Chapter Thirty: Epilogue

Several Days later

North American Coalition, Earth

Zane was on his knees. Tears streamed down his face freely. He couldn't stop them. The three graves in front of him egged them on. The long since wilted flowers were now brittle to the very breeze that swept them away. A gentle three-fingered hand rested on his shoulder but as comforting as it was it was no use.

He knew it would be hard to be here and see their final resting place. He knew they were dead but to see it, to be here after so many long years it hurt him worse then he imagined it would.

Three names carved in stone remained in front of him. And no matter how many times he blinked, how many tears he shed, or how many times he wished it weren't true there they remained.

"Mom…mommy." He choked as he brushed his hands across the stone and placed a lilac at its base. Her favorite kind of flower.

Sara Autumns

Loving Mother, Dearest Wife, and Unforgettable Friend.

May your heart never be eclipsed.

1969-2044:

"Dad. I'm sorry for anything I do to disappoint. You all of you." Zane said palmed the stone as he embedded a bullet into the dirt.

Eric Autumns

Bravest Father, Greatest Husband, and Strongest Friend.

Never let them say what cannot be done.

1973-2046

"Diane. What can I say? I am sorry. So sorry for pushing you, for hurting you, for being me. You deserved better. Better then me." He said and placed his forehead on the stone as he kneeled by it crying harder. He had found a stuffed toy in the form of a wolf and bought it without a second thought. He dug out a small hole beside the grave and placed the toy inside it.

Diane Autumns

Loving Sister, Daring Daughter, Master Caretaker, Sweetest Wife.

She never forgot her brother and she always forgave him

2000-2089

But one more remained, it was the oldest and held most of the wilted remains of flowers and gifts. He hovered over the grave and looked at his feet.

"I am literally standing over my own grave." He sobbed.

"I'm right here." Tali said and gave him a supportive squeeze. He balled his fists in sadness and anger. He had left his family and they never knew why. Never understood that he wasn't dead. How could they? Not even he knew it all.

Zane Autumns

Unregrettable Brother, Irreplaceable Friend, and Impeccable Son

You were taken before your time. May you find all that you seek in the next life. And give the Reaper a swift kick for taking you from us.

1996-2015

Tali and Zane clasped their hands on the stone and they felt how rough the elements had treated it. But yet, it looked nearly spotless and well taken care of. Almost more so than his family's. And now that he thought about it, his family's graves were more well kept than those surrounding.

But Zane didn't dwell on it.

"I…I just…" He began. Tears flowed down his cheeks.

"Take all the time you need." She said. But the tears stopped his breathing calmed and he looked prepared for whatever came next.

"No, the Reapers will pay for me leaving my family behind. They must pay to make this right. They will not do this to another family, they will not do this to another galaxy. This nightmare ends." He said and with tear-stained cheeks, he nodded to her.

"I'm with you the entire way." She said and hugged him tightly. As he clutched onto her she could feel him still barely containing his tears from spilling.

"Let's go." He said and they slowly walked away but they were as ready as they would be for the coming war. There were plans to develop and execute.

…

Several hours later a figure walked into the graveyard. It had waited for Zane to leave and make sure he wouldn't return.

"He doesn't need to know." The figure thought. They wore black and had a hood covering their face and features. The figure looked at the stones and brushed them and made sure they were in pristine condition. When the figure concluded they were. It then placed a single flower at each gravestone.

It hovered over Zane's own stone and placed a hand on it. A smile crept onto the figure's face. It turned its gaze to Zane's parent's graves. "You raised him well. And he picked well. I wasn't right for him. But she is. Tali'Zorah is right for him. Afterall, there is no Zane without Zorah." The figure chuckled and placed a large set of flowers before leaving the graveyard.

…

"Oh, come on!" Leon shouted and threw down his cards.

"Ha. Sorry Rook. You win some you lose some."

"Piss off Wallace you cheat!" Leon shouted.

