Chapter 2: First Impressions Are Everything

Author's Note Part 1: Well guys, here you go. The first actual "chapter" that isn't just a small prologue for the main character. Instead, we get a small overview of what has occurred for Mike between the time he arrived, and now. We also see his first encounter with the (soon to be) Normandy crew. Yay!

That aside, I'd like to thank all of you who have read and enjoyed the story so far. It means a lot to me when people like my work, as it pushes me to continue writing, and hopefully get out my own original story at some point in my life. So, for all of you who are supporting my fanfictions, you're allowing me to take the steps towards becoming an actual author, and starting my career, so thank you all!

(Note: As in most of my other stories, I will only have a single OC, Mike. This is due to the fact that I find it hard enough as it is to write out the canon character's personalities, and I don't need to add more that would just mess me up. Also, I like it when there's only one OC, since that makes it so that the story doesn't deviate too much from canon.)

Now, that's about all I have to say before the chapter, since the second Author's Note will be an overview of the chapter, and possible insight for the future chapters to come. But for now, I'll just let you get to the chapter itself. So here you go!

Hey! Welcome back! Of course you're still interested in this, I mean, it's about me!... No, that's not why? Damn. Ah well, worth a shot. Anyways, I guess you probably want to get on and read the riveting tale about what happened after I woke up in some pseudo-Star Wars place with a gun aimed at my head, right? Yes? Finally you're interested in my life! *Ehem* Anyways, I guess I should give you a brief overview. After all, it's been a few years since I showed up… Alright, more than "a few". In truth, it's been around twelve. Heh, same number of years I spent on the street before I showed up here. So yeah, I'm now 29. And here I was thinking that I wouldn't make it to my early twenties with how I was living before.

However, after going through time a space, literally, I ended up with quite the life. As it turns out, I wasn't that far off when I was talking about showing up somewhere akin to Star Wars. Instead, I was just shot light-years away from earth, as well as a good 156 years into the future due to the accident… Yeah, now that was a surprise. Turns out that around 23 years before I arrived, humans discovered ways to travel to different planets via artifacts found on mars. Heh, and people were giving NASA shit during "my time".

Anywho, humanity figured out space travel, after accidentally figuring out time travel which resulted in me arriving in the future, they met new species, war immediately breaks out, First Contact war, said war eventually ends, peace made between species but hatred continues, you know, the usual when it comes to humanity and conflicts. Yeah, you can imagine the reactions that were going through my brain, almost every one of them including the word "fuck" somewhere in every sentence. But, I'm sure you could expect that from practically anyone who was in my position. Oh, and if that wasn't enough, I also found out that I could pretty much use The Force… Or, well, "Biotics" as they're actually called. But it's practically The Force with extra benefits involved! Not to mention that I apparently have another extra benefit that other Biotics don't have… Yeah, I'm just gonna blame it on the whole "Time and space travel" thing.

So yeah, after I learned all that, it was back to my same old life… The only difference being the fact that it was a lot harder to dodge C-Sec (Citadel Security) than it was to dodge the police in the past. And the fact that they had all kinds of new technology that I didn't know jack-shit about didn't help me either. But, I managed. Oh, did I manage. I also managed to learn about the different terrorist groups that ransacked the galaxy, all kinds of new laws that had to be taken into account due to the introduction of new species, and other things that made my life on the streets both easier, as well as harder.

But after a while of living like I usually did, I ended up changing. Don't ask me how or why, because the only response that I could possibly give you is that it probably had something to do with that time traveling trip I took from the 21st to the 22nd century, which like I said before, I believe changed quite a few things about me including the Biotics. You see, one day I saw a few thugs corner and attempt to rob a quarian in an alleyway. At the sight, something inside me snapped. One minute, I'm walking by the alley and see the confrontation out of the corner of my eyes, and the next minute, I'm standing above the three beaten down thugs, all of whom are on the ground groaning in pain, or knocked out.

The quarian was scared at the sight of a seventeen year old beating down three men that were in their late twenties to say the least. Took me the better part of an hour to calm her down. After that, I made sure to tie the three thugs up, and sent the quarian off to gather C-Sec. Needless to say, I booked it once they were tied up and the quarian was out of sight. The last thing I needed was to go in for questioning, and then have them attempt to gather information on me. Yeah, I'm sure that would have gone down well. "Oh yeah officer, see, I got thrown over a hundred years into the future, and just woke up a couple days ago with no knowledge of anything going on at the moment. Isn't that great?" I'm almost certain I'd be thrown into the loony bin if that happened. Actually, not "almost". I am certain that I would have been shipped off to the nearest insane asylum.

