Once James paid for his pizza they made their way towards the Archives using three skycars to get there. The plan was simple they would split into three groups and enter the archives on three different points of entry.

Shepard group contained Ashley, Garrus and Wrex and James and Cortez were leading the other two groups nicknamed Team Macho and Team Hammerhead.

"What's the best way into the archives?" Shepard asked as they approached the archives.

"The facility is located below the Wards," said Brooks, who was flying with James and now wearing armour. "Maybe a direct breach for maximum surprise."

"I like it," said Shepard. "Sounds like you're learning the ropes."

"Hell, hang out with us long enough, and you'll learn the ropes, knives, bombs, thresher maws…" said Cortez as they began to descend.

"But don't hang out too long, or pretty soon you'll be making friends with asari," said Wrex as they landed.

"I heard that," said Liara as they exited the skycars.

"The archives are somewhere below us," said Brooks. "It could be pretty tricky to get in there."

"Not really," said James as he pulled out an explosive.

A few seconds later there was a large explosion and hole that entered into the archives appeared.

"Krogan first!" said Wrex as he jumped in first. "See you at the party, princesses!"

Once they were all inside they started to descend into the archives and split up into three different directions. Shepard's team took the direct approach by entering into the offices while the other two groups were positioning themselves on the balconys above.

Shepard removed the grating and they jumped down into the offices and signal for the others to move out. Sadly they didn't get very far, because sniper lasers were pointed at their chests.

"Not this again…" Shepard groaned.

They didn't waste any time and started to engage the mercenaries now appeared all around them.

"Ambush!" Wrex yelled.

"Scatter and take cover!" Shepard ordered.

"In the old days, we had at least five minutes before a mission when south!" Wrex grumbled as he punched a mercenary right in the face.

"Shepard brought his whole crew!" said Merc Lieutenant.

"Box them in!" the Mercenary Captain ordered.

The Lieutenant then saw Wrex and he looked as if he just wet himself. "Shit! They've got a krogan!"

Shepard looked at James's team, concerned about Brooks and her lack of combat experience. "Brooks, you okay?"

"Upstairs! Scattering and taking cover!" she said.

They kept on fighting and were actually winning even despite the fact that they landed themselves into an ambush.

"That's enough!" a voice yelled above them.

Shepard looked up and saw that someone had grabbed Brooks and aiming a pistol straight at him. The voice sounded familiar to Shepard, but it was so dark up there that he could recognise the man with the gun. He however had a strong feeling that this was his mystery man, the one that had been trying to kill him.

"Drop your weapons, all this won't end well for her," he ordered.

"You bastard," Brooks spat.

Shepard could see they had no choice. "All right…" he said as all three groups lower their weapons and held their hands up in surrender.

Then mystery and then released Brooks and she fell off the balcony quite painfully.

"Whatever you think you're getting away with…" Shepard glared up at him as Brooks made her way towards them. "…there's no way you can run, nowhere you can hide where we can't find me."

"Hide? Why?" He then emerge out of the shadows and they all stared, because standing right in front of them was Commander John Shepard. "I'm Commander Shepard. I never hide."

"Not exactly how I saw this playing out," said Garrus as he, Ashley and Wrex lowered their arms.

The other Shepard then jumped off the balcony and landed in front of them. He then approached Shepard and his team with a look of superiority on his face.

"Who are you?" Shepard asked.

"You weren't the only Shepard that Cerberus bought back to life, but at least one of us will finally do something with it," the other Shepard spat.

"Where did you come from?" Shepard demanded.

"The same DNA as you."

"A clone," Wrex concluded.

"Cerberus spared no expense resurrecting you. With me…" He then glared at Shepard as if this entire thing was his fault. "…I was created for spare parts in case you needed another arm, or a heart, or a lung."

Shepard shook his head in disbelief, this was too much the process. He had been literally been chasing himself. "Where have you been all this time?"

