Authors Note: Usually I put these at the end, and I will, but I feel this is important for readers to read. IMPORTANT. This story can be read two ways, from beginning to end, which is tiring, or from the first page break, to the next. The begginning and end are the parts that are actaully story, in that they detail my personal take on what could have been a better ending. This will be explained more at the end. The middle however is a summary of actions performed by my personal Shepard, and can be skipped if wished. With that taken care of, please enjoy the story.
Shepard opened his eyes, blinking a few times, trying to get adjusted to the bright light. He looked around, and he saw himself in some kind of office, what looked to be C-Sec headquarters, with a human in white formal attire, with a short hair-cut and glasses, glasses of all things, typing away at his computer.
"Where am I?" Shepard groaned. He was sitting down in a chair, and his eyes had some difficulty adjusting to the light.
"That's irrelevant." The man answered, looking up at him. "What's more important is where you're going."
Shepard sighed, and tried to clear his head. "Alright, I'll play. Where am I going?"
"Well now, that's entirely dependent on you." He said. "Would you like a drink of water or something?"
"How did I get here?" Shepard asked, ignoring his offer.
"Well, what do you remember?"
"Getting blown up." Shepard told him. "Going to the Citadel. Facing the Illusive Man."
"Huh." The man said, adjusting his glasses, and typing in some notes into his computer. Shepard rubbed the back of his head, and tried to make some sense of things.
"Where's my gun?" Shepard asked him, his hand trying to grip the holster at his side that was no longer there.
"Well, where was it the last time you lost it?" The man said. "I was more expecting you to ask, why am I out of my armor, or ah, what happened to my injuries… you care less about defense, and more about offense… or am I just jumping to conclusions?"
"Look, just tell me what's going on. Am I dead?" Shepard asked. "Why does this place look like C-Sec?"
"You're not dead quite yet." The man told him. "As for the locale, I was originally going to sit in a chair, with a smoke in one hand, and a bottle of Peruvian whiskey in the other, with my back to a dying star, but then some shiny eyed weirdo stole my shtick, and this was the first thing I could come up with. Would you rather we meet up in some kind of darkened woods perhaps?"
"Who are you?" Shepard asked, very seriously.
"Again irrelevant." He said. "Who I am is of no consequence to you. The more interesting person here, is you Mr. Shepard."
"Commander." Shepard told him.
"I enjoy formalities, but only up to a certain point Mr. Shepard." He told him. He summoned a monitor, and turned it towards him, showing a picture of a settlement on a frontier world. It was his hometown. "Now, let's get this over with. You were a colony born kid, am I correct? Mindoir was it?"
"I'm not telling you anything until I get some answers." Shepard told him.
"Mr. Shepard, I already know everything I need to know about you. This is a simple formality. I promise you though, I'll answer all you're mundane questions, if you cooperate. You simply need to answer a few yes or no questions, to make sure all my facts are straight. Now, you were born on Mindoir, correct?
"Yes." Shepard said, rather wary.
"Mindoir. A rather fresh-faced colony, but that's the case for most of your kind. No notable family history, no distinguished family members. And then you joined up with the Military at age 16 after the Batarian slaver raid on your hometown, of which you were of the lucky few to escape. They let you in early into the military since you didn't have anywhere else to go, is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"What are you trying to do?"
"Just figure out what makes you so special." He said. The picture switched to a white city overlooking a blue lake. It was a city on Elysium. "Now, upon joining the military, you had a pretty routine training. You made friends with a select few of your squadmates, and went from Colony, to Colony, and a few moons in between, until you were given shore leave on Elysium, during which, of course, the Skylian Blitz occurred. Correct?"
"Yes."
"Hmm… now once there, extraplanetary commnunications were cut off, keeping your commanding officer from 'keeping your shiny asses of various colors' out of the fight. You convinced you squad to aid the Garrison, despite some protests. The Garrison there was grateful for any help, but being fresh faced privates, you were unable to contribute much to the fight. That is until you and Private Ericson were sent to evacuate a local schoolhouse that was serving as a military hospital, which coincidentally happened to be on the same plaza that the assorted pirates and mercenaries were going to use to assault the Garrison's main position, now Mr. Shepard, is this all correct?"
Shepard gritted his teeth. "Yes."
"And seeing the oncoming hordes, you, Private Ericson, and what Alliance Soldiers that were still standing then held off the oncoming slavers, you yourself gaining a kill count of 126 Batarians, 62 Vorcha, 32 Turians, 2 Krogan, and 1 Volus, only to have Private Ericson become mortally wounded, and die in your hands, now is this correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Damnit what do you want from me?" Shepard yelled, standing up.
"There's no need from violence. You're not going to die here. I just want you to answer the question."
"Fine yes, I took down every scummy slaver that got in the way of my gun, I shot that thing so much that my arms went numb, I didn't think I was going to survive, but despite it all I did, and Sammy still died in arms, and I couldn't do anything about it." Shepard told him.
"Good, now sit down. Now Mr. Shepard, this is a very important question. Why did you do that? Save that entire schoolhouse from the Batarian Slavers? It says here that Private Ericson even suggested you return to the Garrison to ask for reinforcements."
"Because that wouldn't have worked." Shepard said, sitting back down. "By the time reinforcements would come, everyone would be dead. If I stayed, at least I would make those slaving bastards pay. Sammy didn't want to leave either."
"I see." The man said, typing something into his computer. The image switched to that of the first Normandy. "Afterwards you were promoted, and given several medals, including the Star of Terra, and you were assigned to a frigate under Captain Anderson for counter-attack operations. Nothing too exciting however, and you escaped some of the worst fighting going on, such as Torfan. From there your life is pretty much routine assignments until you were assigned to the new stealth frigate, the Normandy, along with several crewmates. You were assigned a simple escort mission that served as a guise for Spectre scouting, of which, you were candidate, is this correct Mr. Shepard?" The monitor had changed to show Eden Prime during the middle of the Geth attack.
"Yes."
"Once landing on Eden Prime, you found it under attack by an unknown enemy, later to be revealed as the Geth, under the leadership of Rougue Spectre Saren attacking the Colony. You went down with Spectre Nihlus, along with Lieutenant Alenko, and Corporal Jenkins, only to have Corporal Jenkins quickly gunned down." The Man paused to watch Shepards reaction. "Any thoughts Mr. Shepard?"
"He was too young to die. He had a lot to live for." Shepard told him.
"Huh, interesting view considering recent events. He's probably luckier than some on Earth right now. Getting back on topic, you soon found Gunnery Chief Williams who was fighting more Geth units, and aided her. In return, she helped you find your target, the ancient Prothean Beacon. When you had reached the beacon, Gunnery Chief Williams was mysteriously pulled towards it, and you intervened, pushing her out of the way, and experienced a vision fortelling of an organic-synthetic war, and a killer race of machines, known as, and this is a rough translation, the 'Reapers'. You endangered your life for this woman you barely knew. Why?"
"I don't know why." Shepard answered. "It was simple instinct.
"Instinct… huh." He typed in another note on his computer. The image switched to that of the Citadel. "Now, when you got back to the Citadel, and before the council, your candidacy of Spectre was in trouble, due to the death of Nihlus. You claimed that Turian Spectre Saren was the murderer based on the good word of a local dock worker, and went on to claim he was responsible for the entire attack on Eden Prime, and that he planned to use this machine-race of Reapers. However the Council refused to believe you, and dismissed your vision from the Prothean Beacon as mental instability. Now, you didn't let it stop there, you combed some of the darker corners of the Citadel, including Chora's Den, and you encountered Mercenary Urdnot Wrex, C-Sec Operative Garrus Vakarian, and the sweet little Quarian on her Pilgrimage, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, each of whom helped you uncover evidence necessary to incriminate Saren. The Council then decided to appoint you as Humanities first Spectre, assigning you as the commander of the Normandy, with the mission of tracking down Saren, and bring him to justice. Is this all correct?"