However, shortly thereafter I managed to acquire myself an Omni-tool. And by acquire, I mean that I looted it off a mugger that tried to kill me. Imagine a future version of a med-kit, cell phone, tool box, and a few other random tidbits all mashed together in something that looks like a hologram of a gauntlet, and you've got yourself an Omni-tool. I spent the better part of a week and a half figuring the entire thing out, especially since I couldn't very well walk up to someone and ask them to help me in case that raised suspicions. But, one of the few things that I did find on the Omni-tool was the "Omni-blade". Basically, the Omni-tool creates a blade out of an excess of stuff that I'm not going to go into, that's practically disposable in thin air so that you won't risk stabbing yourself or someone around you accidentally with one wrong move.

At the time, I didn't think much of it. Then, I ended up needing to use it during a run in with the Blue Suns, one of those terrorist groups I was talking about. Needless to say, when all was said and done, I could be found just outside a cardboard box I called home for the day in a random alleyway, throwing up the little food that I'd had earlier that day, before passing out. My dreams filled with the blood of the terrorists I'd been forced to kill in order to survive. These dreams went on for a few months, before I had to do it again when I was cornered. After that, I had to learn fast that in this future, it was "kill or be killed". Not something necessarily new to me, but I still had my ideals from over a century back in time about how killing was immoral and utterly wrong.

Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it, those ideals didn't last long, and after a time, I went on from self-defense, to attacking terrorist members when they were alone, and then taking down groups. Don't get me wrong, I still had my morals with me, they just started to fall ever since the first kill. I gained them back a few years later, but by that time, I'd already racked up quite the body count… Not necessarily something I'm proud of, but I don't really regret my actions either. Who knows what might have happened to any one of the citizens in the Citadel had I not done those things.

After a time, my work started to be noticed. At that point, I was already 25, and had changed how I went about things slightly thanks to some… Interesting discoveries in means of weapons. But, I'll get to that later. See, C-Sec would usually have wanted posters in a stand outside their main building, set up so that people could see who to look out for, and report if they saw them. Well, let's just say that there was always at least one officer sitting by, and I had my ways of letting them know who would be showing up on their doorstep next without revealing myself. And as shown by the number of gang members present in C-Sec holding cells, and terrorists sent to higher level security prisons, my work was well known in the force. There's also the fact that sometimes they hung up datapads that had information on an illegal situation that they can't do anything about because of red tape. Needless to say, I help out with these problems as well.

Heck, if there was one guy at C-Sec that I liked, it had to be the detective Turian named Garrus. Now, I didn't exactly have a very good first meeting with Turians due to the rude awakening I got from the one that tried to rob me when I first arrived on the Citadel, but Garrus? Man, that Turian has the system down. He knows about how skewered it is, and I see Garrus scowl any time a fellow officer of his mentions anything even slightly racist (or is it speciest? I'm not entirely sure) towards a suspect for a case they had. I'd had the pleasure of "talking" to the Turian once or twice to let him know about possible threats to the Citadel so that he would be able to take care of them within the force, and not take all the credit for myself. Usually, it involved talking to him via my Omni-tool, making sure that they wouldn't be able to track me, and that my voice was distorted. Hey, when you're a street rat growing up in the "future", then you've gotta know how to hack. Heck, I've learned enough about the Omni-tool, that I can re-create some of the effects of the iPhone from "Watchdogs".

But enough about how my life has been going for the last 12 years. See, now I'm at the age of 29, and there's currently a situation taking place that's a little too familiar for my likings. One quarian surrounded by three thugs. Well these aren't very fair odds now are they?...

For them at least.

