Prologue: An old story with a new beginning

AN: A bit of backstory before we really get going.

It should be noted that while Shepard will get screentime, her story will be very different from what I'm sure most of you are used to. Not so different that she stops being Shepard of course, simply changes to her childhood and the events that make Shepard...well, Shepard. This is here to show where that difference starts, will put in additional chapters in the form of an in-universe biography about the rest of her life after this event every now and then until we get to the first game's time period, so don't worry about not getting the rest of her story.

Also, a heads up. As the story is still in its beginning the only events you should expect to be cannon in regards to events after humanity shows up is the first contact war taking place, and Anderson getting pegged for Specter candidacy. Everything else, up to and including pieces of council history, is by no means set in stone until the story arrives at the event in question. What if they didn't fully exterminate the rachni for example, or what if they allowed the quarians a single turian colony they would be allowed to settle on in good faith? Keep in mind these are just meant to show the possibilities and may not happen. Because of where this will start anything is possible as the timeline develops.

This shep chapter will be for the initial setup of everyone's favorite redhead and after that it's off to look at the OC that the story is named for. With that out of the way, here's my take on "How mass effect should've ended".

Current date: 10-27-2168 8:07am Earth Standard time

When she started waking up all she could feel was a painful ache in her limbs and a strong headache. She reached up to try and scratch where she was itching on the back of her head, but brought it away in a grunt of pain when she felt a large bruise instead.

Wonder how that got there, don't think I had that many drinks at the party last night.

She tried looking for the clock she put on her wall whenever she was onboard a ship to let her abide by a relatively normal sleeping schedule. Say what you will about it being old fashioned, but she never really appreciated having to tell the time on her omni-tool, even with it on its lowest brightness setting, when first waking up. After several seconds of looking though, she couldn't see anything even with her eyes now wide-open.

Funny? I remember there being a light that always gets left on by the door in case of emergencies, wonder why it's-

That's when she remembered what happened after she got back on the ship after her 18th Birthday party.

10 hours earlier

"Come on Rach, don't tell me you're going to stop after just that one shot" Jason was always a bit reckless ever since she first met him, she'd known him back in high school on earth when she was a junior and he was already a senior. He talked about going to work on one of the colonies when he graduated. They got along well even though they only knew each other for a year before he left for work on a new colony in the traverse named Ferris fields. She didn't hear much from him while she was a sophomore, but during her last year at school, he sent her a message around new years saying he'd bought a house and had somehow managed to get a girlfriend while he was at it. Being the kind and serious friend she was, she ignored him talking how he had done all this in such a short time, and immediately demanded to know how he had managed to convince anyone, much less a woman, to stand dealing with him for longer than just a couple weeks.

Some good-natured ribbing later (she hadn't gotten even a single boyfriend since he had met her) and they started talking about what she wanted to do once she was through with school. Fast forward to her last month before she just had to wait to officially be declared an adult by the Alliance, and he invited her to have a party at his home to celebrate 'little Rachel being all grown up'. After talking to dad about it, he agreed to send her on the one condition that she only spend a day at most on the colony, because of recent pirate activity around the system. After that, it was just a simple matter of making sure she had at least a pistol that she could take with.

Her father, Caleb Shepard, was one of the thousands that were drafted during the first contact war. He never actually fought the turians, but he stayed on for 8 years afterward, seeing the galaxy at large. He always told her stories when she became old enough to understand them, of all the strange and wonderous planets he went to, how he had gone to the center of galactic politics, the Citadel, and how during the night period entire arms would turn from harsh white and warm yellow into calm blues and reds, all in the backdrop of the widow nebula with its wave-like purple coloring. She didn't stop pestering him about it for two weeks before he finally broke down and took her with him on his next rotation there. He sent her back to earth a week in because he was being shipped to garrison one of the many new colonies that were spreading out across the verge at the time, and so she spent plenty of time living with her uncle in the old North American States. Her mother died during childbirth, yet her dad always said that when she was given the choice between her and her child, she made it without even a second of hesitation.

