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Chapter 21: On they way

The next mission was coming soon as the Normandy quickly approached Purgatory. It seems a little surreal the places Shepard's been going to. Comes back from the dead but now he goes to Afterlife to find Archangel. And now he's going to Purgatory. The Spirits of war obviously have a sense of humour.

Shepard was making his preparation for his mission. The box Solvan gave him sat on the table in his cabin. He placed his hand on top of it and gently pushed down. The box gave out an electronic bleep and opened. Inside was a number of black metal pieces of different sizes.

Shepard reached inside and pulled out the largest piece and placed it on his chest. As soon as it touched him a hexagonal gird started to form around his torso, arms and legs. He then took out more of the metal pieces and placed them on parts of his body.

Once all the pieces where on the armour glowed and new pieces formed on the armour. The glowing then stopped and he went over to the mirror to look at the armour. The Armour was like his previous one but his left shoulder plate was larger. There was also pockets on his chest and his lower arms had two square blocs on them.

His legs however where a rectangular shape. The only thing he missed now was the helmet. He went back to the box and took out a set of blue tinted shades with a metal band on. He put them on and immediately the band started to glow. As it did it formed a helmet like the human helmets. Once it was finished his chest, shoulder and helmet started to glow. Once the glow faded a four winged eagle was on his armour.

Shepard raised his hands in front of himself and clenched his fists. Then tuned to face the two blades on his wall. He removed the helmet and placed it on his desk. Walking to the blades he placed a hand on them as his tears started to fall.

“Far'ti I wish I could find it. But please don't blame me. I loved our sister just like you. I just miss so much.” he said quietly.

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Ashley sat looking at the sun as it started to set on the scene. It was only a matter of time before her prince would come. She smiled as the sky turned into a brilliant shade of orange. Her mind wondered on what would happen when John would come for her.

Her omni-tool opened up and indicated her time for bed. She needed an early night. The calibration matrix for the defence guns needed her attention. But it would take her a long time to fully calibrate it. So having an early night and a clear head was vital. She turned her back to to sunset and walked to her Pre-fab unit.
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Shepard, Zaeed and Kasumi walked into the plant entrance. They spotted Vido Santiago and several Blue Suns mercenaries run out onto the walkway above. Vido had a cocky swagger as he walked towards the railing. "Zaeed Massani," he said. "You finally found me."

"Vido..." Zaeed growled. He subtly reached for his assault rifle.

"Don't be stupid, Zaeed!" Vido chastised. "I have a whole company of blood thirsty bastards willing to kill or be killed on my command. Or maybe you should, so my men have a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are... again."

Shepard could see the rage build up inside Zaeed. He had to act fast before he did something stupid. Looking at the area an idea came to mind. "Hey, Vido!" Everyone's eyes were on Shepard. "It ends here." he threw a white grenade toward Vido. Before the Suns knew what was happening several the grenade exploded with a bright flash of light causing them to be blind.

At that moment several gunshots rang out and Vedo's sight retuned. As he opened his eyes and tuned around. The Commander stood there surrounded by dead Blue Sun merc's. Before the merc Commander could do anything Shepard kicked him in the chest and sent him flying to the squad.

Zaeed and Kasumi were surprised but at moment to realize Vido was right before him. The coward broke his ankle from the fall. He struggled to get to his feet. Vido screamed as he tried to put any weight on his broken ankle. Zaeed took out his pistol and wickedly grinned as he approached Vido. Shepard leaned against the railing above the area and watched Zaeed approach him.

"How the tables have changed," Zaeed commented.

"C-Come on, Zaeed," Vido plead. "I swear it wasn't personal."

Zaeed fired a round into his leg. Vido fell to the ground.

"Aaaah, fuck!" Vido tried dragging himself away. A streak of blood was left behind himself. "Please Zaeed! Don't do this!"

Zaeed fired a round a round in his right shoulder as John turned around. He just could not watch.

Vido screamed again. "Zaeed, I'm dying here! Please! I'll do anything!"

Zaeed looked over him. "Yeah, there's something you can do." Zaeed aimed the pistol at his head. "Die, you son of a bitch." The back end of Vido's head blew out from the gunshot. After twenty years, Zaeed had his revenge.

Shepard jumped over the edge of the railing and landed on both feet. "You good, Zaeed?"

Zaeed fired several more rounds into Vido. "Yeah, I'm good. After twenty years, this bastard is finally dead. I owe you Shepard. Now back to the original mission. There are still more Blue Suns mercenaries in this plant and the company is not paying me to leave a job half finished."

