"Commander Shepard. Oh, his first name is on the records, but he never used it. Told me once that he gave it up after Mindoir. That Jason was the child who still had a family. That Shepard was the man who had seen the galaxy at its worst, and had sworn to make it a better place...
Well, he did that and more on Elysium. He was technically on leave at the time, but that didn't stop him from organising a civilian resistance, uniting with security forces, evacuating everyone to the space-port and holding it against the odds. Even plugged a breach single-handed when a squad of Batarians brought in heavy weapons.
And then the Eden Prime War. I wasn't surprised when he became the First Human Spectre. Later in that war, I also wasn't surprised to learn that, even though Saren had taken the Citadel, Shepard was hot on his heels. And he did it. He reactivated the Mass Relays. He got the arms open. He saved the Council. And although many of us didn't realise it back then, he saved galactic civilisation from the Reapers. And that was just the first time.
Many of you were here four years ago, the last time I spoke at a funeral in his name. And yes, I've repeated myself a bit already. And no, having done this once before doesn't ease the pain.
The circumstances regarding Shepard's return are still classified. Alliance scientists are still trying to figure it all out - although at the moment, they do have more important concerns. What I can reveal is that, about a year before the Reaper Invasion, when there were many human colonies going dark in the Traverse, rumours of Collector sightings and abductions... Well Shepard stopped them. Assembled a team of specialists to attack through the Omega-4 relay, and brought them all back alive. Again, I wasn't surprised when I learnt that.
Shepard always viewed combat with an almost surgical sense. Timing his strikes, firing from a range, and from the shadows. One of the best snipers I ever met, and someone who avoided collateral damage at all costs. If you had an impossible mission, you asked Shepard to do it. And he never complained, never refused, and, in the end, never failed. The destruction of the Bahak system is the one time I've ever known him cause collateral - and in that case, he really had no choice, and I doubt that he ever forgave himself.
We've all heard his heroics during the Reaper War. The Genophage. Rannoch. And in the end, when it came down to one final battle, one final push, he was at the tip of the spear. He was pivot on which it all turned.
Not one of us knows what truly happened in the Crucible Event. His body was never found. To the best of my knowledge, I was the last person to ever speak to him - and even then, I could tell that he was struggling, but that he wouldn't give up. And he pulled it off, one last time.
We don't know what it did, but the Crucible activated. Knocked out the Mass Relays. Left the Reapers untouched... but changed. And they repaired the Mass Relays... and then just left. And in the six months since then, they've remained unheard of and unseen. Maybe they are still out there, planning another attack... But I don't think so.
Commander Shepard beat them. I don't know how. I doubt that I ever will. But he remains the greatest soldier - the greatest man - that I have ever known."
Admiral Steven Hackett - The Funeral of Commander Shepard - 2187
Six months after the Crucible Event. Two weeks after the return of the Normandy SR2.