"Yes." Shepard said.
"If I may ask a question, why did you let so many aliens on to a human ship?"
Shepard paused. "They wanted to help, I saw no reason to refuse them."
"Huh, a simple answer." He typed a little more on his computer, and the picture on the moniter changed back to the Normandy. "In your search for the rougue spectre, you visited a few Human Colonies, and did several special operations for the Admiral Hackett of the Alliance Fifth Fleet. Some of the more noteworthy missions were on the colonies of Feros, Therum, and Noveria. On Feros you discovered, and then killed a sentient plant creature known as the Thorian. Despite the fact that this creature had taken control of the local residents, you had made sure to give the colonists several necessary rescources, and made sure to counter them with only non-lethal means. You even kept the company that was funding them to continue sending rescources. Therum, was a short run on a volcanic planet to gather information on Matriach Benezia, who was connected to Saren. You intended to find her only daughter, Liara T'Soni, who was a Prothean archeologist. You freed her and she joined your crew. Fast forward to Noveria, you encountered Matriarch Benezia, and another rare life-form, the Rachni Queen, who the companies had grown to maturity and kept secret. Now, you of course, killed Benezia, and had a nice heart-to-heart with the giant insect queen. You decided to let her go, despite the fact that her species had almost destroyed galactic civilization centuries earlier. Now Mr. Shepard, is all this correct?"
"Yes."
"Alright, now for a few more questions. Why? Why did you save the Rachni Queen."
Shepard paused. "The Rachni queen had no say in what happened to her. She was an innocent, and was not at all related to the Rachni wars. The only reason her offspring killed anyone was because Saren and the companies on Noveria had tried to turn them to war. She promised she wouldn't try anything against the galaxy, and would go in hiding. If she didn't, the universe had already defeated her kind, and was stronger now than they were then."
The man thought for a minute, and made some more notes. "I suppose it's just as well. I'm willing to bet the Council would have flagged you for the genocide of an entire species if you had killed her. What about the Colony on Feros? What drove you to save them at all costs? Would you say it had to do with your own colonial background?"
"Maybe." Shepard said. "They were innocents too. They were being controlled by the Thorian. I could tell that they were fighting against it. They didn't deserve to die for events they couldn't control. The Thorian was responsible for all their deeds."
"And Dr. T'Soni? What made you trust her?"
"She was being shot at." Shepard said loudly. "When she talked to me, it was clear that she didn't agree with her mother."
The man nodded, typing in yet more notes, and the moniter changed to that of the tropical planet of Virmire. "Virmire." He stated. "The Council gave you this mission, to find a Salarian Special Tasks Group who had information on Saren. However once there, you were unable to leave the planet, and you were stranded there… with a very angry krogan… think maybe you should have left him on the Citadel, hmm? Well apparently Saren had a cloning facility he was using to breed Krogan soldiers, and Mr. Wrex disagreed with the Salarians who wished to blow up the place with a nuke. Got to admire their style. Despite the odds though, you managed to talk him down, even though he was ready to blow your head off. Tell me, Mr. Shepard, if Wrex hadn't backed down, could you have taken the shot?"
"Never." Shepard told him. "Wrex was, and is a valuable friend, and crewmate. He saved my ass for than his fair share."
"Hmm, that's what you say, but I'm not too sure. Anyway, you managed to convince Wrex to not kill anyone, or rather I should say, not anyone on your side. You fought several waves of Geth, and eventually found Saren's cloning facility. That's when you found out what a Reaper actually was. The ship that Saren had used to attack Eden Prime, which had been donned Soveriegn, and was hell-bent on killing all organic life in the galaxy. In addition, the facility was also being used to document the effects of Soveriegns 'indoctrination' abilities, which turns out to be mind-control. Scary stuff, am I forgetting anything Mr. Shepard."
"No, that's all correct."
"Hmm. You and your team, along with the Salarians managed to secure a foothold in the facility, and managed to plant that bomb of yours. However the member of your squad leading the Salarians was taken off-guard by reinforcements, as was your technical specialist guarding the bomb, and you were forced to make a choice between saving one or the other. My documents say you chose to rescue Lieutenant Kaiden Alenko, and let Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams to die in atomic fire." The man paused to look at Shepard. "Why did you do that Mr. Shepard? Let the woman you saved on Eden Prime, die."
Shepard gritted his teeth. "Why do you need to know this?"
"Just answer the question." He told him.
"I'm sick of answering your questions." Shepard told him.
"My someone's getting testy." The man said. "Just be patient for a while Mr. Shepard, and simply indulge me."
Shepard stayed silent for a while before answering. "…Kaiden was closer. I thought… that maybe if I went to save him first, I would have enough time to rescue Ashley. I don't know. If not for Saren, I might have made it."
"Ah yes, Saren was there keeping you under fire until that thing almost went off. To be honest, I'm surprised he made it out in time. Tell me Mr. Shepard, how do you feel about her death."
Shepard stayed silent. "Why do you want to know?"
"Indulge me."
"I feel… terrible. To this day. I feel like there was something more I could have done."
The man typed in several notes into his computer. "Soldiers die in combat Mr. Shepard. That's a fact of life. It was a choice designed to have no easy answer. Considering your track record though, I'd be awfully proud of myself if I were you." The monitor on the desk changed to that of Ilos, the abandoned Prothean planet. "Getting back on track, through your adventures, you had discovered that Sarens target was the Conduit on the Prothean world Ilos, of which you had discovered the location of the long lost relay to the system. You told the Council this, and they formed a fleet to deal with the situation. You returned to the Citadel, with the intent of heading the attack, only to discover that they planned to wait for Sarens attack on the Citadel, and that you, your ship, and your crew was grounded. But you didn't let that stop you, did you? With Andersons help, you took back the Normandy, with little complaint from the crew, and charted a course for Ilos on your own. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes."
"Once there, you took on several Geth, and learned from an old Prothean VI a little bit more about the Reapers. They come every fifty thousand years to kill off all organic life, and come through via the Citadel, which itself is a Mass Relay that the Reapers use to send in all their forces, and take out Galactic leaders at the same time. Lucky for you and your generation though, the Protheans before you had taken out the signal that let the Reapers control the Keepers of the Citadel from turning the Citadel into a Mass Relay and killing everyone. The Conduit which you've heard so much about, was actually a Mass Relay the Protheans built to get to the Citadel themselves, which Saren and Soveriegn planned to use to attack the forces there, and unleash the Reaper invasion. Wasting no time, you and your squad hopped into that undrivable thing you call a Tank, and drove straight into the Conduit just in time to witness the wholesale destruction Saren and his Geth army had caused. Am I getting this all right Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes." The monitor changed to show Soveriegn attached to the Citadel Tower.
"You and your team fought your way up the Citadel Tower, where Soveriegn was attached, and Saren was attempting to activate the Citadels relay systems. After an impressive climb you managed to confront Saren, and my records are a little fuzzy here, but one way or another, Saren ended up dead, and you opened up the Citadel, and allowed reinforcements to come in and take out Soveriegn, including the Alliance Fifth Fleet, who owed you more than a few favors. You told the Normandy, and the Alliance Fifth Fleet to save the Destiny Ascension, the Asari ship that held the Citadel Council who had more-or-less screwed you over several times. Is this true Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes it is." Shepard told him.
"May I ask why it was that you chose to sacrifice so many human ships in order to save the Council?" The man asked.
"They were the heads of galactic government. They are the kinds of people that must be saved. I wanted to show the galaxy that Humanity was honorable, and just." Shepard told him. "And don't believe for a second that that decision ways on me."
