- “This war’s brought us pain, suffering, and loss. But it’s also brought us together, as soldiers, allies… friends. This bond that ties us together is something that the Reapers will never understand. It’s more powerful than any weapon, stronger than any ship. It can’t be taken or destroyed. The next few hours will decide the fate of everyone in the galaxy. Every mother. Every son. Every unborn child. They’re trusting you. Depending on you to win them their future. A future free from the threat of the Reapers! But take heart! Look around you! You’re not in this fight alone. We face our enemy together, and together, we will defeat them!”
- —Shepard's rally to his squad
Lt. CDR. John Henry "Jack" Shepard is the galaxy's first human Spectre, former commander of the SSV Normandy, and one of the galaxy's most famous figures.
Born on the colony of Mindoir in the Attican Traverse, Shepard's life was changed forever when a batarian raiding party led by famous pirate captain Skeev attempted to enslave the colonists. Shepard witnessed the deaths of his parents, sister, and hundreds of his friends in a brutal attack. Scarred both physically and emotionally, Shepard and the surviving colonists were extracted from the colony by an Alliance frigate under the leadership of Captain David Anderson. The event convinced Shepard to enlist in the Alliance Navy at 18. Rising through the ranks and obtaining the coveted N7 designation, Shepard was appointed executive officer of the SSV Normandy SR-1, a prototype stealth-reconnaissance vessel of human-turian design. After Spectre Saren Arterius betrayed the Citadel Council by allying himself with the geth, Shepard uncovered his deception and was made the first human Spectre.
Shepard's pursuit into Saren revealed the latter's involvement with a galaxy-cleansing race of sentient starships called the Reapers, who cyclically exterminate advanced organic life every 50,000 years. Shepard, with the help of the Normandy crew, managed to stop an impending Reaper invasion and destroyed the Reaper Sovereign, who had brainwashed Saren as his puppet. After Saren's demise, Shepard was sent by the Alliance to clean up remaining geth activity in the Traverse. However, a Collector attack near Alchera annihilated the Normandy, killed most of its crew, and jettisoned Shepard into space - seemingly killing him. His body was later recovered by a rogue black ops organization called Cerberus, who spent two years and an exorbitant amount of funds rebuilding him. Upon awaking, Shepard learned from the Illusive Man, the mysterious leader of Cerberus, that the Collectors had begun targeting remote human colonies. With his help and the newest Normandy SR-2, Shepard destroyed the Collector Base beyond the Omega 4 Relay, cutting ties with Cerberus and forced to surrender himself to the Alliance after destroying the Alpha Relay to delay the arrival of the Reapers.
In Alliance custody for six months, Shepard was reinstated into active service after the Reapers arrived in full. Shepard scoured the galaxy with his old crew looking for a way to destroy the Reapers. On Mars with help from his romantic partner and Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni, Shepard obtained blueprints of the Crucible, an ancient superweapon with the ability to defeat the Reapers. Regaining command of the Normandy, Shepard embarked on a journey across the galaxy to build a fleet powerful enough to battle the Reapers. In his pursuit, Shepard cured the genophage, brokered peace between the quarians and the geth, awakened the last living Prothean, and vanquished Cerberus for good. Above Earth, the commander activated the Crucible inside the Citadel, destroying the Reapers and bringing peace in the galaxy.
While believed dead, Shepard was actually revealed to have survived the war. His current location remained unknown for ten years, until strange activities in the Terminus Systems confirmed the Commander's survival.
Biography[]
Early life[]
- “You humans believed you were safe, protected. You believed you ascended above any other race in the galaxy. Allow me to break you from your illusions. You are vermin. Fleas. Parasites feeding off worlds and bringing all others down around you. You will learn this. Acknowledge your betters. Your illusion of safety is at an end.”
- —Skeev, before cutting Shepard's face.
A 13-year old Shepard on Mindoir.
John Henry Shepard was born on April 11, 2154 on Mindoir, a small farming settlement in the Attican Traverse. His father, Michael Shepard, was a member of the colony's Board of Development. His mother, Mary Shepard, was a botanist who assisted Michael in setting up automated agricultural systems to speed up cultivation. Shepard's sister, Susan, was two years his junior. A few months before Shepard's birth, the colony's experimental power plant malfunctioned, causing its large hoard of eezo to explode. It was believed that this was what caused Shepard's biotic abilities to manifest.
Frequently called "Jack" in his childhood, Shepard was trained by his mother to become a botanist like herself, involving him in the development of new irrigation systems meant to streamline agricultural cultivation on what was a predominantly arid planet. Shepard's life was changed instantly, however, due to the arrival of a batarian slave ring led by notorious pirate Skeev. By the time they arrived, Mindoir had limited defenses and no permanent garrison, which allowed the batarians to easily wipe out major settlements and abduct the colonists. Shepard's own family was targeted after they tried to hide in an emergency bunker. Skeev had them and the other colonists lined up outside, randomly picking out those he would execute. Shepard's family, including his parents and his sister Susan, were summarily executed. Only Shepard was allowed to live in order to spread word of the colony's massacre. Before leaving, Skeev cut a gash in Shepard's left cheek as a reminder.
The event had a tremendous impact on Shepard. After the slavers left, an Alliance patrol fleet arrived to render assistance, with the SSV Einstein being the first to respond. It was too late, however. Most of the colonists were either dead or abducted and held deep in the Terminus Systems. David Anderson, one of the commanders, found the young Shepard hiding in his burnt-out home. He brought him with the fleet and spent the following years by his side.
Shepard was mute through much of his time with Anderson. By the time he was 17, though intensive therapy, Shepard started talking again and expressed interest in joining the Alliance Navy. A year later, at age 18, he enlisted in the Alliance as a junior serviceman. Throughout much of his career, Anderson would have been his training officer.
Skyllian Blitz[]
Shepard trained at the Van Hagen Alliance Training Facility in Panama. He excelled in his class, earning top marks in both physical training and the sciences. Early on, his instructors noted that Shepard had the potential of becoming an admiral, but his temperament would be more likely to hinder than help him. Shepard had difficulty fitting in with his peers, mostly keeping to himself and sticking to a reserved and aloof disposition. He was frequently picked on by the other recruits, since most of them were Earth-born, and were quick to pick on Shepard because of his colonial background.
Shepard was known to engage in fights with other recruits, and one such instance saw him nearly expelled. Anderson lobbied with the facility's instructors to keep Shepard in the program, convincing them to give Shepard tougher training as punishment. Anderson did this knowing it would unlock Shepard's potential, and his foresight proved correct. The extra training humbled Shepard and cooled his temper. By the time the course was over, Shepard had become a Serviceman 2nd Class within the Alliance Navy.
Training[]
After graduation, Shepard served aboard the SSV Tokyo under Captain Charles Conrad. Conrad, an N7-graduate, was described as a strict and uncompromising man. Lieutenant Commander David Anderson also served aboard the Tokyo as its XO, though he and Captain Conrad frequently butted heads even over the simplest disagreements. Shepard served with distinction on the Tokyo, but he grew arrogant and restless due to his skills. Eager to prove himself and gain a promotion, Shepard frequently requested to join the Interplanetary Combatives Training program, of which both Conrad and Anderson were graduates. Anderson believed that the program would be a beneficial to Shepard, but Conrad disagreed, noting his youth and temperament. After some bickering, Conrad agreed to send a letter of recommendation to the ICT administration.
Over more than a dozen e-mails were sent before the ICT agreed to accept Shepard for N1 training. In 2175, at age 21, Shepard was sent to the "N-School" at Vila Militar in Rio de Janeiro. ICT training proved brutal for Shepard, though his persistance and endurance kept him from dropping from the program entirely. Within one year, Shepard rose to N6, becoming one of its youngest graduates. Shepard left the program after that, returning to the Tokyo with greater experience. His completion of the program earned him the rank of Operations Chief.
Tragedy of Akuze[]
In 2176, a coalition of pirates, slavers, and batarian warlords from the Terminus Systems began an organized assault against Alliance colonies in the Attican Traverse. Elanos Haliat, the mastermind behind the operation, sought to use the chaos to advance himself as the "king" of the Terminus.
The Alliance sent several scout flotillas into the Traverse to deal with the threat. The 63rd Scout Flotilla, which included the Tokyo, were also sent. Shepard, as Operations Chief, was put in command of a small recon team to scout remote colonies and assess their security for a potential attack. They were eventually sent to Akuze to assist the local colony in setting up defenses in preparation for a major attack. After the defenses were properly set up, Shepard's squad went offworld for their next mission.
A year later, in 2177, a pioneer team sent to Akuze mysteriously vanished. Since Shepard and his team were already familiar with the colony, they were sent to investigate. They reached the settlement, finding it intact but with all of its colonists missing. After they decided to camp out for the night, Shepard's team were set upon by giant thresher maws who slaughtered the entire unit, safe for Shepard and Corporal Ryan Toombs. Shepard and Toombs got separated, and neither of them would know about the other's survival for almost ten years.
Shepard was forced deep into the wilds surrounding the colony, drifting for twelve days while sustaining significant injuries. He managed to repair his communicator just before a serious infection and illness took in. An Alliance recovery team rescued Shepard and transported him to Arcturus Station to treat his injuries.
The attack and subsequent loss of his team put a great mental strain on Shepard, on top of the childhood trauma which he had already been in treatment for. Instead of seeking counseling at the Veteran's Affairs Office, Shepard decided to go back to Vila Militar in Rio de Janeiro to complete his N7 training, believing his near-death experience on Akuze was because of a lack of proper survival skills and tactical insight. He did not contact Anderson or any of the Tokyo crew during this period. Captain Conrad, who was already planning on relinquishing command of the Tokyo, honorably discharged Shepard to give him the time needed to complete his training.
Shepard graduated from ICT as an N7. Upon his graduation, and in recognition of his actions on Akuze, Shepard was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.
Geth crisis[]
Following over a decade of active service, the Systems Alliance commissioned a prototype stealth frigate in joint cooperation with the Turian Hierarchy. Both Shepard and Anderson had left the Tokyo by then, and attended Captain Conrad's retirement ceremony back on Earth. In 2183, Anderson was called to observe the frigate's test drive, which would later be christened as the SSV Normandy SR-1. After disagreements with the Normandy's then-CO, Anderson was promoted as captain of the Normandy. He selected Shepard to serve as his XO.
That same year, the Normandy traveled from Earth's orbit to the Mass Relay at Charon. On board Captain Anderson was in discussion with Admiral Hackett and Ambassador Donnel Udina concerning Commander Shepard's worthiness to become the first human Spectre, an elite agent for the Citadel Council. Meanwhile, the ship and crew were headed to Eden Prime in the Utopia system for their shakedown mission.
Shepard headed to the bridge where Joker, the pilot, guided the ship into the Mass Relay. Because of the presence of Nihlus Kryik, a turian Spectre sent by the Council to observe, and the famed Captain Anderson, several members of the crew thought their true purpose at Eden Prime was far more important than a simple shakedown run. After making the jump, Captain Anderson asked Shepard to come to the comm room for a briefing.
Nihlus addressed Shepard before Anderson joined them. Together they informed the Commander that a Prothean Beacon had been discovered on Eden Prime. Prothean technology had immense scientific value, but since Eden Prime was close to the Terminus Systems, the beacon was at risk from pirates and mercenary bands. This was the Normandy's true objective: recover the beacon. This mission would also be Nihlus' chance to observe Shepard in action, the first of several they were to undertake together to assess Shepard's candidacy for the Spectres.
The briefing was interrupted by a transmission from Eden Prime that Joker patched through. The footage showed Alliance soldiers fighting on the surface, under heavy fire and requesting reinforcements. As Shepard, Anderson and Nihlus watched, they saw a huge dreadnought hanging over the surface. Anderson ordered Shepard to get ready for deployment, acknowledging that the mission had just become more complicated.
Discovering the Beacon[]
Shepard watches Sovereign depart Eden Prime.
As the Normandy touched down on Eden Prime, Cpl. Richard L. Jenkins, Lt. Kaidan Alenko and Commander Shepard prepared to head down to the planet. Nihlus went ahead of the team intending to scout the situation. In the first few minutes on the surface, geth assault drones appeared without warning and shot down Jenkins. Shepard and Alenko continued towards the dig site, discovering one of the few surviving marines, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, who was being chased by geth troopers. Shepard and Alenko helped her fight them off. Williams couldn't explain why the geth were on Eden Prime, but revealed they managed to wipe out her entire unit.
Williams led them to the dig site but the beacon had already been moved to the spaceport. While they examined the nearby camp, the squad ran into a group of Husks, human corpses reanimated by the geth, which they managed to kill. Shaken, they continued towards the spaceport where Nihlus agreed to meet with them. When they finally arrived, the squad discovered Nihlus' dead body, and the same dreadnought they saw earlier lifting up in the air. They encountered a dockworker, who claimed the ship sent out a signal that caused intense headaches. He also saw another turian shoot down Nihlus, but couldn't say who it was.
Shepard's team continued to the tram area where they defeated the last of the geth and disarmed their demolition charges. They found the beacon and called the Normandy for pickup. As she walked closer to examine it, Williams was caught in some sort of field, becoming unable to break free. Shepard intervened but was caught in the field instead and suspended in the air. The Commander suffered a horrific vision—synthetics waging a terrible war—before the beacon exploded. Shepard was hurled back down to the ground, unconscious.
The Citadel[]
Fifteen hours after the Eden Prime attack, Shepard woke up in the Normandy's medical unit, much to the relief of Alenko and Williams. Doctor Chakwas said the Commander was physically okay, but had increased rapid eye movement and unusual beta waves, indicating psychological trauma. Shepard mentioned the vision but was unable to fully explain it. Captain Anderson then briefed Shepard about Saren: a powerful and legendary Spectre but also outspoken against humans. If Saren was in charge of the geth, that meant he had gone rogue, and they had to inform the Council.
Upon arriving at the Citadel, Ambassador Udina tried to convince the Council to remove Saren's rights and privileges as a Spectre, but only succeeded in getting an audience. Shepard, along with Alenko and Williams, continued to the Citadel Tower and met Garrus Vakarian, a turian C-Sec (Citadel Security) officer investigating the charges against Saren. He had not found anything useful: Saren's Spectre status made him untouchable.
The Council audience did not go well. The Alliance had little evidence and Saren—viewing the proceedings from a hologram—openly laughed at Shepard's vision. They needed more to go on. Udina told Shepard to find Harkin, a suspended C-sec officer who could help them find Garrus. Anderson also suggested speaking to Barla Von, a financial expert on the Citadel who worked for the Shadow Broker. Both Garrus and Barla Von pointed Shepard to Fist, a notorious crime lord operating out of Chora's Den. Shepard teamed up with Vakarian, rescuing Dr. Michel from an attack by Fist's thugs. They also recruited Urdnot Wrex, a krogan, on their way to Chora's Den. Upon confronting Fist, he told them that Saren and his thugs were looking for a quarian who held data implicating Saren's relationship to the geth.
Shepard rescued Tali'Zorah nar Rayya, who admitted to be in possession of the evidence against Saren. They brought her back to the Ambassador to present their findings. The evidence she found was an audio file she managed to save from a geth memory core, which had clear evidence Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime. However, the file also hinted that Saren was looking for something called the Conduit with the aid of a powerful asari called Matriarch Benezia, to bring about the 'return of the Reapers'. When the evidence was presented to the Council, Saren was stripped of his Spectre status, but they were reluctant to send a fleet after him to apprehend him. No further interest was shown in the Reapers.
As people in the Chambers watched in amazement, Commander Shepard became the first human Spectre and was tasked with hunting Saren down. Captain Anderson stepped down as Commander of the Normandy and handed the ship over to Shepard, along with some useful leads. There had been reports of geth activity on the planets Noveria and Feros. Also, Matriarch Benezia, Saren's ally, had a daughter named Dr. Liara T'Soni, a Prothean expert who may have had useful information.
Shepard's alien allies pledged their support for the Commander's cause. Tali joined the crew wanting to help fight the geth and prove herself. Both Wrex and Garrus also expressed their desire to join Shepard. After giving the crew a speech aboard the ship, Shepard was now fully in command of the Normandy. Their first lead; find Dr. T'Soni.
Rescue on Therum[]
Shepard finds Dr. Liara T'Soni on Therum.
The Normandy tracked Liara T'Soni to Therum, a mining colony in the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau cluster, but the geth were already on the surface, taking over several refinery facilities and dropping Geth Armatures from overhead.
Shepard led the squad to a mineshaft and down into a Prothean ruin, where they found Liara trapped behind a Prothean barrier curtain. Freeing her, they discovered she was not in league with Saren and had no idea what the Conduit could be. As the squad left the ruined tower with Liara, they were confronted by a Krogan Battlemaster who was leading the geth and managed to defeat him as the unstable ruins began to collapse. They escaped just in time.
During the debrief, Liara explained her expertise was on the Prothean extinction. She had a theory they were not the first civilization to mysteriously vanish, and was amazed by Shepard's story of the Reapers. After a brief rest from the stresses of the day, Liara joined Shepard's crew.
Investigation on Noveria[]
Shepard arrived at Noveria and discovered that Matriarch Benezia recently arrived. She and Saren were investors in Binary Helix, which had a lab up on Peak 15. Benezia had gone there on business. However the lab had since issued a Code Omega signal, meaning there were critical problems, and a blizzard had cut off shuttle access. After collaborating with Noveria Internal Affairs agent Gianna Parasini and Lorik Qui'in, Shepard placed the corrupt Administrator Anoleis behind bars, gaining a garage pass to drive up to Peak 15.
