Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—
​

Trebia System

He couldn't stop himself from whistling.

The homeworld of the Turian Hierarchy was a veritable kill zone.

Anti-proton launchers dotted the void, supplemented with nuclear armament and capital-grade laser cannons. Everything was protected with mass effect fields and reflectors.

Even without the fleets, the system would grind down any hostile force to dust.

The Normandy landed on Menea, Palaven's moon and first line of defense, to pick Garrus up.

A turian approached, flanked by two guards. "Commander Shepard, I am General Corinthus. Chief Advisor Vakarian is in a meeting with the Primarch. He will be here soon," he informed.

"Thank you, general."

"Is there a problem with the preparations? You seem displeased," he asked. The turian kept glancing at his homeworld with twitching mandibles.

General Corinthus turned to fully face Palaven. "We just aren't happy to lose the only Reaper expert we have," he said after a short silence.

"Turians," Javik scoffed behind him. "It is difficult to imagine the primitives of my cycle fighting the Reapers better than us," he said.

"This is?" the general asked, barely glancing at the alien, who did look like a Collector.

"He is Javik, the last of the protheans," Shepard introduced, gesturing to the alien.

"Spirits," the general chuckled, shaking his head.

"How much of your fleet is retrofitted, General?" he asked. The largest war fleet in the Citadel space, the Hierarchy had around forty thousand ships, only matched by the geth.

"Eighty percent. And to be honest? It wouldn't have been possible without the geth. Their production capabilities outmatch ours," he admitted after considering it for a bit.

The geth, once supplied with the blueprints and the necessary resources, had produced and shipped reflectors, laser cannons, anti-proton torpedoes, and more.

Even the unrelenting generals and admirals of the Hierarchy weren't willing to turn away all that hardware.

"The rest of the ships are currently in the docks," he added.

"You, though, we owe more than anyone else," Corinthus said, raising his open hand to his eye level.

"We are all in this fight together, general," Shepard said, saluting back.

"That we are," a voice spoke behind the general. Garrus was wearing new armor, painted in his preferred colors of blue and gray.

"Vakarian, sir," Corinthus exclaimed, raising his rifle to the air. The guards followed along, but Garrus was quick to stop them. "At ease, general."

"Shepard, great to see you again," Garrus said and took the offered arm, head tipping forward slightly towards Javik. "Where did you find the prothean?"

"In a freezer," he said with a light tone.

"Come in, I think the forward guns need calibrating."

"After months as an advisor, that sounds like a vacation."

—
​

"Hey there," Garrus said with a low growl. He hadn't even dropped his luggage, walking straight into the forward batteries.

"Hey," Hailey replied, turning around to lean on the console, "nice armor."

"A gift from the Primarch," he said offhandedly.

"To his favorite advisor?" she winked.

Garrus approached, wrapping his arms around her waist. "I just care about being your favorite."

"I missed you," she said, hugging back and laying her head on his chest.

"Me too."

"I think I might have gone crazy if it wasn't for those wormhole generators," Garrus muttered. A long-distance relationship was already difficult. Considering they were at war…

"Isn't that misuse of power, Mr. Chief Advisor?" she teased, sticking her tongue out.

"I'd break that law every day for you," he joked.

"You are impossible."

"Impossibly charming, you mean?"

"Sure, sure."

—
​

The Normandy's next destination was the Exodus Cluster, and then Kite's Nest for reconnaissance.

"Commander, there is a call for you. It's from Mordin," Joker informed him over the comms.

He was close to the QEC and took the call there.

"Shepard. Great to see you. Excellent work on wormhole generators," Mordin praised. He was in an office, Shepard noticed, one that was enclosed on all sides.

"Thanks, Mordin. How is ruling the Salarian Union working out?" he asked. Mordin's coup was unexpected, but with how much the new government had poured into the war effort, no one cared.

"Stressful, but manageable. Previous political system ineffective for war. Will install a more efficient one later," he said. It was one of the promises made after the coup, one that had been well received across the galaxy.

"I bet they won't like you being around," said Shepard.

Mordin's smile widened, "Salarian lifespan short."

He chuckled,"Ah, Mordin, never change. How are the krogan doing?"

"Good. The genophage is modified. No more stillborns. Birth rate reduced. No worrying over krogan overpopulation," his friend said. The krogan wanted a full cure, but even they understood the reason behind it.

