MASS EFFECT RECONSTRUCTION

Shepard staggered across the ruined battlefield. His armor, now several panels of burnt, twisted metal, clung to him uncomfortably. A trio of husks clambered over some debris just before Shepard put a single Carnifex round into each of them. As he approached the beam, a marauder leapt out from behind a burning tank, firing a blast into his shoulder. Ignoring the pain, Shepard took careful aim and fired, destroying the Turian husk's head in a single shot. He continued forward, stumbling into the beam that led to the Citadel. The world around him turned to stars for a brief, uncomfortable minute, until he was flung from a conduit into a dark, corpse-filled tunnel.

"Shepard, are you there?" His comm crackled to life as Anderson's voice came through. Shepard stumbled to his feet.

"Yeah. But I don't think we came out in the same place. Where are you?"

"I'm in some sort of tunnel. Reminds me of your description of the Collector base."

Shepard shuddered at the memory. "Makes sense."

"You don't think they're building a Reaper in here, do you?" The old admiral asked, nervously.

"Sure," the commander managed to say through the pain of his wounds. "They round them up on Earth, then bring them here for processing." He staggered from the corridor, ignoring the Keeper poring over the bodies lining the room.

"Goddamn abomination. Where are you now?"

Shepard took in his surroundings. Huge metal plates shifted along the walkway he now dragged himself across.

"I think I'm in some sort of chasm."

"Okay, I think I know where you are, I'm not too far off-wait, I see a terminal. Just going to investig-"

The comm dissolved into static.

"Anderson? Anderson, respond! Damn it."

He slowly marched up a long ramp that led to a wide chamber. Electricity crackled across the ceiling as he approached. Anderson stood by a large terminal. As Shepard approached, he turned stiltedly around to face him, with panic in his eyes.

"Shepard! I...I can't..."

Shepard, startled, tried to step back, only to find he couldn't. A whispering noise flooded his ears as a familiar voice spoke from behind him.

"I underestimated you, Shepard."

The Illusive Man, his skin marred with glowing blue circuitry, strode into the room.

Shepard almost doubled over in agony, but found himself unable to move.

"What have-augh!" He could barely speak through the splitting pain in his skull and chest.

"I warned you. Control is the means to survival. Control of the Reapers...and of you, if necessary."

Shepard tried his best to seem unfazed.

"Controlling me...is a lot different than controlling a Reaper." said the wounded soldier, inbetween gasps for breath.

The Illusive Man let out a chuckle. "Have a little faith.

He started pacing across the room. "When humanity discovered the Mass Relays, when we learned there was more to the Galaxy than we imagined...there were those who thought the Relays should be destroyed. Those who were scared of what we might find, terrified of what we might let in. But look at what humanity has achieved! Since that discovery, we've advanced more than the past 10,000 years combined! And the Reapers will do the same for us again, a thousand fold! But only if we can harness their ability to control."

Shepard's arm raised up against his will, aiming his weapon at Anderson.

"Bullshit," the admiral muttered. "We destroy them, or they destroy us."

"And waste this opportunity? Never!" The Illusive Man cried.

"You're playing with things you don't understand, with power you shouldn't be able to use." Shepard argued.

"I...don't believe that." The Cerberus leader didn't sound as confident, all of a sudden. "If we can control it, why shouldn't it be ours?"

"Because...we're not ready." Shepard said this as calmly as he could.

"No. This is how humanity must evolve."

"No...there's always...another way..."

"I've dedicated my life to studying the Reapers, and I know with certainty; the Crucible will allow me to control them."

"And then what?" Shepard was getting desperate and running out of time.

"Look at the power they wield! Look at what they can do!" The Illusive Man clenched his fist, and Shepard shot Anderson in the gut.

Shepard gazed in astonishment, shaking his head. "I see what they did to you."

"I took what I wanted from them! Made it my own! This isn't about me or you, this is bigger than all of us!"

"Don't listen to him!" Anderson was pleading now.

"And who will you listen to? The old soldier, set in his ways, only able to see the world down the barrel of a gun? What if controlling the Reapers is the answer?"

"And what if you're wrong? What if you can't control the Reapers?"

"But I can!" The Cerberus leader was clearly exasperated.

"Are you willing to bet humanity's existence on it? Let us go, and we can do the rest."

"I...can't do that, Commander."

