Prologue: Earth

Shepard looked out his window with a slightly grumpy demeanor. Ever since he had been relieved of duty he had been stuck in Vancouver doing nothing but gaze out this same window every day. Today he could see a kid in a white hoodie playing with a model of some sort. Too far to be sure, but it looked like an Alliance starfighter. Well, good for him. At least he had some freedom. He was stuck here under constant surveillance until the stupid council decided to swallow their pride and listen to him about the Reapers. Nobody even gave him credit for stopping the Collectors last time. Well, maybe a little credit. But no medal or parade, to his disappointment.

Behind Shepard, the door hissed open and in strode a burly, tanned man wearing an ISA uniform. It was Shepard's good friend and former crewmate, James Vega.

"Hey commander," James said formally. "Council wants to see you."

Shepard got up and smoothed out the front of his shirt and got up. "You know you don't have to call me that anymore, James."

James laughed. "Well, when's that ever stopped me from doing dumb stuff before? If I'd listened to all the stuff you told me, you'd be dead."

Shepard laughed. It was true enough, James had saved him on several occasions. The two men walked out into the corridor. It was full of Alliance and ISA officers and troops. Many stopped to stare at Shepard as he passed them. He heard whispers: "Shepard…saved galaxy…Reapers…kinda crazy…"

He chose to ignore that last one.

Anderson, another good friend, was waiting at the top of the steps for them. He joined them walking towards the council room.

"Shepard," he said. "looking well, I see." He patted the commander's stomach. "A little soft around the edges, but fit for duty."

Shepard smiled good-naturedly. "Duty? You put me on probation, remember?"

Anderson grimaced. "Seems you were right, Shepard. The Reapers are coming."

"No," said Shepard sarcastically. "How long did it take them to figure it out? I've only been trying to tell them for the past two games."

Anderson opened his mouth to answer when James stopped. They had arrived at the Council chamber.

Shepard set his teeth and pushed the button to open the door.

"Alright, let's do this."

The Council chamber was noticeably bigger than the last time he'd seen it. Then again, with the ISA part of their group now, it was bound to need more room to fit all those extra people. Shepard, James and Anderson were joined by a thinner man with stubble around his mouth. Shepard knew him too. Kaidan Alenko, if memory served. They had once been crewmates too, but Kaidan had left after the entire Sovereign incident, in search of "quieter pursuits" as he had said. Shepard didn't know if he was pleased or not to see Alenko again. He noticed that Alenko had medals. Shiny ones.

The head councilor stood up and cleared his throat.

"We call the council to order." He announced. The entire council got to their feet and stared sternly down at the four men. "It has come to our attention that there is a major threat to the galaxy, a threat that may destroy us all." The councilor paused for dramatic effect. "The threat of the Reapers." He finished theatrically.

The chamber erupted into chaos. People muttered and murmured amongst themselves. The head councilor raised his arms for order.

"Now, as the only man to have encountered the Reapers in the field extensively, does Mr. Shepard have anything to tell us that might help?" The entire board of councilmen looked expectantly at Shepard.

The commander took a deep breath and a step forward. Then he pointed at all the board and shouted "Ha! I told you! I told you, but you wouldn't listen!"

The councilor furthest to the left shifted uncomfortably and watched as Shepard shuffled backwards across the floor and pumped his fists in the air in triumph. After two whole minutes of this, Shepard finally calmed down and grinned up at the council.

The councilor to the right, a fat man with little hair, spoke up.

"We were hoping you'd have a solution for us."

Shepard smiled and said "Of course I do! My plan is to gather all the-what's that?" he said pointing past the council at the huge window behind them.

Out the window, there was a splendid view of the city. Or it would have been a splendid view had it not been for gigantic mass of metal tentacles coming out of the clouds. Shepard's grin faded off his face as he realized what they were. A crimson beam of energy streaked out of the base of the tentacles, flattening a whole street and sending shockwaves across the city.

"IT'S THE REAPERS!" James yelled, and ran from the room, grabbing Kaidan with him. The ISA soldier and the Alliance major were gone. There was a deep metallic Honk sound, resonating through the entire room as the reaper fired a second beam closer to the council. The windows shattered under the kinetic onslaught, blowing themselves inwards and showering the occupants of the room with fragments of broken glass.