The facility was deserted save for geth and bizarre creatures—revealed to be the supposedly extinct rachni—which had escaped from the labs. Shepard reactivated the station's VI, Mira, and proceeded up to Rift Station looking for Benezia. Rift Station was full of science staff sheltering from the rachni attack; Shepard aided them but was attacked by those loyal to Benezia. The squad found out Binary Helix discovered a rachni egg that turned out to be a queen, and were trying to breed an army from her brood until the rachni turned on them.
Down in the labs through the maintenance area, Shepard found Benezia with the Rachni Queen. The matriarch attacked the squad, but after a fierce battle Benezia managed to overcome the indoctrination that Saren has used to control her, and told Shepard the truth. Saren wanted the location of the lost Mu Relay, and sent her to retrieve it from the queen's genetic memory.
Benezia did not know what else he was planning. She handed the coordinates over to Shepard, parting words with her daughter Liara before inadvertently giving in to the indoctrination. The Commander was forced to kill her. The Rachni Queen spoke to Shepard through the body of one of Benezia's asari commandos, begging to be released. Unwilling to exterminate an entire species, Shepard set her free on the condition that the rachni isolate themselves from the rest of the galaxy. Shepard then left Noveria with Benezia's data and a piece of the puzzle.
Back on the Normandy, after briefing the Council, Shepard went to Liara's quarters to discuss the incident with Benezia. While she initially refused to talk about her, she eventually opened up to Shepard. She expressed comfort in the fact that Benezia tried to stop Saren, and wished to remember her mother as she once was, not as how Saren made her. She also expressed being drawn to Shepard due to his connection to the Protheans. This scientific interest later developed into a genuine attraction.
Terra Nova asteroid crisis[]
Shepard was forced to let Balak go free.
Sometime later, Shepard was contacted by Admiral Hackett, who informed Shepard that a squad of batarian extremists had hijacked the asteroid X57. Shepard went to investigate, revealing that the batarians intended to hurl the asteroid to the colony of Terra Nova. The impact would cause a mass extinction event of unprecedented proportions.
On the asteroid, Shepard was contacted by Kate Bowman, who confirmed the batarians' intent. She was hiding with a handful of other engineers and directed Shepard to disable the large fusion thrusters propelling the asteroid. Shepard navigated through hijacked turrets and batarian terrorist to the first fusion torch. Once he deactivated it, he was accidentally shot by the nervous Simon Atwell. He agreed to help Shepard undermine the terrorists, also requesting him to search for the missing engineers scattered across the asteroid. Simon also revealed that the leader of the terrorists was a batarian called Balak.
After navigating through a field of mines and blast caps, Shepard arrived at the second fusion torch and disabled it. He was phoned again by Bowman, who told him that the batarians were now aware someone was disabling the torches. They were now intending to blow up the entire facility. She was then found and hauled away by Balak, urging Shepard to speed to the rescue.
Upon disabling the third fusion torch, Shepard was approached by Charn, one of Balak's lieutenants. He claimed that blowing up Terra Nova wasn't initially planned, but also said that he had no choice but to follow Balak's command. Shepard reprimanded him on his cowardice, threatening to kill both Charn and every other terrorist on the asteroid. Convinced, Charn revealed Balak's location and left the asteroid with the remainder of his men.
At the main facility, Shepard confronted Balak, who was holding the hostages at gunpoint. Balak explained that his motives were a reprisal for humanity's expansion in the Skyllian Verge, which had doomed batarian society and forced them to live as outcasts. Shepard countered his claims, instead stating that it was the batarians who caused their downfall-not humans. He also brought up Elysium, claiming he and his batarian fellows "ran like cowards". Realizing he cannot realistically escape, Balak set a dilemma for Shepard; allow him to escape, or kill him now and risk the lives of the hostages. Unwilling to let innocent lives be sacrificed, Shepard begrudgingly allowed Balak to escape. To provide himself with some time, Balak set up charges around the facility that Shepard was forced to disarm.
Shepard freed the hostages and the asteroid veered off-course, missing Terra Nova. Bowman thanked Shepard for his help, and Simon regretted Shepard's decision of letting Balak go. Shepard stated that killing Balak and the hostages would have made him stoop to his level, which Simon understood. Upon saving Terra Nova, Shepard departed the asteroid.
Geth on Feros[]
Shepard on Feros.
Drawn to Feros by rogue geth activity, Shepard and the squad arrived at the Zhu's Hope colony, owned by ExoGeni Corporation. The colony had been suffering repeated geth attacks and the settlers there were acting strangely. Shepard cleared the geth for the colonists and took a Mako along the Prothean Skyway to the main geth base. The squad found a small group of colonists who had become separated from the others, led by Juliana Baynham and a nervous ExoGeni rep, Ethan Jeong. Despite their situation these survivors seemed to have been coping better than Zhu's Hope. Before they left, Juliana asked Shepard to look for her daughter Lizbeth, whom she believed was still inside ExoGeni Headquarters.
After making their way inside the ExoGeni Headquarters, Shepard's squad found Lizbeth, scared but alive. From the company VI, Shepard discovered that the corporation has been experimenting with a mind-controlling plant, the Thorian, and that Zhu's Hope was actually a testing ground for ExoGeni to study its abilities. Shepard disabled the force fields that the geth had set up by knocking the geth dropship off the headquarters and returned to the Skyway group. Jeong had received word that ExoGeni wanted Zhu's Hope destroyed. Shepard dealt with Jeong, convincing him to allow ExoGeni to invest in Feros, and headed back to Zhu's Hope to find the Thorian.
Controlled by the Thorian, the colonists attacked Shepard on sight. Thorian Creepers generated by the plant augmented the mind-controlled colonists' forces. Armed with special gas grenades that instantly killed the creepers and harmlessly paralysed the colonists, Shepard incapacitated the colonists before descending beneath Zhu's Hope and confronting the Thorian. It was an enormous creature that looked nothing like a plant. It created an asari clone to speak for it, but only to tell Shepard it was not interested in bargaining with 'meat'. After battling waves of Thorian Creepers and clones, Shepard managed to destroy the Thorian's neural nodes and killed it.
An asari emerged from a Thorian pod, and managed to explain what happened. Shepard learned that Saren sacrificed this asari ally, Shiala, to the Thorian to gain the Cipher. This was the cultural and ancestral experience of the Protheans, which was necessary to understand the vision that the Eden Prime beacon put into Shepard's mind. Freed from the Thorian, Shiala transferred the Cipher to Shepard. With it, once Shepard had time to adjust, the vision would make more sense and hopefully lead them to the Conduit before Saren.
Assault on Virmire[]
Shepard after his fateful decision on Virmire.
The Council contacted Shepard with another possible lead after returning from Feros. A salarian espionage team on Virmire, investigating reports of Saren's activities, had sent a mission-critical transmission that was almost lost in static. Shepard headed to Virmire and met the leader of the salarians, Captain Kirrahe. They found a breeding facility for krogan that Saren was using to create an army.
Kirrahe, realising he was not getting the reinforcements he needed, asked for Shepard's help destroying it and they developed a plan. While the salarians distracted Saren's geth, Shepard would take a team around the back and plant a nuclear device that would wipe out the facility. Kirrahe asked Shepard for a squad member to help him coordinate the attack—Shepard sent Kaidan.
Before embarking on the mission, Wrex became furious with the fact that Shepard was willing to destroy a cure for the genophage, a salarian bioweapon which made krogan breeding next to impossible. Shepard and Wrex pulled guns on each other, leading Shepard to reprimand Wrex and order him to fall in line. After some persuasion, Wrex reluctantly agreed to stay by Shepard's side until Saren was defeated.
Leading the strike team, Shepard reached the facility, but discovered its main purpose was not to breed krogan, but to study Sovereign's horrific indoctrination effect. In Saren's private lab, the team found another Prothean Beacon that gave Shepard another vision, and they were confronted by a hologram of Sovereign itself, which was not a Reaper ship but an actual Reaper. Sovereign revealed that the mass relays and the Citadel were not built by the Protheans, but by the Reapers themselves, allowing organic life to develop along the lines that the machines desired before exterminating them at their apex. It declared Shepard's attempting to stop the Reapers from returning to be futile, before heading towards Shepard's position.
Shepard managed to get the nuke set up across the facility only to get a call that the salarians were being attacked with heavy losses. The commander took a group to help them but as they left, the geth started attacking the nuke site and Shepard had to choose: both Kaidan and Ashley were in trouble and there was no time to save both.
Shepard made the decision to leave Kaidan behind, heading back to the bomb to recover Ashley. Shepard brought reinforcements in, only to be confronted by Saren. He tried to make the commander join his cause but Shepard refused, fighting Saren off. Saren got away and the team boarded the Normandy, escaping Virmire as the nuke destroyed the facility, killing Kaidan.
Mutiny on the Citadel[]
Shepard hijacks the Normandy.
Thanks to the undamaged beacon on Virmire, Shepard's Prothean vision was now complete. During the debrief, Liara touched Shepard's mind to interpret it fully. The vision was a distress call intended to warn the Protheans about the Reapers. Liara realised that the landmarks in the vision were on Ilos, a planet she had studied as part of her Prothean research. Ilos had been impossible to reach because it was only accessible through the Mu Relay, which was why Saren needed the Relay's location from Noveria. After the debrief, Joker had a message for Shepard from the Council: they were putting together a massive multi-species effort to face Saren.
Thrilled the Council were finally taking this seriously, Shepard returned to the Citadel, wanting to personally lead the assault. But once back at the station, Shepard discovered the Council were only putting up a blockade around the Mass Relays to stop Saren reaching the Citadel. Neither they nor Ambassador Udina believed Shepard's story about the Reapers and they refused to send a fleet to Ilos.
The Mu Relay was in the Terminus Systems and a Citadel fleet there could start a war. Shepard knew the Normandy's stealth systems could get them there discreetly, but the Council were getting tired of Shepard's insistence that the Reapers were the real threat. Udina, wanting to make nice with the Council, locked out the Normandy's systems and grounded the ship.
Frustrated, knowing Saren was close to finding the Conduit and they were losing time, almost gave up the pursuit. He was later reassured by Liara, who urged Shepard not to give up their efforts. They almost shared a kiss, until Joker interrupted them with a message from Captain Anderson—asking Shepard for a discreet meeting at Flux.
Anderson believed the Commander's story and knew the Normandy was the only ship that could get Shepard to Ilos. He was going to unlock the Normandy's systems, allowing Shepard to steal the ship and take her to Ilos. Shepard was concerned that Anderson would be arrested and charged with treason—or worse—but Anderson saw his future as a small price to pay for stopping genocide on a galactic scale. Shepard went to the Normandy and waited with Joker on the bridge. With Anderson's help the Normandy's systems were unlocked and they escaped the Citadel, heading to Ilos.
Finding the Conduit[]
The archives of Ilos, where Shepard found Vigil and the Conduit.
While en route to the Mu Relay, Shepard was visited by Liara in his cabin. The two reaffirmed their feelings for each other and eventually spent the night together. Later, Joker announced that they were about to pass through the Mu Relay, and they soon arrived at Ilos. Shepard saw that Saren had already arrived with a fleet of geth ships, though the Normandy's stealth system was keeping them safe for now. Navigator Pressly picked up some readings on the planet confirming Saren's presence. However, they could not find a landing zone. Shepard suggested dropping the Mako but they needed about 100m of open terrain for a safe drop and Pressly could only find at most 20m. Joker insisted that he could do it. The Mako was successfully dropped outside an ancient bunker, but Saren and his geth had already made it inside, shutting a heavy security door behind them.
Shepard looked for ways to get to the other side of the bunker doors. After fighting through the geth left on guard, Shepard and the squad found a security station and reopened the bunker doors. While in the control room, Shepard discovered an ancient Prothean recording which was heavily damaged. The Cipher allowed Shepard to make out some of the words—it was another warning about the Reapers but it was just too broken up. They returned to the Mako and entered the bunker.
After driving past cryogenic stasis pods, all apparently shut down, Shepard saw a mysterious energy barrier. As the Mako reached the barrier, another barrier appeared behind them, trapping the squad inside. The only way out was through a door at the side of the wall. After heading down an elevator, Shepard found an ancient Prothean VI named Vigil, who had information Shepard needed to stop the Reapers.
Vigil unveiled a startling revelation. The Citadel was actually a trap; a huge mass relay linking to dark space, outside of the galaxy, where the Reapers were waiting. The keepers were presumed to be one of the earliest races to be indoctrinated by the Reapers, who set them the task of maintaining the Citadel and activating the Citadel Relay when Sovereign signaled them. It was also revealed that Sovereign was the vanguard of the Reapers. After every Reaper attack, they left behind one of their kind to act as a vanguard and to monitor the development of the galaxy's races. Once the galaxy's races were sufficiently advanced, the vanguard would activate the Citadel Relay and usher in the next genocide.
The reason the Reapers harvested the galaxy of all advanced organic life approximately every 50,000 years was unknown. According to Vigil, not even the Prothean scientists could comprehend why they did it. Vigil theorized that they might be driven by goals that organics found impossible to understand. Once the galaxy was harvested, the Reapers returned to dark space to hibernate and conserve energy. In this state, they were apparently vulnerable, so they always sealed the Citadel Relay behind them.
When the Reapers last attacked about 50,000 years ago, their genocide of the Protheans lasted for centuries. Ilos' personnel hid in cryogenic stasis, watched over by Vigil. However, as his energy reserves ran low, he followed a contingency plan by shutting off pods of non-essential personnel to conserve energy, hoping that when the time was right, he could safely open the pods. In the end, Vigil managed to save a dozen scientists. The few remaining Protheans on Ilos traveled to the Citadel through the Conduit—a small prototype mass relay, built by the Protheans, enabling a one-way link from Ilos to the Relay Monument in Citadel Presidium. The survivors altered the signal that the keepers responded to and prevented them from activating the relay to dark space.
Vigil also explained that if Sovereign assaulted the Citadel alone, the combined power of the Citadel Fleet would be enough to defeat the single Reaper. However, if Sovereign was able to direct an agent to go through the Conduit as a back door and transfer control of the Citadel back to Sovereign, it would be able to manually activate the Citadel Relay and bring in the rest of the Reapers. Sovereign had possibly planned this for centuries after discovering the Protheans' sabotage plan.
Vigil gave Shepard a data file that would give him temporary control of the Citadel to stop Sovereign. After leaving Vigil, Shepard headed through the archives, down into an old aqueduct guarded by geth, and reached the Conduit. Saren had already gone through, leaving geth to stay guard.
Meanwhile, Sovereign began its assault on the Citadel, escorted by a large geth fleet. Matriarch Lidanya, the commander of the Destiny Ascension, attempted to close the Citadel's arms but the station did not respond—the operators at Citadel Control were all dead. The Council were forced to evacuate aboard the Ascension. Saren had begun his attack from within.
Back on Ilos, Shepard saw the Conduit closing fast. Rushing to the Conduit, Shepard evaded the geth in the process and drove the Mako through, just before the relay closed.
On the Presidium, now burning and heavily damaged, two geth troopers noticed a blue glow around the Relay Monument. When they went to take a look, the Mako suddenly bursted through and crushed them, before rolling over and crashing against a wall.
Battle of the Citadel[]
Shepard engages Saren.
Shepard and the team managed to get out of the overturned Mako and used the nearby malfunctioning Avina terminal to get a sit rep. Saren was heading toward the Council Chambers and the whole station was infested with geth. The squad tried taking the elevator to the Citadel Tower, but it stopped halfway when Saren locked down the station's systems. Shepard told the team to suit up and blew out the elevator's glass with a shot. They had to walk the rest of the way in zero gravity with their boots magnetized.
Meanwhile up in the Chambers, Saren—angrily shooting keepers as he went—reached the central console and used it to take control of the Citadel. As Sovereign got closer, crushing the Citadel Fleet ships in its path, Saren closed the Wards, creating an impenetrable shell around the Reaper and the Geth Dropships already inside. Sovereign settled on top of the Citadel Tower, preparing to open the Citadel Relay once Saren transferred full control.
Elsewhere Shepard and the team were fighting for their lives against the geth and Saren's krogan warriors out on the Citadel's exhaust plains, trying to get to the Chambers. A geth dropship appeared and started unleashing shock troopers on them; Shepard activated the Citadel's defense turrets and with their cover fire took the dropship out. Further along they ran into several powerful geth turrets and had to use cover to get close enough to destroy them. Eventually they reached a maintenance hatch that led down into the Council Chambers, now burning and full of Saren's geth. The stairways provided some cover as the team fought towards the central console.
At that moment Saren appeared and threw a grenade. Shepard's team were blown aside while the Commander took cover close to Saren. He urged Shepard not to be a fool—everything was lost if Shepard continued resisting Sovereign. Saren boasted that his faith faltered but Sovereign had implanted him, made him partly synthetic, perfect. This was the future of organic life. Shepard could not believe Saren allowed Sovereign to implant him.
Shepard attempted to talk Saren down—seemingly breaking through his indoctrination. However, Saren's Reaper implants caused the turian intense pain when he began to doubt his beliefs. After a while, Saren thanked the Commander for freeing him before shooting himself in the head. He fell to the bottom of the Chambers, crashing through the glass floor and impaled by a large shard.
Using the central console, Shepard uploaded Vigil's program and gained control of the Citadel. With advice from the team, Shepard opened a communication channel and got Joker, who had the Fifth Fleet just waiting for the Commander's word once the mass relays were unlocked. Shepard was put between choosing to focus on Saren or the Destiny Ascension. Believing the cost of losing the Council was too high, Shepard ordered the Fifth Fleet to save the Ascension. Once the orders were given, Joker brought the Fleet through the nearby mass relay as Shepard opened the Citadel's ward arms.