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Ash sighed as she drank her coffee. It was a long day and non of the people cared. But she understood why. There where some things about the Alliance that people did not trust. She also couldn't trust the alliance any more after what they said about Shepard. But she couldn't just abandon them.

Her coffee relaxed her. She felt like scum while she sat. But the people weren’t all bad they just did not trust Alliance -types. She sighed once again got up and went back to work mentally wishing she had an Exocron operative to help her.

Shepard examined the tank that held the sleeping Krogan.

"The tank has been successfully integrated into the Normandy's systems, Commander," EDI said.

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Like most Krogan, he has the genophage infect every cell of his body. Other than that, he is an exemplary specimen of the Krogan race. What his attitude is, is something I cannot know."

"Get ready, I'm going to let him out."

"Are you sure? We do not know what this Krogan will be like."

"He's either a valuable asset or a ticking time bomb. I'd rather deal with him now."

"Very well. The controls and consequences are yours."

Shepard approached the console and pressed the button to open the tank. It hissed as the locks disengaged. The bio-fluids drained away inside the tank before it opened up. The tank door opened allowing the Krogan to fall forward. He landed on his knees and vomited some bio-fluids that was caught in his throat. The Krogan stumbled out of the tank and looked groggy. His eyes had trouble focusing.

Shepard took a couple of steps forward. The Krogan's eyes open wide. He roared and charged forward. But the Commander pushed back and tackled the Krogan at the waist using the Krogan's momentum against him. The Krogan flew over him and hit the wall.

The Krogan stumbled to his feet, bewildered. "Human," he stated. "Male. The tank did not say Humans could match up to a Krogan in close combat. Odd... Before you die, I need a name."

"I'm Commander Shepard," he replied while reaching behind his back. "And I don't take threats lightly."

"Not your name," he chided. "Mine." The Krogan approached him. "I know things, but the tank... Okeer couldn't implant a connection. His words are hollow." The Krogan was just a few feet away from Shepard. John's hand rested on his pistol. "Warlord, legacy, grunt," he said. The last word got his attention. "Grunt. 'Grunt' was the last. It has no meaning. It'll do. I am Grunt." Grunt was now right in front of Shepard. "If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."

"Why call yourself Grunt?"

"It's short. Matches the training in my blood. The other words, Okeer, Legacy, are big things I don't feel. Maybe they fit your mouth better. I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. I will do what I am bred to do. Fight and determine the strongest, but his implant has failed. Without a reason that's my own, one fight is as good as any other. Might as start with you."

"I have a strong ship and strong crew. A strong clan. You would make it stronger."

"If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you."

"My enemies are the Reapers. A race of sentient machines that have wiped out organic civilizations every fifty thousand years. They are more powerful than anything that has ever existed. I think they would make a worthy foe."

Grunt let out a throaty chuckle. "That is a worthy foe. Very well, Shepard. I'll fight for you."

"I'm glad you saw reason," he said while nodding downwards.

Grunt looked down and saw Shepard's pistol at his stomach. He expressed an amused grunt. "Offer one hand but arm the other. Wise Shepard. If I find what I want. If I find a clan. I will be honoured to eventually pit them against you."

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Ash worked at the fire control every time she tried to calibrated it something else failed. It started to piss her off. She typed in a few more commands and once again the read 'failed.' gritting her teeth she almost smashed the screen.

Her temper was reaching it's limit as was her patience. At that moment her omni-tool activated and Anderson appeared.

“Councillor? What can I do for you.” she asked.

“Chief I was hoping to talk to you about Shepard's 'origins'.” he said.

Ash got the meaning of what he said. She held up a finger before closing her comm on her tool. She then looked around before typing a few keys on it. It gave a small bleep before she opened her comm back up and called Anderson.

“Sorry about that I had to make sure that no one is listing.” she said.

“It's ok. This information is extremely sensitive. How long have you known?” he asked.

“Just over two years.”

Anderson almost scoffed at the info but before he could say anything else the signal was lost. Ash tried to get the signal back but couldn’t. Her mind buzzed as she tried to try someone else. She then tried to contact the JFU but couldn't.

At that moment Lilith came in.

“Miss Williams we've lost all communication.”

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The Illusive Man sat on his chair in front of a dying sun when the holoscreens activated. An of Miranda appeared before him.

"Miranda," he stated as he took a puff of his cigarette. "Why aren’t you using the QEC?"

"The Commander is having a privet chat with some of the crew. But I have some concerns about Shepard."

"You could have filed a report to send to me."

"This isn't something I can truly express in a report."

