Hello there,
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If you like how Shepard is a total genius badass, you should check Arrival : Ruptures to enjoy more of the same.
—
Citadel
"Spirits, it's Shepard; he is alive." "The turian who was guarding the scanner said, taking a step back in shock.
The guard pressed his earpiece, speaking with his superiors. "Shut it down. Yeah, it's him. Alright."
"Commander, you'll have to speak to my captain; he is right through the door, on the right." Shepard nodded and walked through the door. Surprisingly, the captain was a human, rather than a Turian or an Asari.
"You'll have to make him scream a little. He's not going to tell you everything just because you ask." And Shepard had to admit, it was nice to see someone using less official methods to get results.
The captain got up and offered his hand. "Commander Shepard. Captain Bailey, and am I glad to see you alive. But can I ask how?"
"Long story, Captain, and there probably will be a press release, so you can listen to that."
"Alright. Now…" Captain Bailey began to explain the procedure necessary for Shepard to activate his IDs and the places he would have to visit but eventually offered to solve the problem with the press of a button.
"Much appreciated, Captain Bailey."
"You should go and see the Council; I am sure they will be happy to see the person that saved their lives. Let me know if you need anything else."
Through the shocked and surprised gazes of the denizens of the Citadel, Shepard handled his business, buying the ingredients Mess Sergeant had requested, before making his way to the Presidium, where the Council was in session.
Tevos, Sparatus, Valern, and of course, Udina, stood at the podium, talking to a Batarian of all people.
Silence fell into the Citadel Tower as Shepard and his team walked in. Whispers of disbelief and triumph cut through the quiet, all upon seeing Commander Shepard alive.
"Councilors, am I interrupting?" Shepard asked, and the remaining Councillors turned to Udina, who stammered.
"O-of course not, Commander, we just finished here." With a look from the human councillor, the Batarian quickly left, avoiding making eye contact with Shepard.
"No other appointments?" Shepard was grinning now, enjoying the sight. It was nice to see the Councillors scared.
"No." Valern had pulled his hood further down to hide his face, just as each of the Councillors was doing something to avoid eye contact.
"How fortunate then, I came just in time."
"Indeed. May I begin to say how glad we are to see you alive?" Tevos, ever the diplomat, offered an olive branch, though Shepard wasn't in the mood for it.
"Who was the Batarian?" There seemed to be an unusually high number of Batarians on the Citadel, but he didn't have time to inquire about the reason behind it.
Udina seemed nervous now, more than he was anyway. "You were not informed?"
"Ah, spirits damn it." Garrus muttered, having been too busy to catch Shepard up on the latest events in the galaxy.
"Of what?" Really, it was as if everyone was too scared to tell him something.
"Six months after your disappearance, the Batarian civil war ended, with the newly founded Batarian Republic, a democratic nation without the undesirable parts of the Hegemony, standing at the top." Tevos explained, and Shepard listened.
Soon after the civil war was over, the Batarian Republic, with its newly elected leader, Highelect Karvek Vekhtar, applied to join the Citadel. The Council had fast-tracked their application to ensure that the Batarians did not slip into their old habits, through the use of economic and diplomatic ties.
"I see. Well, if I don't have to deal with slavers, I am not going to complain." Invading Khar'shan for the second time because they were up to old tricks would be a chore.
"Commander, about the Reapers?" Sparatus finally braved and asked the question they were all dreading.
Shepard bent his head to the side, puzzled. "I thought you dismissed their existence; what is there to discuss?"
"You're not angry?" Udina looked hopeful, and Shepard would have loved to crush it.
Fortunately for the Councillors, he had better things to do.
"Councillors, when the Reapers come in force, I am going to win this war, by myself if I have to, and when that happens, the people are going to ask, 'What the hell was the Citadel Council doing while Shepard and his team saved the whole galaxy?'" Shepard asked, and suddenly, the Councillors were anxious again.
Shepard clapped his hands. "So, go ahead, ignore their existence even with everything I have given you and the two-kilometer-long dreadnought that attacked the heart of the galactic civilization, one that clearly wasn't created by the geth."
Activating his anti-gravity generator, Shepard approached the Councillors, whispering with a grin. "Because in the end, you will have the whole galaxy after your asses, and I am just going to sit down and watch it with popcorn in my hand."
"We are grateful for your understanding, Commander. Perhaps you could explain the reason behind your disappearance?" Tevos knew it was anything but understanding and changed the subject.
