Disclaimer: Bioware owns Mass Effect.

The first few years.

Thursday April 11 2154:

A very pregnant Operations Chief Hannah Shepard walks into the med bay of the SSV New Delhi, a Systems Alliance Cruiser, with the assistance of her husband, Staff Commander Joshua Shepard. Reaching one of the beds, she lies down, and waits for Doctor Karin Chakwas. Hannah grunts as she enters labor. "Push Hannah push!" chants Dr. Chakwas. Hannah grunts and pushes the child into the world. Dr. Chakwas finishes up, and hands the newborn to her mother, "Congratulations Mrs. Shepard, it's a girl!" Hannah Shepard gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with vibrant green eyes, black hair, and a very strong will.

"What are you going name her?" asked Josh.

"Carmiin." Hannah responded.

"That is a beautiful name, honey." Josh said, "Come on, let's go home Mrs. Shepard."

Three years later, in 2157, both Major Josh Shepard and Flight Lieutenant Hannah Shepard are posted to the Shanxi Colony Defense Force Squadron 555.

A severely damaged merchant ship enters Sol. A squadron of fighters and a pair of Heavy Cruisers approached the dormant vessel. Captain Raymond Harm of Alliance Special Forces is aboard the Alliance cruiser Miami. He and his squad are tasked with clearing the unmarked vessel for alliance scientists to analyze the damage.

The external door is jammed from debris, so the squad seals their suits and prepares for an EVA (extra-vehicle activity). They return to the cruiser, disconnect Space Bridge, and exit the airlock.

"Sir, if my readings are correct, the ship will require a 10 sec burst from the port side thruster to remain at this altitude, otherwise it will reenter and crash to the surface of Pluto." As if on cue the port side thrusters began a 10 second burst, stabilizing the orbit of the ship.

"I didn't know that merchant ships had full AI support. Be ready, there may be combatants aboard." Replied Captain Harm.

"Uh sir, I think one of us is aboard." Said a young Corporal.

"Why do you think that Corporal Smith?"

"Because LT. Shepard's fighter is in the aft cargo bay, it also looks fairly damaged and it is missing all of its torpedoes-like they were launched."

"Alliance Control, this Captain Harm of Alliance QRF, there is a crashed Alliance Fighter in one of the cargo bays. It is missing its armament, and it has the markings of the Shanxi Colony Defense Force. Have you received any distress or mayday calls?"

"Captain Harm, Alliance Control, no we have received no alerts from that colony, let alone that sector."

"Corporal Smith, can we enter the ship through that cargo bay?" asked the commander.

"Yes Sir." Replied the corporal.

"Then let's get in. The marine inside may be injured, so watch out.

Minutes later the squad had the majority of the vessel cleared, all that remained was the bridge, where thermal imaging picked up two targets, one in the helmsman seat, the other writhing on the floor.

"Stack up!" whispered the Captain through the comms. "Waters prepare to breach; everyone else, on me."

3.24 seconds later the squad had stabilized the Alliance Marine, and had stopped the bleeding on the unknown enemy combatant.

"Alliance Control, this is Captain Harm, the vessel is clear, we require medevac for Alliance Flight Lieutenant Hannah 'Gunz' Shepard, and an unknown alien. The scientists are welcome to board, although you might want to prepare them for what they are about to see. The entire crew, save one, asphyxiated when the ship left atmo, the other member, at least what is left of him was sliced in half when a supporting girder fell from the ceiling. It is really bad out here." Stated Captain Harm.

"Captain Harm, roger that, the scientists are boarding now. They will require an escort so do not disembark." Came the radio.

"Alliance Control, over and out." Harm replied.

Med bay, SSV Midway, Alliance 2nd fleet, in orbit of Charon Relay

"What is today's date?" Shepard asked.

"Ok you are in the med bay of the SSV Midway…" The captain began.

"Today's date SIR!" Shepard ordered.

"July 11 2157, why is that so important to you?"

"I need to speak with Alliance Command NOW!" Shepard interrupted.

