Shepard sat quietly in his room on his bed. He had a small electronic notepad in his hands, looking over it extensively. He was dressed in his alliance ceremonial gear, the dark blue fabric covered the entire outfit. A small gold chain from his Alliance suit hung from his left jacket pocket and attached to his top suit button. He had several medals and bars located on his right breast, signifying his many service accomplishments. Shepard also had his cap on, a silver Alliance insignia located on the front.

Shepard's gaze was located down at the device he was holding, looking over each word that he had typed on it. Shepard's mouth moved as he mouthed the words he had typed, the words to his speech at the one year anniversary of The Reaper War. He was the keynote speaker, along with several other leaders of the various races. However, he knew everyone would want to hear from the legendary Commander, now Captain, Shepard. He was a hero, despite how he felt about his actions. He knew that if they were to ever learn of his true actions, the willful sacrifice of trillions of synthetic lives, he wouldn't be the hero they all admired.

Shepard typed a few more things into his pad, changing his speech up to make it sound better. He had spoken at many events and to many people, but he had never spoken for millions, perhaps billions, of people live. He was a little nervous, but he was a natural speaker and a brilliant leader. Shepard knew he would speak too, so he had a week of preparation for his speech.

Shepard finished his speech, looking over it one last time to make sure that it was completely free of errors. Then, he submitted it to the proper people to be approved by The Alliance. Shepard didn't plan on using a teleprompter or anything, but The Alliance liked to have an idea of what would be said along with an electronic backup in case Shepard did need it. Of course, most of the politicians that would be speaking had aides and writers to help out with their speech. However, Shepard wrote his from the heart, something which he considered equally impressive and cheesy.

Shepard laid back on his bed, trying to relax before he needed to leave. He looked to his right, the sun was high in the air with no clouds in sight. Shepard sat in silence until he heard the door swing open to his room. Shepard sat up, looking over to see who had come in. It was Ashley, dressed up in her dress blues as well. She had fewer medals than Shepard, but she was just as significant as he was. Ashley sat next to Shepard, looking at him with care in her eyes.

"Hey Skip," she said as she kissed him briefly, "You ready for this?"

"It's a speech Ash," Shepard said to her in a somewhat condescending way, "We're not going to war with The Reapers again."

"I know, but lately you've just been more and more stressed," said Ashley, "The war took a toll on you."

"I know," Shepard said as he got up and began to walk around, "It's just..."

"Just what?" asked Ashley, "You can tell me anything Shepard." She approached him, putting her hand on his shoulder as she looked at him. "Just tell me."

"I, I killed them," said Shepard, "I killed The Geth." "I knew it would happen... and I did it."

"Shepard, you saved us," said Ashley, "I don't know if you knew that they would die... if that's what The Crucible does, destroy all synthetics including The Reapers, but you still saved all of us." "Shepard, everyone understands your choice, even Joker." "As much as it sucks, you've given all of us a future, a future free from The Reapers."

Shepard turned around and smiled, "As long as you're in that future, I'm happy." Shepard then went in and kissed Ashley passionately as they wrapped their arms around each other. The two lost track of time as they fell onto the bed.

Then, Ashley interjected, "We do actually have to get going, that's why I came here."

"Damn it," said Shepard, "Can we continue this later?"

"Totally," Ashley said as she got up from the bed and walked towards the exit. Shepard got up too, briefly jogging to catch up to Ashley as they exited the apartment together. Shepard made some minor adjustments to his suit, trying to look good for the reporters that would soon swarm him. The two reached the elevator, pressing the button up to the landing pad on the roof. The two waited till the doors opened to a small concrete hallway with a staircase that lead towards a door at the end of the hallway. They climbed the staircase and exited the door to the roof, the sun shining down on them as they entered the outside world. A small shuttle was waiting for them. Shepard and Ashley climbed into the shuttle, seeing several familiar faces in the shuttle with them.