As the Fleet engaged the ships outside—geth dropships and Sovereign itself—Shepard told the squad to check Saren and make sure he was dead. They dropped down to the bottom of the Chambers—Garrus coldly shot Saren in the head, while Liara confirmed the kill to Shepard. Suddenly Saren's body began to twitch as his implants fired up, burning his flesh away until he was a cybernetic construct like a Husk, completely possessed by Sovereign. The shockwaves from his transformation caused the platform to collapse and for Shepard to fall into the bottom of the Chambers. The squad fought back against the creature, but it was fast and deadly.
Outside, the Normandy was leading the attack against Sovereign. The Reaper unleashed a terrible weapon that burned through several Alliance ships, but the Fleet was slowly getting the upper hand. As the squad finally destroyed the cybernetic creature and it burned away to ashes, Sovereign began to weaken under the Alliance attack and released its grip on the station. A blast from the Normandy was the coup de grace and the Reaper was destroyed.
In the Chambers, Shepard looked up to see a huge piece of debris from the Reaper heading straight for the Tower. The Commander yelled for the squad to take cover, just as it hit.
Shepard stands victorious.
Much later, rescuers entered the Tower looking for survivors. Under a pile of rubble they discovered Shepard's team... two of them, badly wounded but alive. Leading the rescuers, Captain Anderson helped them out, assured them that it's all right, and asked where Commander Shepard is. One of the squad looked sadly across the Chambers, where the Reaper debris had crashed into the floor. It would have crushed anyone standing under it. The rescue team helped the squad out of the Chambers, reluctantly believing Shepard died in the crash. Anderson looked back—to see someone moving. Commander Shepard, with an injured arm, managed to climb out from behind the debris, limped toward them, and smiled.
In gratitude for the sacrifices of the Alliance Fleet and Shepard's help, the Council offered humanity the chance to become a Council race. Shepard nominate either Anderson to be the human representative, since the coming of the Reapers demanded a military expert to fit the role. Before leaving, Shepard pressed the matter concerning the Reapers, stating that now more than ever the galaxy had to stand together. Shepard then left aboard the Normandy, intending to find a way to stop the Reapers.
Death and resurrection[]
Attack on the Normandy[]
The Normandy is destroyed by the Collectors.
One month after the Battle of the Citadel, the SSV Normandy was on patrol to locate and destroy any remaining geth holdouts. At the Terminus Systems, it came under attack from an unknown assailant, its stealth systems ineffective against the massive vessel. The ship suffered extensive damage and numerous casualties, forcing the remaining crew to evacuate via escape pods.
Joker continued to pilot the ship despite the received damage to it. He was rescued by Shepard, who dragged Joker out of his seat and into an escape pod. Before the Commander boarded the escape pod, however, the Normandy was attacked once again and Shepard was sent flying amidst a series of explosions. Debris sliced through Shepard's suit and air vented out. Shepard asphyxiated and died; the Commander's body entered the atmosphere of Alchera and was nearly disintegrated. The remaining crew escaped back to Council space.
Recovering the body[]
Shepard's death sent shockwaves across the galaxy. Both the Alliance and the Council were quick to denounce Shepard's claims about the Reapers, former squadmates who attempted to speak up were quickly and quietly dismissed. Within a month, most had already moved on. Efforts to search for the Normandy's or Shepard's remains proved unsuccessful due to increased pirate activity in the Terminus Systems.
In the wake of Shepard's death, one organization grew interested in reclaiming his body. They were known as Cerberus, a splinter group of the Alliance led by the enigmatic billionaire known only as the "Illusive Man". He sent several agents to look into the Commander's death; including a high-ranking operative known as Miranda Lawson. Lawson later recruited a disgruntled Alliance soldier called Jacob Taylor, successfully convincing him to join Cerberus after revealing their intention of bringing Shepard back to life.
While Cerberus searched fruitlessly across a batarian colony for Shepard's remains, one asari archaeologist decided to do some investigating of her own. Arriving on the space station Omega, Dr. Liara T'Soni encountered a drell known as Feron, who claimed to have a lead on the whereabouts of Shepard's body. While following up on the lead, Feron and Liara encountered a squad of Blue Suns mercenaries working for the Shadow Broker, who had also taken an interest in the Commander. They attempted to fight them off but were eventually cornered by Miranda, who offered to help reclaim Shepard's body. Via hologram, the Illusive Man explained his belief that the Shadow Broker was hired by an enigmatic race called the "Collectors". The reason for their interest, however, was unknown at the time. For Shepard's sake, Liara agreed to help Cerberus.
Feron and Liara spoke to Aria T'Loak, who claimed to know where Shepard was. While initially reluctant, she provided the duo with the information needed. After a tangle with more mercenaries, they encountered a strange race examining Shepard's body: the Collectors. Liara and Feron engaged them and the salarian hitman Tazzik, but they became overwhelmed and Liara had no choice but to board Tazzik's ship and flee, with Shepard's body in tow.
Liara delivered Shepard to a Cerberus facility, where Miranda and her team immediately began working on his body. Liara suggested that bringing Shepard back may not be the right thing to do. Miranda expressed doubts that Shepard could be revived because the body was in worse condition than expected and the stasis container he was kept in was of little help, but said the Illusive Man was more optimistic and willing to devote a considerable amount of resources toward the project. Liara left, realizing she had another friend to help now, and another enemy.
Pursuing the Collectors[]
Awakening[]
Shepard awakes after two years.
Two years after the recovery of his body, Shepard awoke in 2185 aboard the Lazarus Research Station, which was under heavy assault by hacked security mechs. Shepard was woken up by Miranda Lawson, urging him to grab his gear and head towards the facility exit. En route, Shepard's abilities were refreshed, later encountering Jacob Taylor and Miranda's assistant, Wilson. They fought through the mechs to the shuttle bay, where they rendezvoused with Miranda. Immediately after, she shot Wilson dead, claiming he was responsible for the attack on the base. While initially distrustful upon learning that the people he met were Cerberus, Shepard proceeded to escape with them.
On their way to another Cerberus station, Shepard learned he had been dead for two years. They also informed Shepard that he would be meeting with Cerberus' founder and leader, the Illusive Man. Shepard openly voiced his distrust about Cerberus, having seen their twisted experiments firsthand during his investigation into Saren. Additionally, Shepard grew a dislike for Cerberus since they were directly responsible for the tragedy on Akuze. Without much choice, however, Shepard agreed to meet with the Illusive Man.
At the second Cerberus base, Shepard spoke with the Illusive Man through QEC. He revealed to Shepard that human colonies in the Traverse and Terminus Systems were vanishing, believing the Reapers were involved. Shepard did not trust the Illusive Man at first, but relented once he learned about the abductions. The Illusive Man would help Shepard look into the missing colonists, providing him with a new ship and crew. Shepard rejected his proposal at first, opting to use the team that helped him against Saren instead. The Illusive Man explained that they had all moved on by now - even Shepard's lover, Dr. T'Soni. The Illusive Man directed Shepard to Freedom's Progress, the latest of the colonies to be hit.
Freedom's Progress[]
On Freedom's Progress, Shepard and his team encountered Tali'Zorah vas Neema, one of Shepard's former squad members, and discovered that the mysterious insect-like Collectors were behind the attack and were responsible for the further abductions of other human colonies. With Tali's help, they rescued Veetor'Nara, a traumatized quarian who told them that the Collectors abducted the colonists by sending swarms of "insects" to sting them, causing total paralysis.
Shepard reported this to the Illusive Man, who agreed that the Commander needed a highly-skilled crew to take the Collectors down. After the meeting, Shepard was approached by Joker, who revealed to Shepard the 'second' part of the Lazarus Project - a completely new and improved Normandy SR-2. Two faces from the previous ship, Joker and Dr. Chakwas, were revealed to have staffed the new one when Cerberus sought them out. An artificial intelligence, EDI, was also introduced as the Normandy's cyberwarfare suite and overt surveillance mechanism.
With the guidance of the Illusive Man, Shepard began traveling across the galaxy to recruit a new team for what was assumed to be a suicide mission.
Building a Team[]
Before fully committing to gathering his squad, Shepard traveled to the Citadel in an effort to gain the support of the Council. There, he was met by now-Councilor Anderson, who managed to get Shepard an audience. The meeting went poorly as the Council suggested that Shepard's cooperation with Cerberus hinted at treason. They also continued to denounce and mock Shepard's claims about the Reapers. Councilor Tevos offered to reinstate Shepard's Spectre status so long as he remained in the Terminus Systems and did not openly claim allegiance to the Council. Shepard angrily rejected their proposal, causing the Council to warn Shepard not to overstep his bounds. Ambassador Udina reprimanded Shepard for refusing a reinstatement of his Spectre powers, but Shepard paid no mind. From then on, Shepard was considered rogue. On the Citadel, Shepard also encountered Kasumi Goto, an expert thief who was hired by Cerberus to aid Shepard. In exchange for her help, Goto demanded Shepard help her in retrieving a graybox from crime lord Donovan Hock.
The Illusive Man initially provided Shepard with four dossiers regarding potential recruits: a salarian scientist, a mysterious vigilante called Archangel, a krogan warlord, and a powerful but psychotic biotic. The salarian, Mordin Solus, was found on Omega and was working to stop a plague engineered by the Collectors but distributed throughout Omega by the vorcha. The vigilante Archangel was also on Omega, holding out on his own in a battle against three mercenary gangs. After reaching Archangel's hideout, Shepard learned that Archangel was actually Garrus Vakarian, a member from Shepard's squad. Garrus was seriously injured while battling the mercenaries, and, although he was permanently disfigured, survived and joined the team. On Omega, Shepard also recruited Zaeed Massani, a mercenary hired by Cerberus. The krogan warlord, Okeer, was found on Korlus attempting to create the perfect krogan through unethical genetic research. When the warlord was killed, he left his creation, Grunt, under the care of Shepard. The biotic, known as "Subject Zero", was revealed to be a human woman named Jack. Cerberus arranged for her to be purchased from the prison holding her; Shepard traveled to the Purgatory prison ship. Once there, however, Shepard was betrayed by the warden as he attempted to capture Shepard for a bounty. Shepard managed to escape the trap and rescued Jack, who joined the team despite an initial distrust of Cerberus operatives.
After the recruitment of the four persons of interest, the Illusive Man revealed that a human colony called Horizon had come under Collector attack, and he dispatched the team in an attempt to save the colony. He also noted that one of Shepard's surviving crew members, Ashley Williams, was stationed at the colony to oversee the construction of massive defense towers. Shepard arrived with a team and battled the Collectors face-to-face; the group appeared to have arrived too late as half of the colonists had already been taken away. Mordin Solus developed a countermeasure against the Collectors' Seeker swarms, which allowed Shepard's team to explore Horizon unaffected. Shepard's team was able to activate the colony's defense cannons and turn them on the Collector ship, which then fled the planet under heavy fire. Shepard later reunited with Ashley, who expressed betrayal at the thought that Shepard was working with Cerberus. Shepard tried to persuade her, but to no avail. The two departed and not on the best of terms. After returning to the Normandy, it was revealed that the Illusive Man allowed the Collectors to attack Horizon by leaking a tip to the Alliance that Shepard was alive and working with Cerberus. The Collectors intercepted this message and attacked the colony. The Illusive Man suspected the Collectors were looking for Shepard or people connected to Shepard. It soon became clear that the Collectors were targeting Shepard.
Shepard was later provided with dossiers on three more potential recruits: an asari Justicar, a drell assassin, and Tali. Shepard found the Justicar, Samara, on Illium. She joined the team after Shepard investigated the Eclipse mercenary group and its involvement in a murder. The drell assassin, Thane Krios, was also found on Illium and was in the midst of completing an assassination contract on Nassana Dantius. After learning of Thane's next target, Shepard fought resistances along the way to the top floor of the tower complex where the target was located. Shepard encountered Thane, who successfully dispatched his target and joined the team, as Shepard could provide him with a purpose. Tali was found on a geth-occupied quarian colony world, Haestrom, where she was researching the system's rapidly dying sun. After she was rescued from an immense geth force with help from Migrant Fleet Marine Kal'Reegar, she agreed to join Shepard.
Investigating the Collector Ship[]
Ever since meeting Ashley on Horizon, Shepard started to gravitate more closely to Cerberus and their ideals, feeling slighted by how the Alliance and the Council pushed him aside in order to cover up the rumors about the Reapers. Shepard's status as a rogue Spectre also made him somewhat of an outcast in Council space, with many feeling conflicted about Shepard's latest return. Sometime later, the Illusive Man informed Shepard that a turian patrol engaged a Collector ship and managed to disable it before being destroyed, creating an opportunity to investigate the ship before either the turians or the Collectors responded. The Illusive Man requested the team to find any data or technology that could help them on their mission. Upon boarding the ship, Shepard discovered many empty Collector pods, as well as the bodies of dead human colonists, apparently subjected to various experiments by the Collectors. Shepard then learnt that the Collectors had also been experimenting on their own, with EDI saying that they appeared to be researching their own genetic similarity to humans. EDI's genetic analysis of the deceased Collectors revealed that they were in fact the long extinct Protheans, having been subjected to extensive genetic modification to alter them for the Reapers' purposes.
As Shepard proceeded deeper into the ship, Joker discovered that it was in fact exactly the same Collector vessel responsible for the attack on Horizon and the destruction of the original Normandy, which Shepard remarked was far too uncanny to be coincidence. When Shepard's team reached the center of the ship, they discovered that it contained millions of empty pods, more than enough to hold every human in the Terminus Systems, thus indicating that their ultimate target must be Earth. Shepard was able to link EDI with the Collector ship's systems in order to search for any useful information, but she was quickly interrupted as she discovered that the ship was not disabled; the Collectors had drawn the Normandy into a trap. EDI also revealed that the Illusive Man knew of the trap all along but still sent Shepard and the Normandy to the ship in order to gain information. Shepard and the squad fought their way out and escaped from the ship on the Normandy before the Collector vessel could bring its weapons to bear.
After escaping, Shepard demanded answers from the Illusive Man, who freely admitted to the deception. He claimed it was necessary in order for the Collectors to believe they have the upper hand: telling Shepard about it would have tipped the Collectors off. Shepard warned the Illusive Man not to stake his or his crew's life in such a way ever again. After talking his way out of the argument, the Illusive Man revealed the data gathered by EDI had led to the discovery of the Collectors' means of traversing the Omega-4 Relay: an advanced Reaper IFF system. EDI was able to calculate the location of the Collector homeworld from their ship's navigational data, and revealed it to be within the galactic core, an extremely dangerous area, which likely accounted for the fact that no ships ever returned from the other side of the Omega-4 Relay.
The mission aboard the Collector ship created a division between Shepard and the Illusive Man, who were now beginning to distrust each other.
Project Overlord[]
Cerberus later contacted Shepard about a situation developing on Aite in the Phoenix Massing nebula, the home of Project Overlord. A rogue VI had overrun the facility and severed all contact. Shepard and a team went there investigate, learning from the project's director, Dr. Gavin Archer, that Overlord was intended to find a breakthrough in communicating and hopefully controlling the geth. The rogue VI in question was developed to facilitate such control. Dr. Archer admitted that the project went haywire and the VI attempted to hack communication systems to spread its virus onto other computers galaxy-wide. After stopping this from happening. Dr. Archer directed Shepard to Atlas Station where the VI was housed. However, it was currently under lockdown, and security needed to be lifted at the Prometheus and Vulcan Stations. Archer also revealed that the VI in question was built from the mind of his brother, David, a mathematical and autistic savant.
Using the M-44 Hammerhead which he had acquired earlier from Cerberus, Shepard proceeded to the two stations to override the security lockdown. Vulcan Station, the facility's thermonuclear plant, was overrun by hacked security mechs. Shepard fought through them and lifted the lockdown, proceeding to Prometheus Station. Prometheus was the site of a downed geth vessel, housing several dormant or inactive geth. As Shepard lifted the lockdown, the VI hacked the geth and activated them, forcing Shepard and the team to fight through to the exit. Once out, Shepard proceeded to Atlas Station to disable the VI.
At Atlas Station, the VI revealed that David's unique mathematical gifts allowed him to communicate with the geth's binary "language". The Illusive Man pressured Dr. Archer to find a breakthrough, and so he forcefully inserted David into the geth consensus. David's mind could not handle it and he started going rogue. At the VI Core, Shepard found David hooked up to the virtual intelligence, pleading him to make the loud noises stop. Shepard confronted Dr. Archer, who admitted hooking up David to the geth against his will because the Illusive Man grew impatient with the lack of results. Enraged, Shepard pistol-whipped Archer and suspended the project, rescuing David and sending him to Grissom Academy. The revelation of David's treatment further exacerbated Shepard's dislike towards the Illusive Man, eventually coming to regret working with him.
Obtaining the Reaper IFF[]
Shepard escapes the derelict Reaper with the IFF and Legion.
The Illusive Man revealed that Cerberus had located a derelict Reaper orbiting a remote planet, evidently destroyed millions of years beforehand, and sent a science team there to recover an IFF transponder. Contact had been lost with the expedition there, and the Cerberus head would like Shepard's team to go there and find out what happened. During the course of the investigation, Shepard discovered that the Cerberus science team members had all been killed before their arrival. Video logs left by the science team made it evident that even though the Reaper was no longer sentient or functional, the indoctrination effect that emanated from all Reapers was still present. The derelict ship automatically activated its shields, isolating Shepard's team from the Normandy and thus making their only means of escape to destroy the ship's power core, which was also powering the ship's latent mass effect fields and preventing it from plunging into the planet below. Battling their way through the Husks on board, Shepard and the team were assisted by a single geth platform, somehow able to talk and also apparently friendly. Shepard and the team recovered the IFF and fought to the core of the ship, where the mysterious geth assisted them once again before being disabled. As the Reaper's core was destroyed, its shields disappeared and Shepard's team were able to escape to the Normandy before crashing into the planet, along with the disabled geth. Following the mission, Shepard chose to activate the geth unit. Once activated, it was named Legion by EDI due to geth's gestalt consciousness, and it joined the Commander and his team.
