MASS EFFECT 3
An Ending, Once and for All
The Beam
“Here it is… the moment we’ve been waiting for.”
Shepard glanced up at the illuminating beam whose glow spread over the horizon. It looked like salvation to him, the final step to beating the reapers;to ending their god awful reign once and for all. He looked at Anderson and deeply inhaled, they both shared a feeling of relief there, and their previous despair seemed to evaporate into the sky. The long journey was almost over.
“I don’t see anything Shepard, it seems clear,” Tali said behind Shepard.
Shepard didn’t notice anything either; he raised his hand, preparing to give the command to move forward.
Anderson abruptly yelled, “Shepard look up there in the sky is that…” his sentence was cut off by sheer terror. Anderson and Shepard looked up into the sky and saw a small object reminiscent of obsidian plummeting towards the Earth. They both watched as the shining black figure moved closer and closer to the surface, its body becoming shockingly more gigantic every second. They began to realize not only that this was an enemy plunging to them, but it was an old one, Shepard recognized him almost immediately.
Shepard turned to Tali and Garrus, all three of them had been pushing the boundaries of their bodies. None of them
had had sleep, something to eat, or any form of rest in the last two days of fighting on Earth. They relied on adrenaline whenever the time came to use it.
Seeing them like this made Shepard’s heart ache, his friends were suffering in this war, even so close to the end. He suddenly remembered the moment of Thane’s death, the last prayer he gave. What if he did not succeed, and everyone he ever loved, fell down that path.
“You cannot save them all Shepard… You cannot save any of them”
Shepard was already aware of Harbinger’s presence, he was trying to kill his morale. Even being thousands of meters above the squad, Harbinger could still do it.
Anderson reached over and grabbed onto Shepard’s shoulder, “Shepard, we should make our way to the beam as soon as possible.”
Shepard looked into the man’s eyes, for the first time he saw fear in his eyes. Anderson wasn’t the kind of man to fear for himself, he was normally prepared for death. Anderson’s eyes told Shepard something different, that Anderson felt as if his friend or…. Son was in danger. Shepard didn’t have a real father. His was always away, and then his death meant nothing to Shepard, he didn’t know him, so why should he care? The man left him and his mother in the streets of Earth so long ago. Anderson filled that gap for Shepard, the father he never had.
“Give me just a moment Anderson.”
Anderson nodded.
The commander quickly stepped towards his two squad mates. He so badly wanted to send them both back, if he could do it, he alone would activate the crucible, but he couldn’t charge the beam alone. He glanced at Tali. He had to send her back, he couldn’t have her die, Shepard wanted her to see her homeworld again, whether he would be there with her or not. What about Garrus? Shepard knew he wouldn’t be able to convince Garrus to run in a situation like this.
Shepard stepped towards Tali and held both of her hands in his, “You have to go back to the Normandy. I can’t have you be a part of this.”
“Shepard, I want to…”
Shepard raised his voice to a more serious tone, “Tali, it’s non-negotiable. I order you to go back to the Normandy. Head to the nearest DMZ and call in Joker. I know this is hard for you but I’m sorry, I can’t risk it. The crucible could be suicide.”
“I... I understand Shepard,” Tali was trying as hard as she could to resist refusing to him, but she just couldn’t hold it back, “but I need to be here with you. I cannot just leave you because you feel things are getting to dangerous. I’m here for you.”
“Tali, I’ve worked as hard as I can to give you everything. I worked my ass off so that you can be happy, whether or not I am here to see it. I gave you a home world, I reunited your people with the Geth and saved your species. Did you think I did all of this for the Geth or all the Quarian people? I did it for you! Don’t let everything I’ve done for you go to waste. You deserve to have that house on Rannoch, but I can’t let you come with me, because then everything I’ve fought for might be lost.”
Tali took a few slow, graceful steps backwards, releasing Shepard’s hands, “I love you Shepard. T-Thank you…” She began to walk towards the nearest DMZ. Shepard could tell that she was lightly crying and holding back the need to sob uncontrollably.
“I love you too.”
Shepard turned around, as he did Harbinger made his landing, crushing the ground below him. Shepard had never seen a reaper of this size before. He had seen pictures of Harbinger but never witnessed the being so close. The
hardened war veteran felt fear travel through his spine, he hadn’t had that same feeling in a long time.
“Shepard the ascension of organic life is coming, your efforts are futile. You have worked. For. Nothing.”
The reinforcements were arriving just in time to charge the beam. Groups of soldiers, Makos, and gunships would give minimal support for the final plunge in to the abyss. Nearly all of them arrived and were desperately waiting for the order to advance.
Garrus stepped forward next to Shepard. They both stared at the beam in awe, “Are you ready to give the reapers hell?”