There was Joker, who was sitting at one end of the shuttle. Sitting next to him was Traynor and Cortez. Vega was sitting next to Cortez, busy on his Omni-tool with something. On the other side, sat Chakwas with Gabby, Ken, and Adams. Shepard sat next to Vega and Ashley sat next to Adams as the shuttle doors began to close. They all were dressed in a lower form of Alliance Dress Clothes, made in particular for lower ranking Alliance Personnel, with the exception of Vega who was still an Officer. The clothes were a lighter blue, but still had a similar design to that of the officer formal dress clothes.

"Hey Loco, long time no see!" said Vega as he looked at Shepard.

Shepard laughed as he fist bumped Vega, "Indeed, how has fixing up the Earth been?"

"Great," Vega replied, "How has the paperwork associated with your job been?"

"Fantastic," Shepard sarcastically replied. He looked over at Joker who was rolling his eyes. "Speaking of work, what have you've been up to Joker?"

"Sitting around my room," said Joker. "At least everyone else gets to do actual work."

"How so?" asked Shepard.

"Cortez, Adams, Gabby, and Ken all get to go work on physical ships and all that wonderful technical shit, while I get stuck working with holographic designs of the new Normandy," Joker said, "Plus Chakwas works here at the hospital and Traynor does some weird stuff in Cairo."

"Weird stuff?" Traynor interjected, "I'll have you know that I am one of the leading experts in The Quantum Entanglement and FTL Communications at The Egyptian Institute of Advance Sciences and Advanced Engineering."

"That sounds interesting," Ashley said.

"Well, not to brag or anything," Traynor said in a somewhat innocent voice, "We do have the last working AI core in the entire galaxy." "Not that we are making AI's," Traynor quickly responded, "It wasn't affected by The Crucible for some reason."

"Any idea why?" Shepard asked.

"From what we can tell from data we've collected from the dead Reapers, The Crucible targeted Reaper based code along with advanced cybernetics," Traynor explained, "Our core was barely put together, so The Crucible's energy only slightly damaged it."

"That would explain why The Geth and EDI were... killed," Chakwas said in hesitation, mainly due to Joker's presence, "They all had Reaper Tech in them."

"Exactly," said Traynor, "That's exactly why work is so much fun, figuring out the mysteries of the universe."

"Well good for you," Joker replied.

"Hard to believe it's all over," said Ashley, "The Reapers are dead."

"We've come a long way," Chakwas said, "All of us."

"Some more than others...Vega," said Joker.

"Hey, I fought just as hard as everyone else during all of this," said Vega.

"Sorry, I'm talking about those of us that were fortunate enough to be there, chasing Saren and The Geth," Joker said, "Not just The Reapers."

"Well sorry," said Vega.

The crew chatted with one another for quite some time, catching up with one another's adventures. Shepard and Ashley recounted their latest exploits, along with their newfound engagement plans. They enjoyed their time together, knowing that after al of this each would go their separate ways again.

The shuttle began to slow down, along with the momentum of the crew in their seats. Shepard waited in his seat, the door opened after a little bit. Slowly, the crew members stepped out of the shuttle with Shepard being the last to exit.

The sun was bright in the sky, the temperature was an autumn chill that signified that winter would soon be here. A slight wind was present and drifted over Shepard's skin. Shepard eye's slowly adjusted to the clear noon sky from the dark cabin of the shuttle.

Eventually, he saw London and their location in its entirety. London was not entirely rebuilt, the sight on construction materials and half-finished buildings lined the skyline. He was standing on downward slope, just dirt with chunks of various materials were lining the ground. In front of him, stood a colossal structure that he considered a sight for sore eyes, The Conduit to The Citadel.

The Conduit was off, the white beam that he had barely made it into was gone and the familiar swirling sky was gone and replaced with the calm sky of Fall. The Bluish metal that was signature of Reaper Technology was present over all of The Conduit's base and three pointed tips. Shepard remembered the bodies that lined his path to it over a year ago. He remembered those dead trees near the base of it, the dead soldier and Reaper forces who had slaughtered one another in the course of a minute. He remembered Harbinger, who simply shot molten plasma at their puny line of men that braved the trench run.

