Commander John Shepard didn't stop as he ran down the ramp to the lift leading up to the Citadel. As he ran, a Reaper marauder tried to get in his way, but that didn't even slow the Commander down as he just slammed into the husk pushing it to one side before continuing. He was pissed. Rage filled him to the point where he saw no allies, just enemies in front of him. There was nothing left for him after all, he lost everything. His friends, his crew, his family and his ship… all gone.

Tali and Kasumi died on the collector base. Wrex, Grunt, Mordin and Garrus died on Tuchanka trying to defend the last city from a Reaper attack. Miranda and Thane died thanks to Kai Lang's blade. Zaeed died with Samara in the defence of the Ardat-Yakshi Abby. Jack and Jacob died when the Grissom Academy was destroyed as they tried, in vain, to rescue their students. Javik, Liara and Ashley died as they tried to move forward to the Citadel.

As for the Normandy… that was destroyed as it tried to enter Earth's atmosphere. Joker, Chackwas, Adams, Traynor, Kelly..,. all had died. He had nothing left, nothing to stop him from getting revenge.

"John stop!" a voice called in his voice. "Come back! The assault has been cancelled! Earth is lost…"

He ignored the voice. There was no point in listening. He had nothing, only revenge on the mind. There was nothing that could stop him at this point. A reaper landed in the distance and fired its beam at him. While it grazed him, it didn't stop him as he continued to advance with half of his armour gone and burn marks now covering him but he ignored them. As Zaeed once said: Rage is one hell of an aesthetic. Now John knew why as he built up as much power he could to his legs

He ran into the lift and shot up to the Citadel. "Time to end this," he growled as he let exhaustion take over.

When his eyes opened, he saw that he was lying on the outside of the Citadel looking up at the massively one-sided space battle. Humanity combined with what was left of the Turrian, Asari and Salarian fleet engaged the Reaper fleet. No Qurrians, they were extinct thanks to a Reaper ambush. No Krogan. Most of them died on Tuchanka. No Geth, they had been converted into warriors for the Reapers. They had no support in this war, they had lost even before they picked up their rifles.

With a groan and a grunt, John stood to see his body damaged and his armour far beyond repair. Shaking his head, he looked to take in the scene. There was a beam of some kind jetting down into the earth. In front of it was a control panel, that must be what he needed to activate the machine. With an effort, he walked forward to the control panel. There was no way he wasn't going to destroy the Reapers this day. They would pay for every life they ever took from this galaxy. Live or die, he would make sure of it.

He almost reached when a red holographic image of a child appeared in front of him. "You will not take another step," he said as two brutes appeared beside him. "The cycle will not be stopped this time. Kill him," it said.

John backed up a bit as the brutes charged at him. He tried to raise his pistol, but the weapon was too heavy for his arm to lift. Instead, he dropped the weapon and activated his omni-blade ready for one last-ditch attempt to stop them. They were getting closer, closer and the commander braced himself for the last fight.

"I think not," a voice then said and a man in a long black cloak appeared before John.

The brutes jumped ready to pound the two of them to paste. "Move!" John yelled but the man just held up a hand and clicked his fingers causing the two brutes to turn to ashes.

John blinked wondering if what he was seeing was real. "What…" he muttered but it seemed that the man before him ignored him.

"So, Starchild, it seems that the corruption has infected you. Even you know that there are rules you have to follow," the man said.

"I am not corrupted," the hologram said. "I am just doing what I need in order for the cycle to continue,"

"There are rules," the man said. "And it seems you broke them,"

"Screw your rules!" the Starchild yelled as tentacles began to come up from the hole where the stream of light came from. "This is my world, my universe! Mine to do with as I wish!" he said as he rose and spread his arms wide with black tendrils slowly emerging from him. "This is my universe to command! Kill him,"

The tentacles moved forward faster than John could see, but they stopped before they hit the man. A second later, Shepard realised that it wasn't just the tentacles, but everything around him had stopped.

"What the…" he muttered.

"Well, this is a fine mess," the man in front of him said as he removed his hood showing his brown hair. "This fucking corruption is getting into places it shouldn't,"

"Hey, who are you?" John asked causing the man to turn.

To the Commander's surprise, the man was surprisingly young and with a pair of glasses sitting on his nose. "Sorry Commander. My name is Watcher. You can call me Darkstar if you like," the man smiled.

