenty-four grenades, two for everyone except Shepard and Garrus since they already had grenades.

"Two grenades for everyone since I didn't have the time for more."

"Zaeed, Legion, these are yours. We'll need all the firepower we can get." For Zaeed, Shepard made a grenade launcher with explosive plasma ammunition, and for Legion, a cannon that fired a slow-moving projectile with electromagnetically guided tendrils to latch and burst the enemy like an egg in a microwave.

Grunt had his rocket launcher, and it made three heavy weapons.

"Fuck yeah." Zaeed grinned as the plasma generator in the middle of the launcher spun, letting out a whine.

"Acknowledged, Shepard-Commander." Legion scanned the weapon, pulling the trigger for a second to charge the weapon before letting go of the trigger. The weapon needed three seconds to fully charge and wouldn't fire otherwise.

"This won't be easy, but no one can do this except us. The Collectors will throw everything they have at us, but it won't be enough. Let's put an end to this."

—
​

Shepard took Samara and Mordin with him, leaving the rest of the team with Garrus.

With his new weapon, a nine-barreled minigun that split into three three-barreled miniguns for a higher rate of fire strapped to his back, Shepard stalked the eerie entrance to the base.

"We are in position. Exterior temperature slightly elevated. No obstructions detected." Legion informed him. He didn't want to send the synthetic, as it would cut down on the firepower, but he was by far the best choice to enter the vents.

"Second team, what's your status?"

"In position. We'll see you on the other side of the doors." Hailey answered.

A couple seconds later, they found the enemy.

"We are under fire, but moving forward. The last one to go through the door is a vorcha." Garrus challenged over the comms.

Shepard grinned, relishing the challenge. "It's on, Vakarian."

—
​

Life across the galaxy had come to a stop, as everyone, except those working in critical jobs, dropped what they were doing and locked eyes on the extranet.

Shepard, once again, was doing the impossible, passing through the Omega 4 relay in one piece, while assaulting the Collector base with great success so far.

—
​

"Shepard, reinforcements coming toward us." Samara called out, shooting two Collectors out of the sky, while Shepard and Mordin focused on the ones behind the cover.

"Keep on the fliers, Samara."

Following the path to the left after clearing the enemy presence, Shepard used the valve to open the way forward for Legion.

"Obstruction removed. Proceeding."

Down the ramp, two Collectors appeared, one immediately riddled with holes, but the other was possessed by Harbinger.

"Shepard, you will die here." Harbinger fired its biotics as the hellish orbs were locked on him, but Shepard created the tower shield again, blocking the hits.

Harbinger stopped, observing Shepard's newest biotic ability, while the human mocked him, "Are you stuck on a recording or something? No original lines at all."

Harbinger moved into cover, but Samara had already used the distraction to sneak behind it, and her SMG's scatter shot mode chewed through the possessed Collector.

He used the second valve ahead to open the way for Legion before the synthetic could report on it, and something different happened.

Multiple Collector units came flying in, and they were all possessed.

"Second team, be careful. Either Harbinger can possess multiple Collectors, or other Reapers are doing it now."

"I've been wondering why Harbinger was here and not stalking you. I think it just brought its buddies over." Garrus teased over the comms.

"Crybaby." Shepard chuckled. Seems even the big bad Harby needed help.

Holstering his pistols, Shepard took out the minigun, and the barrels split up.

The barrels rotated, and after a slight delay, the minigun rained forty-five bolts per second down on the enemy. The Reaper-possessed Collectors were annihilated in five seconds, leaving nothing but platforms filled with ash behind.

The third valve was hacked, and Legion moved.

The fourth valve was just around the corner, with no enemies in sight, but they had to take a step back as the enemy fire was concentrated on the entrance. Assault rifles, particle beams, and Reaper biotics literally created a wall of fire to block them from progressing.

"Behind me." Shepard ordered, creating his tower shield again. His pistol on the microwave mode, Shepard faced the heat, giving Mordin and Samara time to get to cover and lay down fire.

He drew fire by moving ahead, feeling his shield strain, but the enemy was dwindling, especially once Mordin tossed a grenade, shredding fliers that were trying to land. Reaching the fifth valve took a couple of minutes, but Legion was moving forward once again.

The sixth valve was close by, but several Collector Assassins protected the seventh, laying down fire with their particle beams.

