9

Mass Effect 3: Peace Between the Geth and Quarians Ending - Kaidan Romance

Author's Note: In my opinion, this would be considered the game's "true/perfect" ending. That meaning that it would have required you to achieve peace between the Geth and Quarians as well as a high EMS, both of which I accomplished in my playthrough. This main ending portion forms my headcannon more or less. This is the alternate version of my original ending (which featured Shepard and Liara romance). I decided to post this because several friends and readers requested it. So, to all you Shenko fans, I hope you enjoy it and find that it brings more closure.

The Story

The catalyst stood there, looking expectantly at Shepard. He had just told Shepard about his three options: destroy, control, and synthesis. Shepard stood there, taking everything in and analyzing the possibilities. Countless thoughts raced through his head. Had he thought of everything? Had he questioned the Catalyst enough and about the right things? He placed his hand on his forehead as his head was spinning from his injuries and from the thoughts racing through his mind. And then it hit him.

"Wait a minute," Shepard said, addressing the Catalyst, "You said your function was to find a solution to the conflict between organics and synthetics, right?"

"Correct," the Catalyst responded.

"If that's true, then your purpose has been fulfilled and you and the reapers are no longer necessary," said Shepard.

"I do not understand," replied the Catalyst, obviously confused, "What do you mean? The conflict and chaos are inevitable. You cannot stop or avoid it."

"Take a look out there," said Shepard, gesturing towards the battle going on just outside the Citadel's environmental barriers, "Those are Geth and Quarians, the created and the creators, fighting side by side as equals. They have achieved cooperation and now live in peace with each other. The Geth are helping their creators to rebuild their homeworld as well as helping them fight."

"But they were in conflict with each other," the Catalyst replied coldly, "The Geth and Quarians each sought the extinction of the other."

Shepard shook his head and replied, "No, the Geth never wanted to kill their creators or to surpass them. They always wanted a peaceful existence with their creators and now they have finally achieved that."

The Catalyst looked at the battle raging just beyond the barriers, unresponsive to Shepard's statements. He seemed at a loss for words, so Shepard spoke up and said, "You know this is true. Just look out there. Look at the data and look at your own programming. Don't you see? Your solution worked, just in an unintended way."

This appeared to take the Catalyst by surprise and his expression clearly showed it as he quickly turned to face Shepard. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused yet again.

"For who knows how long, you have constantly destroyed and harvested civilizations in these cycles. Until now, all of those species had been evolving along a very predictable pattern and nothing ever changed," said Shepard, "Am I right?"

The Catalyst nodded and replied, "Yes. No species has ever made it this far. They have always been the same. Always predictable."

"Then what's different about this cycle? What makes this cycle so different?" asked Shepard, although he already knew the answer, having obtained it from Leviathan earlier.

The Catalyst paused, thinking and processing everything. Finally, he replied, looking up at Shepard, "You. The difference is... You."

Shepard nodded and said, "Yes, it would seem that is the case. Your creators, the Leviathans, said that I am an anomaly. They said that I was different. They weren't fully sure how, but they sensed that I would be the one that would change things and break the cycle."

The Catalyst looked intently at Shepard, as if analyzing him in great detail. The Catalyst said, "Yes. I think that is an accurate assessment. You are an anomaly. This has created a divergence from the expected path and, as such, has opened new possibilities and new solutions that were previously unavailable to me."

"But it's not that simple," said Shepard, "You caused this to happen. Your constant cycle forced the evolution of organic life down a new path. A path where organics and synthetics live in peace and harmony side by side. There is no need to integrate them as you suggested with synthesis. Allowing them to remain separate, but in harmony with each other, creates a richer and more diverse universe. THAT is the final evolution of organic life. Not a biological modification, but the acceptance of synthetics as equals, friends, comrades, partners, and even lovers. Look at the Geth that I mentioned before and also look at EDI and Joker. Where is the conflict that you speak of? The only conflict that I see is from you and the reapers."

The Catalyst looked back to the ongoing war, processing everything that Shepard had just told him. He then turns back to Shepard and walks towards him.

