I like to speculate on story, so here's a crack at what ME4 might entail (FYI - I am a believer in IT!)
the story opens following an unconnected/quasi connected character from another galaxy (or somewhere else) facing his/ her own galaxy related adventures & problems which may or may not be Reaper related through lets say the last half of mass effect 3 timeline in lets call it mmm...galaxy "B" . The new player isn't a soldier type necessarily, instead they are more an explorer type, has family ties, seeking treasures & adventures in the ME4 universe - less focused than Shepard on war, doing his job but motivated, capable and biotic etc. There are no Reapers in galaxy B yet, but there are technologically advanced species, wars to fight and avoid, things to do, places to see and a series of strange occurrences in Galaxy B caused by what is going on in Galaxy A. Single Reaper sightings similar to ME1, mass relay discoveries, indoctrination attempts etc.
All sorts of people places and things are introduced - new galaxy, new planets, family, races, etc. Time-wise, Galaxy B is in the same place Galaxy A was in ME1 - very close to a Reaper invasion. I would like to propose that another reason the Reapers take 50,000 years to get around to cleansing the galaxy is not only because that is how long it takes for technological evolution to take place but also because they cleanse other galaxies in the intervening period to fulfill their mandate and strengthen their ranks for future battles (something I think the Reaper AI would do to increase the probability of success in each successive battle with a galaxy of species limited to domestic species and is consistent with its "life preservation" mandate - waiting for 50,000 years to see if they can win isn't really something a murderous computer would typically do I don't think - it would spend all 50,000 years killing to get better at killing).
The new character pursues the anomalies, finds artifacts from past races and eventually learns about, works to find and discovers an intergalactic mass relay to Galaxy A where you are quickly thrust into the middle of the final Reaper battle.
The character is sent through the relay straight to Sol because that's where the Reaper fleet is - the other end of the intergalactic mass relay is perhaps a special enormous reaper we haven't seen yet that moves with the reaper fleet (or perhaps even just the fleet itself) , allowing reaper fleets in various galaxies to move from galaxy to galaxy while staying close together, strengthen their ranks from other galaxies if needed during battle and help them disappear quickly in the aftermath.
The ME3/4 stories would converge sometime before/ during the final reaper battle when Shepard gets knocked out and has his indoctrination battle (which is in my view the ending of ME3 – I am not here to debate this…it isn’t controversial at all, there is simply too much evidence supporting the indoctrination theory- literally hundreds of things that support it and nothing against it other than the "that's silly" or I wasn't smart enough to understand it so it didn't happen arguments).
In the thrall of the battle, your ship crashes in London in the vicinity of Shepard. With the ground forces decimated around the beam, the Reapers left the surface to fight the battle in space. You are the only group on the ground with living people in it close enough to Shepard to save him and the Reapers weren't expecting anything to phase in like you just did - Hackett is desperate, notices you and asks for help - he knows Shepard is still down there and alive and he needs help to get to the citadel (languages haven't been a problem thus far in ME...).
Depending on how you handled Shepard's indoctrination and finished ME3 in your save file, Shepard would be either indoctrinated/ not indoctrinated when the story lines converge. The new character rescues/ captures/ abandons or kills Shepard and after that, either Shepard or another NPC joins you to get to the Citadel & fire it. Regardless of the Shepard outcome, Hackett helps bring you up to speed on what is at stake and what you need to do.
Player and Shepard or other NPC's destroy the Galaxy A reapers with the Crucible, since this is now the only clear way to proceed (with the indoctrination theory now revealed as true) and the other alternatives no longer acceptable.
If the Mass relays are destroyed, The reapers are destroyed in Galaxy A, the player is stranded but Galaxy A is saved for now (not a great ending)
The best ending might entail the Mass relays staying in tact and being used to instill a universe wide understanding of what the Reapers are and how to destroy them. The game could end with the first of a series of proactive attacks on the Reapers remaining in Galaxy B leading to the creation of an intergalactic Reaper hunting fleet. Endings could vary depending on whether Shepard is saved, the mass relays are destroyed etc. The end games for all the living characters are framed in the context of the Universal Reaper cleansing that would now go on until every Reaper is destroyed across the Universe. .
This story line gives tons of room for new character development and a satisfying ending to the series. Ending wise, there are tons of alternatives that can be used to iterate on various outcomes (Shepards life, Reaper destruction, Mass Relays, New & old Characters, Family survival, getting to go back to Galaxy B etc. based on player performance & cumulative Renegade/ Paragon performance, etc.
I would be happy if ME4 went like this...!
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