The First Casualty – A Mass Effect Story
Timeline Information
Following the events of Mass Effect 2 and the downloadable content included in "Arrival", this story details the efforts of Commander Jared Shepard to organize humanity and the rest of the galaxy to fight the impending Reaper threat. As in the game sequence, not everyone plays nicely and Commander Shepard often finds himself acting on the will of others.
Jared is a paragon of virtue, a decision made of necessity with his understanding that he is a galactic symbol of unity, but someone who is also deeply troubled by the decisions he must make. If saving the galaxy from itself isn't hard enough, the women in his life are talented, deadly, and seeking his affection.
In this story, the Collector base was destroyed for the abomination it is, all crew members survived, and Zaeed and Kasumi both joined the crew of the Normandy. The beginning is immediately following the leap through the destroyed Alpha Relay, where Commander Shepard has a face-to-face conversation with Admiral Steven Hackett of the Alliance Fleet.
Author's Notes
The Mass Effect Universe is owned by EA, BioWare, and whatever other relevant entities have sufficient legal standing. This story makes no claim on any of these characters, and should I insert original characters, please feel free to play in this world as I play in theirs.
This story is intended to be the first in a series of fiction pieces that look at each of the species involved in the coming conflict, and the ways in which Shepard, the crew of the Normandy, and the worlds of Mass Effect come together and come apart. When writing this, it will be an organic process coming out of the events of each chapter, and remembering we have a skeptical universe where xenophobia is real, the Reapers may be real, and Shepard is still a walking dead man.
My goal is to post two new chapters per week, with a minimum of one new chapter. I hope you enjoy reading, I welcome your comments and ideas, and now we begin.