The New Plan:

The Council Chambers were a wreck. The ceiling had caved in sections, the statues had been destroyed, the walkway had collapsed and there was rubble everywhere. The events of today would be remembered as an important day in the history of the Citadel. With the battle over, now began the new mission, to hunt through the rubble in search of survivors that may be trapped. That was what was going on throughout the room. Groups of C-Sec crew were searching for survivors led by Chellick. He knew that Shepard and her group had gone up the tower and now he was trying to find them.

They quickly found Kaidan and Bau leaning against some rubble along with Bakira "Over here." Chellick called

Medics and diggers came to help lift the rubble off of the group. Then David Anderson came in and confronted Kaidan "Take it easy. You're safe now." He stated "Where's the commander? Where's Shepard?" Kaidan looked down. He had no idea on where Shepard was. He had called out to her but had no reply and now he feared the worse. Anderson sighed and then he and Chellick helped Kaidan up as his legs had been trapped and he needed treatment.

As he was being carried out, Kaidan felt a feeling in the force. He ordered the people carrying him to stop and he slowly turned around. A large piece of debris was floating in the air and was then put to the side. Then, everyone gasped in relief when they saw Shepard slowly climbing out. They all shared a look before Shepard came up to Kaidan and hugged him tight.

"I feared I lost you." She stated

"I feared the same thing." Kaidan stated "I was just glad I was wrong."

Shepard smiled and then she quickly kissed Kaidan deep on the lips and Kaidan returned the kiss. David and the others smiled at this and they didn't want to disturb the moment.

...

A while later, the team had been taken to an old warehouse that had been converted into a hospital to deal with the large number of cases. The doctors on the Citadel had all come together to deal with the huge number of cases as there were too many for the hospitals to deal with. Many people had been injured just the battle, not just soldiers but civilians as well since there had been bombing during the fight. Another warehouse was being used for the bodies as people tried to identify them so their families could be known. The casualty number was still unknown but it was rising as more victims were found as the rubble was being cleared. The death toll was expected to be high.

Kaidan had been brought here as his leg had been injured but it was as serious as some of the others and he would make a quick recovery.

Kaidan looked grim as he watched more and more injured people as well as bodies being brought in. "Look at this Shepard." He stated "Look just how many lives have been affected?"

"In time of war, it's the civilians who suffer the most." Shepard stated "No matter who is fighting, the civilians are always at risk. Even if the war is justified like when we fight against pirates or against an aggressive empire who wants to enslave us, civilians always pay the price."

"The First Order has to pay for what they've done." Kaidan stated

"And they will." Shepard stated "But we have to find them first. We still don't know where they operate and who is even in command of them. Their leader is only known as the Supreme Leader which doesn't tell us much. I just hope the politics don't make this harder for us."

"At least Saren's dead." Bau stated "That Rogue Spectre won't threaten anyone else ever again and it will serve as a warning to the rest of us. We all need to learn lessons from this."

They were silent for a while until they heard someone approaching them. Shepard and Kaidan recognised Dr Michel, the doctor who was being threatened by Fist's thugs while Shepard was looking for evidence against Saren. She had been helping patients here as well as helping loved ones look for their family or friends. Behind her were Liara, Garrus, Wrex and Tali.

"Here they are." Michel stated "I'll leave you folks alone."

Garrus smiled "Somehow I knew you were alright."

"We were all worried when we saw Sovereign crash into the tower." Tali added

"But we all knew how though you guys are and how hard you are to kill." Liara finished

"We are." Shepard smiled

"So what's going to happen now?" Bakira asked

"Well, Saren dead now." Bau stated "So I'll be sent on a new mission when the council decide. I hope to carry on an investigation into the First Order."

"After this attack, they have to see just how dangerous they are." Liara stated

"Maybe." Bau stated "But they might also sweep this under the rug and say that the threat has been dealt with publicly but in private they will carry on investigating. I will do what I can to help."

"Same with us." Kaidan stated "Hopefully Yularen will allow us to carry on."

"And if they are a threat, you can count on me to help." Wrex added "I'll be helping my people so we can fight if the need comes."

"And I'll keep the council off your back." Bau added "They won't be happy about the Krogan uniting but with you in charge, they might be alright but still worried."