The man didn't respond, but simply typed more into his computer. "Well, due to your intervention, the Fifth Fleet managed to destroy/kill Soveriegn, a piece of debris giving you and your crew a good close call. You were hailed as a hero once more for single-handedly saving the Citadel. Due to Humanities intervention, the council saw fit to offer Humanity a position on the Council. My records show you recommended Anderson, your old Captain, for the position. May I ask why?"
"Anderson was a good and honest man. Udina was too concerned with power and position. We needed someone who wouldn't let politics get in the way of doing things right." Shepard told him.
The man nodded, adding yet more notes to his computer. The monitor showed the first Normandy again. "A good enough answer I suppose. A brief note before we move on, it says here you also prevented a terrorist attack on the Human colony of Terra Nova, led by Batarian Kai'haral Balak. My records said you decided to rescue the hostages, who were in close proximity of several explosives the terrorists had set up. However, in doing so, you let Balak walk free. Is this all correct?"
"Yes. The hostages didn't deserve to die, and I knew Balak would be taken down eventually." Shepard told him.
"Ooh, you beat me to the punch there Mr. Shepard. Going back to after the attack on the Citadel, you were still concerned about the Reapers even though most ignored your warnings. The Alliance, and Council alike kept you and your crew out of the way taking out the last few known outposts of Geth. You and your ship were attacked by mysterious assailants with superior technology. Twenty crewman were killed, and the Normandy was lost, and you, Mr. Shepard, where spaced, and crash-landed on the frozen planet of Alchera."
"Those were the Collectors. Servants of the Reapers." Shepard said.
"Yes, my files say as much." The man said. "It seems the Reapers deemed you too much of a threat, and decided to just take you out of the picture. Of course, you didn't let something like death stop you, right Mr. Shepard? I have to say, you're probably the only person I've met who was too stubborn to die." The image changed to show the symbol of Cerberus. "The Pro-Human group, Cerberus, thought, and rightfully so, that you were the one thing standing between them and the Reapers. Now according to my files, you had a few… less than favorable run-ins with the group, most notably one involving a Rear Admiral Kahoku, is that correct Mr. Shepard?"
"You could definitely say that." Shepard told him.
"Despite these past Transgressions, Cerberus saw fit to completely rebuild you and your team from the ground up. They spent two years, and enough money to fund an army bringing you back from the dead. They rebuilt the Normandy, at twice it's size, assembled the best crew they could find, added in a shiny AI, EDI, I think she calls herself, and even brought back a few old crewmates, including Dr. Chakwas, and your old pilot, Jeffrey Moreau. The Money was well spent if you ask me. Now their leader, this, uh… 'Illusive Man' was the one who funded this project to bring you back, and informed you of mysterious mass colonial abductions, and wanted you to do something about it. Is all this information correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes."
"And you why did you agree to work with Cerberus? Was your colonial background perhaps influencing your choices again, as you sympathized for the victims?"
"I decided I needed to figure out what was going on." Shepard told him. "If humans were disappearing by the thousands, something needed to be done. And as events happened, I realized that no one else was going to support me in the issue."
"Not to mention they brought you back from the dead, and you kinda owed them one." The Man stated. "Speaking of which, could you please tell me Mr. Shepard, how did you feel about well… being dead."
Shepard took a breath. "It's not really something you can wrap your head around. In the end, I just decided I needed to keep moving forward."
"A rather pragmatic answer." The man said. "My next question, how did you feel about working with Cerberus, a known Terrorist Organization, who you had seen firsthand perform the most heinous of experiments."
Shepard paused to think. "I didn't like it. They were extremists, who didn't know when to stop."
"And what about the organization enigmatic leader, the, uh… 'Illusive Man?' "
Shepard paused again, this time a little longer. "I thought he was a man of ideals. Perhaps flawed ideals, but that he really did have Humanities best interests at heart."
"I see." He typed in several notes into his computer. The moniter changed to that of the Normandy SR-2.
"Well, you got on your ship, along with Cerberus officials, Miranda Lawson, and Jacob Taylor, and started your search, leading you to the human colony of… Freedoms Progress, which had been recently wiped out. After taking out some mechs, you, out of the blue, found a group of Quarians, searching for a lost young one on their pilgrimage, headed by none other than former squadmate, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, now Tali'Zorah vas Neema. Fate sure has something in for you, doesn't it, Mr. Shepard? Anyway, you discovered the lost Quarian, who had valuable footage of the attack, showing that the ones responsible were the mysterious 'Collectors' who you would later learn were the attackers of your first ship. Is this all true Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes." Shepard told him. "Why do you keep asking me, if you know that's going to be the answer?"
"Simply because Mr. Shepard." The man told him. "Now, Cerberus gave a laundry list of the most dangerous individuals in the Galaxy for you to recruit, let us go over them. Archangel, a mysterious turian vigilante known only for his achievements of killing scores of mercenaries. This turned out to be Mr. Vakarian, who had gone private after his service with you. Mordin Solus, a former STG operative, dangerous, intelligent, a little bit nuts. The grizzled Mercenary Veteran, Zaeed Massani. Kasumi Goto, renowned galactic infiltrator, intelligence operator, and theif. 'Jack' no last name, a human experiment in Biotics, either gown horribly wrong, or horribly right, a killer, and crazed criminal. Samara, an Asari Justicar trained in Biotics, and weaponry. Thane Krios, a Drell, the most dangerous sentient alive, and the Galaxies most skilled Assassin. You also managed to recruit the Quarian, Tali'Zorah, a little bit later into your quests. My records also say you attempted to acquire the services of a Krogan Warlord, who unfortunately was felled by mercenaries, so you took his Krogan biological experiment, engineered to be the 'perfect Krogan', giving him the nickname, 'Grunt'. You even took into your services an active Geth unit who had been sent outside of the Perseus Veil to monitor sentient behavior, who was given the Moniker, 'Legion'. Is this all true Mr. Shepard?"
Shepard nodded. "Yes. They were all exceptional crewmates who excelled at their jobs, and good friends."
The man nodded, and took a few moments to analyze his papers. "Well your description does them justice. You made sure to connect with each of them, and help them with their problems. Sometimes going out of your way. I'm noticing a lot of family problems. Did you do this to keep their minds on the mission, or just because they were friends?"
"They were my friends." Shepard told him. "I already told you that. I would go any lengths that they would need me, and I'd know they'd do the same."
"Especially for Ms. Tali'Zorah, no? Says here you got more than just, 'reacquainted' with her when she rejoined your crew. May I ask, is it really worth all the hassle to get that suit off of her?"
"No you may not." Shepard told him.
"Oops, looks like I may have touched another nerve there." The man said. The image changed to show the colony of Horizon. "Getting back on track, you first encounter with the Collectors, after your encounter with them over Alcherra, was on the new colony of Horizon. You reactivated the orbital defenses and drove off the ship, though unfortunately not before they harvested almost the entire colony. However one survivor was the Alliance military operative, Staff Commander Alenko, Kaidan Alenko. Remember what I said about fate having it in for you? You had a minor confrontation with him, feeling a betrayal with you now working with Cerberus. Any thoughts Mr. Shepard?"
"Kaidan had his views… it was nice to see him again, but… I was sad to see him so angry at me." Shepard told him.
The man nodded. The image changed back to the Normand SR-2. "Well you have my sympathies Mr. Shepard, for whatever that is worth. Moving on, Cerberus had you investigate a supposedly 'abandoned' Collector ship, that wasn't really abandoned. There you discovered the Collectors were the ones to attack the original Normandy, AND, that there were somehow related to the Protheans. Genetically, that is. Anyway, it turns out that the entire thing was a trap that you barely managed to get out of. The next hoop they had you jump through was to investigate a dead Reaper, that had been incapacitated in a previous cycle. Unfortunately the Cerberus team there had already been indoctrinated, and converted into husks. They had been searching for identify friend/foe code for the Omega 4 Relay, which lead to the Collectors homeworld. This is where you discovered the Geth Unit named Legion, correct?"
