A/N: So it's been a while. Update with myself, I got laid off from my part time job due to my sinking performance due to my hatred for the place and sank into a depression for about a month or so. I visited Chicago and examined the fine arts. I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life in general. So, It's been a while since I wrote, so I apologize if it's a little bit below standard.
Shepard was in the forest again, a sight that he had become all too familiar with during his dreams. He knew he was dreaming, the familiar features of the trees and the sky coming back into his minds. However, this one was one of the few dreams that were different. The trees had leaves, a dull green that contrasted with the browning oak of bark. The sky was cloudy, but bright blue shades peered outward from the clouds through various little openings left between the sheet of clouds. Several small yellow birds chirped and quickly flew between branches of the trees. The ground was still grey with stones, but life still sprung up from itself barren-like texture.
Shepard was in his armor, as usual. He didn't have any of his weapons or his equipment, so he felt rather naked in his armor. He walked slowly through the forest, the sound of the stones clanked against his metallic boots. Birds flew above him, not caring about his presents. Shepard took a deep breath, the smell of the forest filled his nostrils. He felt the soft breeze flow through his hair and he closed his eyes, embracing the feel.
He eventually came to a river within the forest. The sounds of the water entered his ears, their rushing rhythm against the rocks and logs of the forest caressed him into a peaceful meditation. Shepard looked to his right, seeing a large log that created a miniature waterfall for the river. As Shepard walked to it, he seemingly stepped out of his boots, revealing his bare legs. He sat on the log, putting his legs in water as the water rushed past his body. He felt his armor melt away as the water got warmer, thicker, and began to rise around his body. He shut his eyes, enjoying every second of bliss the river provided.
Eventually, Shepard felt the water suddenly stop around his neck, the warm current swirling around him. He opened his eyes, revealing he was now in a small, oasis of water in the forest. The river had disappeared along with Shepard's armor, but he was still in the forest. Shepard felt the water the water flow through his body, its hot and bubbly made Shepard feel that he was in a stasis of some sort. However, something broke all of this.
It was a loud, horn; similar to that of The Reapers. However; he knew that is was not the Reapers. This tone was high-pitched and was played off and on again. The sound broke Shepard from the dream, everything suddenly whisked away from him as he tried to block the noise. Shepard couldn't make the sound go away, and his dream was broken.
Shepard gasped as he awoke in bed, a couple beads of sweat dripped from his forehead. He pushed the button on his alarm clock, ending the beeping rhythm that broke his dream. Shepard was alone in the bed, looking around at his room. The clock said 9:00, early, but not nearly enough for a few more hours of sleep. Shepard had the blankets wrapped around himself, much like a cocoon of cloth. He got out of the bed, still dressed in his boxers. Shepard noticed the large glass bottle of Tequila on his nightstand, only a couple more shots remained inside. Shepard grabbed the bottle, downing the shots as he walked over to the stairs. He coughed as he emptied the bottle, the hard liquor struggling to go down his throat.
The apartment was a mess, his bed completely unmade and various clothes thrown about the place. He thanked God that The Alliance had a cleaning service for these rooms, otherwise it'd be a total disaster zone, as if The Reapers destroyed it with filth. Shepard tossed the bottle in the recycling, a hole marked near the others labeled garbage and compost. He walked towards the bathroom, getting ready for another day of work.
Personally, he couldn't wait for a vacation. All he wanted to do was sit on a beach somewhere and forget about all of this. Forget about Cerberus and all of this crazy stuff. Deep down, he knew that he may never get that day of peace, but he was damn sure gonna give it all he could. Besides, he took on The Reapers and won so, theoretically, this would be a piece of cake.
After his shower and morning ritual, Shepard learned he had no food in his room. There was a single tomato in his fridge and he had some beer. So rather than starve himself, he decided to venture down to the staff cafeteria. So, he hiked downstairs and managed to find a nice table located near the corner of the room.
The cafeteria itself was nice, a carpeted floor along with dark blue painted walls and dim lighting. It felt more like a college or hospital cafeteria then a military grade one. Then again, the war was over and they were trying to rebuild society from the ground up. So, maybe they were trying to redefine 't themselves as creators rather than destroyers. Shepard didn't really think about it too much, mainly because he really didn't care about it.