Samara tossed one of her grenades as well, using her biotics to guide it right into the middle of the Assassins.

The seventh valve was open, and Shepard pulled his minigun out, firing on the drones while Samara opened the final valve. Legion was through the shaft, and Shepard ordered the team to take position around the door.

"Anytime now." He called out the comms, laying fire down on the Collectors. They were not getting close enough to be threats, but several explosions rocked the cover, and one hit the door.

"The door has malfunctioned. Path blocked." Legion warned, and Shepard focused fire on the back ranks of the Collectors to protect the door.

"Complete." Legion announced as the door opened but wouldn't close back so easily.

Their combined suppression fire forced them back long enough for Legion to close the door.

"Good job, Legion." Shepard patted the geth on the back, but Garrus' voice stopped him.

"Shepard, you might want to see this." From wall to wall, the entire section was filled with pods, with tubes at the top.

"One of the missing colonists." Miranda noted, seeing the woman's clothing.

Shepard scanned them with his omni-tool and realized something.

"Shit, they are alive. Get them out now." Shepard ordered, tearing the pod's glass panel off with his biotics, pulling the colonist out.

His teammates hurried to save as many as they could, but it was too late for one man, and they watched him be melted to a goo while screaming.

Shepard acted quickly, putting the man out of his misery. The grey liquid was then pumped through the tubes, leaving nothing behind.

"Wha? Where are we?" One of the girls asked, looking around, confused, but became alerted when she saw Shepard, "Commander Shepard?!"

"Calm down. You have been kidnapped by the Collectors. We rescued you. How are you feeling?"

"Tired and confused." The woman replied, holding her head, dizzy on her feet.

Miranda frowned, "We can't send them to the Normandy alone, and we certainly can't hide them here." They could not turn back, and bringing a bunch of confused civilians into a firefight would get them killed.

"Mordin, escort them back to the ship." The Collectors would be after the main teams, and Mordin could easily sneak them back to the ship.

"Joker, need location of landing zone. Will meet you there." He called out to the pilot, gesturing for the colonists to follow.

Eleven colonists was all they could save, but it was better than nothing.

The tubes led to the main control room above their current position, but it was blocked by a security door, with a chamber running parallel to it filled with seeker swarms.

Mordin's countermeasures would not work against those numbers, and they resolved to have Jack create a biotic barrier to keep the swarms out while the team pushed through the enemy.

Garrus would lead his team through the main chamber, drawing the enemy's attention, and Shepard would open the door from the other side.

"Tali, with me. We'll need you to hack the door." Legion's plasma wave gun would be necessary now, and they didn't run the risk of being cooked in the ventilation shaft.

Tali could hack the door, while Samara and Jack created the barrier, switching when one of them got tired. The team had plenty of biotics, and there was no need to push one too much.

—
​

In the next chapter:

Two platforms carried the team all the way to the bridge heading to the room where the Collector General was locked in. EDI opened the door, and all they found inside was the General, looking confused for the lack of a better term.

Shepard put the creature out of its misery.

"Shepard, the ignition and flight check processes will take time. What is our destination?"

"For now, let's return to the Sahrabarik system."

"Understood."



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

 

[TerribleReadingProblem]

"Tali, with me. We'll need you to hack the door." Legion's plasma wave gun would be necessary now, and they didn't run the risk of being cooked in the ventilation shaft.

Click to shrink...

Never knew you could put someone besides Jacob in the vents

 

[Samael61]

Never knew you could put someone besides Jacob in the vents

Click to shrink...

You have several choices in that section I either pick Legion, Tali or Kasumi since they are hackers/infiltrators

 

[Samael61]

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.

—
​

Galactic Center

Collector Base

"Moving out, stay close if you don't want to die," Jack snarked, moving forward with the biotic barrier.

"Garrus here. We are in position and waiting for orders." Garrus reported, but his voice began to break down near the end.

"The swarms are interfering with radio contact." Which meant they could not stream this part of the battle to the wider galaxy.

"Incoming!" Samara warned as the Collectors came flying down, with Harbinger possessing one mid-air, but before it could finish, Shepard shot the drone in the head.

However, more possessed Collectors had taken position on the platform down the left side, firing biotic attacks, and Jack took cover, waiting for Shepard to give the go-ahead.

They were easy to clean up due to the low numbers, but more would be ahead.

Floating platforms came down, bringing waves of Abominations with it that charged towards Shepard.

