And so, here we are at the finale. This chapter throws in some alternate points-of-view for emotional effect (and other reasons, and you'll find out once you read it evil grin). This chapter was a lot of fun to write, being my first 'final' chapter. The idea for the ending came to me as one of two possible outcomes. The other may get used in the sequel I'm contemplating. If I decide to write it (I have the plot seed, still need to decide how and where I want it to end up) I'll post details here, so keep an eye on this space.

Thank you for sticking around and, more importantly, reading this work. It's been a long, strange trip since that case of 'misapplied trope' back in March that starting this whole mess. Now, I'll leave you to the finale. Enjoy. - Lapis Dragon

It had been a strange day for Marcus.

First, Janet had let him kiss his daughter at breakfast before leaving for the fields with Alex and John. Marcus treasured every moment he was allowed to spend with little Sarah, which were few and far between thanks to Janet's constant interference.

The second strange thing occurred out in the fields, when John started talking about spaceships and aliens and great fights out among the stars. Marcus hadn't had a chance to get to know John well yet, but something about the way his brother spoke made Marcus want to listen and believe. Marcus could tell by Alex's face that he believed as well.

Some of the things John spoke of confused Marcus, and some angered him, especially when he began talking about the women. According to John, the reason Janet wouldn't let him spend time with Sarah wasn't because he had 'been bad', as she often claimed. The reason he wasn't allowed to be with Sarah was because Janet and the other women wanted Sarah all for themselves. This, more then anything else John said, made him want to take part in John's plan to punish the women.

Marcus tried to listen as John explained his plan, but Marcus' thoughts were focused mainly on his own plan to get his daughter back. When they got back that night, Marcus would confront Janet and tell her that he wanted to have a greater role in Sarah's life and if Janet tried to fight him, well, Marcus would show her just how bad he could be!

That night, after returning from the fields and having dinner with Janet and Sarah, Marcus struggled with himself; keeping his anger restrained so as to not frighten Sarah. Finally, Janet put Sarah to bed and joined him in the main bedroom. But before Marcus could start his argument, a commotion outside drew his attention to the bedroom window.

Outside, some of Marcus' brothers had gathered and were talking with loud, angry voices. Janet tried to order him to remain in the bedroom, but Marcus was fed up with dealing with her so he ignored her and went outside to join his brothers. Alex was already out there by the time Marcus arrived. From the looks of things, most of the community was awake by now, with the brothers clumping up in the center and the wives forming small groups around the edges. Marcus could feel the tension in the air.

"That can't be right, Alex" argued James. "Michelle wouldn't lie to me like that." Several of the brothers called out agreement with James, though just as many shook their heads in disagreement.

"That's the thing, James" replied Alex, patiently. "We've all been lied to our entire lives. We've been nothing but lab rats to them. Or do you really think Michael died of 'food poisoning' after arguing with his wife that night?"

"I don't know, Alex. It all seems awfully far-fetched."

Suddenly one of the elder wives stepped forward, flanked by two of the women. Mary was Alex's wife and had been married to him as far back as Marcus could remember. Marcus had always thought of the brown-haired, heavy-set woman as being soft spoken and kindhearted, at least compared to Janet, but tonight he could see thunderclouds forming in her eyes.

"What is going on here, Alex? All of you need to go back to bed, this moment! Honestly! Why are you disturbing everyone's sleep at this hour of the night? You know full well you've got a busy day in the fields tomorrow. And yet here you are, making a ruckus with your friends, keeping all of us awake with your yammering!" Mary went on for sometime, haranguing Alex and the other brothers for what seemed like forever to Marcus. Finally Mary paused to take a breath. "Well? What do you have to say for yourself? Nothing, I'm sure. Now come to bed, this minute!"

Alex was silent for some time, head lowered as if he was ashamed with himself. Finally, in a voice so quiet Marcus almost missed it, Alex spoke one word.

"No"

This seemed to take Mary aback. "What did you say? Stop mumbling Alex, you know how I hate it when you mumble!"

"I said 'No', Mary" Alex repeated, this time raising his head and speaking with angry authority. "No more orders. No more commands, no more quiet threats. No more!

Mary's jaw hung low, her mouth working silently.

"I know about Cerberus, Mary. I know what you intend to do to us. How long did you think you could keep it a secret? All of us know now, Mary. Every single one of us." Alex took a threatening step towards the three women, who cowered before his looming anger. "We know, and we are not amused."