Anderson chuckled. "Of course you can't. They own you now."

"No! I'm in control! Nobody's telling me what to do! The two of you, so self-righteous. You think this kind of power comes easily? There are sacrifices!"

"You've sacrificed...too much." Shepard couldn't look his foe in the eye.

"You're wrong! The Crucible can control them, I know it can!"

Shepard was enraged. "You know only what the Reapers fed you! You've failed, you bastard. You belong to them now!"

"No!" The Illusive Man grabbed Anderson's pistol, and forced the Admiral to his knees. "You're the one who's failed!"

The indoctrinated Illusive Man, now focusing on Anderson, momentarily weakened his control on Shepard. It was more than enough. The Commander pulled the trigger, watching as his opponent staggered back before falling to his knees, a shocked look on his face. Shepard staggered to the control panel and opened the station's arms.

"There it is...Earth." The fallen leader stared at the blue planet as he bled out. "I wish you could see it as I do, Shepard. It's so...perfect." He closed his eyes for the last time as the glowing blue circuitry in his skin went dark.

Shepard staggered to where Anderson was sitting and rested next to him.

[ABOARD AN ALLIANCE DREADNOUGHT]

"Holy shit. He did it."

Hackett watched as the arms of the Citadel opened.

"Shield Fleet, get the Crucible docked."

A division of dreadnoughts began to escort the superweapon into the Citadel. It docked slowly, as electricity crackled between the two monolithic structures. Everyone in Sword and Shield Fleets held their breath, watching anxiously as the Crucible primed itself, until finally...it didn't fire. Hackett, desperate to try something, anything, double checked the schematics before finally calling on the Hero of the Citadel once more.

[ON THE CITADEL]

"Shepard, are you there?"

The Commander staggered to his feet before falling again, Anderson's last words thundering in his ears. I'm proud of you...

"What do you need me to do?"

"The Crucible isn't firing. Nothing's wrong here, it has to be on your end."

Shepard, half dead, crawled towards the panel.

"I'm not sure...I don't know how to..."

The Commander dropped to the ground, his eyes closed. The ground shifted beneath him as he lost consciousness.

[ON THE CRUCIBLE]

"Wake up."

The noise of many voices speaking at once roused Shepard from his brief slumber.

"You have come far."

Shepard stared in confusion. The strange voice was coming from a hologram, shaped in the image of the child who died on Earth. It felt like a lifetime ago, instead of a few months.

"I need to defeat the Reapers," he asked the child. "Do you know how I can do that?"

"That depends on how."

[EARTH SPACE]

Hackett watched helplessly as a Reaper crushed a ship with its clawed legs. He couldn't believe they had come this far to lose. A beam of energy fired from a nearby Reaper capital ship cleaved a Turian cruiser in half, even as Geth fighters futilely swarmed it. The Quarian fleet rained enough fire to eliminate a nearby Reaper destroyer, but it was only one of many. He saw how hopeless the fight was, and closed his eyes, waiting for it to end.

[ON THE CRUCIBLE]

Shepard sat next to the hologram. To his right, was a power conduit. Destroying it would bring about the deaths of the Reapers. It was what he had set out to do. But the cost would be great. In front of him was a large beam of energy, the Crucible's main core. Should he enter it, his energy would be joined with it, and spread across the galaxy, merging synthetic and organic life and bringing about an era of peace , but against the will of all life. To his left were two handles, crackling with energy. Should he put his hands on them, his body would die, allowing his psyche to be uploaded into each Reaper, erasing what they were and making them extensions of his will. The Illusive Man had been right all this time: The Reapers could be used after all. But he wouldn't be able to be human anymore. He would be immortal, the undying mind of the Reapers. Unless...

Turning to the Starchild, he asked: "Would the Keepers obey me, as well?"

"Not directly, but you could direct them with Reaper signals."

"But they would do as I instruct."

"That is correct."

He marched to the handles, placing his hands on them and letting their energy flow into his body. He nearly staggered from them, but he grasped them firmly in his hands. As the Starchild faded away, his skin started to darken and blister as he remembered those who had helped him through this.

Anderson.

Thane.

Mordin.

Legion.

Tali.

Tali. He closed his eyes, as the pain surged through him. He felt his flesh begin to burn away, his mind leaving his body, and thought to himself:

I'll see them again. I'll see her again.

His body was reduced to ashes, and the Crucible fired.