"Those are weird names," the Commander said before shaking his head. "Never mind that, what's going on here," he asked indicating around him.

"Oh, I stopped time. I cannot die from being implied, but trust me it's not fun," the man shrugged as he rolled his head cracking his neck.

"If you stopped time…." he trailed off looking at the Starchild and its pet.

Darkstar chuckled. "It doesn't work like that," he said turning to look at the same thing John was. "While I can stop time, it doesn't allow me to interfere. It's more of a tool for me to talk to people privately,"

Shepard blinked not understanding but just nodded. "Ok, so what did you want to talk to me about?"

The man paused before looking at John. "Here may not be the best place to do it. I can take you to my office and you can get something to eat and drink while we talk,"

John frowned. "Why can't we do it here?"

"That is a long and complicated answer, but let's just say that this time freeze will not last," the man chuckled.

John just nodded pretending to understand. "Okay, let's go to your office,"

"Just prepare for a bad queasy feeling," Watcher said before he clicked his fingers and the surroundings disappeared only for them to find themselves in a room with a black marble-like material and books all along the walls.

John nearly fell onto his knees as he felt his stomach about to erupt. "Oh, that's…. ugh…." He muttered as he grabbed onto a chair.

"Here, this may help," Watcher said as he held a glass of water to John, who took it and drowned it feeling better almost instantly.

A surge of refreshment filled him as he stood and looked at his body to see his wounds heal and the pain vanish. "What…." he began looking up at the man as he took his seat opposite John. "What did you give me?"

"Let's just say magic water," Watcher said as he indicated for the commander to sit.

John frowned but did and found a sandwich appeared before him along with a glass of water. He looked at them before at the man in front of him who just nodded. Cautiously, John took the sandwich and took a bite out of it before his eyes widened and looked up at Watcher.

"This is BBQ jerky, how did…." he trailed off before looking around at the books.

All of them were in a variety of colours. Mostly black and brown, but there were a few that had brighter colours like pink or red. He then noticed that they didn't have titles but emblems. One was of a double-headed eagle with its wings spread out with another was of a dragon's head. His eyes were then drawn to the desk and his eyes widened at the N7 emblem on several books in a neat stack. He finished chewing and swallowed.

"What are those…." he asked slowly.

"These are books," Darkstar said patting his hand on them. "Books of universes similar to yours. Have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?"

John took another bite as he thought. "I have, a bit, I think Mordin said something about it,"

Watcher nodded. "The multiverse states that there are infinite possibilities as every action you make, there is always another action. For example, on Vermire you could have chosen Ashley, not Kadian to remain on the planet,"

John looked down with a sad look. "I wish I could have saved both,"

"Other 'you's' have," Darkstar said. "But that's beside the point," he said as he took the top book and placed it in front of the commander. "Open it, this is yours,"

Shepard looked at him for a second before setting his half-eaten sandwich down before opening the book. Inside was a language he had never seen before but could read. He skimmed a few recognising the event as the raid on the Collector base but stopped when he reached Tali's death. He blinked as the words couldn't be read due to several transparent tentacles with a black outline waving in the air. He looked up at Watcher before he turned the page to see Kasumi's fate. But again, it was blurred by the tentacles. He flipped through several more pages.

Each time it came to a major event or one of his crew dying, the result was the same. The black tentacles were there obscuring the text. After reaching Liara's and Ashley's death, he looked up.

"What is this?" he asked.

"The real name, you will not be able to pronounce or even say," Watcher said. "The simplified version is simply Darkness or Corruption. They are the best names for what it is. So, I said that my name is Watcher, right? Well, that's also my job title. I am a watcher of the multiverse; my job is to read and monitor the events of these books to make sure they reach their destined path. But there are those who seek to disrupt those paths,"

"Why?" John asked as he finished his food. "What would they have to gain?"

"Power and food. These powers feed off of the chaos that is brought when disrupting fate and paths," Darkstar explained. "Most of the time it's minor, but this like this…" he indicated to the book in front of John. "This is more problematic. If one book is infected, then so are others. It's like a virus that infects others, to feed off of the host. So, we need to stop it before the universes collapse in on themselves,"

John nodded. He didn't need to have a mind like Mordin to figure out that was bad.

"Why do you need me?" John asked.

Watcher placed his hand on the pile of books, six in all. "These stories haven't reached the same point as you. I've put them on pause, but there is one which I found to be the focal point. I can send you there, along with some help, to stop this Corruption,"

The commander blinked. "How?"