Tali switched her shotgun to vertical mode, slicing through several of the cybernetic creatures. Samara tore through them with her SMG, while Shepard cooked them with the microwave beam.

The waves were time-consuming and overwhelming in numbers but ultimately useless except for delaying them.

It became clear when three Praetorians, incomplete with missing armor plates, and one that couldn't fly, entered the area.

"Take cover," Shepard ordered, whirling behind a wall as three particle beams cut through the silence, followed by weapons and biotic fire of the possessed Collectors.

Putting his pistols away, Shepard began to prepare a supernova while Tali and Samara laid cover fire, keeping the enemy off his back long enough.

When the outpour became too much, Tali had her drone, Chatika, carry a laser grid grenade into the middle of the enemy, causing considerable damage.

"Shepard, hurry up, the Reapers are possessing the Praetorians!" Tali hissed, moving out of the cover as two of the Praetorians stopped firing. The Reaper possession took considerably longer for the hulking monsters, but they became all the more dangerous for it.

Shepard didn't answer, still gathering dark energy between his hands, and just as the possessed Praetorians fired their dark matter beam, Shepard launched his attack.

The dark matter of the beams clashed with the supernova, feeding it, and once the orb reached a critical point, there was a blinding explosion. The ground, a mishmash of metal and stone, was torn apart, falling to the void below, sending the Collectors and the remaining Praetorian down.

"Enemy presence neutralized, Samara, switch with Jack." The explosion had driven away the seeker swarms, and Jack was getting tired.

The asari created a barrier, and Jack let go, taking a couple of seconds to breathe.

As the ground was gone, Shepard had to carry the team across the gap in one go due to the seeker swarms, landing right into cover against the Scions and the Abominations that started to crawl out of holes.

Jack, eager to get a piece of the action, fired two vertical shots, one cutting through the armor, the other bisecting the Scion, and she let out a "Fuck yeah."

"I can see the entrance; let's go, slowpokes," Jack hollered.

Cutting through the small group of Abominations, drones and assassins were shooting from behind as they approached the entrance, and just before they entered, Samara pushed through with all her power, expanding the barrier to send all the Collectors flying away like the bugs they were.

Once the door was closed, the interference was gone, and he could hear Garrus again: "Shepard, come in."

"Garrus, what's your status?"

"Peachy. We killed so many they stopped coming after a while. We are just waiting now." Garrus reported, and Shepard rolled his eyes.

"Alright, Tali, get that door open."

Tali cut through the firewalls of the console like an omni-blade through a pyjack, and the door on the other side opened, and Shepard whistled.

The bodies littered everywhere, so many that taking a step without stepping on a corpse beyond the middle of the area was impossible.

"Not bad," he nudged the turian, who gave a dramatic bow in return, "You know me, just the best sniper in the galaxy."

"Joker, report."

"Mordin's group arrived, Commander, no casualties. Dr. Chakwas is checking the colonists now." That was one less trouble he had to deal with.

"There should be some nearby platforms that will take you to the main control console. You can assume control of the station from there." EDI laid out the next course of their plan, but there was a small issue.

"Commander, problem. There is a massive force gathering outside the door. Won't be long until they get through."

They would have to split again then. "Garrus, get your team into position. Keep this door protected while I and a team deal with what's inside and take control."

The turian nodded, pointing at Grunt, who was carrying the reflector, and to one of their resident tech experts, "Kasumi, get the reflector ready. Everybody get into cover. We are going to give the Collectors a lesson they won't forget."

Getting on the platform, Shepard planned his last speech for the final push to take the base: "The Reapers are getting desperate; they know this cycle will be unlike any other before, and we are about to show them why. We took two cruisers and Penumbra Apex from their hands, we foiled their plans at every turn, and now, we are going to take this base to use against them."

"Fight hard, fight smart, and put them to the ground." The team nodded, resolute as always.

"Tali, Hailey, you two are with me."

—
​

The platform took off under EDI's control, but the Collectors came with their own platforms, landing close to the team, but their numbers were lacking. Three bugs didn't stand a chance against them and were dead the moment they peeked out of cover.

Another platform came, with Hailey picking the Collectors aboard at range, before another one arrived, with two Reaper-possessed drones aboard that Tali and Shepard took out one each.

Two platforms fused as one was next, with more Reaper-possessed Collectors that were repelled quite easily under the teams' combined fire.

