Hey guys! So, we have reached the final battle between Shepard and Saren. Surprise, surprise, I don't have much to say in this author's note, other than I hope you enjoy it and that I had a great time writing it!


Shepard recoiled from the beams of light shooting out of the hatch Ashley had so courteously opened for them. She contorted herself in midair as she tried to determine who could possibly be standing on the side of the tower. Her eyes found Shepard, and her arms waved excitedly as Liara went fishing once again, bringing her back to safety. "You're alive! What the hell happened? I thought you were supposed to stop Saren."

"Obviously, things didn't go according to plan." Shepard's shields caught a stray bullet from the door, and he took a step away from the opening. "How's your plan going? Seems like you kicked a hornet's nest."

"Oh shit, Wrex." Without further explanation, Ashley disappeared face first back into the hatch. Shepard sighed.

"Wait here until the bullets stop coming through, then follow us in."

"Shepard, don't-" Tali called out, but he had already swiveled around and plunged through the hole. As soon as his body crossed the threshold, gravity reasserted itself with a vengeance, leaving him disoriented as he tried to regain his sense of balance. His defenses were still intact as he sat up, but the hail of gunfire had nearly depleted them by the time he got his bearings.

He scooted forward and dropped to the stairs. His feet had difficulty finding firm footing amidst the carnage. Wrex and Ashley were halfway up the next flight, furiously pushing back against the geth. Shepard punted one of the bodies next to him down the stairs, tripping and stalling the few enemies approaching from below. The movement jostled the other corpses, and a rocket launcher clattered to the floor in front of him. He grinned.

He didn't bother aiming at anyone in particular, choosing instead to bombard the stairs themselves. His third missile collapsed the structure, crushing several of the reinforcements and cutting off the rest from reaching them. By this point, Garrus and Tali had joined the fight, helping Wrex and Ashley on the main front. Shepard spent the rest of his rockets on large clusters of the geth further up, making sure to never hit the same spot twice. They still needed to use the stairs after this.

Shepard replaced Ashley in the vanguard, and he and Wrex absorbed most of the damage for the others as they advanced. Liara spent most of her time pulling geth over the side and letting them fall to their probable deaths. With Garrus and Ashley picking off geth with their sniper rifles and Tali constantly overriding their systems, Shepard and Wrex often weren't left with much to clean up. They fluidly adapted to whatever situation presented itself, whether it be juggernauts or battlemasters or even one awkwardly placed armature. Verbal communication was almost nonexistent as they simply knew what to do and where to be on instinct. When they finally reached the correct floor, Shepard couldn't help the sense of pride he felt as he watched his team form up on the landing. Throughout that entire onslaught, they had only sustained at most a few minor injuries. He refocused on their objective, braced himself, and charged through the door.

The next few seconds were a blur of flashing lights and the feeling of sledgehammers hitting his body. The ringing in his ears made his head throb; he was pretty sure his left eardrum was busted. Part of his helmet had torn off, slicing open his forehead and dripping blood into his eyes. Through his blurred vision and dazed state, he saw his squad moving between him and whatever had hit him. Tali turned to him, and he could see her mouthpiece lighting up, but everything was still drowning in that damn ringing. He removed the shredded helmet from his head, which seemed to help his breathing a bit. Slowly, the vibrations shaking the floor were accompanied by faint ticks of noise. He grabbed his rifle and got on one knee; he hadn't realized he had been sitting until that moment. He still couldn't understand what Tali was saying, so he pointed at his bleeding ear and shrugged.

The Council audience chamber was crawling with geth. As he got his bearings, he noticed that they were under an overhang, which was probably the only reason they hadn't all been blasted to pieces yet. Part of a colossus came into view as it walked around the central elevator. That explains some of what happened.

With Shepard mobile, they found better cover as the colossus turned its attention on them. Shepard caught a portion of Wrex' words, the deep rumble cutting through the bell in his head. "…handle it. Watch my back."

The krogan leapt over the rubble they were crouched behind immediately after a colossus shot shook the room. Ashley muttered something and then jumped after him. Shepard provided covering fire along with the others, keeping the ground troops at bay while they ran straight for the beast. Before they reached it, a ball of light collided with Wrex, but not from the colossus they were charging. It threw him forward, and he landed directly at the monster's feet. Ashley kept running while she looked behind her, pointing above where the others were and screaming…something. He could hear it, though. Almost.

