The Biggest Shoes

by Moments009

Shepard's clone survives the fall and, finds himself in the exact spot that he always wanted to be in; Commander Shepard's shoes. How will he live up to the daunting legend of the Commander? Will he steer the galaxy to peace or, will his need to surpass the original guide him to pursue another series of fruitless war? Read and Review. Positive feedback is appreciated.

1. Chapter 1

A/N: I wish I owned the Mass Effect franchise, but I don't. Everything belongs to Bioware and their EA Overlords. This is my first Fic so please be gentle. :)

Chapter 1

I remember letting go and falling. My arms and legs spread eagle against the presidium skyline. The last thing I saw before my expeditious journey into; what I assumed was; the concrete and steel below was his face; my face; filled with concern and understanding. God I hated him. Commander John Isiah Shepard, hero of the skylian blitz, N7 graduate, first human specter, savior of the council, reaper killer, he died and was resurrected, survivor of the Omega 4 relay, defeated the collectors, killed a human proto-reaper, paragon of humanity, guardian of the galaxy and, my original.

I tried to kill him, take his identity, his ship, his crew, his legacy, his everything, and what does he do? He tries to save my life. After all that I've done to him, all the pain I've caused, all the lives he had to take to stop my plans, the mother fucker reaches out with his hand and tries to save me. I couldn't take it, I wasn't worthy. I froze up, my conscience whispering in the back of my head saying 'This is the kind of man you have to live up to' That was the moment I knew I lost. It wasn't when he spotted me through my cloaking device, or when he broke through my shields and punched me in the face, it wasn't even when he foiled all my plans that led up to this moment. No, it was when he reached out of from the cargo bay doors of the Normandy, hand outstretched, face filled with concern and understanding, pleading for me to take his hand, that I realized I had lost. I would never be able to replace or surpass Commander John Shepard. To quote an old human television show 'There can be only one!'.

So I let go. I think I saw tears in his eyes when I did, or maybe that was just because of the air rushing into the Cargo bay. I felt the shift in gravity as I exited the mass effect field surrounding the Normandy. The fake gravity of the presidium taking hold and pulling me down, hard and fast. I was wearing his armor after all, the shit weighed about 60 pounds. I felt the sickening feeling that came with free fall; you know, that thing your inner ear tries to do to process and correct your equilibrium. The air rushed past me, I felt like a three hundred megaton payload falling through the sky, but instead of fire and radiation all I had to offer was my blood and gore. I fell, faster and faster, I remember thinking 'Why is this taking so long', then it came. I felt the change in pressure as I descended lower and lower. I panicked, I didn't want to die, I didn't even want to get made, I wondered if clones went to heaven and, before I knew it my biotics flashed and then SPLASH!

My god I'm such a failure, I couldn't even kill myself properly. I fell into one of the many man made rivers inside the citadel, the last surge of my biotics prevented me from turning into paste on impact. I heard a familiar beep signaling that my battle-suits fuel cells were drained. I guess in a way he did save me after all, I thought as I looked up into the citadel skyline. My mind pulsed, pain signals rushed into my brain from every part of my body. The last thing I saw before the darkness took me into its cold embrace, was the silhouette of the Normandy disappearing towards the docks, the plasma from it's thrusters painting the sky in streaks of neon blue.