"Did any one make it to the beam?"

"No, they were completely decimated, pull out!"

The sensation of failure when the stakes are high is a lot like a kick in the gut. The knee jerk reaction doesn't help, but even after you have gotten over the shock of that, the left over bludgeoning pain aches for what seems like ages.

It's over. She didn't make it to the beam. No one did. The crucible will be destroyed in a matter of minutes and Sheppard can not even keep her eyes open, let alone get up and go save the day. Her eyes close, game over.

*Cue terrible bioware cannon ending, Destroy with maximum assets, TIM shot himself*

But then, it's not over! It wasn't real! A deep breath, a racing heart beat. A head ache that feels like she ground up and snorted some razor blades. Pain races through every inch of her body. Armor burnt by the streaming jet of molten metal from the Harbingers main attack. No human could've survived that, hell most things can't survive a direct attack from a reaper, including dread naught alliance ships. But we all know Sheppard isn't a normal human.

"I saw her go down over here!"

A familiar, feminine voice calls out. But it's distant, hazed and almost so quiet Sheppard has a hard time hearing it.

She's gasping for air, her heart is racing. All the pain in her body is slightly shadowed by a thundering fury protruding from her thigh. She is penned under the remains of a mako, one of the six transaxles has been driven right through Sheppard's leg, the bone is probably shattered and there are bits and pieces of cybernetics and muscle and skin throbbing and bleeding profusely around the metal shaft protruding from her leg.. In many places, her armor was burned off by the reaper attack, third degree burns in those places.

When Consciousness finally returns fully to her, the pain raises to a whole new level, and she learns she is not only buried under the twisted metal remains of a mako, but also a ton of rock. Above and beyond the pain, she can hear the battle still being waged. Sheppard grunts, and screams, the pain is unbearable, she is amazed she's even staying conscious for it, she's even more amazed she has the will and resolve to push the rock pinning her upper body down away from her. She screams when she does it. It is not a pretty sight.

This scream is her saving grace. When the storm of pain calms in her minds eye, Sheppard hears the all to familiar buzzing chatter of Geth all around her. Their powerful servos unlocking and moving in tandem as they rush the battle field to save their greatest organic ally. Shortly after Harbinger and his death squadron of a dozen sovereign class reapers arrived, a small armada of Geth drop ships showed up. Their AI improvements were showing some serious merit. They listened to the radio chatter, they knew Hammer was failing and a sizeable squadron had broken off from the main attack, as per Admiral Hacketts orders, but rather than directly intercept Harbinger, they made for ground to protect Sheppard and ensure she didn't fail.

Now hundreds of Geth Colossuses, Armatures, and ground troops over run the beam, precision air strikes hold the reapers at bay as a team of Geth Primes hunt furiously for Sheppard.

At that point, Sheppard realizes she can do more than simply hear the geth Chatter, she can actually understand it to a point. A weak connection is bridged, unlike anything she's felt since she was connected to the geth consensus. She feels it the same time the rest of the Geth do. Some how, on some rudimentary level, she is still linked into their consensus. The link is nearly only superficial, but the moment she becomes aware of them, they become aware of her and start digging. Standing with them and helping is Liara and Garrus. Both praying to their gods that Sheppard is alive.

"Send a force of Primes up to the citadel now, to secure it for Sheppard's arrival!"

Garrus barks orders at the Geth and they obey, simply because the logic is sound. A half dozen Geth Primes and two dozen geth troopers rush for the beam and are immediately transported. Admiral Hackett demands an update over coms and the Geth reply that they've found Sheppard-Commander and are currently seeking to ascertain her status. Hackett still unsure of working with Geth simply responds as he would to any other military force under his command, though there is a brief pause prior, he commends their work and encourages them to continue on.

Less than minutes pass before three Geth Primes are lifting the remains of the mako off of Sheppard. They speak as they do this.

"Sheppard-Commander, you require triage and repair!"

She screams when they lift the mako off of her, the leg is totally ruined. The bone is shattered and the muscle tissue is so heavily thrashed even simple movements cause extreme pain. Liara arrives with Medigel, it cleans the wound but it's not enough. It's several applications before Sheppard is more than a grunting mess of painful screams.

"What's going on, I...this isn't right... I was on the citadel, I met the catalyst. I destroyed the reapers!"

Sheppard seems confused, paranoid. Near by Geth turn their flash light looking heads in her direction as Liara continues to do as much as she can to heal her beloved. It breaks her heart to see her in this state, but she is the shadow broker, she's Liara T'soni and she will not lose focus. Not now!