As ships fled the system, a pulse of blue energy surged forwards.

[ON THE NORMANDY]

Joker hurriedly flung holographic warning signals aside. Garrus watched sadly, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"Joker, listen. We need to go."

The pilot knew he was right.

"Damn it."

The ship turned around and flew towards the Relay, racing against the blast of blue energy that followed them. They fired through the device as the pulse caught up to it.

The blast tailed them as they raced through the stars. A hole in the blast began to open up, and Joker saw his opportunity. Frantically working the controls, he flew in reverse, passing through the void as it closed around the ship. Energy flowed around the ship as the void closed. Nearly losing control, Joker skirted the gravity well of a jungle world before turning back towards Earth.

[SHEPARD'S CONSCIOUSNESS]

Shepard felt the anguish of the minds of each Reaper as they were eradicated, and felt his consciousness flood into them. He could see through the eyes of every Reaper and every Husk, and order them to do as he wished. He moved them from the surface of Earth, and watched as the galaxy cheered. Only one Reaper resisted. The pulse had reached Harbinger, and its cries lasted longer than the others.

I DO NOT UNDERSTAND! I CANNOT FAIL! SHEPPAAAAAAAAARD!

The first Reaper screamed in anguish, and its thoughts were no more. Stepping mentally into the body of Harbinger, Shepard flew into the atmosphere. So this is how EDI feels.

The Crucible's energy fired from Relay to Relay, destroying them in a pulse of energy that encompassed every system before moving to its next target. In moments, every Reaper in the galaxy was his to command.

[ON AN ALLIANCE DREADNOUGHT]

Hackett collapsed into a chair. The Crucible worked. The Reapers were fleeing Earth, and the galaxy was safe. An alert sounded in the CIC: they were being hailed. By Harbinger. Dubiously, Hackett answered, and heard a familiar voice:

"This is Commander Shepard. I'm in control of the Reaper forces. The war is over, Admiral. We have peace."

"Shepard? Is that...you?"

"Yeah. Harbinger, along with every Reaper and Husk in the Galaxy, is dead, more or less. Their psyches are gone, now their minds are just conduits I use to command them. My own body was destroyed, but...I'm working on it."

"You've done well, Commander."

"Thank you, sir. Any word on the Normandy?"

"They're returning now. They nearly crashed, but they made it out intact. One hell of a pilot you have there."

"I'll tell him you said that when I see him, sir."

[ON THE CITADEL, 3 DAYS LATER]

The Keepers were excellent servants. As Shepard supervised through a Husk that had found its way onto the Citadel, the Second Lazarus Project neared completion. Ironically, he had Cerberus to thank for his resurrection yet again. Without the clone they had made in case the real Shepard needed a kidney, the only way to interact physically with his crew would be to permanently use a Husk. Not the best way to meet up with Tali again, he thought to himself. It was also fortunate that enough medical equipment was aboard the Citadel to set up this lab, with a few Reaper-made upgrades. The clone was all but resurrected in just a couple of days, although Shepard had been extremely careful to leave the brain dead. After installing Reaper implants into the dormant mind of his clone, Shepard prepared himself for the upload. In a moment, he began the process. Soon, all of his psyche, everything that had been uploaded to the Crucible, was installed to those implants. Once his consciousness had flooded in, he staggered to his feet and paced around the room.

It had been some time since he was in a body that wasn't either extremely agile or several kilometers tall. But he could still control the Reapers while using his new form. As he threw on some new clothes, he broke two Destroyers off from the main reconstruction group on the Relay to assist the rebuilding of a nearby Mars colony, and sent a group of Brutes to go get more supplies at a construction site on Thessia. He was in the body of all Reaper forces simultaneously, as though his cloned form was his hand and the Reapers were his fingers. But he could still switch to primary control of any one Reaper, with his bodies either still under direct control or simply obeying mental orders.

As he headed for the Presidium, he saw the Normandy approach drydock. With a smile on his face, he glanced at his reflection in a cracked window. He looked completely normal, although his normally grey-blue eyes had a small but definite cyan glow to them, like a smaller-scale version of the glowing blue eyes that had replaced the Reaper's malevolent red ones when he seized control of them. After adjusting his jacket, he walked off towards Bay D-24. It was time to rejoin his friends.

[PART 1 END, STAY TUNED FOR PART 2]