"What... concerns do you have about Commander Shepard?"

"He knows a lot more about what's happening than what he's letting on. When we first got to Freedom's Progress he ordered the pilot to fly over a small group of Quarians. That group of Quarians just happened to have his former team mate Tali'Zorah with them."

"You did mention in the report that you pulled up a video of the battlefield. He could have recognized her."

"She was in a completely different suit. There was no way he would recognize her. Unless he saw that light she had on?"

"Light?"

"Some sort of light was flashing on her back. Not to mention those mech's completely missed her ."

"Well she was probably lucky. As for the flashing light it could be anything."

"Maybe but when he arrived the Quarrian seemed to expect him."

"What are you suggesting exactly, Miranda? That Shepard was giving orders while he was in a coma?"

"That isn't everything. When we went to the Citadel, I had someone track him. After the meeting with the Council, he met with someone who dressed in a cloak. This person gave him a box that contained the Commander's new armour and those curved blades. I have been monitoring any outgoing communication and at no point did I find a communication from Shepard. And I highly doubt he just called this person once he visited the Council and that person had this armour ready to go. I checked experimental prototypes from many companies and none of them have any armour that comes close to what Shepard is wearing."

"I'll admit that is something of interest. We should keep a closer eye on him."

"There's more. I wanted to learn more about Wilson and why he betrayed us. I looked into his records, but I've come across evidence that his credentials were falsified."

This news caused TIM to shift in his seat. "Falsified?"

"For all intents and purposes, his records are very real, but I dug deeper. I contacted the institutions he earned his degrees from. He has records he was there, but there is no evidence that he was there."

TIM downed the last of his whisky and rubbed his temple. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Wilson had official records that he attended at the institutions, but I had some people check into things. No one at any of these places knew Wilson. Absolutely no one. There is also no video record of him attending these schools. In fact we don't have any photos of him before ten years ago."

"What are you suggesting?"

"That Wilson was an infiltrator from the start. I don't know who he was working for, but that is the only conclusion I can come up with in the light of current facts."

TIM took a puff of his cigarette and placed it on the edge of his ash tray. "This is disturbing news. Any conjectures as to who Wilson was working for?"

"Possibly the Shadow Broker," Miranda replied. "It would make sense that Wilson would try to sabotage Lazarus under order of the Shadow Broker, considering our previous run-in with him."

"Likely possibility." TIM reached for his cigarette and took another puff. "I'm not comfortable with the idea that Wilson has eluded our detection for the past few years."

"He may have sabotaged Lazarus more than we thought before."

"How so?"

"I have done scans without Shepard's knowledge and discovered that Shepard doesn't have a biotic implant."

TIM stabbed the ember end of his cigarette into the ash tray.

"Shepard has been using his biotics without his implant all this time."

"It disturbs me to no end that Wilson tried to directly sabotage Shepard. It was entirely possible that Shepard could have awakened without his biotics because of that stunt." TIM pulled out a new cigarette and lit it. "Though it is not completely impossible for him to use his biotics. It is common knowledge that Shepard operated without an implant. That was one of his qualities that have made him well known in the galaxy."

"About that. I have watched him in combat and just what I've seen. It's beyond anything I have ever seen out of a soldier. His speed, strength and biotic capabilities. It is almost super-human. And that bothers me. Lazarus made him a better soldier, but he was already leagues beyond anyone in the Alliance. Even as a teen he saved his colony from slavers just with his biotics and his sword. Despite all of his renown, the first 6 years of his life is a mystery. I need to know this. Did Cerberus or the Alliance have a project where they tried to create a super-soldier and one of the subjects escaped or is unaccounted for?"

TIM gave the question thought. His cigarette hung from his fingers as his rested his hand against his mouth. "No. In any project similar to what could have created Shepard was secure. No one is unaccounted for. Is this everything?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll have some people look into Wilson's past. That is indeed something to know about. In the meantime, keep an eye on Shepard."

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Shepard stood in the briefing room. The QEC was active. Thanks to the Exocron operatives who infiltrated Cerberus also made modification's to the Normandy as well.

"EDI, hook me up with the ministers," Shepard ordered.

"Yes, Commander."

The QEC activated and is image came before the Ministers.

"Commander, we have received your report on Aite," Hal'yon said. "Even after the horrors they committed against us, they still have not stopped."

"The bastards nearly caused an apocalypse before the Reapers even arrived," Shepard cursed.

"But you stopped Overlord," Talgoran said. "Even if this galaxy doesn't realize it, you saved it again. I hope David can find peace at the Grissom Academy."