"Speaking of which, there's someone who wants to meet with you." Garrus stated "She couldn't come in here but has agreed to meet us out back and out of sight."

"Who wants to meet us?" Shepard asked

"Someone who may have more information about these Sith that have been mentioned." Liara stated

"Can you walk Kaidan?" Bakira asked

"It's a struggle but the doctors say I'll be fine." Kaidan replied as he grabbed a pair of crutches "I just need to take it easy. Besides, other people need this bed more than me."

...

Garrus led the group outside to a meeting area and they saw a hooded figure who was waiting for them. "Hey, I brought them here."

The hooded figure turned around and lowered the hood and everyone except Tali, Liara, Garrus and Wrex were in shock. In front of them was an alien that none of them had met but it looked similar to the force ghost Vigil they had met on Virmire.

"So you're the ones who they told me about." The Prothean spoke up in a female voice "Allow me to introduce myself; I am Surik, Knight of the Order of the Jedi."

"The Old Order of the Jedi from the Prothean Empire I guess." Kaidan stated "The original order was destroyed long ago."

"Yes, I was a Jedi, in fact I was actually the apprentice of the First Grandmaster and founder of the old Order." Surik replied "I was wondering if you knew the whole story of our enemies, the Sith?"

"We were told some by a force ghost on Ilos." Shepard replied "Vigil informed us that the Star Forge turned some Jedi against the galaxy."

"That's true." Surik replied "The darkside of the force was in the Star Forge and it corrupted many members and turned them against the Order. One of them was my old master."

"You mean, you're old Master, the original founder of the order turned against the galaxy?" Bau stated

Surik sighed "Yes." She admitted "What's worse is that many people flocked to his side. He was a war Hero, he had saved us from the Reapers and so many believed in him. He even asked me to join him and I nearly did but then he was betrayed. His own apprentice turned on him and destroyed his ship then he took over. This new master of the Sith was even worse, he destroyed entire worlds just to kill one person, millions perished in the orbital bombings. We were on the verge of being conquered but then we began fighting back. I joined in as well and became a leader and soon, we won. But our victory was short lived as soon, the Reapers returned. We thought they had been defeated but we were wrong."

"And since there had been the war, you were unprepared for the conflict." Liara said

Surik nodded "They defeated us quicker than they did in the first war. We had no chance and it was decided that we should go into hiding which was why we were sealed in statis pods although there was always a risk."

"True." Wrex stated "All of the pods on Ilos failed."

Surik sighed "What about the other pods on where I was found."

"We don't know yet." Shepard stated "Yours was the only pod we found but there could be more."

"I hope so." Surik replied "I would hate to be the last of my race."

"Maybe there is hope for my people." Surik replied "I will have to be careful thought, I will draw unwanted attention."

"I have connections that could help hide you." Liara offered

"I appreciate it." Surik replied "If the Sith have returned as well as the Reapers then the galaxy is in grave danger."

There were a few moments of silence until he heard someone called out Shepard's name. Surik quickly pulled her hood back up and they all looked to see Detective Chellick approaching them.

"There you are." Chellick said "Dr Michel said she had seen you come here."

"We were just speaking to a new friend." Shepard stated

"I can see that." Chellick replied "I just wanted to tell you that the Councillors are wanting to speak with you and Spectre Bau over near the Citadel tower."

"We'll be over there soon." Bau spoke.

"Good luck to you all." Chellick replied and then left to carry on assisting C-Sec in their hunt for remaining survivors.

...

Soon, Shepard and Bau arrived at the Presidium in front of the tower. It would take time for the tower to be used again and there was rubble all over the Presidium. Teams were busy trying to remove the rubble and try and locate survivors. Ambasador Udina along with Anderson and Yularen were waiting along with the three Councillors. An Astro Droid was also projecting a hologram of Chancellor Mothma.

"Spectre Bau, Commander Shepard." Tevos greeted "We have gathered here to recognise the enormous contributions of Republic forces in the war against Sovereign and the First Order."

"Many Republic servicemen lost their lives in this war so that we might live." Valern added

"We will never forget that." Sparatus added "The Council is in your debts."

"I thank you for those complements." Mothma spoke "But unfortunately, I fear my position is in jeopardy. With such heavy losses, many Senators will say that I sent them to die for a cause that they shouldn't have gotten involved with."