A moment later a glass wall blackened and a live feed from Alliance Command on Mars came on.

"You requested a video call, Lieutenant?" asked Admiral Drescher.

"Approximatley 65 hours ago I escaped the colony of Shanxi, an enemy race calling themselves Turians arrived in orbit and settled in for an orbital siege. They referenced a relay we tried to activate, uh 314. They also said it was against galactic law, and being the enforcers of the galaxy, it was their duty to stop us, only their version of stop us is kill everybody. One of them said before my husband, an N7 Major, and I subdued him. We tied him up real good and loaded him into the cargo hold in my fighter. The rest of my squadron took off shortly before they entered our airspace, so they were able to intercept them. But a single squadron of fighters doesn't stand a chance against a dreadnought. We took down a pair of cruisers, and were heading to the armory to resupply when they bombarded it, so all we were left with was our laser packs, and those were running low. My CO gave me the go ahead to try and send for back up. The merchant ship I, well "boarded" was on a resupply mission; unfortunately since they are unarmed, and unshielded it didn't stand a chance against an invasion force. Honestly I didn't think I would even make the jump, the ship was so damaged, I thought that it would break up the moment it entered the relay. Regardless, we need to send the fleet in, there is only a small military population, with limited supplies in that colony, they can't hold out for long." The Lieutenant replied.

Alliance Naval Command, SSV Broad Peak, in orbit of the Mars Space dock

"All Combat Officers from the Second Fleet please report to the briefing room." The intercom blurted.

"You fine officers are about to retake the fortified outpost known as Shanxi from an extremely hostile alien species. Intel from a survivor of the protection fleet surrounding the colony, and medical scans from the prisoner indicates, that the turians, are extremely hostile, and have captured most if not all of our defenses. They are threatening to bombard the colony from orbit, if we don't surrender within the week. Intel suggests that the enemy is heavily armored the only obvious weakness being the heads, so your marines will make calculated and precise shots, hopefully maintaining a high kill to death ratio." Admiral Drescher said. "All Alliance Marines report to their respective vessels for the relay jump."

At that note, hundreds of marines took off from their barracks, their boots clattering against the metal floor of the space dock. They patiently waited for the airlocks to cycle before boarding. The Alliance fleet positioned into a transmittable array, as each Combat Officer addressed their squads. "Men this will be one of the toughest battles you will ever engage in. Alliance Intelligence reports indicate the hostile aliens have an incredibly tough organic armor augmented by ablative armor suit with kinetic barriers. Reports also indicate that their weapons are at least on par with our technologies. They fight in organized tactical groups, with an obvious and distinct chain of command, their commanders seem to flaunt by wearing bright red armor, while their troopers wear blue, and grey. We believe that their technicians and engineers are in blue, while the soldiers are wearing grey. Therefore, your first priority is to take out their command structure. Alliance scouting drones have marked targets for an N7 infiltration teams.

"What is the plan Captain?" asked Lieutenant Enfield.

"We will be performing HALO jumps to the planets surface, where we will take out a pre-determined HVT and restore three Anti-Aerospace Artillery batteries to Alliance control. The SSV Midway (frigate), SSV El Alamein (frigate), SSV Marathon (frigate), and SSV Waterloo (frigate), will land on the planet's surface about 100 miles from the garrison, where we will begin to assault their rear flanks in M-35 Mako's taking out supply lines, and retreaters. The SSV Broad Peak (dreadnought), with the SSV Houston (cruiser), and SSV Los Angeles (cruiser), will be on carrier escort duty for the SSV Nikola Tesla, will be watching the relay for possible reinforcements.

Aboard the SSV Midway

"All members of the 1st infiltration unit N7 division, please report to the hangar bay for immediate deployment." The intercom warbled.

The interior of the Midway's cargo bay turned green, as the green light for the jump was given. The five man team leapt out of the ship. They activated their thermal shielding(a modified tech armor) that allowed their hardsuits to survive reentry, 1000 feet AGL they activated mass effect fields and softly touched down. Engaging their tactical cloaks, the squad quickly advanced to the first of three hacked AAA turrets. 4000 meters out, Harm halted his squad, dropped to the prone position, and pulled a suppressed M-777 Dragon Anti-materiel rifle off its mag-sling. The rifle expanded with a metallic whoosh, and the range-finding scope powered up.