The krogan had evolved to reproduce so quickly because of their hostile homeworld, which kept their numbers in check. With modern weaponry and access to less hostile planets, it had become a disadvantage in creating a stable nation.

"Alright. Let me know if anything else comes up."

Mordin nodded, and the screen turned black.

—
​

On the route back to the Serpent Nebula, Shepard gathered the team to discuss the current state of the preparations.

"Were you able to figure out what the device does?" Kaidan asked. The hologram of the decoded device, now named Crucible, was projected over the table.

"It is a converter. Transforms dark energy into a mass effect pulse in three specific wavelengths. The first one is an EMP that will fry the Reapers by scrambling their software through inserting data that is encoded into the pulse," he explained, showing the wavelengths.

"The second, I think, uploads an organic mind into the shared structure of the Reapers. If the consciousness survives, it could take control of the Reapers," Shepard added.

Heads turned sharply to the device.

"The third?" Hailey asked.

"I am looking at it, though it is the most complex one."

"At any rate, we will obviously destroy the Reapers. However, it will also destroy EDI, so we need to cover her core with a special reflector," he said, looking at AI's robot body.

"Thank you, Shepard."

"What about the Catalyst?"

"The only way for the pulse to travel through the galaxy fast enough that the Reapers won't be able to outrun it is this," he said, pressing a button to play the destruction of the Bahak system.

Once the dark energy from the mass relay hit the star at faster-than-light speeds, it triggered a supernova.

"You destroyed a mass relay?" Javik asked, all four of his eyes blinking at once, his lips slightly parted.

"No, Batarian terrorists did," Garrus replied dryly.

"I hope we don't have to blow them all up, along with, you know, everything else?" Ashley pleaded.

Shepard shook his head. "The pulse will automatically convert the eezo inside the relays. It won't result in anything like the Bahak system," he assured.

"The problem lies with delivery. The initial pulse will need massive processing power to work in the first place," he added. Whether to encode the data into the dark energy pulse before it went off or to disseminate an organic mind across the galaxy, the Crucible needed a hyper-advanced AI.

He could, given time, make one.

"Mass relays are highly advanced computers,"

"Yes, but we will need at least several of them synchronized together."

"The Citadel," Liara exclaimed, leaping to her feet. "It is a mass relay, which means its systems, the part where only the Keepers access, must possess enough processing power to pull thousands of Reapers out of the dark space, that is, what, at least thirty thousand light-years away?" she said.

Shepard's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about the Citadel.

"Liara is right," Garrus admitted.

"EDI, get me the Councillors online," he ordered. She nodded, a gesture she had picked up from the crew.

It took less than ten seconds for the Council to answer, though only Tevos and Valern were there.

"Commander Shepard, we hope you are well," Tevos greeted. He hadn't spoken to the Councillors in months, busy as they all were.

"Thank you, but we'll need to skip the pleasantries. I need you to send people to check the parts of the Citadel where only the Keepers are allowed to access," he said.

"May I ask why?"

"The Catalyst for the Crucible, we believe it is the Citadel. As the largest and most advanced mass relay, it is the only place where we can find the necessary processing power."

Valern twitched, his beady eyes slightly widening, and started muttering to himself.

"I… understood, Commander," Tevos said after glancing at Valern. "We will send the C-Sec and specialists to see what we can find."

"Thank you, Councillors," he said, and the call ended.

—
​

The Citadel

His orders to join the fleets gathering in the Utopia system have been delayed due to an emergency.

General Petrovsky had shown his face.

His fleets had taken Omega after luring Aria T'loak out, and with all the research bases they evacuated before the Alliance could act, intelligence suggested he had plenty of Reaper tech.

The Illusive Man had confessed that there was research on controlling the Reapers. Combined with the recent discovery that the Crucible could potentially assert dominance over the machines, the United Command had agreed to intervene.

However, they did not wish to send ships or ground forces to the other side of the galaxy.

Aria herself was on the Citadel, gathering forces to take her station back. She had promised support for the war effort, including the vast eezo reserves of Omega, if she received help first.

Any force capable of fighting the Reapers was welcome, even if they were mercenaries and pirates.

Not to mention, Tali was there too as the Admiral of the Federation Coordination Efforts.

