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This is the last chapter before the end of this story.
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.
—
The Citadel
"Commander. Excuse me. Sorry. Alliance business. Commander, this is urgent!" A young woman in an Alliance uniform was waving at him, trying to get past the French waiter.
Shepard made a "come here" motion with his hand. The maitre d' finally allowed the young woman in the Alliance uniform to pass through.
"Commander, I am Staff Analyst Maya Brooks, Alliance Intelligence," she said, finally remembering to salute. "There are people trying to kill you."
He looked at Joker, who was doing the same, and turned back to the staff analyst. "So?"
"Uh." Brooks scratched the back of her head.
That wasn't the reaction she was expecting.
At her confusion, Shepard pulled another chair, motioning her to sit down. "People have been trying to kill me for like close to twenty years. I don't know why you are so worried."
"These are new. They are hacking your account. Comm channels, personal records… they are targeting you specifically."
"Again, not a reason to be worried." He activated his omni-tool, accessing the Alliance database security logs for any sign of an intrusion. Someone was trying to access his biometrics, both as an Alliance marine and a Spectre.
"Did those guys bring their own body bags? They are going to need it," Joker asked, trying to hold in his laughter. Of all the people Shepard had killed, only the Collectors had come to his feet, and they were nothing more than mindless drones.
This was going to be fun.
"I… uh, I don't know."
"I'll take that as a no."
Humans in full body armor just barged through the door, opening fire to the ceiling. One of them pushed the French maitre d' to the ground.
"There he is," one of them shouted, firing a rocket at him.
He blinked. His right hand snapped up, covering the projectile in a blue field, stopping it dead cold. By now, the patrons had begun to run away, and he could safely return the rocket to the sender.
"God damn it, boss, we can't even have some food without a bunch of nutcases shooting at us," Joker said. He wasn't worried, only irritated at having his dinner interrupted.
He didn't like sushi anyway.
"Just stay there; I'll handle this."
The rocket had taken out the ones inside, but more surged in. He biotically charged right into their midst, sending them all flying away. He snatched a pistol in the air and opened fire. It was a mass-accelerated pistol, but a single round easily popped a shield.
Joker took the opportunity to run with Brooks and the rest of the customers out the back door.
The timing was impeccable because the glass floor was detonated from the bottom. He fell through but was quick enough to put himself in stasis. He slid down, breaking several light panels, rolled down the surface of the windows, and finally stopped on a maintenance platform.
The stasis ended, and he had the pleasure of fish water pouring down on him.
Shepard took a deep breath, trembling. He was going to rip someone's spine out and beat him to death with it.
"Commander, I found a secure terminal. Are you safe down there?"
"I am. You and Joker get to safety. I'll make my way back."
He jumped across the platform, looking down at the traffic. He needed a skycar to return to Anderson's house. After a quick mental calculation, he jumped down, using the biotics to lighten himself up.
He landed on top of a car, shaking it slightly.
The driver panicked at first, before he saw who was hitching a ride on his skycar. "I need a ride to C-Sec."
The turian nodded and broke out of the traffic line, along with several laws.
He was using the biotics to anchor himself on the car. Across where he had jumped down, he could see more mercenaries gather. He didn't know how they tracked him, but their ringleader would pay for the stench of fish clinging to him.
—
Once the driver stopped near the C-Sec headquarters, he landed, thanking the turian. He raised his hand to his temple and took off.
Shepard chuckled. It was a nice gesture.
Bailey came running out, looking winded.
"Shepard, we heard there was a commotion with you down at a restaurant."
"Someone just signed their death warrant." He just had to deliver it.
"Anything we can help with?"
"I got it handled. Thanks, Bailey." He patted the man on the arm and left, missing the downcast look on his face.
Bailey sighed. They were going to have to clean up a shepherd-sized mess now.
—
He made it back to Anderson's apartment. Hailey opened the door, arms crossed with a blank look.
"Bro, what happened? Joker said you fell through a fish tank?"
"Long story. Gather everyone here while I get rid of the smell of fish on me."
He needed a long shower with a lot of scrubbing to get this stench out.
—
An hour later, he sat down on the comfiest chair in the living room, washed, scrubbed, dried, and dressed.
His sister, who was looking at him with a sharp gaze, suddenly snorted. "You fell through a fish tank."
