User:Garhdo/Commander Shepard

Lieutenant Commander Shepard is the human protagonist of Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3, whose gender, appearance, skills and pre-service history are all customizable and have an impact on the story. Shepard's first name is also customizable, but is never stated in-game. The default pre-made Shepard is a male Soldier named John, with the Earthborn/Sole Survivor profile.

Background
Shepard was born on April 11, 2154. Shepard is a graduate of the Systems Alliance N7 special forces program (service no. 5923-AC-2826), and is a veteran of the Skyllian Blitz, but that service itself is not the most notable incident in the commander’s service history. Prior to the launch of the SSV Normandy, Shepard is selected as executive officer by Captain Anderson, as well as suggested as a candidate for the Spectres by Anderson, Admiral Hackett, and Ambassador Udina.

Mass Effect
Shepard is on duty for the Normandy’s inaugral flight to Eden Prime under the supervision of turian Spectre Nihlus. Nihlus and Anderson reveal to Shepard in confidence that the team on Eden Prime discovered a Prothean beacon, and the Normandy is en route to secure it. Nihlus is also there to observe Shepard in action, to assess Shepard’s candidacy for the Spectres. However they are interrupted by Joker, who has detected a distress call from Eden Prime, which is under attack. Shepard deploys on the surface with Kaidan Alenko and Richard L. Jenkins while Nihlus scouts ahead.

Jenkins is quickly killed but Shepard and Kaidan rendezvous with Ashley Williams, a marine stationed on Eden Prime, who tells them the geth have attacked. Together the three head to locate the beacon, which has been moved from the digsite to the spaceport, and along the way see an enormous ship leave the surface. After finding Nihlus’s dead body, Shepard learns from a member of the colony that another turian named Saren shot him. Eventually after disarming charges to save the colony Shepard and their team secure the beacon, but it activates and blasts a vision of destruction and death into Shepard’s mind. Shepard, unconscious, is taken back to the Normandy but the beacon is destroyed.

Shepard awakens fifteen hours later en route to the Citadel, and tells Anderson what they learned on Eden Prime, as well as what they saw in the vision - machines slaughering people. Anderson tells Shepard that Saren is a dangerous man with a hatred for humans, and the Council must be alerted if he has gone rogue. Arriving at the human Embassay on the Presidium they learn from Udina that they have been granted an audience. Heading to it Shepard encounters C-Sec officer Garrus Vakarian, who tells the commander that he has been unable to unearth any evidenceto corroborate the charges on Saren, who is untouchable.

Th Audience with the Council doesn’t go well as Shepard lacks evidence and Saren openly laughs at tShepard’s vision from his holographic link. To look for more evidence Shepard is recommended to speak to Harkin at C-Sec to find Garrus, or Barla Von, a banker who works for the Shadow Broker. Shepard may seek either of them for advice, and will acquire the services of krogan bounty hunter Urdnot Wrex and/or Garrus, from whom Shepard will learn that a quarian has recently arrived on the Citadel, claiming to have evidence of Saren’s connection to the geth. She is being held by the crime lord Fist, ho betrayed the Shadow Broker for Saren. Shepard learns Fist has led the quarian, Tali’Zorah nar Rayya, into a trap and rescues her from Saren’s men.

Tali reveals her evidence, an audio file from a geth memory core, to the Council with Shepard’s encouragement. It proves Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime, but also reveals that he and asari Matriarch Benezia are searching for the Conduit to bring about the return of the Reapers, beings worshipped by the geth as machine gods. Shepard suspects that the Reapers are the machines in the vision, but the Council dismisses them as myth. Saren is stripped of Spectre status by the Council, while Shepard becomes the first human Spectre and is tasked with hunting Saren down and bringing him to justice for the attack on Eden Prime. Anderson assigns command of the Normandy to Shepard, and provides the commander with news of geth activity on Feros and Noveria, and news of Benezia’s daughter Liara T’Soni studying Prothean ruins in the Artemis Tau cluster. All of Shepard’s allies join the Command on the Normandy and after a rousing speech from Shepard the Normandy departs the Citadel.

