So, this is my first try at a fan fiction, and my first try at a story in english (I´m from sweden, so my main language is swedish). I decided to write this story because i need to practise my english, and i really hated the end to ME3. So, i´m sorry if there is alot of grammar errors or misspellings, i try really hard but sometimes that´s not enough.

I really appreciate if you tell me where i can improve, or where i could change stuff. If you want to help me correct or anything, just send me a mail =)

I hope you can enjoy this story as much as i enjoy writing it. And i hope you can look past the errors.

The story starts at ME1 and ends after ME3 and the reapers. It will take some time to finish this story since i write in my own pace.

So thanks for reading, leave a comment =)

Alot of hugs and kisses, Alpha

Chapter 1 - The first step

Romance: Rehna Nahima Shephard - Garrus Vakarian

Vanguard, Colonist, War Hero.

All the characters are owned by bioware and some of the segments of the conversations. I´m just trying my own version of the events!

- Well, what about shepard, she grew up in the colonies.

- She knows how tough life can be out there. Her parents where killed when slavers attacked Mindoir.

- She proved herself during the Blitz, held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived.

- She is the only reason Elysium is still standing.

- We can´t question her courage.

- Humanity needs a Hero, and shepard is the best we got.

- I´ll make the call...

She glanced outside the window of the big ship, watching the stars that shone like small light bulbs. She loved traveling the space, to feel and hear the ship moving. This mission was different than the usual ones. There was a turian spectre on board, and that usually meant something was up, something bad. She turned and left, walking through the CIC towards the cockpit where the pilot was stationed.

"I tell you, something is up, a turian spectre of all people!"

"You´re just finding problems were there aren´t any" Kaidan Alenko said with a mocking voice, "The council fund this project, they have a right to keep an eye on their investments"

"Yeah Joker, even i think you put to much weigh in this. Whatever he´s doing here it probably can´t be that bad"

"Oh Commander, i didn´t see you there, to what do i owe the pleasure of your pleasent company?"

"Cut the crap, Just tell me if we´re getting somewhere, are we close to Eden Prime yet?"

"You´re no fun.. Yeah, just entered the Exodus cluster"

"Good job, i´ll head to the debriefing room, seems Anderson is waiting for me"

"Good luck commander, i tell you, spectres are trouble"

Joker was an excellent pilot, a bit annoying according to most people, she liked him though. She walked towards the debriefing room to talk to Anderson, he probably wanted to prepare for the mission. But when she opened the door she faced the stately prescense of Nihlus, the spectre.

"Good to see you Commander, i hoped you would get here first"

"What´s that supposed to mean?"

"It´ll give us a chance to talk, alone"

Whats this now, i knew it was trouble, not that i were the problem.

"About what?"

"I´ve heard Eden Prime is supposed to be very beautiful"

"I´ve heard that to, never been there though"

"So, do you like being a Commander?"

"That´s a strange question, but yeah, i do"

"Never thought of a different job?"

The door swished open and Anderson came into the room "Maybe its time to tell you the real reason Nihlus is here, don´t you think so?"

"I´m here to investigate you, you showed your skills at the Blitz, i´m very impressed."

"This is the conclusive mission, after this he´ll decide if you are ready for that sort of responsibility"

Now that´s what im talking about, so i weren´t a problem, i was the solution. Rehna Nahima Shepard, Spectre. That sounds good in my ears...

Their conversation was interrupted by a transmission from Eden prime. It showed some sort of a big ship, people screaming, a woman shouting for help. They headed to the cargo bay to prepare for the mission, Nihlus would go ahed, she would lead a team to try and find the beacon.

"Good luck down there commander, the most importand thing is to find the beacon, survivors come second. Go!"

"Understood Captain!" She saluted and jumped off the ship, landing on the grass-lined planet.

They moved through the half like forest, looking for a sign of any kind of trouble, but all was dead silent. She signed for Jenkings to run forth and check, when he was suddenly sprayed by a ton of bullets. Kaidan screamed and ran up to him, Shepard shot the last of the enemies and ran there herself.

"He is dead, there´s nothing we can do now.."

"He deserves a burial"

"He does, and he will get it, but you heard the Captain. We have to find the beacon"

They left him laying on the ground, she shared a last glance at him before continuing on their mission. They fought their way through enemies, she recogniced them but hadn´t fought them before, they where some kind of artificial intelligences.