Mary, her face purpling in anger, straightened herself and slapped Alex across the face. Alex didn't even flinch. Instead, as if something primal had suddenly snapped loose inside him, Alex lashed out with his fist and buried it in Mary's gut, sending her to her knees with a choking gasp. And that's how the third strange thing, the fight, began.

The fight was mostly over now. Marcus made sure to protect Sarah and the other children while the adults fought. Marcus would have a hard time explaining things to Sarah, but at least now he would have the opportunity to do so, with Janet being one of the women under guard in the center of the community.

A sudden roar shook the community as two box-like… things… came out of the sky, noise and light flaring from the ends of odd legs as they landed on their bellies in the midst of the fighting. Out of the boxes poured men in heavy white clothes with black masks covering their heads and faces entirely. They pointed odd sticks at the men and shouted orders which Marcus couldn't understand over the roar still coming from the legs.

Some of the men ran towards Marcus. He tried to fight them off and protect the children but they quickly forced him to the ground and held him there. These men were stronger then the women; much stronger then even Marcus. One of the men went into the building and began dragging the children outside.

The women looked relieved to see the strange men and began getting to their feet. Janet shot Marcus a terrifying smile, full of anger and vengeance. However, the strange men quickly forced the women back down to the ground, wiping the smile off Janet's face and replacing it with a look of fear and confusion. This worried Marcus even more then her smile had.

Marcus returned his attention to the children. They had been lined up against the building and one of the men was pointing his stick at them. Something about the way the man stood worried Marcus greatly. Suddenly a pop sounded from the man's stick and one of the children collapsed to the ground. Marcus couldn't understand. The man had done nothing other then point his stick, but there was Jake's son lying in the grass, not moving. Another pop sounded and Simon's daughter fell to the grass as well. The next child in line was Susan.

Strength flooded through Marcus' limbs as he threw off the man holding him down. He roared, running towards the children. Before he could get there, other men tackled him as another pop sounded and Susan crumpled to the ground. Marcus broke free from the men trying to restrain him and ran towards Susan. She wasn't moving and a small red stain was blooming on her tiny chest. Marcus shook her, called out to her, anything to get her to respond.

Nothing.

A red film of rage descended on Marcus. Screaming in grief, Marcus turned on the man with the stick, leaving Susan in the grass as an unquenchable desire for blood and pain filled him. Marcus barely felt the sting as wounds opened in his chest and arms. He descended on the man with the stick, grabbing him by the neck with both hands and wringing him like an old shirt. Other men pointed their sticks at Marcus, who turned on them and pounded them into the ground, grabbing them by their arms and legs and swinging them into each other. Finally, his strength fading and the pain of his wounds becoming unbearable, Marcus returned to tiny Susan, once more taking her into his big, blood-stained arms and holding her before everything faded to black.

Shepard arrived on the surface just in time to watch in awe as Marcus rampaged through the Cerberus forces. The man must have had Krogan blood flowing through his veins. What's more, his rampage seemed to snap the other clones out of their stunned stupor. All around the settlement clones fought with Cerberus troops. Unfortunately, despite the renewed vigor Marcus' fight had instilled in them, they were still no match for the armed and armored Cerberus forces.

Shepard took advantage of the confusion to flit from cover to cover, taking out Cerberus targets as he went. It wasn't enough. A grenade went off near the central platform, killing most of the women and scattering the rest. Elsewhere a Cerberus trooper fired wildly, killing several clones before Shepard took him out with a single shot to the head. Most tragically, a pair of troopers caught the children, huddling together in fear, in a cross fire and killed them.

By now the survivors had started to work together, guided by Alex and protected by Shepard. The Cerberus troops retreated to one of the habitat modules and began to take shots at the survivors still out in the open. Shepard joined Alex in cover.

"What happened, John? I thought we were just going to deal with the women?" Alex angrily demanded, pulling the bleeding body of one of the women into cover with him."

"It's Cerberus, Alex. Dr. Martin managed to contact them before we could neutralize her. They've come to collect you, or at least to mop up the experiment. I don't think they expected you to fight back like this." Shepard raised his head above the cover, firing a quick shot at the troopers before ducking back down as their return fire hit the wall behind him.

"What do we do now? They're just going to kill all of us out here."

"There are weapons in the bunker below. Signal the others and run to the medical clinic. There's a platform there that will lower you down to the bunker. Liara will show you how to use the weapons while I cover for you up here."

"But what about you?"

"I'll join you as soon as you're all safe. Trust me. Now go!"