Shepard turned to Garrus, his face was that of pure hatred, it was the face of a man who had battled these bastards for years, and was fully prepared to send them back to whatever hell they came from. “I can’t wait. We have to make them pay for what they’ve done to us.”
“Damn right.”
Shepard and Garrus lifted their rifles and Shepard gave the finale command, the Makos, the soldiers, and gunships all plunged forward in a desperate attempt. It was all or nothing. Everyone running towards that beam could
not have held back their fear, their run looked unconfident and lacking, their hands trembling with their rifles. The only men who seemed powerful in this push were the three men at the front. They looked like heroes, running towards a certain death, Shepard, Anderson, and Garrus had been preparing for this moment longer than anyone else.
“Come to me. Embrace your extinction.”
Harbinger’s ray fired off in bursts. These hot rays burned aircraft, ground vehicles, anything it could. Every single shot fired into the Earth burned a 30 meter hole and turned the area into ablaze. With this Harbinger easily picked off gunships, makos, and countless soldiers, many at a time with joy. The cries of soldiers behind him did not stop
Shepard. The images of these poor men and women, having their flesh scorched off and becoming deformed, made Shepard feel the deepest of sorrow. His hate for these abominations grew to the point where he was nearing insanity. Everything he had seen in the last few years haunted him, and this put the cherry on top.
The beam was inching closer and closer to the group, so far the three men leading the reinforcements were still sprinting and in good health. Suddenly Shepard received a voice in his headset.
“Shepard, this is Admiral Hackett, a squad of aircraft holding incendiary rounds and thanix cannons are on their way and should be there any second.”
Shepard
ran as hard as he could, he didn’t respond to Hackett, he could barely breathe at this pace. His muscles went numb and his head perspired like a fountain.
As Shepard thought he couldn’t sprint any longer, he saw the aircraft come out from behind a set of buildings off to the left. His hope was lifted, and he felt like he had been revived, and pushed hard once again. Harbingers rays nearly decimated Shepard countless times, every shot missing, but still scorching the hell out of his armor. Shepard was running with 3rd degree burns all over his body, yet he hadn’t noticed yet.
The aircraft’s thanix cannons fired, the shots quickly finding their way to their target, ready to make a deep gorge in Harbinger’s back, but something else happened. Before the shots could reach their destination, Harbinger sent out one last burst from his core, this shot went straight behind Shepard. Shepard’s first reaction was relief as he dodged this and witnessed Harbinger’s back suddenly become lightened by the beautiful explosions. Shepard grinned despite suddenly feeling the pain of the burns and looked behind him. That’s when the pain really sinked
in.
Behind him the bodies of almost every other member of the reinforcements lay scorched or lifeless. Shepard ran quickly towards Garrus, the first body he found.
“Garrus!”
“Damnit Shepard I’m fine, go get Anderson he suffered the worst of it,” Garrus demanded.
Shepard quickly looked behind himself and saw that Harbinger’s full attention was on the thanix cannons for now. He then made a run to Anderson and as he grew nearer to him, he realized that Anderson wasn’t what he used to be.
Shepard stopped and looked down at him. Shepard’s eyes began to well up in tears. He looked down at Anderson’s poor helpless body and placed his hand on his chest feeling for a heartbeat.
The great commander Shepard couldn’t even manage to keep his friend alive.
Shepard let out a scream of anguish that echoed throughout the desolate city and then he cursed at the sky. He lowered his head and looked at Anderson one last time. His body charred and destroyed from Harbinger.
The tears began to stop for Shepard. He noticed his suit had similar burns, not nearly as extensive but still horrendous looking.
Shepard struggled to stand up and felt every muscle burn in agony as he lifted himself from the ground. He took a fast as steps as he could to reach Garrus, who was struggling to push himself up from the ground.
Shepard grabbed Garrus’s hand and lifted it over his shoulder. The turian’s weight made Shepard feel as if someone had placed glass under Shepard’s skin and repeatedly punched it just to see it tear through to the other
side. Shepard pushed through the agony and moved Garrus towards the beam. They were 20 feet from it, at the most.
“Shepard… just leave me… I’m done…”
“No, if I leave you out here you end up just like them!”
Garrus and Shepard stepped into the beam of light, into the vast unknown, what lay ahead was a total mystery to them.
Into the Nothing
Garrus and Shepard appeared at the other end of the beam, up on the crucible. Shepard quickly set Garrus down and layed his back against one of the many pillars in the hallway they had reached. Both of them were completely out of energy, they were running on little to nothing at this point. But Shepard pushed on.
“I can’t go any further Shepard… I *cough* I guess I’ll see you in that bar,” Garrus mumbled through the blood in his throat.
Shepard stood up almost as if his wounds had healed and looked down to Garrus, “Neither of us are going to
that bar yet Garrus. You wait here for me, when I’m back this will all be over. But you have to hold on Garrus.”
