Shepard lay on the cold hard floor of her cabin, an empty bottle of booze and a datapad with the word 'REAPERS' blinking in bright red text lay next to her face as she snored away. She was awoken by the boom of Liara's voice over the intercom.
"Shepard, something urgent has come up. I'm coming up to your cabin now."
"Uggghhh... just make sure not to make too much noise when you come in."
Moments later, Liara stood over Shepard with her arms crossed and a disappointed look on her face.
"Shepard, you've been drinking again?"
"Zzzz... oh geez Liara. Didn't even see you there," Shepard said, peeling her drool covered face off the floor.
Liara sighed as she helped the tipsy Commander off the ground and onto the couch.
"I know this war is taking a toll on you, but the answer to winning it isn't going to be found at the bottom of a bottle."
"You sure about that," Shepard scoffed as she reached for another off the side table.
Liara smacked her hand away.
"Shepard, this is serious. The Council needs to see you immediately. They say that they may have found the answer to completing the Crucible."
"Well if they say the answer to the Crucible fell on their doorstep, then I guess we gotta go right over."
"No, we need to go because it's the Council. Now come on, let's get you all cleaned up and put in your dress uniform."
Shepard groaned.
A few hours later the Normandy had docked on the Citadel. Shepard stood behind Joker as Admiral Hackett's face appeared on video.
"Hackett here. The Council and I are requesting permission to come aboard."
"Permission granted. Joker, send them to the war room. Liara and I will be waiting."
"Roger, Commander. Oh, and maybe you might want to take a few breath mints. I can smell booze on your breath from a mile away."
"You say that with the assumption that I care." Shepard took a sip from a flask as she headed to the war room.
Everyone of note gathered together in the war room.
"You had something to show me," Shepard slurred.
Hackett, visibly annoyed by Shepard's clear drunkenness loudly cleared his throat as he started.
"As work on the Crucible progresses it's clear that it's unable to be finished without the Catalyst. Very recently, an 'unnamed informant' within Cerberus contacted us with some crucial information."
"Oh so when I work with Cerberus, totally not okay, throw the book at me. But aaaaall of a sudden the fate of the galaxy is at stake and eeeeverything goes out the window. Oh wait, the fate of the galaxy has BEEN at stake! But because it's the Council doing it, it's -"
"Shepard!" Liara gave her a fierce elbow to the rib. The Council exchanged annoyed glances and Hackett cleared his throat even louder this time before continuing.
"As I was saying, our 'informant' who left Cerberus some time ago came to us with crucial information. She states that the answer to the Catalyst likely lies not in a what, but a who. I believe they'll be able to explain it a lot better than myself."
Everyone heard footsteps and turned to see Miranda Lawson entering the room.
"Good day everyone. Shall I begin?"
Hackett waved his hand toward the console.
"Good to see you in person, Miranda," Shepard greeted.
"Likewise, Commander." Miranda tapped her Omni-tool and a hologram of the galaxy appeared over the table. "Shortly before I left Cerberus, I sifted through the Illusive Man's top secret files for anything I could use to my advantage upon my fleeing. I noticed something he'd been keeping track of the past few years that only seemed of relevance once the Crucible had been discovered." She tapped her Omni-tool and all of the star clusters under attack by Reapers lit up green. "These here are places where large energy pulses could be detected prior to Reaper invasion. Whatever left these large energy pulses has the ability to travel from place to place in the blink of an eye, hence the trail that was left behind."
Shepard made a circular motion with her had as if to tell Miranda to get to the point. She angrily glanced back at Shepard before continuing.
"As I was saying, upon extrapolating a pattern, it was evidenced that these pulses coincided with the appearance of a woman who was clearly not of this world." A picture of an Ashen haired woman with emerald green eyes and a scar across her cheek appeared on the hologram.
"What makes you assume she's not of this world? Is it the sword hanging off her waist, because she could be one of those Cerberus phantoms."
Liara jabbed Shepard in the rib again before nodding toward Miranda for her to continue.
"We assume the woman is not of this world because we've tracked her pattern to what appears to be another universe. One where people ride on horses and fight with magic. It's all quite unbelievable."
Shepard took a hefty sip from her flask when she assumed no one was looking.
"Sounds pretty *belch* unbelievable to me at least. So how is this supposed to help us with the catalyst again?"
"If this woman indeed has the ability to travel between space and time then interacting with the Crucible could cause the gate to another world to open, where we'll send the Reapers."
"So we get rid of them by making them someone else in another world's problem?"
"Not exactly. The world we plan to send them to is unpopulated. Their sentient species went extinct long ago."
Shepard belched loudly. "Well I'm sold. So what we just gonna fly over there or something, pick her up and say 'hey, you don't know us, but please save us from certain death', because if that doesn't work we can always use the bound and gag method."
Liara kicked Shepard in the side of the knee almost sending her tumbling to the floor.
Councilor Tevos stepped up to speak. "Shepard, we've come up with a plan for you to take a trip to this... other world. With a lot of eezo and a little hope, we should be able create a pulse large enough to transport your ship there, but you won't have enough resources to get back. You'll have to rely on finding this woman. She will be the key to you getting home, and to saving ours."
"You really think going by ship is the best idea? I mean we're literally dealing with a world that doesn't have computers and where people probably still get scurvy. I don't know how kindly they'd take to us showing up with blue aliens with tentacle heads and bird people."
"You'll just have to make do, Shepard. You've always been known to find a way where there is none. Good luck to you, Commander." The Asari Councilor bowed as everyone except Miranda left the ship.
"You're staying behind?"
"I traded the information with the Council in exchange for a place on the mission. I'll make myself comfortable somewhere on the ship."
"Whatever." Shepard took a sip from her flask as she exited the room.
A couple of days later, the crew of the Normandy was gathered at the Citadel with the Council and Admiral Hackett.
"Have all the preparations been made," Shepard asked.
"Everything is in place. In a few hours we'll be sending you off to another universe. If you make it, you'll be the first in our recorded history to do so," stated Councilor Tevos. "Would you like to make a speech?"
"Not really."
Everyone in the room gave Shepard an angry glance. She sighed.
"Fine." Councilor Tevos put a recorder to her face. Shepard looked at the hopeful faces that had gathered around the room and took a deep breath before beginning.
"We are travelers, constantly moving forward, and looking back, alone, and as one. We have no choice but to try, for our insatiable curiosity, for our fear of what should happen if we don't. We will say goodbye, and you will look back one last time and know, that wherever you go, we will be with you. This is Commander Shepard, signing off."
The room was silent for a moment before everyone burst into applause. The Councilor wiped a tear from under her eye. "Commander that... that was beautiful."
Shepard belched loudly in response. "I bet. Let's get this show on the road."
As Shepard and the crew headed toward the docking bay, they were stopped by a familiar face.
"Grunt?"
"Heh heh heh. I heard about the little adventure you're all planning to go on. You're about to make history, Shepard. Thought you might have some space for a Krogan on board."
"Asari, Turian, Quarian, Prothean, a robot, Miranda, Ashley, mm a Krogan couldn't hurt any worse I suppose. Let's go."
"Heh heh, this is gonna be fun."
Shepard stood between Joker and Edi on the bridge.
"Looks like the Normandy's geared up for her big cross universe adventure. You ready, Commander?"
"We don't even know what to expect down there. We land on this new universe and what happens? They try to burn us at the stake or throw our heads in a guillotine? Or they curse us and turn us into werewolves? I just don't see this going well."
"What do you think EDI," Joker asked.
"Normandy taking off in 3...2..." she pressed the button, sending the crew to another world.