In the year 2183, a prototype Alliance warship, the SSV Normandy, travels from Earth's orbit to the Mass Relay at Charon. On board Captain Anderson is 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 are heading to Eden Prime in the Utopia system for their shakedown mission.

Shepard heads to the bridge where Joker, the pilot, guides 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 think their true purpose at Eden Prime is far more important than a simple shakedown run. After making the jump, Captain Anderson asks Shepard to come to the comm room for a briefing.

Nihlus has time to speak to Shepard before Anderson joins them. Together they inform the Commander that a Prothean Beacon has been discovered on Eden Prime. Prothean technology has immense scientific value, but since Eden Prime is close to the Terminus Systems, the beacon is at risk from pirates and mercenary bands. This is the Normandy's true objective: recover the beacon. This mission will also be Nihlus' chance to observe Shepard in action, the first of several they will undertake together to assess Shepard's candidacy for the Spectres.

The briefing is interrupted by a transmission from Eden Prime that Joker patches through. The footage shows Alliance soldiers fighting on the surface, under heavy fire and requesting reinforcements. As Shepard, Anderson and Nihlus watch, they see a huge dreadnought hanging over the surface. Anderson orders Shepard to get ready&mdash;this is going to be worse than they thought.

Eden Prime
As the Normandy touches down on Eden Prime, Cpl. Richard L. Jenkins, Lt. Kaidan Alenko and Commander Shepard prepare to head down to the planet. Nihlus goes on ahead of the team intending to scout the situation. In the first few minutes on the surface, geth assault drones appear without warning and cut down Jenkins. Shepard and Alenko continue towards the dig site, discovering one of the few surviving marines, Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, who is being chased by geth troopers. Shepard and Alenko help her fight them off. Williams can't explain why the geth are here, but they've wiped out her whole unit.

Williams leads them to the dig site but the beacon has been moved to the spaceport. While they examine the nearby camp, the squad run into a group of Husks, human corpses reanimated by the geth, which they manage to kill. Shaken, they continue towards the spaceport where Nihlus agreed to meet with them.

Meanwhile, Nihlus is surprised to see Saren Arterius, a fellow Spectre, at the train platform. Saren tells Nihlus he's got everything under control, but when Nihlus turns his back, Saren kills him and leaves, ordering the geth to destroy the colony with explosives. He approaches the Prothean Beacon, which reacts by lifting him off the ground.

After finding Nihlus' body, Shepard's team continues to the tram area where they defeat the last of the geth and disarm their demolition charges. Shepard sees the beacon and calls the Normandy while Alenko and Williams take a look at it. One of them gets too close and is caught in some sort of field&mdash;Shepard intervenes but is caught in the field instead, pulled off the ground as Saren was. The Commander suffers a horrific vision&mdash;synthetics waging a terrible war&mdash;before the beacon explodes and Shepard is thrown to the ground, unconscious.

The Citadel
Aboard a huge dreadnought, Saren is given a report by an asari matriarch. The news isn't good&mdash;Eden Prime has been saved by Captain Anderson's crew, and one of them may have used the beacon. Saren flies into a rage but restrains himself from attacking her, ordering that this human must be eliminated.

Fifteen hours after the Eden Prime attack, Shepard wakes up in the Normandy's medical unit, much to the relief of Alenko and Williams. Doctor Chakwas says the Commander is physically okay, but has increased rapid eye movement and unusual beta waves, indicating psychological trauma. Shepard mentions the vision but can't explain it. Captain Anderson then briefs Shepard about Saren: a powerful and legendary Spectre but also outspoken against humans. If Saren is in charge of the geth, that means he has gone rogue, and they must tell the Council.

Upon arriving at the Citadel, Ambassador Udina tries to convince the Council to remove Saren's rights and privileges as a Spectre, but only succeeds in getting an audience. Shepard, along with Alenko and Williams, continues to the Citadel Tower and meets Garrus Vakarian, a turian C-Sec (Citadel Security) officer investigating the charges against Saren. He hasn't found anything useful: Saren's Spectre status makes him untouchable.