Shortly after, Shepard departed with the recruited members on a shuttle towards their next mission as the Normandy prepared the IFF for testing in their absence. However, EDI discovered a hidden signal after activating the IFF, and realized that the IFF was broadcasting the Normandy's position. This turned out to be another trap set by the Collectors, as their ship was able to surprise the Normandy with Shepard's entire team absent. Collectors boarded and seized control of the ship, and Joker was forced to remove EDI's behavioral locks to enact countermeasures—a potentially dangerous move. After successfully regaining control of the ship, EDI managed to pilot the Normandy away from the Collectors and purged the ship of all enemies, but the entire crew barring Joker was taken by the Collectors. Upon returning to the ship, Shepard's hand was forced—he had to go through the Omega-4 relay immediately to rescue the Normandy crew members.
Beyond the Relay[]
Shepard, with Mordin Solus and Garrus Vakarian at the Collector Base.
Eventually, Shepard decided to travel through the Omega 4 Relay. Upon exiting the far side of the relay, the Normandy appeared in the midst of a vast debris field containing the wreckage of thousands of ships, presumably all destroyed attempting to traverse the relay. The Collectors had stationed automated defenses in the debris field, each known as an Oculus, which the Normandy fought off. Hull breaches enabled one Oculus to maraud inside the Normandy's cargo bay, necessitating defensive action from Shepard and a squad. After defeating the Oculus and reaching the far side of the debris field, the Normandy discovered the Collector Base, a giant space station orbiting a black hole. The Collector Cruiser was dispatched from the station, and the Normandy engaged and destroyed it, but as it exploded the blast crippled the Normandy causing it to crash-land on the outer surface of the base. Due to several upgrades installed by Shepard, the Normandy remained relatively intact with no casualties.
Shepard and the team entered the station and battled their way through the Collectors to the station's core, rescuing the surviving Normandy crew as they went. Shepard's decisive leadership allowed the team to proceed through the base with little difficulty. Upon reaching the heart of the station, they discovered that the Collectors had been constructing a new human-like Reaper, made from the genetic material of the abducted humans and fused with the advanced technology of the Reapers. EDI hypothesized that the Reapers attempted and failed to create a Prothean-Reaper, and instead enslaved them and turned them into the Collectors, and that they were now facilitating the Reaper equivalent of reproduction. EDI also guessed that due to its human appearance, Reapers were crafted to resemble the race from whose genetic material they were created. Shepard targeted the weak supports of the contraption, which was in the very early stages of its construction, and it was seen collapsing into the lower confines of the area. Shepard then set about with the plan to destroy the station.
At this point, the Illusive Man contacted Shepard and suggested that instead, use a radiation pulse be employed to kill all of the Collectors on board, but keep the station intact to allow Cerberus to research its technology. The Illusive Man noted that any information obtained from the Collector Base would be very valuable in the coming war against the Reapers, in addition to strengthening humanity's position in the galaxy against other races. Unwilling to let Collector and Reaper technology fall into Cerberus hands, Shepard chose to destroy the station. The Illusive Man ordered Miranda to stop Shepard from destroying the base. However, Miranda, seeing the Illusive Man as a power-hungry madman, chose to follow Shepard over the Illusive Man by resigning from Cerberus.
Upon arming the bomb and starting the countdown, the Human-Reaper resurfaced from the depths of the station and attacked Shepard's team. After Shepard and the team destroyed the Reaper, the surviving squad members escaped to the Normandy and fled the station. Seconds before the station's destruction, Harbinger abandoned the Collectors to their fate, berating them for their failure and declaring that the Reapers "will find another way." Aboard the Normandy, Shepard conversed with the Illusive Man a final time, who was extremely angry with him. Shepard cut him off, ordering him to stay out of his way. From then on, Shepard decisively cut ties with Cerberus.
Lair of the Shadow Broker[]
Investigation[]
Following her past adventure in recovering Commander Shepard's corpse and delivering it to Cerberus, Liara T'Soni had been actively gathering intelligence on the Shadow Broker in an attempt to track him down and avenge Feron's supposed death. After freeing himself from Cerberus, Shepard returned to Illium to reunite with his old flame, and with the intent of passing along intel he had received from Cerberus Information Processing about the Shadow Broker's supposed whereabouts.
Upon meeting Liara, the two embrace and reconnect about their activities ever since the attack on the Normandy. Shepard provided Liara with the information about the Shadow Broker and at first, Liara was seemingly delirious about the information, for it appeared to hint on the Shadow Broker's true location. In addition, the message contained information that Liara's former drell partner was actually still alive and was probably being held hostage by the Shadow Broker. After a short conversation on the subject with the Commander, Liara left her office and told Shepard to meet her at her apartment.
The Commander arrived at the apartment finding it full of Illium police investigating the place. The asari Spectre with them, Tela Vasir, dismissed the cops as Shepard entered the apartment. In response to Shepard's question regarding the unexpected investigation, Vasir explained there had been an attempt on Liara's life. Vasir was unsure of Liara's current location and she was unsuccessful in finding any clues; she invited Shepard to further search the apartment for clues.
Eventually, Shepard found what appeared to be a backup disk, which was then played by Vasir and the Commander. The disk was found to contain a recorded conversation between Liara and a salarian contact by the name of Sekat, who explained that he had managed to pinpoint the Shadow Broker's location, and asked Liara to come to his office at Baria Frontiers in the Dracon Trade Center. Now that they had what they were looking for, Vasir and Commander Shepard traveled to their next destination at Baria Frontiers.
Betrayal[]
Just as the team arrived at the Dracon Trade Center, the three floors of the building were taken out by a sudden explosion, presumably an attempt to prevent Liara from receiving the information sought from Sekat. Vasir suggested that the Commander and the squad proceed inside while she took off to the roof in order to seal off the building from the top. As Shepard and the squad entered the building, they found it to be a chaotic mess with dead bodies and wounded civilians all over the place. Tela maintained contact with Shepard to guide the Commander through. As Shepard proceeded to the upper floors into the Baria Frontiers Office, the Commander found a clue that Liara had just signed in a few minutes ago, confirming that Liara was indeed in the building. Proceeding inside the office room for further exploration, Shepard and the team were blinded by a flash grenade, followed by a wave of enemies who immediately scattered around the area and open fire. Shepard quickly radioed Vasir regarding the ambush, who informed the Commander that they were the Shadow Broker's private army. With no choice to fall back, Shepard and the team returned fire, slowly but surely making their way through the small hallways of the destroyed office.
Eventually, Shepard and the squad reached their destination, where they saw Sekat's dead body after he was shot by a Shadow Broker agent, who was then shot by Vasir herself. Vasir asked the Commander about Liara's body, and if Shepard located it. However, Liara emerged from the shadows, wielding her pistol at Vasir. Liara explained to Shepard that Vasir tried to assassinate her, broke into her apartment, and was the one that signaled the Shadow Broker's agents. She also remarked that Vasir was the one who killed Sekat and took his data, which was currently in her possession, revealing that Vasir was, after all, an undercover Shadow Broker operative. Exposed, Vasir shattered the glass with her biotics and made a run for it.
Shepard tried to tackle Vasir before she jumped out the now-broken window but failed to do so, causing the Commander to fall to the floor while Liara proceeded to chase Vasir, not bothering to look back at Shepard and the squad. Shepard was then attacked by more enemies emerging from the nearby Eldfell-Ashland Energy office who attempted to slow down the Commander so that Vasir could get away. Shepard and the team continued to fight their way through the resistance while pursuing Vasir out of the building. When they exited the building, the team found Liara exchanging fire with Vasir at the parking lot. It did not take long before Vasir called her X3M and quickly jumped into it to fly away. Nonetheless, Liara found a nearby vehicle, which she and Shepard used to chase Vasir through the skies of Illium. Vasir's skycar crashed on the roof of the Azure Hotel. Bleeding badly and limping, she still gained a considerable distance as numerous reinforcements arrived in waves to engage the pursuing Shepard and Liara.
After the battle on the roof, Shepard and Liara continued running inside and emerged to the other side of the roof. They spotted Vasir's footsteps and followed them until they reached Vasir and aimed their pistols at her, hoping she would surrender. Even though she was badly injured, Vasir grabbed a random hostage to use as leverage against Shepard and Liara. The situation was quickly dealt with and the hostage escaped, but Vasir, not about to give up just yet, started attacking the squad with everything she had. At the end of the battle, Vasir dropped to the floor, allowing Liara to pick up the data disk. Vasir protested to Shepard's remarks she sold out the Council, insisting she was nothing like Saren. She firmly believed in sacrificing a few for the greater good, as she claimed her work with the Shadow Broker helped her save lives and kept the Citadel safe. She also brought up the Commander's involvement with Cerberus and tried to judge Shepard for it, before she took her last breath.
Shepard then headed back to Liara, who was examining the disk, to have a conversation with her, which, among other things, involved the Shadow Broker's intention of wanting to kill Liara all along and at any cost. Shepard also brought up their previous romance, to which Liara explained that she mourned him for two years and it was difficult to put all those grieving years aside. In any case, with the data in their possession, Shepard and Liara traveled to the Shadow Broker's location for their primary objective.
Assault on the Shadow Broker[]
Shepard with Liara T'Soni and Garrus Vakarian on Hagalaz, confronting the Shadow Broker.
The data obtained revealed that the Shadow Broker settled on the planet Hagalaz, in the Sowilo System of the Hourglass Nebula. Specifically, the Shadow Broker lived aboard a massive ship that traveled through the thick, erratic atmosphere of Hagalaz. Shepard, Liara, and Garrus took the shuttle from orbit down to the planet. Liara provided Shepard with valuable input on the planet's atmosphere, the ship, and the general plan of the mission. First, they had to find a hatch that led to the inside of the ship, where Feron was held. The shuttle landed, and Shepard and the team began finding their way for a hatch to get inside. The weather was dreadful, and the layout of the ship's exterior wasn't exactly easy to navigate through, but they proceeded anyway. Shortly following their touchdown, the team was engaged by maintenance drones, which Liara presumed was because the drones thought the team was debris from the storm. After that, troops from the Broker's army started coming and attacking the squad as they advanced through. Shepard and the team continued advancing until they reached a door that allowed them in. However, the door was locked, but Liara tried to hack it with a certain hacking device, which she said would take a while before the door was completely hacked open. Waiting for the door to open, the team had to defend the position from numerous waves of Shadow Broker forces. Eventually, the door was successfully hacked and they ran inside.
As the team made their way inside, more troops were encountered. Liara remarked she had downloaded the ship's layout, saying that they were heading towards the prison block, where Feron was supposedly located. Continuing to the prison block and fighting their way through, the team reached a locked door that led directly to where Feron was. They bypassed the door and entered to find Feron. Liara attempted to release the drell, but instead, he was shocked. Feron explained that his current status made him unable to be pulled out, otherwise his brain would fry. Shepard stated that this "looked too easy" and asked Feron regarding the Shadow Broker, but unfortunately, Feron could not say much, either, since even that got him shocked. At this point, Liara and Shepard decided that their only option was to confront the Shadow Broker himself and put an end to all this. They walked out the prison block, facing more enemies along the way. At last, they made it to the Shadow Broker's office.
Storming the Shadow Broker's office, where he calmly awaited them behind his desk, Shepard and the team found that the Shadow Broker was a species never encountered before. Not bothering to get up, the Broker coldly asked if Shepard and Liara were here for Feron, noting Shepard's actions were reckless even considering the Commander's history. After a brief word exchange between Shepard and the Broker, Liara demanded Feron, to which the Broker responded by reminding Liara that her own actions are what caused this to Feron. The Broker announced his intention to use the Normandy SR-2's IFF to salvage remaining Collector technology. The Broker also noted Garrus' past as Archangel and how his head was still valuable to some parties. while arrogantly disregarding Liara, telling her that he knew all her secrets. In response, Liara identified the Broker as a yahg, likely taken from his homeworld as a trophy or pet, when he ended up killing the original Shadow Broker and taking his place some sixty years ago. This enraged the Broker, causing him to smash his desk and throw it at the three people standing in front of him. Garrus was knocked out, leaving Liara and Shepard against the Broker. The two relied on each other to fight the giant yahg, in what seemed like an unwinnable battle at first. At some point during the fight, Liara suggested that Shepard distract the Shadow Broker while she prepared for an attack. As soon as Shepard provided the distraction, Liara used her biotics to pull down the liquid in the above tank straight onto the Broker, which caused the Broker's barrier to malfunction and explode, ultimately destroying him for good.
A New Broker[]
A momentary comm glitch from the battle caused the Broker's agents to radio his office asking for immediate updates on the situation. At first, Liara seemed overwhelmed and unsure what to do. Then, she moved toward the panel and responded to the agents using the Shadow Broker's voice modification to avoid exposing herself: the situation was under control, and it was merely a hardware problem that disrupted communications. Liara ended the message by ordering all agents to resume standard procedures and to report an update on all operations within one solar day. Feron came to the room and quickly pulled his pistol before he realized everything has been dealt with. Liara explained that she was now the new Shadow Broker, believing that it was something she has to do. Feron left with the just-revived Garrus to check on the power system, leaving Liara and Shepard by themselves.
Shepard comforted a crying Liara with a hug and a kiss, who was happy that her revenge was finally over after two years' worth of struggling. Liara thanked Shepard for what the Commander has helped her accomplish and assured that Shepard was welcome any time. The Shadow Broker's resources became available to Shepard. Feron stayed with Liara to help around while he recovered. Along with everything else the former Broker owned, Liara assumed ownership of the yahg's Info Drone, which referred to any organic within its range as "Shadow Broker". In a subsequent conversation, Liara remarked that her role as the Shadow Broker would likely play a key role in the upcoming war against the Reapers. She also provided Shepard with additional insight on the Shadow Broker's plans and what he knew. Shepard asked her about Feron, who was now residing with Liara. Later, Shepard invited Liara to the Normandy for a catch up.
In Shepard's cabin, Liara remarked on the new Normandy's design and how she ran into the new crew and Joker. She gave Shepard his old military tags which she recovered from his body, then asked Shepard about his state of mind. Shepard aired his frustrations about being stonewalled by the Council and Liara comforted him, mentioning how everyone on Horizon would have died if not for him. Shepard remained conflicted, but yet hopeful that things would get better. The two then spoke about their relationship, to which Shepard hoped they could live happily ever after with a few "little blue children". Liara expressed her fear that Shepard would perish in the battle to come—as he had done before—demanding a promise that he would always come back. Shepard claimed it would be a "big promise to make", and afterwards the two spend the night together—their relationship rekindled.
The Arrival[]
Hackett's Favor[]
Admiral Hackett contacted Shepard to ask for help rescuing Dr. Amanda Kenson, an Alliance deep-cover operative in batarian space who had come across evidence that a Reaper invasion was imminent. Hackett explained that Kenson was recently captured by batarians and charged with terrorism. Wanting to avoid a diplomatic incident with the Batarian Hegemony, Hackett requested Shepard go in solo and rescue the scientist as a favor. Shepard agreed to help and used coordinates given by Hackett to travel to the batarian prison on the planet Aratoht where Kenson was being held.
Landing outside the prison, Shepard made it past several security measures and prison guards. Shepard located Kenson in the middle of an interrogation and freed her. Shepard and Kenson fought past more guards and escaped the planet on a batarian shuttle. On the way to Kenson's team's base, she revealed that she and her team had entered batarian space to investigate rumors of Reaper technology orbiting on the fringes of the Bahak system. The team discovered a Reaper artifact they dubbed "Object Rho" hidden in the asteroids near the system's mass relay, and learned from it that the Reapers were rapidly approaching. The Reapers could use the system's mass relay, the "Alpha Relay", to strike anywhere in the galaxy.
Kenson and her team started what they called "the Project" to prevent this from happening. Their plan was to hurl a large asteroid at the Alpha Relay and destroy it, delaying the Reapers' plans by months or even years as they are forced to find another relay. A consequence of this plan would be that the relay's supernova-like explosion would obliterate the Bahak system and kill the 300,000 inhabitants of Aratoht. Since the stakes were so high, Shepard insisted on seeing Kenson's evidence first. Kenson agreed and informed her team at the Project Base that she and Shepard were en route.
Object Rho[]
At the Project Base, Shepard noticed a numeric readout above the hangar gateway. Kenson said that the readout was a countdown to the Reapers' arrival; in two days, the Reapers would be at the Alpha Relay. The countdown itself was based on pulses emitted by Object Rho. The pulses were reactions to the Reapers' proximity and the intervals between them had been decreasing steadily. In little over 48 hours, the pulses would become constant and the Reapers will have arrived. As Kenson led Shepard to Object Rho, she explained that "the Project" was ready to go. The team hadn't been debating if it could be carried out, but rather if it should be. The Reapers would arrive regardless, but without the shortcut that the Alpha Relay provided, they would be forced to spend months or even years more traveling to another relay.
At the lab, Kenson presented Object Rho to Shepard. The Commander became wary after seeing that the Reaper artifact was sitting in the open. Kenson told Shepard to wait for the artifact to show Shepard a vision which would prove that the invasion was real. Shepard was overcome with the vision, which showed dozens of Reapers speeding towards a mass relay. Suddenly, Kenson pulled a gun on Shepard and said she couldn't let the Commander stop the Reapers; Kenson and her team had been indoctrinated by Object Rho. Shepard disarmed Kenson, who escaped and locked Shepard in the chamber as it was swarmed with guards. Shepard fought as long as possible, but was eventually incapacitated.
