Update: 7/7/2014 - Still working on this story, just trying to get over some writer's block.

In this universe, Shepard was born 8 years later and is currently 26. There was never a human Spectre. The Citadel itself has fallen and now the races are fighting a war for survival. What happened to Saren and how things came to be this way will be revealed as the story progresses.

Many Mass Effect characters will appear throughout the story, in big and small parts. If there's someone in particular you'd like to see then let me know and I'll certainly try to work them into the story!

If you like this, check out my other ME story "All For One Child" about Femshep and Liara's daughter.

The Last Beacon

Chapter One

2188 C.E. – 5 Years Into The Reaper War

Shepard awoke with a start, glancing hurriedly around the small room, which was just barely lit by a small light on her nightstand. Her hair was wet with sweat, and her hands were shaking. Sitting up in bed, she pulled her knees to her chest, clasping her hands together to try stem the trembling. It was bad enough that the Reapers were raging a brutal war here and now, but that she had to have nightmares of their slaughter 50,000 years ago was decidedly unfair she thought. It wasn't even always the images in the dreams that bothered her. It was their silence. Scene after scene of Prothean destruction filled her mind, but there was never any sound, as if she were deaf within her dreams. The silence drove her mad. After serving on Palaven, Sur'kesh and more, the sounds of war were expected. If she could hear the screams, the explosions, these she was familiar with and then for some insane reason the dreams would be less horrific.

With deep breaths she was finally able to relax somewhat and reached over to tap the light to illuminate the room more. It didn't take much light to fill her small 100 square feet, which with each passing day felt more and more like a tomb. She slid off the cot, shivering as her bare feet touched the cold floor. She pulled off and tossed her drenched tank top on the floor behind her as she headed over to the sink in the corner.

After turning the faucet on she dunked her head underneath, letting the warm water run through her hair for a few minutes. The pressure of the water on her skin was comforting. She shut the water off and gave her head a good shake, spraying the mirror with water droplets. Grabbing a towel, she wiped the mirror and studied her reflection. The three long scratches that ran diagonally down from her left collarbone, between her breasts, and then curved around the right side of her ribcage had healed well, and though the scars barely stood out against her pale skin they would never completely go away. She'd been injured enough times to know what would leave a scar and what wouldn't. This certainly could have been much worse. The scratches from the terad had been the least of her worries, as that particular brand of Reaper was known to use a nasty poison. She'd been sidelined from duty for the past month and was ready to get back out there before she got too rusty. She reached her right hand up to her collarbone, slowly tracing the scars down her skin. They were still slightly painful to touch, and she winced when she hit a particularly tender spot above her heart. With a sigh she grabbed a fresh tank top and pants from a nearby shelf and slipped them on. She grabbed some gel from the shelf by the sink and began to slick back her pixie-short jet black hair.

Three enormously loud thuds on the door didn't even faze her.

"Come in!"

The door slid open and a large krogan walked in, ducking as he did so as he could barely fit through the door. Shepard didn't turn to acknowledge him; rather she just continued fooling with her hair, which would never do what she wanted it to.

"It's 2 in the morning, Wrex," she said.

"Got our orders, Shepard. Figured you'd be up anyway," Wrex said. "If you're done getting ready for the ball, maybe we can do something that's actually fun."

Shepard chuckled. "Like killing Reapers?" She could see Wrex's smile reflected in the mirror.

"I'm about to claw my damn face off, if we don't get out of this hellhole."

Shepard finally turned to him, her left eyebrow arched. "Hellhole? Shelter, warm food, and minimal threat of Reaper attack. That's your definition of hell?"

Wrex waved her off. "You know me, Shepard. Not happy unless I'm pounding my fists into a Reaper skull."

Really though, she felt the same way. They hadn't left the underground bunker since she'd been medevaced here after her injury on Palaven, and the single poster on her wall of a tropical beach did little to alleviate the cabin fever. She walked over and took a seat on her cot, grabbed the boots next to it and began to put them on.

"You didn't have to stay here this past month," she said playfully. "Hackett would've gladly assigned you to a squad. Temporarily of course."

He grunted, leaned against the wall and crossed his arms. "I don't fight without my 'badass little sister.' Not anymore anyway," he grumbled. He enjoyed the smile he always got out of her when he called her way, but there was truth in the words.

Shepard, who was focused on the laces of her boots, looked up at him and grinned. Over the last three years they'd pulled each other out of the fire so many times that she couldn't imagine going into a warzone without him. "Same here."

Then he let out a guttural laugh that came out as something more akin to a roar. "If it ever gets back to Tuchanka that my best friend is a squishy human female, I'll never hear the end of it."

Shepard couldn't deny that. "You say you have orders?"

"Hell yeah!" He replied. "Hackett's sending us to a place with a whole damn mess of Reapers. It's like… what do you humans call it? Christmas?"

Finished with her boots, she went over to Wrex, who handed her the datapad. She muttered to herself as she read through the mission briefing. "Priority 1 beacon… Asari… Planet J-36… high Reaper threat." She glanced up from the datapad to Wrex. "Christmas huh?"

Wrex grinned, baring his large teeth, but then his face turned dark. "Yeah, but there's a catch."

Shepard nodded. "The asari?"

He threw his arms up. "How am I supposed to maximize my Reaper killing while covering some scientist's ass?"

"Must be important… a Priority 1 beacon. Hackett wants to brief us personally aboard his ship before we leave. The shuttle'll be ready in… one hour?" She rubbed her temple. "Some warning they give us."

Wrex's eyes narrowed. "You alright, Kaeta?" He only used her first name when he was really concerned about her.

She simply nodded and tossed the datapad on her cot. "We do what we have to don't we?"

"They wouldn't send you if it wasn't important," Wrex assured her.

"Send us, you mean."

"No, you. You're the one that's going to save the whole damn galaxy. "

"So people like to remind me. But it's ok," she said and tried give Wrex a reassuring smile, but her blue eyes betrayed her. "I'm ready to fight. You know that."

He nodded. "Nobody can kill a Reaper like you, Shepard. Besides me of course."

"But these beacons… I'd rather tangle with another terad than go through one of those again."

"They say those are the key," Wrex replied. He knew Shepard didn't fear much, but he was of only a couple who knew what nightmares the beacons brought her.

"And I'm one of the few people who can interface with the damn things without their mind being liquefied."

Wrex walked over to her. He towered over her puny 5 feet and 8 inches, but he knew pound for pound she was hard as steel. "Lucky you," he muttered and patted her on the shoulder.

Shepard sighed and leaned her forehead against Wrex's chest, the cold metal of his armor soothing the headache she knew would come soon. "Lucky me."

"I always got your back, Shepard."