"In a coma… until I woke a year ago. While you are in jail on Earth, I was learning to be human. Amazing what a person can do with enough neural implants."

"If you're really me, then we're on the same side," Shepard.

The clone then glared at him. "We're not even in the same league."

"Did the Illusive Man sent you?"

"No," said the clone bitterly and marched right up to Shepard face. "He abandoned me when he had what he wanted. You."

"Then why do you want to kill us?" Wrex demanded.

"Because I don't have his memories," said the clone as he turned his back on them. "I'd never fool my supposing friends… The ones who abandoned their duties to join the cult of Shepard." He then turned and glared at Ashley. "Like you Lieutenant-Commander Williams. I would've picked the other one on Virmire. Kaidan-something?"

"You're just a pale imitation of the real thing!" Ashley glared.

"I'm the real thing perfected," said the clone as he turned toward Shepard. "I'm you without the wear and tear, Shepard. The doubts, the failures. I'm the lone wolf you were always meant to be…" His eyes then turned up at the other two teams. "…without the emotional baggage holding me back."

"No one will ever believe your Shepard," said Wrex glaring at him.

"They were when I'm flying his ship."

Shepard quickly reached for his radio. "This is Shepard! Initiate Normandy lockdown! Transmitting command codes now!" He then activated his omni-tool and send the command codes.

Unfortunately, the clone activated his own omni-tool and blocked them. "Good idea. Too bad the signal was blocked." He then reached for his own radio and using the same frequency Shepard used. "Traynor, this is Shepard. Prep the Normandy for emergency departure. We're leaving. I'm sending the command codes now."

"Acknowledged," said Traynor's voice. "We'll get underway."

"It will be a cold day in hell before someone steals my ship," Shepard glared.

"It's not stealing if I'm you," the clone smirked. He then looked to his men and walked away. "Execute them. The cult of Shepard ends today."

Shepard looked down at his pistol and then up the model lighting of the Citadel above them. He then quickly grabbed then fired up at the model shattering one of his arms. He then quickly rolled out of the way just as the glass fell.

This caused enough of a diversion for everyone to grab their weapons and soon a firefight started yet again. The mercenaries had now in force themselves with some heavy troops that were carrying omni-shields which meant that getting rid of them would be even harder than Cerberus guardians.

"We still got everyone?" Shepard asked.

"We're on the balcony!" said Liara.

"I'm okay, too!" said Brooks as she crawled away to safety.

"Where's everyone else?" Shepard asked looking up at the balconies.

"Other side!" said Cortez.

"These primitives will make good sport!" said Javik as he tore the mercenaries apart with his particle beam.

"Terminating hostile!" said EDI killing a specialist with her rifle.

"If we go down, at least we go down together!" Liara yelled knocking back two troopers with her biotics.

"One big happy ass kicking family!" James yelled as he shot a mercenary with his rifle on the opposite side of the balcony he was on. "See that shot, Brooks? That's how legends do it!"

"If I wasn't covering my eyes, I'd be impressed!" said Brooks, who in fact was covering her eyes and staying out of the fighting.

Wrex was certainly having fun shooting the mercenaries. "All right, everyone. Uncle Urdnot is back in town, and he brought the boom!"

"Is that a catchphrase or something, Wrex?" Shepard asked as he killed a heavy trooper.

Wrex sent a specialist flying with his biotics. "Thought I'd try it out, see what you think!"

"Rapier Squad, orders are to kill the other Shepard's crew! No messing around this time!" said the Mercenary Captain.

"But they've got a krogan! Why don't we have a krogan?" the Mercenary Lieutenant asked.

"Wouldn't want to be you, princesses!" Wrex roared.

A mercenary trooper on the balcony saw Javik and flinched. "Shit, that's a Prothean over there!"

"And that the future corpse over there!" said Javik aiming his particle beam at the mercenary.