Suddenly she heard a scream and ran faster, facing a woman in trouble, they helped her kill the last enemies.

"Thank you, my name´s Ashley, Ashley Williams"

"Im Commander Shepard. Whats happening here, do you have any Idea what our enemies are?"

"I think their Geth"

Thats new, the Geth hadn´t left the Perseus Veil since the Morning War, since they drove the quarians away from their homeplanet.

"Geth, thats really strange.. What are they doing here, that beacon must be important"

"Yeah, i know.. "

"Come with us Ashley, we´ll head to the camp and check for evidence"

"Sure Ma´am, thanks"

The three of them continued. When heading up the hill they saw some strange contraptions, looking like Spikes. People had been pinned on to them, they were distorted, looking like monsters. When they got closer the spikes started moving, releasing the new kind of enemies, called husks.

They helped some survivors on their way, including an insane doctor and some smugglers. When they suddenly heard the bang of a bullet, one single bullet, Nihlus. They ran down the hill and found Nihlus dead on the ground, bleading profusely from a hole in his head. Someone was moving behind the crates.

"Show yourself, i know you´re there!" Shepard exclaimed demanding.

"I´m sorry... I can help you... i saw the one that did that" The colonist pointed towards Nihlus, his entire body shaking

"What did you see?"

"It was his friend, atleast that´s what i think he was, since he let his guard down talking to him. It was a turian, called saren.. When that dude turned around Saren shot him from behind!"

"Damn.. I know saren, he is one of the most high respected spectres... This is bad, really bad.. "

They continued, traveling with the tram. When they reached their destination, they saw bombs all over the place. Saren was planning to blow the place up, probably trying to hide the evidences. Shepard discharged them and headed towards the beacon, some strange light surged from it. Kaidan walked up to it, when he suddenly started to get sucked towards it. Shepard ran up to him and threw him out of the way, she herslef getting stuck to the strange beacon. Her body shook uncontrollably as it imprinted a strange memory, visions of destruction, war.. She fell to the ground unconscious, the beacon blown up..

"She´s waking up... How are you feeling Commander? It looked like you where dreaming"

Dr chakwas shared a vorried look as she began some securing tests, making sure she was okey.

"I was... Or, it was a vision, from the beacon.."

"I´m so glad you are okey, Williams and I had to carry you back to the ship, you where completley blacked out"

"Thanks.."

"Don´t thank me... it was all my fault, i should have been more careful..."

"Don´t blame yourself, you couldn´t have known, no one knew.."

"Is she awake?" Anderson entered the room, his worried stare faded when he saw she was awake. "I need to speek with her, alone"

The doctor and Kaidan left the room, she gazed at Anderson, feeling a bit uncomfortable wondering what he wanted.

"How are you feeling?"

"It feels like my brain has been squashed by a bulldozer, except for that, just a bit tired."

"I see, you said you had visions, what about?"

"It was like a dream, a really strange dream.. People screaming, Death, destruction.. I saw a war Captain, and not the usual one, it´s the reapers"

"The Reapers? But they disappeared 50 000 years ago..."

"That´s what i saw.."

"It doesn´t sound promising.. I spoke with the council, they are quite upset. About Nihlus and the beacon. We need to talk to them, so we are heading to the Citadel. I hope you are ready for this."

"I am, just need to rest some more, i´ll be up and running in no time. And what did you do with Williams by the way?"

"I assigned her to the team, she´s a good soldier"

"She is, glad to have her on the team"

She lay back on the hospital bed, Dr Chakwas returned and gave her some painkillers. The vision screamed in her hed, making her feel strange and uncomfortable. She winced and rubbed her forehead with her fingers, almost hoping she could rub the vision away.

Garrus watched as Executor Pallin walked away, he exhaled heavily and muttered. He had shown him the evidence on Saren, hoping he would be allowed to do something. But Pallin had not listened just said the evidence weren´t strong enough. He sighed and was about to leave, when he saw someone come up the stairs. She was redheaded, green lively eyes searching the area. So that´s her, that´s the famous Hero of the Skyllian blitz, wonder what she´s doing here. She walked up to him with determined strides and offered her hand, he shook it. She studied him, let her eyes wander his body as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I´m Garrus Vakarian"

"Commander Shepard"

"I´ve heard alot about you, nice work on Blitz"

"Thanks. So, problem with the executor? He looked mad"

"I hate when people don´t listen.. I kind of, yelled, a bit to loud i guess"

"Yeah, those in charge seem to hate when people ask uncomfortable questions.."