"Sheppard, that's non sense, you must have been dreaming. You took a direct hit from Harbinger and the team was wiped out. Garrus has sent a team of geth to secure the citadel, How is your leg, I'm afraid there isn't much more I can do. We have to get you up, we have to keep going!"

How could it be nonsense? It was so real. And yet, just thinking about it causes her head to hurt even more, despite the pain killers Liara has injected her with. Sheppard looks down at her leg, then tries to move it. The result is a pained scream. This doesn't look good.

"I can't move my leg Liara, The bone, it's...totally ruined. I'm sorry, I've failed...I can't do this...You have to go on...You and Garrus...You've made me so proud...Please just leave me here, go...the whole damn galaxy is counting on you!"

Liara seems shocked to hear what she hears. She grabs a hold of Sheppards hand. Garrus is near by with her sniper rifle, assassinating any fool Marauder or cannibal dumb enough to get close enough to allow him to do it. When he hears Sheppard, when he hears what she says, it distracts him. Both of them are shaken to their cores to hear her give up so easily.

Before any one can act, a Geth prime walks up to Sheppard and Liara and speaks.

"Sheppard-Commander, we are detecting traces of reaper code within your runtimes. Your thoughts. Your cybernetic implants are reaper technology."

Never mind the fact that Sheppard is some how still connected to the Geth Consensus in some vague way, but the pin drop that catches every ones attention is the fact that the cybernetics that have been present in Sheppard's body since day one have been reaper tech! Why would the Illusive Man do that? He had salvaged a great deal of what was left of Sovereign from the citadel through various means, but he knew as well as any one what indoctrination was capable of. Even the slightest exposure to reaper tech could have terrible consequences. Couldn't it?

Not necessarily. The tech had been so slight and so watered down with normal, modern cybernetics and nano technology, that it had been cleansed of it's indoctrinating capabilities, mostly Sheppard's head continues to throb uncontrollably.

Indoctrination!? How could this happen? Sheppard can't be indoctrinated, she can't!

But Sheppard can only vaguely see it as possible. Maybe it's because she beat it. Maybe the vision she saw, the citadel, the catalyst. Destroying the reapers, That was all a vision of her beating indoctrination. Most people aren't even aware they're being indoctrinated, it's so subtle. When Harbinger came down and was actually in close proximity to Sheppard for the first time, he must have felt the remnants of his own technology inside of Sheppard. Perfect time to strike. Forced hyper indoctrination, even if it failed, which Harbinger suspected it might, it would ruin Sheppard's mind. Organics cannot stand against the likes of his kind, not now, not ever. Rapid indoctrination destroys brain cells, corrupts the mind and turns even the most resilient into zombies. Now that he knew reaper tech was in her very veins, the task was child's play.

"Sheppard, you're...you're being indoctrinated!"

Liara is the first to say it. She can feel it, in her gut. This isn't Sheppard, She'd have crawled to that beam if it meant giving it her all. She never gives up, she never surrenders. Garrus runs over to the pair of them and the Geth prime stands there silently running computations. His voice pops and buzzes in that strange geth language.

"Sheppard fight it, we know you can, If any one can beat them at their own game it's you!"

Garrus said, knowing full well his best friend needs him now more than ever! Sheppard touches her hand to her brow, her eyes close. She can feel the grinding in her brain, the terror in her thoughts. It's unbarable, she can't focus. Her will is gone.

"Sheppard-Commander. Our runtimes are immune to reaper indoctrination. We hypothesize that your connection to our consensus has allowed you to glean some of this resistance, allowing you to withstand and resist organic indoctrination. When your consciousness was uploaded to our consensus, we believe your cybernetics were altered by our evolved Code, thus evolving themselves and you. Direct contact with Legion allowed for this. But this evolution has only just started. We may be able to assist it. With your permission. It is dangerous, we will need to link your mind to our consensus without the use of the upload pod. It will be unpleasant."

Now more than ever, the geth are true experts on the Reapers. They were the first species of this cycle to come into contact with them, and now the very same code that runs in the reapers electric veins runs in theirs. But can Sheppard survive this kind of trauma? Her mind is already wavering, the geth consensus is not something an organic mind is prepared to withstand without the filters that Legion created for Sheppard the last time she was there

"I ... I don't know!"