The Mercenary Lieutenant looked at Garrus and judging from the way he was moving he recognised him. "I think that turian they've got is Archangel! How the hell are we going to kill him?"

"You're not!" said Garrus simply the end his sniper rifle at him.

The Mercenary Lieutenant rolled out of the way just in time. "Maybe the other Shepard should've stuck around to help!"

"We've got them psyched out!" James yelled as he tossed a mercenary over the balcony. "Hey, pendejos! Our Shepard is better than yours!"

"Better looking, too!" Ashley added.

Eventually they were able to kill every single mercenary in the room and as a result the entire place was littered with bodies. Shepard could only imagine what the employees would think of this when they started work.

"We're clear!" Ashley yelled. She then looked at Shepard. "Now where'd the other you go?"

"He's putting into the archives. Stay in your groups!" Shepard ordered. "Team Mako, you're on point!"

"Right!" said Brooks, who had joined James' group again. "What's a Mako?"

"Something we could really use right about now," said Liara.

"Team Hammerhead, cover the flank!" Shepard ordered.

"Got it!" said Cortez. "And the Mako's got nothing on the Hammerhead."

They soon exited the offices and found themselves in the archives and Shepard can only imagine what kind of information was stored here. There was probably information that could start a war or shift the balance of power to one species to another which was one reason why the place was highly classified.

"Huh, big place," said Wrex looking around.

"Shepard, what do you think your clone is looking for in here?" Tali asked curiously.

"At this point, anything's possible," said Shepard and he was willing to bet that whatever his clone was looking for it wouldn't be anything good.

"So is discovering that you have a clone," said EDI.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Shepard firmly.

"Right. At least not till we've all had a stiff drink," said Garrus.

They began making their way through the archives with each team taking a different route since they were unsure which way the clone went. Unfortunately the entire place was so huge that it could take days to find a clone and clearly the others were thinking the same thing.

"How are we going to find anything in this place?" Wrex asked.

"Glyph?" Shepard called.

Glyph soon appeared in front of them. "Yes, Commander?"

"Track the target. Give me update on its location," Shepard ordered.

"What is the nature of the target?" Glyph asked.

"He looks like me."

"Then I have found the target."

"No, Glyph," said Shepard shaking his head. "It's another me. Now get going!"

"At once, Commander!" said Glyph then flew away.

They continue to make their way through the archives and Shepard could see the other teams walking across the other catwalks all over the place. Still they haven't found any trace of any hostile or even another Shepard.

Then suddenly a platform lowered itself with several mercenaries on it and they spotted them.

"There they are! The other Shepard's still alive!" said Mercenary Captain.

"Take him down!" said the clone over the radio. "I need more time to find the vault!"

There were only a small group so it in take them long to finish them off with the overwhelming firepower. Especially since they had Team Mako helping them from an opposite balcony.

"Shepard, stepped onto that platform, and we can lower you from here," said Liara.

The moment they got onto the platform Liara access the controls and lower the platform to a lower part of the archives. Then one of the vaults opened up and they could see some hardware inside of it.

"Now if you get into the vault, we can move you across," said Brooks.

They made their way on the platform and the moment they did the shield appeared and they began to move. As they were moving began to examine the equipment inside the vault which looked human made.

"Check this out," said Wrex holding out a rifle which bore a resemblance to the Avenger. "Says this gun was part of the First Contact War. Year 2157."

"Humans fighting turians," said Ashley. "My grandfather was part about war."

Soon they reached their destination and the shield is lowered and just as they were exiting the vault Glyph appeared.

"Commander, the other you are searching for something 200 metres ahead," he said.

"Got it," Shepard nodded.

"Fighting your own clone is pretty crazy, by our standards," said Ashley as he began to move.

"But useful," Javik added over the comm. "If there is a task you don't wish to do, Commander, let them handle it."

"So like a personal butler?" said Brooks.

"I don't want to talk about it," said Shepard practically yelling over the radio.

"Right. So let your clone do it," said Wrex.