"Yes."
"Well, you managed to get the code, and a new robot companion, but the IFF code needed some time to be decoded." He paused a moment to sort through his notes. "My records also state you became acquainted with some unsavory characters during this time. Aria T'loak, the Asari queen of Omega station, you garnered a few favors from her, and earned her respect, not an easy task. You gained ties with the ruling Krogan warlord on Tuchanka, another former squadmate, Urdnot Wrex. Good going there, by the way. You got to know the new head of C-Sec, Captain Bailey, and helped him get a larger foothold on the crime in his area. You even gained some recognition amongst the Quarian's Migrant Fleet during Ms. Tali'Zorah's unjust trial. And also you obliterated half of the standing forces among the Terminus systems three ruling mercenary companies. Good job. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes, it is."
"Okay, so after your AI had decoded the Reaper IFF code, the Collectors came to attack the Normandy catching your crew off guard. Turns out the thing had been a trap itself. Your entire crew was abducted, with the exception of your pilot who unshackled EDI to purge the ship of the Collectors. Fortunately for you, you and your team of specialists were away. My records are a little sparse as to why here. Anyway, it says here you didn't stand for this kind of abduction did you? You decided you were as ready as you were going to be, and went for the Omega 4 Relay first thing. Might I ask what your motivation was?"
"I had bonded with my crew." Shepard told them. "If the Collectors had taken my people, then they needed to be prepared for the consequences."
"Hmm, seems they got you angry then, huh?" The Man said. The image on the monitor now showed the Collector base. "Thanks to several upgrades to your ship, you managed to get through the Omega 4 Relay, with your ship carrying a couple of scars but everyone still alive. Thanks to your leadership, you got to the heart of the Collector Homeworld, which was really a giant space station. You found your lost crewmates before they could be turned to human paste. They returned to the Normandy as you and your team continued down into the station. There you found some kind of giant human robot. EDI conjectured that it was in fact a proto-reaper, in the first stages of development. The Illusive man came up at this point, a holograph at least, and gave you a choice. You could send the base to Kingdom Come, like you had intended, or you could do as the Illusive Man wanted, and instead preserve the base for Cerberus to analyze and gain understanding of the Reapers. You chose to destroy the base, is that correct, Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes." Shepard told him. "The technology there was too dangerous. I had seen what had happened to people who had gotten too close to Reaper Technology. And I didn't trust Cerberus with such technology."
The man nodded. "Well you told off the Illusive man, and killed off the human-reaper abomination. You got the hell out of dodge, and you and your team got back on the Normandy, and escaped just in time to avoid the nuclear explosion. Seems like you have a thing for nukes Mr. Shepard." He stopped to review his notes. The Image changed back to show the Normandy again. "No casualties either. So much for a suicide mission, huh, Mr. Shepard? You told off the Illusive Man again, who was less than happy with your actions. What are your feeling regarding this?"
"I told him that I couldn't work for him." Shepard told him. "I told him if he really did want the best for Humanity and wanted the Reapers stopped, he needed to step aside, and help me."
The man nodded. "Well, you and your rescued crew kept going on your adventures. You helped do some immediate repairs to the ship, and Admiral Hackett unofficially adopted you back into the Alliance. It says here you stayed active. You aided your former squadmate Liara T'Soni, who had become an information broker, in her gambit to take down the Shadow Broker, assaulting the enigmatic beings moving ship on the planet of Hagalaz, rescuing Liara's friend, the Drell named Feron, with Dr. T'Soni naming herself the new Shadow Broker. You helped take down another Cerberus Cell gone rogue, who had been experimenting with combining AI with Human Intelligence. Project Overlord. And lastly, Admiral Hackett contacted you personally to rescue his friend, Dr. Amanda Kenson from Batarian space. You went alone to keep from implicating the Alliance, and successfully extracted her. As it turned out, the Reapers had mobilized themselves, and since they couldn't use the Citadel to begin their invasion, they were planning to use the systems relay as their entry point. The plan was to smash an asteroid into the system to prevent that from happening, though at the cost of millions of Batarian lives." He stopped to shuffle his notes. "Unfortunately Dr. Kenson's team had become indoctrinated themselves, and they kept you under sedation for three days until the Reapers were almost upon you. You fought your way through the indoctrinated soldiers until you were at the control room, and set the asteroid back on its path towards the relay. Tell me Shepard, what was it like to pull the trigger on the lives of so many?"
Shepard was visibly angry but kept from shouting. "There was no other choice. I knew no matter lives were lost then, more would be lost to the Reapers. I tried to warn the colonists, even though I knew they wouldn't be able to escape in time."
The man nodded once more, and readjusted his glasses. The image changed to show a picture of Earth. "Well, you managed to blow up the relay. An accomplishment in and of itself if you ask me. You effectively destroyed the system, and the Batarian Hegemony was threatening war. Admiral Hackett pulled a few strings to let you stay active, but soon enough the Alliance wanted you and your ship grounded. You said goodbye to almost all of your specialists, and several of your crewmates. The rest were severely for scrutinized for being ex-Cerberus. They took apart your ship, and rebuilt it, trying to find out any dirty secrets, and you got a six-month long vacation in Canada. Councilor Anderson resigned from his position, fed up with politics, and Donnel Udina took up the position. Seems like that recommendation of yours didn't make much of a difference, huh? You, Anderson, and Hackett tried to ready Earth for the upcoming Reaper invasion…. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes." Shepard said.
The man reviewed his notes. "May I ask what it was like on Earth? For you, a Colony Born Kid who had never been to your ancestral home?"
Shepard paused for a moment to calm himself down. "It was… nice. Beautiful. I've never been surrounded by so much culture before. Everything seemed perfect."
The man nodded, and continued with his notes. "Well of course, the Reapers attacked, catching everyone off-guard. I'm pretty sure that ruined it. The Alliance Fleet was barely able to hold up, especially since they hadn't fixed all the damages done to the fleets since Sovereigns attack on the Citadel. You barely got off the planet on the rebuilt Normandy with your pilot, and Marine, Lieutenant James Vega, and your former squadmate, Major Kaidan Alenko. You headed to Mars, where Dr. T'Soni was doing some research into a possible anti-reaper nuke."
"The Crucible." Shepard stated.
"Yes that." The man said. "However when you got there, you saw Cerberus Commando's attacking the scientists. I bet you were glad you didn't side with them, huh? You fought through the soldiers, rejoined with the Asari, and chased down a Cerberus Mole who had the data you needed. Thanks to Mr. Vega's attempts the mole was incapacitated, and you got the data you needed. Though it says here the mole was actually a heavily augmented cyborg, who managed to survive, and severely incapacitate Mr. Alenko. You more permanently disabled it with several shots from your pistol. You brought the mech-body, and Mr. Alenko back onto the Normandy, and headed for the Citadel to convince the Council to aid Humanity in retaking Earth, and to aid in the construction of this 'Crucible' as you called it. Is this all true Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes." The image on the monitor changed to show the Citadel again.
"Since you were the one to issue the order to save you, all that good will finally came back your way, as they had been ignoring your warnings for the past few years, now they listened to your every word. Unfortunately, as much as they wanted to help you, they were consumed by their own problems, though they did send some rescources to the Alliance to help the construction of the Crucible. The Turian councilor, the one who was previously the most obnoxious in ignoring your claims of 'Reapers' actually came to you and offered you aid if you could get in contact with the Primarch on Palaven. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes." The image on the monitor changed to show the Normandy.
"You dropped off Mr. Alenko at the Citadel to recuperate, and headed to Palevan. Before going into much detail, I'd like to mention the recruitment of some of your newer squadmates. Do you mind?"
The Commander sighed and shook his head.