Countdown[]
Shepard awakened two days later in a medical lab in Project Base, to the surprise of the monitoring medic. Shepard disabled two guards, but was locked in the room by the medic. At a nearby terminal, the Commander gained control of a LOKI Mech outside, which he used to kill the scientist and break the mechanism that sealed off the room. Shepard suited up and advanced through the Project Base, intending to complete "the Project" before the Reapers arrived in less than two hours. The Commander fought through Kenson's indoctrinated security guards to reach the control center and prepared to activate the Base's engines. After being warned by the Base's VI that initiating the Project would kill all of the Bahak system's 304,942 colonists, Shepard confirmed the order, but failed to warn the colonists in time. The engines fired, and the asteroid accelerated toward the Alpha Relay. Dr. Kenson interrupted Shepard's attempt to access communications, threatening to overload the Base's fusion core to stop the Project.
Getting to the core, Shepard had to manually initiate cooling systems to stop Kenson's crazed plan. In the core chamber, Kenson lamented not being able to hear the Reapers' whispers any more and witness their coming to the galaxy. When she raised a bomb detonator, Shepard shot Kenson in the chest but, regardless, Kenson still pressed the button, which incapacitated Shepard. When Shepard recovered, the asteroid was now minutes away from colliding with the Alpha Relay. Commander Shepard raced to the Project Base's shuttle landing pads to escape, but was too late; the last of the shuttles lifted off and sped away, leaving behind other Project personnel. Shepard eliminated them and found a communications uplink nearby.
While calling the Normandy, Harbinger appeared via a hologram projector and told Shepard that the fall of the galaxy's civilization was inevitable. Before disconnecting, Harbinger warned Shepard to "Prepare for the Arrival." The Normandy made its approach and Shepard landed a running jump into the airlock. Seconds before the asteroid hit, the Normandy escaped the Bahak system through the relay. As anticipated, the relay was destroyed and the explosion obliterated the system.
Consequences[]
Shepard after the destruction of the Bahak system.
Sometime later, Admiral Hackett boarded the Normandy to debrief Commander Shepard in person. Hackett wanted Shepard to explain why a simple rescue mission ended with the destruction of a batarian system. Shepard confirmed that Dr. Kenson's proof of the Reaper invasion was real, and the invasion had been only days away. The Commander had no choice but to destroy the Alpha Relay, despite how this would doom the batarian colonists.
Hackett was satisfied by Shepard's story, saying he would give him a medal for this, but revealed that tensions between the Systems Alliance and the Batarian Hegemony were running high; the batarians might start a war over Shepard's actions. Before leaving, Hackett warned that at some point, Shepard would have to face trial over this incident on Earth. Nearly a week after the incident, Shepard announced to his team that with the Collectors gone and their ties to Cerberus severed; there was no point staying with the Normandy. The team disbanded, and Shepard relinquished command of the Normandy to the Alliance and was almost immediately placed into custody upon arriving on Earth. Shepard's actions in the Bahak system would forever dub him the "Butcher of Bahak".
Numerous protests arose across batarian and human space demanding Shepard's conviction, also noting his allegiance to Cerberus. While the Alliance tried its best to delay a trial, Hackett knew that a sentencing would come about regardless; Shepard was a useful scapegoat to avoid war with the batarians.
The Reaper War[]
Fall of Earth[]
Shepard on Earth after the attack of the Reapers.
Six months had passed since the destruction of Bahak and Commander Shepard's voluntary return to the Alliance. The Commander had been relieved of command and detained in a Systems Alliance facility in the city of Vancouver on Earth. Without warning, Alliance deep space outposts beyond Sol began to go dark. Admiral Steven Hackett, the head of the Alliance military, had begun to prepare for an imminent invasion. Admiral David Anderson, who retired as Councilor in favor of Donnel Udina, arrived in Vancouver and escorted Commander Shepard with Lieutenant James Vega to a meeting with an Alliance defense committee. Shepard confirmed their worst fears: the Reapers had returned to the galaxy and were on their way to Earth.
At that moment, contact was lost with Luna Base and news reports began to surface of an unknown alien force landing in Earth's cities. The Reapers had already arrived. A Reaper capital ship then descended through the clouds over Vancouver and blasted the Alliance building, killing the defense committee and Alliance staff. Shepard and Anderson survived and contact Ashley Williams, telling her to get to the Normandy.
As Shepard and Anderson made their way from building to building to get to the spaceport, Anderson told Shepard that they had to get to the Citadel and seek help from the Council. They reached a comm set near a crashed gunship and hailed the Normandy to evacuate. After holding off an attack from Cannibals, the Normandy bombed the area clear of attackers. As Shepard boarded the ship, Anderson informed the Commander that he would stay behind to lead the resistance, and handed over Shepard's dog tags. Shepard protested, but Anderson charged Shepard with getting as much help as possible to save Earth and stop the Reapers.
As the Normandy lifted off, Shepard witnessed a child running to an Alliance evacuation area and boarding a shuttle. As the shuttles took off, a Reaper destroyer emerged from behind a cluster of buildings and targeted the shuttles, killing those who were aboard including the child. Distraught, Shepard stepped away from the open shuttle bay doors of the Normandy, and the ship escaped Earth as more Reapers and the wreckage of Alliance ships rained down upon the planet.
Mission to Mars[]
Shortly after escaping Earth, Shepard received a communication from Admiral Steven Hackett, ordering the commander to the Prothean Archives on Mars, where humanity first discovered mass effect technology. Hackett insisted that Liara T'Soni had found there what might be the only way to defeat the Reapers.
Upon arrival, Shepard, James and Ashley took the shuttle down to the planet, receiving a warning from EDI that the base was not responding. They soon discovered the reason why upon witnessing Cerberus soldiers executing Alliance personnel; the group fought their way through the enemy, inferring from the small size of the Cerberus force that they must have had help from the inside. Ashley was also surprised Shepard was unaware of this, given their past association with Cerberus, and was unwilling to believe they cut ties with the extremist organisation following their defeat of the Collectors.
After entering the station and arriving in time to witness Liara biotically overpower and execute her pursuers, Liara explained why Hackett sent them to find her; she had found in the Archives blueprints for a Prothean device that could allow them to turn the tide against the Reapers. Unfortunately, Cerberus had learned of it too, and now they had to hurry to recover the necessary information before Cerberus did. Sending James back to the shuttle to secure their escape route and prevent Cerberus from doing so, Shepard, Ashley and Liara fought their way through the station to the main Archive, discovering along the way the identity of the traitor in the station: Dr. Eva Coré, supposedly a recently arrived researcher, but in truth a mole who sabotaged the station's defences to allow Cerberus entry.
Reaching the Prothean Beacon at the heart of the Archives, the Illusive Man contacted them by hologram, mocking the Alliance for failing to take advantage of the wealth of information the Protheans left behind and commenting that Shepard was fighting a losing battle. He also explained his new motivation: to find a way to control the Reapers and thus use their power to advance humanity to a new level of evolution and above the other races. Deriding the Illusive Man's plan as madness, Shepard vowed to use the information to destroy the Reapers and dismissed the Illusive Man's warning not to interfere in Cerberus's plans.
The group then encountered Dr. Coré, who had been trying to upload information on the Prothean device, but her upload was interrupted by the squad and she tried to flee. Although Coré was able to reach a Cerberus shuttle, James disabled it with a kamikaze attack before it could escape, having also alerted the Normandy to extract the squad. Coré, revealed to be an android by the explosion, emerged from the wreckage and attacked, critically injuring Ashley before being disabled by Shepard. The Normandy arrived to extract the team just as Reaper forces began landing on Mars. Having escaped Mars, Shepard forwarded information on the Prothean device to Hackett, ordered Liara and EDI to begin extracting intel from the android and ordered the Normandy to the Citadel.
Uniting the Galaxy[]
Shepard thinks on his next move.
Upon arrival at the Citadel, Ashley was taken for medical treatment at the nearest hospital and Shepard conveyed to a meeting with the Council. Despite Udina's insistence that Earth was bearing the brunt of the attack and needed the most help, the asari Councilor succinctly summed up their view: while the Reapers focused on Earth, the other races had time to regroup and build up their own defenses. The Council was also unimpressed by the Prothean device, insisting it must be flawed as it failed to save the Protheans from extinction at the hands of the Reapers, but Liara explained that a missing component referred to as "the Catalyst" prevented its completion. All was not entirely lost for Earth, however: the salarian Councilor informed Shepard of a war summit they were convening to properly organise their strategy against the Reapers, and that whatever the summit decided would give the final word on the deployment of Council forces.
Upon departing the meeting, Shepard and Udina were met in the human Councilor's office by the turian Councilor, who explained that Palaven's ruler, Primarch Fedorian, was to head the war summit, but didn't escape the system before the Reapers arrived. He requested that the Normandy extract him from his current location on Palaven's moon Menae, explaining that Fedorian would be a useful ally in accruing support for Earth. Before leaving, the Councilor informed Shepard that the Council had agreed to reinstate his Spectre status, granting him the benefits of the position.
The Normandy entered the turian home system to find Palaven and Menae under heavy attack by the Reapers, with the turian military under immense pressure and taking heavy losses. Upon landing on the moon at a turian base, Shepard learned from the commanding officer that Primarch Fedorian was dead, having been killed an hour before Shepard's arrival and they had no idea who had succeeded him because their communications with Palaven Command had been cut. Fighting through swarms of Husks to the comm tower and repairing it, the group soon learned that General Adrien Victus, a popular military commander with "a reputation for playing loose with strategy", had been named as Palaven's next Primarch; however, he was fighting at a base several miles away, with which radio contact had been lost. At the same time, Shepard received a message from Joker that EDI and the Normandy were acting strangely; Liara returned to investigate and Garrus Vakarian, now named strategic advisor to the turian army, greeted Shepard and filled her spot to lead them to Victus' position.
Fighting their way through Reaper forces, Shepard and company arrived at the base and after helping Victus and his soldiers defeat their attackers, relayed the news to the General that he was the newest leader of his people. Victus was doubtful about his ability to lead, claiming to be no diplomat and unwilling to leave his men, but he reluctantly agreed to accompany Shepard to the summit. He insisted he could not divert troops to Earth until Palaven could be secured, something beyond the turian military's ability to do now. The turians would need reinforcements, namely the krogan, to succeed, and Victus insisted they would have to be at the summit.
Upon returning to the Normandy, Shepard and the crew discovered the earlier power fluctuations were caused by EDI implanting herself in Eva's body, a process which had completed successfully and given EDI more options, namely the ability to leave the Normandy and accompany Shepard into combat. Soon after, Shepard received words from Admiral Hackett that Alliance Research and Development had begun construction of the Prothean device, dubbing it "Project Crucible".
The Last Prothean[]
Sometime after recovering Primarch Victus, Shepard was contacted by the Alliance, who claimed that Cerberus was after a Prothean artifact recently unearthed on Eden Prime. Shepard, Liara and Garrus made their way to the planet, commenting on the fact that they returned to the place where it all began - where Shepard gained the vision of the Reapers that led him to pursuing Saren. They found the colony completely deserted, though intel gathered from the abandoned housing units indicated that pockets of resistance were active on other parts of the planet. Shepard collected as much data as he could to help Eden Prime's resistance movement, then proceeded to the dig site where the artifact was supposedly found. Upon activating the elevator, they discovered that the artifact was in fact a life support pod; one containing a living Prothean. Realizing how valuable a live Prothean would be to fight the Reapers, Shepard decided to open the pod before Cerberus could recover it. Liara explained that immediately opening it would kill the Prothean and instead they needed a code to deactivate suspension.
Shepard and co. proceeded to several laboratory units, fighting through pockets of Cerberus to reassemble the code to open the pod. At the terminals containing the code fragments, Shepard received visions of the Reaper's onslaught on the Protheans, watching events unfold from the perspective of the last living Prothean. In it, Shepard discovered that the Prothean was supposed to enter suspended animation with about a million others, but an attack by early Collectors disrupted the plans. The Prothean was the only one to go into stasis, aided by a VI called Victory. With all the codes assembled, Shepard and Liara returned to the pod and opened it.
The Prothean awoke, but in a confused stupor attacked the group and attempted to flee. Once his senses returned, Shepard grabbed him and was given a vision of the Prothean's last moments before entering stasis. The Prothean asked Shepard if anyone else survived, to which Shepard answered that only he did. The Prothean explained that Shepard transferred some of his knowledge unto him through touch - including his language, allowing the Prothean to communicate. He remarked about being surrounded by an asari, turian and human - primitives. Shepard explained that they were fighting the Reapers and that they could use his help. The Prothean, while aloof and distant, agreed to come with him.
Back on the Normandy, the crew held the Prothean in Grunt's old cabin on the engineering deck. Per first contact protocol, they had to "assume hostilities". Shepard ordered them to stand down, after which the Prothean grabbed Shepard and relived the visions he was granted by the beacon on Eden Prime, angrily accosting Shepard that he didn't heed their kind's warnings and prepare of the Reapers. Shepard rebutted that no one could understand the visions, and that the beacon nearly killed him. However, they did manage to delay an attempted Reaper invasion three years ago. The soldiers vacated the room, and Shepard and Liara conversed with the Prothean. He revealed some insights into his race's fight against the Reapers and on Prothean society; shocking Liara with the truth that Protheans were actually a very imperialistic race who violently subjugated other species. The Prothean introduced himself as Javik, promising to aid Shepard in stopping the Reapers. He explained that in his society, some Protheans were avatars of certain traits. His was Vengeance, and he could not rest until the last Reaper was destroyed.
Curing the Genophage[]
The genophage is finally cured.
The decision to involve the krogan in proceedings caused major problems; the asari pulled out of the summit altogether, believing turian-krogan relations too fragile for anything to be accomplished. A diplomatic meeting was held between Shepard, Primarch Victus, Dalatrass Linron, the leader of the Salarian Union, and the clan chief of the krogan, Urdnot Wrex. The dalatrass was openly hostile and insulting to Wrex, who was ambivalent to the plight of the turians, insisting that the Reapers were moving on Tuchanka and refused to provide military assistance unless their own demand was met; that a cure was created for the genophage. The dalatrass flatly refused to agree to such a demand, arguing that what Shepard and Victus were planning to do in curing the genophage was the same rash mistake the salarians made when they uplifted the krogan to fight against the rachni, while Victus believed the plan impossible because it would take years they didn't have to synthesise a cure.
However, the Urdnot leader revealed intel he had received that following the experiments of a salarian scientist into curing the genophage on infertile krogan females, an STG team rounded up the survivors of the experiments- a group of now fertile females who were also immune to the genophage- and took them offworld. The dalatrass, under pressure, reluctantly revealed that the females were being held at an STG base on Sur'Kesh and acceded to their release, though she insisted that curing the genophage would have dire consequences for her people and the galaxy as a whole.
Shepard, their squad and Wrex arrived on Sur'Kesh to oversee the exchange, meeting up with the salarian scientist in charge: Mordin Solus. He was responsible for the krogan females' care and was revealed to be the source who leaked information on their existence to the krogan. However, as a side effect of the cure, the females suffered from weakened immune systems and only one had survived. A Cerberus strike force hit the base shortly during the exchange, seeking to kill the surviving female and stop any hope of a cure for the genophage. Shepard and their squad were forced to fight off Cerberus troopers deploying into the base as Mordin and Wrex attempted to extract her.
The team escaped Sur'Kesh with the female krogan, who was christened 'Eve' by Mordin, and the cure was rapidly developed. Eve took some time to regain her strength, and when she was ready the salarian doctor proclaimed her fit for travel to Tuchanka, where she was needed for the last leg of the genophage cure's completion. The krogan and turian leaders approached Shepard with problems of their own, requesting that the Commander dealt with them if there was time. Wrex requested Shepard to look into a missing team of krogan stationed on the planet Utukku, with reports of rachni activity. Victus asked Shepard for help in retrieving his son, who embarked on a high-risk mission on Tuchanka.
On Utukku, Shepard rendezvoused with Grunt, now a high-ranking member of Clan Urdnot, where the two fought through Reaper-indoctrinated rachni and freed the queen, who pledged her workers in helping construct the Crucible. On Tuchanka, Shepard retrieved Lieutenant Victus and soon learned he was sent to disarm a bomb planted on Tuchanka during the Krogan Rebellions. After convincing Victus to go through with the mission, the duo successfully disabled the bomb - which was now in possession of Cerberus - and prevented a catastrophic explosion in the Kelphic Valley, home to many krogan clans.
The Normandy then deployed to Tuchanka when Shepard decided it was time, where the Reapers have begun attacking in force. They decided to release the cure from the Shroud, an enormous salarian structure built to repair Tuchanka's atmosphere that was secretly repurposed to spread the original genophage. En route, Shepard was contacted privately by Dalatrass Linron, who insisted Shepard could not go through with the genophage cure and revealed that the Special Tasks Group sabotaged the Shroud years ago to prevent it being used for such a plan. The dalatrass offered Shepard a deal; prevent repairs to the Shroud, thus causing the cure to fail, and in exchange, the salarians would provide military support and technical expertise to help construct the Crucible.
Upon arrival on the planet, Wrex rallied the krogan forces, who would work with a turian fighter squadron to distract a Reaper destroyer using the Shroud to further poison the atmosphere of Tuchanka. However, the plan almost immediately went awry, with the krogan ground forces delayed and the fighters decimated as they attempted to attack without support. The ground forces were scattered and Shepard's team was forced to detour through ancient and impressive krogan ruins, that also happened to be home to the largest known thresher maw.