Either the Collector numbers were dwindling, or most of the remaining forces were busy getting shredded by Garrus and his team.

One more platform with two Scions and a host of abominations aboard came down, prompting Shepard to pull his minigun and take them out in seconds.

No more enemy units came, and Hailey activated the last platform, moving them forward to where all the tubes were gathering.

"It is as you theorized. The superstructure ahead is emitting both organic and non-organic energy signatures. Given these readings, it must be massive."

"Shepard, it is a Reaper, or the beginning of one."

"Not just any reaper, a human one."

—
​

The spectators across the stars were stunned, seeing a synthetic machine created by melting down humans, one too similar to Sovereign for it to be anything other than its kind.

A Reaper.

Which sparked a lot of protests across the galaxy, demanding that the governments, especially the Citadel Council, take immediate action.

—
​

"The data suggests that the Collectors have already processed tens of thousands of humans, and significantly more will be required to complete the Reaper."

Faulty, murderous AIs that believed in preserving organic life against the synthetic ones by turning them into Reapers, the pinnacle of evolution in their eyes.

The Reaper had a weak point, the tubes keeping it suspended that were covered in considerably thinner armor, but they had company first. The Collectors were desperate now that Shepard had come this far, and their last units in the area converged on their position.

Angry at the mere existence of the abomination before him, Shepard took off, raining laser bolts down on the Collectors, and once they were dead, the Reaper, starting with the weak points.

The structure groaned, the armor plates unable to handle the fire rate, and the Reaper larvae went down to the emptiness beneath.

In the meantime, Tali was busy creating a connection between the Normandy and the base from the console.

"Garrus, how is it going there?"

"Our heavy weapons ran out of charge, but on good news, we killed around two thousand of them, though they are still coming."

"Hold tight, I'll see if EDI can help you with that."

"Shepard, wait, I have a better option than destroying the base," TIM spoke through a drone that was projecting him, unaware of their plans.

Ever since he had unshackled EDI, she had been feeding Cerberus false information on their movements.

"We are not destroying it; we are taking it with us."

"The base is mobile?" the chain smoker asked, puzzled.

"Yes."

"What will you do with it?" Shepard rolled his eyes as TIM finally let the cat out of the bag.

"Give it to the correct people so it could be used for the war," he explained.

After making sure there was nothing to indoctrinate the organics here.

"Do you believe that the Citadel…" The Illusive Man was about to yammer on again, but Shepard shot the drone, not in the mood to listen.

"EDI, once you are ready, do everything you can to thin out the Collector numbers."

"Understood."

—
​

Vanguard

Garrus switched to the beam mode, cutting through the fliers.

The battle was fierce, and while they were killing the Collectors as fast as they arrived, the team was beginning to tire. Their heavy weapons were out, and the grenades were expended, turning the firefight into an attrition battle. They would win, no doubt about it, but it would be hard.

At least before some of the platforms at the back rose, landing near the door and narrowing the entrance, slowing the enemy advance while funneling them really close.

Each shot took more than one enemy this way, and the wave that was trying to overwhelm the team was getting turned into a mess of cooked flesh.

Across the base, platforms that were carrying the Collectors crashed, and airlocks that would not threaten the safety of the team were opened, leaving the bugs to the mercy of the vacuum.

"Shepard, EDI got through. How is it going on your end?"

"The Reaper wants a second round; give us a couple of minutes."

"Don't take too long now."

—
​

The Reaper was activated, clinging to the platform, with a partially working cannon in its mouth.

Its glowing eyes were not covered by armor, giving the three of them easy access to the weak point.

However, the cannon was still troublesome, and Shepard had to take action.

Throwing his last grenade right into the barrel, the explosion from the charging cannon sent the Reaper's jaw flying down, and by the time it recovered, three laser weapons were aimed at the eyes.

Pulling the trigger, the split barrels, aided by Tali's shotgun and Hailey's rifle, ripped inside the Reaper's skull through the eyes, tearing the machinery inside apart.

Explosions rocked the larva, and Shepard told the team to run, knowing it would fall on their position.

—
​

With The Vanguard

"EDI, what's the situation with the enemy numbers?" Garrus asked for a report, as no enemy units had appeared for the last two minutes.

"Ninety percent cleared; the remaining units are stuck with no chance of escaping, and the seeker swarms have been directed out of the nearest airlock." The swarms were controlled by the base, rather than directly by the Reapers, and getting rid of them proved to be simple after the systems were hacked.