“…. I will try, Shepard.”
Shepard was somewhat relieved by this response and stepped forward to the narrow hallway leading to the
control center. Every one of these steps made Shepard’s entire body tremble, the pain was so severe that he began to feel as if people were carving out bits of his head, he thought he was about to go into cardiac arrest
sometime soon.
The walk was agonizing in every way. It was a pure test of endurance and his resistance to pain. Both seemed so overwhelming that at any moment he thought he would fall to his face and never wake up again. He frequently shook his head to keep from passing out.
He eventually reached the point where only a few steps remained, but these were stairs and would take more effort. Shepard stepped on the first and second stairs with some ease, but on the third he couldn’t hold himself up and fell straight down to the stairs. Landing on his hands and elbows made his burns in those areas feel
unbearable. He then placed his scorched fingers onto the stairs and gradually lifted himself up, exhaling deeply as he did it. He knew he needed to get to the controls as fast as possible or else he may pass out.
After countless steps he fell forward onto the controls and pushed to keep from falling sideways onto the floor. He pushed himself up to keep a decent composure and looked down at the controls. He looked down and typed in the code to open the citadel.
Shepard raised his head and looked out at the citadel as it opened. The crucible pushed forward towards the center of the citadel… just like Sovereign did in his attack of the citadel. This flashback made him almost slip from consciousness. He needed to stay focused or he could die seconds before activating the crucible.
As he stood there waiting, he thought about how Tali, Liara, Kaiden, Vega, Joker, EDI, and everyone else, just
might have a chance at surviving after this. Maybe he could give them a normal life after all.
The crucible attached to the large control center and implemented its codes. The whole citadel shook from this, making Shepard nearly lose his balance and fall. After the minor inconvenience Shepard looked down at the now changed controls. He suddenly realized why he was the only man who could fire the crucible.
He was destined for it. All of the controls he was looking at were in Prothean. He was the only one who could read Prothean since he encountered the beacon so long ago….
Shepard raised his right hand, preparing to give the final blow to the reapers… a bullet pierced through his right shoulder, the shot shocked him and he stood there looking at the blood gushing out in horror. Suddenly another shot ripped open his hamstring and quadriceps of his left leg. He collapsed and blood poured out of the two wounds. At that moment Shepard felt the greatest fear he ever felt in his life. What if this wasn’t it… what if he had just failed!?
The Illusive Man stepped from the Shadows and headed towards Shepard casually, his gun still smoking from the shots fired.
The Confrontation
“I’ve been waiting for you Shepard,” the Illusive Man stated, “I’m sorry it has to be this way but… you’re simply not cooperating.”
“Goddamnit! Look what you’re doing! You’re going to kill us all!”
“Shepard, your goals are going to bring us no gain. By destroying the reapers you simply push humanity closer to the dark ages again. People will be rationing supplies and suffering for a millennia after you're done.”
“You’re wrong…”
“Am I Shepard!?” the Illusive Man responded confidently, “if we control the reapers imagine what we can do, we can rebuild everything we’ve lost with them, and we can enslave the other alien races. Prove to them that we are the superior ones. Humanity has been viewed as insignificant for too long, it is time, we reclaim our dominance.”
Shepard looked into the man’s eyes. This man was so obviously indoctrinated that Shepard couldn’t understand how he didn’t know himself. His face looked as if his stress wrinkles had burned through his skin and left his bones black. But the eyes were what stood out the most to Shepard, those eyes glowed blue, and two small orbs seemed to orbit the Illusive Man’s irises.
“Look at yourself. You can’t control them!”
“What makes you believe that Shepard?”
“Because they are controlling you! How do you not see this!? I remember when I thought you could be trust worthy for a while. Then you changed. You don’t want the good of humanity anymore! The reapers have infected your mind, poisoned it with the thought that control is a possibility. Keeping the reapers alive is wrong. You can’t be sure if you can control them, and if you fail. Everyone dies.”
The Illusive Man seemed deeply affected by this statement, “But I can! I can control them, I know it…”
“How?
Do you just feel you do? Like you naturally have faith that it will work? The reapers are controlling you; they have been giving you these thoughts without supplying you reason!” Shepard screamed at him.
The Illusive Man lowered his head, as if defeated for a moment. Then he raised it back up again. The Illusive Man quickly smacked his pistol across Shepard’s face, knocking him over onto the floor. Shepard was overcome by pain and frustration; the Illusive Man’s confident stance was back, as if the previous conversation had never occurred.
“Shepard if you are not willing to help me control the reapers at this point, I might as well kill you,” The Illusive Man raised his pistol to Shepard fully ready to fire.
“Wait! J-Just wait! I am the only one who can fire the crucible!”