The Normandy docked, and he gave the crew time off, the only one until the war ended.

Tali was at the Presidium, arranging the details of how to transport the vast anti-proton torpedo stores of the volus to predetermined supply locations.

"Thank you, Rannoch clan. I believe that concludes everything," the volus said between deep breaths.

"You too, ambassador." Tali tilted her head, and the volus waddled away.

"Excuse me, admiral, I believe you have a very handsome visitor," Shepard teased, tapping her on the shoulder.

Tali turned around, looking at him for a moment. She wrapped her arms around his torso and laid her head on his shoulder, silent.

"You alright?" he asked, straightening his posture.

"Just tired. Seeing you helps, though," she admitted.

"Why don't you go and rest aboard the Normandy?" he offered. Even inside the suit, he could see her eyes drop.

"I have work to do. Admiral, remember?" His girlfriend complained.

He activated the omni-tool, showing her a surprise form: "The Federation has written orders for you to be drafted under my command."

She giggled, hugging him tighter.

"Creator Zorah, do you require assistance?" A

"Legion, you are here too?"

"This unit has the most interaction with the organics. The Consensus has agreed it would make us uniquely suitable for diplomacy."

"That's great."

"Thank you, Legion, but I got it. You still have work to do; don't delay it on my account."

"As you wish."

—
​

Purgatory

"Last time I was in a place called the Purgatory, a corrupt prison warden tried to capture me," Shepard commented as he sat down next to Aria.

"That's wonderful. One more corpse for your kill count," she replied dryly, looking through her datapad.

"Heard you had a run-in with Petrovsky," he continued, leaning back and grinning.

Aria put down the pad, her lips tight. "Shepard, we can sit here and talk while you enjoy this shitty situation I found myself in, or we can talk business."

"Alright, what's your plan?" he asked. It was tempting, but time was short.

Maybe later.

"The Eclipse, Blue Suns, and Blood Pack. I made arrangements, but the deals need to be closed."

—
​

Jona Sederis was the founder of the Eclipse mercenary organization.

She was also a certified nutcase.

Fortunately, there was Sayn, her second in command, a much cooler-headed salarian.

"Commander Shepard. I heard that you were coordinating Jona Sederis' release. I did not believe it, though it seems I was mistaken," the salarian said as he got up.

Shepard looked him over, nodding to himself with one eyebrow raised, and pursed his lips.

"What is it?" Sayn asked, his throat bobbing as he looked around wildly.

"Did anyone ever tell you that you looked very commanding? Like a proper leader? I say, you would be an even better leader of the Eclipse than Sederis," Shepard praised, patting the salarian on the arm.

"Ah, no, no one has told me that," he replied, shoulders dropped, scratching his horn.

"Then they were blind," Shepard said. "Why don't you leave Sederis to rot where she is and take control of the Eclipse? Under the command of a leader like you, they will be unbeatable in no time," he added.

"Yes, yes," Sayn said, his eyes shining. "You are right. Tell Aria that we have a deal. She can forget about Sederis."

"I knew you were smart."

—
​

Darner Vosque was a moron.

"Wow, Aria wasn't kidding, the great Commander Shepard on a leash," the leader of the Blue Suns opened his mouth.

"Say, Vosque, do you have a second in command?" Shepard asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, Liam over there. Why?" he said, head tilting to a man at the corner.

"No reason," Shepard said. His hand blurred, and he lifted Vosque up, squeezing his throat.

The mercenary choked as his windpipe was crushed, struggling to break free. His movements became sluggish, and Darner eventually stopped moving.

Shepard dropped the corpse and turned to Liam, growling a "Get over here."

"Yes?" Liam asked, stuttering as he walked closer.

"You are in command now. And if I hear one stupid word out of your mouth…" he glared at the mercenary, the warning left unsaid.

"Yes, Commander. There is just a little problem," Laim agreed quickly, almost shouting the first part before whispering the second.

"What is it?" he asked. The sooner it was solved, the less he would have to deal with these idiots.

"A turian general, Septimus Oraka, is stopping us from getting weapons."

"I'll handle it. Get your men ready."

—
​

Apparently, the Blue Suns were trying to raid C-Sec shipments, which included laser weapons, reflectors, and more.

Which was unacceptable to him and the good general.