She had fond memories of spending her time practicing with one of the antiques her uncle had, an old chemical-based rifle that could be traced all the way back to one of her ancestors when he fought in the 2nd World War. When she finally got into high School she could bullseye targets 500 yards away. As a present for her 15th birthday her dad gave her his old rifle from when he was a scout sniper in the Alliance Marines, she did nothing but practice shooting it in her spare time for months after she got it.

But even with all the warnings he had given her about the dangers in the traverse, she spent most of the trip talking to Jason about what they would do once she got there. So she had completely forgotten about even having brought a pistol with her when she was having her going away party at the spaceport bar.

"Not all of us spend our days doing nothing but making and serving drinks Jase" his job was as the bartender at one of the several local pubs that had opened on the mainly English colony.

"Ah you just haven't built up resistance to it yet, look at Lizzie, she's doing fine" apparently his girlfriend was one of the miners that regularly came for drinks after working hours were over, one thing led to another and he eventually went on a date with her. Although with the muscle of a life spent hard at work and hair trimmed down to less than an inch, it was hard to tell which was the girlfriend most of the time, as Jason never spent more than 5 minutes lifting weights, and that was mainly just so he could say he did.

"Hey leave me ou' of this, I'm jus' here to see this 'little Rachel' that this wankah of a boyfriend was tellin' me about!" she was one of the first settlers on world and had left London to get away from the swarms of people that were flocking there ever since the Alliance HQ had been built.

"Well some help you are, ahh well, so hard to find a good woman nowadays" she then proceeded to punch him in the shoulder, although with her considerable muscle she had to have held back as he simply stumbled a little under the punch. "Twat..." she muttered.

"Hey, you didn't complain when you got off work yesterday and I met you with a full pint and that asari shampoo meant to make the skin, and I quote 'look 2 centuries younger'. Of course, what came afterward may have helped." at that point, Rachel coughed into her glass and spilled most of the shot, while the other woman had the good grace to look somewhat embarrassed, with the only man present laughing like he had told the best joke in the world.

"Ahh..." he wheezed, trying to catch his breath "You know Rach, I'm gonna miss having you around to just talk like this."

"I know what you mean, it gets quiet around the house when dad goes to talk with his old marine squadmates. But hey, at least you finally found one that wouldn't run away." "More like wouldn't let 'im." Elizabeth muttered, which got a chuckle from Rachel and a pout from the subject of the ridicule.

"Hey no arguing here. Still though, it's been a blast catching up. When do you need to get on that trading ship headed back anyway?"

"Let me check my ticket...OH CRAP, sorry Jase but I'm already late for the baggage pick up so I need to get my stuff over there!"

"Hey no problem, say hi to the folks for me would you!"

"Will do, it was nice finally meeting you Lizzie!"

"Yeah yeah, you too, now get ou' of here before they leave without ya'."

"Alright, alright, I'll call you when I get back home to let you know I made it without trouble ok?"

"Alright Rach, you know how much I love talking to old school buddies halfway across the galaxy!"

She rolled her eyes and waved goodbye one last time as she left in the direction of the shuttle waiting to take her up to the vessel in orbit. There wasn't anything special about the trip up to that point, so she went to the cabin that she had when she was brought to Ferris Fields the day before. It still had her clock attatched to the bulkhead magnetically, so after a quick talk with the captain of the vessel, to make sure she was settled in, she relaxed on the bed and decided to take a short nap while they went to the relay in the next cluster over. It was only a two-hour trip, but she needed to rest up before they arrived because she wanted to see what all is involved in going through a relay, she hadn't paid much attention to the trip on the way in after all.

So when after only an hour and a half she woke up to the screeching of the ship's alarms, at first she was confused. When she went to find the captain or one of the 20 crewmembers to ask what it was about, all she remembers happening is the door to the hallway getting blown open and 4 armored figures walking in with shotguns raised. She didn't even have time to scream, when one spotted her and slammed her onto the floor of the vessel. The last thing that she heard was some strange sounding hisses and almost guttural growls from one of the other figures.