Liara set her feet and gestured at the ceiling. A large part of the concrete broke apart, rising up a few feet before coming back down. The slab collapsed the nearby sections, bringing the balcony crumbling down around it. They scrambled out of the way of the debris just in time for a second colossus to fall down through the hole.

Shepard pulled out his shotgun and got in close, keeping its focus on him while the other three peppered it with biotics, bullets, and whatever Tali was doing. The geth had a hard time getting in position to attack back. Every time it managed to get a leg solidly under it, Shepard would hound the limb until it either shattered or fell back down. Soon enough, the enormous flashlight faded, and the machine stopped moving.

"A little warning next time would be nice." Garrus poked Liara on the shoulder.

Shepard pointed at the turian excitedly. "I heard you!"

Ashley's battle cry drew their attention back to the middle. She was grappling the neck of the colossus and shoving her gun in its face, spraying bullets with abandon. Wrex was underneath the belly, systematically blowing apart and ripping out anything that seemed important.

"I do not believe they need our help," Liara said. Shepard heard a dull crack, and Liara gasped, purple blood leaking from a hole in her side. Garrus whipped around and ended the sniper before it got another shot off. Liara didn't go down, holding her stomach with a grimace as Tali inspected the wound. She applied some medigel, and the asari thanked her through gritted teeth.

"Are you alright, Liara?"

"We are facing the end of the galaxy, Shepard. I am fine."

"Fair enough." He didn't press the issue. If she said she was fine, then they couldn't afford to second guess her. He needed everyone if they were going to get through this.

There weren't many geth to clear out after the colossi were terminated. Once Tali gave the all clear, they rejoined Wrex and Ashley in the middle of the room amidst the twisted metal. Ashley's armor was scorched black up her right arm, likely from the colossus' head, and Wrex was favoring one leg. Shepard nodded at them as they fell in behind him. "Let's finish this."

Shepard was used to walking this path by now, trudging up the steps to find out what latest annoyance the Council had decided to grace him with. The burning trees and broken floors were new, as was the anticipation for the upcoming battle, but he couldn't help the eerie sense of nostalgia he felt as he approached the central platform.

He could barely make out the fringe of a turian over the top step when a gunshot made them all duck. Saren let out a short laugh. "You are determined to ensure the death of this galaxy, Shepard."

"Me? You don't…you don't see the irony there?" Shepard snuck another look, catching a glimpse of the rogue Spectre before a second bullet dissuaded him once more. His face was barely recognizable; most of it had been morphed by harsh cybernetics jutting out of his skin. He looked ghostly in the bluish glow created by his enhancements. His state of reconstruction created a close mirror to the empty husks they had encountered elsewhere.

"It is over. In a few minutes, the Reapers will return. Because of my cooperation, they have agreed to spare me, as well as anyone else who submits willingly to their occupation."

"They haven't spared you! Look at yourself! You're barely even organic anymore. They've already destroyed you, Saren." Shepard shook his head at Wrex' questioning look. He wanted to wait until Saren was good and distracted before making a move. Last time, the turian had wiped the floor with them, and that was before whatever the Reapers had added since their last meeting.

Saren's voice sounded less sure of itself. "It is true, I have received certain…modifications. Enhancements. After our last meeting, I had some questions. Now, my mind is clear. I am the pinnacle of evolution, the best of both organic and synthetic combined into one vessel. I am the future."

Shepard seized that shred of doubt. "This was the very thing you were trying to avoid on Virmire." He swallowed back the wave of rage that billowed up when he mentioned that planet. "You've been brainwashed. Completely. You came to them with questions, and they stuck circuits in your brain? You know that's crazy."

"I…" Saren faltered. Shepard slowly walked up the last few stairs, keeping his gun pointed away from the turian. He motioned for the others to remain behind. He could tell he was getting through to Saren.

"It's not too late to do the right thing. You can help me stop this." Saren's eyes were full of despair as he looked at Shepard.

"The Reapers cannot be stopped."