"We did it." Garrus raised his rifle, and the cheers were enough to ignore the mountain of corpses at the entrance.

He pitied whoever had to clean this mess.

—
​

The last standing platform brought Shepard and co. back to meet with the rest of the team, who were checking the bodies for anything that might be alive.

"Everyone alright?"

"Scratches and bruises, nothing to worry about."

"Alright, the Reaper larva is down, and the Collectors are spent. We only need to find the Collector General before they can do anything with the base."

—
​

Two platforms carried the team all the way to the bridge heading to the room where the Collector General was locked in. EDI opened the door, and all they found inside was the General, looking confused for the lack of a better term.

Shepard put the creature out of its misery.

"Shepard, the ignition and flight check processes will take time. What is our destination?"

"For now, let's return to the Sahrabarik system."

"Understood."

—
​

While EDI prepped the station for travel, Shepard had the team rest back in the Normandy first, before clearing out the last remaining pockets of Collectors.

Going through their databases, EDI found a lot of information regarding the Protheans and the races before them. The Reapers have been using this base for the last ten cycles, amounting to half a million years.

A mind-blowing number for them.

Over a hundred species, now extinct, with information regarding their cultures, technology, and everything else stored there, for the Reapers to access and disseminate it to prepare for their arrival.

Liara was going to be pissed that she wasn't here, but Shepard would be sure to send her a data packet.

The team was pleased at how he had given Cerberus as a whole the middle finger, including Miranda and Jacob, who had agreed that the Illusive Man wouldn't be able to handle this tech.

He had another job to do, which was to find a place for their celebratory dinner, because the Normandy wouldn't do.

"Hey, Legion, can you contact the geth for me? I have a question for them?"

"Acknowledged. What is the query?"

"Would they mind if we had a barbecue party in Rannoch?"

—
​

Sahrabarik System

It was a usual day in the star system that contained the infamous Omega, except for the Omega 4 relay that suddenly started to emit insane energy signatures, affecting navigation, comms, and sensors.

"What is happening there?" Aria asked as alarms blared across the station, disturbing her evening and scattering the guests in the Afterlife.

"Something's coming through, something big," the salarian posted at the sensors replied, opening a glitching screen that showed the core of the Omega 4 relay shining and letting out electrical arcs.

There was only one person that could be responsible for this. "Damn it, what the heck is Shepard doing?"

Her answer came in the shape of a space station, ten kilometers long, a mix of stone and metal.

Nowhere near as large as Omega, but still, the Collector base was mobile. "Oh…"

"Hail the station." Shepard had, once again, done the impossible.

"Aria, what's up?" The smug human greeted her, and if it wasn't earned to the last bit, Aria would have some choice words.

"Shepard, I see you got yourself a station, and it's mobile too." No one had any idea what he and his team were doing after the live stream was over.

The human winked, all just to annoy the asari. "Yeah, we took it from the Collectors. You like it?"

"As long as you don't keep it here, sure," Aria warned. A station of this size from beyond the Omega 4 relay would bring too much unnecessary traffic to the system.

She wouldn't have that.

Shepard snorted very audibly, "Calm your tits, Aria; it's too valuable to leave here."

"Wonderful," Aria snarled, severing the connection.

Damn, Shepard.

—
​

In the next chapter:

Tali stepped out of the Normandy in a daze.

She was on Rannoch, the home of the quarian people, and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy was the first one to step foot on its surface.

All because her boyfriend wanted to have a barbecue party on the planet, and the geth had agreed.

It was beautiful and everything she ever imagined.



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

 

[Yoyomir]

Nice chapter and the Livestream is just chef's kiss.

 

[Trash-Boat]

Excellent chapter as always, I really enjoy your writing and other stories. Were you inspired by For Tomorrow We Die ? It's my favourite mass effect fanfic and I don't want to give a spoiler but someone who's read it will spot the similarity immediately. Thank you for your hard work.

 

[Samael61]

Excellent chapter as always, I really enjoy your writing and other stories. Were you inspired by For Tomorrow We Die ? It's my favourite mass effect fanfic and I don't want to give a spoiler but someone who's read it will spot the similarity immediately. Thank you for your hard work.

Click to shrink...

