The Reaper War
Prologue: The Fate of the Galaxy
Location: Sol System, Earth. Vancouver, Canada.
The sunlight cast through the windows of the interrogation room, a steel box surrounded by a mass effect field to prevent anyone leaving. In its centre sat a table, several datapads and a cup of cold, foul-tasting coffee placed upon it. On one side was a man in handcuffs, a shaved head and heavily scarred face looking down at the faces in front of him on the datapad's digital display, and on the other sat an interrogator. The interrogator, an immaculately dressed Alliance officer, stared down his nose and over his glasses at the handcuffed man in front of him. "John Shepard."
Commander Shepard looked up from his intense study of the information, nodded silently and concentrated on the officer, who spoke again in a nasal and somewhat arrogant tone. "Former Captain of the SSV Normandy, the "First Human SPECTRE", officially announced dead in early 2184, arrested for charges of treason, destruction of Alliance property, destruction of a mass relay and the subsequent deaths of every living being in the Aratoht system. How do you plead?" he asked, giving the Commander an inquisitive look, putting a line on his already wrinkled face. Shepard looked ahead, showing no emotion other than regret for the Alpha Relay incident. He began to speak, but then stopped. "Actually, let's begin from the start. Your service record says earthborn date of birth 11th April 2154, no record of any family members. Why enlist?"
"It was either enlist or live in the dirt and die that way." The officer seemed content with the answer. "You served on Elysium as part of your N7 training. What happened there?"
"You know the answer, Colonel. Batarians. Me. Saviour of a colony. Singlehandedly protected everyone." Shepard replied. He'd already told the story to three reporters, Admirals Hackett and Anderson, Miranda Lawson and Liara T'Soni.
"Yes, I do, but the real point of this exercise is finding out what do you remember? From what I recall, you were effectively re-created from very little. We have to ensure that you are the real Shepard, and it's just a precaution."
For another hour, the two men discussed the true story of Commander Shepard up until the Battle of Virmire. "You were forced to leave Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko behind. Why?" Shepard remembered the look on Ashley's face, standing on the balcony beside him and Garrus Vakarian when they had to retreat. "I left a friend to die that day and I didn't do it casually, but I had to save as many people as I could. Kaidan gave his life for the rest of the team. Without him, I couldn't have stopped Saren. He died a hero." A wave of déjà-vu washed over him, the memory of his mental test after waking up in the Cerberus facility. His thoughts drifted briefly to Miranda and Jacob, who became the next topic of conversation.
"For the last three months you were working with Cerberus, volunta-" he began, but was quickly interrupted by Shepard. "It was really more a case of common interest. If you read those files, you can see I forwarded as much information as possible to the Alliance and the Council. My crew and Normandy left Cerberus when I did." Said John. "The crew that survived?" asked the officer. John looked down at his hands.
"Yeah… we lost three good people, and some of our squad didn't get a chance to do what they really needed to."
"What could they need to do?"
"Just things they wanted to settle before they went on the mission."
"I see… who did you lose?"
"Jacob Taylor, Zaeed Massani, Kasumi Goto." Shepard named them quickly, having thought about his team a lot over the last six months.
"A terrorist, a mercenary and a thief. Hardly what I'd call 'good people'."
John looked up, the implants given to him by Cerberus starting to throb and glow faintly under his skin. He scowled, remembering what remained of Jacob's body, Zaeed's dying words and how Kasumi never even got to say goodbye before she was vaporized. "They died helping me save people like you, so unless you're ready to argue with me, you should watch your Goddamn mouth. If you've got any more idiotic questions, hurry up and ask me them. Otherwise, I'm done talking."
The officer adjusted his crescent-shaped glasses. Shepard rattled his cuffs and within a few minutes the Commander was led back to his cell. Shepard sat down on the hard bed; staring out the window and watching the fighters fly back and forth through Earth's atmosphere. He looked ahead, wondering where Normandy was being re-integrated into Alliance systems. He cursed himself for allowing the outburst of rage earlier, yet felt a slight sense of pride; he'd contained his biotics at least.
Location: Widow System, SSV Gettysburg.
Admiral Steven Hackett removed his cap and ran a hand through his white hair. It had been two weeks since Commander Shepard's questioning, and the recent disappearance of two deep space outposts, in light of the description of the Collector Base, was disconcerting. As Hackett looked up in the Conference Room, Admiral David Anderson appeared on his desk. "Anderson." Hackett greeted him, the blue outline of the small, toy-like figure of the Admiral saluting in turn.
"Hackett. How bad is it?"
It was almost as if Anderson could read his mind.
"Bad. We just-" he began, but David interrupted.
"I know, Udina told me. Is this what Shepard warned us about? The Reapers?"
As soon as the name was mentioned, a shiver ran down Steven's spine.
"I don't know, Dave, but there's something massive on the long range scanners."
In the main body of the ship behind him, officers and crewmen hurried about the deck, attending to terminals and interfaces. There was a long, uncomfortable silence in the Conference Room. Anderson broke the quietness: "How long do we have?" he asked.
"Not long. I've sent word, and the fleets are mobilising." Hackett replied.
He looked to his left, out of the window as the viewpoint changed from a vista over the Citadel to Earth, surrounded by satellites and Alliance warships.
"God help us all…" Anderson breathed, and ended transmission abruptly.
In 2157, humanity discovered it was not alone in the universe.
Thirty years later, they found a peaceful place among dozens of galactic species. But this idyllic future is overshadowed by a dark past; the Reapers, a sentient race of machines responsible for cleansing the galaxy of all organic life ever 50,000 years are about to return. The leaders of the galaxy are paralyzed by indecision, unable to accept the legend of the Reapers as fact. But one soldier has seen the legend come to life. And now, the fate of the galaxy depends on him.