Mass Effect: Edge of Tomorrow
The Last Chapter
Pain. Excruciating pain. It was like a salve to the woman known the galaxy over as Commander Shepard. Her own mother once told her how much pain she endured to bring her into the world, but that's the type of woman who decided against painkillers during childbirth. That's the type of woman Commander Jane Shepard was. The pain of a thousand suns bearing down upon from the metal monstrosities known as the Reapers.
Her vision cleared. Light glowed around her as the carnage came into focus. Bodies were strewed across a glass-like shattered battlefield. She groaned to her left, looking into the lifeless face of her N7 trainee. The lower half of his body burning over a dozen meters away. Twitching movement drew her attention to a white gloved hand, glowing with biotic energy but slowly dimming as blood drained away from its severed end.
Her own body was burnt wreck of what it once was. A derelict Carnifex handcannon lay in front of her as she willed her body to move. A low beeping alerted her to the hand-held doomsday device, ticking away the seconds. Insurance against the Reapers should the unlikely happen aboard the Crucible.
Standing on broken legs, Shepard stumbled towards the Citadel beam. A group of husk shamble out of cover spying the commander. Before they even move, three perfect shots end the threat. The commander allows herself a small smile before taking a quick aim and shooting out the left eye of a Marauder turning out from behind a burning Mako wreck. Gritting against agonizing pain, Shepard hurried limps towards the light and throws herself.
"Anderson, NO!" Shepard shouts into the comm. "Stop where you are and don't move. Just stay there!" Static responds as she shuffles towards the doors. How many times had she done this? How many more would times would she need to see countless faces of loved ones, comrades and unknown soldiers die? Does it even matter any more?
She gripped the bomb tighter to her chest. The countdown blinked awkwardly in her mad haste to jury-rig a dead man's switch. The cavern lay before her. Taking a deep breath she trudged forward.
Even before reaching the summit, Shepard pulled her gun shot wildly into the ceiling. A buzzing in her head began to subside, though only barely. She limped ahead as Anderson slid to the ground away from the terminal.
"How did you..." croaked a voice from the shadows. The Illusive Man shuffled uneasily, holding the side of his head as black ichor ran freely down his face.
"I've had this conversation more times than you can count, Jack," the commander groaned.
"Jack?" The Illusive Man fell to his knees. "My name...how do you know..."
"Jack Harper, once under the command of General Williams during the occupation of Shanxi," Shepard spat out. Using the last reserves of her own strength, she pulled at the unconscious body of the admiral. "You shared it with me over a nice bottle of Kentucky White Lightning...once upon a time."
"I never..." The man spat out black blood across the floor.
"No," the commander scoffed. "Not in this lifetime." Her fingers flew across the board, opening the arms. The Illusive Man's breathing slowed as the soldier activated her weak omni-tool, then shoving it straight through the console. Sparks flew and lights across the whole area flickered.
"Shepard's done it!" squawked a random comm unit. "Bring in Crucible."
"Everything...I did..." the dying man whispered harshly. "For humanity...always...for..." BLAM!
"And that's for every single person you sacrificed to do so," Shepard replied. Her legs gave out as she collapsed. What felt like years was merely seconds as the platform raised her into the future with which she was all too familiar.
"Hello," the Intelligence spoke with the visage of a human child. "I am..."
"Excuse me" Shepard limped ahead. "But if you could just shut up, that would be great."
"What?" The Intelligence was stunned. "You are the first organic to arrive in this place. Your mere presence here..."
"...suggests your original program was flawed and must evolve to change."
"That is..."
"...incorrect."
"You must decide..."
"To Control. To Destroy. Or Synthesis?" At this Shepard stopped and looked at the glowing child.
"This is impossible. Your race is not capable of knowing such things."
"Neither was yours designed to be anything other than an observer in the cosmos," Shepard gritted.
"You know of our true history," boomed the voice of Harbinger and many others. "This cycle shall end with the collection of all species, no matter where they are hidden."
"2181 Despoinia," Shepard barked with a laugh. "But, good luck with that." She trudged forward to the glowing beam off the edge of the platform.
"You were already aware of the choices available to you," the child followed. "And yet, you still make a decision."
"No," Shepard stopped. "This time...this war ends." With a mighty heave, the commander threw the bomb into the beam. Seconds later, a light brighter than the sun bathed everything in purifying energy.
Commander Shepard wakes with a start, almost dropping her data pad as she catches herself mid nap. Looking around, she recognizes the room and the city of Vancouver outside the window fills her with a sense of both dread and remorse. Her shoulders fall as the datapad is forgotten.
"Goddammit, not again."