a/n: This is mostly back story, explaining the new reality that the crew has found themselves in. It's kinda short but I hope you guys like it.
-brittsis
They gathered around the conference table with Shepard at the head. She stood silently, her hands flat on the table and eyes narrowed in thought, while Liara told their story. She had started from the beginning, from Eden Prime, when the beacon had been found and used. Liara had told every detail, except for the love between her and Alarice. When she had finished, this Shepard could only shake her head and turn from them. Her hands rubbed the black stubble on her head as she groaned.
Liara looked at her crew mates as they fidgeted in the silence. They had revealed their secrets and now they wanted answers. How was Shepard here on this planet when they left her on Earth? How was she alive and well when last reports stated that she had just barely made it to the Citadel?
"It had all been a lie." Shepard began. "Saren had been played like a fool. And in turn we had been blind."
"What's going on here?" Kaidan demanded, his fist landing forcefully on the table.
"Wish the fuck I knew." Shepard growled and turned back to them. "In my reality you're all dead. Killed years ago by those fucking synthetics. God damn machines."
Everyone in the room froze. Their Shepard had never cursed. She had gone out of her way to make up other words to express her anger. When asked she explained that Hannah Shepard had been very strict and had washed her mouth out several times. Under her mother's fury, Shepard had cleaned her vocabulary. To hear those words come out of that mouth was a shock in itself.
Shepard leaned against the table again, her hands tightened in fists. She glared at the helmet that sat in front of her, eyes intent on the scar that marred the thing. "I would give my left arm to fight the Reapers. Maybe my friends would be alive."
"What happened to you?" Liara asked, fighting the urge to reach out, to offer comfort.
"It started with the beacon, just like you. Actually, no…" Shepard shook her head. "It started long before that. When the god dammed Geth rebelled against their creators and push the Quarian's from their home world."
"Watch your mouth." Tali warned. "The Geth are our friends."
Shepard let out a laugh. "Geth? Friends?" She looked up, eyes haunted. "In my reality they've slaughtered everyone in sight. Men, women, children! The one's they leave alive are forced into slavery. Forced to serve the ones that butchered their families. So excuse my fucking language but curses on your kind for ever giving life to those vile machines."
Silence reigned again while Tali and Shepard stared at each other. It wasn't until Tali backed down that Shepard explained. Saren had attacked Eden Prime, she had activated the beacon and experienced it's hold. The chase had begun and events matched right up to Virmire. "I was stuck between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, Kaidan had the bomb. It was prepped and ready to blow, but if he couldn't hold them back the Geth could easily deactivate it. On the other Ashley was pinned down with some of Kirrahe's men. I couldn't make the choice, I couldn't decide who was to live and who was to die. Then Kaidan decided for me."
Shepard stopped speaking for a second, eyes back on the helmet before her. "He broke the control panel. Made it so that no one could alter the sequence. Then Ashley reported that Saren was at her position and the decision was taken from me."
"Wait… are you saying that Ashley is alive?" Kaidan interrupted, eyes wide.
Shepard allowed the corner of her mouth to pull up in a grin, for just a second. "Captain Ashley Williams is very much alive and in command of an out post on Virmire. She considered it spitting on fate."
Shepard sighed. "After Virmire spirit's were down but we still had a purpose."
She explained how they had followed Saren to Ilos, but there hadn't been a VI waiting for her. There had been no answers and no conduit. They caught up with the Turian in the middle of the ruins with a battalion of Geth backing him up. Battle had ensued. Three hundred Geth against the six of them. They had been running low on ammo when Wrex let out a battle cry.
"He threw down his gun, looked right at me, roared, and charged right through them." Shepard couldn't help but chuckle, remembering the scene of the Krogan knocking the machines aside. "He lasted almost an hour. His biotics were everywhere and he kept knocking them down. Then Saren intervened. The bastard put him in stasis, walked right up to him, and put a bullet through his brain. I knew I had no choice then. I grabbed Wrex's assault rifle and charged in."
It had taken every trick in her books, pushed her to her limits, and the scar that trailed from just below her right ear to her nose, but she killed Saren. Half of the Geth were beaten and their moral had broken.
"They retreated back to their ships and we had won." Shepard shook her head. "Or so we thought."
Shepard scratched at the scar on her face. Remembering had caused the thing to itch, a reminder of the ones she lost. She could still see Wrex's face when he died. The surprise that had flitted through his eyes. She had never told anyone but she could have sworn that fear had been there as well. In the end, the old Krogan hadn't wanted to die.