"Hey there," he heard next to him as he took a single bit of his hash browns. He swallowed and looked to his right and saw his fiancé, Ashley. She was wearing the regular Alliance casuals, along with her hair put up into a single ponytail. She wasn't wearing much makeup, something which really didn't bother Shepard since women around him realized makeup would only get in the way of the job. She was carrying a tray with a few pancakes and a glass of orange juice.
"Hey there Ash," Shepard said as she sat down across from him. "It seems like forever since we've talked."
"Yeah, it's just been busy for me these past couple of days," Ashley said, "Can I ask you something Shepard?"
"Sure," he said as he leaned back a little bit in his chair.
"Who all knows about us?" Ashley asked as she took a sip of OJ.
"The Admirals and our friends," Shepard said.
"I just feel like we shouldn't be ashamed of us," Ashley replied in a stern tone.
"I'm not," Shepard said, "It's all politics, no one wants us to make a spectacle of things."
"We saved the goddamn galaxy, the least they could do is just let us be!" Ashley demanded.
"I know," said Shepard, "It'll come out eventually, but I know there's gonna be a huge shit storm when it all goes down." Shepard looked at Ashley, whose eyes seemingly drooped down as she continued to eat her food.
"Ash...I love you, and nothing will ever come between us," Shepard said as he put his hand atop of hers.
She smiled, "I know, I guess just all the wedding planning and these Cerberus stuff has made me kinda stressed."
"I know," Shepard said. He felt bad for not being more involved in the wedding planning. Sure, he went to places with Ash and checked out flower arrangements, photo arrangements, and even the church itself; however, he felt bad that Ash was stressed. "Just a few more months and will be married and relaxing on a beach somewhere."
"I hope so, I could use a tan," Ashley quietly laughed.
The Citadel was buzzing with life. Cars zoomed just overhead as they headed along their marked flight path. The florescent lights of the landscape had come back, at least on Zakera Ward. The Wards were reconnected and being repaired to the Presidium, and were mostly intact. The Citadel was still overhead of Earth, a beautiful view was visible at any point of this massive space station.
"Can we get the shot set up here," a women said on the balcony of a nearby building. "I want the report to have a nice landscape shot of this area."
"Yes Miss Wong," a Salarian man said as he worked on positioning the lighting bots to focus on Emily Wong. Wong had gone through a lot this past year, barely managing to survive The Reaper occupation of Earth and living out in the wilderness. She had gotten a job for The Citadel News Network and was currently reporting on the repairs of The Citadel.
"Okay, Miss Wong, we're about a minute to air!" an Asari said as she talked to another party through her headset. Emily positioned herself in front of the lights and camera. She brushed her hair and shoulders, trying to look good for the upcoming report. She looked around, making sure every last thing was in order.
"Okay and we are live in... 3, 2," the Asari said as she motioned towards Emily. A small monitor in the background began to play the news feed of another reporter on the network. "And now, let's cut over to Emily Wong who is currently reporting on the reconstruction of The Citadel," the reporter said on the television. The Asari motioned towards Emily to begin speaking.
"Thank you Carl," Emily cheerfully replied with a smile on her face. "As you can see, I am currently standing in the bustling Zakera Ward." "Life has slowly begun to come back to this devastated area." "Clubs, and banks have rebuilt and are leading the pack in restoration." "While according to many sources, including both Alliance and Council officials, it may be years until The Citadel is able to fully move back into its original location."
"Tell me Emily, how exactly will The Citadel be moved back to its original location?" the reporter on the television asked.
"It's a complex task, due to its stature; but the way it would work includes The Citadel retracting its arms and using it, like a large ship, to traverse The Relays," Emily Wong stated, "This would ultimately take a few hours, but..."
Emily Wong was cut off by what sounded like a large collision in the distance. She turned her head to the right, facing down towards The Presidium and where she heard the large noise. She gasped, and the crew seemingly each had their own reactions.
There, in the distance, was a large explosion that appear at one of the main points between The Wards and The Presidium. There were a couple more just like it around the other focal points of The Wards. The crew started to panic, a few of them breathless at the spectacle.
"I'm sorry, there appears to be a large explosion at the," Emily struggled to come to the right words. Several police cars came flying by the balcony. They were blaring their sirens and heading towards the source of the explosion.
