A/N: As the summary says, this is going to follow a few adventures I thought Shepard could have during the three year gap in my "Extended" Extended Cut. Before I begin I want to warn you all of one thing. There WILL BE deaths in this series, including some beloved characters from the games. I'm sorry if some of you might not approve of my choices. I don't like the idea of doing it but I feel it is going to be necessary to the story. But that's the beauty of the Mass Effect series. No one has to have the same head-canon of how the series plays out. My stories are just going to be one of potentially infinite ways the series could go after the last game. At any rate, I hope you enjoy this series as much as I am going to enjoy writing it.

Feedback, complimentary or critical, is welcomed.

Special thanks to Berserker79 for allowing me the use of his artwork for the cover image. The original artwork can be found on his deviantart account. Just search for the piece "Mass Effect - Marriage"

Disclaimer: The universe and many of the characters in this story are the creation and property of Bioware and EA games.

PART 1

Inside an office in a secret underground bunker, a figure sat behind a desk scrolling through some images on a datapad. The images featured many individuals of different species. There were some asari, krogan, humans, a turian, and a quarian. When the figure got to an image of a particular human, anger filled their eyes. They wanted to smash the datapad after seeing the image but they were stopped by the sudden ringing sound coming from their comm. terminal.

"It's me," said a male voice that came from the terminal, "phase one is underway. Do you have any final orders?"

"No," the figure responded, "proceed as planned."

"Copy that. I will keep you updated as we progress."

With that said, the call ended and the figure turned their attention back to the image on the datapad. This time instead of their eyes filling with anger, a smile began to form. Afterwards they started laughing.

"It won't be long now," they said.

It had been three months since the end of the Reaper War. The repairs were still ongoing but many major ones had been completed. The most important repair that was recently completed was the mass relays. With the relays repaired, the soldiers who were scattered after the firing of the crucible could return to their home planets. Also the Citadel, the space station that housed the Citadel Council, had been moved back to the Serpent Nebula. The first act the Citadel Council did once peace had been established was to extend invitations to all the species that participated in the war to join the Council. Now every intelligent species in the galaxy holds a seat on the Council. After many millennia of war, all of the races could peacefully co-exist.

Although the galaxy is a more peaceful place following the war, gangs and mercenaries still existed and continued to cause trouble. Fortunately it was nothing that the galaxy's armed forces couldn't handle. For the major security risks, the Council would deploy their Spectre agents.

On board the SSV Normandy, the crew had gathered around the memorial wall on the crew deck. Each one of them had a look of sadness on their face. The person who probably had the saddest look was its commanding officer Captain Shepard. He had hoped that with the Reaper War being over he would finally get a break from having to add a friend's name to the wall. Unfortunately that didn't end up being the case. He looked down at the plaque in his hand. It had the name of the next person to be added to it: Javik.

After gazing into his memory shard and reliving the death of his squad, Javik told Shepard in London that he had only one plan for after the Reaper War was over: to return to the place where his squad was laid to rest and take his own life so that he may join them. When the war ended, he stuck around for a while to see that Shepard had recovered from the injuries he sustained firing the Crucible. Javik then asked Shepard for some shore leave to go "visit some old friends." Shepard knew what friends he was talking about and what he was going to do when he got there but approved the request anyway. Javik had made up his mind and nothing Shepard could have said would change that. True to his word, Javik went to the Cronean Nebula. Once he found his squad's last resting place, he took out his sidearm, pointed it at his head, and pulled the trigger. The last Prothean was dead.

Even though Shepard knew Javik's death was coming, it didn't make it any easier for him to accept it. When he was done looking at the plaque, he placed it up on the memorial wall. He then took a step back and saluted. The rest of the crew did the same. When the salutes were dropped, Shepard dismissed the crew and everyone headed back to their posts. Shepard remained behind to stare at the wall a little longer. The wall just seemed to keep getting fuller every time he looked at it. He prayed that this would be the last name he would have to add for a long time. He was snapped out of his gaze when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

"Are you going to be ok?"

It was his fiancée Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams. After the two of them had gotten engaged, they made requests to both the Alliance and the Council for them to be allowed to continue to serve together on the Normandy. The Alliance couldn't see any reason for them not to allow it. Shepard and Ashley both were among the best soldiers they had and demonstrated incredible teamwork against the Reapers. The Council felt that it seemed only fitting to have their two human Spectres work together. As a result, Ashley remained on the Normandy as the new Executive Officer.

"I think so," Shepard replied, "it might take a while but I'll be all right."