"I have thought about what you said," the Catalyst said, pausing for a moment, "And I have determined that you are right. Organics and synthetics have reached a point where they are able to live together peacefully. It seems it is as you said. My solution succeeded in an unintended way. If that is the case, then my mission has been completed and I have provided the final solution to the problem that my creators tasked me with."

Shepard looked at the Catalyst and asked, "What will you do then?"

The Catalyst replied, "My purpose is complete and, therefore, I am no longer needed. I will disable the reapers' IFF protocols and direct them back through the Omega-4 relay where they will be destroyed. After I have issued this command I will dissolve my programming and self-delete." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, I will transfer all data regarding all previously harvested life including their histories, stories, technology, and so on to the one you call Liara T'Soni. I believe that she will be the best person to entrust this knowledge to."

Shepard nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, I believe so."

The Catalyst nodded and walked towards the beam. As he got close to it, he stopped and said, "Shepard, your comm link is now open. Do what you will with that." He paused before he said, "I will now begin. Farewell, Commander John Shepard and... Thank you."

As the Catalyst said this, he raised his hands towards the beam. The Crucible began to power up and the energy of the beam strengthened. Shepard activated his comm link, connecting to the Normandy.

"Normandy! This is Shepard. Do you read me?" asked Shepard.

"Commander? Is that you?!" asked a surprised and excited Joker.

"It's me, Joker. I need an extraction. I'm at the Citadel," replied Shepard.

"Hackett just gave us orders to fall back because the Crucible was activated... But to hell with that! We're coming for you, Commander! Just hold on!" exclaimed Joker.

"Roger that!" replied Shepard.

Shepard looked back at the Catalyst and the beam in time to see the massive pulse of white energy shoot from the crucible. He saw the Catalyst begin to fade, deleting itself as promised. He started to run to the rendezvous point. Over the comm, Shepard heard reports of the reapers withdrawing galaxy wide. As he reached the rendezvous point, the outside of one of the arms, he saw the Normandy fly straight through the environmental barriers and to him. Joker nimbly maneuvered the ship into an excellent position and the cargo bay doors opened where Garrus and Kaidan were waiting for him. Shepard leaped into the cargo bay where Kaidan and Garrus helped him into the ship. Both still looked like hell since they had been on the ground party with him before he ordered them to be evaced by the Normandy.

After Shepard was in and the cargo bay doors were closing, Kaidan pulled Shepard in for a tight embrace. With tears rolling down his face, Kaidan said, "I thought I'd never see you again."

Shepard returned the embrace, smiling softly, and said, "I told you, no matter what happens, I will always love you and I will always come back to you."

The two separated and Kaidan wiped away his tears. "Yeah, I know, but still...," he said, pausing for a moment, regaining his composure. He then smiled and said, "Welcome back, Shepard."

Garrus was standing a little bit away, letting the two have their moment, but smiling at it. He was glad to see his best friend alive and happy. Seeing that it was wrapping up, he walked over to them and said, "Shepard, you look like hell."

Shepard looked at Garrus and said, "I could say the same to you, Garrus!"

The three started laughing before they quickly made their way to the CIC where the rest of the Normandy crew was waiting, including Joker and EDI. Everyone was excited and overjoyed to see Shepard again. He told them what had happened including his confrontation with the Illusive Man and Anderson's death. EDI confirmed that all of the reapers had indeed passed through the Omega-4 relay. Shepard then had EDI relay all of this information to Admiral Hackett. Liara then stepped forward.

"Shepard, I did receive the data upload you mentioned," she said. "But I was afraid to open it. It's such a massive file... I don't think that I can sort it all out on my own."

Shepard nodded and said, "Then allow EDI and Glyph to help you sort through the data. I believe that you will find it very intriguing."

Liara smiled and replied, "Yes. I imagine I will. If you'll excuse me, I'll get to work on it."

Time passed and the news of what Shepard and his crew had accomplished spread throughout the galaxy. Every galactic race and the Council itself offered commendations, medals, and awards to Shepard and his fearless crew. With the help of the Geth, repairs across the galaxy happened swiftly. A memorial service was held for Admiral Anderson and his name was added to the wall of the fallen heroes on the Normandy. When the Citadel was repaired, Shepard called all of his friends and squadmates, both past and present, to his apartment on the Citadel one more time for a celebration of their victory and for a surprise announcement. At the party, he announced that he and Kaidan were getting married. The entire group cheered and congratulated them.