Once again, Shepard had to explain the events regarding the Collector cruiser, how he took the ship, the revelation of Harbinger—which disturbed the Council—and the whole deal with the stasis capsule.
"How does Cerberus fit into this?" Now that the subject of the Reapers was out of the window, Sparatus was more daring in his approach, and seeing the Hero of the Galaxy work with terrorists was unacceptable.
"I have that under control." Since this was a public place, Shepard couldn't reveal his plan to track a QEC signal and cause mass chaos.
For today.
Valern, the most cautious of the bunch, didn't press the issue. "What is your current task then?"
"I am going after the Collectors."
"Is there anything we can do to assist?" Udina was finally ready to fulfill his end of the bargain, and Shepard would take full advantage of it.
Assuming his thinking pose, Shepard began to list his requests. "My Spectre status, for one. Then I'll need laser batteries and anti-proton torpedoes, and I heard something about shields you acquired from the Collector cruiser? That too."
"Yes, of course. We'll have your ship refitted as soon as possible." Valern typed on his omni-tool, sending out orders to the relevant people and places.
"That's wonderful. In the meantime, where can I find Captain Anderson?" He couldn't leave without seeing how Anderson was doing. The whole political scene couldn't be easy for a military man like him.
"He is at the embassy right now." Udina informed him.
"Thank you, Councillors. Have a nice day."
—
Once outside, Shepard came across a very unexpected sight.
Thousands of fans had gathered, with the press at the front, waiting for Shepard, and went crazy at seeing him with a deafening roar, as if someone was tearing a sheet of metal right next to his ear.
It took a while for the crowd to calm down and the C-Sec to make it to the scene, trying to disperse the mass, no matter how futile it was.
"Alright, I have a boot with the name Collectors on it waiting to be lodged where the sun doesn't shine, so each of you gets one question."
"Commander Shepard, is it true that you crawled your way out of the afterlife?" A Salarian held his omni-tool to Shepard, and none of the present people cared.
"For the love of, no…." Shepard sighed, insulted that the people thought he could be killed.
—
With the press conference finished after an hour, Shepard gave the crew shore leave, while he went to find Anderson.
"Shepard, so glad to see you alive, son." Anderson opened his arms, and Shepard met the man halfway.
"Anderson. Good to see you too. How have you been?" His former captain looked weary.
Anderson just patted him on the back, gesturing to the chairs for Shepard and his team to sit before ordering drinks. "Better now that you're here. I've been juggling as Udina's assistant; it's not how I've planned to spend my twilight years."
Shepard leaned back on the couch and crossed his legs. "Yeah, tell me, how did the Alliance screw up so badly?"
"After you went MIA, the DNC began to lose power as people blamed them for letting you be sent on a wild goose chase. They wanted to hold onto power and, against all our advice, decided to send the majority of the fleets to be refitted with the weaponry you provided, as well as what we managed to salvage from the Collector cruiser. It worked, but their position is tenuous with the Collectors abducting human colonies. It's hush-hush now, but bound to get out, so do expect a call from the Prime Minister." Just the explanation made Shepard groan, and he still had to solve the actual problem itself.
"I do have some choice words for him."
"Well, I pity him. So what's the deal with Cerberus?" Anderson asked because as soon as rumors of Shepard's involvement with the terrorist organization got out, the interest in Cerberus had grown significantly.
"They found the stasis pod I stuck myself in and offered me another Normandy to fight the Collectors since the Alliance can't."
"What are you planning to do? If it gets out that you're working with Cerberus, their popularity and previous image will do a complete one eighty." With the Reapers on the horizon, the last thing they needed was Cerberus causing problems for the galaxy.
"I had the chance to talk with the Illusive Man, and I am trying to devise a way of tracking QEC to find their main base. After I am done with the Collectors, the Alliance can strike them at their heart." Shepard planned to cover all his bases before blasting the Reapers to dust.
Anderson shrugged. If it was Shepard, then the Illusive Man's and Cerberus' days were numbered. "Alright, I'll take your word for it."
—
Their conversation had continued till night, so Shepard and his team returned to Normandy to sleep.
It took a week for the refits to be done, with engineering teams working round the clock to finish the work as quickly as possible, on the orders of the Citadel Council.
Which was an obvious attempt to kiss up to Shepard, but if it got things done quickly, he wasn't going to complain.