"Yes. So we are going to find the ones responsible for it and beat them to death with raw fish."
The door to the apartment opened, allowing his teammates in.
"Heh, glad I didn't miss the fun." A familiar, deep, and gravelly voice came from the back.
He grinned, seeing one of his favorite krogan walk in.
"Grunt? What are you doing here?" He grasped the krogan's arm.
"We've been tracking the rachni. The Unified Command wanted to include them in this alliance. There was no one better than Krogan to do it."
"Can't argue with that. Heard you got your own unit."
"Yeah. Aralakh Company. We were actually here to celebrate when I heard someone tried to kill you. I thought it would be more fun to kill whatever stepped on your path than to just drink."
"Welcome to the party."
Grunt grinned, walking in. Once he greeted the rest of his teammates and had them seated, it was time for Maya Brooks to begin her briefing.
"Brooks, how are you doing?"
"Just fine, Commander. I can proceed if you want."
He took his seat, reaching for the fruit bowl to peel an apple. "Sure, go ahead."
Brooks, in all her bubbly, jumpy personality, revealed how she had detected a breach in his military files. His military codes were special. Owing to his countless services to Alliance and the galaxy, he had access to pretty much everything.
Anyone with his credentials would wreak havoc on the galaxy.
While Brooks kept speaking, he was focused on the apple, slowly peeling it layer by layer.
Slicing it to fours and removing the core, he held a piece to Brooks. She reached for it with a quiet thank you. He struck like a viper, jamming the knife through her palm, into the wooden table.
She fell on her knees, holding her arm, screaming her head off.
His friends reacted, pulling weapons on her without a thought.
"I detected those intrusions as well. I also hacked into the Alliance database through an outside channel. Do you want to know what I found?" he asked, biting into the slice he had just offered Brooks.
She just kept grunting in pain.
He chewed slowly and deliberately, taking his time. "There is no staff analyst Maya Brooks. In fact, the only proof that you even exist was on a piece of intelligence retrieved from Cerberus. Captain Channing, Hope Lilium, and Rasa, three distinct names associated with Cerberus, and one image of you."
"Huh, I can't believe she actually thought she could fool you." Garrus shook his head. "Honestly, they don't make bad guys like they used to be."
A round of chuckles drowned out the spy's grunts.
"You know what, I am actually in a great mood now. You spill the beans, and I'll hand you over to the Alliance rather than just toss you out of the window." Breaking her arrogant assuredness was amusing enough to lift his spirits.
"Fuck," she growled. He felt his point had been made and pulled the knife out. He applied medigel to the wound so she would not bleed over Anderson's floor. Grunt pulled her back to the seat, putting his shotgun to the back of her head.
She gritted her teeth. "Cerberus cloned you so your legacy would continue."
"Another one?" Tali crossed her arms. "Great." First the salarians, and now Cerberus. Why couldn't they just leave her boyfriend's genetic material be?
"We made a plan to take over your credentials and imprison you."
Ashley snorted. "Seems you overestimated yourself by a lot." How had Cerberus even allowed a fool like her to join their ranks?
"We'd play along until the Reapers were defeated, then use your reputation to place humanity where it belonged."
Shepard rolled his half-lidded eyes. Just listening to her master plan made him sleepy.
"The Illusive Woman herself," James muttered. At least the Illusive Man was intelligent enough to understand Shepard could not be defeated.
She scoffed at James, then glared at Tali. "Humanity could have been ruling the galaxy had you not been so stupid and alien-loving."
His girlfriend slammed her shotgun on the table. Brooks almost jumped up, but Grunt pushed her down. She glanced at the krogan, who shook his head, showing his teeth.
"I get it. An asari must have turned her down, and now she is being a dumb bitch because of it." Hailey said. Brooks' face scrunched, but she did not respond.
"Where is this clone of me?" The sooner he got rid of him, the better.
"Waiting near the archives for me to bring you to him."
"Then we spring this trap and destroy the imposter," Javik said. He would not allow any obstacles to get in the path of his revenge.
"What about her?" Kaidan glared down at the captive. "If this clone keeps contact, he'll know the ruse is up."
"She'll come with us. If she thinks she is smart enough to outmaneuver us, she'll die. If not, its prison for her."
"Make your decision carefully Brooks," he warned. He ordered the team to prepare.