Mike's POV:

Let's see… Enclosed alleyway, a single female quarian, a group of thugs… Well, this doesn't scream déjà-vu at all… Noooo, of course it doesn't. I think to myself while rolling my eyes. Currently, I'm crouched in the corner of the area that the quarian is meeting with the thugs for a deal that they apparently made. However, things seem to be going wrong quite quickly, what with the Turian trying to "sweet talk" her, and the other two having fire arms at their sides. Then, things start to go wrong. When the quarian announces that the deal's off, the Turian sends a glance to the other two, and they ready their pistols. At this point, I can see three people making their way over, one of which I recognize. However, I don't have time for that as I stand up, and deactivate my cloak. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that's why they didn't see me, didn't I? And I didn't tell you what my outfit looks like either! Guess I should do that now then shouldn't I? After all, even though this will take a minute to read, it will only be like a second to me… Yea, fourth wall breaking into another universe for the win…

We'll start from the bottom, and make our way to the top. For footwear, I have black combat boots that I've messed around with. I added Kevlar armor to in order to strengthen it, as well as magnetic plates so that I can walk on metal. Yes, that includes walls and the ceiling. I'd made sure to tamper with the materials as well, so that I can move around silently. As for my pants, I have black jeans, which I've also added Kevlar to, and are held up by a black, leather belt. For a shirt, I have a grey T-shirt, again, with Kevlar added. Over the T-shirt, I have a black trench coat that reaches down to my mid-calf area, and has a hood added that I can throw over my head, which is its current position so that no one can see what I look like. Guess what? This also has Kevlar added! Shocking, right? Another thing that I've added to the coat is a cloaking feature, which allows my entire body to be cloaked from sight thanks to a mechanism that I'd added. Unfortunately, this neither makes me intangible, nor can I stretch the ability to work on anyone that I touch. But that aside, I also have black fingerless gloves, I don't think I need to tell you what's added, as well as a mask-like bandana that's not unlike the one present in Watch Dogs, but distorts my voice so that no one can hear my actual voice when I talk (1). Hey, if I have the ability to do what he does in the games because of my Omni-tool, why not have a little tribute to the man? But, now that my own description is out of the way, let's get back to the conflict shall we?

"Now, now you three, that's no way to treat a lady now is it?" I ask them rhetorically, making the three turn in my direction, only for one of the thugs wearing armor, whom I believe to be a Salarian, to get a shot right to their helmet, and go down to the ground hard. Now, remember that weaponry I was talking about earlier? Yeah, this pistol of mine happens to be one of them. You see, here in the "future", they use things called "Heat Sinks", which basically makes it so that you have unlimited ammo, as long as you don't overheat the "clip". Now, while that's awesome, there are drawbacks. Such as the fact that kinetic shields were created in order to protect whoever is being shot at. But, these shields only work on the "bullets" that are created by the Heat Sinks. But the shields don't work on "regular" guns. AKA, the kind that use regular bullets in place of the rounds created by the Heat Sinks in the new guns.

The one that I use might be familiar. It's called the M6C Handgun. For those of you who play Halo, yes, it's the one that Rookie uses in the beginning of "Halo: ODST". Now, as for how I got this weapon, it's thanks to a late friend of mine, who made some of the kinds of weapons found in Halo, simply as a hobby of his, since he didn't feel like being pulled into all that military and political bullshit of making guns for the Alliance or only for the Citadel. However, he ended up getting targeted by the Blue Suns when they found out just what he was doing, and wanted the weapons for themselves. He ended up deciding to rig his house with explosives, and when they barged in on him sitting at his desk with a content smile on his face, the detonator in his hand, he pressed the button. But, he made sure to leave me some nice parting gifts, including the pistol, and a few other things. But, I'll tell you about that after I'm done taking care of the last two.

The bullet that I shoot out of the M6C easily bypasses the shield that the thug has, and shoots through the visor, embedding itself in the thug's brain, and killing them immediately as they fall to the ground. The other mask wearing thug is shocked at the sight of their partner easily being shot down, and I take the time to put a bullet in their head as well, before I finally turn to the Turian, who's broken out of his own shock, and pulled out a pistol to use. I quickly dodge roll to the side behind a crate, just in time for a round to pierce the area that I'd been. When this happens, I quickly stand back up, outstretch my arm with the pistol in my grip, and give a large grin beneath my bandana-mask. "Sayonara mother fucker." I say, before putting a round between his eyes. Once that's done, I put the pistol back in its holster, and use one hand to vault myself over the crate and stand in front of the quarian, as well as the three new arrivals.