Sheppard said, unsure of herself for the first time in her life. For the first time since the Skillian Blitz, for the first time since Saren, the first time since the collectors, the first time in as long as she can remember. Her courage has abandoned her and as her eyes glaze over with the sight of the battle raging all around them. That thunderous sound of the reapers sending auditory commands to their shock troops, the explosions in the very far off distance in orbit of allied ship after allied ship being destroyed. All of it was resting on her shoulders and she's failed.

"I...I can't..."

"DO IT!"

Liara suddenly screams, then she grabs Sheppard by the collar of her breast plate and pulls her forward.

"Sheppard you focus on me god damnit! You can do this! Don't give up, FIGHT IT. Geth, Do it. Help her!"

As Liara approaches hysterics, the Geth Prime looks down at her, then back to Sheppard, and it's head raises, the body shakes briefly. It begins to chatter and buzz like all Geth do when they speak their unique language to one another. Sheppard's eyes go blank, her head falls back and her body seems to go lifeless. Liara screams. Time slows. Garrus stares on as if he's in a dream. The Geth Prime reaches towards Sheppard. Sheppard's eyes roll back into her skull.

Behind them the battle line has come so close that a rushing husk nearly makes it to them before it's destroyed by the plasma blast of another get prime. Several primes are rushing forward to hold the line. Some where in the back of her subconscious, Sheppard wonders if this is how David archer felt when he was first linked with the V.I. in project overlord, and she takes comfort knowing she saved him from that fate.

Near by a tremendous explosion rocks the battlefield as a sovereign class reaper explodes and takes half a sky scraper with it. The odds are tied, but the reapers are slowly gaining ground. It wont be long before this location is no longer secured, more and more reapers are leaving the battle above them to join below. Pressure on the crucible has increased. It's now or never!

When Sheppard comes to, she comes to with a gasp. The geth prime reaches under a plate on his arm and pulls out a tube, literally ripping it free from his body. It begins spewing with nanotech rich liquid, which the geth prime sprays all over Sheppard's wounded leg. Shortly there after the Geth Prime goes lifeless and falls over, the light in its head dark. It speaks it's final words as it falls

"We happily give our runtimes to you Sheppard-Commander. Good Luck."

A reaper growl fills the air, this one is extremely close. a quarter mile away, it's broken through the Geth Phalanx and is rushing in,, it's badly damaged, it's beam charges and it prepares to fire down on the group. But the Normandy races through the paces, the Thanix Cannon charges and fires at full capacity, filling the night sky with blue light, it shreds the reaper into pieces, another violent explosion rocks the scene. The Earth shakes, a shockwave radiates out, kicking up dust and filling the air with violent sound. Joker screams in cheers of his victory.

"You didn't think I'd let you guys get away with all the fun did you!? EDI Lets double back for another hit!"

"Of course Jeff."

The Normandy doubles back and makes another precision surgical strike similar to the last, though it doesn't hit a weakened reaper this time, the beam still gives pause to the massive behemoth.

Liara pulls Shepperd into her arms and clutches her. If they are going to die, she will do it right here, by her side. Garrus moves in closer to see the results. He feels like his faith has been shaken to the foundation. But he has hope, he has courage.

"Come on Sheppard..."

Garrus mumbles with his gravely voice. Then Sheppards eyes open, She looks around. Her pupils are glowing with the same white light that the Geth's heads do. It's a subtle light. All through her body pain is subsiding as her nanotech cybernetics derived from reaper tech are coalesced with refined reaper-geth code to repair and resolve all the damage done to her body. Replacing the damage with a tech-geth organic hybrid, fueled by the reaper tech itself.

"Sheppard!"

Liara shouts. Tears running down her eyes, she's terrified, she has no idea, all she can do is stare on in hope. Did it work? Is sheppard there? Is her mind intact?

"Liara! It worked...I'm fine. I feel great! My... My leg is healing. My mind. I can...hear the Geth. We have work to do! Come on!"

Sheppard has little time to analyze the situation. She probably wouldn't understand the fundamental yet ground breaking changes her body is under going right now any ways, Sitting around to analyze it would be something for a thinker to do any ways. And we all know Sheppard is not a thinker.

She's a doer.