"Whatever do you mean?" Wallace mocked with a shit-eating grin.

"When I find out how you do it. I swear…" A nearby vid terminal sparked to life. The symbol of the Organization appeared. "Spartan squad listen up." Leon ordered and they all stood straight and waited for the transmission.

…

"Hey, you don't think THOS and LOHL worked out do you?" Illis asked.

"My, Illis, didn't take you for a romantic." Attan replied as they worked on an old engine. They were bored and were hoping to be deployed soon.

"Shut up and answer the question." Illis demanded. Attan laughed.

"Yes, I think they did. I don't know why, but did you see them? They were glued to each other. Speaking of which." Attan held his hand out.

"Hmph, I hope so." Illis said and handed the glue to his friend.

"Attan, Illis, get to HQ! Top level transmission coming from the Harbinger." Titan said as he peered into the room before leaving. They looked at each other, shrugged and soon followed.

…

Rook Alexus was sipping on some nug. The hot liquid and its ingredients keeping him from sleeping at his desk.

"Sir, another merc squad has been eliminated." His Knight, a Drell by the name of Voman said.

"Thanks, Voman. Have Roman squad and Gaviir squad moved to secure. I want Util squad ready to move in the hour." He ordered looking at more reports,

"It shall be done." Then the transmission was done. Only for it start back up.

"What is it now..." Alexus trailed. Seeing the symbol of the Organization.

"Very important business Alexus." The Harbinger said.

"Yes, Sir. What are your orders?" He was met with a small chuckle before it continued.

…

Throughout Omega, the Citadel, Earth's bases, Thessia's bases the Organization's symbol appeared and the Harbinger of Salvation was about to make his address. Every Militia member, ever King, Queen, Bishop waited in anticipation. Every scientist and manufacturer in the Factory Branch waited with bated breath for their orders.

…

Liara looked over more logs and information. In her curiosity, she trailed to Shepard and his personal history. And his family's history.

"John Z. Shepard, single child, his mother's name was Hannah and his father's name was Rob Shepard. Grandmother on father's side was named Tiara Shepard. Had a brother named Luke. Their mother was…wait a minute?" She saw the name and was surprised. She checked and then triple checked her sources.

She made calls to confirm only to be told they were accurate. But, it couldn't be, could it? What were the chances?

"Shepard's great-grandmother was Diane Farsight. Whose brother was Zane Farsight? And Shepard's full name is John Zane Shepard…. they are related?!" She realized and wasn't sure what to with the information. Who did she tell? Did she tell anybody?

The two most prominent humans to save the galaxy not once but twice and now almost thrice were related! And they didn't know.

"Talk about a bombshell." She murmured.

"Did you say something Shadow Broker?" Glyph asked and she ignored him.

…

He knew he was being seen by everyone now. He gave a casual glance to Tali before he began to speak.

"Today marks a new chapter in our history. A new age where we struggle to walk in defiance of the one enemy we all share. Today marks the day we will take our struggle one step further. Today marks the day we show the galaxy that it is not alone in its fight for survival. Today we show to all who witness us that our power is only equal to our determination and that is only equal to our will to survive. Today the Organization enters Phase Three. Walk in Defiance and show these Reapers who marks their death!" And even while inside he was close enough to a base to hear the cheers and chants coming from it.

"What now?" Tali asked.

"Now we give the Reapers a fight they never thought possible." He replied and cracked his neck and popped his knuckles. "Or will soon forget."

The End…for the moment

A/N: Woo! Here we are, my friends. We made it through the wait and a grind that would make Destiny 2 jealous. I cannot thank you enough for making it here. the fact you even clicked to see the first chapter -nevermind the whole story- means the world to me. If you came from The Reaper then I ask you if the wait was worth it? I tried to make this one bigger, and better and every way possible.

Now for the part I enjoy most. Telling you random things about the story. And stuff that didn't make it in the "final cut" as it were.