The first is a Turian. But not just any Turian, oh-no, this Turian happens to be Garrus. Standing next to him is a human wearing red combat armor, and who has black hair colored not unlike my own. Though, his hairstyle is definitely different. This is Kaidan Alenko, a member of the Alliance. As for the third, well, I'm pretty sure that anybody would be able to tell who Commander Shepard is just by seeing her. After all, the bright green eyes, Caucasian skin, vibrant red hair that goes down to her shoulder blades, as well as her hourglass figure that's partially visible even with her armor on is enough of a giveaway. Now, Garrus might be C-Sec, and Kaidan and Shepard may be a part of the alliance, but we all know that I'm pretty much a vigilante. This means that their positions don't really matter to me. So, instead of treating them like they're the next big thing, I treat them like I treat everyone else that isn't on the smoking end of my handgun. "Yo." I greet with a mock salute as I lower my bandana-mask and lean against the crate that I'd vaulted over. However, before anyone can say anything in response to my casual greeting, the quarian from before speaks up.

"Fist set me up! I knew I couldn't trust him!" She exclaims in anger. At that moment, Shepard takes it upon herself to make sure that the victim is okay before she talks to me. I opt to just stand there, and see if I should comment during the exchange, while Garrus sends occasional glances my way. Not surprising, since he's obviously thinking about if I'm… Well, me… You know what I mean.

"Don't worry about Fist. He got what was coming to him." Shepard tells her, making me raise my eyebrow and glance at my Omni-tool.

Huh, well he's still moving around town. But it looks like he's heading towards the docking area. Guess he needs to get out of the Citadel. I think to myself as I focus back on the conversation.

"Then I guess there are two things I need to thank you for. Who are you?" The quarian asks Shepard, making me raise my eyebrow once again.

Either she's been living under a rock for the past few years, or she pays no attention to anything that goes on around her… Then again, if she's on her pilgrimage, I guess that would make sense since she might have been focused on that… I think, before shaking my head to clear it so that I can keep up with the two talking.

"My name's Shepard. I'm looking for evidence to prove Saren's a traitor." She tells the quarian, making me raise my eyebrow for the third time in under a minute as she mentions the bastard Turian.

"Then I have a chance to repay you for saving my life." The quarian tells Shepard. "But not here. We need to go somewhere safe." She continues. At this point, I raise my hand.

"I have an idea of where we could take this." I offer, finally bringing attention to me.

"And who are you?" Kaidan asks with skepticism clear in his voice, making me smirk.

"Why don't you ask Garrus over there?" I ask, nodding towards the Turian in question.

"So it is you… The Shadow of the Citadel." He comments. I just scoff and shake my head.

"Please, I prefer just "Shade". After all, "The Shadow of the Citadel" just makes it harder for people to say my "name", and Shade means the same thing as Shadow." I tell them with a shrug, making Shepard raise one of her eyebrows.

"Shade? I remember hearing about you. Apparently you're able to hack into any part of the Citadel, and yet you use that ability to help people." She says with slight skepticism in her voice, making me nod to her.

"Yeah. I mean, living off the street for a good 24 years can do that to you. You see all the bad shit that happens without public knowledge and one of three things happen to you." I say, before holding up my right hand and putting up a finger with each option I tell them. "You either join with the bad crowd and become a part of the problem, which is what happens to most. Or you can choose to ignore it and try to continue living your street rat life, knowing that you could be the next one that's being attacked. And then there are the few like me, who work to try and stop what's happening." I tell them, before I lower my hand and push myself off the crate and walk over to stand in the small group that they'd made. As I do so, I notice how both humans from the alliance subtly keep their hands near their weapons in case they need to use them, while Garrus seems to be debating with himself about whether he should do the same, and the Quarian does nothing, probably thinking about how I just saved her. I give a nod to the three that have their hands near their weapons at that. "Smart. You still don't know me that well, so you're ready just in case." I tell them, making their eyes widen slightly.

"How'd you know that?" Kaidan asks me with shock clear in his voice, making me turn to him a smirk.

"As I said, I've lived on the streets for 24 years. When that happens, you also learn how to take in every little detail around you. That… And it helps to have control over every camera in the Citadel." I tell him, lifting up my Omni-tool and typing a few commands in, which makes the few cameras stationed in the area start moving up and down as if waving to the four others, making everyone present look at them.

"So that's how you know about everything that's going on." Garrus comments with understanding in his tone. Which isn't that it's easy to pick up on, what with the "accents" that Turians have.

"Yup, although, I'm able to do more than just that… As you've seen during your occasional high speed chase." I tell him with a smirk, waiting a few seconds before his eyes widen when he understands what I'm saying.

"Every time there was a chase, the street lights would always change to green in the direction we would be chasing the crook… That was you!" He exclaims, pointing at me with one of his clawed fingers as if accusing me… Which in a way he was, and he was right. The smirk present on my face grows wider, and I nod.