Present time, BHS Khar'shan's Glory, en route to base in the traverse

It was only now that she realized that they were pirates. Her dad had taught her how to recognize alien languages based on how they sounded, so she could at least know what was being spoken even though she couldn't understand it. So here she found herself, imprisoned by batarians, who by reputation alone would probably rape, torture, and whatever else they can think of without even a second thought given about any of it.

As such, when she started hearing the screams of what sounded like the captain she had been talking to just a few hours earlier, it only made the pit in her stomach grow to the point of making her want to vomit. She managed to keep it in, but it did nothing for the feeling of dread that gripped her over the next several minutes, while the screaming increased to levels she would expect out of someone giving birth, not a man that was even older than her former history teacher was. When it finally cut off, it was so abrupt she couldn't help but feel a sort of cold certainty start to replace that dread. She didn't even react when a batarian walked through her cell door, nearly blinding her from the light, and started talking to her in that hissing tongue so typical of his species without an omni-tool to translate it. When she just stared at him he began dragging her out by her wrists. She did react when he started chuckling, with something that even without a translation she could tell was sadistic glee, after he got a good look at her. He pushed her in front of him, while she could feel all four eyes taking her in like she was some sort of steak fresh off the grill. After walking down three doors, she noticed that the one on her right was open. Looking inside, this time she did vomit, the corpse of the man nearly unrecognizable from when she saw him last. His eyes had been pulled out of his skull and were left on a platter next to the remains of his intestines, with what would normally be simple surgical instruments coated in blood and viscera from when they were used to carve into him.

When she started dry heaving after emptying her stomach, her captor, and soon to be torturer she realized with no small amount of fear, started growling what sounded like commands. When she didn't react, he yanked her hair and dragged her into the same room as the body she was now forced to stare at, while the slaver looked over his tools to decide which to use on her as if he was some budding artist in need of practice.

When he finally found one to his satisfaction, he gave her a toothy grin that when she saw she couldn't help but feel almost dead inside. When he came within arms reach, however, she noticed that he had a large serrated knife attached to his ankle. Her only thought was that she either died fighting or would end up as the former captain had. But she had not been raised foolishly, patience was something she had been taught ever since the first time she saw one of her fathers' old hunting trophies up on the wall of their country home. So she waited for him to get close enough for her to grab it.

When he had, the next several seconds seemed to form a blur. He started reaching down with his free hand, while his other held what seemed like just a normal baton of some sort, in the time she had she didn't notice the switch or small power pack attached to it at the bottom. She made her move for the knife at a speed she had only ever used back on Earth when she won a local acrobatics championship. The slaver didn't react for the first second after she grabbed the knife, which she used to slash horizontally across his upper eyes. He yelled what sounded like curses mixed with angered screams, and lashed out with the hand that didn't hold the electro-baton, nearly throwing her into the center of the room where the corpse was still hanging.

When she tried standing up she felt light-headed for a second, until pain assaulted her chest where he had struck and she nearly fell down, only to reach out and almost cut herself on the bloody tools still left on the little medical table next to where she landed. She had only a moment, so she grabbed the first thing she felt, a long scalpal that would normally be used on krogan instead of humans, and wielded it like it was a knife in her left hand.

Sher'Thes was truly pleased with himself after he led the boarding action on the human freighter. The fools had been so unprepared for it he captured all but 5 of the humans they found onboard without a single casualty from his men. Serves the pyjak's right, thinking they can simply go through our space and not get punished for their insolence.

He was an ambitious middle caste trained from a child as a warrior, so when he saw an opportunity to sign on to an outgoing collection ship he realized the possible glory of such a position immediately. After going through the traverse and finding nothing but the odd salarian smuggler that couldn't quite make it away in time, he started thinking that perhaps it was a mistake after all. When he woke up for his shift, however, it was only a few hours before the scanners picked up a frigate sized human transport approaching the relay where they had settled in for an ambush the day before, on the advice of one of the hegemony's scouts in the region.