"The man's brother actually was trying to convince me to leave David in the machine. Nearly causes the apocalypse and he wants to continue the experiments."

"Cerberus will never change," the Aqult scoffed. "Success at the cost of innocents. Simply despicable."

"This will merely be another charge against them for when we bring them in to pay for their crimes," Hal'yon said. "We wish you luck, Commander your father would be proud as would Far'ti."

"Thank you, sir."

The QEC closed down.

"If only the rest Council could be as accommodating," Tikus quipped.

"If on...," Shepard was about to say before his senses picked up someone else in the room.

He spun to his right and pinned whatever was there in the room to the wall with his right arm. The invisibility cloak gave away revealing Kasumi. Shepard's eyes widened.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I-I was here to thank you," she gasped, "for decrypting the grey box and deleting just the information and saving the memories."

"How much did you hear?" he asked letting go of her.

"Everything," she admitted. "W-What was all that? I've never seen aliens like them before?"

"EDI lock the door."

"Door is locked."

"This is a tight spot here. This is a secret that I don't want Cerberus to know about, and yet you are on Cerberus' payroll."

"I'm an independent contractor," Kasumi countered. "Anyways, I wasn't paid to spy on you for them. I was paid to fight for you. But after what you did for me with the Hock heist, the money doesn't matter. You earned my loyalty, and I promise you I won't tell anyone about this."

"I do not detect any deception," EDI said.

"Alright, I'll explain myself," Shepard said. He could have mind-melded with her, but his head just hurts too much after the day. "Have you heard of the rumours about me not being human?"

Before she could nod she got the gist of what he was asking. Her eyes widedned.

"That's probably the last thing I expected to hear from you. What are you then?"

"I'm a Tiberian. EDI here is an Exocron, just like Tikus here."

"That would be me," Tikus quickly popped in as a life size hologram.

"We come from a parallel universe. In my galaxy, we have completely different races, Tolashners, Exocrons, Aqultrons, Shel'trakans and Tiberians. All of these races are united as one. We lived in peace and prosperity. That is... Until Cerberus arrived in our galaxy."

"How did Cerberus reach your universe?"

"There's a wormhole that connects our two galaxies. They found it and used it. Things started off well enough. It was a learning experience for both sides. Little did we know of Cerberus' ulterior motives. Cerberus agents were stealing technology without our knowledge and performed their own experiments. In their haste, they corrupted a stem-cell limb farm. Over four trillion died immediately."

This elicits a gasp from Kasumi.

"That wasn't the end of it. The corruption of the cells somehow mutated caused the dead to rise up and consume the flesh of the living. However I was kidnapped as the Infection spread. I was tortured, experimented on but the worst of it I watched my sisters get raped in front of me."

John could see a tear come from her right eye.

"The people you saw me talking to are the JFU. My galaxy's version of the Council. My mission was to infiltrate this galaxy and bring Cerberus to justice for their crimes. But that mission has changed. Our main focus now is to stop the Reapers."

"That is... something. But a question remains." Kasumi waved her index finger at him. "Several actually. Everyone knows you where found on a ship. And from the sounds of things you must have fought Cerberus how could you do it at age 6?"

Shepard laughed a little. "Tiberans are slightly differently than Humans, or most races for that matter. Because Tiberia has an extremely harsh environment children are tort to fight at an early age. That answer your questions?"

"Somewhat. Why did Cerbrus want you?."

"A few things. One of them being that Tiberian DNA is close to humans. The next is I'm what's called the Spirits chosen. A warrior of the royal family who is selected by the spirits of war to stop great destruction."

"How many know about this secret?"

"Garrus, Joker, Chakwas and Tali know. That's it. Actually, no. That isn't it. The Reapers know. Sovereign's sensors somehow detected Delta energy readings and my radiation immunity from me and realized that I am Tiberian. It's likely that the Reaper fleet now knows."

"Wait, how would Sovereign know what an Tiberian is?"

"The Reapers once attacked my galaxy. We managed to defend ourselves, but lost a lot of people in the battle."

Kasumi whistled. "That is something else."

"You certainly are taking this news really well."

"Well, I always thought you were very different from most Humans. This explains why. This mission has gotten a lot more interesting."

"Commander Shepard," EDI called out. "I am receiving a message from Kelly."

“Put her through.” he said.

“Errr Commander The Illusive man would like to talk to you.” Kelly said over the comm.