"That's right. After all, the last thing that we need is for the crook to run a red light, and cause civilian casualties. But, I think that we should get back to what I first discussed. That being the safe area for… I'm sorry, but I'm not quite sure that I got your name." I apologize to the quarian.

"Oh, sorry. My name is Tali'Zorah nar Rayya." She introduces herself, making me nod my head as I commit that to memory. Though, that may be a little hard. Quarian names are always hard to remember completely for me.

"Pleasure to meet you Tali. Anyways, as I was saying, we could probably bring her to the ambassador's. After all, you guys are aiming to take down Saren, and if the cameras I was watching earlier weren't tampered with, more so than I already did, then it didn't work out well the first time." I say, making Shepard and Kaidan look at me in surprise. "What? I already told you I have control over the cameras present on the Citadel." I tell them. "And besides, I want to tag along. After all, you're all aiming to take down Saren, and let's just say that I have my reasons for helping… Those reasons being that I could tell that guy was a bastard the minute he started talking to the council." I tell them. This makes Shepard regard me with a raised eye brow.

"So you want to tag along?" She asks me, making me nod in response, before I get serious.

"If what you've said is true, and yes, the cameras have audio functions, then Saren is responsible for all the lives lost on Eden Prime. Someone like that going around the galaxy with Spectre status… I don't even want to imagine what else he could do. So yes, I want to tag along and help you take down that bastard. After all, if Tali's evidence doesn't work, then I could probably search through the databases in the Citadel and find something that does in order to prove him guilty." I tell her with conviction in my voice. She continues to regard me for a few seconds with a calculating stare, one that I return with a look of determination, before a smile makes its way onto her face and she outstretches her hand to me.

"Welcome aboard Shade." She greets, making me smile as I take her hand and shake it.

"Glad to be here." I say before we head off to the ambassador's in order to convict Saren for what he did, and have him taken down.

The ride to the ambassador's office was silent, with the other four sending me occasional glances. Though, I kinda understood. After all, they were in the present of an unknown, who they knew for a fact had weapons on him, and thus they were a little apprehensive. Despite my conviction to help them. Although, I suppose they could also think of that as me being hired by Saren to gain their trust and take them out… But Garrus seemed to be pretty trusting. After all, I'd given him a lot of intel on illegal operations in the past, so he trusted me… As much as a C-Sec officer can trust a vigilante that is. Finally, we make it to the office, and we're met with the human politician that I've learned to hate due to the many vids I'd found on the extranet. Ambassador Udina. And lo-and-behold, the first things to come out of his mouth are spiteful towards Shepard.

"You're not making my life easy Shepard. Firefights in the Wards? An all-out assault on Chora's Den? Do you know how many-" He stops when he sees Tali standing off to the side, not even noticing my presence. "Who's this? A quarian? What are you playing at Shepard?" He asks, a trace of disdain in his voice when he says the word "quarian", which gets me to frown. Though, Shepard's response is something that I'd expect from her.

"Making your day ambassador. She has information linking Saren to the geth." She says, nodding towards Tali when she says this.

"Really? Maybe you should start at the beginning Miss…" He trails off, waiting for Tali to give him her name, and making me silently scoff as he goes from calling her a "quarian" to "Miss" as soon as he finds out she has information that benefits him.

If humanity ever has the chance of getting a spot on the council, I don't care about my status, I'm definitely choosing anyone but him, or any other Xenophobic. I think with an eye roll. Well, at least the Xenophobes that act like they're a part of Cerberus. I add, knowing that not all Xenophobes are bad, and that some are just uneasy after only 35-ish years of first being introduced to them. But, I'd zoned out during the conversation. Luckily, it was just Shepard asking about the quarian pilgrimage, which I knew of thanks to Omnipedia (2). So, as I re-focus on the conversation, it gets back to Saren. And it's a way to convict Saren of his crimes.

"Eden Prime was a major victory. The beacon has brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit." Saren's recorded voice comes from Tali's Omni-tool.

"That's Saren's voice! This proves he was involved in the attack!" Anderson exclaims, myself knowing him just like I know everyone else… Hacking into the systems and not leaving a trace behind.

"He said Eden Prime brought us one step closer to finding the Conduit. Any idea what that means?" She asks those gathered around. I think about it, but even I hadn't found anything that related to that… Though no doubt the Shadow Broker knows. After all, he knows everything. And when I say everything, I mean he knows about me.