"There are focal points, ones in which the timeline is either changed or fixed. You'll have knowledge of these and will be able to counter the Corruption with it," Darkstar explained.

"Is there a reason you cannot do it yourself? Or give me more?" Shepard asked.

Watcher chuckled and shook his head. "I would love to, but I cannot. It's not due to not wanting to, more along the lines of I cannot. There are rules that I have to follow. Not going into specifics, but outside of a few exceptions, I cannot take direct action like what I did earlier. Because that was stopping a major collapsing event,"

"Collapsing event?" John asked brow raised.

The watcher paused as he looked at John, the smile gone from his face. "It's an event that leads to the collapse of the universe you inhabit," he said causing the Commander to blink. "A Collapsing event is when a focal point of the universe is removed allowing the corruption to take over and eat the universe,"

John blinked as the realisation hit him and he slumped in his chair pinching the bridge of his nose. "Wh…what about my crew?" he asked.

The Watcher sighed. "I'm sorry," was all he said and John nodded in understanding.

"So, if I do this, will I remain in this universe?" he asked only to get a sad smile from Darkstar and John nodded. "Ok," he looked at the being in front of him. "I'll do it on a few conditions,"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, name it," The watcher smiled.

OOOOO

Jane walked onto the Normandy looking around herself taking it all in. While she didn't like Cerberus, she did enjoy the feeling, the smell of the new ship as well as the look. Outside of a few choices, it was almost the same as what she remembered. She smiled as she turned taking it all in.

"Welcome to the Normandy SR2," Jacob said as he, Jane and Miranda walked down the to the Galaxy map.

"Commander everything is progressing smoothly; it'll be a few hours before construction is complete. But afterwards, I recommend we get the scientist Mordin Solus," Miranda said.

"Good idea, we need a scientist on the team," Jane agreed with a nod.

"Acquiring Professor Solus seems like the most logical option," a female voice then sounded.

After a quick look around Jane couldn't see anyone. "Who are you?" she asked.

A blue hexagonal gridded orb appeared behind her as she turned to face it. She frowned as she turned to look at the blue hovering orb.

"I'm the Normandy's Enhanced Defence Intelligence, the crew refer to me as EDI for short," EDI said.

Jane nodded as she looked at the glowing orb in front of her. "Pilots don't like it when someone takes over their ship, especially Joker," Jane said in a joking tone.

"Mr Moreau's talents will not go to waste. I operate the cyber warfare…" she tried to say something but she began to flicker along with the lights.

"What's going on?" Jane asked.

"This shouldn't be…." Marinda muttered as she tapped her ear. "Engineering what's going on?" but all she got was a static in her ear.

"Intruder alert in engineering!" EDI began to say.

People moved with Jane, Jacob and Miranda close behind as they entered the lift and went into engineering. The security team moved in followed by the three and entered the main reactor room. Two of the engineers moved back as the team moved in looking at a glowing outline of a man as he began to form in front of them. Brown hair, tanned skin, blue eyes, stubble and muscle followed by a set of clothing matching the Cerberus uniform.

Once he fully formed in front of them, he fell to the ground coughing and spurting blood. "Ah fuck… he didn't tell me about that, the ass,"

"Who are you?" one of the security men asked making the man look up and then down.

"Give us a sec," he said coughing once more before standing. "What date is it?"

Miranda blinked. "What?"

"What's the date, Miss Lawson? Day, month year," he asked.

"How do…." She began but Jane cut her off.

"February 11th, 2183," she said frowning. "Who are you?"

The man nodded as he cracked his neck. "The 11th, so I assume you just stepped onto the Normandy? Commander Shepard?"

That made the room pause. "How do you know me? How did you know that?"

"I'm Commander John Shepard, of the Normandy. Serial number 5923-AC-2826," he said causing Jane to freeze up.

"That's…" she began.

"That yours as well, I know," he nodded and said as he began to bounce lessening himself up. "Sorry, stiff,"

"This guy is lying," Miranda whispered. "He must have looked up your file,"

"Jacob?" Jane asked wanting a second opinion.

But the biotic shook his head. "I have no idea," he muttered. "How did you know this was the first time Jane set foot on the Normandy?" he asked.

"Because I had the same experience," he stopped bouncing and cracking his limbs. "There's only one way to do this," he said walking up to Jane and ignoring the guns on him. "Let's go to medical, have Chackwas scan me," that caused her to blink.