He had also gotten to know his new teammates. Mordin was secretive about his work for the STG, as expected, while Kasumi preferred to deflect questions. Miranda talked about a sister, a genetic twin, while Jacob was much the same.
Prime Minister Robert Carson had called and was sweating bullets while trying to explain himself to Shepard. Their publicity stunt had backfired spectacularly, even if the population at large didn't know it yet, but once the cat was out of the bag, the Developing Nations Coalition would find themselves face-to-face with several billion angry humans.
"Commander, take down the Collectors. Do whatever you have to do; you have the full backing of the Alliance."
"I was already going to do that, but thanks." Shepard finally ended the call and went to sleep, because the next day, Normandy would leave the dock.
—
Serpent Nebula
Boltzmann System
Bekenstein
Since he was close by, Shepard decided to get Kasumi's little retrieval mission out of the way.
"I actually made a plan to sneak in and get the graybox out before anyone even knew what happened, but no one would believe that you are the leader of a mercenary unit and just happen to be the visual twin of Commander Shepard."
"Why don't you let me handle this?"
"By all means, at least it would be more lively than sneaking around."
Shepard chuckled. "Garrus, get ready; I heard the whole meeting is packed to the brim with criminals."
"Just the kind of gathering I like to ruin."
Shepard got off the shuttle, his friend right behind him.
"Can I see your…" The guard was going to ask for an invitation but, upon seeing who it was, dropped his gun and ran.
The party was in full swing, and as Shepard stepped inside, he fired a single shot at the ceiling. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are all under arrest. Resist and I'll kill you."
"Who the hell do you…." Garrus shot the guard through the head, and the laser bolt continued its path, killing a guest and causing the rest to panic.
Shepard sent a massive biotic wave, throwing the running guests around like ragdolls. "Face down on the ground, now."
Seeing as most of them were on the ground, it didn't take long for them to follow Shepard's orders.
"What is the meaning of this!" A voice with a strong accent screamed, and Donovan Hock came out of his room on the upper floor. Unceremoniously, Shepard threw a biotic pull, sending the crime boss rolling down the stairs. Hock eventually stopped, right in front of Shepard and Garrus, groaning in pain.
Guards began to flood the room from the outside, responding to the emergency call. Garrus used the beam mode to cut the first wave in half, creating a quite grim scene at the entrance, which sent the remaining guards running.
"Alright, Kasumi, get in here and get what you need." Shepard called the master thief, who appeared mere seconds later.
"Definitely livelier than my plan." Kasumi gave a dramatic bow.
Donovan kept groaning. "Kasumi Goto, I should have known." He scowled, and Shepard kicked him in the gut for it.
"I'll check his vault and be right back." Kasumi quickly left, eager to get the graybox back.
"Alright, anyone moves, they're dead." Shepard pressed his earpiece. "Joker, call the Alliance; tell them to send a pickup for a massive criminal gathering."
"Aye aye, Commander."
Kasumi returned a minute later. "The vault is DNA and voice locked and has a force field. I am following the power source now."
"Well, we can have all the DNA and voice samples we want." Nodding, the young woman took a hair strand from the crime boss and activated her omni-tool.
"Which leaves just the password."
Shepard looked down at Hock. "Donovan, what's the password?" Holding out a hand before the man could answer, he continued. "And before you decide to be brave, remember that it doesn't work on me."
Donovan understood that he had lost and gave the password. "It's Perugia."
Kasumi grinned beneath her hood. "Give me a minute and I'll be through the door."
—
Turns out Hock had more than the gray box.
Such as the head of Lady Liberty and Michelangelo's David. The Alliance cruiser sent to the planet had picked up everything inside the vault, except the graybox and a tablet that belonged to the Quarians, as Shepard decided to deliver it himself.
Everyone in the party, at least those that were alive, was led away in cuffs to be judged for their crimes.
Shepard really loved productive days like these, where he stuffed criminals inside by the dozen.
—
"Shocking news across the Alliance and the galaxy. The head of Lady Liberty, as well as Michelangelo's David and other priceless art and cultural pieces long lost, has been returned to the Alliance, thanks to the efforts of Commander Shepard, who had survived his encounter with the vessel that destroyed the SSV Normandy by sleeping in a stasis capsule to await rescue.
Several pieces that belonged to various races of the galaxy had also been returned to their rightful owners in a massive ceremony on the Citadel.
Celebrations are raging across the galaxy in honor of Commander Shepard's miraculous return. More on the evening news."