The Illusive Man looked at Shepard disbelievingly and was infuriated, “Bull****, Shepard!”
“The Protheans. The crucible's controls are in their writing and only I can use it because of the beacon on Eden Prime! You could never control the reapers, they have led you this whole way. Just let me destroy them… please.”
The Illusive Man, unaffected, made his response, “You fool. You are a pest and a liar and I will have no more of this. It’s a pity commander….” Shepard closed his eyes, he felt horribly ashamed by this. He was so close to saving everyone, now he doomed everyone. He was good enough to convince Saren, that or maybe The Illusive Man no longer had anything that could redeem himself. “… You could have been of some use if you weren’t so blind.”
The Illusive Man heard a faint whisper behind him and turned with his pistol.
A bullet went straight through the Illusive Man’s skull and out the other end, his body collapsed, totally motionless and lost. His blood began to pour onto the citadel floor. Commander Shepard opened his eyes and looked up; Garrus was standing there with his pistol drawn and a small bit of smoke escaping the barrel. Shepard would have smiled, if he hadn’t felt he could have done better by the Illusive Man. If only he could have brought him back to sanity….
“Shepard, are you all right?” Garrus looked down at his wounds and responded to his own question, “Did he really have to shoot you twice? ******. Are you going to be able to fire the crucible Shepard?”
“I have to, it’s in Prothean,” Shepard muttered in agony.
Garrus nodded and sat down on the floor, his strength was completely gone and he relaxed, waiting for Shepard to send the reapers back to hell…..
“Your attempts are insufficient, your ascension has come.”
Shepard suddenly looked out the control center window and saw Harbinger speeding towards the citadel, charging his beam. The deep sound of Harbinger’s movements pierced Shepard’s ears and filled him with urgency.
“Shepard! Harbinger is coming straight at us!” Garrus yelled.
“Damnit I know!”
Shepard crawled desperately towards the control panel, he hoped for strength, he needed it so desperately, everything could be lost….
He straightened his broken body up towards the controls and was almost blinded by Harbingers beam… it was maybe a hundred meters from his face and getting ready to fire. Shepard in a complete panic looked down at
the controls and began pressing the prothean code. Initiating the reapers self destruct system.
He did it. As he looked up he waited. Harbingers beam was going to go off at any time now.
“What the hell is happening!?” Garrus yelled.
“I don’t know it’s not doing anything!”
“We…. have we failed Shepard?”
Suddenly Harbinger’s shot fired…. But it did not shoot out, instead the charge imploded, the mightiest of all reapers broke into thousands of pieces and was reduced to dust. It appeared as if the explosion released something acidic to the reaper, for after the explosion the bits and pieces of the reapers began to simply dissolve and float off into space.
Shepard looked at Earth, he saw other reapers in orbit repeating the same act, their bodies turning into dust. Shepard let out a sigh of relief, fell to his knees, and went into the deepest sleep since his death…..
The Final Dream
Shepard was no longer in a dark horrific forest. What he saw was a colorful forest, the sun was shining, and he felt something he hadn’t felt since he was a child. He felt as if he was at peace, like he had accomplished freedom.
He then saw the boy from all of his dreams emerge. The boy seemed to stop and go in slow motion. He smiled at Shepard, and Shepard couldn’t help but smile back. The boy then faded away as if the wind had picked him up. Shepard let the boy go, he could find a way to deal with the people he had lost now. He had made things right.
An
End Once and For All
The commander opened his eyes slowly; they were having a tough time adjusting to the light in this place. His wounds still felt awful but the pain had lessened, it had become more of an intense ache instead of an intensely sharp pain. As his eyes began to adjust he used his arm to raise himself up in a seated position on the bed. He looked at his surroundings and could immediately identify the location as a hospital. He looked out the window and saw the sun setting. It was an amazing sight, but it suddenly dawned on him, how long have I been asleep? Is Garrus ok? Did Tali make it out!?
Shepard painfully removed his covers and stepped to the floor, almost losing his balance and ripping open his stitches. As he attempted to take a step towards the door an Asari doctor stepped in the doorway and was clearly frustrated by his attempts to leave.
“Uh, Commander, you should rest, I don’t want you to rip open your stitches,” the Asari advised.
“Don’t worry about it,” Shepard quickly said and changed the subject, “how long have I been unconscious?”
“It’s been four days, we’ve had to do surgery and feed your through tubes this whole time. I’ll be honest, you almost didn’t make it Commander,” Shepard stepped forward once more and the Asari grabbed him to keep him
from falling off balance, “Commander, please sit, I don’t want you to bleed to death because of impatience.”
Shepard gave in to her commands but said, “I should be fine, I have a great Asari doctor on my ship already.”