She gently climbs to her feet, helping Liara up with her. A newfound strength and resilience courses through her veins. She grabs the Geth plasma rifle that the Geth Prime was carrying off it's corpse and begins to charge for the beam. Not a moment to soon either, as reaper reinforcements have arrived in force. Two dozen more sovereign class destroyers have arrived, and they are tearing the geth forces to shreds. But all the geth know as soon as Sheppard knew it. She's better, and she's on her way up to the Citadel. They begin retreating, uploading their runtimes to other platforms, abandoning the field.

"Commander, if you are going to do something, do it. The Crucible can't take much more!"

Hackett shouts through the coms, Sheppard responds.

"I'm back Admiral, and better than ever. It's time to kick some reaper ass!"

Garrus and Liara follow Sheppard as well as two Geth Primes and a half dozen Geth troopers that were near by any ways. Together they all head up the beam. The Geth force that went ahead of them had made a dent in the progression but it hadn't been much. They were holding the line how ever. Behind them, the last remaining Geth Ship sets a collision course for the beam, the resulting explosion disrupts the beam. At least enough to give Sheppard and her infiltration squad a fighting chance without worrying about Reaper forces coming up from behind.

The forces on the citadel are overwhelming. Panic in the streets, organics running and hiding, C-sec over whelmed by reaper forces. A reaper or two themselves actually inside the citadel aiding in the fight. But Sheppard's new upgrades make her nearly unstoppable. Garrus and Liara watch in awe as she charges from victim to victim, unleashing a biotic assault like they've never seen before, utterly decimating the reaper lines. The reapers themselves inside the citadel search feverishly for Sheppard, but are unable to find her before it's to late. Her new found presence, it disrupts their communication. She's literally become the spear tip that Hackett had theorized she'd be. Despite the massive destruction in reaper forces she causes as she makes her way across the battlefield, they can't get a lock on her.

It isn't long before they've made it to the control room and the arms of the citadel are opened. The crucible docks. The reapers make one last push as they try in vain to destroy the citadel, but it's to late, they know they're beaten. A few of the reapers on the outer edges of the battle field immediately make the jump to FTL speeds for the nearest Relay. But it's to late.

The Crucible fires.

A sphere of white light stretches out past the citadel, every reaper it connects with immediately shuts down. A kill code if you will, automatically shutting their hybrid organic/synthetic minds down. From big to small, they're all just turned off. Ground forces on earth cheer, a unanimous cheer cries across all frequencies, in all languages in every ship. The crucible then fires a focused beam to the Sol relay, the relay radiates a similar white light that covers the entire system, before firing again to the next relay, and so on and so forth, until every square inch of the galaxy has been covered in this white light.

Back on the Citadel, after the chaos from the Crucible firing settles and Garrus, Liara and Sheppard come out. Cheers radiate across the citadel in one unanimous cry of applause and joy as the reapers are defeated. Garrus throws his mantis down and puts his hands in the air, screaming his lungs out with pride, rambling a mess of profanity and happyness.

Liara runs from the cover she was hiding behind and Sheppard drops her assault rifle and throws her arms around Liara, lifting her slightly off the ground, she spins Liara around, then kisses her passionately. The two stand there in each others arms, crying and whispering tender murmurs of bliss and love to one another until the alliance special forces arrive to secure the area.

Fade to black.

The End.

Or is it?

Several years later...

On a mountain, in the Rockies, during spring time, a big white house sits by a huge lake surrounded by trees and canopied by sparse white clouds, caressed with a gentle breeze. Flowers and the grass sways and the branches whisper.

Looking lazy, slouched down in a reclined lawn chair and laying out like a bum, Sheppard lays wearing a bikini bathing suit with a big black cowboy hat over her face and a beer in her hand. Her skin is smooth, muscled and toned, inlayed with visible cybernetics. A random white light here, a bit of organic looking circuitry there. She for the most part still retains her human appearance, if not a bit on the techy side, with some rugged appeal in the scars and muscle tone. Still Beautiful though, in her own way.

She's on a hand crafted wooden dock that stretches out over the lake about a hundred meters. She's asleep. Snoring actually. The house is ancient looking, though it isn't old. It was built to look like it was 250 years old. Shuttered windows, screen doors, shingled roof. It was nothing like modern homes, but it had all the modern amenities built in, the houses design was something Sheppard and Liara decided on together. Liara has a love of things old and Sheppard spent to much time watching vids from before the 21st century growing up. Most people thought the house was ugly, but of course, they didn't care. Their closest neighbor is Garrus and he lives 40 miles away.