"The Chancellor does have a point." Anderson added "Many Senators dislike the Citadel and will say that we should have never sent our fleets. We took heavy losses, both Blue and Grey Squadron lost most of their pilots and we lost two Dreadnoughts as well as a few Cruisers. The Senate won't be happy about those losses and gaining very little."

"This war may only give these Senators more supporters." Udina added "The next few months will be tricky to navigate."

"If the Senate call for an emergency meeting then I will have no choice but to comply." Mothma added

"Even if they force you to resign?" Tevos added

"If such a vote passes through then I will have no choice." Mothma stated "I am not a dictator and so I must obey the will of the Senate."

"That could be a problem." Shepard stated "If the First Order does have spies amongst the Senate then they will discredit you and could put a puppet in charge."

"And finding them won't be easy." Yularen added "Some might discredit you but not actually be members of the First Order."

"I fear this may not be the end of this." Bau stated "With your blessing, I will continue the investigation into this First Order. Hopefully we could find out where they operate."

"STG will help as well." Valern added

"As will RSB." Yularen added "I will investigate any lead I can find into the First Order although this isn't going to be easy." He then turned to Shepard "Commander, now that your hunt for Saren is over, you have a new mission. Since you and Spectre Bau were the ones who discovered the First Order, I would like you to carry on investigating."

"I will do my best Colonel." Shepard stated "But before I set off, I wish to speak with my mother in person. There's something I wish to ask her."

"I'll arrange for Hackett to get her to speak with you." Yularen stated "Just wait a few hours."

Shepard nodded in response.

...

A few hours later, a shuttle took Shepard up to the RSV Kilimanjaro, Flagship of the Fifth Fleet and the ship that Shepard's mother, Hannah served as XO. Admiral Stephen Hackett was in command of the ship and was a good personal friend of the Shepard family. He had been a mentor to young Jane when she was growing up. Shepard was greeted by her mother at the hanger and the two shared a hug before Shepard asked to speak with her somewhere in private so Hannah took her daughter to her private room.

"So dear, what did you want to speak to me about?" Hannah asked

Shepard sighed "There's just something I've been meaning to ask you. You see, when I was captured by Saren and his First Order on Feros, it seemed that the leader was after me personally for some reason and I was trying to figure out why. I came to you with questions about this because during one of my missions on Pandora, I experienced some kind of a vision. I saw you mother along with father as well as a newborn baby girl who I guessed was me. It was like watching a vision from the past and during the vision, the two were saying about how the truth might hurt me or how someone would come after me. After what happened, I just need to know the truth."

Hannah was silent as she listened and then she closed her eyes "I always feared that this day would come. I think it is time for you to know the truth."

"The truth about what?" Shepard asked

Hannah sighed "Jane listen, what's I'm about to tell you will be hard for you to hear. But my father and I haven't actually been truthful about our own past. Your father did serve in the navy all his life but I actually didn't. In truth, I actually served a different organisation, the group you now call the First Order."

"Wait, you served the First Order?" Shepard gasped

"Not by choice." Hannah admitted "I was actually born on an Outer Colony in the Republic and was kidnapped when I was a child by slavers. They sold me to the First Order who saw potential in me and so for much of my childhood until my early teens, I was trained as an Enforcer, they would soon become known as the Inquisitors." She went to her bed and pulled out a box and to Shepard's shock, she pulled out a lightsaber similar to the one Saren had wielded. "I was trained to use this, I hated it but instead of rebelling, I played them and pretended to be a ruthless enforcer to bid my time. Soon I got my chance as the base where I was stationed was attacked by a rival warlord group as the First Order was still a rising power. I was just 15 at the time. I was eventually able to make it to Shanxi by sneaking aboard a cargo ship. When that colony was attacked during the First Contact War, I established myself as a strong soldier who was self taught and so I was asked to join the forced by Anderson himself. I agreed as a way of trying to break away from my past."

"What does this have to do with me?" Shepard asked "Why are the First Order after me?"

