In the year 2148, explorers on Mars discovered the remains of an ancient spacefaring civilization. In the decades that followed, these mysterious artifacts revealed startling new technologies, enabling travel to the furthest stars. The basis for this incredible technology was a force that controlled the
very fabric of space and time.
They called it the greatest discovery in human history.
The civilizations of the galaxy call it...
Mass Effect.
…
*London, England: 2186*
There was death all around us. Destruction raining down from the sky like a thunderstorm. Bullets flying. Explosions every few seconds. Someone biting the dust at any time. There was only one word that could label something like this.
War.
This wasn't just any. This was the war to decide the fate of everything and everyone. The Reaper War.
A battle five thousand years in the making. The final conflict between the inhabitants of the Milky Way Galaxy, and the genocidal machine race known as the Reapers, bent on harvesting all organic life in the galaxy to grow and evolve.
Many thought these monstrous constructs were myth, fairy tales. How wrong they were.
Now the Reapers have come. It had only been a few months and already most of the galaxy was burning. Entire worlds are destroyed. People were harvested into synthetic atrocities. And this chaos would only continue if they are not stopped once and for all.
And the galaxy had the means to do it. In the form of the Crucible. A massive device, constructed by the people of the previous harvesting cycles before them. This weapon would be the key to finally ending this nightmare.
All that remained was turning the damned thing on. Thankfully, someone was already on it.
Commander Jane Shepard of the Systems Alliance. Captain of the SSR Normandy, first human to become part of the Alliance's special tasks group; the Spectre, and the one who learned of the Reapers existence.
Over the past three years, Shepard fought on the front lines against this mechanical threat along with the rest of her ship's crew, while everyone else merely sat back in ignorance. Many thought that Shepard and her crew were crazy for believing the Reapers truly existed. It was only when they finally arrived that the crew were now the ones in charge.
In fact, that is exactly what she was doing right now, along with numerous soldiers beside her. They were all racing towards a massive beam of light that was shooting up into the sky. This was the bridge that would help them reach the Citadel. There, they could activate the Crucible and win this war.
Beside Shepard were her two most trusted crew-mates. Turian infiltrator Garrus Vakarian, former C-Sec detective turned vigilante. As well as Asari Adept, Dr. Liara T'Soni, Prothean history expert and galactic information broker.
These two had been by Shepard's side since the start of this mess. Now, they will finish it.
The three of them charged full speed towards the beam. They wouldn't slow down for a second. However, an explosion had ended up flipping over a tank and nearly crushed them to death. Jane and Liara managed to jump out of the way, but Garrus ended up caught underneath the vehicle's weight. The resulting impact had crushed the turian's left leg and the only way to free him was to cut it off.
After they had freed him, Shepard requested an emergency pickup to take her injured comrades to safety. Liara was helping Garrus aboard, but Shepard was not following.
"You gotta get out of here." She urged.
Garrus looked back at Shepard with a look of disbelief. "And you've gotta be kidding me!" He replied.
"Don't argue, Garrus." Shepard ordered.
"We're in this till the end!"
Shepard walked up the landing ramp of the ship. She was now face to face with the turian, looking him straight in his icy blue eyes.
"No matter what happens here…"
Without hesitation, Shepard cupped the sides of Garrus' face and pulled the turian into a firm kiss. Her lips pressed hard against his mouth plates in a short moment of bliss. They broke the kiss and gazed into each other's eyes.
"You know I love you. I always will."
"Shepard. I…"
Garrus reached up to his face, grasping Shepard's hand in his own.
"…love you too."
She began backing away and her hand slipped out from Garrus'. Shepard shouted "GO!" Before bolting off toward the beam once more.
Garrus held out his arm towards his running lover, as if he was trying to grab her and bring her back. His heart felt as though it would shrivel up and die. A wave of tears started to run down his face and he could only mutter one more sentence before the hangar doors closed.
"Come back to me."
If only she did…
…
Shepard awoke with a gasp. She bolted up right from where she laid. Pain shot through her body upon movement and caused her to clench her gut. Jane was bruised and battered all across her body. Her armor was destroyed. Blood flowing out from open wounds in her torso. She was in absolute agony.
But the pain was all worth it. For the Reapers were finally gone. Shepard did the impossible. She had activated the crucible and ended the war at long last. Though the price was steep. The blast vanquished not just the Reapers, but all synthetic life. This included the geth… and EDI, her AI comrade. She could only imagine how to face Joker for this.
However those thoughts would come later, for Shepard looked at her surroundings. Lush grass. Distant mountains. Birds singing. She was back on Earth. How? Shepard was sure she would have been blown into space from that explosion. How very strange.
Even so, the fact that she survived at all was a miracle to say the least. But with her injuries, she wouldn't last very long. She needed to contact her crew.
Shepard activated her Omni Tool's comm systems and set the channel for that of the Normandy's.
"This… This is Shepard to Normandy. I'm alive… Not doing so good though… I need pickup at my location… and fast… Joker, do you… do you read me..?"
The only response Shepard got was static.
"Shepard to Normandy..! Joker, are you there..?" Shepard tried again.
Still just static. She looked at the corner of her tool. There was a symbol for connection with a red X over it. She had no signal. Could the Crucible have knocked out the comm channels?
"Joker..! Hackett..! Liara..! Garrus..! Is anyone receiving me?!" Shepard asked again, sounding more frantic.
There was no one responding to her at all. This was bad. Shepard felt pain surge through her again. There was blood seeping from the gash in her abdomen. She covered it with her hand and laid down on her back again to help with the pain.