They were never going to let this go and he can only imagine what would happen if you reach the media.

Shepard and his team soon reached a dead end the only way to continue was the go over the vaults. Then suddenly the mercenaries appeared and started to fire at them the moment they landed on the vault.

"Dagger Squad! I need more time to reach the vault!" said the clone over the radio. "Keep Shepard off my back, or I'll have your head!"

"The other Shepard sounds like a real asshole!" said Cortez over the comm.

"I'd quit if he was my commander!" said Brooks.

Shepard and his team started too advanced slowly towards the mercenaries, but it was slow going. Then suddenly the mercenaries were attack from another direction and Shepard saw Team Mako behind them.

"We're over here, Shepard!" said Liara over the radio. "We'll hit them from this side!"

With the extra firepower they were able to advance even faster than before and Wrex finally had more room to move to knock seven bells out of the mercenaries. Now that they had the situation under control Team Mako began to move out.

"Team Mako moving ahead!" said Liara. "We'll see you on the other side!"

It took some effort on their own, but finally they were able to wipe out the mercenary's that blocked their path.

"Shepard! They've got us pinned down!" said Tali. "We could use some help!"

"On our way!" said Shepard as they made their way to the sound of gunfire.

When they turn round the corner they saw that Team Mako were pinned down by the mercenaries and were slowly being surrounded.

"We've got Shepard's squad surrounded," said the Mercenary Captain.

"Eliminate them! I need more time!" the clone ordered.

"Where's your commander now?" a trooper sneered at the squad.

Shepard then took that opportunity to attack which caught the mercenaries completely by surprise. Unfortunately, there was still quite a lot of them when Shepard jump down onto the platform more the mercenaries were arriving.

Shepard shortened sniper that was taking aim on the catwalk before making his way to the rest of the squad.

"Go! I'll cover you!" Shepard ordered as a squad made their way to the ladder. "Move!"

The mercenaries then focus their aim on the ladder hoping to shoot them while they were helpless.

"Hey!" Ashley yelled angrily. "We're on a ladder here, jerks!"

Shepard soon made his way over to the ladder, but there was no way he would be able to climb and shoot at the same time.

"This is Shepard! We need—"

He started when he saw his team, Team Mako, who were both joined by Team Hammerhead or aiming their rifles down onto the mercenaries. Before the mercenaries realised what was happening they fired everything and gunned down the mercenaries like flies. Once they were all dead Shepard made his way to the ladder.

"That's why I love hanging out with you guys!" Wrex smiled as he looked at them. "Why should something once when you can shoot it 46 more times?"

Shepard soon managed to reach the others. "The… other me can't be far," he said. It was official that this day was the weirdest day in his life. "Keep up the pressure, and we'll try to surround them. Let's move."

Team Mako and Hammerhead nodded and they went their separate ways. Shepard then led his team down the corridor they found themselves in some sort of archived room.

"Can you imagine the history in this place?" said Garrus as they walk through the corridors. "Must stretch back thousands of years."

"I just wonder what the… other me is looking for in here," said Shepard.

They continued making their way through the archives listening to the tracks recorded historical events. However, they still found no sign of Shepard's clone or the mercenaries which was quite troubling.

Then as they made their way down around they were suddenly attacked by the mercenaries again.

"This is Hammerhead!" said EDI's voice. "Enemy contact ahead, Shepard! We'll draw their fire!"

"They're above us!" said the Mercenary Captain at the gate Hammerhead from the balcony above them.

"Behind this, too," said his Lieutenant as Shepard and his team attacked.

"Shit!" said the Captain.

"And they've still got the krogan!" said a trooper. "Someone kill him!"

"Someone can try!" Wrex smiled.

Shepard had to admit that the mercenaries were not much different than Cerberus. Of course that shouldn't be surprising considering their leader was a pro-human Cerberus clone of himself, but that gave them the advantage since they had more than enough experience with Cerberus.