Hannah sighed again "My past soon came back to haunt me. When I was pregnant with you, enforcers from the Order tracked me down. The Supreme Leader had sent them after me, claimed that they wanted the child, said that the force had demanded it. I was able to fight them off and eventually, I was able to discover the reason why. I was an orphan, my mother died young and I never knew my father and then I discovered why. It seems my father was actually none other than the man who calls himself the Supreme Leader himself. I realised how much danger you could be in which was why I tried to keep you as far away from the Outer reaches of the Republic. Your father learnt of the truth and we tried to hide everything. We laid a false trail for the First Order to follow and I changed my name to hide. I thought we were safe but it seems we were wrong."

Shepard was in complete shock at everything she had just heard. "Why didn't you tell me about any of this before?" she questioned with tears in her eyes.

Hannah sighed "In all honesty, I didn't want to trouble you. For much of you younger years, I was so scared that the First Order would sent someone to try and find you which was why I kept you with me. I was even terrified when you went to the Academy that one day I would hear that the Academy had been attacked and you had been kidnapped. However I wanted you to have a proper childhood and not to worry you so I let everything go. For many years everything was fine and so I thought by deception had worked. But it seemed that I was wrong. The First Order are after you Jane, you may have to be extra careful from now on. I will always be here for you."

Shepard embraced her mother who hugged her back. "Mother, I will find a way to stop the First Order. I will not let them win." Hannah smiled at that and soon, Shepard prepared to leave the ship and return to her own ship.

...

A few months had passed since the Battle of the Citadel and things had begun to change on the Normandy. With the mission to hunt down Saren now over, Shepard and the Normandy were transferred over to Colonel Yularen who was using the ship to try and find any traces of the First Order. The crew had been given a week's shore leave since they had been through a lot in the last few months and needed the break. Now the Normandy was trying to find any leads on the First Order but so far, they had nothing. No one had any idea where the First Order had fled to so recently; the Normandy had been dispatched close to the Perseus Veil where the Geth controlled as since Saren also had the Geth, maybe the First Order were operating around there as well.

The crew had changed as well and some familiar faces from Shepard's crew were no long on the Normandy. Wrex had returned to Tuchanka to rally the Krogan against the First Order, Bau had returned to his duties as a Citadel Spectre and was no longer working with Shepard and Bakira had returned to help spy on the Batarian Hegemony. She was assisting with hunt for Balak before he could threaten any more colonies.

Currently, the Normandy had been sent to scout the Amada System in the Omega Nebula. The Omega Nebula was an important strategic point in the galaxy. The Nebula was at the border between the Terminus Systems and the Attican Traverse. It was also home to Omega Station, a massive space station often called the Citadel of the Terminus Systems and was ruled by the Pirate Queen Aria T'lok, an ally of the Republic who gave her support to keep the local warlords in line and protect the Republic. This basically made Aria ruler of a small piece of the galaxy since she could control a strategically important part where she could give rights to colonists who would have to live under her protection and also several rich mineral worlds. The deal was good for both sides.

The Amada System was mostly just full of worthless planets but apparently, ships had recently gone missing here which was why the Normandy had been sent here. They had been informed that one of the planets known as Eingana was a dangerous jungle world but still liveable and would have made a perfect place for a hidden base so that was where the Normandy was checking out. The Normandy had been in the system for four days and so far they had found nothing. They had laid in wait with the Stealth Systems on to try and catch anyone trying to enter the system.

On board the Normandy, Navigator Pressley approached the bridge alongside Communications Officer Doka Phasa "We're wasting our time here." Pressley commented "We've been here for four days and we've had no sign of any activity."

"We won't be able to keep our radio silence up for long." Doka added

"Well three ships did go missing here recently." Joker stated "Something had to have happened here."

Pressley snorted "It's most likely Slavers." He stated "The Terminus System is crawling with them."

"But we never received a distress call." Doka replied "If it was Slavers, we would have found a distress call or at least signs of a battle. Plus, some of Aria's own ships have recently gone missing here as well so I doubt she's involved."

Then the console beeped and Luke had a look "Hey, I'm picking up something on the Long Range Scanner." He stated "Unidentified ship, looks like a Cruiser. It doesn't match anything on the database."

"Then maybe we finally found what's been causing our ships to go missing." Joker stated "Keep the Stealth Systems engaged, we're tailing it."

The Normandy carefully moved around to inspect the ship. What they saw was odd, the ship seemed to have some form of metal structure but was also covered by what seemed like an organic structure. No one had any clue what this was.