"Alright, apparently bringing that robot-cyborg body of Dr. Eva from Mars was a mistake, as it tried to repair and reactivate itself. Your ships AI, EDI, took it upon itself to incapacitate the body, and in turn ended up taking full control of it. It even volunteered to use the body to assist in ground operations. Huh, you meet the oddest people. Speaking of odd things, you also went on a mission back to Eden Prime where a Prothean artifact had been uncovered, and intercepted by Cerberus. You came to muck things up, and discovered the artifact was actually a fully intact and living Prothean. I have to give it to them, they are an awfully stubborn bunch. You cleared some things up, and took the brooding angry thing aboard your ship as a fellow squadmate. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes."
The man nodded, and went back to his computer. The image changed to show an image of Palaven under siege by the reapers. "You came to Palaven, arriving just in time see it under siege by the Reapers, and were only able to land on one of its moons, Menae to find that the Primarch had already been killed off. You met up with your old squadmate, Mr. Vakarian, again, and together, you held off the Reaper units long enough to determine the new Primarch, a general named Victus. You contacted him, informing him of his new rank, and relunctantly whisked him away on the Normandy, along with Mr. Vakarian who rejoined your squad. He promised you aid, only if you could get Krogan soldiers on Palaven. Fortunately for you, you were already well acquainted with the Krogan Leader, Urdnot Wrex. There were some slight diplomatic discrepancies, but Urdnot Wrex offered the Turians aid if they were given a cure for the Genophage. A bit of a tall order, starting with a fertile female being held captive on the Salarian homeworld, Sur'Kesh. You rescued the female, despite another attack by Cerberus, man those guys really didn't like you that much at this point, huh? And you also became reacquainted with another former squadmate, Mordin Solus, who was heading the projects surrounding the Krogan. Together, you got back on the Normandy, where Dr. Solus telling you that he had synthesized a so-called 'cure' for the Genophage, which Urdnot Wrex wanted administered immediately. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes, all of it." Shepard said, begging to get a little antsy.
"Okay, so you went on to Tuchanka, not the first time you've been here, to help distribute this cure. Before you did however, the Salarian Dalatrass asked you to 'not' do it. She stated the Krogan were too dangerous to allow them unrestricted breeding, and offered her support if you chose to fool the Krogan into thinking they had been cured. I believe you told her to screw off, is that correct?"
"You could say that." Shepard said.
"True to your word, when you got down there, you told the Krogans, and Dr. Solus of this treachery, and Dr. Solus changed his plans accordingly. You charged through the Reapers lines to get to the shroud, an atmosphere repairing facility, left by the Salarians, and managed to down the Reaper there with a Thresher Maw." The man stopped to double-check his notes. "Is, is that correct Mr. Shepard, a Thresher Maw? Did you actually do that?"
"Yes, that is correct." Shepard told him with a grin.
"Wow." He said. He calmed down, and resumed his nonchalant uncaring demeanor. "Well despite the fact that the shroud facility was coming down around you, Dr. Solus elected to stay behind to administer the cure, knowing full well he would not survive. May I ask your feelings on the matter?"
Again Shepard paused. "I miss him. He was a great man. But I know that it was his choice to go, and that he was at peace. That's all anyone can ask for."
The man nodded while typing in some more notes, and doing a few clicks on his computer. "Again, a rather pragmatic answer. Thanks to you, the genophage of the Krogan had been cured, and you had secured an alliance between them and the Turians. Though perhaps at the cost of Salarian aid. Urdnot Wrex personally promised to have your name forever written in Krogan lore. May I ask why you fought so hard for the Krogan's right to, well, breed? Especially concerning their violent tendencies?"
"Just because their people made mistakes in the past didn't mean they needed to be punished for it for eternity. Wrex trusted me to cure his people, and I couldn't betray that trust. I trusted him and Eve to keep the Krogan on the right path." Shepard told him.
The man nodded, and typed a bit in his computer. The image changed to show the Citadel. "Well, thanks to that, people were beginning to take you seriously, finally. You went back to the Citadel to renegotiate with the Citadel about sending aid to Earth, when you found out that the giant space station had become under siege by your former coworkers, Cerberus, who had caught C-Sec off-guard. This attack was actually a coup against the council, in an attempt to take out the Council, so as to dirupt efforts in building the Crucible. You got there in time to rescue the Salarian Councilor when you were confronted by Cerberus agent Kai Leng. Kai Leng was moving to kill the Councilor, when your former squadmate, the Drell Assassin, Thane Krios stepped in to confront him. Thane Krios injured the Assassin, and caused him to miss his mark, but Kai Leng ultimately ended up fatally wounding him. You, your squadmates, and Kai Leng raced to the Council, you to save them, and Kai Leng to kill them. Taking down several Cerberus agents, you found the Council, who was under protection of your Squadmate Kaidan Alenko, who then held you at gunpoint. So much for loyalty, eh? You managed to talk him down though, and you had deduced that Councilor Udina had become a Cerberus Mole. The Council, for once, decided to listen to you on this issue, resulting in Udina pulling a gun, and Mr. Alenko having to shoot him down. A dumb move in my opinion, what with the several heavily armed soldiers that you tend to keep with you. May I ask Shepard, would you have pulled the trigger if you had to?"
"Maybe if I had to." Shepard said. "But if he sided with Cerberus, he deserved what he got."
"What do you think his motivation was?" The Man asked.
"I think he let his fear and his greed cloud his mind." Shepard said. "He panicked, and in that panic he made a deal with the devil."
"I see." The man said, sifting through his notes once more. "Well thanks to you, Galactic order was still in check, and the Councilors were more willing than ever to support your plan. Thanks to the Salarians Councilor's good word, and the dissident voices of the STG headed by Captain Kirrahe, the Salarians were also allied with you. Your longshot plan was actually looking possible. You next decided to investigate the quarrel along the Perseus Veil." The monitor on the desk showed to show the plains on Rannoch at sunset. "You wanted to see what the Quarians were doing there, and wanted their ships to help retake Earth, since they had the largest fleet out of any race in the galaxy. You found out that the Quarians figured what with the Reapers trying to destroy all sentient life in the galaxy, it was the perfect time to start a war with the Geth back in their old systems." He stopped to shake his head. "Those Quarians, huh? Anyway with them stuck in conflict they weren't really in a position to help you out. Another former squadmate, the beloved young Tali, who had been coordinating war efforts with her kind, rejoined you to help take down the Geth Dreadnought that was bogging down the Migrant Fleet. In doing so you found and rescued that Geth Unit that you had recovered, named Legion who had been detained, and allowed Quarian forces to land on Rannoch. 'Legion' informed you in light of the Quarians attack, the Geth turned to the Reapers for aid, the Reapers helped augmented their processing power. You landed on Rannoch with the aid of 'Legion' and Tali'Zorah, and attempted to take out the Reaper device being used to augment the Geth. When you got there however, you discovered that the device was a Reaper itself who was more than pissed off at you. However thanks to the coordinated efforts of the Migrant Fleet, with your direction, managed to kill it, sending the Geth fleets into disarray. Is this all correct Mr. Sheaprd?"
Shepard paused. His mouth was becoming dry. "Yes, it is."
"Are you sure you wouldn't like something to drink Mr. Shepard?" The man asked.
"No thank you."