—
Citadel Archives
The place was teeming with the mercenaries. Liara had explained they were ex-Alliance, Category 6 soldiers who were discharged dishonorably.
Which explained their gear.
He split the team, taking Grunt, Tali, and Brooks with him. Garrus went with Hailey and Liara, while Kaidan led Ashley, Vega, and EDI.
He started the assault with a headshot. The clone had no idea they were coming, and Brooks was feeding him false intel. The Cat6 reacted quickly, falling into cover.
It only served to slow them down. With plenty of biotics and laser weapons, his team blazed through the enemy like a krogan with a bottle of ryncol.
"Brooks, where is Shepard?"
"He is heading to secure his credentials. I am sending you the coordinates."
They moved for the coordinates Brooks had transmitted.
He had quite the surprise for the clone.
The Cat6, once they realized the situation was not favorable, began to whine.
"Why don't we have a krogan?!"
"God, where is our Shepard?"
"He brought the whole crew; this is not fair."
No amount of complaining, or the insults of his teammates, could save the mercs from death.
"This is obviously a trap," Tali said. They stood before the data capsule, which had its forcefields deactivated for some reason.
"It is."
"Damn it," a voice, so eerily like his own, cursed from the other side of the capsule. The second time had killed the novelty of gazing at an imitation of his face.
The clone narrowed his eyes. "You don't seem surprised to see me."
"Do you think this is the first time I am seeing a clone of myself?" Everyone had seen the events that had taken place on the Collector's ship.
"Right. The Collector dreadnought. Even that abomination couldn't stop the mighty Commander Shepard."
"You know it."
His clone opened his mouth to retort, but instead found himself surrounded by Shepard's team.
"Brooks?!" he glared at his partner, who crossed her arms.
"Nothing personal. He just figured out I was faking everything. I had no choice."
"If I can't survive, then no one will," the clone screamed. The archive shook with explosions. Several capsules came down, forcing him and his teammates to dodge.
—
While he was busy stopping the fire, Brooks had made a run for it, as had his clone.
He gave chase, appropriating shuttles from the mercs. Activating the little gift he had left on the armor Brooks wore, he accelerated after the clone. A pale copy or not, he knew how to drive.
Tali called the C-Sec to call reinforcements to stop the clone, but it proved to be unnecessary. While the chase continued near the embassies, a person in red armor fell on the escaping shuttle.
The krogan was falling fast enough to send the shuttle to the ground, with smoke rising from the engine compartment.
"Wrex? What are you doing here?"
"Got some business with the Council when some females cornered me. I jumped out of the window to escape." The mighty overlord of the Krogan shuddered like a varren pup.
Shepard didn't even want to imagine what they were doing to the poor guy.
"Who are you chasing anyway?"
"A clone of me."
Wrex narrowed his eyes. He broke through the weakened windshield and pulled the imposter out. He was awake, but not in a condition to fight.
"You thought they would understand by now. Cheap imitations like you can't hold a candle to the real deal."
"Thanks, Wrex. Could you step back a bit?" He aimed the black hole projector at the clone. This would leave nothing behind to be exploited.
His friend laughed, throwing the clone on the ground.
Shepard pulled the trigger. The black hole struck the clone on the chest. The immense gravity broke him down to subatomic particles and even absorbed the light within a few hundred meters for a couple of seconds, casting them to total darkness.
It disappeared harmlessly, leaving nothing behind.
"We are having a party. Want to join?" It was great to have Wrex back here too, even if by accident.
"Anything is better than listening to the council."
—
The affair with the clone was short. Both he and Brooks were dead. He informed the Alliance command, advising them to revamp the cybersecurity, and returned home to prepare for the party.
He could finally rest.
Taking the time to spend more time with his teammates, from Liara's piano lesson to Vega's little PT challenge, he also invited several other friends. Some were on the station, but the others would be taking the time to make the journey.
Thane and Kolyat, Jacob, Miranda and her daughters, Zaeed, Jack, Legion, and even his new assistant would be at the party.
—
In the next chapter:
SSV Normandy transitioned into the system by itself.
All preparations were ready. Penumbra Apex had left the docks, outfitted with two massive blackhole projectors, laser bolt cannons across the hull, and an enormous reserve of anti-proton torpedoes.
Three enormous stations were arrayed to provide fire support. One was the former station of the collectors that his team had taken; the other two were built by the Geth.
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