Shepard had been flung to the floor by the first blast. As he tried to get steady, he was aware of the council's large meeting table heading directly for him. Shepard got to his feet, ignoring the screaming muscles in his legs and rolled to the right, narrowly missing the lethal furniture by mere inches. Then his head cracked against something hard and everything went black.

"Shepard! Shepard! Get up, soldier!"

That was Anderson's voice…what happened?

Shepard cracked open an eye, all too aware that there was the smell of smoke and chemicals in the air. Only then did he notice that he was lying on the floor. Anderson was standing over him, soot and blood on his face. Shepard tasted something metallic. He spat it out. It was red.

"D_." He swore. Shepard shakily got to his feet and took a look around.

The Council chamber was in ruins. All of the board was lying on the ground either dead or wounded, and there was a fire spreading from the left. Shepard reached for a fire extinguisher, but Anderson pulled him away.

"No time for that, Shepard. We've gotta get out of here!" Anderson unclipped a Predator pistol from his belt and handed it over. "Take this. I got a feeling you're gonna need it."

Shepard took the gun with a silent nod of thanks. He hadn't held a gun in a long time, but once his hands were on the grip, he felt safe. If they encountered any Husks, he'd be prepared. Anderson was looking out the broken window. There must have been a ledge down there, because as Shepard watched, Anderson jumped out, landing with a thump down below.

"Come on, Shepard! It's only a short drop, and we gotta go!"

Shepard sprinted over to the window and dropped onto the air vent below to join Anderson. In the distance, the Reaper could be seen, now fully out of the atmosphere and looking like a giant metal squid than anything else, firing red lasers out of its eye at the Alliance and ISA forces attacking it. Shepard winced as entire squadrons were wiped out with a single pass of the reaper's beam. The sky was darkening with all the smoke, and to Shepard's great dismay, at the edge of the city, a second Reaper could be seen descending out of the smoke, using its mass effect field to lessen the impact. They must have used the Mass Relays to get here. That would explain why none of their long ranged sensors had picked up movement. Shepard balled up his fists angrily. If only the council had listened to him. Then maybe they would have been more prepared.

The platform which Anderson and Shepard were standing on shook. Shepard nodded at the Admiral. It was time to go. The pair quickly made their way across to the nearest building, the cafeteria. Neither of them said much. Only when Anderson gave a shout of alarm did Shepard tear his eyes from the destruction of Vancouver and look at their path.

Climbing up the side of the Alliance cafeteria, in all their cybernetic horror, were a crowd of Husks. The zombie like servants of the Reapers, Husks had no morals, no fear, felt no pain. And they wouldn't stop until they were torn apart. In a way, the perfect soldiers for the reapers. Shepard took aim with his Predator and fired, bullets tearing into the indoctrinated monsters. Anderson was right beside him, gun roaring as each shot dropped a Husk off the side of the building. Finally, there were no more. Shepard checked his ammo count. Almost empty. He must have used more ammo than he'd thought.

I need to practice my aim. Shepard thought anxiously. He couldn't risk running out of bullets when he was being faced with a larger group.

He and Anderson proceeded over to the roof of the cafeteria, gunning down Husks along the way. One of the reaper zombies popped out behind a grate, lunging at Anderson's exposed back. Shepard aimed his gun and pulled the trigger. It clicked empty. Without a second thought, Shepard activated his omni-tool, firing a concussive shot at his enemy, flattening it.

Anderson turned around. "Thanks, Shepard, I owe you one." Then he shot over the commander's shoulder, killing the last Husk. "We're even, for now. We've got to get to the Normandy. Come on!"

Shepard and Anderson made a beeline for the nearest door and almost reached it when there was the ominous foghorn-like sound of a Reaper. Anderson and Shepard turned around just in time to see a massive beam of red energy tear through the building in front of them, severely damaging the one they were standing on. On the upside, however, it disabled the locking mechanism, allowing two Husks to come staggering out. Shepard clubbed the first one over the head with the butt of his gun, and then followed up with a roundhouse kick which sent the Husk flying off the top of the building. Anderson shot the other one, emptying his gun into the Reaper zombie. The creature took a few stumbling steps towards the admiral, but died before it could reach him. Anderson holstered his pistol.

"I'm out! Shepard, give me your weapon!" he roared.

"What?" asked the confused Shepard. "I'm out too."

"Oh. Okay. I don't know what I was thinking."

There was a brief moment of awkward silence.

"Let's keep going."

