Reunion
Shepard arrived right behind the Reapers. They had just passed beyond Pluto. He had become numb to the death and destruction the wrought in their wake. He saw on his sensors a large human fleet assembled not far outside of Earth. Pathetic, weak, these were the words that appeared in his head. He sensed the raw power of the Reapers before him, each one radiating strength as bright as the stars themselves in his eyes. The Alliance fleet would not last long, nor would whatever troops ready planet side.
He felt he knew the Reapers goal now. They would not simply obliterate the fleet and then fire mass drivers into the planet until it was broken. They wanted their army still, and from the corpses of the dead and what remained of the living they would forge a nightmarish force of husks, scions, and other abominations that had not even had names given them. The Collectors had failed, but the Reapers were not afraid to "get their hands dirty", as the phrase went, to complete their goals.
He approached the Reaper fleet and did not even feel fear. The pain had actually died down now and it was replaced with a sense of longing. He felt detached, apart, like he needed to reconnect but he know not to what. Harbringer, its twisted form appeared central in the mass of moving sentient-ships. Suddenly, the entire force slowed. He maneuvered his shuttle right into the fleet and found his way remarkably clear. He turned the ship about and faced Harbringer itself, and found its tentacles opening, making way as if it were beckoning him to enter. The shuttle pulled forward and entered in the gaping maw. This was it. His humanity was slipping away, he could feel it, but he clung fast to the memories of friends and loved ones. To the memory of Tali.
He just needed a little time. Just enough to make his attempt.