I wrote this as a prologue to the real story, and I've already written the first chapter, so I'll probably post it when I'm done writing chapter two. This is a reinterpretation of the crappy ending of the third game, and it's based in part on the fan-created ending. It's amazing how something created by a fan, cobbled together through editing (and the use of previously unrelated scenes, and amateur voice acting) is so much better than the dreck presented to us by the actual game makers...
MASS EFFECT
HOME AND FAMILY
"The Crucible"
Shepard made her way into the dark halls of the devastated innards of the Citadel. Everywhere, signs of death and destruction littered the area. Everything was in decay, heavy with the sour odor of blood and burnt-out machinery. Shepard felt horrible at the moment, though she wondered how much of the pain was being blocked by the numbness from her injuries...
When she finally arrived at some kind of control room, and the atmosphere suddenly felt heavy around Shepard as stepped over the threshold. The Commander saw Anderson, standing in the middle of the illuminated chamber, stiff and awkward, clearly held by some unseen power.
"Shepard..." He managed to say, a tremble in his deep voice. The Admiral looked like hell, battered and bloody, as bad as she felt at the moment.
"...Anderson?" She countered after a moment, even more confused.
"Ah, so good of you to join us, Commander." A familiar voice began.
Shepard turned to see the Illusive Man approaching them. It took a moment, in her current stat, but she realized he looked like a Husk. It was as if his eyes were the source of the corruption- sprouting out and burning away at the flesh, like the strands of a spider's web. Dark lines, interspersed with bits of visible glowing technology, scarred the sides of his face- across his cheeks and his lower jaw and mouth- and down his neck and chest, until they vanished under his wrinkled shirt and suit jacket.
He smiled at her, which only made the effect even more macabre- lines forming in his weathered skin as his cheeks pulled tight, his lips curving into an unnatural rictus grin. Suddenly, it wasn't just a Husk that he reminded her of, with his gray skin and wrinkled clothes... It was as if he'd died and come back to life a day later, with the intricacies of the body all wrong from disuse.
"I underestimated you, Shepard... But no longer." He began. "It's over, I won't allow you to endanger everything that I've worked so hard to realize." He continued. "It's amazing, there's power in this place, power enough to control even the Reapers!" The man exclaimed. "You can feel it too, can't you?"
Shepard strained under the oppressive atmosphere. "If you're so damn powerful... then why haven't you killed us already and gotten on with whatever the hell it is your planning?"
"Because I need you to understand." The Illusive Man replied, smirking. "Of all the people, Shepard, you should appreciate what I'm doing here." He explained. "Even with all the implants it took to bring you back, you're still too... human to appreciate it." He continued. "Before we started Project Lazarus, we didn't know if we could safely integrate Reaper tech into a human without compromising them..."
"After all we'd learned, there were still risks..." He paused. "Even Kai Leng wasn't a total success... I'd had such high hopes for him, but he was already showing early signs of deterioration. He was eager and driven, but he didn't have the will of a leader- like you and I- to resist the effects."
"You let yourself be compromised, just like Saren..." Shepard countered. "Once you open yourself to them in any way, you belong to the Reapers."
"No, I'm nothing like Saren... He chose to serve them." The Illusive Man replied. "My mind remains my own... I told you that Cerberus was more than just an organization, it's an idea... And so the idea of Cerberus lives on all of us who serve Humanity."
"Bullshit! Don't listen to him!" Anderson exclaimed.
The Illusive Man turned to him with a scornful look. "And just who should she listen to then, you?" He asked him in a low tone. "You're nothing more than a burnt out soldier, set in his ways, only able to see things from down the barrel of a gun." He commented in a mocking tone. "No, this is about power... Power to change the destiny of humanity."
"And you'd risk all of humanity for the sake of a theory?" Shepard asked.
"When Humanity first discovered Prothian technology on Mars, there were those who scared of it, who wanted to destroy it." The Illusive Man replied. "And look at us now, using that technology advanced the human race by decades..." He continued. "And now, through the use of the Reapers, Humanity will emerge as the unchallenged power of the Galaxy!"