"You know," Ashley said, "I can keep an eye on things if you want to go up to your cabin and rest for a bit."

"Yeah I could use it. Thanks Ash."

The two of them kissed and then Shepard got on the elevator and headed up to his cabin.

The first thing Shepard did when he got up to his cabin was put his Alliance dress uniform back in his closet. Lately it seemed like he almost dreaded putting it on. He preferred to wear his N7 leather jacket around the ship but would wear his dress uniform for important occasions. However, since he had been reinstated back when the Reaper War began, the only important occasions he wore it for were memorials. The only exception being the war summit with the turians, salarians and krogan but even that one was a rough day. The only thing that gave him comfort about his uniform was the fact that he would soon be wearing it on his and Ashley's wedding day.

Once his uniform was put away, Shepard noticed his reflection in the mirror. His scars seemed to be healing really well. He had been severely injured during the final battle against the Reapers. Between the rush to the Citadel beam in London and the firing of the Crucible, he should have been dead. Fortunately Ashley didn't give up hope that he could still be alive and led the team that found him on the Citadel. It had been touch and go but by a miracle Shepard survived. He was on bed rest for a month but had since been back on active duty.

Shepard headed straight for his bed. He gently laid himself down and looked up at the stars through the window on the ceiling. The view always made him smile a little. It used to be that every time he looked out into space he would think about the danger it was in because of the Reapers. Now that the Reapers had been defeated, he could just focus on the beauty of the view. With his smile growing and eyelids closing, Shepard drifted off to sleep.

"Captain," said a voice over the intercom, "are you still awake?"

Shepard's eyes shot back open when he heard the voice. It was Joker, the Normandy's helmsman.

"No thanks to you Joker," he said slightly frustrated.

"Sorry Captain. I really didn't want to disturb you but we have an urgent transmission coming in from the Citadel. Sir it's from Councilor Hackett."

That last sentence made Shepard snap awake. When the war ended, the Council had asked Admiral Steven Hackett to fill humanity's seat in recognition for his role as the commanding officer of the unified fleet that launched the final attack against the Reapers. He was initially hesitant but after a pep talk from Shepard, he agreed. Shepard had great respect for Hackett as a leader and knew he was a perfect fit for the job. If Hackett was calling Shepard, it was about something important and he needed to drop everything to take the call. He shot up from the bed and quickly put on his N7 jacket.

"I'll take it in the comm. room Joker," he said.

"Roger that," Joker replied.

Shepard arrived in the comm. room to be greeted by the projected image of Councilor Hackett. It was an unusual sight seeing Hackett not in his military uniform but his new role as councilor meant a new dress code.

"Good to see you again Captain Shepard," said Hackett.

"You too Councilor," Shepard said, "though I'm probably not a pretty sight right now."

"Yes your helmsman told me about the memorial you had for Javik. I'm sorry for your loss Captain."

"Thank you. What can I do for you sir?"

"We've got a situation brewing with the batarians. Their councilor is concerned that a splinter faction in his government might be planning an attack."

"What makes him think so?"

"As you are aware, the batarian Hegemony was severely decimated by the Reapers. We were fortunate that the few leaders that were left agreed to offer their support for the war effort. They were allowed to join the Council to show our gratitude. With Council support, the Hegemony was starting to come together again. Unfortunately there are some leaders who still hold grudges against the Council and the Alliance. They see joining the Council as a sign of surrender. The councilor is concerned they might launch an attack to force him to withdraw the batarians from the Council."

"Do we know any of the batarians who are in the splinter faction?"

"Yes and that is why I called you. The leader of the group is an old acquaintance of yours."

A chill ran up Shepard's spine. He had crossed paths with many batarian criminals during his time in the Alliance but there was only one who was still alive and only because Shepard had no choice but to let him go.

"Balak," he said through his grit teeth.

"Correct," Hackett said, "he was the highest ranking officer in the Hegemony until he started insisting that with the Reapers gone, the batarians should fight to achieve dominance over the entire galaxy. He said that he only agreed to have his troops join our war effort because the Reapers were the biggest threat to the batarians at the time and he was willing to work with us to defeat them. Fortunately the rest of the batarians didn't agree and removed him from power. Now he talks about getting revenge on his people for betraying him. Recently the councilor got word that Balak might be gathering supplies to follow through with his threat. The Council is tasking you with uncovering his plan and stopping it."

Shepard snapped to attention and saluted, "Yes sir."

"Good luck Captain. Hackett out."