As the captain was currently asleep, he had an opportunity he couldn't pass up. During the capture, the captain arrived at the bridge and saw how rapidly he was progressing, and after they came back onboard, rewarded him with two of the humans as a gift to deal with however he wished. The old one had been a rewarding experience for the fledgling slaver as it taught him many ways to get the damn monkeys to say anything he wanted them to, a pity he expired so quickly though, suppose humans aren't as tough as they make themselves out to be.

And so he went to get his other prize, a young female that when the captain had gifted him, half the boarding crew tried arguing that they wanted her first before he could get to her. Two unconscious and bleeding crewman later, that argument had been settled.

When he went for her, however, instead of the sniveling varren he expected to find trying to beg for their life, she looked like she had already been killed before he even arrived. Just before he was about to start yelling into the ship comms to see who had gotten her first, he noticed her eyes were now looking straight at him in what seemed like a mix of apathy and a cold emptiness. He suppressed a hiss of surprise at it before speaking "Come on human, either you get up or we do this the fun way."

When her only reaction was a slight tilt of the head, he realized the girl couldn't even understand his language without her translator. Of course, the whore didn't even bother to learn the tongue of her betters.

Deciding to skip the language barrier entirely, he grabbed hold of her wrists and pulled her into the hallway so she could walk on her own. Rather than waste time speaking to her again, he simply looked her up and down while she walked in front of him. Not quite what a real woman should look like, but I suppose she'll have to do. Almost a pity though, bet she'd have sold real well to one of the asari out here. He chuckled at his own joke about the situation, which made her glance at him in what seemed like a bit of fear, making him chuckle even more.

When they arrived at the room with the other humans remains, her eyes went almost as wide as a drell's before she heaved over and vomited on the steel paneling that covered the floor. Not wanting to dirty his boots, he let her go until she finished and started retching instead.

"Alright human, now that you're through dirtying the floor, get in there or you'll wish you had." When she only stared at him in fear he sighed, figuring he should've expected this. The fun way it is then, just 'cause the bitch can't understand me, doesn't mean I can't use her disobeying my order as an excuse.

So he dragged her in by the root of her fur and dropped her against the wall so that he could keep an eye on her, while he picked out something that would make her last as long as possible. Hmm, this old riot baton should do the trick quite nicely.

As he walked towards her, he couldn't help but smirk at what was about to take place. Which is why what happened next stunned him for the briefest of moments. Moving like an asari dancer, she reached down to his ankle knife and slashed it across his upper eyes all in one move. The only reaction he made through the literally blinding pain that followed, was to punch her with all the strength of a son of Khar'shan, throwing her over by the leftovers of his last victim.

"YOU'LL BEG FOR ME TO BE AS KIND TO YOU AS I WAS TO HIM YOU PILE OF VARREN SHIT!"

The batarian was still yelling expletives at her when he turned around, bleeding from what was left of his upper eyes, and noticed her staring at him as if he was nothing more interesting than a pyjak stealing some food from the cargo hold.

Naturally, this enraged him even more. Just wait human, you'll beg for me to be as merciful as I would've been, he wanted to say, but he noticed the scalpal in one hand and the knife, my knife, in the other still covered with his blood. He took a short step forward, almost growling when he heard some of his precious blood dripping on the floor while this, this, LIVESTOCK, taunted him. So instead of treating it like a threat, as one equal would to another, he simply turned on the baton and charged at the simpering girl that he had nearly cowed simply by showing her the other animal he had already gone through. What he didn't expect was for her to simply keep on staring like nothing was happening, so when he brought his arm up to swing, all she did was slash both sides of his throat open, and duck underneath the swing while he staggered and then leaned against the cell wall, to add his own blood onto the large puddle that had formed. Not like this, not to some alien filth. He tried one last time to stand up, only for his legs to simply twitch as the darkness closed around his remaining sight.