"Moving on, just as you were about to sit down and congratulate yourself on a job well-done, 'Legion' surprises you by revealing he has taken and perfected the Reaper Code used to Augment the Geth allowing them to achieve true awareness. This was done without you or Tali'Zorah's knowledge. The Geth was dead-set on distributing the Reaper Code to all Geth, while the Admirals of the Mirgrant fleet were equally determined to use the brief window of opportunity while the Geth were 'Rebooting' to wipe out the Geth Fleet. A tough decision, let the Geth assimilate the Reaper Code, and Geth Retaliation would wipe out the Reaper Fleet. Keep the Geth from assimilating the code however, the Quarians attack effectively crushes all Geth Military strength, and they are once again subjugated to slavery. However, you are a man who sees more than the choices presented to you. You ordered the Quarian Fleets to keep from firing on the Geth, letting them assimilate the Code, and when assimilated, the Geth kept from retaliating. You effectively ended a three hundred year exodus of the Quarians, and secured peace between them and their robotic creations. A rather laudable accomplishment, I must say. Though of note, the Geth Unit that served with you, 'Legion', in order for his kind to assimilate the code, needed to sacrifice its, well, self. His unique Geth platform, and all 1,183 individual programs, were disabled, in order to distribute the code amongst the entirety of the Geth Collective. In essence, 'Legion' died. But in doing so, the entire Geth Collective achieved true consciousness, a truce among the Quarians and Geth was obtained, and the Quarians took back their homeworld. Your thoughts?"
Shepard paused again. "Legion died for his people. It's impossible not to admire him for that. I was glad to have given the Quarians their home back, and to get them to see eye-to-eye."
"Again, quite an accomplishment. May I ask why you were so driven for this peaceful solution? I mean the Geth had tried to kill you countless times, you didn't really owe the Quarian people many favors. Though I think you would want them happy what with your relationship with Tali'Zorah."
"My personal experience has no bearing on wanting a peaceful solution." Shepard told him. "I've had Batarians, Turians, Salarians, Asari, hell even a Hanar try to kill me before. I lost nothing by trying to ensure the best solution."
The man nodded once more, stopping to clean his glasses. The image changed to show the Asari homeworld, Thessia. "Well thanks to you, the universe looked like it stood half a chance. That isn't a joke by the way. The Asari Councilor told you of a critical war asset on Thessia, which was unfortunately under siege by the Reapers at this point. Making your way through various Husks, to the Temple of Athame, which secretly held a Prothean Beacon like you found on Eden Prime. It held a Prothean VI that helped explain the missing components you needed to complete the Crucible. You were however confronted once again by the Cerberus Agent, Kai Leng, who 'kidnapped' the VI before it gave you all the information you needed, and ran rather than finishing his fight with you. You followed him to the Colony of Horizon to the supposed safe house called 'Sanctuary'. You know if it's as uncreatively named as that it's a bad place. As you found out it was a Cerberus facility that was using the refugees to study indoctrination. You went through the facility in your usual style, until you confronted the facility's head, Henry Lawson, father to your former Cerberus Squadmate, Miranda Lawson, who just so happened to be fighting alongside you. Miranda ended up killing her father, man, talk about Father issues, and with her and her ssister safe, and Sanctuary shut down, you prepared for your assault on the Cerberus base. Is this all correct Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes, it's all correct." He said.
The image changed to show the Normandy, while the man leafed through his notes. "Now before we move onto the assault on the Cerberus Base, I was hoping we might go over some minor details. Do you have any objection?"
"I'd rather get this over with if you don't mind." Shepard told him.
"Granted this has been a somewhat lengthy process, but we're almost done Mr. Shepard." The man said. "In your attempts to rally the galaxy, it seems like you left no stone unturned. You helped beef up security forces on the Citadel, helped spread supplies in the hospitals, and tried to ease the burden of the refugees. Did a good number of fetch-it missions to aid the denizens of the galaxy. You protected the Hanar homeworld along with Kasumi Goto, by neutralizing an indoctrinated diplomat, and ensuring the aid of the Hanar and their Drell servants. You brought in ground forces from the Elcor, and the bombing fleets of the Volus, with the aid of Zaeed Massani. My favorite, you united the three mercenary groups that had spent the last year trying to kill you under Former Queen of Omega station, Aria T'loak, that can't possibly have any repercussions. You brought in some Alliance biotic hopefuls from Grissom Academy, led by former squadmate and crazed criminal Jack, no last name. Brought in several brilliant minds to aid in the construction of the Citadel including a large number of Cerberus Scientists who had defected, and were under the protection of former Cerberus squadmate Jacob. You re-rescued that Rachni Queen of yours, meeting up with that baby Krogan, 'Grunt'. You made sure to cut off a lot of Cerberus Territory. You found Samara, the Asari Justicar trying to protect her daughters from a Reaper Raid, and convinced her to rally the Justicars for your fight. A very interesting thing to note, remember that Batarian Terrorist Balak? The one who tried to destroy an entire Human Colony? You found him on the Citadel where he held you at gunpoint. This was the alien you had vowed to kill personally as I recall. But instead you swallowed your pride, and convinced him that he too made make the final stand at Earth. He volunteered what was left of the Batarian Fleet to your cause. You even resisted from punching that obnoxious reporter, Khalisa Bint Sinan al-Jilani, that takes restraint, and enlisted the aid of that fanatic fan of yours, Conrad Verner. You really did go the extra mile, is there anything you'd like to add Mr. Shepard?"
"No."
The Man nodded, and put down his notes to focus on his computer. The Monitor changed to show the Cerberus headquarters.
"You assaulted the main headquarters of Cerberus, deciding to end the conflict for the group once and for all, and rescue the Prothean VI. You made sure to do more than your fair share of damage. You took along your ships AI EDI with you to counteract the survelience and security. You made it to the heart of the station, which in turn was powered by the heart of the proto-Human-Reaper from the Collector Base. Cerberus is a determined bunch, huh? You kept fighting until you reached the office of the Illusive Man himself. Of course he didn't like that all that much, he confronted you, via hologram, naturally, and he told you of his plans. He had discovered from the Prothean VI that the last component needed to complete the Crucible, the Catalyst, was in fact the Citadel. To muck up your plans, he blabbed to the Reapers who had already taken the station, and moved it to Earth, since that was where they were the most concentrated. He then unleashed his cyborg ninja on you, and you duked it out with him. You won, as evidenced by you standing here. You beat him handily, and re-accessed the Prothean VI, and prepared your fleets and armies you had gathered for a final assault on Earth." The man stopped to readjust his glasses and glance at Commander Shepard. "Is this all correct Mr. Shepard."
"Yes." He said, getting uneasy.
"Alright, well, let's review." He shuffled his papers and cleared his throat. The Monitor changed to show Earth."You had taken the aid of almost the entire Alliance Navy, engineers, soldiers and marines. You had supplemented them with supplies, ships, men, scientists, and the biotic students tutored by Jack, no last name. You had taken custody of several ex-Cerberus assets, through raids and persuasion, including a team of scientists, protected by Jacob Taylor, and Miranda Lawson. You enlisted the Aid of the Turians, and their Fleets and Armies, along with the Volus Bombing Fleet, and their few dreadnoughts, supplemented by several clans and mercenary groups of Krogan Shock Troops, led by Urdnot Wrex, with Urdnot Grunt serving as a field General. The Asari sent their skilled warriors, ingenious scientists, and large fleets your way, including the Destiny Ascension, and the Asari Justicars led by Samara. The Salarians joined in, with their STG units, led by Captain Kirrahe, and their fleets. The Elcor volunteered what ships they had left, mostly in a transport capacity, along with their soldiers, the infamous walking Elcor-Tanks. The Hanar also submitted their ships to the cause, along with the aid of some of their best Drell Operatives. You managed to convince the former Terrorist, Balak to muster what was left of the Batarian Fleets and armies to join in on the battle. Due to your efforts in the Battle of Rannoch, you had a united Geth-Quarian fleet. The technical expertise, and fleet size of the Quarians, combined with the advanced technology, and sheer size of the Geth Corps, along with the Quarians skilled Generals, marine units, and the Geth's advanced shock troopers and walking tanks. You united the three great Mercenary Groups of the Terminus Systems under Aria T'Loak, and despite taking heavy losses due to you the previous year, they were more than ready to send in their weapons, troops, ships, and connections into the war effort, in addition to whatever vicious scum Ms. T'Loak could find hiding under the rocks. Ms. T'Soni used her connections as the Shadow Broker to muster her resources, her vast connections, and her small but skilled private army, led by the Drell, Ferron to aid in the war effort in any way possible. Lastly, at the heart of your fleet was the Crucible, maintained by Rachni workers, which had been upgraded and tech'd out to Kingdom Come, with bleeding edge technology giving it every possible advantage. With this mighty fleet in tow, you came roaring through the Charon Relay, with the Normandy at her head. Is this about right Mr. Shepard?"