Not really, never read that fic. I was mostly inspired by individuals like Major Payne, Rambo, and lots of Chuck Norris facts.

 

[Samael61]

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.

—
​

Perseus Veil

Tikkun System

Rannoch

Tali stepped out of the Normandy in a daze.

She was on Rannoch, the home of the quarian people, and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy was the first one to step foot on its surface.

All because her boyfriend wanted to have a barbecue party on the planet, and the geth had agreed.

It was beautiful and everything she ever imagined.

"Shepard-Commander, welcome to Rannoch," the greeting committee, in the form of a geth prime, dropped down near their position.

"Sup, Red? This place is really nice."

"This location was popular among the creators for its pleasing aesthetics," the synthetic explained the reason for the chosen location, and Shepard could see it.

"Thanks." He patted Red on the shoulder, just as he would to an organic.

Treat them as you would your own, and the geth would make great friends.

"Alright people, get the grill and the food out; it's time to party."

—
​

Tali, in lieu of her situation, sat out of the preparations, watching the horizon while sitting still as a statue.

"Hey, how is my favorite quarian doing?"

"I don't know." Tali rested her head on Shepard's shoulder.

"Don't worry, if all this works, we can have the quarians settle on Rannoch really soon."

"Anyone else, I'd wish them good luck with convincing the Admiralty Board and the Conclave. But with you, I suppose I should choose a beachfront property; there won't be much left soon."

"That's the spirit."

—
​

The celebration was grander than the one after the victory against Sovereign, and they had even invited geth units to witness how humans interacted in a friendly environment for educational purposes.

Premium sources of protein from all across the galaxy, paired with delicacies and sweet drinks, even Grunt had managed to eat until his stomach looked ready to burst.

As a surprise to the Migrant Fleet, he had even recorded the entire party so they could see that the geth weren't the boogeymen the quarians made them out to be, except for the now extinct heretics.

If it worked, he promised the station to Geth because the synthetics would be able to refurbish it faster and cheaper than anyone else, since the only economy they needed was energy and materials.

The geth were willing, especially with Shepard as the mediator, and the ball was now in the court of the quarians.

—
​

Migrant Fleet

"Commander Shepard, welcome once more. We are gathered here at your request, as you are known to have provided invaluable assistance to the Migrant Fleet as a whole."

"Thank you, admirals. I actually came here to speak to you regarding the celebration party I and my crew had." While Shepard spoke to the Conclave, Tali was uploading the recording to the computers.

"A party, commander? Please do not tell me you wished to waste our time with this." Daro'Xen crossed her arms with disdain, and Shepard raised his hand, about to bitch-slap her, but changed his mind.

"It's not the party so much as where it took place that concerns the quarians." With his signal, Tali played the recording of the Normandy's crew gorging themselves on delicious barbecue in an arid world.

"I am not familiar with this planet." Daro'Xen might not have been, but the rest of her compatriots were.

"Really? Man, it's sad that you don't know your homeworld." Shepard shook his head, clicking his tongue in quick succession to show his disapproval.

That broke the cold and calculative look of the admiral. "What?! This is from Rannoch?"

"Duh."

"How did the geth allow you to land on the homeworld? And why?" There was a reverence in Zaal'Koris' voice, as if Shepard were the spirit of an ancestor.

"I asked if we could have a barbecue party on Rannoch, and they were fine with it. Why, the geth even took part to see how friends interacted with each other."

"By the ancestors," Han'Gerrel, as the leader of the faction vying for war with the geth, knew that his chances of swaying the majority of the fleet had just gone up in smoke.

"I'll let you guys stew over this for a while."

—
​

Next Day

"Commander Shepard," Shala'Raan had sent a message, requesting an immediate meeting, and the lovers had to quickly dress while Tali took her antibiotics.

"Admiral. You don't look good," or rather, she didn't sound to be in good shape.

She did not react to his probing but was obviously tired. "The debates were nonstop, but we have yet to reach a decision. I was hoping your voice might help." She gestured towards the chambers, and he followed.

—
​

Whenever Shepard was in the parliament, the proceedings would move in a very orderly and courteous manner, contrary to the usual.

And the Conclave was like that right now, as if someone had thrown a pyjack into the middle of a varren den.

With his anti-gravity generator on, Shepard slowly floated up, "Quiet," and his voice cut through the cacophony like an omni-blade through a vorcha.

"That's better," he grunted, still watching the members to see if anyone would break the silence.