When she saw him slouch against the wall and fall still, she didn't even notice the bleeding until the light shimmered on some of the flowing blood coming from his neck. For several seconds she just looked at him confused, until she glanced at her hands and noticed the knife and scalpel both covered in an orange-ish red liquid. It took her all of 3 seconds to make the connection before her whole body started shaking, and she slouched next to the corpse she had just made. She didn't know how long she sat there, looking at her hands and what they held as if they were bound in bloody chains she couldn't remove no matter how hard she tried. All she knew is that eventually there were alarms sounding on this ship as well, the slavers omni-tool lit up the dark puddle he formed with its orange light, letting out even more of the growling and near screaming hiss she heard before, only for it to reach a peak before the popping sounds that mass effect ammunition made when it left the barrel cut it off. She simply stared at it for several minutes before she heard what sounded like shouting getting closer, along with the random 'POOFT' of what now sounded like pistols. Still, she sat, the open doorway now the center of her attention. She gripped the blood-stained weapons still in her hands until her knuckles were so white they seemed as if they had been painted the color. When the shooting finally stopped, she heard footsteps coming down the hall and prepared to at least do something.

What she didn't think would happen is for her to hear someone say something she understood "Ship has been cleared, no survivors from the pirate crew-wait, hold that" said a deep baritone that in any other situation would've sounded almost gentle to her, not that she noticed it here. When another figure poked its head around the corner she almost cried just upon seeing the face behind the visor, with light brown skin and dark eyes that looked the entire room over in less than a second before they settled on her form, which after what felt like years finally released the weapons with the now dry blood on them to clatter on the floor in the dead silence that followed. Human! It's human!

Either she said it out loud or he noticed the wetness that came to her eyes, because the next time she looked up he had put a hand on her shoulder and said in a voice sounding almost like her fathers when he came home from a month-long combat mission without any news. "It's alright miss, you're safe now. My name is Lieutenant Anderson, of the Alliance scout flotilla." She couldn't help herself and she latched onto his neck like he was a lifeline that she didn't dare let go of. "Whoa now, it's alright, you're safe. Let's get you out of here and back home." He picked her up in a bridal carry, with her not releasing him until she noticed she was put in some kind of hospital bed onboard a ship he carried her into, with a woman who looked to be middle-aged leaning over her arm attaching an IV into her, while he simply walked out the door towards more marines and a turian of all things waiting on the other side. When the woman noticed her movement she spoke in a refined English accent, sounding so calm that Rachel felt as if the last several hours had just been a horrible dream. "There now, it's alright dear. I gave you some medication that should help you with the pain and calm you down enough to rest for a few hours. You're lucky all you got was just a cracked rib and some bruising, most batarian warriors learn how to throw punches since the time they can first walk. Get some rest, I'll come back with the man that found you once you wake up so we can find out who you are at least." She turned to leave and Shepard tried and failed to move her suddenly tired arm. Instead, she used her voice to at least get her attention.

"Rachel Shepard" she almost whispered, "my name is Rachel Shepard."

The doctor turned around just before arriving at the door, and smiled in a way that if she was younger would have turned the eye of any man nearby, but on her not-quite-aged face simply made it seem like a mothering gesture while she replied. "Alright Miss Shepard, I'll be sure to remember it."

When she started to turn around to leave again Shepard asked one last question. "Wait, please, before you leave, could you tell me who you are?"

"Why of course, silly of me to not have mentioned it before. My name is Karin Chakwas, I'm the Alliance doctor onboard the ship. Is that all you wished to know?"

At her slight nod, she walked out, closing the door behind her, leaving Shepard feeling tired and numb. She stayed like that for several minutes before deciding to listen to the doctor's advice and closed her eyes. Not even 30 seconds later she fell asleep without knowing what her future held, and how everything about it was suddenly changed.

Well, that's chapter 1, what do you all think? This is my first story and if all goes well, the next chapter should be out sometime over the next couple weeks. Hope you enjoyed it and be sure to leave a review telling me where I can improve! Also, just putting this out there, but I'm not entirely sure about Andersons rank at the time, so if anyone can tell me that I'll either change it to the correct one or leave it where it is if it is already correct. Thanks all, see you next time!