However, all that was gone, replaced with a large stage in the front of the base. The Flags of each species flew from The Conduit, drifting gracefully in the wind. The stage had a thick red cloth that hung off the sides of it, along with a small golden line that surrounded the edges of it. Several chairs were one the stage, signifying the place of those who would speak. To the right of the stage, was a white clothed draped over what appeared to be a statue of some sort. Behind the stage was a tent, more than likely The VIP area for the speakers. People would soon arrive from all over to stand on end for hours, listening to their leaders speak.

Shepard walked forward towards Ashley, who was examining the ground in the near distance. The crew had gone around, talking to various people and examining London. He finally reached Ashley, who was picked something up of the ground.

"What's That?" Shepard asked.

"It's," Ashley stuttered to come to terms with it, "It's a piece of bone."

"What?!" Shepard replied as he went over and looked at it in Ashley's hand. The bone was a small, somewhat cube-like, yellow piece. It more than likely came from an arm or leg, Shepard saw plenty of people lose their arms and legs on his run to The Conduit, along with Ash.

"Yeah," Ashley said as she lowered her arm, "I guess there will always be scars from what happened here." Ashley was slightly shaking, dropping the bone onto the ground and kicking some dirt on it.

"Ash," Shepard said as he laid his hand on her shoulder, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just," She said as her voice slowly cracked, "I just wish I was there with you."

"You were," said Shepard.

"No, I ran away," Ashley said as she turned quickly at him.

"Ashley, you were wounded and needed an evac," Shepard shot back at her. "It's not your fault."

"I know!" Ash said with a tear forming in her eye, "But we could've saved the others, like Anderson or any number of those troops!" Ashley put her head into her hands, turning away and crying as Shepard hugged her from behind.

"Hey," he said quietly to her as she cried, "It's okay." The stood like that for the next couple of minutes as Ashley calmed down. She wiped her eyes clean, still beautiful despite their redness from the tears.

"Thanks," Ashley said as she sniffled a little, "Boom goes my feminine mystique."

"I guess," Shepard said as the both laughed. "I should go, they probably expect me over there," he said as he pointed at the stage.

"Yeah, you should go," she said, "I'll be here."

Shepard turned away from Ashley, heading down towards the stage. Shepard remembered how fast he ran to get to The Conduit, now he was just walking towards that location. Shepard stopped momentarily, looking up at The Conduit again. He realized that this was almost the exact spot where he had The Normandy pick up Ashley and Liara. He recognized the view just next to The Crucible where Harbinger towered over him. He could've swore Harbinger whispered to him, called for him, but it didn't matter now. Harbinger is dead and would forever remain dead.

Shepard retraced his steps, seeing the scars of the field. They were covered and filled in with dirt and sand, but he saw where Harbinger fired down, where every Mako and Gunship had crashed and burned. He remembered every troop vaporized, their ash scattered amongst the dirt and sand. He stopped, remembering where Harbinger screeched a final note at him before he hit Shepard.

Shepard was right in front of the stage, standing where he stumbled to get up and get to The Conduit. Shepard stood in front of the cloth that was on the stage, able to see every thread of the royal red and gold. He reached out and touched it, it was soft and felt like an expensive carpet.

"Shepard," a voice called out as he snapped out of his trance. Shepard turned to his left, where the voice originated, and saw a familiar face.

"Garrus!" Shepard shouted as he saw his friend. Garrus was dressed in his casual clothes, something which Shepard rarely saw on The Normandy. Shepard walked up to him, hugging his friend. It had only been a couple of weeks since he'd seen Garrus, but it felt like an eternity ever since The Reaper War had ended. He missed The original Normandy, it's calm atmosphere with its coolness. Kaidan, wherever he was, worked at his terminal on the sub-deck. Liara working in the lab in the back of The Medical bay. He missed that small elevator ride to The Garage. He liked seeing Garrus at work on The Mako, Wrex leaning up against his wall, Ash working on their guns. He recalled Tali, so naive and homesick. They were a bunch of kids on a goose chase in the most hi-tech ship in the galaxy.