"Now, I hear that you guys are debating worse than asari during elections on what to do." Shepard clapped his hands to punctuate his point. "Here is my suggestion."

"The geth have agreed to negotiations with the quarians, with the end goal of achieving lasting peace, and they will allow you to settle back on Rannoch," he explained, and it seemed as if the members of the Conclave advocating for war were about to push back, but in the end, only one member spoke with a meek voice, "They are not trustworthy."

"I vouch for them."

"And if you are wrong?" Han'Gerrel, in the end, wanted the best for his people, and if it required trusting Shepard, then he would make sure all the possible avenues were covered.

"If an individual or a group tries to break the agreement or sabotage the peace, I am going to do to them what I did to that Reaper larva." With the livestream, everyone had seen what they did to the larva and the base.

"The only thing holding you back from settling in Rannoch this day is old wounds. Lay them to rest, or continue to wander the stars." With those words, Shepard turned back and left the chambers.

Now, it was time to wait.

—
​

By the third day, the Conclave and the Admiralty Board had reached a decision, even if not an anonymous one.

The Migrant Fleet would open negotiations with the Geth Consensus as long as Shepard was the arbiter.

Unfortunately, just because both sides were willing to negotiate did not mean everything could be handled quickly. Normandy would be the neutral ground for the negotiations, and the quarians would send a team consisting of four people at most, while Legion would negotiate for the geth, connected to the Consensus via the QEC.

He had time until the quarians would arrive, so there was one last thing left to do before dismissing the team.

—
​

"This is going to find the Illusive Man's base?" Jack, who had a vested interest in playing hopscotch in the Illusive Man's chest cavity, looked at the device that was Shepard's months of work.

It was barely her size, with dozens of cables connecting it to the QEC and the reactor inside the ship.

"TIM still believes that EDI is shackled and sends Cerberus data regarding us, which means they did not sever the QEC line on their end."

Shepard had been building a wormhole generator for the purpose of using it with the QEC to tunnel a connection to the other end, using the superluminal telemetry to calculate the exact distance in light-years from their current position, and find the star system where the Illusive Man was roosting.

"Capacitors at full charge," Garrus reported, and Shepard gave the go-ahead. There was a rhythmic hum, growing faster each second, and lightning sparkled as the fabric of reality was torn open.

The gravitational properties of eezo were focused to a singular point through electromagnetic fields, creating a gravity lens in the quantum spacetime and tunneling a wormhole to the other end of the connection.

"Event horizon forming, tunneling starting, T-minus thirty seconds until the connection forms," Mordin, hyperventilating at the sight of a wormhole being formed in front of him, was having the best day of his life so far.

"Superluminal telemetry data is being received," Tali shouted as the electromagnetic fields began to settle down once the wormhole stabilized, and they could receive the telemetry without an issue.

However, the beam shooting from the generator began to flicker. "Capacitors are almost out; switching to the fusion reactor," but Garrus rerouted the power, as they knew the capacitors would be necessary but not enough.

"Three, two, one. Connection formed and stable, the telemetry data stream is continuing," Tali reported as the Normandy's lights began to flicker, and Shepard ordered Garrus to cut the power.

The beam from the generator disappeared, but the wormhole stayed there for exactly two minutes, four seconds, and one hundred and five milliseconds before collapsing to nothingness.

Mordin was ignoring everyone around as he muttered up a storm while analyzing the data.

They had done it.

—
​

"Based on the available data, the base is currently 24,821 light-years away from this location, in the Horsehead Nebula," EDI, whose calculations were vital for the wormhole generator to work, reported once they were in the meeting room.

"On the map."

The map zoomed in on the Horsehead Nebula, showing a location outside the star systems. "There isn't a star system there, and no one would think to look for a space station in dark space," Jacob explained, but Garrus disagreed.

"Not necessarily. Some star systems are omitted from most maps because of regional hazards, but if we use Shepard's Spectre credentials…" The turian didn't finish the sentence while typing on the holoscreen, and once the proper codes had gone through, a new star system appeared on the map.

Shepard's grin was bloodthirsty, but it was nothing compared to Jack's, "There it is. The Anadius System. Get me Admiral Hackett on the line."

EDI had quickly dialed Hackett's commline, and it wasn't even two seconds in that the grizzly admiral answered, "Commander, excellent work with the Collector Station. You and your team have our gratitude and support should any of you need it."