"I don't know what happened, it is most likely an industrial accident of some sort, but that's completely speculation," Emily said into the camera. "My crew and I are going to try to get closer to the explosion and see what has happened." "Until then, we'll try to remain in contact as best we can." The camera shut off as the crew began to pack things up as quickly as possible.
"There's no way I'm heading down there!" a man said as he threw some cords into a large container. The rest of the crew agreed as they scrambled to move. Emily grabbed a camera from one of the crew and said, "Fine, I'll head down there myself."
"What if it's terrorists or Reapers or.." The Asari said as she threw another camera into a bin.
"The Reapers are dead, and I know your scared, but it's our duty to report what's going on to those in danger!" Emily tried to convince her crew.
"Fuck that!" a crew member cried as they rushed towards the elevator. Emily watched as her crew slowly left her alone with nothing but a camera. Emily turned towards her right again, looking at the newly risen smoke across the horizon of The Presidium.
"Well, her goes nothing," Emily said as she tried to hail a cab.
20 Minutes Earlier
The water of the artificial lake shimmered in the dull light of The Presidium. Life there was calm, only about ten people were in sight across the lake. The air was fresh and filled with the scent of freshly planted flowers. The embassy part of The Presidium had been quickly fixed and had little signs of damage left. There was a peaceful sound of birds and the cars flying above.
A man leaned forward on a railing by the lake, a black suitcase near his feet. He looked across and slightly to his left, admiring the large statue known as The Conduit. Some yellow flowers graced a platform surrounding the base of the statue. He turned around and leaned back against the railing. A couple men were approaching him, each of them carrying a similar briefcase.
"Let's go," one of the men approaching said to him. He joined them after picking up his briefcase. The three continued to walk together, across the bridge that led towards The Conduit. They curved around it, looking across the lake to see a couple of C-SEC officers eyeing them.
"Just keep moving, don't arouse suspicion," one of the men said as they approached the elevator near The Conduit. They pressed the button to summon it and waited. Eventually, the elevator came to them and they got in it. One of the man typed in a code in the keypad, allowing the elevator to go down into the maintenance levels. The elevator slowly began to move downward, building up speed as it headed into the depths of The Citadel.
The elevator door slid down, opening up to a maintenance level. It was still recognizable as part of The Presidium, but with a few more pipes and wires visible. The neon white material of The Presidium covered the walls and floor. The three men walked forward, into the long hallway in front of them. They turned left after walking for a little bit, only the light of the levels above them lit their way. They reached a staircase, only leading further down. They hurried as quickly as they could, trying to fly down to the bottom of the staircase. Eventually, they reached a clearing at the bottom.
It was extremely dark; they could only see a few feet ahead. There were about twenty other men down there, in an area no larger than an average hallway. These areas were only regularly traversed by Keepers and the occasional man. It was hot and muggy, which the large amount of people down there didn't help. The men, and women, were dressed in Cerberus armor, and getting their weapons ready. They had hidden all of their supplies in large crates used by the average cargo ship. Inside these crates, the armor and guns were packed as close as possible.
The three men walked through the crowd of people, trying to find their way. Near the end of the group stood their leader, Mikhail. He was dressed in a full suit of armor. The armor was brand new, and had a dark onyx color to it. He held an avenger assault rifle, along with a pistol on his hip. He was checking the thermal clip, making sure it was in place.
"Sir," one of the men said as he handed him the briefcase.
Mikhail opened the suitcase up, taking out a large metallic clip. The two others opened up their suitcases, handing him other pieces. One of them was a piece with a few wires and the other appeared to be a metallic rod full of some liquid. Mikhail attached the rod to the piece, so the two ran parallel next to each other. The piece with the wires was then slid onto the clip, and the wires plugged into little sockets located on both of the pieces. He turned the device on, a few beeps confirmed it was ready to be used. Mikhail got up and tossed the device to one of his engineers, who then ran off down the hallway.