"I've never seen a ship like that." Doka stated "Could it be from another race."

Luke looked a bit concerned "I have a bad feeling about this."

Pressley did as well and looked at Luke "Keep at a distance Joker, we need to know what's going on."

But then, the ship started turning around which Doka noticed "Why's it turning around, has it seen us?"

"It can't have." Pressley stated "The Stealth Systems are engaged, there's no way that any ship could have seen us, not at the distance we're at. Not from a window."

Luke was worried and checked the controls and noticed the heat was rising from the scanners "The scanners are picking up a large build up of energy!" he gasped "JOKER!"

"I SEE IT!" Joker shouted back "Brace for evasive manoeuvres!"

The massive ship suddenly fired a massive yellow laser like beam. Since the Normandy had been stationary, Joker tried to quickly move away but it was too late and the beam struck the Normandy on side as she was turning.

The impact caused an explosion near the bridge. Pressley was the closest to it and was struck with the full impact and knocked to the floor.

"Pressley!" Doka shouted but was thrown to the ground.

"We're under attack!" Luke shouted and got on the comm "Zitt, fire back.

In the Normandy's weapon's room, Weapon's Officer Zitt'ozar'sruno ordered the ships guns to start firing at the enemy. But they were too far away and the Normandy wasn't designed for a ship to ship combat with a ship that size.

The enemy ship fired again and struck the Normandy. This time the attack was even worse. The entire weapon's room was engulfed in an explosion when the beam struck the main cannon and caused a large hole to open up. Anyone who survived the explosion was quickly sucked out into the vacuum of space.

On the bridge, it quickly came clear that this was a losing fight. "Our shields are down as are our weapons!" Luke cried out "Zitt's dead!"

"We have multiple hull breaches, someone get that fire out!" Joker added

Up in Shepard's room, Commander Shepard had relaxed and decided to have dinner with Kaidan when they were thrown around by the explosion. Shepard quickly reached for her comm when the lights when out plunging the room into darkness and then the red emergency lights came on. "Joker, what the hell's going on!" she called

"Commander." Joker called over the radio "We're under attack! Some strange ship came out of nowhere and attacked us! Our weapons are down! We're not going to last this fight! Our hyperdrive is offline so we can't go to Lightspeed!"

Shepard sighed, she knew that there was only one option now. "Joker, give the order to abandon ship. We can't fight this out! I'm going to launch the distress beacon."

"Understood!" Joker called "But hurry Commander, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep this up." He then ended the call.

Shepard turned to Kaidan "Make sure the crew get to the escape pods. I need to go and launch the distress beacon. If we don't launch it then it will take too long for anyone to find us."

Kaidan was reluctant to leave Shepard behind but nodded "Alright, make sure you get out as soon as you can."

"I will Kaidan." Shepard replied and quickly have Kaidan a big kiss before she and Kaidan left her cabin and went their separate ways. Kaidan was on the Command Deck helping the crew down to the Quarter's deck to where the escape pods. He went to the bridge where Joker and Luke were. He sighed when he saw Pressley's dead body and the injured Doka who was struggling to walk but still alive. Luke and Joker told Kaidan to help Doka to a pod who nodded and helped carry the injured Doka down the stairs to the Quarters Deck where the escape Pods were. Other crew members quickly rushed to the pods but then the Normandy was struck hard by another blast that it tore a large hole in the roof of the CIC quickly sucking some of the crew into the vacuum of space. The emergency door closed which prevented Kaidan from being sucked out with Doka and after taking a quick breath, and then carried on to the pods.

Down in the Engineer and Storage Deck, there were escape pods there as well for the crew as it would take too long for them to get up to the escape pods on the quarters deck and so the crew quickly went into the escape pods. Zeplatuz and Dik get into a pod with the other storage crew and Ci Chos. Verbro and the security team were in their own pod while Tali got into a pod with Engineer Adams and a few others, Adam was forced to leave a few of his crew behind to prevent a core overload and Jass Gur, the fuel Officer had been killed in one of the explosions when a fuel pipe he was working on caught fire. The pods began to launch and Tali's pod remained to wait for Pekue Bez, the Mako driver who was running towards them. But then another beam struck the Normandy and caused the Normandy to shake which caused the Mako to break free from it's holdings and fly across the room.