She stepped away without a response and before leaving, turned her head, reminded of something, “Oh, and
you have a visitor, she’s been waiting here this whole time for you…”
In that moment time stopped. Shepard wasn’t sure whether to be hopeful and sure that Tali was on the other side of that wall, or to be prepared for the worse.
“Send her in please.”
The doctor stepped out and went over to the visitor to say that Shepard had come back. Shepard stood there impatiently, listening to his heart beat in his ears and then she stepped in….
The quarian in the purple armor, the girl who had gotten a man to save her entire planet, the refugee who’s people were forced into isolation for hundreds of years took gradual steps into the room. Shepard focused his gaze on her and couldn’t look away. This was the happiest he ever remembered himself being. He stood back up and painfully opened his arms for a hug, “Come here….” He said with a grin.
She instead leapt at him, wrapping her legs around his waist and causing him to fall back onto the dull hospital bed.
“Tali, my stitches…” Shepard grunted in pain.
“You deserve it for leaving me!” Tali exclaimed, knowing that Shepard couldn’t defend himself with that action, “I could have lost you!”
Shepard remembered what Tali had told him on Rannoch… with the Geth maybe just a few years before the Quarians could live without the need of their suits. Shepard smiled and thought about being able to see Tali’s face regularly without worrying about her becoming sick.
“I’m happy to see you again.”
“Me too,” Tali responded.
Garrus
After a couple of hours of conversing with Tali, Shepard rested for some time, and then awoke. He called the nurse in to speak to her about Garrus. After pressing the button and seeing the nurse make her way in, he asked her, "Is there a Turian here by any chance? By the name Garrus Vakarian?"
"I believe so, his room is just two doors down from yours. You both were shipped here simultaneously."
"Ma'am, is there any way I can get there?"
The nurse understood the question and went to go fetch a wheel chair for Shepard. Just before exiting the room she stopped and looked back at Shepard, "Thank you for everything you've done. I have a son here on Earth. If you wouldn't have gone up there to the Citadel. I think we'd all be dead. Thank you for your service Commander Shepard."
Shepard looked at her, smiling lightly; he couldn't find the right words. The nurse stepped outside of the room and Shepard sat there with grief. Trying to overcome it.
Shepard was wheeled into Garrus's room a few minutes later. As the wheels spun and the image of Garrus on the bed came into view, Shepard felt a stab of sadness overwhelm him. His best friend was hooked up to countless machines, all trying to keep him alive. The turian looked worse than he had before. His armor gone and his scaly skin revealed to be burnt and black. Shepard could see some parts of his friend's skin where bandages were not wrapped, in these areas he saw dark red spots, where muscle and bone were revealed.
"I'll leave you two alone," the nurse said after realizing Shepard's remorseful face.
Shepard slowly wheeled closer to Garrus. He looked down at this destroyed body, in the worst shape that Shepard had ever seen it. His friend was hardly recognizable. The turians hand suddenly shook, as if he had been awoken. Shepard looked into Garrus's eyes and saw them shift behind their lids. Then Garrus's reptilic eyes opened, staring straight into Shepard's face. The eyes looked watery and red, as if they were in as much pain as the rest of the burnt body.
"Hello, Shepard."
"Garrus... I can't believe we made it," Shepard said, trying to find fitting words, words do distract him from the absolute horror that had become of Garrus's body.
"Shepard, you look shocked by this," Garrus removed some of his bandages and look at them intricately, and then as if he was proud of them, "these are pretty harsh looking, but last time I remembed you were burnt too. And shot. Twice."
"My burns were nothing Garrus. They didn't cover," Shepard looked at the burn marks covering 90 percent of the turian, "my whole body."
"Shepard. You should have bled to death up there. What's your secret?"
Shepard looked at Garrus, confused. Garrus was clearly in far greater pain than Shepard was at the moment, yet he still acted like his normal self. Shepard was acting somewhat distant and too shocked to be friendly. "I guess I just thought about the people I wanted to see when I got back. I wanted to see you, Tali, Liara, Wrex, Grunt, all my friends. I suppose we both had enough willpower to pull through this."
"Or maybe I'm just tougher than you," Garrus smirked.
Shepard relaxed for a moment and smiled at Garrus, "Sure, you can keep telling yourself that."
They both had a laugh and lightened the mood.
Reunion
A few days later Shepard was released from the hospital. Shepard and Garrus both reentered the Normandy to applause and excitement. Shepard saw so many familiar faces there, he knew some did not make it out of the battle, but it was a time of victory and he wasn’t willing to sadden everyone else right now. He put on a fake smile
for several of the crew mates. He couldn’t stop thinking about Anderson….