Description
Chapter 21: On they way

The next mission was coming soon as the Normandy quickly approached Purgatory. It seems a little surreal the places Shepard's been going to. Comes back from the dead but now he goes to Afterlife to find Archangel. And now he's going to Purgatory. The Spirits of war obviously have a sense of humour.

Shepard was making his preparation for his mission. The box Solvan gave him sat on the table in his cabin. He placed his hand on top of it and gently pushed down. The box gave out an electronic bleep and opened. Inside was a number of black metal pieces of different sizes.

Shepard reached inside and pulled out the largest piece and placed it on his chest. As soon as it touched him a hexagonal gird started to form around his torso, arms and legs. He then took out more of the metal pieces and placed them on parts of his body.

Once all the pieces where on the armour glowed and new pieces formed on the armour. The glowing then stopped and he went over to the mirror to look at the armour. The Armour was like his previous one but his left shoulder plate was larger. There was also pockets on his chest and his lower arms had two square blocs on them.

His legs however where a rectangular shape. The only thing he missed now was the helmet. He went back to the box and took out a set of blue tinted shades with a metal band on. He put them on and immediately the band started to glow. As it did it formed a helmet like the human helmets. Once it was finished his chest, shoulder and helmet started to glow. Once the glow faded a four winged eagle was on his armour.

Shepard raised his hands in front of himself and clenched his fists. Then tuned to face the two blades on his wall. He removed the helmet and placed it on his desk. Walking to the blades he placed a hand on them as his tears started to fall.

“Far'ti I wish I could find it. But please don't blame me. I loved our sister just like you. I just miss so much.” he said quietly.

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Ashley sat looking at the sun as it started to set on the scene. It was only a matter of time before her prince would come. She smiled as the sky turned into a brilliant shade of orange. Her mind wondered on what would happen when John would come for her.

Her omni-tool opened up and indicated her time for bed. She needed an early night. The calibration matrix for the defence guns needed her attention. But it would take her a long time to fully calibrate it. So having an early night and a clear head was vital. She turned her back to to sunset and walked to her Pre-fab unit.
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Shepard, Zaeed and Kasumi walked into the plant entrance. They spotted Vido Santiago and several Blue Suns mercenaries run out onto the walkway above. Vido had a cocky swagger as he walked towards the railing. "Zaeed Massani," he said. "You finally found me."

"Vido..." Zaeed growled. He subtly reached for his assault rifle.

"Don't be stupid, Zaeed!" Vido chastised. "I have a whole company of blood thirsty bastards willing to kill or be killed on my command. Or maybe you should, so my men have a reason to put you down like the mad dog you are... again."

Shepard could see the rage build up inside Zaeed. He had to act fast before he did something stupid. Looking at the area an idea came to mind. "Hey, Vido!" Everyone's eyes were on Shepard. "It ends here." he threw a white grenade toward Vido. Before the Suns knew what was happening several the grenade exploded with a bright flash of light causing them to be blind.

At that moment several gunshots rang out and Vedo's sight retuned. As he opened his eyes and tuned around. The Commander stood there surrounded by dead Blue Sun merc's. Before the merc Commander could do anything Shepard kicked him in the chest and sent him flying to the squad.

Zaeed and Kasumi were surprised but at moment to realize Vido was right before him. The coward broke his ankle from the fall. He struggled to get to his feet. Vido screamed as he tried to put any weight on his broken ankle. Zaeed took out his pistol and wickedly grinned as he approached Vido. Shepard leaned against the railing above the area and watched Zaeed approach him.

"How the tables have changed," Zaeed commented.

"C-Come on, Zaeed," Vido plead. "I swear it wasn't personal."

Zaeed fired a round into his leg. Vido fell to the ground.

"Aaaah, fuck!" Vido tried dragging himself away. A streak of blood was left behind himself. "Please Zaeed! Don't do this!"

Zaeed fired a round a round in his right shoulder as John turned around. He just could not watch.

Vido screamed again. "Zaeed, I'm dying here! Please! I'll do anything!"

Zaeed looked over him. "Yeah, there's something you can do." Zaeed aimed the pistol at his head. "Die, you son of a bitch." The back end of Vido's head blew out from the gunshot. After twenty years, Zaeed had his revenge.

Shepard jumped over the edge of the railing and landed on both feet. "You good, Zaeed?"

Zaeed fired several more rounds into Vido. "Yeah, I'm good. After twenty years, this bastard is finally dead. I owe you Shepard. Now back to the original mission. There are still more Blue Suns mercenaries in this plant and the company is not paying me to leave a job half finished."