Instead, he convinced Oraka to release outdated Mass Effect gear to the Blue Suns, saying he would be sending them first feet into Khar'shan.

The equipment was outdated, but they were still fresh from the factories as part of a previous contract.

Liam was smart enough to not say anything.

—
​

His last contact was Narl, a batarian.

After Garrus turned Garm and most of the Blood Pack on Omega into fresh, organic paint, a vorcha had taken control.

Crete.

"Shepard, there you are. This is Kreete." Narl introduced him to the vorcha, and Shepard wondered how in the hell a vorcha of all races took control.

Could be because Blood Pack was chuck full of imbeciles.

"So? What the hell do you need to join Aria's little crusade?" he demanded to know. This whole thing was getting on his nerves.

"He wants an autograph," the barbarian said.

"An autograph?" he asked, rubbing his eyes again. Kreete nodded, head tilting up and down repeatedly.

"Well, yeah. He believes it will bring him strength in battle," Narl explained, scratching the back of his head.

Shepard looked at Kreete but couldn't decide whether he was grinning or looked like that all the time.

He was holding out a rocket launcher and kept looking at the weapon and then at him.

Taking a deep breath, he activated the welder in his omni-tool and signed the rocket launcher.

"Yes," Kreete laughed like a gremlin, holding the weapon up.

Shepard just sighed.

—
​

In the next chapter:

"However, I have issues with some of the company you keep around," she said.

"My team?"

"Yes. If you are coming, I don't want them," Aria declared.

Shepard looked at her, blinking a couple of times, and touched his ear. "Let me see if I get this right."

"I have Garrus, the turian that wiped three of the biggest merc outfits out of Omega, as my right hand. Two N7s that are some of the best soldiers in the galaxy. Tali, one of the most intelligent engineers you will ever encounter; my sister, who holds the highest records in the Alliance military after me; a living, breathing prothean who spent his life fighting; and another Alliance soldier I've been training for more than a year—and you don't want them because, what? Garrus pissed you off?" he asked, eyes squinted.



Curious about the next chapter? Please consider supporting me on Patreon.

 

[BxHero]

The DLC sure did like taking you away from your team and putting you in forced disadvantaged positions. Can't fathom why though.

 

[Torquempanada]

The DLC sure did like taking you away from your team and putting you in forced disadvantaged positions. Can't fathom why though.

Click to shrink...

"Something something story BS, something background character needs x etc. Get to work."

I figure the writers went down that route to add fluff and texture to the overall adventure. Tedious, but occasionally entertaining.

 

[Samael61]

Hello there,

If you enjoy my stories, you can read up to 15 chapters in advance per story on my Patreon page / patreon.com/Samael61.

Shepard is a genius, violent machine, ready to bring his boots down on the corrupt, the evil, and the genocidal machines. What inspired me to write him in such a manner was Thairon, the protagonist of my original story, Arrival : Ruptures. Comments, likes and reviews are appreciated. Here are the links for : AO3, Spacebattles, Royal Road and Webnovel.

—
​

Citadel

"I have to admit, that was faster than I expected," Aria complimented as they flew around in an aircar for security.

"They were easy to convince," he retorted.

"Is that why Vosque is dead?" she asked.

Shepard raised an eyebrow. "He is dead because he ran his stupid mouth off."

"Good. I hated Vosque," she nodded. She knew the moment that idiot opened his lips, Shepard would kill him, and she'd have one less hassle.

"What now?"

"Now, we take Omega back. My men managed to acquire a Cerberus cruiser. We'll use that to punch a hole in their defenses and board the station."

"However, I have issues with some of the company you keep around," she said.

"My team?"

"Yes. If you are coming, I don't want them," Aria declared.

Shepard looked at her, blinking a couple of times, and touched his ear. "Let me see if I get this right."

"I have Garrus, the turian that wiped three of the biggest merc outfits out of Omega, as my right hand. Two N7s that are some of the best soldiers in the galaxy. Tali, one of the most intelligent engineers you will ever encounter; my sister, who holds the highest records in the Alliance military after me; a living, breathing prothean who spent his life fighting; and another Alliance soldier I've been training for more than a year—and you don't want them because, what? Garrus pissed you off?" he asked, eyes squinted.

If he didn't know better, he would think she was indoctrinated, trying to drag him to a trap.