"Okay," Mikhail raised his voice to talk to the group, "Here's the plan." "We've got bombs placed on all five wards, and several teams are in place to create a distraction as soon as the authorities arrive to see what happened." "Now, this attack has been planned so that The Council's security is lighter than usually, due to the fact that they are not on The Citadel." "Now, me and a team of elites will ride this elevator up to The Council's chambers and proceed to make are way to the head of the chambers." "We have three objectives: Number 1; recover all possible data about The Crucible and what it did to The Citadel during its attachment. Number 2; Attempt to steal all possible data files on Council operations and Spectre agent assignments. And Three; learn as much as you can on The Council's anti-Cerberus strategies."
"Mikhail," a voice came from behind, "How long do we have to do all this?"
"We'll have about twenty minutes until we get overwhelmed when the bombs go off," Mikhail responded. Mikhail turned to look at his associate, and laughed, "Wearing N7 armor?"
"I find it appropriate," he said. His N7 armor was highly scarred and several burn marks were visible all around it. A large Cerberus insignia was tattooed onto the center of it, but the N7 itself was still like new. He carried a large N7 assault rifle, along with a sniper rifle and shotgun slung across his back in a half hazard fashion.
"I'd say it's more of ironic than appropriate," Mikhail said.
"Whatever," he said, "It'll send a statement to everyone who sees it."
"That it will," Mikhail said as he motioned for the troops to move.
"Alright, everyone get to your appropriate stations, and remember your objectives!" Mikhail yelled as he moved towards the staircase. A group of about ten, including the N7 armored man, followed behind him. The elites were all dressed in pitch black Cerberus armor, carrying the finest Cerberus weapons. They climbed the stairs, the large clanks of metal filled the tiny hallways of the industrial depths of The Citadel. They got to the top of the stairs, slowly walking towards the elevator. They all stepped in, making sure everything was ready for the upcoming onslaught.
Mikhail pressed the button for The Council chambers. He then brought his Omni-tool up, saying into his radio. "All teams, operation is a go, repeat, operation is a go." Then, after a few seconds, there elevator lightly shook as the felt the recoil of several large explosions. As they got higher and higher up, the results of the explosion were evident out of the looking glass.
"Alright," Mikhail said as he got his Avenger out and looked at the man in the N7 armor, "You ready?"
"Trust me, I've had plenty of experience with these types of operations," he said as the elevator slowed down. The door slid down, and the pinkish atmosphere of the Council chambers filled their eyes. the smell of cherry blossoms filled there nostrils along with the hypnotic sounds of the fountain. They stepped out, holding their guns up. A council guard suddenly looked at them, raising his pistol.
"Holy Fu!" was all he said as The N7 man shot him straight in the head with one shot. He fell down, every sound piercing the atmosphere of the room.
"MOVE!" he yelled as the team began to fire at the guards in sight. They Council's team was scrambled, and utterly confused by what was going on. The ambassadors and politicians ran for their life, trying to get into whatever room they would be safe in. Mikhail made his way up the staircase, shooting his gun at a nearby Asari. He missed several times, trying to accurately aim down his sights. Suddenly, The Asari fell to the ground as the man in the N7 armor shot her.
"Breath," he said to Mikhail, "You're shaken, just relax." The two moved on, shooting as their team made their way up the staircases. The chambers were designed so invaders, like Cerberus, would have an extremely bad tactical disadvantage. However, they were slaughtering everyone in sight. Eventually, they made it to the final staircase. In their way, stood a line of troops ready to mow down Cerberus. The N7 man grabbed a pair of grenades, tossing them forward so that they just landed behind the line of guards. They exploded, rocketing several of the men forward and killing most of them. The team proceeded forward, killing those who were still alive.
"Holy shit," said one of the men, "You..." He raised his hand at the armored N7 man. He turned, looking at the wounded man. He was clearly bleeding out, a large chunk of both his legs was missing. The N7 man walked forward, kneeling down in front of him. he reached down, grabbing the dog tags of the wounded man.
"Captain Peterson, N7?" The man said as he read the tags.
"You... you died!" the wounded man gasped as the N7 man continued to look at the tags, "How the fuck did you survive?" "I saw those goddamn reports, you fucking died!"
"I got better," he said as he pulled his shotgun out and aimed at the man's head.