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Ash sighed as she drank her coffee. It was a long day and non of the people cared. But she understood why. There where some things about the Alliance that people did not trust. She also couldn't trust the alliance any more after what they said about Shepard. But she couldn't just abandon them.

Her coffee relaxed her. She felt like scum while she sat. But the people weren’t all bad they just did not trust Alliance -types. She sighed once again got up and went back to work mentally wishing she had an Exocron operative to help her.

Shepard examined the tank that held the sleeping Krogan.

"The tank has been successfully integrated into the Normandy's systems, Commander," EDI said.

"What can you tell me about him?"

"Like most Krogan, he has the genophage infect every cell of his body. Other than that, he is an exemplary specimen of the Krogan race. What his attitude is, is something I cannot know."

"Get ready, I'm going to let him out."

"Are you sure? We do not know what this Krogan will be like."

"He's either a valuable asset or a ticking time bomb. I'd rather deal with him now."

"Very well. The controls and consequences are yours."

Shepard approached the console and pressed the button to open the tank. It hissed as the locks disengaged. The bio-fluids drained away inside the tank before it opened up. The tank door opened allowing the Krogan to fall forward. He landed on his knees and vomited some bio-fluids that was caught in his throat. The Krogan stumbled out of the tank and looked groggy. His eyes had trouble focusing.

Shepard took a couple of steps forward. The Krogan's eyes open wide. He roared and charged forward. But the Commander pushed back and tackled the Krogan at the waist using the Krogan's momentum against him. The Krogan flew over him and hit the wall.

The Krogan stumbled to his feet, bewildered. "Human," he stated. "Male. The tank did not say Humans could match up to a Krogan in close combat. Odd... Before you die, I need a name."

"I'm Commander Shepard," he replied while reaching behind his back. "And I don't take threats lightly."

"Not your name," he chided. "Mine." The Krogan approached him. "I know things, but the tank... Okeer couldn't implant a connection. His words are hollow." The Krogan was just a few feet away from Shepard. John's hand rested on his pistol. "Warlord, legacy, grunt," he said. The last word got his attention. "Grunt. 'Grunt' was the last. It has no meaning. It'll do. I am Grunt." Grunt was now right in front of Shepard. "If you are worthy of your command, prove your strength and try to destroy me."

"Why call yourself Grunt?"

"It's short. Matches the training in my blood. The other words, Okeer, Legacy, are big things I don't feel. Maybe they fit your mouth better. I feel nothing for Okeer's clan or his enemies. I will do what I am bred to do. Fight and determine the strongest, but his implant has failed. Without a reason that's my own, one fight is as good as any other. Might as start with you."

"I have a strong ship and strong crew. A strong clan. You would make it stronger."

"If you're weak and choose weak enemies, I'll have to kill you."

"My enemies are the Reapers. A race of sentient machines that have wiped out organic civilizations every fifty thousand years. They are more powerful than anything that has ever existed. I think they would make a worthy foe."

Grunt let out a throaty chuckle. "That is a worthy foe. Very well, Shepard. I'll fight for you."

"I'm glad you saw reason," he said while nodding downwards.

Grunt looked down and saw Shepard's pistol at his stomach. He expressed an amused grunt. "Offer one hand but arm the other. Wise Shepard. If I find what I want. If I find a clan. I will be honoured to eventually pit them against you."

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Ash worked at the fire control every time she tried to calibrated it something else failed. It started to piss her off. She typed in a few more commands and once again the read 'failed.' gritting her teeth she almost smashed the screen.

Her temper was reaching it's limit as was her patience. At that moment her omni-tool activated and Anderson appeared.

“Councillor? What can I do for you.” she asked.

“Chief I was hoping to talk to you about Shepard's 'origins'.” he said.

Ash got the meaning of what he said. She held up a finger before closing her comm on her tool. She then looked around before typing a few keys on it. It gave a small bleep before she opened her comm back up and called Anderson.

“Sorry about that I had to make sure that no one is listing.” she said.

“It's ok. This information is extremely sensitive. How long have you known?” he asked.

“Just over two years.”

Anderson almost scoffed at the info but before he could say anything else the signal was lost. Ash tried to get the signal back but couldn’t. Her mind buzzed as she tried to try someone else. She then tried to contact the JFU but couldn't.

At that moment Lilith came in.

“Miss Williams we've lost all communication.”

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The Illusive Man sat on his chair in front of a dying sun when the holoscreens activated. An of Miranda appeared before him.

"Miranda," he stated as he took a puff of his cigarette. "Why aren’t you using the QEC?"

"The Commander is having a privet chat with some of the crew. But I have some concerns about Shepard."