"So what do think of the puny insects that walked this rock?" asked Technician Centorus, General Kryrik's personal guard.

"They fought well which shows strength, but they surrendered which shows weakness, so I would place them in the …" phhht, "Kryrik? General Kryrik has…" phhht

The instant the second alien absorbed the hyper-velocity round, Captain Harm had already stowed his rifle and was rising from the dense foliage, the remaining four men jumped up and took off after their CO. Captain Harm tracked his assault rifle left and right, and engaging targets of opportunity around the complex before breaching the door to the control room. "Corporal Terna, get to work, we'll cover you." Shouted Captain Harm.

Corporal Terna powered up her Omni-tool, and took back control of the AAA's VI interface. Changing its targeting parameters to engage the enemy vessels. Tower 1 is ours again SIR! Replied the Corporal.

"The next tower is at 268 degrees Northwest, and 10 km away Sir!" Corporal Strong stated in anticipation to his CO's instruction.

"Move out men!" The squad slid into the inky darkness and activated their tactical cloaks.

Once again, the Captain held his fist into the air, halting his squad, and focused the zoom feature on his HUD. The targeting VI did not pick up and significant thermal signatures. Shepard put his squad on high alert, "they may have thermal emission sinks built into their armor, be careful, and activate your cloaks." With Harm's squad hanging back on the top of the rise covering the Captain, he slowly crept into the control room, and finding three slain enemies, he radioed command. "Alliance Command, this is 1st infiltration unit, we have discovered multiple dead enemies, all ripped apart by some sort of molecular field, there may be other parties on our planet."

"Understood Captain, we will relay your findings to all ground teams, and Alliance scientists. " Alliance Command replied. "Terna, get down here and relinquish control of this AAA, and let's get the last one." Captain Harm said.

"Yes Sir," replied the corporal, "done, turret is engaging enemy vessels as we speak."

"Strong, next target?" asked Shepard.

"026 degrees North, and 75 kms away Sir!" Corporal Strong responded.

"Ok, that's a little far to walk, see if we can hitch a ride on a tram or Mako." Replied Harm.

"Sir, there is a supply train currently docked at this AAA tower, however the VI controller has been destroyed by gunfire. I can manually take control of it; it goes to the transport terminal." Strong stated.

"How close does it get to the third tower?" asked the Captain.

"Uh, 2.6 kms Sir." Replied the corporal.

"Let's move," barked the Captain.

15 minutes later the freight train automatically braked, due to debris on the track. The Captain looked at the damage and the distance remaining to the tower, it was still 40 mi away.

"This is Major Joshua Shepard, of Alliance Special forces, does anybody copy?"

"This is Captain Raymond Harm of the 1st infiltration unit N7 division. What do you need sir?"

"I'm the only military survivor off the occupation, and I have my baby girl with me. I blocked the tracks to force the train to stop. I'm exhausted and my girl needs to get to safety, can you guys get a Mako down here to extract us?"

"SSV Midway, this is Captain Harm, 1st infiltration team, we have one tower left, but it is 40 mi away, can you do a stealth drop with your Mako? I also need a full set of armor fitted for Major Josh Shepard and weapons. And can you pass me on to Alliance Command?"

"Roger that, Midway out."

"Captain Harm, this is Alliance Command, you requested a video call?"

Several minutes later, a Mako rolled up to their position, and Lieutenant Haas climbed out carrying a set of armor, handing it to Major Shepard. "Here you go, the gunny had it fitted to your specs. "

"Yes, there is someone down here that is brutally assaulting the enemy, they have a miniature disruptor torpedo launcher,-it literally tears apart the body. We have linked up with Major Shepard, his daughter is safe inside the Mako. Intel dropped the ball sir! We had no idea what we were facing up against down here."