Shepard rolled out of cover, spraying rifle fire across the building where the Cerberus forces were hiding. Shots pinged off the crates and walls around him as Alex and the survivors ran for the medical clinic. Shepard gave them a few moments of cover fire before returning to cover himself. Looking around, Shepard was dismayed to see even more bodies lying on the ground. Very few had made it to the building. Fortunately, Alex appeared to have made it.

Rolling from cover once again, Shepard threw a grenade at the building and ran for the medical clinic and the elevator. A bullet went through his thigh and another through his shoulder, causing him to stumble and fall behind some crates. Leveraging himself up, Shepard expended his thermal clip on the Cerberus troops, killing a couple more. There should only be a few left, but even one is a danger. Come on, Garrus!

Stumbling to his feet once more, Shepard made it inside the clinic and rode the elevator down to the bunker. Shepard quickly disabled the elevator controls. Hopefully that would slow the Cerberus troops down somewhat.

In the command center Liara was tending to the survivors' wounds. Shepard was aghast at how few had made it. Other then Dr. Martin and the two researchers who had been manning the station, the only other survivors of the colony were Alex and another of the clones. One of the women had made it to the bunker, but Liara was in the process of closing her blankly staring eyes as Shepard stumbled into the room.

Liara stood up and ran over to support Shepard as he collapsed into a chair. "Shepard, Joker says they've destroyed the Cerberus frigate, but the shuttle bay doors were damaged in the attack. They're on their way, but they won't be able to land in the colony."

"There's only a couple of them left. If we can hold them off long enough, Garrus will be able to take them out by himself. Liara, show Alex how to barricade this room. I'm going to head to the armory and secure some more..." Shepard stopped as he noticed the two researchers he had left secured in the armory standing in the doorway holding grenades.

"No!" Dr. Martin cried as the two women armed and threw the grenades into the room.

To Liara, it was as if everything happened all at once. She noticed the two researchers at the same time Shepard did and instinctively used her mind to seize them, but not before Dr. Martin shouted and the two women threw their explosive devices into the room. Liara tried to divide her attention, just managing to catch one of the grenades and throw it back at the women, but she missed the second. At the same time the clones threw themselves over the doctor while Shepard tackled her, landing on top of her and shielding her as the grenades detonated. The shock wave was stunning, rendering Liara senseless for several moments. When she regained her senses, she found Shepard laying on top of her, unconscious. Rolling him off gently, Liara bit back a gasp. Both of Shepard's legs had been amputated by the blast, the limbs ending in bloody stumps just above the knee. His back was shredded and a slow dribble of blood leaked from the corner of his nose and mouth. Sitting up, Liara found almost everyone in the room in a similar state. Only Dr. Martin and the clone named Alex had appeared to escape the blast without significant injury. The other clone was dead, most of his head destroyed by the blast. The other researchers were in similar states, either dead or beyond saving.

All of this was secondary, though. Blessed Goddess, don't let him die! Tearing strips from the lab coat of the dead researcher beside her, Liara tied tourniquets around Shepard's stumps, hoping to stem the blood loss. Leaning down, Liara determined that Shepard was still breathing, but barely, and each breath sounded more labored then the last. Seeing Alex help Dr. Martin to her feet, Liara called out to them. "Help me! Shepard is bleeding badly and I can't stop the blood! We have to get him to the med bay. NOW!" The two rushed over to Liara and Shepard.

Dr. Martin gazed down at Shepard, frowning. "Our med bay isn't equipped to handle something like that. I'm afraid we're going to lose him, unless we get him to your ship now."

"Isn't there something you can do? Anything!" Liara demanded, growing hysterical at the thought of losing Shepard in this way. Dr. Martin just shook her head in denial.

"There is one way, Doctor" Alex said in a soft voice, so quiet Liara almost missed it. "It may be the only way, if we still have time."

"Alex, you can't mean that? It might save him, but what about you?" Dr. Martin asked incredulously. Liara felt a pang of hope as a look of certainty filled Alex's face.

"It's the only way, Doctor. John told us what you said about him, about the reason why you decided to make copies of him. He's the most important person in the galaxy right now. I'm nothing but a simple farmer, but him? He's going to save us all."

"Alex, what are you talking about? Can you save him?" Liara asked, confused.

"Memory Transfer. We copy his mind and put it in another body. In this case, in Alex's" Dr. Martin replied. "But Alex, we would have to wipe your mind first. You'll cease to exist."

"It's what you wanted to do anyway, Doctor. At least this way, it's my choice." Alex bent to lift Shepard and gingerly held him in his arms. "Now quickly, before we lose even this slim chance."