"Look at you, you're indoctrinated!" Anderson snapped angrily. "How many humans have died because of you- thousands, millions?" He asked with effort. "You're lying to yourself!"
"I'm the one in control, not the Reapers, I will control them!"
"You've betrayed humanity, for your own selfish ambitions, and now you're about to doom the entire human race to extinction!" Anderson declared.
"Shut up!"
"Maybe, if you're lucky, the next cycle will talk about you... About the man who doomed all of galactic civilization to destruction because of his own ego!" Anderson mocked, his voice horse.
"Enough!" The Illusive Man bellowed, grabbing the sides of his head as he angrily repeated the word again and again, as if chanting to himself. "No! No! I- I'm the one in control! I've sacrificed everything to get to this point, and I won't let anyone stop me!"
He turned to Shepard, seething, and the injured woman felt her arm gripped by an unseen force, aiming her pistol at Anderson, then as her finger was forced around the trigger and pulled it.
*BANG!*
Anderson grunted in pain, staggered, and fell to the floor as the force controlling Shepard began to ebb and recede. She watched helplessly, devastated as the Illusive man knelt down and retrieved Anderson's sidearm and turned to glare at Shepard. "Now Commander... It's just the two of us. I had to silence your friend, but I hope I don't have to do the same thing to you."
Shepard exhaled. "You're pathetic... You've destroyed more human lives than any alien ever has, you destroyed the organization you built, and you destroyed everything that makes you human... And what do you have to show for it- nothing." She rasped. "It's over, you've failed... And now, the human race is going to pay for your failure." She finished, tiredly.
"No, you're wrong- you're the failure!" He countered angrily, becoming unfocused as he descended into an angry rant. "You're nothing but an insig-"
*BANG!*
The Illusive Man staggered back, hunched over and gasping, black oily "blood" seeping from the bullet wound in his chest. Shepard advanced, a grim look on her face- their eyes meeting for an instant as he looked up to her- as she pulled the trigger again.
*BANG!*
The second shot hit the man dead center- knocking him down and reducing him to a crumpled heap on the floor. Shepard appeared over him, as he reached up, his outstretched hand trembling. "No... It can't end, not like this..." He gasped out, his glowing eyes flickering. "Humanity, it needs..."
She placed her boot on his chest. "No, it doesn't." Shepard interrupted. "It's over- you're finished, and Cerberus dies with you." She added, pointing the gun down at him. "Cerberus is not Humanity... Just as Mankind doesn't need a 'watchdog'... We forge our own path."
*BANG!*
The shot pierced his heart, more of the black blood spilling out and staining his shirt a dark gray color as he gasped for breath. "You'll never understand... The Galaxy doesn't exist to be ruled over, its there to be explored and learned from... by all races, all living things." Shepard lamented.
His eyes dimmed and his body went slack. Shepard lowered the pistol and tossed it aside, then turned to look at the glowing control panel situated at the head of the room. She closed her eyes, struggling to stay upright and alert as she made her way over the controls.
Shepard leaned over the control panel, shaking her head and blinking her eyes, trying to focus.
"Commander, do you read me?" Hackett's voice crackled over the intercom. "Come in, Shepard, the Crucible isn't doing anything. Everything's ground to a halt."
She snapped to attention, just as the transmission faded. "No, dammit Jane, you've come to far to crap out in the final moment." Shepard reprimanded herself. "I made a promise... I just hafta finish up here and then... Then I can settle down a nice beach somewhere... and live off the royalties from the vids."
The redhead smirked, a faint chuckle escaping her lips. Just then, everything around seemed to come to life as massive panels opened up, the circular chamber vanishing to reveal a sprawling, cathedral-like center around her. As Shepard turned around, trying to take in the change in her surroundings, a small, ghost-like form appeared before her...
"What... the fuck?"
(- End of Prologue -)
As stated in the opening comments, this is only the prologue to a larger story. I'll get into the details more in the next chapter- about why I did this- but for now, I hope you guys will stick around for the real first chapter- when thing really start moving.