"Sir?," Major Shepard asked the Captain, "May I take over as CO?"

"Yes Major, my men and I have no problem SIR, and might I add you are a legend in the Spec Ops community." "Everybody onboard the Mako, we're leaving for the defense tower, right now, and I'm driving." Stated Shepard.

20 minutes later, the Mako screeched to a halt just shy of the tower. The squad, including Major Shepard, leapt out of the Mako, and stormed up to the towers control room, only to find the same grisly scene, as the last tower. Three aliens, their armor vaporized, their bodies smoking, only this time they caught the perpetrator. Silently they all engaged their cloaks, and surrounded the turian, only this one had a black flame surrounding him. The flame-like energy was surrounding a fifth turian, and holding him up against the wall. Shepard slowly approached the interrogator, silently raising his M7 to its head.

"Stop what you are doing immediately," the cloak fading off his armor. The turian pivoted the blackish flame growing more intense.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the soldier who is killing my brothers." The turian said.

"It wasn't only me, you alien scum. I saw what you did to those turians at the second tower." Harm responded.

The turian raised one of his hands, and Commander Harm fell to his knees, Shepard lashed out, firing at the turian who had a remarkably strong shield, before it faded. The turian lifted his hand again and Major Shepard flew across the room and hit the wall with a thud, leaving a descent sized dent, before his body slumped to the ground.

"What the fuck...argh…are you doing to me…rargh," Harm grunted through clenched teeth. Blood started to flow from his eyes and ears as he fought the neural assault. Shepard groggily woke up, and ran towards the turian. The turian, not expecting any movement from Shepard wasn't anticipating a knife in the throat from an unconscious soldier. The remnant of the squad finally reached the tower, where corporal Terna hacked the turret controls, and returned it to the Alliance. Corporal Terna approached Major Shepard.

"Sir, what happened to Captain Harm?"

"The turian did something to his head, just before he went unconscious, he was grasping his head, like it was being crushed. They all ran over to Harm finding that he was unconscious. They grabbed the turian-for medical studies, and Harm's body for medevac.

"This is Major Shepard, and the remainder of the 1st infiltration team, Captain Harm has blacked out, he has severe brain trauma, and requires immediate medical attention. We have the body of a turian, who died from some form of energy attack. The defense towers are down, bring the rain!" Shepard said with vengeance in his voice.

Moments later, the Alliance 2nd fleet penetrated the atmosphere, their disruptor torpedoes, and spinally mounted mass-accelerators' demolishing the invading turian fleet. The air dropped Mako's eliminated any turian ground resistance.

A few remaining ships in orbit detected the single massive dreadnought emerge from the mass relay. A message was transmitted across all frequencies, including the encrypted Alliance Command frequencies.

"This is the Dreadnought Destiny Ascension, we have enough firepower to destroy your planet, and all ships here. We represent a galactic governing body known as the Citadel Council, all troops, both ally, and enemy stand down. We mean you no harm. We are the Asari, you have already been acquainted with the Turians, and these are the Salarians. If your flagship, and remaining vessels, will follow us to the serpent nebula, we will engage in peace talks, in a neutral area."

"Who the hell? Ok, we will follow you, but the Turians attacked us, on our own territory, we demand reparations, for the loss of so many innocent civilian lives. There was one fighter squadron based here, along with multiple merchant vessels in orbit waiting to resupply."

"We understand, but truth be told more Turians were killed than humans, during this brief misunderstanding. We are truly sorry for your loss, and talks will proceed as planned."

Med bay of the SSV Midway, Alliance 2nd fleet, travelling to the serpent nebula via relay

The door to the med bay of the SSV midway hisses open, 3 year old Carmiin Shepard walked in with her hands on her hips, and an angry scowl on her face. "You guys," she started, "are not supposed to get hurt!" directing this towards her parents, both who lay in the reclined position in the med bay.

"Why do you have to be the badass? Huh, rush in and save the day. You almost got killed. And you, mom, thanks for going for help. Daddy and I probably would not have made it if you didn't get help." ranted Carmiin.

~end of prologue~