I started this story the MOMENT The Reaper was completed. 3/30/17 and it is currently 1/22/18 that is much better then the 5 years it took for the previous part wouldn't you say?

In a lot of ways, this story started this entire series. When I first began writing (if you can believe it. My writing was worse then than it is now) they all took place in the middle of ME2 as that was the one I played the most and knew like the back of my hand. Now we move on. Funny how that works huh?

Zane was supposed to show up with Garrus as a vigilante duo. However, this idea came from before I even reached the part in The Reaper where Ash and Kaiden died on Virmire. So, I changed it and you saw what you got. I think it turned out well and it fitted Zane pretty well I thought. Music blaring with enemies at his feet. Wish I had that sort of entrance.

I toyed with making Zane a full N7 but thought that was a bit much. But I wanted to show that he had done some more things other than making the Organization. So, I compromised. And just had him train and shadow an N7 operative. It was not an easy decision to make.

Also, as the story says in the first chapter. I once thought about Zane taking Shepard's place in dying. But I couldn't justify it in the universe. Also, while some may think otherwise, I am trying to keep Zane from becoming a Mark Sue. Or Gary Sue if you prefer.

The last three chapters (not including the epilogue) were supposed to be done in the "canon" order. Meaning Lair of the Shadow Broker and Overlord came before Arrival. But I liked the idea of seeing Zane "lose it" with Tali out of commission so much I changed it. Had to make everyone wonder if she was going to pull through. Or at least plant the seed of wonder with just how sadistic Zane can be without a stabilizing element.

Someone was supposed to die. Yes, someone else in the squad was supposed to die originally. Like they were left behind on the Normandy when it was attacked for example and they were killed defending the ship. Pretty awesome, right? But when I had the attack take place alongside the Vitkin discovery it was changed. Will the team get that lucky during the Reaper War? Who knows?

The idea of the Organization was always there when I began writing this story but it went through several names. Harbinger's Reapers, Harbinger Bane, Reaper Killers, etc. But they were either really bad or I forgot the good names I did think of. (Always take notes, my dudes)

Valyeria at first wasn't even a thought in beginning and I figured "Zane would have other relationships, right? At least close friendships?" So, I put her in. At which point I was done with her at first. And then I decided to use her as a grim reminder of Zane's less than stellar success at protecting those he loves. I plan to flush out her story in another story.

Furthermore, Val was supposed to be a Grade-A, Top-Tier criminal. The worst of the worst that had the hots for the Reaper which he didn't enjoy at all. But as I wrote I didn't take that approach. I did a sort of Romeo and Juliet thing with a vigilante and a "good" criminal. You see the results. I think it turned out good.

The story is approximately 163,910 words long and approximately 484 pages on MS Word.

At first, Zane wasn't supposed to be a creation of Vitkin but the actual Zane. His soul was just transported to another body sort of thing. But without getting into the physics of the space-time continuum I even got myself confused and changed it. Besides, it had a much harder impact on Zane as a character. What if you were to find out you were the creation of a being that thought of you a little more then a tool? It would shake up your world I'm sure.

Vitkin was supposed to be pretty close to home. How close? He was originally hiding in the depths of Jupiter's red spot. And even the sole cause of it. I changed it because I liked how I made Vitkin be the cause of the Normandy's team's fear while on Ilos in the previous story.

Zane was to be wielding a sword from during his time with Valkyrie. I changed it because number one, he uses omni-blades. And two, it seems almost cliché and a trope for an OC to use a sword.

I also decided to change the last name of Zane's family. It was Gos for the longest time and was always meant to be a placeholder but I never could think of a good alternative. I juggled with more names than I care to remember before eventually settling on Autumns. Hopefully I keep it but we'll see.

And that's all that I can think of. I want to say thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did writing this story. I never thought I'd write one story to completion nevermind two! And if you are coming from reading The Reaper then thank you for reading that one too. Imma get started on The Harbinger here's hoping I get that done at least as fast as I was done with this one.