The pair of soldiers entered the damaged door warily, fists raised and biotics primed in case there were more Husks hiding in the shadows. After a precursory examination which revealed that there weren't any, Anderson found another door that had not been completely disabled by the Reaper's attack. It was stuck on the 'shut' command, however, and one person would have to force it open to let the other through. Shepard wedged his body into the opening and pushed the door open. Thanks to the smooth open and close mechanism of the door's design, it didn't take too much effort to hold it open. Shepard was already feeling like he'd been hiking all day, and could really use a break. But with Earth under attack, he knew that a break was an impossible dream. As Anderson squeezed through the door, Shepard heard something from an air vent on the far side of the room. Abandoning the door, the commander made his way over to the vent, omni-tool ready in case it was a Husk. Shepard looked into the vent, surprised to see the same kid from earlier that morning. He looked scared. Shepard felt a sense of pity. How could this child have known when he woke up this morning that his city was going to be destroyed later that day? Shepard reached out a hand, but the boy shrank further into the vent.

"Everyone's dying."

"Hey," Shepard said soothingly. "Let me get you to safety. Come on out."

But the child only shook his head.

"You can't help me."

Shepard was at loss for what to say. Anderson's voice rang out from behind the damaged door.

"Shepard! We've got to go!"

Shepard returned his attention to the air vent, but the boy was gone.

The open air was a nice change after the smoky interior of the cafeteria. Sure, Shepard had almost fallen to his death on the way out, but he was still alive.

Which is more than I can say for those people. Shepard thought sadly as he looked out onto the now ruined city. Reapers seemed to be bombarding the whole area with laser blasts and minions. Even more of the evil machines had dropped out of orbit and were now tearing up the skyline. Explosions could be heard in the background, blending in with the Reapers' charge-up sound.

"How did it all come to this?" Shepard shouted angrily, kicking a loose chuck of metal out of his path. It dropped down a hole with a dull clunk.

Anderson put a shoulder on the commander's shoulder. "None of us wanted this, Shepard. It's times like this that try us the hardest, show us what we're made of." Anderson joined Shepard, looking out over the ruined city. He bit his lip. "But I only wish there was a way to know all that without thousands dying."

They walked along a long metal platform, grimly looking about for husks and survivors. They didn't find any of either, only bodies and what seemed to be various escape crafts that had been shot down, crashed, or otherwise destroyed in the mad rush to get away.

It was only when a frigate took a fatal hit from a Reaper's eye beam that the pair looked up to stare at the explosion and shake their heads sadly. Then the shock wave hit, destabilizing the platform. The entire surface began to tilt, Anderson and Shepard flailing their arms to try and stay upright. It was no good. Both soldiers were sent tumbling down.

Shepard's mind raced as the ground swooped up to meet him. He had to slow his descent somehow. With the ground looking very solid, Shepard dragged his elbows and locked his legs to create friction, slowing him just enough to stop his head from smashing into a piece of a crashed ship's hull. He instead got bonked by a heavy object that fell off a stack of military gear and smacked him on the head.

"Ugh…not again." Shepard groaned, rubbing his head. He started to help himself up, and his hand brushed against the heavy object.

It was a gun, an M-8 Avenger assault rifle. Shepard smiled as his fingers closed around the cold metal grip, finger wrapping around the trigger. There were plenty of thermal clips scattered on the floor too, so he filled his pockets. Then he remembered Anderson. The admiral had not been as lucky and had bonked his head on the piece of hull. Shepard went over to help his friend when a bolt of blue shot past his ear.

The commander's head turned, and his eyes beheld one of the most hideous things he had ever seen. A bloated creature was making its way toward him, firing inaccurately from a large gun mounted on its arm. It was red with blue eyes, and it had two pairs, like a Batarian. Shepard raised the Avenger and returned fire, the gun's recoil digging into his shoulder. The bullets tore through the creature, sending it spinning backwards and finally crashing into the floor. A second one poked its head over a wall, but instead of shooting at Shepard, it rushed over to its fallen companion and began to…eat it. At the same time, the cannibal, as Shepard decided to call it, had grown armor plating over its entire body.

"Aw no," Shepard blurted out as the cannibal fired its arm cannon at him. He ducked behind some fallen supports and shot back, the Avenger's shots denting the cannibal's new armor. Shepard kept shooting, but realized that his assault rifle wasn't nearly accurate enough for the job. He needed a clean headshot, or he would run out of ammo if there were any more he had to fight. Spraying and praying was a rookie tactic. Shepard shot back a little more, his gunfire overwhelming the monster at last and sending it splashing into a puddle of spilt fuel, which ignited and burnt it to a crisp. Shepard walked to the edge of the platform, scooped some water out of the bay and threw it on Anderson's face. The admiral woke up with a start.