"Such a shame, Shepard would be disappointed!" the wounded man grimaced. Then, right after he said that, the N7 man shot The Captain in the head. The blast killed him instantly and blew large chunks of flesh all across the floor. He turned around, holstering his shotgun as he walked up the stairs. A the top, the team was taking position as Mikhail was looking at the large master computer screen.
"Anything?" asked one of the elites.
"Yeah," Mikhail said, "I've got some stuff, but nothing on The Crucible."
The N7 man walked up to Mikhail, "Who cares, we've got everything we need against The Council."
"No, I need that data," Mikhail said as he brushed back The N7 troop, "There appears to be some data available, but it's on another server."
"You can't access it?" The N7 man asked.
"Yeah, but it has to be manually because this server is isolated from the master network," Mikhail said as he typed in a few commands, "The server is located above us..." An electronic panel slid open, lowering a small metal ladder down next to them. Mikhail turned around walking towards it. "I'm going up there, I'll be down in just a few minutes, then we can go."
Mikhail climbed the ladder, slowly as to keep his balance. He got to the top, climbing his way into the dark small paneling. Up there, was a bunch of wiring along with some electronic monitors. He slammed open another panel above him, opening up a larger area.
The area was a large circular platform, all of it was metallic. The ceiling was made of electronic regulators, each of them shooting off the occasional bolt of electricity to another. The room had a purplish darkness to it, with only the bolts of electricity lighting it up. Mikhail walked around, trying to find some sort of command console. Eventually, he came across one place near the end. He typed a couple of words into it, which cued an observation window to open up in front of him. The view was magnificent, almost something you would see out of a photograph. Mikhail continued to type into the computer, trying to get that data.
"The data... is on the surface?" Mikhail said as he examined the results. "Guys, I'm heading outside," Mikhail said into his radio, "The server is out there, I might need extraction via shuttle."
"We've got about five minutes boss, some back-up teams are on their way up," a women chimed over the radio.
"It'll be fine, just be ready," Mikhail said as he summoned another ladder to the surface down. Mikhail got his oxygen supplies ready and began to climb the ladder.
Shepard sat in his seat on the shuttle. He had just learned about an attack on The Citadel. Him and Ashley got their stuff and proceeded to head towards The Citadel. Shepard was watching the smoke rise on the monitor across from him. In the shuttle, he was joined by Ashley and a few other Alliance soldiers.
"Admiral Hackett incoming for you," said the pilot to Shepard.
"Put him through," Shepard responded.
"Shepard," Hackett said, "Shepard are you there?"
"This is Shepard," he said to Hackett.
"It's a total shitstorm down there Captain," Hackett said, "We've got Cerberus troops all over the place." "We're dropping you guys off at Zakera Ward, hopefully there you can cross over into The Presidium." "I need you to get to The Council's chambers, Cerberus is held up in there and resisting everything we're throwing at them."
"What's there end goal sir?" Ashley asked.
"We don't know, but it's more than likely a run for information and classified documents, " Hackett stated, "I don't think I need to tell you what will happen if they get their hands on it." "Hackett out."
The shuttle doors opened, revealing a thick cloud of black smoke. The crew stepped out, getting ready to fight. They were in a docking bay, highly damaged from the blast. Several cars were lying all around in smoky ruins. Shepard pulled his gun out, walking up to the door and forcing it open. The scanner that detects weapons was still on, but was acting erratic from damage. Shepard and the crew walked through, a few beeps sounding off from the presence of their guns. Shepard opened the door at the end of the scanning bay, revealing several laser sights.
"Whoa!" Shepard said as they almost fired at him. In front of him, was a familiar face, Miranda Lawson. She was dressed in Alliance blue armor and was holding a modified SMG. She was with a group of soldiers, who were recovering from their wounds. The Presidium was in sight, along with its artificial sky.
"Shepard," Miranda sighed as she lowered her gun. "It's been hell down her."
"Miranda, what's the situation?" Shepard asked as the new crew began to arrive in the bay.
"Most of the troops have retreated into The Presidium," Miranda said, "They're running low on supplies and we're getting ready for the final assault."
"I need to get to The Council's chambers," Shepard said.
"We're dropping off right by there, so you can take an elevator up," Miranda said as she looked around. "Shepard...how the hell did Cerberus manage to do this?"