"They can! I can override the signal. We can still stop this. Everything you have ever done, all of the horrible crimes you've committed, you will have to answer for them. But this, right here, right now: this is more important than any of that. Don't let your past mistakes define you."

"Maybe…maybe you're right." Saren shuddered, pressing his fingers against his head. "I just wanted to save them. I wanted to save everyone. And now, the only thing anyone will remember me for is…this." He turned and looked through the window at the fires raging out of control all over the Citadel. He exhaled slowly. "I hope you succeed. It is too late for me, I'm afraid. Goodbye, Commander." With that, he calmly pushed the barrel of his gun against his temple and pulled the trigger.

Saren's body collapsed off of the walkway, tumbling down into the small patch of grass below. Shepard failed to muster any kind of sympathy as he gazed down at the broken turian. He understood Saren's point of view, certainly, and he even held a small amount of respect for the ex-Spectre's last act of free will. Still, he was responsible for the death of a squad-mate, a friend. He had caused untold destruction and chaos for millions of people here on the Citadel. Even before he joined the Reapers, his service record highlighted his cruel methods and disregard for life. No, sympathy was the last thing on Shepard's mind.

Ashley cast a baleful glare at Saren, spitting over the edge. "Motherfucker." Both Liara and Wrex looked on with mute expressions, and while Tali only had one facial expression, he could see from her body language that she seemed saddened by the scene. Such a softie.

Garrus crossed his arms and chuckled. "Wow. You talked him to death. You literally talked your nemesis to death."

"I should have let you have a go at him. He'd have offed himself in half the time." Shepard didn't waste any more time, striding up to the console Saren had been standing near. "Tali, can you interface the thing with the thing?"

Tali rolled her eyes. "Yes, Shepard, one thing coming right up." Within a few seconds, they had full control over the Citadel's systems. Tali could barely contain her excitement. "Keelah. We can do anything with this. Every safeguard, every firewall is just gone, from everything. It's a little scary, actually."

Shepard's radio channel lit up immediately, and he could hear Joker's bored tones coming through. "…there, over? I repeat, for the zillionth time, is anyone there?"

"Joker, this is Shepard."

"Commander! Holy shit, you're alive!"

"Yes. We're on the Citadel. Where are you?"

"Sitting at the front of the entire Alliance fleet. We caught the Destiny Ascension's distress call. Just open the relays around the Citadel, and we'll send in the cavalry!"

"What distress call?" Shepard looked at Tali, who quickly pulled up a second communications channel.

"…kinetic barriers down 40%! The Council is on board, I repeat, the Council is on board!"

"Right." Shepard shook his head. "Of course they need their sorry asses saved. You know, it would almost feel like some sort of karmic justice to let them die."

"Commander!" Liara looked stricken.

"I know, I know, I'm joking."

"Why not?" Ashley asked, crossing her arms. "Why not just let them die? What have they ever done for you?"

"Are you serious, Ash? I know you don't like politicians, but-"

"We'd be risking countless Alliance soldiers just to keep the very people who didn't listen to us in power. We'll need those soldiers if the Reapers ever do show up."

Wrex grunted in agreement. "Even if you do save them, what's to keep them from stonewalling you like they've done all year?"

Tali turned on the krogan. "What are you talking about?"

"What has the Council ever done for your people, Tali? What have they ever done for mine? I say let them burn," Wrex said coldly.

"There are more people on that ship than just the Council. Innocent people. Even with all of the stupid decisions the Council have made, they don't deserve death, especially considering the amount of collateral damage that will occur." Tali looked pleadingly at the giant mercenary, but he avoided her gaze.

Ashley sneered. "People are going to die either way. Better it be some aliens than a bunch of loyal, human soldiers. We have to look out for humanity, here." Her angry visage faltered when Tali took a step back from her. "I didn't mean-"

"No, go on, please explain how the six of us need to keep humanity's best interests in mind," Garrus said dryly. He and Ashley broke out into a bout of fierce bickering, while Liara and Tali were simultaneously trying to change Wrex' mind. The end result was a mind-numbing cascade of voices, the individual words losing their meaning in the chaos. After a few unsuccessful attempts to get their attention, Shepard cupped his hands together and shouted "SHUT UP!" Once they quieted down, he ignored their guilty faces and commed Joker back.