"The Conduit must have something to do with the beacon. Maybe it's some kind of Prothean technology… Like a weapon." He suggests, making everyone there pause to think, before Tali speaks up.

"Wait. There's more. Saren wasn't working alone." She says, before letting the recording play again, but continuing past Saren's part.

"And one step closer to the return of the Reapers." Another, female, voice says after Saren finishes talking. I raise my hand at that.

"Anyone else wondering who the hell that is? I mean, I may watch and listen to the cameras around the Citadel when it comes to shady meetings in alleyways, but I have enough sense of privacy not to go listening in on anyone and everyone." I say, finally bringing Udina's attention to me… Much to my displeasure.

"And just who are you?" He asks, making me narrow my eyes since he isn't able to see my frown directed at him thanks to my bandana-mask.

"Oh, no one much… You can just call me Shade." I tell him, making his eyebrow raise with skepticism, before he turns to Shepard once again, thus missing Garrus' smirk that's directed at me, to which I reply with a shrug. Hey, no use letting the guy know who I am. If that happened, chances were one of two things would happen. Either he would put me under arrest for being a vigilante, or he would try to get me to join the Alliance because of my hacking skills.

"Right… Anyways, I don't recognize that other voice. The one talking about the Reapers." He says, getting Shepard to speak up.

"Are they some kind of new alien species?" She asks, making me mentally shake my head, as I know that I probably would have found something pertaining to them in the Citadel's mainframe if that were the case. And I'm proven right a second later, when Tali explains them being over 50,000 years old, who committed mass xenocide against the Protheans, and then "disappeared", according to the geth.

"So… Basically they were a race of machines that existed since the beginning of time, and completely eradicated the Protheans from all planets, before going dormant?" I ask.

"Precisely." Tali responds, getting a groan from me as I place my head in my hands, and then lift it up slightly to look at everyone.

"Fifty bucks says that we're gonna end up having to deal with them within a few years if that's the case. God, it's gonna be like Godzilla, but with an race that's hell-bent on destroying life." I mutter.

"I'll take that bet." Garrus says, making me look up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Great, I was kinda hoping no one would, because then we'd have a chance at not having to do this, but now… Well, we're screwed." I say, making Garrus give the Turian equivalent of a frown. "What? My luck is the best. Literally, I've never lost a game of anything. Once. Meaning that because you're going to lose, we're gonna have to face them." I tell him, which is actually the truth. I'd never lost a game or bet in my life, which meant that there was a high chance of us facing this genocidal race. The others look at me with sceptic faces. "What? You guys want to take the bet as well and see if you're wrong?" I ask. Only to wish that I hadn't a second later.

"Sure." Kaidan responds.

"Why Not?" Shepard asks with her own smirk.

"If only to shut you up." Udina says, making my anger for him raise.

"I'm good." Anderson says, making me raise my hands.

"At least one of you has faith!" I exclaim, only to be shot down a minute later.

"No, I just don't bet on these kinds of things." Anderson says with a smirk, making me drop my arms and look at the ground.

"I just can't win…" I mutter, getting chuckles from those gathered, besides Udina, before we focus back on the matter at hand.

"The vision on Eden Prime, I understand it now. I saw the Protheans getting wiped out by the Reapers." Shepard says, making me look at her with a raised eyebrow.

Vision huh? Great, I'm in the future, we just heard about a genocidal race of machines, Shepard here is getting visions, and we have aliens helping us. This all sounds like something someone would cook up for a movie, book or video game. I think to myself with a frown as Tali goes on to describe the Reapers a bit more.

"The Council is just going to love this." Udina says, making me gasp.

"You used sarcasm!" I exclaim, bringing attention back to me. "Everyone run, Hell must be freezing over!" I exclaim, making everyone present attempt to stifle their chuckles as Udina glares at me, hatred present in his eyes. Well guess what dick wad, the feeling's mutual. When everyone calms down, Shepard speaks up, though with a small smirk present on her face.

"The Reapers are a threat to every species in Citadel space, we have to tell them." She says to Anderson, conviction clear in her tone.

"No matter what they think about the rest of this, those audio files prove Saren's a traitor." He tells her, turning to look at Udina so that he speaks to the ambassador as well.

"The captain's right. We need to present this to the Council right away." He says with crossed arms, before Kaidan speaks up.

"What about her? The quarian?" He asks, making me scowl a bit as he doesn't use Tali's name.