"I don't know, Cerberus apparently just has enough money and supplies to attempt these little operations," Shepard said as he walked towards one of the cars. He tried to open it, but the door fell of the car after he simply touched it.
The door to the right of them opened, resulting in everyone jumping to aim at whatever was coming at them. However, they only saw a tattered and wounded women enter.
"Emily Wong?" Shepard asked as he saw her limp towards him. the dress she was wearing was torn and she was bruised. Her hair and makeup was a mess and she was gasping for air. Shepard ran towards her, helping her towards the nearby field doctor."What happened?" Shepard asked.
"I tried to report on what was happening," she said, "I got caught up in the crossfire, took a bullet from a Cerberus grunt."
The doctor examined her leg, dried blood was all over it. "I'm applying some Med-gel, but you'll need some surgery to remove the shrapnel." "Other than that, you'll be fine."
"Thank you," Emily said as she looked at Shepard, "Shepard," she coughed a little, "Mikhail's up in the chamber, I overheard some troops say it."
"Good to know," Shepard said as he turned around." He saw an Alliance shuttle stop at their location and open it's doors. "Let's go!" Shepard shouted as he ran towards it. the crew hopped in the shuttle, taking off towards The Presidium.
The shuttle pierced the artifical sky of The Presidium, revealing the beautiful landscape beneath. Some troops were scattered under them, but this attack was nothing compared to The Coup a year ago. The shuttle landed near the former Human embassy, which was now the office complex of some tax company. Shepard got off the shuttle, looking around.
"There's almost nobody here," Shepard said.
"Yeah," Ashley said, "Looks like most of the other guards finished the job."
"Guys," Miranda said as she was listening to a radio feed, "Apparently, Cerberus is evacuating to Earth..."
"Earth?" said Ashley, "That's a goddamn suicide mission!" "Why the hell are they going there?"
"I don't know, apparently, there making their last stand there," said Miranda, "However, we should still continue on our mission."
"Right," said Shepard, "Let's go secure the chambers." The crew began to move towards the elevator to The Council's chambers. They encountered only a few troops that were left behind to guard the way, but they were little challenge to a regiment of trained Alliance soldiers. They got to the elevator, summoning it. Shepard looked over at The Conduit, which brought back many memories to Shepard.
The elevator came down and they loaded down onto it. Shepard pressed the button to the chambers, sending it upward. The crew waited, not knowing what was at the top of their ride.
"Is this elevator always this slow?" asked Miranda.
"Yep," Shepard and Ashley both said.
The door slid open, revealing the Councils' chambers. The crew ran out, meeting head on with a group of elite Cerberus Soldiers. They exchanged fire, bullets hitting everything in the room. The cherry blossoms of the trees around them began to fly all over the place, landing even in Shepard's hair. A lot of The Alliance troops were shot down, but Shepard, Ashley, Miranda, and a few others managed to overcome the odds.
Shepard walked forward, up the final staircase to were The Council normally met. He stood in the exact spot where he was made a Spectre four years ago. Miranda ran up next to him, summoning up the control console to learn what Cerberus had done.
Shepard looked to his right, "What's with the ladder?"
"I think Mikhail went up there," Ashley said, "He's not among the bodies."
"Shepard, can you go check, I've gotta see what Cerberus downloaded from these files," Miranda said. Shepard nodded and headed towards the ladder, jumping onto it and climbing up it as fast as he could. Shepard eventually got to the top, looking around at an all too familiar sight.
It was the place where he confronted The Illusive Man, the place where Captain Anderson died. He had a lot of bad memories here, almost remembering every last word said in this room. Shepard looked around, the room still exactly the same as it was the last time he was here. The only difference was that the blood stains were cleaned up and another ladder was in the room. Up that ladder, was access to the surface of the tower. Shepard walked up to it, grabbing hold to climb up it.
"Would rather take the elevator, but I don't know how it works," Shepard joked to himself as he climbed up. The surface of the tower had a supply of Oxygen around it, so it made it okay to access without a helmet.
Shepard reached the surface, climbing up through an open paneling. Up there, was another familiar sight. Everything was the same, with the exception of the absence of The Crucible. Shepard looked around, remembering everything that had happened here. He didn't like being here, it brought back too many memories. Ahead of him, stood a single figure in black armor that was interacting with a holographic console.