"You could have filed a report to send to me."

"This isn't something I can truly express in a report."

"What... concerns do you have about Commander Shepard?"

"He knows a lot more about what's happening than what he's letting on. When we first got to Freedom's Progress he ordered the pilot to fly over a small group of Quarians. That group of Quarians just happened to have his former team mate Tali'Zorah with them."

"You did mention in the report that you pulled up a video of the battlefield. He could have recognized her."

"She was in a completely different suit. There was no way he would recognize her. Unless he saw that light she had on?"

"Light?"

"Some sort of light was flashing on her back. Not to mention those mech's completely missed her ."

"Well she was probably lucky. As for the flashing light it could be anything."

"Maybe but when he arrived the Quarrian seemed to expect him."

"What are you suggesting exactly, Miranda? That Shepard was giving orders while he was in a coma?"

"That isn't everything. When we went to the Citadel, I had someone track him. After the meeting with the Council, he met with someone who dressed in a cloak. This person gave him a box that contained the Commander's new armour and those curved blades. I have been monitoring any outgoing communication and at no point did I find a communication from Shepard. And I highly doubt he just called this person once he visited the Council and that person had this armour ready to go. I checked experimental prototypes from many companies and none of them have any armour that comes close to what Shepard is wearing."

"I'll admit that is something of interest. We should keep a closer eye on him."

"There's more. I wanted to learn more about Wilson and why he betrayed us. I looked into his records, but I've come across evidence that his credentials were falsified."

This news caused TIM to shift in his seat. "Falsified?"

"For all intents and purposes, his records are very real, but I dug deeper. I contacted the institutions he earned his degrees from. He has records he was there, but there is no evidence that he was there."

TIM downed the last of his whisky and rubbed his temple. "I'm not sure I understand."

"Wilson had official records that he attended at the institutions, but I had some people check into things. No one at any of these places knew Wilson. Absolutely no one. There is also no video record of him attending these schools. In fact we don't have any photos of him before ten years ago."

"What are you suggesting?"

"That Wilson was an infiltrator from the start. I don't know who he was working for, but that is the only conclusion I can come up with in the light of current facts."

TIM took a puff of his cigarette and placed it on the edge of his ash tray. "This is disturbing news. Any conjectures as to who Wilson was working for?"

"Possibly the Shadow Broker," Miranda replied. "It would make sense that Wilson would try to sabotage Lazarus under order of the Shadow Broker, considering our previous run-in with him."

"Likely possibility." TIM reached for his cigarette and took another puff. "I'm not comfortable with the idea that Wilson has eluded our detection for the past few years."

"He may have sabotaged Lazarus more than we thought before."

"How so?"

"I have done scans without Shepard's knowledge and discovered that Shepard doesn't have a biotic implant."

TIM stabbed the ember end of his cigarette into the ash tray.

"Shepard has been using his biotics without his implant all this time."

"It disturbs me to no end that Wilson tried to directly sabotage Shepard. It was entirely possible that Shepard could have awakened without his biotics because of that stunt." TIM pulled out a new cigarette and lit it. "Though it is not completely impossible for him to use his biotics. It is common knowledge that Shepard operated without an implant. That was one of his qualities that have made him well known in the galaxy."

"About that. I have watched him in combat and just what I've seen. It's beyond anything I have ever seen out of a soldier. His speed, strength and biotic capabilities. It is almost super-human. And that bothers me. Lazarus made him a better soldier, but he was already leagues beyond anyone in the Alliance. Even as a teen he saved his colony from slavers just with his biotics and his sword. Despite all of his renown, the first 6 years of his life is a mystery. I need to know this. Did Cerberus or the Alliance have a project where they tried to create a super-soldier and one of the subjects escaped or is unaccounted for?"

TIM gave the question thought. His cigarette hung from his fingers as his rested his hand against his mouth. "No. In any project similar to what could have created Shepard was secure. No one is unaccounted for. Is this everything?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll have some people look into Wilson's past. That is indeed something to know about. In the meantime, keep an eye on Shepard."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shepard stood in the briefing room. The QEC was active. Thanks to the Exocron operatives who infiltrated Cerberus also made modification's to the Normandy as well.

"EDI, hook me up with the ministers," Shepard ordered.

"Yes, Commander."

The QEC activated and is image came before the Ministers.

"Commander, we have received your report on Aite," Hal'yon said. "Even after the horrors they committed against us, they still have not stopped."

"The bastards nearly caused an apocalypse before the Reapers even arrived," Shepard cursed.