"We're surrounded!" said the Captain panicking slightly. "What are we going to do?"

"This is almost unfair! Should we give them a chance?" Tali asked.

"Speak for yourself, please! I'm not even a field agent!" said Brooks, who somehow managed to miss every single shot she fired.

Even despite Brooks' lousy shooting, they eventually managed to kill every single mercenary within the room.

"I think we got them all!" said Brooks. "Or, I mean, the rest of you did."

"Or the krogan did," said Wrex.

"Hammerhead and Mako keep pressing ahead," Shepard ordered.

"On it!" said Cortez.

They kept on moving through the archives watching more video logs of past events. Shepard had to admit that they were quite interesting, by now his main focus has to be on his clone.

They soon made their way down to the next floor and when they turn round the corner they were shot at by more the mercenaries.

"Heads up! They're coming this way!" said a trooper.

It in take them long to kill and then they made their way deeper into the room and found even more mercenaries wanting to kill them. Unfortunately, for the mercenaries, Shepard and his team were proving quite difficult to kill which was starting to annoy them

"Somebody start these guys!" the Mercenary Captain ordered angrily.

"Starting to think we picked the wrong Shepard!" said is Lieutenant.

"Attention, low-life mercenary wannabes!" said James over the comm. "Say 'please,' and we'll accept your surrender!"

"Say 'pretty please,' and maybe Wrex will take a break!" said Tali.

"Try it, and we'll see!" Wrex laughed.

"The Prothean on the other hand, makes no such promises!" said Javik.

Unfortunately for the mercenaries they did not surrender and so they were killed, but mostly by Wrex.

Glyph then reappeared. "Commander, I have catalogued 18 previously unknown historical events."

"Where's the target, Glyph?" Shepard asked.

"He is searching for secret vault. He did not wish to be disturbed."

Shepard stared at him. "What?"

"I thought it was you," Glyph explained.

"Go find him again!" Shepard ordered, who was now suffering a migraine.

"Stupid machine," Javik grumbled over the comm.

"Chatika is so much better at this," said Tali.

Glyph then vanished no doubt to find a clone and hopefully not getting mixed up with the real Shepard.

They continued fighting their way through the archives into the reached another set of vaults. Inside they found the mercenaries were holding their ground and had brought in the heavy artillery.

"Up on the walkway!" Ashley yelled pointing at the Atlas.

"Team Mako here. We're on it!" said Liara and her team engaged the Atlas.

"Team Hammerhead here, providing more support," said Cortez.

Wrex didn't waste any time to jump into the action. "Eight-hundred pound krogan care providing the boom!"

They started to assist Team Mako by attacking the Atlas from its side. They certainly got the Atlas' attention as he jumped off the catwalk and onto the floor Shepard and his team were currently on.

"This is Heavy One," said the Lieutenant piloting the mech as Team Mako ran up the catwalk. "Engaging Shepard."

"Put him in the ground!" the clone ordered.

"Oh, the mech wants to play?" Wrex smiled as he reloaded his shotgun. "So does Uncle Urdnot! You're welcome, Team Mako!"

"Thanks, guys! Good luck!" said Brooks.

Team Mako took a position on top of the catwalk and fired down upon the Atlas. The Atlas was more built full frontal assault rather than flanking manoeuvres and as a result it in take them long to destroy it.

With now destroyed they kept on making their way through the vaults searching for signs of the clone for any trace of what he might be looking for.

Glyph then reappeared to give him a report. "Commander, a large concentration of soldiers calling themselves 'Razor Squad' is just ahead. They wish to inflict bodily harm upon you. Also, I discovered an elcor mating tome in vault 374B. Fascinating."

Glyph then promptly vanished and seconds later they were attacked by what Shepard assumed to be Razor Squad.

"I've got eyes on Shepard!" said a trooper. "Go, go, go!"