Some few hours after everyone ate and conversed, Shepard went upstairs to his cabin. He needed more resting time, his body was still at a struggle to recuperate, but he would rather be here than in the hospital. Shepard layed himself onto his bed and put his head back against a pillow, listening to music and relaxing. Suddenly Shepard heard a knock at his door. He yelled for whomever it was to come in.
It was Wrex. His big hulking figure could barely fit through the door. He stepped in and smirked his mad grin at Shepard, Shepard would have been somewhat frustrated by someone on the ship entering his cabin while he tried to rest, but he enjoyed Wrex's company.
"Shepard. I'm sorry if I disturbed you but I needed to say goodbye before I left," Wrex told him.
"It's alright. Why leaving so early?"
"I have to give a speech to three thousand Krogan in four hours. I wouldn't want to be late for that now would I?"
"Damn. They all really look up to you now."
"It seems as if whoever comes within striking distance of you is suddenly looked at as a leader. They know I worked with you, and assume that I am half as good of a leader as you."
"What are your plans for Tuchanka?" Shepard asked Wrex, "anything big yet?"
"Well, all I'm trying to do at the moment is keep a civil relationship between the Krogan and Salarians. Although I would love to send thousands of Krogan to kill the Salarians for what they have done... they did help us greatly and deserve our companionship," Wrex admitted.
"I'm glad your keeping things peaceful Wrex. So many people think that the Krogan are just mindless beasts. You're walking proof that their wrong," Shepard told him.
"Did you ever think of us in such a way Shepard?" Wrex questioned.
"If I did, do you think I would have allowed Mordin to cure your people?" Shepard told him, making a face that only showed trust.
Wrex's hand reached out, and Shepard shook it.
"Good luck on your journey home Shepard."
"I'm getting a new home," Shepard said.
Wrex looked at him in a confused way, "Where? Oh... with the quarian?"
"Yes. I'm going to live on Rannoch from now on. I made a promise to her. I promised her a home."
"Maybe we will see eachother again Shepard. In another life..."
Months passed and Shepard ordered the construction of a memorial dedicated to the men and women who had
died charging the beam, Anderson in particular. The construction took less than a month and the memorial then became the most frequently visited location in London. Every day people would place hundreds of flowers on the memorial, people of all different regions of the galaxy showed their respects to the soldiers who died in “No Man’s Land.”
Shepard left the Normandy shortly after and made the Normandy of use for Joker and EDI. The rest of the crew dispersed, still reuniting every now and then just like old times.
Shepard and Tali lived on Rannoch after that. Shepard dealt with the loss of many of his friends for the rest of his life. Although he had reached a point where he could be at peace, he would occasionally remember Thane, the Drell who had given his life to an Assasin to save Shepard, and had died for his friends. Anderson, a man who gave everything so that Shepard could make it to the beam with Garrus and save all civilization. Ashley, the woman who had made the ultimate sacrifice and allowed the bomb to destroy Saren's base. Legion, the machine, who despite often being looked down upon, served along side organics, and finally reached the goal of giving his people individual freedom when it lacked. Mordin, the Salarian who constructed the Genophage and then took the responsibility of the noblest men and destroyed it, giving his life in the process. Along with the other crew members, who he couldn’t save. He learned to remember them for everything they did to help, everything that they gave to preserve their people and let others prosper. Sometimes he would sit and look off at the Ocean of Rannoch, and think about everything that his friends gave to everyone else. He would never forget them; he loved them, and would keep them close to his heart to his last days.
Commander Shepard’s story surfaced in every generation. It was never tarnished by time; it always fascinated adults and children alike. The name Shepard, became recognized as legend. The name inspired people to fight for good and preserve people’s basic rights. The name Shepard kept the galaxy together. It gave people hope.
If anyone wants me to
add anything to the story, (such as character closure, aftermath events)
just tell me in the comments and I'll work on adding it in.
NEW ADDITONAL ENDING (SHEPARD DIES, REAPERS LOSE) This starts right where "Into the Nothing" ended, btw
[/list]“I’ve been waiting for you Shepard,” the Illusive Man stated, “I’m sorry it has to be this way but… you’re simply not cooperating.”
“Goddamnit! Look what you’re doing! You’re going to kill us all!”
“Shepard, your goals are going to bring us no gain. By destroying the reapers you simply push humanity closer to the dark ages again. People will be rationing supplies and suffering for a millennia after you're done.”
“You’re wrong…”
“Am I Shepard!?” the Illusive Man responded confidently, “if we control the reapers imagine what we can do, we can rebuild everything we’ve lost with them, and we can enslave the other alien races. Prove to them that we are the superior ones. Humanity has been viewed as insignificant for too long, it is time, we reclaim our dominance.”
Shepard looked into the man’s eyes. This man was so obviously indoctrinated that Shepard couldn’t understand how he didn’t know himself. His face looked as if his stress wrinkles had burned through his skin and left his bones black. But the eyes were what stood out the most to Shepard, those eyes glowed blue, and two small orbs seemed to orbit the Illusive Man’s irises.