"Good to see you to Shepard," Garrus said as Shepard backed away.

"It's been a while," Shepard smiled.

"Indeed," another voice said as Shepard looked to his right. It was Liara, dressed in her Asari scientific armor. Next to her was Tali, dressed as usual in her purple suit along with that purple smog behind her mask.

"Liara, Tali," Shepard said as he hugged the two of them. "I guess that just leaves Wrex."

"He'll be here," Liara said, "He's on his way from Tuchunka with a bunch of Krogan from his clan."

"Krogan move slow, so it'll be a while," Garrus interjected with a snarky tone.

"Goddess, it seems like it was just yesterday since we were last here," Liara said as she looked into the distance of the battlefield. The scars of the field were mostly gone, but their scars both physically and mentally were present.

"Yeah, it's still hard to comprehend all of this," Shepard said. "So, are any of you speaking today?"

"No," Garrus said, "We'll just be standing in the audience, along with all the others."

"And I'll be on stage," Shepard said, "Trying not to fall asleep."

"Well, we better get going," said Tali as she took Garrus's hand, "They probably need you back there, good luck and 'break a leg' as you humans say for some reason." The crew walked away from Shepard, more than likely going to find Ash or Joker or something else. Shepard turned around, heading out to behind the stage.

The tent was large, along with several armed guards stationed all around it. The tent was white, no visible signs of who or what was inside of it. Shepard approached the very back of it, two armed guards, both of them in Alliance blue armor, guarded a opening in the tent. Shepard approached them, pulling up his Omni-tool as he met them.

"Identification Please," the guard said.

"Because that is someone else totally wearing Commander Shepard's skin," the other guard remarked.

"Well first, it is Captain," Shepard corrected as he showed them his ID on his Omni-tool, "And Second, It's not the first time someone has questioned the fact that I might be a stranger wearing my skin."

"Wouldn't doubt it," said the second guard.

"Alright, go on in Captain," the first guard said as he saluted Shepard. Shepard briefly saluted back before entering the tent.

The inside was nothing extravagant, but still fancy for a temporary, outside building. There were several elite commandos around the inside, guarding their precious leaders. There were several monitors placed all around the room, each turned to a different news channel. The rest of the room had tables, chairs and a bunch of computers. Workers typed and modified each of the speeches. Shepard looked around, taking an empty seat near the corner to relax for the next few hours.

"Commander Shepard," a deep, scratchy voice said to Shepard as he just sat down. Shepard opened his eyes to see a familiar friend, Primarch Victus.

"Victus, good to see you," said Shepard as he got up to shake Victus's hand. "It's been a year."

"Indeed it has," said Victus, "I trust that it's been good to you."

"Well, about half of it was in a coma, but other than that it's been great," Shepard remarked.

"Even with the recent Cerberus activity?" Victus questioned, " Nobody expected this young boy to come outta nowhere and somehow gather another army."

"It does raise a bunch of questions, but I think we've got them on the run," said Shepard, "We just need to kill their generals, along with that kid, and they're done for."

"What's his angle?" Victus asked, "From what I've been told, I can't find a single reason for these attacks."

"He wants something to do with the mars data we recovered with The Crucible blueprints, but it appears to be pure madness," Shepard said, "He's young and in charge of an entire armada, a extremely volatile and dangerous situation."

"Yes; he's, as you humans say, 'full of piss and vinegar," said Victus.

Shepard groaned, "Do Turians not have metaphors or similes?"

"Yes, but they are mostly for military situations," said Victus, "'War is our business' a saying we both share."

"Yeah, you aliens have a strange fascination with our culture," Shepard remarked.

"Speaking of cultural significance, I understand that you are getting married soon," Victus said to Shepard.

"Um, yeah," Shepard choked up, "How did you?"

"Information travels quick between allies," said Victus, "Don't worry, everyone that I've talked to is fine with it."

"I'm more nervous about the media," Shepard said, "They're a bunch of vultures from my experiences."