Shepard raised his gun, slowly stepping forward. He knew that this was Mikhail, and that he finally had him. Part of Shepard wanted to simple gun him down right where he stood; however, he knew that his superiors would rather bring him in alive. Shepard continued forward, and Mikhail continued to seem oblivious to Shepard's approach.
"Mikhail," Shepard yelled, "Hands behind your head, now!" Mikhail stopped typing, and began to slowly raise his hands. Shepard continued to aim down his gun, approaching Mikhail.
Then, almost within the blink of an eye, Shepard stopped. A couple pieces of The Citadel shot up, wedging themselves between Shepard's body. Out of pure reaction, Shepard dropped his gun and tried to pry himself out of the trap. Shepard couldn't move his lower body, and couldn't reach his gun.
Mikhail turned around, laughing as he approached Shepard. "Shepard, good to see you again," Mikhail said.
"What the hell is this?" Shepard grunted as he continued to try to get out.
"It's a trap," Mikhail said, "I figured that you would come for me, so I took protective matters."
"Smart, but I don't think that leaving yourself alone while your lackeys escape is smart," Shepard said, "So, answer me this, what do you hope to gain from this little scheme of your?"
"I had my reasons, and came here to accomplish them," Mikhail said as he turned around, "However, something else came up that changed my plans."
"What exactly came up?" Shepard asked.
"I think this will speak for itself," Mikhail said as he turned around and continued to type into the console. Then, out of nothing, some small little blue specks began to appear in front of Shepard. They began to come together, forming a larger figure. Shepard lost his breath, as the figure began to materialize.
"Oh my god," Shepard managed to cough out as he looked onto something that he thought was forever gone. "I thought you died."
"You should have died too," The Catalyst spoke to Shepard. It was still in the figure of the child Shepard saw on Earth. However, its voice was deeper and more ominous than before, much like that of Harbinger's. Shepard still couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"I defeated The Reapers," Shepard said, "So I've solved your problem."
"Solved my problem?" The Catalyst remarked, "You've solved nothing human, you've repeated the same mistakes my creator made, and are doomed to the same destiny."
"This cycle is different, and we can live in harmony," Shepard said, "No matter what you may say."
"Tell me Shepard," Mikhail asked, "Why deny the choices The Catalyst offered, why deny the ultimate form of evolution?"
"Evolution is defined by our own progress, not what this AI says," Shepard said.
"You organics are limited by your emotions, and that's why you will never achieve what I offered to you," The Catalyst responded, "However, this organic seems to understand what I offered and truly represents what organics can achieve."
"So that's your plan, to recreate The Reapers?" asked Shepard.
"This cycle is doomed," The Catalyst said, "You will create synthetics and you will die, but I can offer you immortality and maintain life in The Galaxy."
"No, we won't," said Shepard.
"You'll never see logic," The Catalyst said. He evaporated into nothing again, leaving Mikhail and Shepard.
"You know," said Mikhail, "The Illusive Man always knew you would never agree with him, so he kept a lot of secrets from you."
"I know," Shepard said.
"Do you remember the day you found Toombs?" asked Mikhail, "How he talked about he was tortured and he managed to survive the brutal experiments we performed on him?"
"Yes," Shepard said.
"Then I suppose it wouldn't surprise you that there was another survivor from Akuze," Mikhail said.
"Who?" asked Shepard.
"Your best friend," Mikhail smiled.
"Wait... Mason?" Shepard asked. Mason was with Shepard through it all: boot camp, N7 training, and even Akuze. "Where the hell is he?" Shepard asked
"He's working with us right now," Mikhail said, "In fact, he's down on Earth securing The Catalyst as we speak.
"Wait... he knows?" Shepard asked.
"No, only me and you know what you did," Mikhail said, "However, I figured that keeping this AI for myself couldn't hurt." "So, we're down on Earth securing a blue box for it to download onto," Mikhail said as he signaled to be picked up.
"Whatever your planning Mikhail, you won't get away with it," said Shepard.
The Cerberus shuttle arrived, picking up Mikhail. Mikhail stepped into it, waving towards the trapped Shepard. "Goodbye, Captain." Shepard watched as Mikhail sped away, fearing for what the future would hold for him.