“Look at yourself. You can’t control them!”
“What makes you believe that Shepard?”
“Because they are controlling you! How do you not see this!? I remember when I thought you could be trust worthy for a while. Then you changed. You don’t want the good of humanity anymore! The reapers have infected your mind, poisoned it with the thought that control is a possibility. Keeping the reapers alive is wrong. You can’t be sure if you can control them, and if you fail. Everyone dies.”
The Illusive Man seemed deeply affected by this statement, “But I can! I can control them, I know it…”
“How? Do you just feel you do? Like you naturally have faith that it will work? The reapers are controlling you; they have been giving you these thoughts without supplying you reason!” Shepard screamed at him.
The Illusive Man lowered his head, as if defeated for a moment. Then he raised it back up again. The Illusive Man quickly smacked his pistol across Shepard’s face, knocking him over onto the floor. Shepard was overcome by pain and frustration; the Illusive Man’s confident stance was back, as if the previous conversation had never occurred.
“Shepard if you are not willing to help me control the reapers at this point, I might as well kill you,” The Illusive Man raised his pistol to Shepard fully ready to fire.
“Wait! J-Just wait! I am the only one who can fire the crucible!”
The Illusive Man looked at Shepard disbelievingly and was infuriated, “Bull****, Shepard!”
“The controls are in Prothean. The crucible's controls are in their writing and only I can use it because of the beacon on Eden Prime! You could never control the reapers, they have led you this whole way. Just let me destroy them… please.”
The Illusive Man, unaffected, made his response, “You fool. You are a pest, a liar, and I will have no more of this. It’s a pity commander….” Shepard closed his eyes, he felt horribly ashamed by this. He was so close to saving everyone, now he doomed everyone. He was good enough to convince Saren, that or maybe The Illusive Man no longer had anything that could redeem himself. “… You could have been of some use if you weren’t so blind.” (NEW STUFF STARTS HERE)
The Illusive Man was about to pull the trigger on the Commander, but his concentration was broken as he heard a noise. The volume of the noise was getting louder, closer. He suddenly recognized the noise as foot steps and in a panic swung his arm around to aim his pistol at the movement. Before The Illusive Man could show, whatever was there, the barrel of his gun, he caught of glimpse of the figure. It was wearing burnt blue armor, as well as a visor covering a single eye. The IllusiveMan pulled the trigger just as his sights aligned with the figure. The shot did not stop him, Garrus tackled the Illusive Man and sent him over the edge of the platform. Shepard witnessed both bodies fall over the edge and yelled in horror, "NO!!" Shepard crawled to the edge as fast as he could, blood rubbing and staining the platform he stood on. As Shepard reached the edge he noticed two fingers gripping onto the side. He looked down and saw Garrus holding on to the side, slipping. Just as Garrus slipped, Shepard reached out and held onto Garrus' wrist, almost bringing them both down at first. He pulled as hard as he could,
Garrus could not aid his friend in pulling himself to the top. Shepard brought his friend up from the edge and onto the platform, then looked at him from above.
Garrus had a bullethole on the left side of his neck, blood was pouring from it endlessly. Shepard looked down at his friend and realized his wound was fatal.
"Garrus?"
"*Cough* Shepard."
"Thank you Garrus."
Garrus smiled as best he could, blood began to escape his mouth, "You," he struggled with speaking, "It... it's been an.... honor... serving with you, Commander. I couldn't be the man I.... am today... if it wasn't for you."
"You saved my life Garrus, I'm in debt to you."
"No problem, I," Garrus coughed heavily and blood covered the floor beside him, "I do it all the time. You... you would have done the same."
"You're a good friend, Garrus."
"Shepard... I have to thank you, for bringing me with you. Aboard the Normandy..."
"No, if I hadn't invited you, you wouldn't be standing here.... in the situation you're in now. I shouldn't have."
"Shepard, the time I've spent with you, has been the best.... of my life. You got me out of C-Sec and helped me find purpose. I can't see any better way for it to end."
Tears welled up in Shepard's eyes.
Garrus was dead.
"It's been an honor having you, aboard the Normandy, friend," Shepard looked down at his comrade, the last person he would see die in the war, the person he spent years with, was gone. After Shepard gave his last words to Garrus he looked at the console and his sadness turned to determination. His breathing sped up, he gently placed Garrus on the floor, and stood up.
He groaned in pain as his wounded leg straightened. He hated this war, he had fought it for so long, and now
just wanted it to end. For so long he watched his friends and innocent people die, the guilt, the pain was stacking up. Now that he was so close to finishing it, he felt it come full circle. All the loss, all of the sadness, all at once.