"Huh? Shepard! What's going on!"

"No time to explain! Can you walk?"

"Yeah."

"If we can make it out of here, we can get to the Normandy! Move! Move!"

Anderson shook his head and checked his gun. "You got a plan, Shepard? Cause I don't think we can make it to the Normandy on foot. Not with all this flying around us."

Shepard thought quickly, trying to come up with a plan, even though he didn't have one. "I-uh, saw a ship crash not too far from here, if we can get to it, we can use the radio to call for help" he suggested.

"Lead the way."

Shepard blew the head off a Husk, dived under a Cannibal's arm cannon blast, then kicked it into the ocean, the monster howling as it sank beneath the waves. Shepard looked behind him as Anderson finished off a Husk that was trying to crawl away. The ship wreckage was almost within reach, the still-burning remains sending acrid black smoke belching into the already sooty sky.

Encountering only a single Husk on the way, Shepard's hands finally closed around the radio. Alliance radios were designed to survive crashes that would obliterate the entire crew, so when Shepard clicked the 'on' button, the device crackled into life. The commander smiled. When the designs had been proposed for a crash proof radio, he had laughed, pointing out that if the crew was dead, then who could use the radio? Now, he knew.

He handed the radio to Anderson. "Hello? Normandy?" the Admiral said urgently. "We need back up! We're radioing the coordinates now!"

As the Admiral uploaded their location, the radio was reduced to a smoldering wreck by a bolt of energy that flew out of nowhere.

"Son of a…" Anderson cursed. Dozens of Cannibals and Husks began to close in on the pair, and they raised their guns in preparation of the assault.

Shepard's index finger curled around the trigger of the Avenger, when suddenly, a shadow fell over the entire area, and his ears filled with a deafening roar. Anderson and Shepard looked up to see the Normandy flying in, cannons blazing as the opposition was decimated by a wall of incoming laser fire. Once all of the enemy was safely destroyed, the sleek, white frame of the Normandy floated within jumping distance of the ground, the stabilizers struggling to keep the ship at a reasonable altitude.

Shepard's ship opened the bay doors, revealing Kaidan and James, waving at them to hurry up and get over here.

Shepard stowed the Avenger over his shoulder, the weapon compressing itself as he ran for his crew, parkouring over a fallen pylon as he dashed for the Normandy's loading bay. Anderson followed with a little less zeal, but still keeping a good pace.

As Shepard jumped into the Normandy, he turned around, ready to help Anderson in. To his surprise, the Admiral was standing back on land, making no move to get into the ship.

"Come on!" Shepard yelled at his friend. "We've got to go!"

Anderson looked back at him, determination shining in his eyes. "You go, Shepard. I'm staying."

"What? You can't stay!"

"I have to stay, Shepard."

Shepard readied himself to jump back. "Then I'm staying too!"

"The heck you're not!" Anderson retorted. "You need to head to the Citadel and bring back as much help as possible if we're even gonna have a chance of beating the Reapers!"

Shepard gazed one last time at his good friend. "Good luck ," he said solemnly.

"You too, Shepard."

As the Normandy began to take off, Shepard spied some Alliance evac shuttles taking civilians to safety. One of those civilians looked familiar…wasn't that the kid from the air vent? So he made it out alive! Shepard smiled as the child stepped into the shuttle, the door closing behind him. Then he looked up, and saw the two towering Reapers fix their gaze on the shuttles.

Go on, fly away! Go ! go! Shepard thought, willing the shuttles to take off. Off they soared into the sky, taking the civilians away and right into a red energy beam. Shepard's mouth opened in horror as the shuttles spun out of control and finally exploded into a million burning fragments. There was no way anyone could have survived.

The commander let James and Kaidan lead him inside as the bay doors closed, sealing them inside the Normandy's hold.

As the Normandy engaged its stealth drive, Shepard looked out the window, and beheld the hundreds of Reapers that were on a collision course with Earth, igniting as they entered the atmosphere. Then there were the charred, ruined remains of the Alliance fleet stationed out there to protect earth.

Anderson was right.

They were going to need all the help they could get.

Project Eel - Earth