They improvised a new plan, luring the thresher maw into attacking the Reaper destroyer to buy them time. This strategy was significantly more effective than the last: despite overwhelming Reaper opposition, Mordin and Shepard made it to the Shroud and Kalros managed to kill the destroyer. Eve was alive in a safe place and the fully completed cure was now awaiting planetwide dispersal. At the Shroud, Shepard revealed the dalatrass' offer to Mordin and explained the sabotage. Mordin understood Shepard's hesitation, noting that salarian expertise could be crucial for constructing the Crucible, but felt it was his duty to disperse the cure nonetheless. Shepard tried to stop him, accentuating the fact that Mordin always defended his modification of the genophage. As a response, Mordin loudly exclaimed that he "made a mistake", and insisted that he had to undo it. Shepard relented, and parted words before Mordin took the elevator up to repair the sabotage. He succeeded, but died in the ensuing explosion. The Shroud let out a blast of particles, blanketing Tuchanka with a shower of cure before disintegrating.
Shepard reunited with Wrex and Eve (who revealed her true name to be Urdnot Bakara). Wrex showed gratitude for curing the genophage, promising support for the turians and for Earth. Bakara assured Shepard that his gift for the krogan wouldn't be squandered and that she would remind her people herself. Shepard departed Tuchanka, gaining both turian and krogan support for the war.
The Citadel Coup[]
Kai Leng attempts to assassinate the salarian Councillor.
Following their mission on Tuchanka, Shepard was contacted by the salarian Councillor, who requested a meeting on the Citadel regarding an important matter. The Councillor explained that it concerned Councillor Udina, who had been moving vast sums of money and the Councillor wished to discuss where it was going, claiming that Shepard "[wouldn't] like the news."
Upon arriving at the Citadel, however, the station was worryingly silent. Scanning emergency channels, the Normandy received a transmission from his old squadmate, drell assassin Thane Krios, who had retired to the Citadel to enjoy his remaining life. Cerberus had hit the station in overwhelming numbers and C-Sec were struggling to retaliate. Thane explained that Ashley (having recovered from the injuries sustained on Mars and been named a Spectre by Udina since then) had gone to protect the Council, while they were attempting to reach C-Sec Headquarters, since C-Sec could not launch an effective counterattack while Cerberus held it. Deploying in the shuttle, Shepard and their squad landed in the middle of a pitched battle between C-Sec and Cerberus forces outside the headquarters, helping C-Sec Commander Bailey retake the office. Inside, Bailey uncovered intel that the salarian Councillor was meant to be meeting with the Executor, presumably to have someone important prosecuted. Given the message the Councillor sent to the Normandy, Udina was implicated.
Reasoning that the Councillor was likely holed up in the Executor's office, a fairly defensible position, Shepard's squad fought their way through Cerberus' troops, but when they reached the office and extracted the Councillor, they came under attack from Kai Leng, who was under orders from the Illusive Man to assassinate the Council. The salarian Councillor also revealed that Udina was collaborating with Cerberus to stage a coup. Thane thwarted Leng's assassination attempt, but was mortally wounded in the process. Leng retreated to pursue the rest of the Council, with Shepard and company in hot pursuit.
Despite Leng's best efforts to slow down and stop their pursuit, Shepard reached the Council ahead of him at a shuttle pad, locking the exits to prevent Cerberus troops from getting in and a tense standoff ensued, with Ashley standing in their way. Shepard revealed Udina's treachery to the Council and while he attempted to deny it, the rest of the Council, after all the times they didn't listen to Shepard, began to believe him. With the Council's escape shuttle destroyed, Udina suggested overriding the lockdown, while Shepard convinced Ashley to get out of the way. Udina, left with few options, began to override the lock on the door. The asari Councillor tried to stop him, but he pushed her to the ground and pulled a gun on her. Shepard was ultimately forced to kill the human Councillor, followed by the arrival on scene of Bailey and C-Sec reinforcements. With Udina dead and their plan thwarted, Leng and the remaining Cerberus forces retreated, while C-Sec began securing the station. En route back to headquarters, Leng reported his failure to the Illusive Man, who assured his agent that Udina was expendable and he had other plans in motion, though the Illusive Man did admonish Leng for letting Shepard get the better of him; Leng angrily promised it wouldn't happen again.
After the coup, Shepard went to check up on Thane, who lost a lot of blood in the attack. This worsened his already-late stage Kepral's Syndrome, and the attending doctor present told Shepard he didn't have long. Thane's son Kolyat was also by his side and he and Shepard recited traditional drell prayers before Thane passed away. Shepard was confused by the last part of the prayer - which asked for redemption - since Thane had saved the Councillor and left his old life behind. Kolyat explained that the prayer wasn't for him, but for Shepard.
Battle for Rannoch[]
"The living room window will be right... here."
Following the coup attempt, efforts to speed the pace of the Crucible's construction and drive the Reapers back increased. Admiral Hackett contacted Shepard with news on that front, informing the Commander that while turian and krogan ground forces were making progress against the Reapers on Palaven, they needed more support ships and the quarians were willing to talk. Hackett requested Shepard to meet with the leaders of the Migrant Fleet but urged caution, as recent intel suggested suspicious activity along the geth border. Meeting with Admirals Shala'Raan, Han'Gerrel, Daro'Xen and Zaal'Koris at a diplomatic ship in the Far Rim, Shepard learned, much to his chagrin, that the quarians were launching another attack on the geth, with the intention of retaking their homeworld Rannoch from their AI creations. The quarians had pushed the geth back to their home system when a mysterious signal began broadcasting to all geth forces, drastically improving their combat capabilities.
Shepard concluded that the signal was Reaper tech, which must be destroyed if the quarians were to have any chance of survival. The admirals explained that the signal was being broadcast by a geth dreadnought far beyond their ability to destroy. Shepard proposed that they and a squad board the vessel and disable the signal, throwing the geth into confusion and buying the quarians time to make their next move. The quarians agreed and offered Shepard technical support in the form of one of their own: Shepard's old crewmate Tali'Zorah, based on her knowledge of the geth. Arriving in the middle of a pitched battle between the geth and quarian fleets, Shepard and company boarded the dreadnought and made their way through the ship, fighting off geth crew to reach the drive core, where the signal was being broadcasted. Inside the drive core was a unique geth platform hardwired to amplify the Reaper signal: Legion.
Legion explained that the quarian attack drove the geth into an alliance with the Reapers in order to save themselves. At Legion's direction, they shut down the drive core, freeing it from its shackles. In return it disabled all shields and weapons aboard the dreadnought as a sign of good faith. Making the most of the advantage, Admiral Gerrel deviated from the plan and launched a full attack on the dreadnought, hoping to destroy the crippled geth flagship, regardless of Shepard's protestations that they were still inside. Shepard and company narrowly escaped the vessel in time. After returning to the Normandy and accepting Gerrel's explanation of his actions, Shepard requested information from the saved geth unit. To the horror of the admirals, Legion explained that the dreadnought's destruction had only severed the Reaper signal at long range; a base on Rannoch's surface was still transmitting the signal at short range, and the geth would soon recover from the disruption. Orbital bombardments were out of the question; the geth had set up jamming towers that prevent the quarian ships from pinpointing the base. Several sorties on Rannoch's surface were planned during the interim of determining the Reaper signal's location: the rescue of a stranded Admiral Koris, and the disabling of geth fighter squadrons attacking the liveships. Shepard began the assault on the signal base when its location had been determined, armed with a targeting beam that could cut through the jamming signal. Legion dropped in solo to disorient geth forces and provide remote technical assistance.
The plan worked, but when the Normandy bombed the signal generator, it was revealed to be a Reaper destroyer. The destroyer pursued Shepard and co. as they fled in a geth shuttle, while the quarians and the Normandy attempted to provide supporting fire from orbit. A chance weapons strike from the Migrant Fleet revealed a weak point in the Reaper's defences; that the firing chamber was vulnerable when priming. Using the handheld laser guidance system and dodging the Reaper's attacks, Shepard directed the Normandy and Migrant Fleet's weapons against the Reaper, eventually severely damaging it. Following its defeat, the badly damaged Reaper and Shepard exchanged barbed words; the Reaper, recognising Shepard from Harbinger's description, asserted that his opposition to the Reapers was pointless, that they were preserving organic life from chaos and that the cycle must continue if organics were to be saved from destruction. Shepard dismissed the Reaper's warnings and assured it that the races of the galaxy would continue to fight until a way to defeat the Reapers was found. With nothing more to be said, the Reaper 'died'.
With the Reaper destroyed, the geth fleet was left disabled and vulnerable to the quarians, but Legion requested permission to upload a modified form of the Reaper code to all geth that would grant them true intelligence. Shepard chose to let the upgrade be broadcast, potentially spelling death for the quarians. He ordered the quarian fleet to stop firing at the geth, informing them that they were about to become much stronger. Although his efforts initially seemed to fail, Shepard threatened to revoke all support for the quarians if they pressed the attack, claiming he had grown tired of saving them over the years. His words seemed to have effect; the quarians did not attack the geth. The conflict between the quarians and geth that had raged for three centuries was brought to an end, and the fleets of both races were acquired for the fight against the Reapers. Legion, now having gained full self-awareness, said its goodbyes to Tali and Shepard, then submitted his intelligence to allow the geth to be freed. EDI later pointed out that Legion started using the singular pronoun for the first time, indicating it had finally become a person.
The geth came to Admiral Shala'Raan, offering to help the quarians resettle on their homeworld. With the two races finally reunited, Tali agreed to join Shepard's crew in his fight against the Reapers.
Hunting Leviathan[]
Shepard found the ancient Leviathans, the creators of the Reapers.
After taking Rannoch, Shepard received a message from Admiral Hackett, urging him to weet with Dr. Garret Bryson on the Citadel, who claimed to have uncovered important information regarding the Reapers. After arriving at Dr. Bryson's lab, the researcher revealed that he was part of Task Force Aurora, an Alliance initiative set up to research religious myths, legends, and folklore of the galaxy's species surrounding the Reapers. He explained that they were investigating the Leviathan of Dis in particular, which was the corpse of a Reaper discovered and researched by the batarians just before they were invaded. The Leviathan of Dis seemed to have been killed by an extraordinarily powerful lifeform. Bryson explained that finding the Leviathan of Dis' attacker - the real Leviathan, was his true purpose. Before Dr. Bryson could elaborate on the details, however, his assistant Derek Hadley fatally shot him. Before he was apprehended, he declared that the "darkness [could] not be breached."
C-Sec later arrived, as did EDI. While interrogating Hadley, he claimed to be unaware that he shot Bryson. EDI noted that his strange behavior and uncontrollable actions were similar to Reaper indoctrination. Hadley then inexplicably suffered a major headache, again repeating that the darkness could not be breached, before collapsing into unconsciousness. He was brought to the hospital, while Shepard and EDI were left to analyze Bryson's lab and piece together clues that could lead them to Leviathan. They eventually learned that a scientist known as Dr. Garneau was also looking into Leviathan, but he had disappeared. Using clues from the office, they learned that Dr. Garneau had traveled to an eezo mining facility on the asteroid Mahavid.
On Mahavid, Shepard and crew encountered Reaper forces attempting to infiltrate the asteroid's eezo mining plant. They eliminated the Reapers, then proceeded to enter the facility. Once inside, Shepard and the team immediately noticed the facility employees' odd behavior; they seemed to be unfazed that Reapers had attacked them not less than a minute ago. Further into Mahavid's eezo processing plant, the workers urged Shepard and his party to leave, denying any knowledge of Dr. Garneau or his whereabouts. As Shepard proceeded into the facility, he encountered a man behind a glass partition who claimed to be Dr. Garneau. As Shepard pressed for answers on Leviathan, the man grew agitated and began speaking in a strange tone, asking Shepard why he was pursuing him. Realizing he was speaking to Leviathan, Shepard demanded to know where he was hiding. "Garneau" fled, engaging Shepard in a chase across the facility while he battled Reapers along the way. Shepard finally found Garneau at the heart of the mine, standing next to a spherical glass artifact; the same type that was in Dr. Bryson's office. The man detonated the artifact, inadvertently killing himself. Shepard then found the real Dr. Garneau's body, revealing that the man Shepard chased was an impostor. The facility's personnel, now having regained their minds, approached Shepard. They did not know who Dr. Garneau was and were never aware he landed at the facility. They also had no recollection of the past decade, still believing they lived in the year 2176.
Returning to Dr. Bryson's office, Shepard and EDI determined they needed to find Ann Bryson, who had also been looking into Leviathan. Using evidence from Dr. Bryson's office, they learned that Ann was in the Pylos Nebula on the planet Namakli. EDI and Shepard went there, finding Ann's research outpost under siege by Reaper Harvesters. Contacting her on the radio, Ann guided the team to her location while they battled their way through waves of Reapers. They finally found Ann, who explained what she knew about the Leviathans and an artifact they were studying on Namakli - of the same make as the artifacts found on Mahavid and in Dr. Bryson's office. Approaching the dig site, they found the artifact surrounded by Reaper forces. Ann appeared to lose control and began speaking in a deep voice - similar to Hadley and the Garneau impostor. Shepard destroyed the artifact, battled the Reapers and several Harvesters, then extracted Ann. She claimed not to remember being enthralled and wanted to contact her father. Shepard told her about his death and explained their need to find Leviathan.
Back at Dr. Bryson's office, Ann mourned her father's death while Shepard offered some consoling. Ann agreed to help Shepard find Leviathan, concluding that the artifact - now protected by shielding - was a device used by the Leviathan to invade and take control of the minds of others. She theorized that during this period of control, Shepard could be able to trace the Leviathan. She offered to let herself be controlled so that Shepard could be able to pinpoint the creature's location. The Commander objected to the idea at first, believing it too dangerous, but Ann pressed the issue. James Vega, who was present, also pointed out the danger. Acknowledging there was no other choice, however, Shepard agreed to let Ann's mind be invaded. After deactivating the barrier, Ann began contorting and speaking in the same deep voice as on Namakli. Shepard attempted to interrogate Leviathan while EDI tried to narrow down its location. The possession began to take its toll on Ann, which forced Shepard to allow James to reactivate the shields. While they did not have enough information to fully narrow down its location, EDI confirmed that the Leviathan was somewhere in Sigurd's Cradle. While James left to take care of Ann, Shepard set off to finally find the Leviathan.
Shepard landed on the planet Despoina, an ocean-world covered in fallen spaceships. An electromagnetic surge disabled the shuttle they flew in, forcing them to land on one of the ships drifting on the surface. After touchdown, Shepard and his crew were set upon by Reaper forces - presumably also looking for Leviathan - and on the ship they fought on they discovered hoards of the same artifact that Leviathan used to influence the minds of sentients. While Cortez made repairs to the shuttle, Shepard found a Triton ADS pilotable exploration mech, which he decided to use to submerge underwater and find Leviathan. Cortez gave Shepard a battery pack which he charged to power up the mech. After doing so, he dived into the ocean. Submerging thousands of meters, Shepard's radio malfunctioned and he was forced to proceed alone. Before long, he found Leviathan.
The aquatic creature emerged from the depths, bearing a striking similarity to a Reaper dreadnought. The Leviathan invaded Shepard's mind and spoke to him through illusions, revealing that in ancient times its kind ruled the galaxy and controlled lesser organics by influencing their behavior. It also revealed that its kind created an intelligence with the directive of finding a way to preserve organic life. The intelligence concluded that organics needed to be harvested and chose the Leviathan's kind as its first harvest. The Leviathans were nearly wiped out and retreated to remote corners of the galaxy. Shepard attempted to persuade the Leviathan to help him fight the Reapers, but the Leviathan was hesitant and pressed that the cycles could not be broken. Shepard did not give in, vowing that he was close to finding a way to destroy the Reapers. Convinced, the Leviathan reluctantly agreed to help the Commander, but also insisted that in time the Leviathans would rule the galaxy again. Shepard, using the mech's remaining energy, ascended back to the surface. Reapers began swarming the team, but the Leviathan aided Shepard by releasing an electromagnetic energy that brought down the Reaper dreadnought in orbit, allowing the squad to escape. Leviathan-controlled drones would later lend their service to the Crucible and fight back against their creations.
Retaking Omega[]
Shepard helped Aria T'Loak retake Omega from Cerberus general Oleg Petrovsky.
Sometime after the events on Despoina, Shepard was contacted by Aria T'Loak at the Purgatory Bar on the Citadel. Aria revealed that Cerberus had invaded Omega and ousted her, using the space station as a base of operations and for processing its vast eezo reserves. Aria had plans to retake Omega, but needed to speak with Shepard privately. Sometime later, Aria retrieved Shepard in a cab and gave him the full details: Omega was currently controlled by Oleg Petrovsky, a Cerberus general, who by controlling Omega bolstered Cerberus mobility in the Terminus Systems. Aria would bring her fleet to Omega, punch through the blockade, then coordinate a land assault in the base itself. After leaving the Citadel, Shepard joined Aria's fleet as it arrived in the Omega system.
Aria had her ship pass through the blockade undetected, but was soon contacted by Petrovsky, who revealed he had armed Omega's anti-ship cannons. Aria called in the full fleet and a space battle soon ensued. Aria and Shepard eventually managed to push through the blockade and landed on Omega, where they had to fight through Cerberus forces to get to Aria's secret bunker. En route, the duo discovered that Cerberus had blocked off sections of Omega by using energy fields that instantly disintegrated anything that tried to pass it, save for the Rampart Mechs which were being used as anti-riot police. Further on, Aria showed Shepard a secret passageway where they met Nyreen Kandros, a female turian who had a history with Aria. It was later revealed that she was a member of the Talons, a formerly smalltime street gang on Omega who rose to greater power after Aria's departure. They now functioned as a de facto semi-militarized resistance group.
Back at Aria's Bunker, Aria expressed her wish to recruit the Talons to her cause. Nyreen soon vanished, but Aria decided to press ahead with the mission. While fighting through to Talon territory, Shepard and Aria met up with Nyreen again, who revealed herself to be the new leader of the Talons. After some convincing from Shepard, she reluctantly agreed to lend the Talons to Aria's cause. After defending the Talon headquarters from a Cerberus attack, Aria, Shepard and Nyreen passed through the Eezo Processing Plant to gain access to the Reactor in order to restore power to the station. In the Processing Plant, Shepard learned that Cerberus had been experimenting on humans to create Adjutants, husk-like creatures which turned hostile on every living being on Omega. After fighting through hordes of Adjutants, Shepard and the team arrived at the Reactor Plant.