"Dr Chackwas is here?" she asked in surprise causing him to frown.

"I assume you haven't met the crew yet?" he asked.

She looked at him up and down before nodding. "Stand down," she said. "EDI turn the alarm off. Let's go," she said jerking her head.

"Shepard, I don't think…" Miranda began but Jane cut her off.

"Miranda, he just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of engineering, knew about my service number, EDI and the Normandy," she said. "If you have a better idea about what happened, I would love to hear it,"

Miranda opened her mouth, before closing it and nodded. "Ok back to your duties," she ordered before she, John, Jane and Jacob walked into the lift and rode it up to the crew deck then headed to the med bay.

As they entered Chackwas turned but her smile fell as soon as she saw all four enter. "What's going on?" she asked as a man, who she had never seen before jumped onto one of the beds.

"Hi Chackwas," Jane smiled. "Sorry about this, It's good to see a familiar face, but we need your help,"

"Ok," said as she stood. "What's the problem,"

"This man is claiming to be Commander Shepard. He gave the same serial as Jane knew about EDI and the Normandy. And now he's requesting a DNA test," Miranda said.

"DNA and x-ray," the man said. "I have the same implants as the Commander here. Didn't get your first,"

"Jane," Jane said.

"Ah, John for me," he smiled as he lay back and let the scanner do its work.

"Ok, scans are…" Chackwas began as she trailed off. "This is…" she began to mutter as she looked to another screen then at the man on the bed before back to the screens.

"Chackwas?" Jacob asked.

The doctor got up and drew blood from the man before putting it into a different scanner and moving to her terminal to check the results. She was silent for a few moments as she looked at the data in front of her. John moved the scanner out of the way as he sat up. He was silent as the doctor looked at the screens and then slowly looked at him.

"Other than the YX chromosome, your DNA is a 100% match. The same applies to the cybernetics. They are in the exact same places," she said in a shocked tone moving out of the way and letting Jane, Miranda and Jacob see.

"So, genetically, you are my brother," Jane said as she turned to face John. "Doesn't explain why you are here,"

John nodded with a sigh. "Can you close medical and get EDI to turn off any and all listening devices?"

"No," Miranda said.

"EDI do it," Jane said and the windows closed along with the door.

"All security features are active and turned off," the AI said.

"Good," John said as he hopped off the bed as a book appeared in his hand from out of nowhere. "Have a look," he said handing it to Jane.

The female Shepard took it and opened her eyes widened as she read what was there. She looked up and then back down as Chackwas, Jacob and Miranda joined her. All their eyes widened as well as they flipped the pages.

"What is this?" Miranda asked.

"That is a book of the universe," John said. "This universe to be exact," he said as he walked up and turned the pages to one which was black with translucent tentacles coming from it. "This is why I'm here," he said pointing.

"What is that?" Chackwas asked as she reached but pulled back as it tried to grab her.

"Corruption," John answered. "Don't ask for details, I don't understand them myself. All I know is, the universe I came from, is almost destroyed by it,"

"Almost?" Jane and Miranda asked at the same time before John went into an explanation about what happened leaving about the details of the Reaper war.

But that wasn't due to choice. He could remember, but Darkstar placed a 'spell' on him to prevent future knowledge from spreading. Events had to play out in order. Only when they couldn't was he allowed to talk about that future event. It wasn't ideal, but he had to work with it as he finished. The silence in the room could be cut with a knife as Jane closed the book her eyes closed.

"You left a lot out, but given what I have seen…" Jane said handing the book back. "So, you are here to stop the corruption? Why you? Why not another Miranda, or Jacob?"

"Because they aren't us," John replied taking the book only for it to vanish. "From what I understand, each universe that has a Shepard, more often than not, they are the focal point of the universe. The hero if you will,"

"And if the hero fails…." Jacob began.

"The Dark Lord wins," Jane finished with a nod. "More heroes, the more chance we have,"

John nodded at that. "Darkstar said he would send more. When and where he never said,"

Miranda couldn't help but scoff and she turned away and held her head in her hand. "This is fucking crazy. A male Shepard I can understand, but one from another universe? Now you expect us to believe that all Shepards are heroes,"

"Not all most, Miranda," John said shrugging. "The way it was explained to me, for every 1 million Shepards, there is 1 Miranda or Jacob who saves the day and not me, or them to be more accurate. So the likelihood of it being another Shepard is higher than it being anyone else. At least for this series of universes,"

She looked at him with a frown. "This series of universes?" Jane asked before Miranda could ask.

