Taking Control
London, England
Ground Zero
No Man's Land
Speaking to my mentor
Admiral David Anderson
For possibly the last time
Pick your squad
He tells me
I choose
Garrus Vakarian
The best damn Turian soldier
And the closest I have to a brother
And the love of my life
Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams
Wipe everything out
Anderson's orders are for our last stand
So many of these goddamn Brutes, Banshees and Harvesters
But we burst through against all odds
So near to the conduit to the Citadel
I order Ash and Garrus to stay behind
Garrus screams
Shepard, that's suicide!
I know, but it's the only way
And Ashley
See you on the other side
They both tell me
It's been an honor serving under my leadership
So I join up with the Hammer ground forces
We're getting nearer to the conduit
But then
Harbinger!
Wiping out the Hammer ground forces entirely
And the only one left standing is me
Commander Lee John Shepard
Bleeding bad
Armor's torn apart
But I reach the Citadel
But it's not the Citadel I know
Dead bodies all over the show
Approaching a large room
A control room
Someone's already there
It's Admiral Anderson!
He's in a worse state than me
We can't move
Who's got us stuck like this?
The Illusive Man
Fully indoctrinated by the Reapers
Forcing me to shoot Anderson in the gut
Suddenly
A flashback
This is like Saren Arterius all over again!
Fight the indoctrination
I encourage him
He points the gun at his temple
Then BLAM!
Pulling the trigger
I slump next to Anderson
His last words before drawing his last breath
"I'm proud of you, son."
Tears welling down my face
Hackett radios in and tells me it's something on my end
"What do you need me to do?"
A lift up to a bigger room
Wake up
The boy
The boy back on Earth I couldn't save
And he haunts my dreams whenever I lose a friend
He reveals that he is the Catalyst
He tells me that the problem is not synthetic but organic
The created destroying their creators
So he gives me 3 choices
Destroy the Reapers and all synthetic life
No, I can't do that
Not so soon after ending the geth-quarian conflict
And take EDI away from Joker
Or merge organic life with synthetic life
Can't do that either
Forcing it on everyone
Taking away all individuality
So I'm down to only one option
Taking control of the Reapers
Unlike The Illusive Man
I have the willpower after absorbing so many Prothean beacons
I take hold of both handles
A great pain shoots through my body
Goodbye to all of my friends
Liara, my Asari soulmate
Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the best damn Alliance helmsman
Garrus, my Turian brother
Kaidan, the bravest biotic in the Alliance
Wrex, my Krogan brother
Tali'Zorah, the best damn Quarian engineer
Anderson, my mentor and father figure
Miranda, ex-Cerberus agent who went to any length to protect her sister from their controlling father
Jacob, a good man who stepped out of his father's shadow to be a better father than Ronald ever was
Jack, loose cannon psychotic biotic to a damn good biotic teacher at Grissom Academy
Mordin, the best medic/scientist with a taste for the theatre
Grunt, my other Krogan brother
Samara, another kindred spirit much like Liara
Zaeed, a damn good merc with plenty of war stories to share
Kasumi, the loveable rogue who can get away with anything even stealing Shepard's best heavy pistol
Thane, the best Drell assassin and a true friend
Legion, from 1,183 programs to an individual
James, a damn good soldier cut from the same cloth as Shepard
Javik, the last living Prothean and a great soldier
And finally, Ashley
Friend, lover and great soldier.