The Council audience doesn't go well. The Alliance has little evidence and Saren&mdash;viewing the proceedings from a hologram&mdash;openly laughs at Shepard's vision. They need more to go on. Garrus, the C-Sec officer, might be able to help. Udina tells Shepard to find Harkin, a suspended C-sec officer who could help them find Garrus. Anderson also suggests speaking to Barla Von, a financial expert on the Citadel who works for the Shadow Broker.

Whichever avenue of investigation is taken, the Commander gains the assistance of one or both of the following figures: Garrus Vakarian himself, and/or Urdnot Wrex, a krogan bounty hunter Barla Von will refer to.

A quarian has recently arrived on the Citadel, claiming to have evidence of Saren's connection to the geth. However this quarian is being held captive by Fist, a local crime lord who used to work for the Shadow Broker, but who's now betrayed the Broker to work for Saren. Shepard learns after investigating Garrus and/or Wrex that the next destination is Chora's Den, an establishment owned by Fist, and raids it looking for answers.

There, Shepard's group discover that the quarian was supposed to hand the information over to the Shadow Broker, but this meeting is a trap. Saren's men will be the ones waiting. Shepard races to the meeting and manages to save the quarian, Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. They bring Tali back to the Ambassador's offices.

The evidence she found was an audio file she managed to save from a geth memory core, which has clear evidence Saren was behind the attack on Eden Prime. However, the file also hints that Saren is 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 is presented to the Council, Saren is stripped of his Spectre status, but they're reluctant to send a fleet after him to apprehend him. No interest is shown in the Reapers.

As people in the Chambers watch in amazement, Commander Shepard becomes the first human Spectre and is tasked with hunting Saren down. Captain Anderson steps down as Commander of the Normandy and hands the ship over to Shepard, along with some useful leads. There have been reports of geth activity on the planets Noveria and Feros. Also, Matriarch Benezia, Saren's ally, has a daughter named Dr. Liara T'Soni, a Prothean expert who may have useful information.

Shepard's alien allies pledge their support for the Commander's cause. Tali joins the crew wanting to help fight the geth and prove herself. If Shepard didn't work with Garrus or Wrex before during the case to expose Saren, one of them will be waiting by the elevator to the Normandy's docking bay requesting to be taken along for the ride for their own reasons, and Shepard may either welcome them to the team or refuse them. After giving the crew a speech aboard the ship, Shepard is now in command of the Normandy.

Liara
The Normandy tracks Liara T'Soni to Therum, a mining colony in the Knossos system of the Artemis Tau cluster, but the geth are already on the surface, taking over several refinery facilities and dropping Geth Armatures from overhead.

Shepard leads the squad to a mineshaft and down into a Prothean ruin, where they find Liara trapped behind a Prothean barrier curtain. Freeing her, they discover she is not in league with Saren and has no idea what the Conduit might be. As the squad leaves the ruined tower with Liara, they are confronted by a Krogan Battlemaster who is leading the geth and manage to defeat him as the unstable ruins begin to collapse. They escape just in time.

During the debrief, Liara explains her expertise is on the Prothean extinction. She has a theory they were not the first civilization to mysteriously vanish, and is amazed by Shepard's story of the Reapers. After a brief rest from the stresses of the day, Liara joins Shepard's crew.

Noveria
Shepard arrives at Noveria and discovers that Matriarch Benezia recently arrived. She and Saren are investors in Binary Helix, which has a lab up on Peak 15. Benezia has gone there on business. However the lab has since issued a Code Omega signal, meaning there are critical problems, and a blizzard has cut off shuttle access. After wrangling with Administrator Anoleis, Shepard manages to get a garage pass and drives up to Peak 15.

The facility is deserted save for geth and bizarre creatures&mdash;revealed to be the supposedly extinct rachni&mdash;which have escaped from the labs. Shepard reactivates the station's VI, Mira, and goes up to Rift Station looking for Benezia. Rift Station is full of science staff sheltering from the rachni attack; Shepard can help them out but gets attacked by those loyal to Benezia. The squad finds 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 finds Benezia with the Rachni Queen. The matriarch attacks the squad, but after a fierce battle Benezia manages to overcome the indoctrination that Saren has used to control her, and tells Shepard the truth. Saren wants the location of the lost Mu Relay, and sent her to retrieve it from the queen's genetic memory.