John paused as he dug through his brain for the best example. "Ok, for example, you know Star Wars?" they nodded. "Ok, that universe exists. Not as a fictional universe, but actually exists,"

The three in the room just stared at him for a moment before Jane started talking. "Wait, so let me get this straight. You're telling me that the incredibly fuckable Ashoka Tano is out there right now fighting the empire?"

John just blinked for a moment. "I wouldn't say it like that, but effectively yes," he said getting blinks from the redhead in front of him. "I take it you swing that way? Liara?"

Jane blushed for a moment and nodded. "Who was it for you?"

John hung his head as unpleasant memories flooded his mind. "I'd rather not talk about it,"

She nodded at that before Miranda spoke up. "So, you are here to help us. But where does that leave us now?"

"I assume that you were planning to head to Omega to get Arkangel and Solus?" he asked getting surprised and unsurprised nods from the three. "Then we should focus on that. Mordin will be needed for the countermeasure. I'll be wherever you need me," he said with a smile.

Jane smiled too. "I would love to see Anderson's or Udina's face when they find out there is more than one Shepard," she laughed with John following.

OOOOO

The Normandy docked with Omega while the team of four finished their preparations. The two Shepards couldn't help but look at each other, eyeing the other up at their choice of gear. John was an engineer while Jane was a vanguard. It was mostly out of curiosity rather than anything else. Once the airlock cycle finished, they entered Omega only to be met by a Salarian as they made their way down the passageway.

"Ah, welcome to Omega," he said. "You're new, aren't you? I can always tell…" he began but a Batarian walked up causing him to stumble. "Oh, hello Moklan, I was just…" he tried but the soldier leaned in with a threatening aura.

"Leave Fargut, now," he ordered.

"Of course, Moklan, anything she wants," he quickly said before being waved off by the Batarian.

"Blasted scavengers," he muttered before looking at Jane. "Welcome to Omega, Shepard,"

"You know who I am?" Jane asked with John muttering to himself.

"Of course. We had you tagged as soon as you entered the Terminus systems. You aren't as subtle as you think," he explained. "Aria wants to know what brings a dead Spectre to Omega. I suggest you go to Afterlife and present yourself now,"

Jane was about to say something but John placed a placed a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Unspoken words pass between the two. Jane nodded and looked at the Batarian.

"We'll head there," she said.

He nodded. "I'll send word to let you though, best not to keep Aria waiting," he said stepping to one side and allowing the four to walk through.

"What was that about?" Miranda asked when they were out of earshot.

"I was just about to tell him where he can stuff it," Jane grunted.

"Not the best way to endear yourself to the most powerful on Omega," John muttered before jerking his head forward. "Speaking of which, here's our first recruit,"

A man in miss-matched yellow armour was beating the stuffing out of a Batarian, something the team shed no tears about, as they walked up to him. The batatian collapsed as he looked up at the team.

"Please help," he said.

"No one said you can talk jackass," the mec said.

"Zaeed Massani?" Jane asked and the man turned around.

He was a horrific site to look at. Heavily scarred with one of his eyes not working properly as it was milky white.

"Yeah, that's me. You must be Commander Shepard. I heard we have a galaxy to save," he said.

"Have you been briefed?" Jane asked getting straight to the point.

As they spoke John moved past them and out into the main plaza of Omega looking around. Memories coming back about how Cerberus attacked in force. How General Petrovsky countered his and Aria's every move. How he had to see her get executed before him, how Omega blew. He shook his head as he looked forward at Afterlife swearing that the outcome he experienced would never come to pass.

"Hey, you ok?" Jane asked as she walked up next to him.

"I… I'm good," he said cracking his neck.

"Bad memories?" she pried.

"Yeah," was all he said and Jane didn't say anything as the other two joined them.

Saying nothing Jane led them to the far end of the plaza towards the nightclub clearly labelled Afterlife. They were largely ignored by people thanks to their armour and weapons. But those in Aria's pocket did eye them with caution. Which was to be expected. Anyone with the amount of firepower that they had represented a clear threat to the rule of someone like Aria. As they approached the doors to the nightclub, they were being heckled by people in a very long line to the place.

Just as they were about to walk up to the door a Krogan bouncer walked up to them holding an arm out.