"The council rewarded our efforts. Ashley was given the chances denied to her, because of her history. Tali was given a letter to take back to her people, an invitation to come back to the Citadel. Garrus was promoted in C-sec and whispers said a possible Spectre candidacy. Liara's theories on the Protheans were being recognized. And human's were granted a council position. We thought it was over. We thought we were safe. Oh how wrong we were…"
Shepard shook her head and straightened. Eyes went to each of the crew, watching their reactions. She hadn't gotten to the worse of it and she could already see the anguish on their faces.
"It was a couple weeks later that the truth finally came to us." Shepard began again. "I was on assignment, searching for Geth out posts. We were circling a planet when the Normandy was attacked. But it wasn't the Collectors. The Geth had been lying in wait and had set charges. Holes were being blasted through our haul and I could only watch as my crew was being pulled into space. Joker tried to save us. He refused to give up, but in the end it was useless. The Geth had caught us with out pants down and they were taking full advantage."
She explained how half the crew had been lost, the rest jettisoned into space where they could only hope the Alliance would find them in time. Shepard had gotten Joker on a life boat, put the Normandy on a collision coarse with one of the Geth dreadnaughts, and grabbed a ride on the Mako. It had taken the Alliance three weeks to find her in the snow, mostly dead from starvation and dehydration. It had taken her another two years of rehab and psych evaluations to get back in shape.
"When I was finally declared fit for duty again the disappearances started. Colonies on the fringe were going dark and the Council was refusing to help. The Alliance was trying but they just didn't have the reaction time. When word had finally reached them, it had been too late to save the Colonists." Shepard growled. "That's when Cerberus contacted me. I had no choice but to accept their terms."
She had joined the group and took Command of the SR2. With the Illusive Man's funds and resources she had managed to save a couple of colonies. They pushed the Geth back but there was only one way to end it forever. She would have to travel to the veil and destroy the Geth once in for all.
"To keep their eye on me, the Council sent Garrus. He'd been charged with making sure I didn't cross the line, like Saren had. The Illusive Man provided some of his own crew and I picked a few friends and a few enemies." Shepard turned her helmet around, showing them the scar that ran down it's side. "This was caused by one of my crewmates. One I should've known better then to trust. But he had tricked me, made me think he was against his kin and wanted the fighting to end."
Shepard explained how they'd been exploring an old Quarian settlement when they encountered Legion. The Geth unit had saved her, killing his own kind and gaining the Normandy crew's trust. It wasn't until a week later, deep in enemy territory that they discovered his true purpose. Along the way, they had gather resources, upgrading the Normandy into more than just a ship. She became the best fighting craft in the Alliance fleet and, under Joker's control, she could out maneuver anyone. When everything could be done, a deal had been made with the Quarian fleet. They would pierce the veil and destroy the Geth, reclaiming the Quarian home world. With the Normandy and the Quarian's the Geth didn't stand a chance.
Fighting had begun and they were winning. Then the Normandy started acting weird. It started resisting Joker and the weapons were refusing to respond. Shepard had gone to EDI's core to find the problem when she found Legion. He had been mid hack when she walked in and attacked. They fought, resulting in the scarred helmet and Legion's death. But by then it was too late. The Geth had unshackled the AI and corrupted her. EDI was now on the Geth's side.
"She started attacking Quarian ships. In the confusion the Geth regained lost ground and everything was going to hell. The Quarian's branded us traitors and fired on us, but EDI was unstoppable. She vented the ship, killing most on board. Some had been spared because, like me, they'd been wearing their hard suits." Shepard turned her gaze on Edi and sneered, the memory still to fresh in her mind.
She continued her story, explaining how she went to the shuttle bay. Her and the few survivors abandoned ship and called a retreat. The Quarians didn't listen though, insisting on seeing it through to the end. Shepard admitted defeat and left the system. The only survivors had been her, Grunt, and Kasumi. Everyone else had been lost.
"That was the last we heard of the Quarian people." Shepard explained. "They fought to their last person, driving themselves to extinction. But it was just the beginning. With Edi on their side, the Geth declared war."
"From there they moved system to system, killing everything and corrupting every AI, VI, and computer they came across. I petitioned the Council, asked for their assistance but they insisted on protecting their own worlds. The bastards wouldn't open their eyes and it cost us the war. The Geth won, slowly and systematically. We were forced to retreat, forced to give up our home worlds. We now live on remote planets, hitting them when we can. Now you can see why my men reacted upon seeing your Edi. The only question left is how are you here?"