He stepped closer to the console, his leg in agony. His life was flashing before his eyes. The nights he spent with
Tali, the time he spent developing a father and son like relationship with Anderson, the close friendship he had with Liara, Wrex, the rest of his crewmates, and the day he spent with Garrus on the Citadel.
Shepard gritted his teeth and began walking fully, feeling pure agony as his mental and physical health seemed to disintegrate.
If Shepard was going to die, this was the way he would go out, he lived a life of tragedy, but through that tragedy he learned to live like the happiest of men. Cherishing what good was in his life, never abandoning his morals, he had experienced a life worth living. Shepard collapsed, he couldn't walk anymore, one of his muscles had torn in
half. He tried stepping up with his uninjured leg but he couldn't. "NO!, GOD DAMNIT!" Shepard screamed.
He layed there in pain, hoping desperately for the strength to stand, slowly crawling towards the control panel. Shepard inched closer and closer. He felt himself leaving his body, he couldn't hold on to himself much longer. Shepard's eyes closed and he lay there still. Seconds passed... minutes passed, but Shepard did not move. His physical limitations had been reached, he had passed out and was losing cups worth of blood every minute.
"Shepard."
He opened his eyes.
"Shepard....."
Shepard lifted up his head, he didn't feel the pain or agony anymore, he felt alive again.
"Thane....?"
Redemption
"Shepard. Get up."
"Thane...? what?"
Shepard scanned the room, it appeared much brighter than it had before and Thane stood, towering above him.
"Thane? How are you here?"
"You're stength has been lost Shepard, you cannot do this alone."
"I, I can't. The console it seems..." Shepard looked at the console, and in his dreamlike state, it extended and appeared miles from him, "too far."
"That is why you need us."
"Us?" Shepard asked, confused.
"Shepard Commander."
Shepard turned around and saw Legion above him, with his arm extended.
"Take our hand."
Shepard gripped his friend's hand and was suddenly pulled up. In the control room Shepard pushed against the floor and lifted himself onto one leg. The Commander looked at Legion, smiled, and before he could say anything
Legion told him, "Look behind you Shepard Commander."
He turned slowly and looked behind him. There stood Ashley, Anderson, Garrus, Thane, and Mordin, all looking at him approvingly. Legion lowered his voice and got close to Shepard's ear, "It's time Shepard." Once Shepard turned around Legion and everyone else was gone from sight. There stood only Shepard and the control panel.
He stepped towards it with little difficulty and then placed his hands on the sides to support himself. As he looked down at the console he lifted his hand, preparing to make his choice. Shepard inhaled deeply and felt his hand come in contact with the console.
Earth
A Turian and Human soldier ran up toward's the battlefield with their Avenger rifles lifted. Both sprayed their weapons before getting behind cover. Their Geth, Krogan, and Asari allies all surrounded them as husks came to their position in overwhelming numbers.
The Human stood up and lifted his weapon at the husks. Emptying his rounds with bursts, taking down several before his ammo was entirely gone."I have no ammo left!"
His Turian ally urgently emptied what remained of his ammo into husks nearing their position. Once both of their guns became useless they switched to their knives. All over London, the Reapers were crippling all of the major ground forces, surrounding them, killing them, and then harvesting them. They treated their victims like vermin, they thought of them as nothing more than fuel. As forces all over London became overwhelmed, Coates gave the order over his comm for all everyone to fall back. He said, Shepard must have been killed in the Citadel if he hasn't reached the Crucible by now.
As soldiers received this order they knew this was the end, they refused and went on anyway. Fighting through hordes of husks and brutes, most dying in the process.
The Turian soldier and Human held off a few husks with their knives before they became overwhelmed. Then they were attacked by husks, they jumped on them, bit at them, and hit them. The two were trying to hold the husks back but they couldn't. Suddenly, the Citadel became illuminated. A giant white light formed around it's center as the Crucible activated. The ground forces looked up in awe. The Tali and the crew could see the light from the Normandy.
In ground and space, the Reapers powerful bodies were turned to dust, no longer reigning the galaxy. The husks on the ground fell, dead. Their bodies no longer under the control of the Reapers. Thousands of chants were heard all over London, and some even from the Citadel survivors. Shepard looked down at Earth. Everything looked so clear now, he did it.
With his goal finally accomplished, he sat down onto the floor, looking at the beautiful view in awe. Shepard then began to laugh, lightly. All these years of work had finally paid off. He got to achieve his goal and get the best possible view for it. As the rest of the blood poured out from Shepard's wounds he looked out at the view. Finally closing his eyes, his head fell to his right shoulder and he sat lifeless. His last moments spent looking at the world he had saved.
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Modifié par Baa Baa, 14 septembre 2012 - 10:09 .
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