He didn't know what the Alliance Navy would do without Hackett. "I am sure they appreciate it, Admiral, but I called for a different reason. I found the Illusive Man's base on the Anadius System in the Horsehead Nebula. It's a star system usually omitted from the maps due to the periodic solar bursts."

Hackett slammed his right fist on the open palm of his hand.

It was time the Illusive Man was dragged into the light.

"Anadius System, you say. I'll take the Fifth Fleet since it's the most combat-ready one and meet you there. I am sure the Prime Minister will be happy to hear the good news."

"Yes sir, I'll set course immediately. I'll also tell the Prime Minister to paint the fleet movement as an escort mission for the Collector base to avoid rattling any spies," because there definitely were Cerberus spies in the Navy.

"Godspeed, Commander."

—
​

The team was ready for one last operation before everyone would be dismissed, as Shepard had to go and report to the brass back on Earth.

Grunt would return to Tuchanka, putting his lessons to good use against the enemies of Clan Urdnot, while Samara wanted to visit her daughters.

The preliminary medical examinations had shown that the unnatural concentration of dark matter present on Ardat-Yakshi nervous systems was no longer a case for Morinth, and as Shepard's biotic abilities were famous across the galaxy, especially for power and control, it was assumed that his biotics had dispersed the concentration on Morinth's system.

The genetics of the condition still existed, and any pureblood child of hers would most likely inherit the same condition, but by all means, Morinth's condition had been rendered dormant.

Of course, that did not absolve her of the crimes she had committed.

Unfortunately, replicating whatever he had done to Morinth wasn't possible through alternate means unless the asari researchers took readings while Shepard melded with an Ardat-Yakshi.

The timing wasn't good, and Tali was pissed, but Samara had gone as far as to kneel and beg so at least two of her daughters could live normal lives, softening the quarian's heart.

Garrus wanted to go and prepare Palaven for the war, using his and his father's old contacts to aid wherever he could.

Thane would spend his remaining time with Kolyat, while EDI still searched the massive data the Collectors had for anything on the drell.

Zaeed had promised to gather some of the toughest mercs he knew for an elite strike force to hit the locations Shepard could not once the Reapers came rolling.

Miranda and Jacob took it on themselves to convince more people to desert from Cerberus, especially planning to target scientists to deprive any remnants of the organization from making use of any other sources of Reaper tech.

Kasumi did not reveal anything, saying she would go where the thrill took her.

Mordin planned to head back to Sur'Kesh to fix a mistake, and he guessed their debates on the nature of the genophage had an effect on the salarian.

Jack had no idea what to do other than go on a crime spree, but fortunately for the former convict, Shepard had an idea.

Grissom Academy could use a biotic like Jack for practical lessons, such as how to fight around a stronger biotic user, and she could use the chance to find a place to belong.

Legion would return to the Consensus, who were already preparing for war, and as a sign of goodwill, Shepard had given them the blueprints for the anti-proton torpedoes and Capital-class laser weapons.

While there was no peace between the geth and the quarians yet, Reapers would not spare either side, and even in neutrality, the geth fleets would pose a greater threat to the enemy with the upgrades.

The quarians too were given the same knowledge, but they didn't have the industrial base to retrofit their fleets en masse, though Legion had informed him that the Consensus would help upgrade the Migrant Fleet if peace could be achieved.

The more guns to shoot at the Reapers, the better.

And Hailey would stick with him since she was still an Alliance marine and a part of the Interplanetary Combatives Academy.

By now, he would rate her as an N-4 at the least. She had rough edges that needed polishing and was on the right track.

In a couple months more, the Alliance would have another excellent operative.

Tali wanted to stay with him, but she knew going to the fleet to champion for peace and integration with the geth would be more help to him and the war.

Though if Shepard could further his work on the wormhole generator, perhaps the distance wouldn't be so long.

It all would wait until they arrested or killed the Illusive Man.

—
​

In the next chapter:

Leaving the marines to take care of the rest, Shepard and his team made a beeline for the Illusive Man. There weren't any enemies until he was climbing a ladder and someone had fired a rocket at them.

Shepard was near the top when the explosion tore the ladder to pieces, and he found a cyborg with a blade in front of him, watching him like a cat would a mouse.

"Shepard, I was looking forward to this."

"You shouldn't. You brought a knife to a gunfight."



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