"But you stopped Overlord," Talgoran said. "Even if this galaxy doesn't realize it, you saved it again. I hope David can find peace at the Grissom Academy."

"The man's brother actually was trying to convince me to leave David in the machine. Nearly causes the apocalypse and he wants to continue the experiments."

"Cerberus will never change," the Aqult scoffed. "Success at the cost of innocents. Simply despicable."

"This will merely be another charge against them for when we bring them in to pay for their crimes," Hal'yon said. "We wish you luck, Commander your father would be proud as would Far'ti."

"Thank you, sir."

The QEC closed down.

"If only the rest Council could be as accommodating," Tikus quipped.

"If on...," Shepard was about to say before his senses picked up someone else in the room.

He spun to his right and pinned whatever was there in the room to the wall with his right arm. The invisibility cloak gave away revealing Kasumi. Shepard's eyes widened.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded.

"I-I was here to thank you," she gasped, "for decrypting the grey box and deleting just the information and saving the memories."

"How much did you hear?" he asked letting go of her.

"Everything," she admitted. "W-What was all that? I've never seen aliens like them before?"

"EDI lock the door."

"Door is locked."

"This is a tight spot here. This is a secret that I don't want Cerberus to know about, and yet you are on Cerberus' payroll."

"I'm an independent contractor," Kasumi countered. "Anyways, I wasn't paid to spy on you for them. I was paid to fight for you. But after what you did for me with the Hock heist, the money doesn't matter. You earned my loyalty, and I promise you I won't tell anyone about this."

"I do not detect any deception," EDI said.

"Alright, I'll explain myself," Shepard said. He could have mind-melded with her, but his head just hurts too much after the day. "Have you heard of the rumours about me not being human?"

Before she could nod she got the gist of what he was asking. Her eyes widedned.

"That's probably the last thing I expected to hear from you. What are you then?"

"I'm a Tiberian. EDI here is an Exocron, just like Tikus here."

"That would be me," Tikus quickly popped in as a life size hologram.

"We come from a parallel universe. In my galaxy, we have completely different races, Tolashners, Exocrons, Aqultrons, Shel'trakans and Tiberians. All of these races are united as one. We lived in peace and prosperity. That is... Until Cerberus arrived in our galaxy."

"How did Cerberus reach your universe?"

"There's a wormhole that connects our two galaxies. They found it and used it. Things started off well enough. It was a learning experience for both sides. Little did we know of Cerberus' ulterior motives. Cerberus agents were stealing technology without our knowledge and performed their own experiments. In their haste, they corrupted a stem-cell limb farm. Over four trillion died immediately."

This elicits a gasp from Kasumi.

"That wasn't the end of it. The corruption of the cells somehow mutated caused the dead to rise up and consume the flesh of the living. However I was kidnapped as the Infection spread. I was tortured, experimented on but the worst of it I watched my sisters get raped in front of me."

John could see a tear come from her right eye.

"The people you saw me talking to are the JFU. My galaxy's version of the Council. My mission was to infiltrate this galaxy and bring Cerberus to justice for their crimes. But that mission has changed. Our main focus now is to stop the Reapers."

"That is... something. But a question remains." Kasumi waved her index finger at him. "Several actually. Everyone knows you where found on a ship. And from the sounds of things you must have fought Cerberus how could you do it at age 6?"

Shepard laughed a little. "Tiberans are slightly differently than Humans, or most races for that matter. Because Tiberia has an extremely harsh environment children are tort to fight at an early age. That answer your questions?"

"Somewhat. Why did Cerbrus want you?."

"A few things. One of them being that Tiberian DNA is close to humans. The next is I'm what's called the Spirits chosen. A warrior of the royal family who is selected by the spirits of war to stop great destruction."

"How many know about this secret?"

"Garrus, Joker, Chakwas and Tali know. That's it. Actually, no. That isn't it. The Reapers know. Sovereign's sensors somehow detected Delta energy readings and my radiation immunity from me and realized that I am Tiberian. It's likely that the Reaper fleet now knows."

"Wait, how would Sovereign know what an Tiberian is?"

"The Reapers once attacked my galaxy. We managed to defend ourselves, but lost a lot of people in the battle."

Kasumi whistled. "That is something else."

"You certainly are taking this news really well."

"Well, I always thought you were very different from most Humans. This explains why. This mission has gotten a lot more interesting."

"Commander Shepard," EDI called out. "I am receiving a message from Kelly."

“Put her through.” he said.

“Errr Commander The Illusive man would like to talk to you.” Kelly said over the comm.