"Yes this is all correct." Shepard told him.
"You really left no stone unturned." He said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well, the plan of action was split into three parts. Part 1: Engage the Reaper ships in the space above Earth. Part 2: Push the Reaper forces out of the city of London, where Reaper Ground Forces were most concentrated. Part 3: Assault and take the mysterious Reaper Conduit that linked Earth to the Citadel in order to open the arms, and attach the Crucible, and let it work its magic. Your fleets were actually able to hold their own against the Reapers above Earth. They punched a hole in their defense over Europe, where your ground forces met up with the local resistance under Admiral Anderson. You set up your pocket of resistance in the city of London, where the Reapers had concentrated the most of their ground forces. You made sure to rally your armies, and have a nice chat with each of your surviving teammates. You made your way through the London Streets, fighting off entire hordes of Reaper Husks, and taking out two more Reapers on your own. You finally made it to the Reaper Conduit along with the Alliance Ground Forces, just in time for Harbinger itself to appear. You made a mad rush for the Conduit simply to have you forces entirely obliterated." The man stopped as if that was the end of the story.
"But that wasn't it." Shepard said.
"Excuse me?"
"I got up." Shepard told him. "I was there, I was bruised and bloody, but I wasn't beaten." Shepard told him. "I got up, I kept going, and I got to the Conduit myself. I got there with Anderson where we saw the Illusive Man. He had implanted himself with Reaper Tech and was using it to control me and Anderson."
"Anderson and I." The man corrected.
"What, are you going to tell the story?"
"No, go on. I insist."
"The Illusive Man was still under the illusion that he could control the Reapers. He didn't know he had been indoctrinated. But together Anderson and I got him to realize what was happening, and he took his own life. I opened the arms of the Citadel, and Crucible was attached."
The man took off his glasses, and smiled. "And that brings us back to here." He told him, turning off his computer and the monitor, sorting his papers one last time before putting them away. "And with all our fact checking done, you may ask me your questions."
Shepard paused to the think. "Where am I?"
"Well, it's quite obvious we're not actually in C-Sec." The Man said, looking out the window. "There'd be a lot more fire and dead bodies if it was. This is simply a room you and I can have a nice chat with no interruptions Mr. Shepard. No need to go any further than that.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, well, that." The mysterious man himself paused to think. "How do I explain this? What you are to the Reapers, the Reapers are to me."
"So you're their leader?" Shepard asked.
"Hardly." He said. "Maybe, what ants are to you, you are to the Reapers, the Reapers are to me. They know I exist, the see what I do, but they don't understand, or know why I do it, and that's even if they think about it at all."
"You're not giving me a clear answer." Shepard said.
"Well it's hard to give you a simple answer and not lose my mystique, Mr. Shepard." The man said with a smile.
"Why am I here?" Shepard asked.
"A courtesy, a sign of respect. A formality." He explained. "A very cut and dry process. A simple fact-checking scenario, so we can be sure that our records are straight, of course, we never run into an incident in which they are not. Maybe you could look at it as a reward for a job well done. A chance to ask those burning questions."
"What do you know about the Reapers? "Shepard asked.
"Nothing you would find terribly interesting." He answered. "Try to be a little bit more specific."
"What is the purpose of the Cycle?" He asked.
"It's something we employ throughout the universe. Damage control really."
"This is something that's happening in other Galaxies?" Shepard asked.
"As we speak." The man told him. "The Eye of God, the Everlasting Banner, the March of a Thousand and One Soldiers. Each of them is fighting the greatest war in galactic history again. Some are doing better than others. Of course, there's nothing you can really do from your position to help them, what with them being eons away from you, and the state of the Milky War being what it is."
"Why do this at all?" Shepard asked. "Why kill off untold numbers of species?"
"Ah, well that's the heart of the question, isn't it. Well, maybe we should simply think of it as a test." He said.
"A test?"
"Yes a test. You either pass or you fail. You know what happened to those that failed. You are one of those few who passed." The man explained.
"Those who failed?" Commander Shepard asked.
"Get turned into Reapers, and continue the next cycle. The number of Reapers gained stays steady with the number of Reapers lost. It's a rather self-sustaining process. Excess numbers of Reapers are sent to other Galaxies to bolster Reaper forces with lowered numbers."
"Those who pass?"
"Go on to the next part of the test." He stated.
"There's more?" Shepard asked, getting angry, and getting up from his seat.
"Sit down Mr. Shepard, it's nothing you need to worry about." The man said. "It would be inhumane to take away the hope you've been given after the trying ordeal you've been through. Do not worry, the next portion of the test will not be for a long time. I doubt even Dr. T'Soni will be around by the time the next portion of the test come around."
"So what will that be?" Commander Shepard asked, still standing.
"Well Mr. Shepard, telling you would be cheating." The man said smiling. "If you really trust in your kind though, you need not worry. You've come this far. You must trust that the future generations you fought for will know what to do when the time comes. If you don't, then I must assume that you don't care as you were only fighting for your own survival."
Shepard calmed down, and took back his seat. "What is the test even for?"
"Cooperation, power, intelligence, ingenuity, strength, your kind has exemplified all of these traits recently." He said. "That's one thing that the Citadel and the Crucible was for. The Citadel gave a cultural nexus for ideas to be traded, a catalyst if you would, for new ideas."
"And why do you even have this test? Some kind of sick game?"
"I suppose that is how you see it, but it doesn't do it justice simply to say that it's not that simple. Tell me Shepard, where do you see Galactic Civilization in the next few millennia? It's a hard question isn't it. There are only so many frontiers left. It's easier when civilizations are in their industrial period. We'll explore the oceans, cure diseases, learn the power of flight, go to the moon! It's hard to say that where your kind is at the moment. Sentients gain a perverse pleasure from exploring the unknown. But as someone who has had to do deal with more than his fair share of ethical quandaries, how much longer do you think it'll be before society as a whole begins treading on the toes of God? Before what you fought for today becomes wholly unrecognizable?"
"That's what laws are for. To keep people in check."
"Oh really? Mr. Shepard, this isn't a theoretical question, especially since you're going to have dead Reapers just floating about. You yourself know how dangerous that kind of thing is." The man said, reaching for a cup of coffee. "One way to look at is a screening process. When you enlisted with the Marines, I'm pretty sure they checked to see if you weren't some crazy guy who wanted to kill stuff first."
"You can't just write off entire species." Shepard told him. "Who are you to decide who lives and who dies?"
"Who are you Mr. Shepard?" The man asked. "You've been in that type of situation far many more times than I. But I see your point. Let's let natural selection take care of the crazies. Let's say there's a race that discovers nuclear explosives. Some races will realize the danger of such weapons. Others might not discover them at all. But let's say there's this one race that's too stupid to understand the danger of a radioactive explosion, and they nuke the entire planet. Let's be glad this species isn't ruling the universe, since their forever doomed to die out on their planet. Oh wait, the Salarians just came and took them out of their planet, and now the can do whatever they please. I'm not talking about theoreticals Mr. Shepard."
"But Krogan have proved themselves. They've grown past that." Shepard told him.