"I'm opening the relays now. Save the Destiny Ascension. Do whatever it takes."

"Aye aye, boss."

Shepard nodded at Tali, who lifted the security measures on the relays. "I hope the Council appreciates this," Wrex said, his frown indicating he did not believe they would.

"The Citadel is commencing opening procedure," Tali updated them. "I don't know how long it will take Sovereign to alter the signal, especially now that Saren isn't helping from the inside, but I don't think it'll take much time."

"You hear that, Joker? Make it snappy."

"One snappy rescue inbound, Commander."

Shepard cracked his neck, rubbing the cut on his scalp. "I guess that's that. Not much left for us to do from down here." Venomous glances were exchanged between his team, but everyone decided to drop the subject and take a moment to enjoy the respite. He leaned against the railing, and the others joined him, looking out as the arms started to slowly spread apart and reveal the cloudy, purple haze that always enshrouded the enormous space station. The scene outside was dotted with small explosions and bursts of light as the Alliance swooped in, clearing out the geth dogging the Council's ship.

"Well, the jury's still out, but I'm pretty sure we just saved the galaxy. How does it feel, everyone?" Shepard asked.

"Like I should have asked for payment at the start of this," Wrex grumbled. Garrus, Tali, and Liara all nodded at Wrex' statement. Tali giggled when Shepard raised an eyebrow at her. Shepard was content. Maybe they could finally experience a bit of normalcy now that it was all over.

He noticed a red hue gradually settling over the room. It darkened until the whole chamber resembled one of those old photography rooms. "That can't be good," Garrus said.

"Thanks Sherlock." Shepard didn't bother answering the expected "What's Sherlock," swiveling around as he tried to pinpoint any hint of trouble. He caught something in the corner of his eye, and he zeroed in on the small twitch. The light became more distinct, focusing into lines leading directly to…

"Shit." Shepard pulled out his assault rifle. Saren's body was convulsing below them, slowly rising up until his feet were floating a fair distance off of the ground. The rapid shaking flung pieces of flesh of the corpse like confetti at a macabre party. Muscles bulged until they exploded; tendons stretched taut and exposed on the skinless body until they snapped. Shepard was transfixed. He couldn't make any move to start attacking whatever it was; the scene was horrifyingly fascinating. As the last of Saren's organs melted out of his empty ribcage, a gut-wrenching wail rose out of the monster. The sound was a mix between the geth's warble and the husks' scream. The whole transformation was, in a word, unsettling.

The last of the light vanished into the monster, and it turned its destroyed face towards them. Before anyone could react, the platform they were standing on collapsed, sending all of them tumbling down into the pit. Shepard landed on his back, stunning him briefly as the breath was forced out of his lungs. Saren shot a laser out of its mouth that pierced through Wrex' shields, melting part of the krogan's armor. He roared as some of the metal dripped onto his hand, making his skin bubble grotesquely as he shook off as much as he could. Garrus fired a shot that, surprisingly, connected, creating a small hole in Saren's chest area. Unfortunately, the machine didn't seem fazed. Its hands flared with biotics as it picked up the turian, spun him around, and slammed his head against the ground, knocking him out cold. This surprised Shepard; he had figured that with most of Saren's organic structure disintegrated, he would have lost use of his biotics. Who am I kidding, that would be too easy.

Shepard had gotten to his feet by this point and was shooting at Saren, along with Tali and Wrex, who had given up on his now useless hand and was using a pistol. Their bullets did not have the same effect as Garrus', who must have gotten a lucky shot in before Saren had deployed his defenses. Ashley was nowhere to be seen; Shepard feared she might be stuck underneath the platform. Liara engaged the metal skeleton in a biotic war, determined to not repeat the outcome on Virmire. It would seem she had learned from their last encounter, as Saren was the one being pushed back under Liara's onslaught. In a last-ditch effort to distract the asari, Saren let her get a few free hits while he charged up his laser at Shepard. Liara threw up an extra barrier in front of the Commander, and the combined strength of that and Shepard's shields kept the beam from reaching him. However, Saren used this opportunity to sneak in a blow directly at Liara. A thin line snaked its way towards Liara's face; her head snapped back suddenly, and she fell to the ground, her eyes rolling to the back of her skull.