"Shepard?" he asked holding up a tablet.

"Yeah," was all Jane said.

He said nothing as he nodded lowering his arm and the doors opened letting them inside. Jane smiled as they walked down a corridor before entering the main dance room. Her eyes were fixed on the asari dancing around the poles almost transfixed on their graceful balletic movements. She was brought out of it by John lightly pushing her.

"I know they are good to look at, but we can do it later Asari lover," he teased.

"Hey, I've been dead for 2 years. I have the right to be a little frisky," she said.

"That's what the extranet is for," he countered as they walked around the main dance platform and to a set of stairs that led up to a VIP overlook.

The guards let them through without trouble. As they walked John couldn't help but feel a sense of wrongness. Something was about to happen but what? They soon reached the main platform and the two Shepards walked up to Aria who was looking over her club. As they reached the top of the stairs, her guards pointed their weapons at the team.

"That's close enough," she said in a calm but threatening tone.

"Stand still," a guard said as he began to scan Jane.

"If you're looking for weapons, you aren't doing a very good job," the female commander said as she pulled out her pistol.

"Can't be too careful with dead Spectres. That could be anyone wearing your face," Aria countered.

"I have questions, I was told you have answers," Jane said as the guard finished his scan.

"They're clean," he said as he moved to the said and Aria turned to face Jane taking a few steps toward her.

"Depends on the questions," Aria said folding her arms.

"You r…." Jane tried to say when a flash of images cut off what she was about to say. "DOWN!" she yelled as she practically pounced on Aria right before a shot rang out hitting the opposite wall.

John reacted quickly as he moved up to the sofa and activated a shield blocking another shot that caused him to stumble. "SNIPER!" he yelled as he grabbed his sum and fired in the direction of the shot.

Aria's security forces reacted quickly setting up a perimeter around the VIP section as Jacob and Miranda moved up to join John and Jane. Gunfire erupted from the ground targeting the ledge as Aria pushed Jane off of her and moved to activate a shield around her seat. All fire was blocked allowing the two Shepards to move over to look to see three mercenary groups move in.

"Fuck, they attacked way too early," he muttered.

Aria looked at him with rage. "You knew about this and didn't tell me?" she said standing and was about to approach when he turned to her.

"Yes, I knew, however, my information was based on the fact that they were going to fight you after taking out Arkangel. Looks like someone accelerated those plans," John shot back he and Aira face to face staring daggers at each other. "What we do now, however, is save you and Omega at the same time. If we don't…" he trailed off wincing.

Aira looked at him for a moment. She didn't trust him, but she knew that look, that wince, that was all too real for her to ignore. Taking a step back she looked him up and down with a frown, there was something about him.

"Who are you?" she asked but before John could answer the area shook with an explosion forcing the team to look over to see heavy weapons teams bring out rocket launchers.

"You two stay here," John and Jane said at the same causing the two to snigger before Jane continued. "We'll take care of them, protect Aria,"

"Wait I don't need…." She tried to say but it was in vain as the two ran off into the main area of the club.

Looking over the balcony the three watched as John and Janed moved in. Jane jumped onto a table and fired several rounds in quick succession taking down two Blue Suns soldiers before jumping up in the air her body glowing blue with biotic energy before she came down with a thud and sending a shockwave in all directions staggering or knocking the merc over.

John moved fast as he slid along a table taking out three soldiers with his shuriken, pulsing the burst fire twice for each target taking them down quickly. As he slid off the table, he produced two small square cases and threw one at the wall while the other he tossed onto the dancer's platform. Both opened up into turrets and began to fire on the mercs in their sights. John then readied and activated an overload before throwing it at the nearest group taking out their shields, allowing them to be taken down quickly.

Once the shields were down, Jane used her lift powers to deny gravity to the mercs before being taken out by the two Shepards as they advanced. But Korgan mercs in red uniforms followed by mechs charged in forcing the two back as they struggled to find cover. They were so heavily suppressed that they couldn't get out of cover to counter the attack. After getting a few gashes, John popped out of cover and fired back throwing a fire grenade at them. It detonated igniting several Korgan and Vorcha.

While the big lizards could deal with it, the Vorcha didn't as they ran around screaming making themselves easy targets for Aria's troopers. Jane did something similar as she used a cryo grenade to freeze her targets in place before charging through them. The shockwave from her attack shattered the mercs into bits taking out a few. But it left her open to the attacks of others. She sent out a shockwave pushing several mercs back allowing her to get back into cover before they could recover.