Playing near by, three blue little girls swim around, kick and splash off the dock. Shep is supposed to be watching them, but of course she fell asleep. She always does, thankfully Glyph is not far away. Also watching. Since you can't live in the same house as the Shadow Broker and not expect her to be in the dark about anything, least of all the welfare of her children. Not that she minds though, who could. Sheppard's earned a good rest.

Above them, the citadel hangs high in the sky, the arms still open with the crucible still attached, ready to fire again should the reaper threat ever come back. Despite it being hundreds of miles away from earth, it is still clearly visible in the sky. The Sol relay was moved closer to earth and it became the new galactic hub for trade and government. The entire Citadel is now officially council property, pending full investigation into what it is capable of, and what the reapers were truly, and where they came from. Results are pending but the same crew that built the crucible is now working on these mysteries.

The Illusive man was never seen that fateful day and no one has heard of him sense. Not even the shadow broker has heard of his whereabouts, but of course, rumors persist he is alive, and still out there.

Garrus and Tali currently live together on earth, though Tali has a home on Rannoch as well, that they live at during the winter season on earth, since it's much to cold for both of them to tolerate, they don't understand how Sheppard can love this snow stuff so much. With Geth help, Tali is able to go any where without her suit and while Garrus and Tali couldn't have children of their own, they did adopt. Garrus wanted Krogan, but there isn't a Krogan Parent alive in the gallaxy right now that would give up that right. In the end, they adopted one Turian and one Quarian.

Wrex still leads the clans. The council gave them several worlds to repopulate, a lot of their older territory was returned to them and while they are forbidden from creating warships still, they are allowed to go where they please, and have an embassy on earth.

Ashley remained a spectre and is still serving active duty with them. Her assignments are usually peace keeping missions, but when she isn't doing that, she is assigned active guard duty to the council, who survived the reaper attack. A new human council member was selected, though it wasn't Anderson.

Anderson was injured during the last push to the beam. He survived the battle, but not the war. In his final moments, Sheppard was by his bed side. They had a heart to heart that left Sheppard in tears and he is remembered as one of the greatest heroes this galaxy ever saw.

Miranda still fights the good fight. She believes she can't exist in the lime light, so she's become an agent for the shadow broker. Miranda's sister Oriana and her sister have come under direct protection of the shadow broker and their identities are known only to a handful of people in the entire galaxy.

Kasumi Goto earned enough recognition in her work on the crucible that she was offered a full time position, but declined, and quickly disappeared back into obscurity. She never was quite capable of controlling her kleptomania and she continues to get up to the worst kinds of mischief, though forces on all sides often find themselves benefiting from a mysterious benefactor with the cute voice. She remains a wanted criminal.

James Vega finished his training for the N7 program and is currently the XO on a frigate similar in ability to the Normandy. The name of this vessel and it's current objectives are classified.

Jacob and Brynn settle down on Earth. Ontop of the one they had before getting married, they have six more children. Jacob lives off of royalties from the systems alliance millitary for his direction actions under Commander sheppard for awhile, but decides he needs to remain active. He eventually becomes a drill sergeant and remains on earth with his family. He and Sheppard get together once a year for a huge BBQ. Their friendship might have gone through some rough times after they parted ways after the collector base. But time saw to the mending of that.

Jack still teaches at Grissom Academy, as the years pass by she becomes increasingly more tame, though her guttural bluntness never fades. She's devoted to her work and her kids, she hasn't got any plans to settle down now or in the near or distant future. Knowledge of her biotic prowess circulates across the galaxy and many different kinds of biotic travel to seek training from her.

Samara helped rebuild the sanctuary for the ardat yakshi, unfortunately, all of the ardat yakshi in the galaxy were turned into monsters by the reapers. Still, Samara and her daughter will vigilantly guard the sanctuary in wait for more of them to appear. Since it is only Falare that is left, they visit Thessia often and even spent a few years living there. Only when Falare found the cravings to be to great did they return to the peace and solitude of the sanctuary. Most recently, a young Asari named Sakana has joined their ranks, she is just over 25 years old and is scared, but eagerly joins Samara and Falare in the sanctuary. Simply knowing Samara worked with Commander Sheppard is enough to make the place out to be a good place, and less of a scary military school of sorts, as was seen by all Asari in the past.

Aria T'loak regained control of Omega shortly before shit hit the fan the day Commander Sheppard destroyed the reaper threat. She is of course, still in charge there. The merc bands stayed unified long enough to help in the fight, but split up right after that. There was peace for awhile, but eventually the old feuds cropped up again.