Wrex sprinted at Saren, glowing as he used his biotics to propel himself at unnatural speeds. Saren easily countered the charge, redirecting Wrex into a wall; without Liara to keep him occupied, the walking corpse had little difficulty controlling the battlefield with his powers. He flung Tali into a wall and pulled Shepard into his outstretched claw, clamping down on Shepard's face. With his free hand, he savaged Shepard's torso, tearing apart his armor piece by piece until he started scraping into flesh while his mouth glowed red with another shot. Saren aimed directly at Shepard's chest. There would be no way he could survive a shot like that; he had to get free. He twisted and turned, ignoring the fiery pain in his belly as he fought against Saren's impossibly strong grip…

Sparks danced along Saren's spine, and his face was redirected at the last second. The laser seared into Shepard's arm, incinerating armor and flesh alike and leaving his bone exposed. He screamed at the pain, fighting to retain consciousness as he looked at the gleaming white area where his bicep used to be. More electricity arced along Saren, and he dropped Shepard in a heap, turning his empty stare at Tali, who was furiously typing things in her omnitool. Shepard feebly clutched at Saren as the turian strode away, jerking every so often as Tali found another area to mess with. "Tali…RUN!" Shepard yelled as he tried to regain his footing. His left arm flopped lamely as he struggled, sending waves of agony shooting up the base of his skull.

"I can do this…I can do this…" Tali was still typing as Saren closed the distance between them. "Almost…th-" She was cut off as Saren smashed her omnitool with his fist; the sickening crack that accompanied it most likely meant her arm was broken as well. He kicked her against the wall, and she fell over, wheezing. Shepard almost tripped again as Wrex hurtled by him, shrouded in power once more as he careened toward the monster. Saren turned at the sound of his thundering gait and casually lifted a hand. It was as if the krogan had run headfirst into concrete, and the impact set him on his back.

Shepard shuffled forward, desperately trying to catch up to Saren. He knew he couldn't do any damage from a distance, not with whatever powers and shields Saren possessed, not in enough time to save Tali. Saren lifted his foot and brought it down on Tali's mask, making a horrible crunch. He panted, drawing his knife out of his boot as he circled around Wrex, who was still groaning on the floor. Saren smashed Tali's head again, and Tali stopped flailing. Shepard tried to control his breathing, not wanting to tip Saren off that he was so close; if the turian heard him, they were all as good as dead. Saren brought his metal foot down a third time, and this time, Shepard could see visible cracks beginning to form on Tali's visor. One more blow, and it wouldn't matter if Tali survived the beating: she would simply die from exposure.

As Saren raised his leg, Shepard leapt the final few feet separating them and plunged his blade into Saren's neck. He used his shoulder to swing his dead arm around Saren, screaming through the pain as his bone slid along Saren's metal body. The appendage helped keep him in place as he stabbed into Saren again and again, tearing through as many wires and connections as he could find in the exposed spine. Sections of Saren stopped working altogether as the assault continued, hanging limply as Shepard tore apart the ex-Spectre. Finally, the center of the creature's head was exposed, and Shepard drove the knife straight into the mixture of circuits and grey matter. Saren let out a low hum and dropped to his knees, his body turning to ash as Shepard extricated his arm. Shepard's remaining energy had been sapped away, and he crashed to the floor next to Tali. He placed his hand on her helmet, relieved to see her chest rising and falling.

"You're going to be okay. We made it. We did it." Shepard winced as his arm spasmed, but he refused to look at it. He tapped a few buttons on his omnitool with his nose, activating the distress signal so that Joker could send help whenever possible. Satisfied, he let his head rest on the ground, still cradling Tali as he relaxed. It seemed to be getting darker…Come on, I can't be dying now! That's bullshit! He frowned. I don't feel like I'm dying, actually. He looked at the giant window out of the corner of his eye.

What looked like one of the Reaper's legs, detached from the main body, was heading directly for the Council chambers. "Figures," he muttered. Still, that means that the Alliance had beaten Sovereign; they really had won. Now they just had to survive this.

Shepard pulled Tali underneath him, shielding her with his body as he waited for the debris to crash into them. "This is not how we go out. This is not how we fucking go out." Then everything went black.