"In your cycle yes." He admitted, taking a sip from his coffee. "It's debatable. But Mr. Shepard, the Krogan are not unique in the slightest. It's not the first time such a scenario has happened, similar conflicts happening across many cycles, or something like that. Life itself is cyclical, you Humans have your own saying, do you not? Those who forget history are doomed to repeat it? Let me tell you Mr. Shepard, even if you remember, history repeats itself. And many times it's for the worse."
"Is that it?" Shepard asked. "The Reapers are just a part of that cycle?"
"Well no." The man admitted. "The Reapers were not here to begin with."
"So then why create them?"
"You're not quite getting it are you Mr. Shepard?" The man said with a patronizing stare. "For the sake of the entire universe, we can't have a civilization with the capacity to make a galactic atom bomb, and the lack of wisdom to employ it. Of course, it is rather ironic that in order to pass that test, you must construct a galactic atom bomb and then employ it."
"So you use the Reapers to keep us from blowing ourselves up?" Shepard asked.
"That is at least one of the reasons for the cycle." The man told him. "I know what you're thinking. There are better, perhaps easier ways to avoid such a fate. I would compare us to someone keeping a child from grabbing a gun, and you would tell me that you wouldn't kill the child for reaching for a gun. Then I would compare myself to an advanced race who saw a race of aliens tampering with an uncharted Mass Relay." He took a deep sip from his mug. "And you would see how someone could have come to our conclusion."
Shepard paused to digest that piece of information. "What about the Crucible. What did it do?"
"Well Mr. Shepard, there are many answers to that question." He said, taking a sip from his drink. "It's part of that test I mentioned. I'm sure someone somewhere told you that the device wasn't actually of Prothean design, correct? It was older than them. A mystery that no-one really asked many questions about. Sound familiar?"
"So what, it was designed by the Reapers?" Shepard asked.
"Kinda." He said. "It was designed by those who designed the Reapers." He told him, indicating himself. "It's part of that test. Make an inconceivable huge device, bleeding edge technology for any civilization. The first part of the test is to simply have enough time, resources and capita to actually construct the device. Other parts of the test are to survive that long, and keep it from being discovered by the Reapers. And if things have gone as planned, you must then retake the Citadel from the Reapers and hold it long enough to employ the device. But those pesky Protheans gave you a nice advantage that your 'Illusive Man' went and wasted for you. Funny how things like that work out huh?"
"So what does it actually do? The Crucible?" Shepard asked.
"Well, again, many different answers. "On the one hand, it's already done what it was supposed to, unite a galaxy. You want to get into the technology, the information would likely bore you, be uncomprehendable, and be of no use to you. Suffice it to say, Dark Energy was involved somewhere along the line. The Crucible serves a very, very specialized purpose, to kill Reapers. You won't be able to repurpose this project. If you want to get into specifics however, it turns off Reaper Command Signals to Reaper Husks. Chain of Command: Gone. Reaper Devices imbedded in captured worlds turn offline, and the Reaper Ships are effectively disabled, with a few explosive easter eggs insuring that some madman can't just jump in one, and start glassing planets. Not unless he has a lot of time and money. With this done, the Reaper war loses any effectual leadership, and your kind is left to pick up the pieces."
"So what does that mean for us then? Galactic Society?" Shepard asked.
"You go on to the next portion of the test." He said. "Pick up the pieces, try to get life looking to what it once was. Deal with some of the nasty consequences with the hasty decisions and deals society makes in war time, and after a while enter another golden age before sentient nature fouls it up. We've seen it all before. Not to worry though Mr. Shepard. I'm sure that you'll get what you wanted out of this war."
"So what about me?"
"What about you Mr. Shepard?"
"Why am I here?"
"I told you Mr. Shepard. Fact-Checking." The man said. "Make no mistake, you are a remarkable person, but you're not the first person to make it this far. We do this with everyone who makes it this far. David Anderson, and you're Illusive Man are in the adjacent rooms being interviewed by my colleagues in fact."
"They're here?" He asked. "So what does that mean? Am I dead?"
"I thought I already clarified that." The man said. "You're not dead yet. And from viewing your files Mr. Shepard, I have to say that you're too stubborn to die. Men like you refuse to die bleeding out, not after all you've been through. Perhaps if you had been a bit hasty with the Crucible, and it exploded, destroying the Citadel. I've seen that before by the way."
"But what about Anderson, and the Illusive Man?" Shepard asked.
"Well your Illusive Man is dead for sure." The man answered. "He's just going through some questioning before passing through. Admiral Anderson could go either way."
"So does that mean we're done here?" Commander Shepard asked.
"Only if your through asking your questions." The man answered.
"I'm done." Shepard said tersely.
"Good." The man said, getting up from his chair. "Just go through the door, and everything will go back to making sense."
Commander Shepard got up from his chair, and the mysterious man took his hand and shook it.
"It's been a pleasure Mr. Shepard. And don't worry, you'll not be seeing me again." With that Commander Shepard turned around and left.
Authors Note:
So the first game I got was actually Mass Effect 2. I loved every Iota of it. So I got ME1 and replayed through the series. Gotta say, ME1 was dissapointing gameplay-wise. So yeah, I was a loyal Mass Effect fan, absorbed in the universe, and eagerly awaiting Mass Effect 3, and all the promises they were making about the game kept my confidence in them.
And then I go the game and well...
I didn't notice it until after I got through the endings (more on that later) that Mass Effect 3 was a rushed game. Whether it actually was or not is debatable, but:
No Vehicle Combat
Fewer squadmates
Autodialogue
Allers
Normandy was uninteresting
I didn't care in the slightest for Earth
No actual side-missions, just fetch-it quests
No use of War Assets
The Ending
And I think there should have been a third major mission planet in addition to Tuchanka and Rannoch, probably Palaven.
And a lot of little things, but I firmly believe that the devil is in the details.
I figure the best solution is just to completely redo Mass Effect 3 and label it as a 'Directors Cut' since it seems like the 'Extended Cut' isn't actually going to fix anything, but this is something for another day.
Now, when I was playing, there were several things that the Prothean VI stated that got me thinking, most importantly that the Protheans did not design the Crucible. So we had a mysterious device that we got just when we needed it, that we didn't know what it did or how it worked, but we were desperate enough to use it. It sounded eerily similar to the Citadel and the Relays. This was what I was expecting when we'd get the big Reapers Back-Story. Which we didn't get.
For the actual endings, it made me feel hollow and empty, which was the exact opposite to how I had been feeling earlier in the game, which says right there it was a bad ending. The Control ending was weird, in that literaly five minutes earlier I killed the Illusive Man for being wrong about the Reapers, the Destroy option for some odd, unexplained reason killed off the Geth and EDI, and the Synthesis Ending which came way out of left field, and didn't have anything to do with anything. Then the Citadel blew up, killing everyone on it, the Relays blow up, destroying the Universe of Mass Effect in a literal and literary sense, Joker flees, even though he adamantly stated that he wouldn't and everyone's stranded on this weird planet. So yeah, I hated them. The worst part for me was that they destroyed the MASS relays from MASS effect, destroying the universe they worked so hard to create. It would have been if the death of Voldemort in Harry Potter had necessitated the destruction of all magic.
I could go all day about this, so onto the actual story. This is meant to replace the starchild segment, where we have this entity who is on a higher level than the Reapers, who serves both to recap all of your major decisions and actions, and answer all the questions about the Reapers and the Cycle. Which is why I broke it into different parts, so it'd be easier to read, as the recap is wordy, and sure to many uninteresting.
Anyway, for now this is a oneshot. I have some other ideas floating around, about a less dreamy way Mass Effect should have ended, such as an assault on the Citadel that utilizes your war assets, and another with Shepard Recovering, and using the Normandy as a diplomatic ship to maintain all his treaties that he made, and fighting Reaper cults, which was how I expected the game to end.
Please review, etc, etc.
-Sincerely SAmaster01