"Yeah, I had strong evidence on Saren. But he´s the councils little puppy so they won´t do anything that goes against him"

"Saren huh, yeah, i got som shit on him to. Heading over to the council right now to talk to them about him."

"Good luck with that.. The council is just as bad as the rest of the leaders here..."

"Thanks, guess i´ll be needing it.. Well, nice talking to you" She let her arms fall to her sides and started walking, turning her head around looking at him "maybe we´ll se eachother later.. " Then she headed of towars the citadel tower.

She wasn´t at all what he had expected, chocked by her honisty and strength. Yeah.. maybe we´ll see eachother later...

Rehna had learned long ago to keep her emotions in check, never letting anyone know how she really felt. It was important to never show how vulnrable you could be, enemies could take advantage of that.

For the first time in her life she stood infront of the council, they looked so strong and confident, untouchable. Her heart was beating uncontrollably, she was nervous, but made sure not to show a sign of it.

Ambassador Udina hurried towards her "You´re late! This is the council you´re about to speak to, not some half ass underdog!"

"Oh, but Ambassador, i was so stunned with the surroundings, i´m sure the council will understand" She winked at him, which probably made him even more angry, she didn´t care.

Udina spoke to the council, showing the evidence from Eden Prime. Saren was only there in hologram form, speaking to the council from his own ship.

The Asari councilor was the first to speak "The Geth is a matter of some concern. But there is nothing to indicate Saren was involved in any way"

Then the Turian councilor spoke his concerns "The investigation by Citadel security turned up no evidence to support your charge of treason"

I knew they wouldn´t listen, Saren is their most succesful spectre, they would do anything to keep it that way.

"An eyewitness saw Saren kill Nihlus in cold blod!" She could hear Udina get more angry by every minute.

The Salarian councilor spoke up with a mocking voice "The testimony of one traumatized dockworker is hardly compelling proof"

"I resent thes accusations. Nihlus was a fellow spectre, and a friend"

Rehna disliked Saren already, she could se right through him, tell he was lying.

"That just let you catch him off guard!"

"Captain Anderson, you always seem to be involved when humanity makes false charges against me. And this must be your protégé, Commander Shepard. The one who let the beacon get destroyed"

"You placed bombs on Eden Prime, then tried to cover it up! I would say that makes it your fault."

"Shift the blame to cover up your own Failures, just like Captain Anderson. He´s taught you well. but what can you expect from a human?... "

"You can expect me to get some more solid evidence on your failures"

"Your species needs to learn its place, Shepard. You´re not ready to join the council. You´re not even ready to join the spectres!"

"He has no right to say that! Its not his decision!" Udina spat out

"Shepard´s admission into the spectres is not the purpose of this meeting"

"This meeting has no purpose, the humans are wasting your time, councilor. And mine"

"You can´t hide behind the council forever, i´ll see to that"

They tried to persuade the council but there was no point, they had already made up their minds and would not budge. They claimed Shepards vision as wild imaginings and reckless speculations. Now she was really angry, she clenched her fists hard to her side as she listened to the final words from the council.

"The council has found no evidence of any connection between Saren and the Geth. Ambassador, Your petition to have him disparred from the spectres is denied."

"I´m glad to see justise was served"

Rehna had to constrain hard not to point her middle finger at the stupid spectre.

She met the Ambassador and Captain downstairs to discuss what to do next.

"Your past is hunting you down Anderson, their mind was already clowded with your past mistakes."

"So what do we do now? What´s our next step?"

"We should find evidence, talk to different people"

"Garrus Vakarian was the leader of the investigation on Saren, maybe he´s got something worth looking up"

"I met him before the meeting, he seemed eager to capture Saren."

"Talk to Harking down at Chora´s Den, i think he knows where you can find Vakarian"

"Good, i´ll start with that"

Rehna and her team headed down towards the lower wards, she didn´t like Chora´s, to many drunk idiots. But now she was about to talk to another drunk idiot, so it was supposedly the right way to go.

She had heard about Garrus before, knew he was a hell of a sniper, a good fighter. Even if he didn´t have any evidence on saren, she could bring him on the mission, he could be helpful.