"Aria, you aren't in a position to be picky, and you would turn away the Normandy's crew? Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed. Here she was, stuck in the Citadel, trying to gather an army to take her kingdom back, and she had the gall to refuse the best team in the galaxy?

The asari narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Fine, bring your friends, but I swear if they cause a problem, you can forget the eezo."

Shepard rolled his eyes.

—
​

"Helping Aria take Omega back? I am surprised she even agreed to let me anywhere near the station," Garrus muttered. He knew how much the asari appreciated the downfall of the mercs that were planning to take her down.

Mercs that she now had to contract to take her station back.

"She did not want any of you. I told her she was being an idiot," he revealed.

"The classic Shepard diplomacy at work."

"Anyway, we get in, fight our way to Petrovsky, and then space his ass," he laid out the barebones of the plan.

The details could be filled in along the way.

"I like this plan. Especially the spacing part," Javik approved. He too seemed to have an uncanny appreciation for spacing undesirable individuals.

Like Oleg Petrovsky.

"Seeing as most of Cerberus is gone, I am sure we don't necessarily need him alive," Ashley said.

Shepard nodded. "Admiral Hackett doesn't care as long as the last remains of Cerberus are gone, and Aria starts shipping eezo."

—
​

Omega

Petrovsky had the station equipped with brand-new anti-ship defenses, and Aria's fleet would be shredded.

Shepard, Garrus, Hailey, Kaidan, Ashley, Tali, EDI, James, and Javik.

Good thing the Normandy was a stealth vessel.

"Aria, in her infinite wisdom, has realized her army won't be of much use if they all die. Which is why we are going first to infiltrate and shut down those turrets, provided EDI can't subvert them," he said, turning at the synthetic dressed in an Alliance uniform.

"Understood, Shepard," EDI nodded. There was a rather high probability that the Cerberus software architecture remained mostly the same, and as someone intimately familiar with it, it would be possible.

"Joker, get ready to blast us an entrance. Everyone else, into the shuttle," he ordered.

"Aye, aye," the pilot called from the intercom.

—
​

"The torpedo will hit exactly four seconds before we reach the entrance. It might get a bit bumpy due to the shockwave," the shuttle pilot, Cortez, informed.

"Go," Shepard ordered, and the shuttle lurched forward.

The inside was cramped with nine people.

"Hold on tight, Commander, we are about to go in hot," Cortez warned, and the shuttle shook as the very end of the violent shockwave hit the shields.

The green deployment light was on; Shepard took his harness off, rushing out the door. He shot two Cerberus agents encroaching on the shuttle and jumped down.

He rolled into cover as mass-accelerated grains flew by, and the shuttle opened fire with its dual turbo laser bolt cannons.

Shepard joined the fray, covering the team as they jumped down one by one.

"Get those blast doors open now," he ordered as the shuttle landed. EDI took the console, and the doors began to slide down, extremely slowly for some reason.

"Cortez, stay in cover," he ordered the pilot. With Cerberus aware of Normandy, the shuttle couldn't afford to go back now.

"Understood, Commander," Cortez acknowledged.

"Joker, what's the situation out there?" he asked, pressing his earpiece.

"Cerberus forces are at full alert; Petrovsky is throwing everything he has at you," Joker informed him.

"Good."

Two Cerberus agents with shields built to disperse thermal energy were waiting for them. The shields tanked the shots, but they had openings at eye level. Garrus and Hailey each put one shot through without a moment's loss.

"Shepard, the elevator can't take us all," Garrus grumbled.

"Alright, we are moving as two parties. EDI, James, and Kaidan are with me."

The elevator took them up, and whatever Cerberus was doing, the entire area seemed to be running on reserve power. When he opened the door, he had to create the tower shield to block the stream of enemy fire.

He pushed ahead, allowing the team to take cover, and himself last.

"Garrus, we are moving ahead; heavy enemy presence detected. Flank them from the right," he ordered. The more soldiers Petrovsky sent to his team, the easier this would be.

"Got it, be there in a couple of seconds," the turian responded over the comms.

"James, deploy the reflector," he called out. If Cerberus thought they had the upper hand, they were wrong.

James lowered the machine strapped to his back and turned it on. The reflector field snapped into existence, blocking all enemy fire. The team rose from the cover at once, returning fire, but theirs was far more devastating.