"It's best not to worry about such things," said Victus, "They'll get over it and focus on something else after a day or two."

"Well, thanks for your understanding, I guess," Shepard said.

"Well, as long as I get an invitation, I'll be fine," Victus said.

"Deal," Shepard smiled at him.

A Turian approached Victus from behind, handing him a data pad. "Sir," the assistant said, "I've made some changes to your speech, we'd like you to rehearse it with the changes."

"Well, duty calls," said Victus, "I'll talk to you later."

Shepard sat back in his chair, closing his eyes to enjoy some peace before the speech. Shepard sat in that chair for quite some time, mainly just relaxing before his speech. He only looked over it a couple more times, making sure everything was in order. He watched as people came in and out of the tent, each of them working on one thing or another. Eventually, one person came in that Shepard had waited for.

Wrex, the only Krogan to be speaking, barged into the tent. He was wearing some Krogan dress clothes, something unusual to Shepard. They were a grayish silver, a couple of badges attached to them. Wrex came over to Shepard, grabbing him and hoisting him out of his chair.

"Shepard!" he said as he squeezed the air out of him.

"Wrex," Shepard managed to laughed as Wrex finally put him down, "How have you been?"

"Great," Wrex said as he looked around, "My people are prospering thanks to you, and Mordin."

"Well, mostly Mordin," Shepard said as he remembered Mordin's sacrifice. It was hard on him, the first of many losses of people he knew personally.

"That little Salarian redeemed an entire relationship," Wrex grunted, "So I guess he went out exactly as he would've wanted."

A small Salarian approached Wrex, trying to interject in their conversation. "Ex..excuse me, Urdnot Wrex?" The Salarian asked.

"What do you want?" Wrex chuckled at The Salarian.

"Well, um, you never submitted a formal speech to...us," he nervously stated under the immense Krogan.

"I didn't write one," Wrex stated back.

"Oh dear," The Salarian murmured as he typed some stuff into his Omni-tool, "Do you... have any idea what you're going to say?"

"No," said Wrex, "I'll say what I damn feel like I wanna say."

"Okay..." The Salarian said, "Do you have an estimated time for how long you'll be speaking for?"

"However damn long it takes," Wrex grunted.

"Ahhhhhh, um, Captain Shepard, you know Urdnot Wrex... how long do you think he'll need?" The Salarian stammered.

"However damn long it takes," Shepard laughed back.

"Okay," The Salarian quickly said as he backed away, "Thank you for your time, sirs." The Salarian quickly sped away as the two chuckled to themselves.

"They're a shaky bunch, aren't they," said Wrex.

"We all have our flaws, that guy's was a fear of Krogan, or greatness," Shepard tried to decide.

"We'll go with both," said Wrex as the two sat down together. "So, when is this ceremony of yours?"

"My wedding is in a few months, so it'll be soon," said Shepard, "These things take time to plan."

"I'll be sure to bring my group as soon as possible," Wrex said.

"Define 'group' for me," Shepard asked in curiosity.

"Me, Bakara, Mordin-the kid-, and a few hundred other Urdnots," said Wrex.

"Weddings collectively have two hundred at most," Shepard said, "So you can bring, like, ten others."

"Just stock up on food and liquor and we'll be fine," Wrex remarked.

"They'll be plenty of both, so don't worry," said Shepard.

"Good, Krogan get angry in confined and crowded spaces, so be ready," said Wrex in a semi-ominous tone towards Shepard.

"That's what the liquors for," said Shepard.

The two caught up for the next hour or so, retelling their adventures across the past four years. They recounted everything to the raid of Chora's Den to curing The Genophage. It was a true blast of nostalgia for Shepard, something which Shepard yearned for. Eventually, Wrex left to go work on other things, mainly to ease the tensions over the fact he would completely improvise his speech with no help. Shepard sat back in his chair again, trying to relax before his speech.

Shepard felt nervous, a lot more than he had felt a couple hours ago. He had heard the sounds of a growing crowd just outside the tent. He knew that billions would be watching, waiting for him to speak. However, he knew that they needed inspiration. Shepard stretched his arms out, a couple of cracks coming out as he did it.