Shepard and Kaidan got married. Garrus was, of course, Shepard's best man for the wedding. The couple eventually settled down in Vancouver on a large plot of land, very similar to Kaidan's parents' camp. They lived happily together and, oddly, Kaidan's headaches never returned after Shepard's return to the Normandy.

Garrus and Tali were also married on Rannoch where Shepard served as Garrus' best man. The couple built a new house on Rannoch on some prime beachfront property that Tali had scoped out. They lived happily together and even had two children. Garrus always remained in close contact with Shepard, Kaidan, and Wrex, visiting them whenever he could.

Joker and EDI became the first organic and synthetic couple to get married. The two eventually settled down on Earth and convinced the Alliance to give the ship to Joker and EDI for personal use. The Alliance reluctantly agreed after receiving extraordinary pressure from Commander Shepard, the Council, and the other galactic races. The couple offered to take any of their comrades anywhere in the galaxy whenever they needed to go somewhere.

Liara returned to Thessia to help rebuild her homeworld and to devote her life to studying and processing all of the data on the ancient races. She founded a multiracial organization devoted to the research and processing of this data. She remained in close contact with all of her comrades and even visited them when she could, but she never married or had children.

James officially entered the N-7 program in the Alliance and quickly became the best in the program. He become the Alliance's greatest soldier and was quickly promoted to the rank of Commander and given his own vessel to command. Steve Cortez would follow James as his shuttle pilot. Whenever the opportunity arose, he'd make a stop by Thessia to visit "Loco" with Steve.

Javik returned to the place where the last of his people had died in their stasis pods and took his place next to them, committing suicide as he had told Shepard he would after the reapers had been dealt with. This was no longer the world of the Protheans. Their last voice had spoken; its mission fulfilled. It was time for it to join the silence of its brothers.

Jacob married Dr. Brynn Cole. They settled on Earth and had three children.

Samara returned to the monastery to live with her daughter and enjoy their time together. She helped her to rebuild the monastery to a livable environment again.

Wrex successfully united the Krogan clans under one banner with the help of Grunt as his right hand man and his wife, Bakara. Bakara helped to remind the Krogan of what they used to be and rallied all of the Krogan women behind her. With their combined efforts, the Krogan race flourished and repopulated itself. Wrex and Bakara named their first son Mordin in honor of the man who gave his life so that the genophage could be cured. The Council granted them another planet for their efforts in the war. The Krogan proved worthy of the Council's trust under Wrex's leadership. The Krogan earned the respect of the other galactic races and became truly accepted by them.

Miranda went to live with her sister now that things were safe. The two of them made up for lost time and were happy. Miranda remained in contact with Shepard over the years.

Jack continued to train her group of biotics from Grissom and continued to teach new students at Grissom as well. She made an excellent teacher and all who were under her instruction excelled and grew as biotics at a rate that had never been seen before.

Zaed retired to the Carribean on Earth. He actually did end up living on a beach for the rest of his days as he had told Shepard he would.

Katsumi could never settle down. After the everything was over, she returned to being a master thief, although not in the way one would expect all the time. People would find items that they needed or had lost in their homes. There would be the occasional theft of something priceless, but it seems Katsumi had largely become a Robin Hood of sorts, helping the galaxy with her unique set of skills. She always kept that graybox with her. Those memories and files were precious to her after all.

Dr. Chakwas became the head of the Alliance Medical Corps, based on Earth, and oversaw medical treatments and staffing of doctors and medics throughout the Alliance. She said she couldn't serve on another vessel after being on the Normandy under Commander Shepard. Every year, without fail, she would meet up with Shepard and share a bottle of Serrice Ice Brandy as they had promised to do every year.

As time passed, peace remained in the galaxy. The races rebuilt and helped each other in ways they had never considered before. The Geth grew and expanded across the galaxy like any other race, although most still preferred to remain on Rannoch. They lived and interacted peacefully with the other races. In the end, the cycle was broken by Shepard, the unprecedented anomaly that united the galaxy and all of its life, both organic and synthetic. A feat that was considered impossible and probably would have been impossible for anyone else. In the end, all was well and life continued.