Shepard quickly climbed the ladder so they could gain the higher ground and saw that the other teams were doing the same thing, but on the catwalks.

"Team Mako here!" James yelled from the catwalk. "Showing Team Hammerhead how it's done!"

"Hammerhead here," said Cortez, also yelling from the catwalk. "You guys are just copying us!"

"Mako here! If we were, we wouldn't be hitting anything," Liara added joining into the fight between teams.

"This is Team Prothean!" said Javik, who apparently believes he was forming his own team which just included himself. "I have a higher body count than all of you combined!"

The mercenaries were now being attacked from three points ahead and the right and left and were now being boxed in towards the door. They were hiding behind crates and try to fight back, but then another group of mercenaries arrived.

"Razor Squad had arrived," said the Captain. "Let's finish this."

"Heads up! Looks like they're getting serious!" said Cortez as heavy troopers appeared from a lift in the floor.

"Oh yeah, Esteban? So maybe starting something for a change," James smirked.

"Biggest target I see around here is your mouth, Mr. Vega!"

Even with the help of the heavy troopers the mercenaries were still getting over run, mostly because of the position they placed themselves into. While the clone may look like him clearly did had his leadership abilities or respect and the well-being of his men and that was going to him in the long.

Glyph was also assisting by feeding the mercenaries some negative information about their chances. Clearly they were starting to get annoyed by Glyph making them lose concentration on the fight.

"That drone's giving me a migraine!" said a trooper.

"He belongs to me!" said Liara, before shooting him.

The trooper dodged the bullet and glared up at her. "Keep him on a leash!"

"Glyph, lower their morale!" Liara ordered shooting at that Reaper again and this time killing him.

Eventually they took out the heavy troopers which were the only ones left thanks to their three-pronged attack.

"Looks like we're clear!" said Cortez.

"Looks like I saved everyone's ass again! Heh-heh," Wrex laughed.

"Hammerhead and Mako, keep pushing ahead!" Shepard ordered.

"Right!" said Brooks. "I might throw up a little now if that's okay with everyone!"

They soon found themselves in another collection of records from the archives. Then glyph approached them.

"Commander, the other you wishes to pass on a message," he said. He then played the recording and the sound Shepard's voice was heard. "Shepard, save yourself the trouble. Once I have what I came here for, you won't matter anymore. Now go, drone! Deliver it!"

Glyph then vanished.

They had a quick look through them before pressing on to find the clone and soon they found themselves in yet another room and were soon discovered by mercenaries.

"Shepard is still alive!" said Lieutenant.

"The next person who says that is fired!" the clone yelled.

"It appears the other Commander has a bad temper," said Glyph as he blew besides Shepard. "Collateral damage does not concern him."

Shepard got that feeling as well which meant that you just keep on sending his people at them until he had none left. They quickly dealt with the mercenaries then continued on through the archives.

They soon made their way towards the upper level and Shepard reach with radio.

"Team Hammerhead, we're heading to the next level. What's your location?" Shepard asked. Unfortunately all he received was static. "Hammerhead, do you copy?"

Shepard just really hope that the mercenaries were using jammers to block their comms.

"There's Team Mako!" Garrus pointed.

Shepard looked ahead and saw that Team Mako was just ahead of them.

"We'll try and clear a path, Commander!" said Brooks. "Hammerhead's gone ahead!"

Suddenly some heavy troopers arrived to block their path, but fortunately they had Wrex on their side. They charged them with full force knocking one into the shelves and slamming his head with his own omni-shield. He then approached the second trooper firing his shotgun at him and the trooper continued held his ground until Wrex marched up towards him and tossed him over the edge of the balcony.

"We see the clone, Shepard! Moving to engage!" said James.

Shepard nodded and they made their way to the next level, but they got no other message from Team Mako and still nothing from Hammerhead.

"Team Mako, we're coming up behind! What's your statics?" Shepard asked.

"We're under—" suddenly Brooks' voice was cut off.