Eventually, a person came towards Shepard after a little bit. "Captain, it's time to start the ceremony," the man said to him. He got up, his gut in knots and worry in his mind. Shepard approached the entrance of the tent and left with the others. Outside, he could hear the chatter of the crowd as people got on stage. He turned around towards the stage, stepping up onto the stage via a pair of stairs near the back.

Shepard got up there, seeing all the people that had come. There were thousands, filling up the entire space around the stage. They were of all species: Humans, Turians, Asari, Salarian, Batarians, Volus, Hanar, Krogan, Quarian, Drell, Elcor, Shepard even saw a few Vorcha. One species Shepard didn't see was The Raloi. The Raloi, a bird like species new to the galaxy, hid away on their planet when The Reapers arrived. The made no contact to the outside world, and nobody really attempted to look for them. Maybe they were dead, maybe not; either way it would be a while before they came out of their shell. Shepard also didn't see any Yahg, obviously due to their violent nature and technological inferiority to the rest of the galaxy.

Shepard took a seat next to Wrex, both looking out to the audience for people they knew. Shepard couldn't see anyone, not Ash, Liara, Tali, Garrus, or Joker. There were so many people out there, enough to make Shepard wonder if they were even out there. Of course, he knew that they were somewhere in the sea of people. It was seemingly endless, people still arriving just over the horizon. Hundreds of Cameras were placed all around the area, filming their every movement. Shepard also noticed two large hovering monitors about halfway into the crowd, more than likely to give the people far enough away from the stage a close up on the people.

"You draw quite the crowd Shepard," a voice said to him.

"Madame Councilor," Shepard said to The Asari Councilor, "It's good to see you."

"The same to you, you gave us quite a scare a year ago," the councilor said.

"Well, I'm a survivor," said Shepard proudly, "It's one of my more attractive characteristics in battle."

"Well, that's why we made you the first Human Spectre," said The Councilor, "That and you're persistence saved us all."

"Not all of us," Shepard remarked with a look of sadness in his eye.

"You saved more than most could," said The Asari as she walked away from Shepard. She took her seat next to the other Councilors, who Shepard didn't see come into the tent. They all took their seats within the next couple of minutes, until An Asari walked up to the podium stationed in the center front of the stage. She was dressed in a black religious suit, somewhat similar to Benezia's on Noveria.

"Good Afternoon," she stated into the microphone, "We would like to begin today with a minute of silence in honor of all those who were lost in this terrible war." "So if you could all join me in that minute now," she said as she bowed her head.

The crowds roar turned into an immediate hush, quicker than he thought possible. He saw many people bow their heads, close their eyes, or just look of into the distance in silence. Shepard wasn't one for prayer most of the time, he believed in God, but didn't know what to say or ask for half the time. Ashley, on the other hand, prayed a lot. She wasn't any religious zealot, but she found comfort in it. However, Shepard knew she'd be praying right now and he decided to join her, even if not physically together.

"Dear God," Shepard thought to himself, "I know that I've killed many, far more then I have ever wished." "I know you aren't going to make the dead come to life again, or somehow tell me my actions are justified, but I feel like..." Shepard really couldn't think of what to say. "God, I'm sorry for killing EDI, and The Geth, and all the others along the way, but if they are somehow up there with you; tell them that I am sorry." The minute seemed like forever, but it came to an end.

"Peace be upon all of you," said The Asari to break the silence, "And now, a Traditional Human Twenty One gun salute with a diverse armed guard."

Shepard looked and saw the seven guards come into view. There was a Human, Turian, Asari, Salarian, a Drell from The Hanar World, A Quarian, A Volus, and a Krogan. The Human lead the pack, lining them up next to the statue that was covered. They pointed towards the sky, keeping a straight aim until the Human spoke up.

"Fire," he said in a loud, stern tone. The shots were blanks, but rung throughout the silence of the crowd. They took a brief pause, then fired again after another shout from the guard. The repeated the process one last time, then lowered their guns down. The marched off into the back, rejoining the crowd after a little bit.