Clan Urdnot has risen in the ranks to be heralded among Krogan as the best clan in krogan history. Would be usurpers are destroyed or threatened with the denial of rights to mate now that the genophage is cured. Wrex leads his people with an iron fist into a new age of reason. The first thing he did when peace was restored to the galaxy was order his people to collect and salvage as much of their culture as they could. In the recent years it has been a struggle to return the krogan to their former majesty, but it moves forward lie an ever present juggernaut towards a renaissance for the Krogan. Splinter groups within the krogan have split away and tried to strike it out on their own. At first, The Galaxy was uncomfortable with this, Salarian STG and spectre forces were dispatched, but by the time they got there Clan Urdnot had always beaten them to the punch. Proving that they can not only control, but also police their own ranks. The Krogans are quickly re-earning the respect of the entire galaxy, one day at a time. In time, Wrex hopes to turn the Krogan into a matriarchal society. He hates talking, and feels that the women of his people would be much better leaders than the men.

Zaeed Massani was never heard from again. It is unclear if he even survived the final battle on earth before the big push. Though there are rumors of a recent power shift in the blue suns, their current leader was killed in cold blood and a new unknown was put into power by Aria T'loak herself.

Legion's legacy will be ever lasting among his people. He is remembered among them for his sacrifice and his merit. The Geth's connection to Commander sheppard has given them more insight into organics than they ever dreamed possible. With this fundamental shift in paradigm, easing into organic society has been seamless for them. Their effort in the war against the reapers earned them a place of respect in the galaxy. They are a long way from having an embasy on earth, but they do not mind this. They want for very little and only seek to help uplift organics around them. Rannoch quickly became a bustling hive of activity as the Quarians quickly repopulated their race in the following years. The baby boom on their world is expected to have tremendous impact on galactic economy in the coming decades. The Geth and Quarian peace is almost completely assured now and likely for ever. They have lent their consensus to the citadel and the council in seeking answers from the reapers. They are all deactivated, and that means the only living beings with insight into them are the geth. They use their reaper code every day to help discern motives, history, paths and methodology of the reapers. The Geth often encounter a social stigma that their creators once suffered through. They are looked down upon, or with hatred by the other races of the galaxy. The Geth respond to this with kindness 99.79% of the time and labor tirelessly to improve their standing in the galaxy at large. After public peace talks between The united earth systems alliance and the rest of council space, the geth and commander sheppard, it was decided that they be allowed to come and go as they please. Dissenters disagree with this notion, claiming the reaper code imbedded in the geth could one day activate and turn the geth against them, but Shepperd revealed her hidden nature, that she was now indeed part geth and had been part reaper for several years now. She used her charisma and powerful leadership skills to sway entire nations, entire worlds, claiming cohesion and peace were the only way to proceed forward and that trust, while hard to accomplish, is also hard to lose. The Galaxy had no want for trust in Commander Sheppard, so peace was retained.

Thane was given honorable mention, but his legacy never passed into the light. His deeds as an assasin weren't ever really recollected, though his heroics on the citadel to save the Salarian counselor were heralded, his name wasn't meant for greatness. Not until a certain set of asari babies were born later at least. Sheppard at least remembers Thane, and still cherishes the memories she has of her friend Thane Krios. Kolyat and Sheppard remain in contact, though they do not visit.

Mordin Solus was recognized as an exemplar among his people. His name and actions were made legendary and many salarian's sought to emulate his intellect, courage and heart. The Reapers never arrived on Sur'Kesh soil, and so they were set apart from the rest of galaxy. The Dalatras refused to change her ways, she lobbied against all efforts at peace with the krogran and the geth. Eventually, her fear got the better of her and she ordered war. Remarkably, her once faithful followers flat out refused the order and she was removed from her station and imprisoned. The Salarians would not soon forget what Commander Sheppard had accomplished and not a single one of them was willing to jeopardize the peace the galaxy now knows. Though this was unprecedented in the salarian government, so the Salarian people splintered as they began to labor to find a new Dalatras or a new system of government that couldn't allow for such corruption in the future. As a result the Salarian Counselor stepped down to return to his home world to help with negotiations and the Salarians no longer have a seat on the counsel. Though the Seat is left open should they ever want it back.