"My name is Tali." She says with a bit of anger.

"Why don't you learn how to use it, LT?" I ask Kaidan with a slight glare, which causes him to flinch slightly, before he fixes his posture. Hey, when living on the streets for 24 years, you learn how to give intimidating glares. And the one that I'd chosen to learn was the one a certain purple mage uses in a TV show from back in the 21st Century. Hey, if a glare can get someone to freeze completely in fear, then Raven's is the one that could do it. "Besides, for one thing, I've seen on the cameras what Tali can do with that shotgun of hers from a few skirmishes she's had in the past." I say, gesturing to the shotgun in question as I put in a good word for her. Shepard seems to think about this, before asking her about her pilgrimage. The response that she gives is one filled with determination, and Shepard lets her one board.

"Thanks. You won't regret this." She says, standing by Shepard before turning to me. "And thank you for standing up for me." She thanks, making me wave it off.

"No problem. Helping people is just what I do." I say with a shrug, though there's a small smirk behind my bandana-mask. After all, the only people I've had thank me were the few that I'd helped get away from a mugging, and Garrus whenever I give him information. Then, Udina and Anderson go off to get things ready with the Council, leaving us to ourselves. When this happens, everyone seems to relax, before Garrus turns to me.

"So Shade, what's with that gun you had earlier? It doesn't seem like any I've seen before." He says, drawing everyone's attention to me. I grin as I take it out, showing everyone what it looks like.

"Well, you might not have, but I would hope that some of the humans here would. It's the M6C Handgun, it's from a popular video game back in the 21st Century. I've also got a few other toys from that game back at my "base", you could say." I tell them, handing the gun to Shepard.

"I don't see a Heat Sink." She says, looking it over and holding it as if she were about to shoot it. I gently take it back, not wanting to seem like I'm prying it from her grip.

"Yeah, that's because I uses normal bullets for this thing. Well, normal-ish." I say, making everyone turn to look at me with wide eyes.

"What?! But, why would you do that? Heat Sinks make it so that you can't run out of ammunition!" Kaidan argues, bringing my attention to him.

"That's true LT. However, by using "normal" bullets, I don't have to worry about kinetic barriers getting in the way and deflecting them. Therefore, when I'm in close quarters, I can let off a single shot to one of my target's vital points," I press the trigger, myself having taken out the clip, making the gun give off a click. "And kill them easily." I say, sliding the clip back into place, before turning on the safety, and putting the handgun back into my holster. "Although, with these guns, I also don't have to worry about running out of ammo. See, they use some kind of technology to make their own bullets out of the atoms in the air. Don't ask about how or the mechanics behind it. My contact that made these for me tried to explain it, but the best way that I've come up with explaining it is that it uses the same system as that one gun from "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" in order to never run out." I tell them with a shrug, getting confused looks, to which I sigh and send them all a clip of the gun that I'm talking about, which makes it so that they understand once they watch it. "I've also told you about the other weapons I have. Some for short range, such as my favorite one, some for long range, and some for medium range. So, no matter where I am, I don't really have to worry about kinetic barriers getting in the way of my shots, and thus wasting ammo trying to take them out to get a clear shot at my target." I tell them, looking down at my waist when I talk about my favorite weapon to use. Though, during this time frame, it would probably be seen as impractical.

"That's… Effective." Garrus compliments with the Turian equivalent of a smile. I just shrug my shoulders.

"Hey, when you're a street rat vigilante like me, you can't waist a lot of time worrying about taking out extra protection on the person aiming a gun at your head." I tell him, getting a nod in response.

"Well, while this is all well and good, I think we should spend the time that we've been given on more trivial matters." Shepard says, looking at Kaidan and Garrus as if they should know what she's talking about. And they apparently do, because they straighten up a bit.

"Yes ma'am." Kaidan says with a salute, while Garrus gives a nod.

"Well, I guess that I'll see you around the Citadel then." I say, before sending something to Shepard's, Tali's, and Garrus' Omni-tools, causing them to let off beeps and drawing their attention. "That's my contact information. Just let me know if you need anything when you're around, or if anything else comes up on Saren, and I'll see what I can do for you guys." I say, heading towards the door. "For now, I'm gonna go back to watching over the Citadel. See ya." I tell them, before free running up the side of the building, and then making my way across the roofs back "home".