Tali and Adams watched in horror as the Mako slammed into Pekue and crushed her against the side of the wall. The crash also caused a crack in the walls and so Tali was forced to shut the pod and launched. They made it out just in time as the wall crumbled sending the Mako and other supplies hurling out of the storage deck and towards the surface of the planet Alchera.

On the Quarters deck, Kaidan helped the injured Doka into a pod and looked as other people joined them including Liara and Dr Chakwas. "In the pods. Get into the pods." Kaidan shouted "GO! GO! GO!"

Shepard then arrived "Distress beacon has been launched. The Republic won't abandon us. Is everyone else safe?"

"Most of the crew are in the pods." Kaidan replied "But Joker is still on the bridge with Luke."

Shepard looked back as the Normandy shook again "I'm going back for them."

"Shepard!" Kaidan gasped in horror "The ship is falling apart!"

"No one gets left behind!" Shepard shouted "You get out of here now! That's an order, I'll get out in the bridge escape pod."

Kaidan sighed "Aye, Aye." He responded and got into his pod, then he closed the door and the escape pod was ejected from the Normandy along with the other escape pods.

The Normandy was now crippled, she was limping close to the planet Alchera, one of her engines had been completly blown off while the main deck now had a large hole in it. Shepard put her space helmet on and then went up to the Normandy's bridge. She activated her Magno-boots in order to keep herself on the Normandy as she override the door controls to open the door as once she did, she was exposed to space. Shepard slowly approached the bridge going slowly to avoid being sucked out into space, some of the chairs were now floating around, it was like diving through an underwater shipwreck.

Shepard soon reached the bridge where Joker had activated a shield to protect himself and Luke. Both pilots were trying to keep the ship stable and were sending out a distress call. Both had placed their own breathing equipment on due to a lack of oxygen.

"Joker, Luke!" Shepard called "Come on, the crew's off the ship, we have to go!"

"No!" Joker protested "I won't abandon the Normandy! I can still save her!"

"The Normandy is lost!" Shepard shouted "Going down with the ship won't save her. Luke, help me."

Luke got out of his seat and he and Shepard helped carry Joker since he had brittle bones and would struggle walking. If he walked too fast, he would break his legs. As they turned around, they could see the enemy ship close by.

"Watch out, they're coming round for another attack!" Luke yelled

They quickly made their way to the bridge escape pod and Luke got as and helped Joker inside. But just as Shepard was about to make her way in, another beam struck the Normandy and Shepard watched to see the Normandy was breaking into two pieces. The front piece broke away and the change in direction threw Shepard away from the escape pod. Shepard's magno-boots could no longer hold her to the ground and she started getting sucked out into space.

"Commander!" Luke yelled in horror.

Shepard managed to grab hold of a support near the controls for the escape pod. Joker gasped when he realized what Shepard was about to do.

"Shepard!" Joker yelled

Shepard pressed the controls and the escape pod closed it's doors and launched and just in time as the beam fired again, blowing Shepard out of the ship.

Shepard saw the shattered Normandy as she began drifting through space and then as the beam fired again at the engines on the back section, the back section exploded blowing Shepard backwards. She was thrown around the wreck and struck the wreckage several times.

Shepard was now panicking, she remembered the stories that her dad had told her when he got blasted into space. It seemed she would follow his fate. She was right as she started struggling to breathe and could see a gas escaping, her suit had been penetrated in one of the collisions. She began thrashing around as couldn't contain her breaths. Darkness came over her vision and soon enough she couldn't see. The last things she heard were Kaidan calling her over on her comm but then, everything fell silent.

...

Three times, seven shots were fired into the air in a 21 gun salute. People had gathered at a large plaza that had been the sight of a major battle during the Verge War. This was where Commander Shepard had held off the pirates and slavers during the Skyllian Blitz. The old square which had been a major gathering place on the colony Elysium had seen heavy fighting but Shepard and other members of the colony's militia had held their ground which prevented the pirates from gaining any more ground and eventually collapse. After the war, the plaza was reconstructed and made into a large garden dedicated to those who gave their lives that day to defend the colony. A traditional war memorial was in the centre and a large obelisk was just behind it with a statue of Shepard herself at the top. Commander Shepard had never returned to Elysium since the fight as she did not want the attention that she would get if she did and she was embarrassed at seeing a statue of herself.