Next, came the speeches. The Turian Primarch was up first, breaking the ice with the crowd. He talked about the destruction of Palaven, how he had been next in line to lead during this crucial hour. He talked about being on The Normandy, and forming a new alliance with The Krogan, Thanks to Mordin, Shepard, and Wrex. He finished with a prayer-like saying about The Spirits, Turian's religious item.

The Councilors spoke next, The Turian, Then Salarian, and finally The Asari. They spoke almost about the same thing, The Cerberus Coup. Another thing which was mentioned from all of them was how they ignored Shepard's warnings. Especially, The Turian Councilor; he had dismissed Shepard warnings instantly and with, what Shepard referred to as, "sass."

Then. The Salarian Dalatrass Spoke, easing the hostilities with The Krogan. She never mentioned how she secretly tried to continue The Genophage with Shepard, but Shepard and Wrex knew of her crimes. However, they knew that grudges would solve nothing, so they put it aside.

Next, was Wrex. Shepard, and all of them had waited for him to speak. They all wanted to see what he had to say. The Krogan lumbered towards the microphone, grabbing the podium in a haste.

"I've got nothing to say, except we've kick The Reapers straight in the quad!" Wrex shouted triumphantly towards the audience. The crowd either cheered or laughed, both sounded the same. Shepard was trying to hold in his laughter, turning his head and laughing into his shoulder. Wrex didn't go back to his seat, but rather left the stage entirely. Shepard, and everyone else on the stage, had no idea on what had just happened. So many questions, and so few answers.

"I knew we should've got Bakara to speak," Shepard heard The Turian Councilor say to The Turian Primarch.

The rest of the speeches seemingly went on and on forever. There were so many representatives from so many species. Shepard heard everyone from a Elcor recite a piece from Hamlet, to the now President of Earth stumble through his speech. The ceremony had gone on for what seemed like a day, but was really four hours. Finally, it was time for Shepard to speak.

"And now, our final speaker," The Asari said into the microphone, "A man who led all of us through this war and out again, Captain Shepard."

Shepard got up, his legs still asleep from all of this. The crowd had erupted into a huge cheer for Shepard. Shepard felt depressed despite the cheers, they didn't know the full story. He had killed so many, destroyed many families. Who knew who would never know the embrace of their lover, or child again. Shepard realized they needed a hero, someone who could tell them that it was alright and that they would be safe. So, despite what his soul and body ached for, he decided that he would keep everything that had transpired up on The Citadel a secret. Because they would never understand, and worst of all, forgiven him for these crimes.

"This war," Shepard said into the microphone, his voice somewhat shaky tone, "This war has taken so much from all of us." "There are billions of mothers who will never see their children again, billions of children who will never see their parents again." "Trillions of lives for thousands of years to come will be effected by these events."

"But it's over," Shepard smiled as he looked into the distance, "The Reapers are gone, after many millennia of terrorizing the species of this galaxy, we can live in peace." "Our children and children's children will never have to worry about threats such as these again."

"And while the peace may be short term, but hopefully long term, we can achieve everything we've ever dreamed of now that we are truly united," Shepard said. "As a young man, I lost my parents to a Batarian raid on my home planet of Mindoir." "It was because of this, I joined The Alliance to see the world and bring those who terrorized innocents to justice." "I strove to become the best I could during my training, joining the ranks of The N7 marines, the most elite group of Alliance marines."

"I severed in many missions, but the only one that stands out to me is my survival of a rescue mission to Akuze," Shepard said, "It was there that I lost most of my friends, including my best friend, Frank Mason." "Mason had always been with me since I first went through boot camp when I was eighteen." "He saved me that day, sacrificing himself to try to save the others."

"After this, I served in several other squads until I joined The Normandy team where I would go on to discover all of this," Shepard reminisced, "I would gather a rag tag group of what some would call misfits and we chased down Saren and brought him to justice. It was him that showed me the return of The Reapers, and his plan to assist them with their harvest." "I would become a hero to many, but a target for many to."