Despite what they managed to do, more mercs were coming into the club overwhelming the two and soon the Aria's forces.

"COME ON EVERYBOY AND SING WITH ME!" a voice then yelled out causing people to stop and look up at the main dancer platform as someone was still dancing on it.

"Who…what…" Aria sputtered as she spotted the newcomer.

Jacob just blinked. "They just appeared…"

"Like John…" Miranda muttered.

As people adjusted to the light, they spotted the newcomer and were flawed by her look. The young human woman before them wore a short dress with detached sleeves and thigh-high heels. Other than her head and fingers, no skin was being shown so she wasn't the typical nightclub dancer. The colour of neon green and blue on white also added to the fact that this girl was a dancer. But she also supported two square speakers just behind her shoulders. What they were for, John and Jane couldn't say. She turned and paused with two of her fingers in the v pose as she winked.

Getting a good look at her the girl was Asian with makeup matching her outfit and pink hair that also matched the outfit. She also had a headband that covered her ears and had a pair of what appeared to be cat ears on the top. But that's not what caught John's and Jane's eye. It was the patch on her outfit that made their mouths drop.

"N7?" John asked in surprise.

"Wait you're a Shepard too?" Jane asked as well as the Shepard on the platform threw a pair of headphones to the two of them.

"Put these on. You'll need them," she said as the two grabbed them and did something to her omni-tool.

John and Jane looked at each other before putting on the headphones. "Now for the CORUS!" she yelled before screaming into her microphone attached to her armour.

The sonic shockwaves both stunned and killed some of the mercs as the sound waves pulsed from the speakers on the Shepard's armour. Sonic weapons weren't used often as they had limited range, indiscriminate in targeting and were more useful as a riot control weapon than an offensive combat weapon. John looked at the effect with wide eyes. It looked like whoever this Shepard was, their sonic weaponry tech wasn't anything to scoff at.

When the new Shepard finished her scream, she jumped off of the platform pulling out a pair of pistols and firing at any merc who was still moving. John and Jane joined in fully clearing the nightclub and corridor. Saving the introductions for later, the three ran out into the main plaza only to find it clear of hostiles. While it was empty, it was clear that Aria's combat forces did their job in cutting off the enemy forces. They were just clearing up the dead and setting up checkpoints as Jacob, Miranda, Aria and several of her security forces joined them.

"Looks like I owe you, Shepard," Aria said as she and the others pulled back into the corridor. "But I would like an explanation about what is going on and who this is," she indicated to the white, blue and pink armoured singer.

The singer stood at attention and saluted going from a bubbly singer to a full-on military commander in a second. "I'm Sonic Trooper Commander Shion 'Hummingbird' Shepard," she said earning a wide-eyed look from the Asari.

"S…S…Shepard?" she asked looking from Jane to John to Shion putting it all together. "There's three of you?"

"Look like it," John shrugged as he looked and smiled at Shion.

Taking a deep breath Aria shook her head before regaining her composure and looked to them. "Ok, I assume it's a long explanation as to why there are three of you, and to be honest, I don't care. I owe you so what brings you to Omega?"

"We're looking for Archangel and Mordin Solus," Jane spoke up and Aria nodded before looking at John.

"You said that the mercs should Attack after Archangel is dead right?" she asked with a nod from John.

"Yes, but I don't think that's the case. Same reason why Shion is here," he indicated to the singer. "Long explanation which we don't have time for," he quickly added seeing Aria's raised brow.

"Right…" she muttered. "Archangel is in Kima District level 208 spire 167. I can organise a gunship to take you there. As for Mordin, Gozu District is on lockdown due to an outbreak of a plague. I can order my men to let you in. But you need to prove that you aren't contaminated before I can let you back out,"

John nodded. "What do you think John?" she asked.

"Both are important. Archangel doesn't have long due to the three merc groups closing in on him fast. Not to mention if they found out that the attack failed, they are likely going to accelerate their plans. Solus is also important. But because he's former STG, and he has help, he can survive longer. But there is the point that the sooner we can get him, the sooner we'll have the Collector countermeasure," he explained.

Again, Jane nodded. "Ok, you and Shion take Mordin while me, Miranda and Jacob take on the mercs,"

"Sounds good to me," Shion said with a smile.

"I'll make the calls," Aria said as she activated her omni-tool and several moments later their rides arrived.