When I get back home, I shrug off my coat, and collapse into my sofa. My "home" was a single bedroom and living area apartment that I was renting out. But, as I sit there, I think about what just happened. So let's go over the facts. For one thing, we now have evidence that Saren is a traitor, and thus the Council will want him brought in. Two, Shepard collected quite a group for this, what with her running into a krogan, and there being one Ashley Williams that she was with before. Three, there's the fact of these Reapers that were brought up and seem like a genocidal race that's just lying dormant. And finally, humanity has been pressing for a Spectre for some time now, which I might add, Shepard's name was put forwards to be made one… Yeah, she's gonna be sent after the guy so that the Council doesn't have to send a giant fleet because of political bullshit, and the Alliance gets their Spectre… And I'm probably gonna get roped into it because I met Shepard, and want to bring the bastard in. I'm never gonna have a peaceful life. I think to myself with a sigh, before standing up, and making my way into my bedroom to grab my other weapons.

"Though, I guess that I wouldn't mind being around Shepard some more. After all, with her slight Irish accent, and that bombshell body of hers…" I think with a smirk, before shaking my head. "Mind out of the gutter Mike! First off, she's way out of your league. Secondly, get to know her first. Yeash, mom taught us better than that before we were left on our own." I chide myself, making sure that I would actually get to know the real Shepard before I even thought of asking her out or anything, if she didn't see me as the street rat trash that I am that is.

Sure enough, once I'm done packing all my weapons up, along with some extras for my outfit, as well as some casual clothes, my Omni-tool goes off, and I look at it to see a message from Shepard.

Shade,

If you can, meet me and my team by the Normandy, no doubt you already know where it is. We're going after Saren, and I could use as much help as I can get. Oh, and make sure to bring those other weapons you were talking about, I want to see what they can do.

Sincerely,

Spectre Jane Shepard

I smirk slightly, before zipping my final bag closed, picking it up, slinging it over my shoulder, and making my way out the door, making sure to leave a sizable amount of credits for the owner as I leave, along with the digital code that he'd given me, before I walk out into the sunlight, the smirk changing into a smile. "I love it when I'm right." I say to myself, before taking off into the alleyway next to the house, and free running in the direction of the Normandy. After all, I don't want to keep the first human Specter waiting.

(1): Whenever I think of a distorted voice, I think about the one that Red X has from the Teen Titans TV show. And I mean the good one. Not the one that's out now which is basically just random shit that the Titans do every episode. I mean the good one from the early 2000's.

(2): This wasn't my idea. I read it in the story, "Mass Reality", and thought that it was an awesome idea. Granted, in my story, it's nothing special, nor is it made by "D". Instead, it's just the universes version of Wikipedia. So obviously, not everything will be one it. Nor will everything on it be 100% correct.

Author's Note Part 2: Well guys, here's the second chapter, out at the same time the first one was put up. Now, as you can see, I've put in a few things, as well as changed a few things. So, I guess that I should address these. First, I've given Mike some of the guns from Halo. Why you may ask? Because I like the idea of him using actual bullets instead of Heat Sinks for the reasons mentioned above. The reason that I'm not making this a crossover is because it's stated that these were based off the game, thus the game does not actually affect the world, as well as the fact that all I'm putting in here are the guns.

Another thing, I've changed Shepard slightly. See, when watching the Mass Effect playthrough that I'm using for this, Jennifer Hale just doesn't seem like the right voice for some of the conversations that happen, as well as some of the things that I have planned for this fanfiction. So, I've given Shepard an Irish accent. Also, I've changed Shepard's appearance slightly. Why you may ask? Don't question it, it my answer.

Now, as for the playthrough. I give credit where credit is due, and I'd like to thank Captain John Archer Shepard, since it's their Fem Shepard playthrough that I'm watching for this. So, if you want to see what's in store, then you can go ahead and watch their videos. However, know that there will be changes made to the playthrough, since I've implemented my character into this, and it's a fanfiction. Meaning, I don't have to worry about the restrictions the game makes, such as where you can go, as well as how many people can be in your team at a time.

(I'd also like to apologize if I've gotten any characters' personalities are wrong. I said this in the first chapter, and I'll say it again. This is my first time actually watching a playthrough. So far, all I've had to go off of are other fanfictions that I've read. So, I apologize if I've gotten anyone wrong, and would like to hear from you guys what the ground team's personalities are like if I did get them wrong.)

I think that's about all I have to say for now, so thank you all for taking the time out of your day to read this, and I hope to see you all next time!