Kaidan focused on the shield carriers; Shepard and EDI's rapid fire forced the Cerberus agents to take cover, and James was happy to launch plasma grenades in an arch, right into the middle of the enemy.

The door behind opened, and Garrus immediately ran to the right with his team.

Flanked, the Cerberus soldiers were cornered like rats.

"Shepard, the next area needs to be repressurized. I am starting the process," EDI informed.

"Incoming from behind," Garrus warned, a well-placed shot piercing through the smoke screen and going through the head of a Cerberus soldier.

"Switch to thermal, shoot them down before they can land," Shepard said. Cerberus was deploying smoke to cover their units, and it almost made him laugh.

It turned into a multiplayer game of whack-a-mole as they competed to shoot down the most number of enemies.

"Repressurization complete. Access granted," the local VI announced.

"Oh man, it was just getting fun too," Vega grunted.

"Press forward. We are almost at the defense network system," Shepard ordered as they got through the door to the network system room.

"Watch out for the turrets," Garrus warned. He shot a combat engineer through the visor before he could set the turret.

A guardian tried to flank them from the left, but James fired a grenade right next to his legs, incinerating half of his body.

The control network was lightly defended, and as Tali shot the last Cerberus agent, EDI reached for the console.

"Subverting the IFF systems to target the Cerberus ships," EDI said.

Shepard watched the guardian lasers power down at first before starting to shoot at the enemy fleet.

"Aria, we have the defense network turned on the enemy; you are free to approach," he said over the comms.

"We'll be there soon," Aria replied with a vindictive tone.

While waiting for Aria, he opted to watch the fireworks. Cerberus vessels could not afford to fire on the station, so they moved outside the defensive range, having lost a quarter of their numbers.

Aria's fleet, led by the commandeered Cerberus cruiser, came out of the mass relay, opening fire. The enemy could not afford to retreat and reenter the guardian systems' range, and Aria's fleet barred the way forward.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place, they would be down soon.

"Shepard, you have to see this," Garrus called him out.

"What is it?" he asked, and the turian gestured to the Cerberus soldier, nudging his helmet off with his feet.

"Fucking Cerberus," he cursed. The Cerberus soldier, once a human, now seemed to be a modified version of a husk but still able to retain his intelligence.

"Good thing you found their base and the Alliance took out most of them. This could have been a huge thorn for the war effort," Kaidan grimaced. Even up to three months ago, the Alliance was still cleaning small Cerberus cells across the galaxy.

"Shepard, we are landing; get ready," Aria's voice came from the comms.

"We are ready," he replied. The team rushed to the rendezvous point, with EDI putting additional firewalls to keep the network safe.

"What's that symbol?" Shepard asked, as they split into two teams again, to not get crowded in the elevator.

"Talons, I think, a gang on Omega that was known for drug smuggling and every other dirty business. They were smart enough to go silent once my team started to hit the mercs," Garrus informed. The elevator stopped, and he moved forward to scout the area.

Two vorchas were standing before a crimson forcefield, and he stopped to watch. Mechs, looking like modified LOKIs, approached them from behind, one of them even creating an omni-blade to strike down one of the vorcha.

The other kicked the remaining vorcha to the force field, causing him to burn in agony.

"Aria, Cerberus set up incinerator force fields, with armored mechs present," he informed while Garrus and Hailey shot the mechs in the head.

"We just landed and are moving to meet you," she replied.

"More incoming," Kaidan said, shooting another mech through the forcefield. Cerberus did not send many of them, most likely to get a feel of the approaching forces.

"Shepard, there you are," Aria said from the right side, followed by her men. The army was spreading all over the station to hunt Cerberus down.

"Got a way to circumvent the force fields?" he asked. Deactivating them would take too long, and every second they wasted would be to Cerberus' advantage.

"Yeah, come with me. Bray, keep my army intact," she ordered the Batarian.

"You got it."

—
​

Aria, as the longtime ruler of Omega, knew secret passages through the station. They went down a ladder to a dark tunnel that would allow them to flank the enemy and find a way to shut down the force fields.

"Show yourself," Javik growled, his brand-new rifle raised.

"What in the name of the spirits are you?" A turian, female by her voice, asked, coming out of the shadows.