It had been just over a week since the surprise attack on the Normandy. The survivors had been picked up quickly after the distress call had been sent out. Most of the Normandy's crew did survivor the attack but not everyone did with at least 25 crew being killed. The worst part of everything was that Commander Shepard was not among those who survived. As she had been blasted into space according to Joker and Luke, they doubted that she survived. The rescue effort tried searching for life forms but her body was never found. Commander Jane Alice Shepard, Hero of the Republic was declared dead and there was no body to bury.

The Republic had declare a day of national mourning and a memorial service was to be held on Elysium where she had saved the colony. Many people had gathered including Shepard's mother, most of the surviving crew and family friends as well. Senior Republic officials and even Citadel Officials had shown up to pay their respects as a wreath of flowers was placed at the foot of Shepard's Column by a teary eyed Kaidan.

After the gun salute, Chancellor Mothma gave a speech "People of the Republic, we are gathered here to honour the memory of Commander Jane Alice Shepard, a well known Hero in the Republic. Her family served the Republic for many years and she followed her parents. Here in this very plaza, she famously held off a pirate attack which saved this very colony. She was a true Hero to many and someone who stood up to protect the innocent. She will always be remembered as a Hero for years to come and we will try to honour her memory as best we can."

After the speech, the people began to leave but Kaidan stayed along with Liara and other members of Shepard's team. Wrex had joined them and offered his apologies to Kaidan as he knew he was close to Shepard. Kaidan was too upset to speak and not even Liara could get through to him. Soon enough, Kaidan was alone looking at the plaque on the column when he heard a new voice call him. He turned around to see his old friend Ahsoka approach him

"I heard about what happened." Ahsoka said "I'm really sorry about your loss. I never knew her well personally but I could tell she was important to you."

"She left us all too early." Kaidan said with tears in his eyes "We were suppose to fight the enemy together and now she's been taken from us."

"And we can't let her loss be in vain." Ahsoka stated "The Council have been worried about these reports of the First Order and the idea that the Sith may have returned. No one knows what is happening and Grandmaster Yoda is very worried about the dark forces he sensed."

"What are we suppose to do then?" Kaidan questioned "I feel like the Republic will just sweep everything under the rug."

"I don't know." Ahsoka said "I've talked with Master Plo and he too is concerned. He plans on talking with the other Masters and seeing what we could do but the Council will be split. Some with be supportive of getting involved and other will be against. By the time they realise the danger, it may already be to later."

"Maybe I have a solution for that." A voice called and the two of them turned to see Colonel Yularen approaching them. "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear your conversation. And Kaidan, I'm sorry for you loss."

"Thanks you Colonel." Kaidan replied "So what's your solution?"

"Chancellor Mothma is concerned about the threat of the First Order." Yularen replied "Some senators believe that they were defeated fully at the Citadel and there's nothing to worry about. Mothma is concerned that she may be forced out of office over getting involved in the Citadel and fears her successor may be someone ignorant or worse, a puppet for the First Order. She's given me authorization to set up a special unit of the Republic to try and finish of what Shepard started. She wants agents in the Terminus Systems to investigate and see if they can find the First Order."

"And you want me to be involved?" Kaidan guessed

"You're right." Yularen replied "You seem to know more about the First Order and the Sith than most. You were also one of Shepard's trusted companions and I think she would want you to finish what she started."

Kaidan smiled "Alright." He stated "I'm in. For Shepard."

Yularen smiled "Welcome to Rogue Squadron."

...

Far away, on an unknown planet, a mysterious figure sat on a large stone throne in the middle of an old temple with several figures standing before him.

"Supreme Leader." The first figure spoke up, he had a thin build and thin cheekbones with greying hair "I apologize for the failure of my fleet."

"The failure was not on your hands Admiral Pryde." The figure replied "This attack was destined to fail. It was a test to see how ready the galaxy was. It seems the galaxy is more unified than we first thought."

"So what's the plan then?" another man asked, this one wore grey battle armour and wore a grey helmet

"We will build our strength here as we've always done and once we have control over the Reapers again, we will make our move on the Republic." The figure replied and then he looked at the other man "General Veers, have our Stormtrooper corps, carry on subjugating planets in the Terminus Systems. Our first order of business will be to take Omega Station but we'll wait until the time is right. No point in rushing things."