"This way, the machine is in the lab over here" Dr. Martin called, running for the door followed by Alex and Liara. Rounding a corner, Dr. Martin fell back with a grunt, blood flowing from a gun shot to her gut. Liara grabbed the two Cerberus troopers standing in the hallway with her biotic field and ruthlessly crushed the life out of them. Helping Dr. Martin up, Liara led the way to the lab where Alex laid Shepard out on the table before climbing up on an adjoining one.

Dr. Martin, panting in pain, pointed to a console set into the wall and a cabinet holding two devices like thick headbands covered in electronics with wires streaming from the top edge. Liara set Dr. Martin in the chair at the console and ran to put the headbands on Shepard and Alex. "Thank you Alex." Liara said as she slipped the headband around his head. "Thank you so much. I'll never forget this."

"John is a lucky guy, having someone like you to take care of him." Alex replied with a smile. "I wish Mary had been more like you, even with your weird hair." Liara smiled back before returning to the console where Dr. Martin labored through her pain and blood loss to activate the machine. A hum built as the machine came to life, lights activating as Dr. Martin worked feverishly at the controls.

"I'm going to wipe Alex's mind first, so we have a clean base to overlay Shepard's mind onto. Keep an eye on Shepard, make sure he's alive until the transfer is complete. This won't work on a dead body. Once Alex is gone, I'll begin the transfer. When we hit 99% complete, remove the headbands. We don't want Shepard to remember the last couple minutes or we'll just have a repeat of the first trials."

Turning to look at Alex, Dr. Martin solemnly asked "Are you sure, Alex? This is your last chance to say 'no'." Alex merely nodded his head and closed his eyes, at peace with his decision. Dr. Martin flipped a switch and Alex flinched as green lights appeared on the headband. Liara chewed her lip as Alex's body twitched under the electric current, finally stopping when the lights on the headband went red.

"Now for the transfer." Dr. Martin said dully, her eyes glazing over as she fumbled with the controls. Liara hastily helped her trigger the command sequence. This time both bodies twitched as the lights on the headbands went green. Dr. Martin slumped over the console, her last bit of willpower depleted as she succumbed to her wounds.

Liara, remembering Dr. Martin's instructions, watched the console until it was nearly complete, then ran over to the bed and removed the headbands just before they went red. Both bands sparked in her hands, causing her to drop them. They shattered on the cold steel floor. On the beds, Shepard's ruined body stopped twitching, coming to a perfect stop. Leaning over his mouth, Liara felt his last breath leave as his body died. Shedding a tear over the dead body, Liara turned to the other table and Alex's body.

On the table Shepard's new body breathed slowly as his eyes fluttered behind closed lids. Finally, slowly, Shepard opened his eyes.

"Liara, what…" Shepard asked, slowly crawling back to consciousness to find Liara smiling down at him, tears in her eyes.

Shepard pulled himself up on onto his elbows, looking around the room. Dr. Martin sat in a chair, slumped over a console with a pool of blood underneath her. And on a table beside him lay a ruined body with his face.

"Alex, what happened? I…" Shepard paused, realization dawning as he looked down at his armor, finding homespun clothes instead of hardened ceramics. "Oh."

"He sacrificed himself for you. It was the only way." Liara said, tears pouring down her face as she helped Shepard to his feet. Together they left the room and returned to the surface to meet with Garrus and Jake. Neither Liara nor Shepard spoke of what had occurred below.

EPILOGUE

Shepard tossed about in his bed, finding sleep elusive.

After rejoining the Normandy, Shepard had instructed Garrus to fire on the colony with the Thannix cannon. All of the buildings, both above and below ground, were reduced to a rapidly cooling pool of superheated rock before the Normandy left orbit and returned to the war with the Reapers.

Despite the curiosity of the rest of the crew, neither Shepard nor Liara spoke of what had occurred on, and below, the surface of the planet. All they would say was that the threat had been dealt with. Still, Liara remained hesitant to speak with Shepard, even though both acknowledged that Shepard was fundamentally the same, in both body and mind.

Still, a war was being fought for Earth and the rest of the galaxy, and this new awkwardness would have to be set aside to be dealt with later. Somehow.

Shepard finally drifted off to sleep. In his dreams he was on Mindoir, back before the pirates had come to destroy it. Shepard, still a child, lay on the floor of his parent's habitat reading an old-earth storybook. It was a child's picture book about some farmer named McDonald and his many animals. Young Shepard flipped the page, gazing in childish delight at the farmer and all his various animals, posing in front of the farmer's house with its white picket fence and big blue barn.