At the Reactor Plant, Petrovsky activated a trap, locking Aria, Shepard and Nyreen while they were attacked by Rampart Mechs. Shepard broke free and rushed to disable the shields and power up the station. Aria ordered Shepard to blow the Reactor, sacrificing innocent lives but also deactivating all the energy fields on Omega. While Petrovsky was taunting Shepard, the Commander successfully rerouted power to disable the energy fields without shutting down power to the residential wards. Shepard and Aria then headed to Afterlife to deal with Petrovsky. The rest of Omega, now with the energy fields disabled, erupted into violence against the occupying Cerberus forces.
At Afterlife, Shepard and the team were swarmed by Adjutants and Cerberus forces. When they began to overwhelm the squad, Nyreen sacrificed herself by blowing up a detontation device - taking out all the Adjutants around her. Enraged, Aria blew her way through Afterlife to get to Petrovsky. The Cerberus General foresaw this, activating a stasis field which trapped Aria. Shepard was forced to fight Petrovsky and his troops, successfully defeating him and releasing Aria. While Aria demanded Petrovsky be killed, Shepard chose to spare him so that he could feed important intel on Cerberus operations to the Alliance. Aria regained control of Omega and lent the station's vast eezo supplies to the Alliance cause.
Fall of Thessia[]
Following the resolution of the quarian-geth conflict, the asari councillor requested that Shepard come speak with her on the Citadel. Though the Crucible's construction neared completion, the absence of the Catalyst still made it useless against the Reapers. The Councillor revealed to Shepard that there was a highly classified artifact located on Thessia that could help the Commander identify the Catalyst; however, she urged haste, as the Reapers had descended on Thessia in droves, seeking to annihilate the most advanced race in the galaxy. En route to Thessia, Liara, who insisted on coming to help her homeworld, explained that the artifact was housed in the Temple of Athame, a deity whose worship was nearly as old as the asari, but had fallen out of practice. Arriving on Thessia to find the asari military fighting a losing battle against Reaper forces, Shepard and the squad made their way to the temple, where a science team was purported to be waiting for them. They arrived at the temple to find a security field blocking entrance, strangely high-security for a temple of a dead religion. When Liara deactivated it, they entered the temple and found the scientists dead, but not at Reaper hands. They searched the temple which housed artifacts related to Athame's worship, including ones that looked suspiciously Prothean. Javik commented on this, claiming that the Protheans where observing and protecting the asari with the intent to uplift them - much to Liara's disbelief.
While Liara explained the temple's history, Shepard came to a realisation; the artifact the Councillor sent him to find was a Prothean Beacon hidden within the temple. Considering the temple's age, the beacon was likely the reason why the asari were technologically and scientifically ahead of the other races, and they had directly violated Council law by keeping the beacon to themselves. The beacon was powered up by the detection of one with Prothean-like brain patterns (which Shepard received in the form of the Cipher) and once the squad fully activated it, a Prothean VI identifying itself as Vendetta appeared. Establishing that it was in a post-Prothean cycle and detecting nearby Reaper forces, it attempted to shut down, but Shepard insisted that it wait and provide information on the Catalyst and Crucible. Vendetta explained that the Crucible was not of Prothean origin, but was a cumulative design spanning countless galactic cycles stretching back millions of years. The Protheans themselves never used it because their efforts were sabotaged by a splinter faction who (like Cerberus in the present cycle) argued the Protheans should control the Reapers, not destroy them. By the time it was discovered the separatists were indoctrinated, it was too late; the Prothean order of battle was too fractured to coordinate an effort to activate it.
Vendetta also mentioned that the Protheans learned that similar patterns of evolution and dissolution occurred in every galactic cycle, with each path of advancement and conflict happening differently but in fundamentally similar ways - too similar to be merely chance. Vendetta inferred that the Reapers were "servants" of the pattern, not its creator, but could not identity their true master or motive, only its intention: galactic annihilation. Before Vendetta could specify what the Catalyst was, it detected an indoctrinated presence nearby and shut down. The intruder was revealed to be Kai Leng who demanded their attention, pulling a drone from his coat and remarking that "someone" would to talk to Shepard. The drone projected a hologram of the Illusive Man, who had learnt of the Thessia beacon from the Mars Archive and mocked Liara for missing it. The Illusive Man went on to expand on his belief and convince Shepard that controlling the Reapers was the best course of action and that the Thessia beacon contained the information to do so. Shepard asserted his conviction to destroying the Reapers and dismissed the Illusive Man's scheme, accusing him of being indoctrinated. Rebuffed, the Illusive Man ordered Leng to kill Shepard and recover the data.
A vicious battle ensued, but Leng was unable to gain the upper hand. Leng called in assistance, ordering a Cerberus gunship to destroy the temple's structural supports and the temple began to collapse. Shepard and squad were forced to react quickly to save themselves and by the time they recovered, Leng had already acquired the data and fled aboard the gunship. They could only watch helplessly as Leng's ship escaped and more Reapers descended to complete the destruction of Thessia. After escaping to the Normandy, the asari Councillor contacted Shepard, though the Commander delayed the meeting out of reluctance. The Councillor eagerly requested information on the Catalyst and when it would complete the Crucible, but Shepard was forced to tell her of Cerberus' interference and their failure to acquire the data. Realising that asari civilisation, maybe all civilisation, could now be lost, the asari Councillor cut communication, leaving Shepard to brood on his failure.
Skirmish on Horizon[]
Following the disaster on Thessia, Shepard bemoaned the fact that Cerberus always seemed to be one step ahead and asked the crew for any intel they might had to get the jump on the organisation. The Normandy's communication specialist Samantha Traynor mentioned she had traced the route taken by Leng's shuttle as it fled Thessia as far as the Iera system, but she had lost it there, because the signal was being actively blocked. Despite the fact the only thing of note in that system was Sanctuary, a refugee camp on the planet Horizon for those fleeing the war, the Commander decided that a lead is still a lead, no matter how slim, and agreed to check it out.
Upon arriving at the facility, Shepard and his squad found signs of battle between Cerberus and Reaper forces, a surprising discovery given Cerberus' collaboration with the Reapers. Investigating the camp, Shepard found evidence left by former squadmate Miranda Lawson that the 'refugee camp' was in truth a Cerberus laboratory run by her father Henry Lawson, working for the Illusive Man. Earlier in the war, Miranda had contacted Shepard several times for help in accessing Alliance resources, as she was involved in a mission against her father. Deeper in the facility, she discovered that the refugees were being experimented on and ultimately turned into Husks, in order to further Cerberus's research into indoctrination. A further bombshell was brought to light: a signal being broadcast from a tower within the facility, using Cerberus research, had allowed Cerberus the ability to control the husks created in their horrific experiments. Lawson had been working on the Illusive Man's orders to find a way to transfer this process to the Reapers themselves before the facility had come under attack, the Reapers seeking to destroy any potential weakness that could be used against them.
Fighting his way through Cerberus troopers who hadn't evacuated in time and Reaper forces left behind after the attack, Shepard and his squad made it to the tower that had been broadcasting the signal, as well as blocking all transmissions from the planet. Here, they found Henry Lawson holding Oriana, Miranda's sister, hostage. The Lawson patriarch tried to cut a deal with the Commander for his freedom, explaining that despite his success, the Illusive Man had merely ordered Kai Leng to retrieve the data (the assassin having already been there and gone) and left the Lawsons to their fate. Miranda executed her father after Shepard threatened Henry to let Oriana go. Shepard and company learned the location of Cronos Station, the headquarters of Cerberus itself, after Henry had been dealt with. Miranda thanked Shepard for his help against Henry, then went to look after her sister - finally free of their father's grasp.
Shepard alerted Admiral Hackett to this discovery, and the Alliance began making preparations for an all-out assault on the station to eliminate Cerberus and hopefully recover the Prothean VI along with any other information on the Catalyst. Hackett warned that once an assault on Cerberus was launched, the Reapers would take notice sooner or later; for all intents and purposes, the attack on Cerberus would be the first step in the campaign to retake Earth. With all said and done, Hackett and the Alliance began making preparations to mobilize the fleet in order to attack Cronos Station.
The Clone Problem[]
Shepard encounters his clone.
While preparations were made to assault Cronos Station, Admiral Hackett ordered the Normandy to the Citadel for retrofits. Meanwhile, all the crew were put on shore leave. Hackett also mentioned that Captain Anderson had an apartment on the Silversun Strip, which was now handed over to Shepard. At the apartment, Anderson verified that the apartment was now Shepard's. Shepard later received a mail from Joker, who invited Shepard to the Ryuusei sushi bar at the Wards. At the sushi bar, Joker expressed feeling uneasy at the thought that the Normandy was being worked on by unknown hands. Shepard advised he should relax while they were on shore leave. Joker then asked Shepard why he had invited him to the sushi restaurant, to which Shepard replied that it was Joker who invited him. Their confusion was interrupted by a soldier outside, who had broken through the host's defensive line. When she reached the table, she introduced herself as Staff Analyst Maya Brooks of Alliance intelligence, and proclaimed that someone was trying to kill Shepard. Joker made note of the fact that Shepard was already being targeted by multiple organizations, and that it wasn't news. Brooks restated that the group she was referring to were new people and that they were hacking Shepard's account, communications, and were targeting him personally.
Soon after, unidentified mercenaries started attacking the sushi bar, dragging Brooks away while Shepard ordered Joker to get help from the Normandy. As Joker crawled off, he was spotted by a mercenary, allowing Shepard to eliminate him and take his pistol, much to Joker's protests that he used him as bait. Shepard fought the other mercenaries and Brooks pushed him out of the way before one of the mercenaries could shoot him, injuring Brooks instead. Shepard fell through the restaurant's fish tank and was forced to navigate through the Wards while he contacted Brooks and told her to call C-Sec. Shepard fought his way through markets and shops, noting on the surprising lethality of his new pistol, before meeting up with Liara at a car shop. After managing to open the landing pad, Shepard and Liara waited for C-Sec reinforcements while battling more mercenaries. Eventually, Urdnot Wrex arrived at the scene and helped Shepard and Liara escape.
Maya Brooks explained that someone was stealing Shepard's identity. This identity thief went through Shepard's personal records, classified files, everything. Investigations needed to start from somewhere, and the M-11 Suppressor Shepard recovered was chosen as the starting point. Liara examined the pistol and summoned Glyph, who began compiling data. Liara called in favors to get information on the gun and it led to a casino owner named Elijah Khan, who was suspected of using his money to smuggle weapons onto the Citadel. She continued by playing a very interesting call that took place after the attempt on Shepard's life. Someone took pains to hide behind voice modulators, and it wasn't Khan. She also revealed that the mercenaries who were after Shepard were called CAT6, named after Category 6 - the Alliance designation for dishonorable discharges. Liara and Shepard came up with a plan; they were to infiltrate the Silver Coast Casino - which was owned by Khan - and interrogate him.
Staff Analyst Brooks helped Shepard and Liara cut through security to get to Khan. Once there, however, they found out that he had been killed. Brooks managed to get into his terminal, but found a deletion order on it. When examining the terminal, Brooks and Shepard found out that whoever deleted it did not wipe out the comm. Shepard activated it and a face appeared on the screen over the mantel, distorted beyond recognition through signal degradation. The figure said that they would take everything that Shepard was and everything he owned. As the conversation was cut, Brooks said she couldn't trace the call. Shepard ordered them to remove the drives and get them back so EDI could analyze them. Back at the apartment, Shepard ordered Brooks and EDI to check the drives for anything useful. They discovered a communication a few days ago, which included purchases for a series of powerful weapons. Glyph then interrupted them saying Shepard's Spectre codes were used to access the Citadel Archives. Garrus explained the archives and what was contained there, very hush-hush information. Even he couldn’t get access as a member of C-Sec. Shepard ordered everyone to gear up and race to the archives to apprehend his identity thief.
Dividing the squad into two teams, Shepard and his friends arrived at the Citadel Archives. Almost immediately, the two teams were surrounded by CAT6 squads, who also took Brooks hostage. After ordering them to drop their weapons, the enigmatic identity thief and leader of CAT6 finally stepped forward. He revealed himself to be a clone of Commander Shepard, bred by Cerberus in case the real Shepard needed spare organs or tissue during the Lazarus Project. The clone remained in coma until six months ago, and during those months learned how to be human since he did not share the Commander's memories or personality. Shepard then shot a Citadel model hanging above the clone and brought it crashing into the troops below, starting a firefight.
Shepard pursued the clone through the Citadel Archives while the impostor began jamming their comms, complicating communication between the two teams. After activating a bioscan, Shepard attempted to cross a vault but he and his squad were lured into a trap; the clone had raised the vault's shields. The clone brought out Brooks, who was revealed to have never worked for the Alliance and instead had collaborated with the identity thief. Brooks further explained that she was the one who activated the clone and then defected from Cerberus. The clone also revealed that he intended to take the Normandy and impersonate Shepard, stealing his bioscan to validate his identity. After vowing revenge, the clone had Shepard and his team locked inside the iridium vault, though Shepard managed to call Glyph to have him released.
With a small team, Shepard rushed to the docking bay to stop the clone from taking the Normandy. Once on board, Shepard was confronted by Samantha Traynor, furious because she was fired and discharged by the clone (believing him to be Shepard). The clone kicked her off the ship with barely enough time to grab her Cision Pro Mark 4 toothbrush. Shepard convinced Traynor that the clone was not the real Shepard and with her help, managed to cut open the entrance to the Normandy's vents to sneak in. After fighting through CAT6 mercenaries, Shepard and the squad headed to the hangar where they engaged with the clone. Joker and Cortez, meanwhile, hijacked a taxi to keep up with the Normandy as it attempted to fly out of the Citadel. The fight ended in Shepard's victory, kicking the clone off the Normandy's hangar to his death. Apprehending Brooks a while later, Shepard intended to have her handed over to Alliance authorities. As she attempted to flee, however, Shepard shot her down.
Shepard and his friends after the party.
After the clone's death, CAT6 disbanded, and Shepard could finally enjoy the rest of his R&R. To celebrate, Shepard threw a party at Anderson's penthouse, inviting both current former Normandy crew. During this time, Shepard also partook in various leisure activities with the crew in an effort to boost morale and team spirit. Once retrofits to the Normandy were finished, Shepard and the team resumed their mission and war against the Reapers. To most, however, it would be the last time they would see Shepard alive in person.
Battle of Cronos Station[]
Before long, the Alliance had finished preparing for a full-on assault on Cronos Station, Cerberus' headquarters. The Normandy was to lead the armada, with Shepard, EDI and a squad deployed to fight Cerberus forces in the base, while Hackett battled Cerberus's fleet with the rest of the Alliance ships. The base was full of video logs, containing intel on EDI's past, Project Lazarus and Cerberus's new-found obsession with exploiting Reaper tech and indoctrination, and interesting tech such as prototype weaponry and pieces of the Human-Reaper salvaged from the Collector Base after its destruction. Eventually the team reached the Illusive Man's personal office, and began scouring his private terminals for the location of the Prothean VI. The Illusive Man contacted Shepard by hologram, sneering that he had already acquired the Catalyst and all he needed to control the Reapers. Again, he dismissed Shepard's claims that he was indoctrinated and assured him that the idea behind Cerberus would survive any physical damage they caused to the organisation itself.
The Illusive Man severed communication when EDI discovered and activated the Prothean VI. They found that Vendetta's security protocols had been overridden and he informed the squad that the Catalyst was in fact the Citadel; in some previous cycle, the Reaper-made space station had been incorporated into the activation process of the Crucible to boost its power and coordinate its function through the mass relay system. After this revelation, Shepard realised it then should have been relatively easy to activate the Crucible, but Vendetta had more shocking news; the Illusive Man had fled to the Citadel and warned the Reapers of the plan to destroy them. As if that wasn't enough, the Reapers had already reasserted control over the Citadel and transported it to orbit one of their conquered planets: to be precise, Earth.
As Shepard attempted to contact Admiral Hackett to tell him this devastating news, he was cut off by the return of Kai Leng, who once again engaged Shepard in a furious battle, aided by various Cerberus forces. This time, Shepard emerged victorious. After the fight between Shepard and Leng, Shepard went to back to the Illusive Man's computer to activate the Prothean VI. Little did Shepard and their squad know, Leng survived the beating he took. After silently limping to the Commander, Leng raised his sword in an attempt to kill Shepard; the Commander sensed the attack and in the nick of time disarmed Leng by shattering his sword and finished him off with an omni-blade stab, avenging Thane.
Battle of Earth[]
Shepard heads the fleets in liberating Earth.
Shepard alerted Hackett and Anderson to his discovery of the Catalyst's identity and location. With no alternative, Hackett and Shepard ordered the forces they had gathered to the Sol system with the intention of taking Earth back from the Reapers. Hackett and Anderson briefed Shepard on the three-fold plan of battle: 'Sword' Fleet would engage the Reapers in space, while 'Hammer' ground forces would land in London. When Shepard queried why London was their landing zone, Anderson explained that the Reapers had established a teleportation beam between the city and the Citadel to transport dead and living humans to the station, presumably to be harvested. The plan was for Hammer ground forces to fight their way through the city to the beam, and get as many people as possible on board the Citadel and find a way to open the station's arms. Once this was done, Hackett would signal 'Shield' Fleet, which would remain outside the Sol system protecting the Crucible, to pass through the Charon relay and clear a path for the Crucible to dock with the Citadel.