"Someone that does not scurry in the shadows," the prothean replied sharply. He lowered his weapon once Shepard told him to.

"Nyreen. What the hell are you doing here?" Aria asked. The turian female, Nyreen, came out to the light. Beneath the hood, Shepard could see red paint on her face.

"Look who is back, Aria T'loak," Nyreen replied, though Aria's grimace did not change.

"Playing cat and mouse, mostly. Just trying to stay alive. If it wasn't for those tunnels…" she explained.

"My tunnels. I am sure glad I showed them to you," the asari reminded.

It seems even the mighty and cold Aria T'loak had a weakness.

"If you hadn't, I'd be dead or locked up by now," Nyreen explained.

"If you two are done with the foreplay, why don't we get to the main action? Those force fields won't shut themselves down," Garrus teased.

The sight of Aria's discomfort was too amusing.

"I know you; you are Archangel," Nyreen said, realizing the company Aria had brought to take her home back.

"In the flesh," he said, giving a dramatic bow.

"Aria trusts you enough to tell you about these tunnels; it's best if you stick with us," Shepard said. With how worried Aria looked beneath her frosty exterior, it would be for the best to keep an eye on the turian.

"I've got a lot of questions, but they'll have to wait," Aria said. Already, too many people had seen her secret tunnel, and she wasn't happy about it.

At all.

"I'll do my best," Nyreen assured.

"You were a cabal, weren't you?" Garrus asked as they climbed the ladder.

The turian female nodded. "How did you guess?"

"Just experience, I suppose."

"You are looking at the former Chief Advisor of the Primarch of Palaven," Shepard said.

"On Reaper-related matters, nothing else," his friend clarified.

While his knowledge was useful at the beginning, once he had taught everything he could, his only use was to answer hypothetical questions regarding possible Reaper strategies. Primarch Fedorian had understood that Garrus would be more useful out there with Shepard.

"Spirits, you have brought quite the people, Aria."

"Yeah, well, the galaxy runs on eezo."

"Bray, why aren't cannons online?" she asked her lieutenant. They already had the defense systems under control; the cannons should have been tearing through the Cerberus bastards by now.

"Something's jamming them. Trying to identify."

"Atlas and mechs ahead. Vega, put that grenade launcher to good use," Garrus ordered, shooting a mech through the head.

James hollered and fired a grenade right at the joint of Atlas' leg. It went up in a ball of flames and shrapnel, causing the mech to go down and misfire, blowing up several rampart mechs.

"Not bad," Garrus praised.

Bray's voice came from the "Aria, there's a Cerberus engineer in here hacking the cannons, keeping them offline."

"We'll find them," she growled.

"Where did they even get all this tech?" Hailey asked. Shield pylons, collector force fields, and reaper-tech enhanced Cerberus soldiers?

Whatever Petrovsky was doing, it was dangerous.

"I am sure we can beat the answers out of Petrovsky," Shepard said, looking down to see an engineer below the platform, working on his computer.

"Hey," he called, and the agent looked up.

"Ah shit," the engineer grunted before a laser bolt went through his skull.

"Canons initializing," Bray informed them over the comms.

"More behind us," Kaidan called out, turning to lay down fire. The troopers were easy to take out, since only two had landed.

However, the main trouble was an Atlas that dropped to the middle of the plaza, ready to fire.

"Aria, the cannons have to be armed manually," Bray said over the comms. Shepard growled and charged at the controls. The force of his biotics sent the Atlas stumbling, and Vega used the chance to land a grenade on the canopy.

He activated the cannons and extended the bridge as well.

The Cerberus was coming down in force now, and Bray told them to move to the bunker.

Aria's army retreated as the cannons covered their rear.

—
​

In the next chapter:

"Garrus, Cerberus lost control of the adjutants," he informed the turian.

Aria had given him every piece of intel she had on Cerberus, including their latest weapons, the adjutants. They were created with Reaper tech and were extremely lethal.

Blue, hulking creatures with a cannon in one arm, tubes coming out of their faces, and a sack on top of their heads, Cerberus had outdone themselves in how fucking stupid and inhumane they could be.

If they barged into the middle of the strike force, casualties would be high.

"Again? Don't they ever learn?" Garrus complained amid weapons fire.

"Apparently not. Watch out for them," he said.



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