"And what of the Jedi Order?" the third man asked, this one was the most mysterious, he wore a black suit of armour with a black helmet and spoke in a dark tone.

"You will handle them when the time comes Lord Vader." The Supreme leader said "The Jedi will collapse when you and the Inquisitors attack the Temple when we take Arcturus. As for gaining control of the Reapers, my granddaughter will assist us with that."

"Master, I don't mean to offend you but how can she help us?" Pryde questioned "I doubt she will assist us and even if she would, she can't right now since she's dead."

The Supreme Leader laughed "The Force works in strange ways." He replied "Now leave me, I must speak with an old friend." The other men nodded and then left the room leaving the Supreme Leader alone. When he was alone, the figure stepped down from the throne and removed his cloak to reveal a middle aged man with white hair. He walked over to a hologram and activated it to make a call to someone. After a minute of waiting, someone appeared on the hologram. It was a middle aged man with silver grey hair and steely blue eyes and who dressed in a business suit. He was also smoking a cigar and sat on a chair where he was answering the hologram call.

"Ah, Palpatine, it's been a while since you called." The man said

The Supreme leader's real name was Sheev Palpatine, a former Senator from the Republic who had been elected Chancellor of the Republic but had been forced to step down after he served his term. Afterwards, he had faded into the background but he was secretly making a comeback.

"Mr Harper." Palpatine replied "I wanted to call you to see how you were doing."

"Because of this First Order attack, I have been forced to take a step back from our Cerberus dealings." The man known as Harper replied "As my organisation is a pro-human group, I fear some may believe that we may have been behind this attack when we weren't. But this talk of the Reapers does worry me; I fear we've only seen the beginning of this."

Palpatine smiled "Well, I have a solution; if we're going to stop the Reapers then we need the one person who can stop them."

"You mean Shepard." Harper questioned "But how can she help when she's dead."

Palpatine smiled "There are ways Harper to save people even when they seem dead." He replied "If you can find her body then we may be able to bring her back. I have the funds to fund the project and you have the scientists to do it. If we work together like old times then we can help save this Galaxy."

Harper smiled "I'm in. I'll have my best agents seen if we can find her body. I'll contact you when we've found her." The call ended leaving Palpatine alone.

The former Chancellor smiled and then he made another call, this time, a black haired man wearing a mask called "Master Sidious." He called "What do you need me to do?"

"Carry on your infiltration." He ordered "When I give you the order, bring Shepard to me. Hopefully you'll do a better job than Saren did."

"I understand Master." The man replied and then the call once again ended.

Palpatine put his cloak and hood back up and stared out of a window "Soon enough, the Sith shall rule the galaxy once again. Watch out, you may have won the battle, but the war is only beginning." He gave a wicked laugh that could be heard all over the building. One thing's for sure, whatever was going on was only beginning. The real war would soon begin.

Chapter End:
Notes: Well this is it, the final chapter of Mass Wars episode 1. I know some may have been disappointed about the lack of Star Wars but I have set up the story to bring more Star Wars into this story in future stories. I also decided to end the story with the opening scene of Mass Effect 2 as I had a different idea to open my Mass Wars episode 2 when I do come around to do it. I am going to be taking a break from this story now so don't expect the new story to be out soon as I plan to work on my Rise of the Divines now and try to get the Mythic Dawn arc of that story done. Even though it's been so long, I am getting new Followers for that story and hopefully, I will have an update on that story soon. I also want to try and plan out Mass Wars episode 2 to try and work more Star Wars into the story. Just to make something here clear, Palpatine was the Supreme Leader as some people correctly guess and other questions will be answered in future stories such as his past but he was the Republic Chancellor during the Verge War but as he soon served his term, he had to step down and was never granted Emergency Powers like he did in the Clone Wars. The Prothean in the pod is also suppose to be a Prothean version of the main character from Star Wars KOTOR 2 which is why I named her Surik as the official name of the character is Meetra Surik although the games are no longer considered cannon, I decided to bring the ideas into my story as part of the history. This past will get explained in future stories although it would mean creating a new planet to be the official Prothean homeworld since it has never been named in Mass Effect.