All forces deployed for the Sol System and a brutal space battle ensued between the fleets Shepard had gathered and the Reapers in orbit around Earth. The Normandy broke off from the battle and descended to the planet. Shepard and several other squads had been ordered to take out Reaper Destroyers planet-side, fitted with anti-aircraft Hades Cannons that threatened Hammer's landing. After eliminating the destroyers, Shepard and their squad were extracted by Anderson and local resistance forces, who conveyed them back to their forward base. At the same time, Hammer troops began landing en masse in preparation for the assault on the Citadel beam. When the bulk of surviving Hammer forces had landed and deployed, Anderson briefed Shepard and the other team leaders that they had to fight their way through the city to the beam, though they would need to take out another Reaper Destroyer blocking their path en route. Using Thanix missile batteries and EDI's help to overcome interference in the guidance systems from the Citadel beam, the Destroyer was brought down, but by that time, Hammer's forces had suffered heavy casualties, Reaper forces were gaining ground and to make matters worse, Hackett warned that several Sovereign-class Reapers, including Harbinger, had broken away from the space battle and were descending to Earth. By the time the remnants of Hammer reached the Citadel beam's immediate vicinity, Harbinger was already deployed to protect it.
Shepard fights his way to the Crucible.
Hammer attacked, but Harbinger annihilated them; countless soldiers were killed and Shepard's squad was severely injured. With its stealth technology, the Normandy was able to move in and carry Shepard's squad to safety without Harbinger noticing. Shepard parted words with Liara, who urged Shepard to come with her, but the Commander refused to as he still needed to enter the Crucible. As the ship departed however, the Commander was hit by Harbinger and critically injured. Believing itself victorious, Harbinger retreated back to the space battle, not noticing Shepard managing to get back to his feet and stagger into the beam. Upon arriving aboard the Citadel, Shepard was contacted by Anderson, who followed them up but was somehow separated. The two found themselves dumped in similar-looking tunnels; keepers prowled about and there were human corpses dumped everywhere. Staggering to what looked like a control room, Shepard and Anderson were ambushed by the Illusive Man, the skin of his face and neck rotted and riddled with Reaper tech. These "upgrades" allowed him to take control of their motor functions, even forcing Shepard to shoot Anderson. The Illusive Man again asserted the necessity of controlling the Reapers and that the Crucible would grant him that power, but it was clear to Shepard and Anderson that he was deeply indoctrinated. Shepard tried to convince the Illusive Man, like Saren before him, to fight his indoctrination, prompting the Illusive Man to commit suicide to escape the Reapers' control.
Shepard sits with a dying Admiral Anderson.
With the Illusive Man dealt with, Shepard opened the arms of the Citadel and Hackett ordered Shield Fleet, along with the Crucible to move in. The Crucible successfully docked with the Citadel, but nothing happened. At this point, Shepard and Anderson sat together and looked at the vast blue planet beyond. Anderson told Shepard that he was proud of him and it had been an honor to fight at his protegé's side. After this final conversation, Anderson died from his injuries and Shepard passed out from blood loss. While unconscious, however, Shepard was transported to another part of the Citadel. When he regained consciousness, Shepard was confronted by an entity of energy, manifesting itself in the form of the small boy Shepard saw die at the Reapers' hands when he fled Earth. The entity explained that it was the Catalyst, the creator of the Reapers and architect of their galactic purges every 50,000 years. The Catalyst explained that the purpose of such genocide was to solve the problem it was created to stop; the total annihilation of organics by the synthetic races they inevitably created.
Its solution was to allow organic species to evolve to the apex of their civilization and then harvest these races, with millions of bodies and minds from each race being processed and converted into new Reapers, while the remainder of their civilizations were systematically destroyed. By doing this, the Reapers preserved the harvested races, while allowing more primitive races to have their own chances to become great, evolving on their own (though influenced along more preferable paths by mass effect technology) and they in turn would be preserved, thus ensuring that the threat of complete annihilation of organics by synthetics was averted. However, because the races of the present cycle had completed the Crucible, a feat never before achieved, the Catalyst no longer believed the cycle would work, and thus a new solution must be devised. The Catalyst offered Shepard choices for this solution, leaving the Commander to decide the fate of the galaxy while explaining how events would play out whatever Shepard decided. The Crucible in conjunction with the Citadel, the Catalyst and the mass relays could be used in a multitude of ways: as a means to destroy Reapers, control Reapers, or render the Reapers harvests moot by fusing organic and synthetic life together.
Destruction of the Reapers meant that all synthetic life: geth, EDI, and the Catalyst itself included, would be destroyed as well. All other technology would be affected to varying degrees depending on the Crucible's condition, and the Catalyst warned while there would be peace, it would not last. The organic-synthetic conflict it had worked against all these eons would inevitably surface and result in chaos. Control over the Reapers meant that Shepard could use the Crucible's energy to control the Reapers. The process would destroy the Commander's body, but the thoughts, memories and consciousness would remain and replace the Catalyst as the Reapers' master AI. The end result was Reapers obeying Shepard's lead. When Shepard remarked that the Illusive Man was right after all, the Catalyst explained he could never have taken control since the Reapers already indoctrinated him. Synthesis of organic and synthetic life was another solution the Catalyst presented, and touted it as an ideal solution. According to the Catalyst, organics sought perfection through technology. Synthetics sought perfection through understanding. Organics would be perfected by integrating fully with synthetic technology. Synthetics, in turn, would finally have full understanding of organics. By merging themselves with the Crucible's energy, Shepard would create a new organic-synthetic "DNA" for all denizens of the galaxy, bringing an end to the cycle and the need for the Reapers.
Shepard destroys the Reapers for good.
In the end, Shepard chose to destroy the Reapers. After shooting the Crucible's energy reserves, the weapon fired a red beam of energy that destroyed the Reapers on and around Earth and transmitted this energy to every relay the mass relay network through the Charon Relay before damaging the relays and the Citadel as well. After making his decision, Admiral Hackett noticed the Crucible activate and ordered the fleet to disengage and rendezvous outside of the blast zone. Joker hesitated until the last possible second, desperate to save Shepard, before reluctantly following the fleet. However, he left too late. The Normandy jumped to FTL speeds but was caught by the energy released from the Crucible and crash-landed in a jungle on an unidentified world.
Activating the Crucible caused a massive explosion aboard the Citadel. Shepard was flown backward and with little energy he had left attempted to escape, his heavy skin weave cybernetics allowing him to withstand the brunt of the Crucible's energy. The Catalyst passed the Commander one final goodbye before it too was completely destroyed. During Shepard's escape, he cascaded down and landed in one of the keeper tunnels, which had now begun to collapse around him, creating a vacuum. As the blast from the Crucible intensified, it too affected Shepard, destroying his cybernetics and rendering him unconscious while the tunnel detached from the Citadel and crashed back down to Earth, landing near the Scottish highlands. The tunnel's thick walls - meant to withstand the vacuum of outer space, created a protective shell around Shepard, allowing him to survive the crash relatively unharmed.
Shepard's disappearance[]
Aftermath[]
Although the war was over, the galaxy was reeling due to the unprecedented death and destruction as a result of the Reapers' attempted harvesting. Making matters worse, the activation of the Crucible crippled nearly all the mass relays in the galaxy - cutting off entire systems from each other. The fleets who had been fighting the Reapers were now left stranded in the Sol system, thousands of ships orbiting Earth and thousands more soldiers from countless species now left planetside. Admiral Hackett, who had survived the battle, immediately returned to the newly-established Alliance headquarters in Vancouver and convened the leaders of Shepard's fleets to determine the next steps.
The fleets went to work scavenging the Reapers' remains, using what they could to rebuild the Charon relay and the damaged Citadel. What normally would take years if not decades to achieve, the fleets did in less than two years. By combining their efforts and by reverse-engineering the highly advanced Reaper tech (which, with the Catalyst gone, no longer posed the risk of indoctrinating organic species), the victorious species managed to fully repair the Charon Relay and the Citadel, establishing a link to the Serpent Nebula and relocating the Citadel back to its home at the Widow system. With the Charon Relay restored and the Citadel slowly going back to full functionality, communication systems across the galaxy were beginning to come back online.
In a period of a year, the stranded ships returned to their home planets using the damaged relays which were actively being repaired. At London, the Crucible's remains helped to restore power across most of the city's districts, speeding up reconstruction efforts considerably. On Tuchanka, Urdnot Wrex and Urdnot Bakara managed to unite the majority of the krogan, who were now entering a new golden age. Soon enough, the krogan were beginning to clean up Tuchanka's toxic atmosphere - bringing greenery and life back to the once-apocalyptic planet. On Rannoch, the shortlived peace between the quarians and the geth helped the former resettle on Rannoch, slowly beginning to acclimatize their bodies to the planet's atmosphere. However, the Crucible destroyed all of the geth, most of whom were placed in special mausoleums by the quarian leadership as a sign of respect. Admiral Daro'Xen, however, started a new faction aimed at rebuilding the destroyed geth, gaining both a lot of traction and a lot of opposition.
Survival[]
After the Crucible's destruction, Shepard was caught in a detached keeper tunnel, which crash-landed about twenty kilometers from the city of Inverness, in Scotland. The Crucible's activation deactivated or severely damaged the cybernetics in Shepard's body, placing him into a state of cardiac arrest. Shortly after the landing, a group of Scottish Alliance soldiers happened upon the debris, thinking it was a piece of Reaper tech. There they found Shepard, severely injured and on the brink of death. Unaware they found Commander Shepard, the Alliance soldiers took him to the Alliance military outpost outside of Inverness for immediate medical attention.
Dr. Brian Mallory, an Alliance medical officer, went to work on Shepard - initially believing him to be a common Alliance soldier. He noticed the nonfunctioning cybernetics in the commander's body, which were unprecedented in both scale and design. Although considering placing him in triage, Dr. Mallory, at the urging of his assistant, decided to place Shepard in a state of indefinite stasis until they could find an expert to work on Shepard's cybernetics in hopes of reviving him. Shepard was stocked away with other Alliance soldiers who were likewise put in a medically-induced coma due to suffering grievous injuries. Shepard would stay at the Inverness Military Medical Centre for at least a full year, while reconstruction efforts on Earth were in full swing. Because most of Shepard's tissue was organically grown during the Lazarus Project, the medical staff could not use his DNA to identify him. Instead, they named their new patient "John Doe".
A year later, the outpost was ordered to be decommissioned, which meant that the patients still in stasis were ordered to either be awakened, relocated to a civilian hospital, or euthanized if the injuries proved too great. Shepard, whose nonfunctioning cybernetics guaranteed that he wouldn't survive, was targeted for euthanization. However, his fate was averted when Dr. Mallory phoned an old friend from his days at the Alliance tech academy; Kenneth Donnelly, one of the two engineers who worked at the SSV Normandy SR-2. When Mallory described his patient, Donnelly realized they had found Commander Shepard. Telling his friend that the man was in fact Shepard, Dr. Mallory chose to reassign him to relocation instead, saving him from euthanization. Donnelly hastily made his way to Inverness with his new wife, Gabriella Daniels, to pick Shepard up.
At the now-decommissioned outpost, Donnelly and Daniels were astounded to learn of their old commander's fate. Explaining that his destroyed cybernetics would be unable to sustain him, Dr. Mallory suggested the duo to take Shepard to a tech expert who would be able to mend his broken cybernetics. Daniels and Donnelly initially wanted to take Shepard to Tali'Zorah or Kasumi Goto, but they both realized that neither of them would be able to work with Cerberus-Reaper tech. They settled on Miranda Lawson, but they found she disappeared from the extranet. Since she was the only person still living who was involved with the Lazarus Project, they were forced to find help elsewhere. They had attempted to contact anyone from the Normandy's old crew, but because the Crucible had still left lasting damage on communication systems, they were unable to reach anyone. With Shepard's life pod nearing expiration, they needed to act fast.
At Daniels' suggestion, Donnelly and Mallory decided to call on their last and only option. After the completion of the Crucible, Donnelly had established contact with ex-Cerberus scientists who had worked on the superweapon. One of these contacts was Dr. Gavin Archer, the former chief scientist of Project Overlord. After the Reaper War, Archer had secluded himself in his private laboratory in the Australian outback, joining a private commune of homeless refugees at Last Hope. Archer, still indebted to Shepard after convincing him to send his brother David to Grissom Academy, decided to come and retrieve Shepard personally - pledging his expertise and resources to revive him. Together with Mallory, Daniels and Donnelly, Archer worked around the clock to rewire and repair Shepard's cybernetics. In 2188, Shepard woke up.
Personality and traits[]
- “I won't let fear compromise who I am.”
- —Shepard to the Illusive Man.
Shepard with his partner, Dr. Liara T'Soni.
As an adult, Shepard stood at an average height of 1.87 meters. He had dark hair, a sharp nose, and light grey eyes. Throughout most of his life, the Commander was well-built. He had a powerful grip and acute senses due to years of intense N-school training. He adhered to the Alliance military dress code, wearing helmsman's fatigues during his time as the Normandy's XO and wearing the Alliance Navy's officer's dress during the Reaper War. During offshore activities, Shepard wore an N7-hoodie and black military cargo pants. He always cut his hair short and sported a stubble beard. After the Reaper War and his self-imposed exile, Shepard started growing out his hair and beard.
Shepard's most prevailing personality trait was his altruism. At his core, Shepard was a good-natured individual who always sought to protect innocents. He was disapproving of shameful military conduct and he never considered the ends to ever justify the means. This put him at odds with the likes of Saren Arterius, whose actions repeatedly disgusted Shepard, even before the turian Spectre's indoctrination. Despite this, however, Shepard was still capable of ruthlessness. He hated criminals and slavers in particular, due to his experiences on Mindoir. He was also somewhat prejudiced towards batarians, though those feelings eventually waned after the Bahak system's destruction.
The Commander could be violent towards others, particularly beings who - according to the Commander - deserved it. For instance, he mercilessly killed Sergeant Cathka in order to sabotage the gunship to help Archangel's struggle against the mercenaries. He also took delight in tormenting criminals, such as during his interrogation of Elias Kelham when he and Thane were attempting to stop Kolyat from assassinating Joram Talid. Despite all that, Shepard genuinely felt sympathy for victims or for the less-fortunate. He also wasn't always ruthless to criminals or gangsters, such as allowing Helena Blake to start a new life. Even though he did not always want to admit it, Shepard still believed that people could change, which showed when he repeatedly attempted to talk Saren out of helping Sovereign.
Shepard was also known to be politically considerate. Even though he wanted to kill Balak for his actions against Terra Nova, he decided against killing him since he knew he was the only military leader left in the Hegemony and that his batarian ships would prove useful for the war against the Reapers. Because of this, Shepard allowed him to live yet again, even though in theory nothing stopped him from simply killing him. Shepard's decision to also allow Balak to leave on asteroid X57 instead of sacrificing civilians showed that Shepard would always let duty come before revenge or personal feelings. He also knew how to be diplomatic, effortlessly navigating through Khalisah al-Jilani's provocative interviews or successfully convincing Rear Admiral Mikhailovich of the Normandy's usefulness. He also had a talent for negotiating with deranged or mentally ill people, such as convincing Major Kyle to abandon his cult or convincing Talitha - a fellow Mindoir survivor - to seek psychiatric help.
Shepard was regarded very highly within the Systems Alliance and in personal correspondence between Normandy crew members. Shepard attained an unorthodox approach to missions; often forgoing the simplest and easiest route if it meant innocents could be injured or killed. He was reserved towards most civilians, though held close personal bonds between members of the Normandy crew. Shepard developed natural leadership abilities after his N7 training. On account of personal memoirs left behind by Normandy crew members, they described that people tended to “naturally gravitate” around Shepard. It was clear that the Commander preferred to approach his crew as comrades and friends, rather than subordinates. Shepard maintained a sarcastic demeanor towards the Citadel Council or those who did not share his views. He was known to be harsh to those who hurt innocents or criminals, especially mercenaries. He flaunted Council authority or often rejected their decisions, but always respected Alliance leadership. He was particularly close to Admirals David Anderson and Steven Hackett, and followed their commands to the letter. Despite this, Shepard did not seem to be above refusing orders if it meant they endangered civilians. He possessed a clear moral compass, despite his unconventional approach to warfare.
Skills and abilities[]
Class[]
- Vanguard: The Vanguard is a powerful combatant, able to combine the offensive powers of the Adept and the Soldier. They have access to various weapons and armor, as well as biotics. Gameplay focus is on taking down enemies with quick and brutal force.
Vanguards are the front line of the squad. They focus on combat potential, using biotics to disable and soften up their enemies while shielding themselves from return damage long enough to dispatch foes in a hail of gunfire. The Vanguard wears light armor to start with, though they can upgrade to medium armor, and they may gain specialist training in shotguns and pistols. They can also equip advanced bio-amps to increase the strength of their biotics.
Powers[]
- Incendiary Ammo: Shepard's weapons are usually outfitted with incendiary ammo, which burns through armor, sets enemies on fire, and damages health.
- Cryo Ammo': Some of Shepard's weapons are equipped with cryo ammo, which freezes enemies, allowing Shepard to shatter them with gunfire or biotics.
- Charge: Sometimes called Biotic Charge, this ability uses a damaging shockwave, allowing Shepard to ram into an enemy with incredible force.
- Shockwave: Sends a cascading shockwave at enemies, pushing them back with incredible force or sometimes sending them flying.
- Barrier: Shepard can use mass effect fields to protect himself from damage much like how a kinetic barrier does, but with some unique characteristics.
- Nova: A power which transferred the energy of Shepard's biotic barrier to charge and spark a deadly blast.
- Throw: Shepard can use mass effect fields to hurl a target away from the user with damaging force.
- Lift: Shepard can biotically lift enemies in the air.
- Warp: A biotic ability which allows Shepard to shred an enemy apart and damage their shields.