"Mako, where are you?" Shepard yelled.

Nothing but static again something has happened to both teams. He really hope that they had been captured and not executed, but he knew that he had to hurry.

Shepard then encountered another record from the archives and it was about him. He had mentions of his back story from the time he served with the Alliance to where he grew up as a child.

They continued making their way through the room until Brooks made contact, much to their relief.

"Commander, do you copy?" she asked.

"What's your status?" Shepard asked.

"The other you is jamming our radios!" she panicked. "Hammerhead and Mako are trying to get ahead and cut him off. But I've been hit and need help! Please hurry!"

This felt suspiciously like a trap, but Shepard couldn't take the chance with Brooks in danger. They follow the coordinates through another corridor and then they heard Brooks' voice on the far side. She appeared to be fighting someone and with a little combat experience she wouldn't last very long.

"Commander, over here! Help!" she yelled.

They made their way through one of the vaults, but suddenly they shield appeared blocking their path and leaving them trapped.

"That can't be good," said Ashley.

Shepard reached for his radio. "Brooks! The vault sealed us in!"

"Is there an override?" Wrex asked.

"I'm not seeing one," said Garrus.

"Cortez? Brooks? Do you read me?" Shepard yelled. "If anyone on this frequency?"

"The short answer is no," said a voice behind them and they turned to see the clone smirking at them triumphantly. "They're not."

Shepard pulled out his rifle and began to fire, but sadly the force field prevented the bullets from hitting his clone.

Clone merely shook his head in a taunting manner. "The longer answer involves your friends trapped in iridium vaults and forgotten for… well, forever."

"Others know about this," Shepard glared. "About you. The Alliance will stop you."

"What do you think, Staff Analyst Brooks? Will the Alliance stop us?" the clone smirked as he approached them.

Brooks then emerge from behind the clone, but her manner change completely. She was now calm and collective instead of fearful and innocent woman he met in the sushi place.

"I wouldn't know," she said as he leaned against the clone's shoulder. "I don't actually work for them."

"Who the hell are you?" Shepard demanded glaring at Brooks. "And you really think I will track you down?"

"My name doesn't matter. I never keep the same one for more than a few days," she said calmly. "And if the Illusive Man hasn't found me you never will."

"You're Cerberus?" Shepard stared.

"Was," she corrected. "Mr. Illusive and I didn't see eye to eye. He's indoctrinated, where as I prefer the whispers in my head to be my own."

"Why not come to me? We could've work together," Shepard asked.

"In a way we did. I'm the one who put together all those dossiers of your 'suicide mission.'"

Shepard's eyes widened. "The Collector base?"

"There was the salarian doctor, the asari justicar, the turian…" She then looked at Garrus with a cold smile. "Nice to finally meet you, Archangel."

"Charmed," Garrus glared.

"They were all mistakes," said Brooks waving her hand dismissively. "We were a pro-human group who started looking to aliens for help. So I bided my time, and when I found another youth who agreed… I woke him up."

"What was the point of it all?" Shepard demanded.

"All we really want with your Spectre codes," said Brooks. Shepard then remembered the events that happened at the sushi place, how he sent his codes to her to unlock the bridge controls. "But then you survived the hit and insisted on bringing your damned asari into it, so I had a tie up loose ends."

"The arms dealer…" said Shepard realising that it was she who killed Khan, before she opened the door for them.

"But then your sex bot just had to go and recover the data," she said bitterly. "So here we are: forced to…" She then gave him a small smile. "Contain the situation."

"Fair warning: nobody who's betrayed us has ever survived," Shepard glared.

"And yet we keep trying," Wrex sighed.

"You too may think you're clever. And yeah, you were—just a bit—but clever doesn't beat a bullet," said Shepard crossing his arms confidently. "And yeah, maybe I am trapped in here, but don't get comfortable. Because that bull's-eye on your back is getting bigger by the second."