"Garrus… Garrus, you've gotta be receiving me. Please, I'm in a serious pickle right now. My gut won't stop bleeding. I'm not sure how long I've got. Gah! Fuck..!"
The pain was unbearable. It hurt just to breathe.
"Track my Omni Tool. I'm not even sure where I am right now. I think somewhere outside London. I can't see any buildings at all. Maybe the countryside?"
Shepard could feel her head getting lighter by the second. Her vision was getting blurry. Breathing became harder with every second.
"What we talked about… before the final battle… about retirement… I want that too, Garrus."
Jane felt her gag reflex kick in. She hurled up blood from her throat and coughed hard as a result.
"Definitely somewhere tropical and warm… We'd build a small house right on the beach… Go into town for everything we need… and live off the royalties of those war vids… and… I tell ya, Garrus… I never really thought of myself as a mom. I always thought… with my history that I'd just mess that little twerp up worse than my dad did my brother, John…"
Shepard coughed up her blood once more.
"But now, I just realized how silly I was being… I'd be down for it… A human and a turian… Maybe even throw in a little krogan… Have ourselves a little 'alliance' of our own..!" She laughed a bit at the end.
Before long, Shepard could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She started sniffling and soon enough, despair had wormed its way into her heart.
"I want all of that with you, Garrus… I want to see you at the end of the aisle… I want to dance with you at the reception. Yeah, you heard me… Haha… I want to have our honeymoon on Palaven so I can finally meet your family… I want to… I want to be by your side as Jane Vakarian..!"
It became too much to bear. Shepard broke down in a tsunami of sorrow.
"Please Garrus, I don't wanna die! I want to spend my life with you! I want to see you and everyone else again! Please come and get me! I love you! *hiccup* Please Garrus..!"
Shepard rolled onto her side in despair. Every hiccup felt like knives digging into her gut. The tears mixing with the blood tasted of salt and metal. This was it. This was how she would die. Alone and afraid. No one to find her body. Forgotten…
"Hey! Anyone there?"
Or so she thought. Shepard's eyes widened in shock. Someone had found her. She used every once of her strength and tolerance to herself up off the ground until she was sitting upright.
There was a figure in the distance who was running towards her. Shepard couldn't make out who it was. But if they were here to help, that was good.
With all the energy she could muster, Shepard shouted at the top of her lungs, "HEEEELP!" Before going limp and falling back onto the ground.
The figure was soon within her vicinity and crouched down to her rescue.
"You okay, lady?" The figure then noticed her injuries. "Well, that was a stupid question."
Shepard's vision was fading fast. She was unsure as to who it was. His voice was foreign to her. She did however manage to make out his words.
"This is Cayde-6 of the Vanguard. I've got a civilian outside the city and she's critically injured. Requesting immediate medical attention at my coordinates double time!"
Shepard tried to speak, only to gasp for air. Cayde slid his hand under her head and scooped her into his arms.
"Whoa whoa whoa! Easy there, sweetheart. You're pretty banged up. I don't think chatting is the best idea right now. Coming from me, that's saying something."
She couldn't see his face. He was wearing some kind of hood and it obscured it. Her fading vision didn't help either.
There were too many unknowns right. She couldn't die not knowing what was happening.
"Are… Are you Alliance?" Shepard managed to say.
"Am I whatnow?"
"Are you… Alliance..? Did we win..? Are the Reapers gone..?"
Every word hurt. Every word robbed her of what little energy she had left. It was agonizing.
"Uh… What the heck is a Reaper?"
Blood erupted from Shepard's mouth again. Her body twitched and spasmed in Cayde's arms.
"Heyhey! Easy kiddo. Hang in there, okay? Help is on the way. Ikora, where's that pickup?! I'm losing her!"
Cayde looked back down at Shepard. She didn't have much time. He needed to keep her alive until help arrived.
"Mam, just hang on. My name is Cayde. What's your name?"
The man scanned her charred and bleeding form. He saw a broken piece of metal on her chest. It looked like part of some dog tags. Cayde picked it up. The name 'Jane' was all there was as they were broken in half. The location of the rest of them was a mystery.
"Jane? Jane, I need you to focus on me right now. My friends will be here soon and we're gonna get you all patched up. Sound good?"
Shepard hiccuped and gasped. "Don't leave me..." She practically begged.
"I'm not going anywhere, Jane. I'm gonna be right here with you." Cayde assured.
Her eyes were growing increasingly heavy. Breathing becoming shallow.
"Hey, don't fall asleep. I know that you're tired, but I need you to stay awake. C'mon, you're doing great."
"Did we win..?"
Cayde was caught off guard by her sudden question. Shepard's eyes were glossy from her tears.
"Did we destroy them..? Is the war over..? Please answer me…" she sobbed.
Shepard was referring to the Reapers. However, Cayde believed it was something else. But despite this, Cayde replied.
"Yeah. We won, Jane. We took back Earth and sent those big freaks packin'. It's over."
His words brought hope back to her dying heart. Shepard felt a smile creep back onto her face. A smile of relief.
"Thank you…"
"Jane? Jane, stay with me! Ikora, hurry up! I'm losing her! Jane?! Jane!"
That was the last thing she heard. Darkness soon engulfed Shepard's mind. Finally, everything went black.
Commander Shepard was gone…
…
…
…
But 'Jane' wasn't done yet. She heard a new voice.
"Guardian! There you are!"