"I.. I died at the hands of The Collectors a few weeks later," Shepard struggled to explain, "Thanks to Cerberus, I somehow survived all of this." "They promised me help against The Reapers, but would later betray me after I refused to steep to their level to 'serve' humanity." "I gathered another team, taking down The Collectors and saving the galaxy again."

"I was right after that I was forced to destroy The Alpha Relay, killing over three hundred thousands," Shepard said, "I had no choice, to save Trillions and prepare for their invasion, I destroyed The Relay." "I willing was taken in by The Alliance, trying to warn them about The Reapers." "However, The Reapers came in full force, but we beat them."

"I've lost many of my friends along the way, my friend Kaidan Alenko was lost on Virmire, I lost Mordin Solus, Legion, Thane Krios, and my mentor David Anderson in the pursuit against The Reapers," said Shepard, "I never forgot them about them those final moments on The Citadel, after The Illusive Man died in his pursuit of power." "And while Cerberus did provide me shelter at one point, they changed into something entirely different than what they were founded in pursuit of."

"The Crucible destroyed all Reaper Technology, including The Geth," Shepard said, "Not a day goes by that I don't think about how their independence was cut short, but it had to be done." "However, we shall honor the fallen, because without them, none of us could ever be here right now." Shepard stepped away from the microphone, applause from the crowd coming shortly after. Shepard took his seat next to Wrex again, trying to get past the fact he couldn't tell of The Catalyst and his choices.

The Asari stepped up to the podium again, saying, "And now, before you all go, we would like to reveal The Statue of The Fallen." Several men pulled the cloth off of the statue, revealing it fully. It was made of stone, much like those back on The Citadel. There was a member of each known species on a circular platform, circling around each other. In the center, was a Citadel Council Flag that would represent their unity. The Alliance marine, who was facing the audience at the time, was holding an Omni-Blade up to the sky and had a pistol in his other had. The other races had their own weapons, holding them in their own fashion.

The Ceremony ended after this, people piling out of the crowd to go home after standing for so many hours. Shepard got up, heading out behind the tent to talk to others, but to be honest, he just wanted to go home and take a nap.


"We got a ship incoming," said a lady in the control chair to the docking room. The room was a standard Cerberus style control room, a couple of people were on call. The TV monitor in the room was tuned into the local news channel, still discussing the recent events of the ceremony.

"Base to Shuttle One, please provide pass code for permission to dock," the lady said.

"Cerberus is my sword and shield," a voice came over the intercom.

"Permission Granted, welcome back," the lady said as she watched the shuttle come into view. It was an unmarked personal shuttle, a reddish tint to the metal made it reflect of the lights of the base. The shuttle came through the barrier to the docking bay. It smoothly landed onto a pad as a couple of troops came out to greet the arrival.

The door opened, revealing a young man in a black suit. He got out of the shuttle, the troops all saluting him as he passed by them. He stopped in front of the man at the end of the line of troops. He looked up at the man, who he felt towering above him.

"I trust that the ceremony was enjoyable, Mikhail," said the man.

"I'm surprised you didn't go, Shepard would've enjoyed seeing you again," Mikhail said back to him as the two walked together into the base.

"Our reunion will occur soon enough, but I don't think that it was needed there," the man said as he reached into Mikhail's pocket. He grabbed a single cigarette, putting it into his mouth as he lit it with his own lighter. Mikhail grabbed one too, lighting up with the man.

"The plan of attack is scheduled after the next week," said Mikhail, "I'll lead a team towards the critical meeting point."

"And you expect Shepard to take part in this pursuit," the man asked.

"He'll come after me," Mikhail said, "If I die, then at least he'll go out with me."

"I would hope that I'd get to meet The Captain before he dies," said the man, "However, I don't know what you expect to find on your wild goose chase, you keep this plan of yours to yourself."

"My plan is my business and mine only, at least till it is achievable," Mikhail said, "But the data is the key."

"Then go get it," said the man.

"In time, in due time," Mikhail said as he walked away from the man.