"That sounds very dramatic," said Brooks looking unimpressed. "And if someone like, say, Commander Shepard made the threat, I'd be worried. But you're not Shepard. Not anymore."

The clone smiled evilly at him. "You have Miranda, I have her. Mine has more bite."

"It was fun while it lasted," said Brooks blissfully.

The clone made his way over to a terminal and accessed it.

"What are you doing?" Shepard asked.

"Setting things right. Remember this?" He then brought a hologram of the Councillors.

"'You are the first human Spectre, Commander. This is a great accomplishment for you and your entire species.'"

The clone then turned and glared at him. "Except somewhere along the way you forgot about your entire species. You've saved more alien lives than you have human."

Shepard narrowed his eyes at him. "I don't care what species they are. Every life counts, but maybe a clone wouldn't understand."

The clone chuckled. "You know the one thing they can't duplicate?" He then removed his gauntlet. "Our handprint. Life gives it its shape, not DNA… which is a problem." He then made his way to the terminal. "Computer, update Council records. Subject: Shepard, human Spectre."

"Accessing record," said the computer. "Please input new data."

He then placed his uncovered hand onto the scan and at once the computer replaced Shepard handprint with the clone's.

"Biometric identifier updated. Good day, Commander Shepard," said the computer.

With that the clone and Brooks made their leave.

"Now if you'll excuse me, the Normandy needs its captain. So…" said the clone smirked in back at Shepard. "I should go."

Shepard does raise an eyebrow at him. Did he really sound like that when he said it?

"Farewell, Commander," Brooks smirked. "I guess this is where 'legends' go to die."

The moment they left the vault began to move and they found themselves trapped in an iridium chamber. Then the vault lowered itself to join the others inside the archives.

"Refresh my memory: Didn't we used to win these things back in the old days?" Wrex asked looking at Shepard.

"He said, 'I should go,'" said Shepard and looked at the others. "Do I really sound like that?"

"As long as I know you, yeah," Wrex nodded.

"Crazy thought, but maybe we should be worrying about this impenetrable vault we've been sealed inside forever," Garrus suggested as he and Ashley attempted to find a way to escape.

Shepard sat down and looked at Wrex. "How come no one told me before? I'm open to feedback here."

Wrex shrugged. "Well, I thought all humans said it, like some Earth of custom or something."

Ashley and Garrus was still trying to find a way out. "Probably not a lot of air in here, either. And hour, tops."

"Maybe it's: I should GO," said Shepard. Wrex shook his head. "I SHOULD go." Wrex shook his head again. "*i* should go…"

Ashley and Garrus looked at one another, completely bewildered why Shepard and Wrex were discussing the way he said goodbye.

"Shepard! We're in kind of the situation here!" Ashley pointed out.

Shepard looked up. "Hm?" He then looked around. "Oh. Glyph, you still out there?"

"Yes, Commander," said Glyph's voice much to the surprise of Ashley and Garrus.

"Unlock this damned thing and go by the others," he ordered getting to his feet. "No one steals my ship. Not even me."

"Wait, you had Glyph on standby this whole time?" Ashley asked amazed.

"When Brooks mentioned that both Team Mako and Hammerhead were captured and that she was 'under attack' I had Glyph standby just in case," Shepard explained. "Of course I didn't suspect that Brooks was in on this whole mess."

"And that's why he's Commander Shepard," said Garrus with a smile.


Rick and Rose were still trying to find Shepard, but it was like looking for a needle in a haystack. They were searching the main console in his office for any sightings.

"Still no signs of him?" Rick asked looking at Rose from his computer.

"It's like is off the grid," said Rose. Then suddenly she saw something blinking. "Hang on. "She opened up the link and read the file. "According to this Shepard's biometrics have been updated inside the Citadel Archives."

Rick frowned. "Why would he update his personal file from the Archives themselves?"

"I don't know," said Rose honestly. "But at least we know where he is."

"Then let's get down there," said Rick.