7 Second Life

by Proclivity4aks

Three young marines find themselves in the thick of Shepard's war with the Reapers when their unit is deployed to the Citadel. The reality of life sets in when a series of mistakes leads the trio to the front lines of an unconventional war.

1. Disclaimer and Author's Note

Disclaimer: The Mass Effect story and characters are copyright of Bioware. I lay no claim to ownership. I do, however, play in its sandbox. So I might be trespassing.

A/N: This is my first fan fiction, but it is not my first work of literature (otherwise known as a "chunk-o-text"). I'd like to point out that I am not an expert in the ME universe, so if I make a mistake regarding historical context, please inform me. I'd like to make this correlate as much as possible. However, I am taking some liberties with it. Those should be fairly obvious.

The background to 7 Seconds involves a Paragon Shepard with a shade of Renegade (because he's much cooler that way). Also, it is assuming a MShep/Tali relationship.

Albeit this story does not necessarily revolve around Shepard and Tali, I chose to include those characters as my story's descriptors. This is because their relationship will play an important role for the narrator and his compatriots in a subplot. I apologize if this disappoints anyone, but I urge you to read on anyway, because you might be surprised.

Also, this story is rated Mature due to language, violence, and sexual content. Language and crude subjects will be prevalent. Hey, it's the military.

Speaking of which, I ship for OSUT next week and will be gone for 19 weeks for 19D training with the US Army. So this will be the last you see of me for a long time. I would like to continue the story afterwards, utilizing the knowledge I obtain in tactical warfare. However, I'll be active duty, and I will be deployed for at least one year, so we'll see. Wish me luck.

On a final note, when I do return, I will be contacting particular authors on this site to request permission to use some of their ideas and incorporate them here. It'll be a fanfic of a fanfic…kind of. I understand that the authors here submit their work anonymously, making their work unable to copyright. Even so, I would rather request permission out of respect for their talent.

Please review ruthlessly. Grammatical errors should be nominal, as I am quite a grammar freak. But if the plot sucks, just say so. Even better, give me some advice on how to make it better. It's the reason we can edit. Just please keep your comments civil, as I won't respond to belligerence.

Good luck everyone. I look forward to reading your stories and continuing my own.