Hi all Readers!

This is my version of the game. It contains a paragon male Shepard and a renegade female Shepard. I will twist and turn the storyline as I see fit. Some will stay the same and others will not. As I haven't set the story in stone, I will sometimes ask about your opinion on how you would like the story to go and from there I will count the votes.

English isn't my native language, so bear with me that it will be spelling and grammatical errors... I'm sorry. But I will do my best!

On some of the chapters, you will see one to three stars on. That means I have fixed the chapter at least once.

* - For minor changes and fix.

** - For major change

*** - For complete change

Fixed 2022

Hope you'll enjoy the story!

Escape the Fate

*Prologue

Three men stood around the table in the human Ambassador's office on the Citadel, a colossal deep-space station which served as the political, cultural, and financial capital of the galactic community and home to 13,2 million people of different races. Each man had a few dossiers spread around in front of him with all the relevant information on various qualified human soldiers. They had the crucial task to decide whom of the many fine men and women they were going to choose for this particular mission. Some of the soldiers, the three men had met and knew personally and could easily vouch for, while others they had only heard of by reputation only. However, this mission was hopefully going to be a huge changing point for humanity, therefore they needed to carefully consider their choices and find a soldier who could achieve this for humanity.

Each soldier showed great potential and had seemed eager and honored to become the Executive Officer on the new prototype frigate SSV Normandy SR-1, co-developed by the Systems Alliance, the representative body of Earth and humanity's military and the Turian Hierarchy, the third alien race to join the Citadel Council. All of the service records were exceedingly impressive and stood out one way or the other, therefore being the candidates and would certainly do the job well over expectation. But "well" wasn't going to be good enough for this upcoming mission. They needed someone with outstanding leadership skills – which could motivate and inspire his or her comrades. To make the tough, yet right decisions and never waver. Someone with exceptional combat expertise and tactics who were going to push humanity forward.

The human Ambassador stationed on the Citadel grabbed yet another dossier and transferred the information up on the screens which covered one of the walls in his office. The information of the soldier's many accomplishments was listed next to the picture of the man in his late twenties. A strong jaw line and with piercing blue eyes which held a roughness within, stared back at the camera. His hair was cut till the standard cropped style most marines had, which made him look like any other marine. But his list of recommendations was more than average and quite astonishing. The man had quite a few of them, each one of the recommendations speaking highly of his performance, camaraderie, courageous and righteousness. A graduate of the Systems Alliance N7 special forces program, a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz, and awarded with the Star of Terra. From the looks of it, this particular soldier may be the one they were looking for.

"What about this John Shepard?" The Ambassador asked, not being able to hide the impressed tone in his voice. His eyes went to the man's birth origin and nodded approvingly to himself. "He's earthborn..."

The Captain of the ship, the chosen soldier was going to serve on, looked up from the dossier he held in his hand after recognizing the name. He had never met the man, but he could already see the resemblance to her, particularly the color of the man's blue eyes. The Captain had heard many great things of this man. But his origin, he had heard from somewhere else, and it had not described the man as the man listed on the screen, nor put in such a heroic way either. Although, he knew better than to take someone else's perspective of someone to form his own opinions.

"He was raised on the streets. Learned to look out for himself," the Captain said approvingly.

"He proved himself during the Blitz," the Admiral, a top-ranking official of the Alliance Navy and commanding officer of the Fifth Fleet spoke, he too with the tone of approval. Just by the mention of the name, the Admiral knew exactly who he was. John Shepard was famous throughout the Alliance. He was known for following orders and getting quick results with barely any casualties. He had also been there to witness when the man had been given the medals for saving Elysium. "Held off enemy forces on the ground until reinforcements arrived."

The Captain gave a soft nod, remembering the news of the man's heroism very well. "He's the only reason Elysium is still standing."

"We can't question his courage," the Ambassador said as he felt like they had come to a mutual agreement. He took the dossier in his hand even though all information was up on the screen and took another look over the dossier, scanning the content until he found something rather odd. Suspiciously, he stated; "But the records of his family have been erased."

The Captain and the Admiral exchanged a knowing look like they had been waiting for the question to come up at some point. But the Captain was quick to come to the defense; "He is a hero and humanity needs one. John Shepard is the best. He should not be defined by a family member's choices and actions." Though he couldn't help but feel like it wasn't only John Shepard he defended.

Before the confused Ambassador could ask for an elaboration, the Admiral chipped in with an explanation; "Quinn Shepard, formerly known as Quinn Summers, when she served the Alliance – is his sister."

"The Pirate warlord?!" The Ambassador almost shouted, his eyes wide in shock. "The pirate scum who specifically targets Alliance starships and kills the crew?"

The two men gave a slight nod.

"She was indeed a former marine. Ruthless, violent, and reckless. A bad personality," the Admiral spoke with his arms crossed, remembering the young woman quite well and not with a fondness. The woman had had a reputation of being hard to work with as she had interpreted the missions as she had seen fit, yet he couldn't deny her the exceptional results of each mission no matter the casualty count. "She got most of her unit killed on Torfan."

"She got the job done. No matter what it cost," the Captain couldn't help but put in. "But one of the best at such a young age. Reached the rank of Commander at the age of 22. Also, one of the strongest human biotics I've ever seen. I haven't seen such determination in years. Her methods may have been extreme, but she got quick results."

Extreme was a bit of an understatement, the Admiral though. Compared to her brother, Quinn Shepard had no problem when it came to casualties. It was almost like she preferred it. There had been no secret she had seen her fellow marines as tools to get the job done and death was something they all had sign up for when enlisting, but not with the goal of sending your comrades to a certain death like she had done.

"What made her betray the Alliance to become a lousy lowlife pirate scum?" The Ambassador asked, not bothering to hide the disgust in his tone.

The Admiral looked up at the screen at the woman's brother and wondered if John knew the truth about his sister. Although, from the information he had received after her court martial and dishonorable discharge hearing, the brother hadn't even seemed to know that his sister had been a soldier at the time.

"She was caught smuggling Alliance armor and weaponry to various pirate— and mercenary gangs in the Terminus Systems. Then after it was reviled, she had forged her birth certificate to join the Alliance in a false name to hide her criminal records." Before the Ambassador could ask what records, the Admiral answered; "Murder, theft, dealing, to mention a few."

"Once a criminal, always a criminal," the Ambassador snorted coldly.

The Captain didn't like the Ambassador's tone, no matter how justified it may be. "Her criminal past caught up to her and forced her to use Alliance resources to smuggle guns," he explained, feeling the need to defend the woman he had once called comrade. Maybe even friend, at least from his point of view.

"We're not here to justify a criminal's actions," the Ambassador said, eyeing the Captain with a warning look. "I suggest we get back to the matters at hand." He turned towards the screen once more and the records of John Shepard. "Well, I say we should not be defined by our relative's actions. I'll go and make the call."

The Ambassador nodded to the two marines after their agreement and stepped out of the room.

Thanks for the read!

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And for the teaser...

The man took a drag at his cigarette as he watched her with an overconfident manner which immediately rubbed her the wrong way. This idiot was looking down on her.

Smoke quickly escaped his mouth when he opened it to speak. "I see you've taken over the ship." Even his tone was arrogant and somewhat patronizing, though she wasn't sure if that was just his way of talking or if it was directed towards her...