Joker and EDI still pilot the Normandy. They could have retired together, but declined. Joker wouldn't feel at home any where but on the normandy and EDI literally is the Normandy, though she now has a body, many of her processes still exist within the Normandy itself. The ship is legendary though. Simply arriving on a battlefield, the Normandy has caused conflicts to stop. Peace simply by being in its presence. Admiral Hackett himself now commands the Normandy. He might have thought about retiring after the huge defeat he presided over, but after that victory, after all that was at stake, he couldn't simply lay down, he couldn't sit down and take a breath. The Normandy is the Flagship of the systems alliance. It's small, but it doesn't need to be big with it's reputation.

Back on Earth. Three mischievous girls hatch a plot to play a trick on their mother. They're triplets. Not something common in Asari reproduction, but apparently when Asari mate with humans, it's possible. Thane, Mordin and Benezia sneak slowly up on the sleeping Sheppard with their sand pales filled with water. Glyph hovers behind Sheppard silently. Thane puts her finger to her lips to tell Glyph to be quiet. He does not say a word. Just before they can dump their buckets of cold water on Sheppard, she wakes up, chirping and buzzing like a geth with her eyes glowing white brightly. It still kind of freaks the kids out when she does this, so they all give pause, and behave with fright before Sheppard throws her arms out and shouts

"Boo!"

The girls squeal and Sheppard rapidly tickles them all in rapid succession, causing them to drop their buckets of water, thus getting them selves wet. Then She picks them up in her arms and dives into the water. They scream and squeal. Up the dock, past the steps, inside the house sitting in front of a huge wall of screens. Liara looks away from her work, she hears the children scream. And goes to investigate.

When she finds Sheppard rough housing with the girls she gets a smirk on her face. It bothers her that she is so rough on the girls, Sheppard likes to rough house. Liara jokes that Sheppard has more krogan in her blood than she does. Sheppard teases back and says that Asari breeding doesn't work like that, and reminds Liara that she hasn't got any krogran blood in her veins. Or so the arguement usually goes...

Liara marches out towards the dock, with intent to lecture sheppard on rough housing on the girls. She worries Sheppard might hurt one of them, she is after all much stronger than the average human, and even the average krogan now. Liara calls out to the four of them, and they all freeze dead in the water like they've been caught red handed doing something wrong.

"What have I told you about throwing the girls around like that Momma. You're going to hurt them."

It took some time, getting used to calling Sheppard Momma instead of Sheppard. But that's how it was in their house. Liara was Mommy, and Sheppard was momma. The three girls immediately protest, exclaiming that they love it when Momma rough houses with them.

Sheppard just smirks, then goes under the water. Liara's eyes widen. She is not prepared to be in the water. But she knows that mischief. She knows those eyes. Glowing or not, she knows when Sheppard is planning to do something tricky.

Suddenly Sheppard leaps out of the water, Liara screams and runs! Sheppard tackles Liara into the lake and the three girls go wild with giggles and squeals of excitement. When they come back up Liara is fuming mad, but not really. She's soaked, but it doesn't mater. She fusses at Sheppard for a few moments, then the two start kissing. Their tender moment is interrupted by their children splashing them furiously with water and Liara complains, looks back up at the house. She has work to do. Sheppard grabs her hand. Looks her in the eye.

"Don't you dare. Stay for awhile..."

Liara's firm brows melt and she looks at Sheppard pathetically.

"Oh I hate it when you look at me like that...I swear you've inherited your own form of indoctrination with that look."

Sheppard laughs with mock maliciousness then wraps her arms around Liara from behind, whispers something naughty into her ear, clearly the joke, how ever dire it might have been once upon a time, is well received, even from Liara's flat, but beautiful, tones. Then Sheppard tugs her further out to the middle of the lake. The girls remain blissfully ignorant to the flirting going on in front of their eyes and continue their game of splash their parents at the most awkward time possible.

On every home world across the entire Galaxy a monuments were created to commemorate and remind now and for ever what the crew of the Normandy had done. What the entire Galaxy had done, when it worked together. Statues had been created, of each key member. These statues were gigantic, a hundred feet tall, the crew standing behind Sheppard with a likeness of the Normandy flying above and behind them. Anderson, Tali, Kasumi, Liara, Jack, Joker, Thane, Legion, Ashley, Miranda, Garrus, Samara, Kaiden, James, Wrex, Grunt, Jacob, Zaeed, Mordin, EDI and of course Commander Sheppard. Along the bottom, the names of every crew member that served on the SR1, and the SR2. Post mortem or not, for ever immortalized for their heroics.

The End.

For Real This Time.