Benezia doesn't know what else he is planning. She hands the coordinates over to Shepard, but becomes lost to the indoctrination again and the Commander has to kill her. After deciding what to do with the Rachni Queen, Shepard leaves Noveria with Benezia's data and a piece of the puzzle.

Feros
Drawn to Feros by rogue geth activity, Shepard and the squad arrive at the Zhu's Hope colony, owned by ExoGeni Corporation. The colony has been suffering repeated geth attacks and the settlers there are acting strangely. Shepard clears the geth for the colonists and takes a Mako along the Prothean Skyway to the main geth base. The squad finds a small group of colonists who have become separated from the others, led by Juliana Baynham and a nervous ExoGeni rep, Ethan Jeong. Despite their situation these survivors seem to be coping better than Zhu's Hope. Before they leave, Juliana asks Shepard to look for her daughter Lizbeth, whom she believes to be still inside ExoGeni Headquarters.

After making their way inside the ExoGeni Headquarters, Shepard's squad finds Lizbeth, scared but alive. From the company VI, Shepard discovers that the corporation has been experimenting with a mind-controlling plant, the Thorian, and that Zhu's Hope is actually a testing ground for ExoGeni to study its abilities. Shepard disables the force fields that the geth have set up by knocking the geth dropship off the headquarters and returns to the Skyway group. Jeong has received word that ExoGeni wants Zhu's Hope destroyed. Shepard deals with Jeong and heads back to Zhu's Hope to find the Thorian.

Controlled by the Thorian, the colonists attack Shepard on sight. Thorian Creepers generated by the plant augment the mind-controlled colonists' forces. Shepard can use special gas grenades that instantly kill the creepers and harmlessly paralyse the colonists, then descends beneath Zhu's Hope to find the Thorian. It is an enormous creature that looks nothing like a plant. It creates an asari clone to speak for it, but only to tell Shepard it's not interested in bargaining with 'meat'. After battling waves of Thorian Creepers and clones, Shepard manages to destroy the Thorian's neural nodes and kill it.

An asari emerges from a Thorian pod, and manages to explain what happened. Shepard learns that Saren sacrificed this asari ally, Shiala, to the Thorian to gain the Cipher. This is the cultural and ancestral experience of the Protheans, which is necessary to understand the vision that the Eden Prime beacon put into Shepard's mind. Freed from the Thorian, Shiala transfers the Cipher to Shepard. With it, once Shepard has had time to adjust, the vision will make more sense and hopefully lead them to the Conduit before Saren.

Virmire
The Council contacts Shepard with another possible lead when two of the three initial leads are investigated and dealt with. A salarian espionage team on Virmire, investigating reports of Saren's activities, has sent a mission-critical transmission that was almost lost in static. Shepard heads to Virmire and meets the leader of the salarians, Captain Kirrahe. They have found a breeding facility for krogan that Saren is using to create an army.

Kirrahe, realising he's not getting the reinforcements he needs, asks for Shepard's help destroying it and they develop a plan. While the salarians distract Saren's geth, Shepard will take a team around the back and plant a nuclear device that will wipe out the facility. Kirrahe asks Shepard for a squad member to help him coordinate the attack&mdash;Shepard can send Ashley or Kaidan to help the salarians.

If Wrex was allowed to join the team, the Commander must also deal with him before proceeding with the greater mission. Wrex is furious that Shepard is willing to destroy a cure for the genophage, a salarian bioweapon which makes krogan breeding next to impossible. Shepard either talks Wrex into staying loyal, guns him down, or allows Ashley to gun him down.

Leading the strike team, Shepard reaches the facility, but discovers its main purpose is not to breed krogan, but to study Sovereign's horrific indoctrination effect. In Saren's private lab, the team finds another Prothean Beacon that gives Shepard another vision, and they are confronted by a hologram of Sovereign itself, which is not a Reaper ship but an actual Reaper. Sovereign reveals 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 desire before exterminating them at their apex. It declares Shepard's attempting to stop the Reapers from returning to be futile, before heading towards Shepard's position.

Shepard manages to get the nuke set up across the facility only to get a call that the salarians are being attacked with heavy losses. The commander takes a group to help them but as they leave, the geth start attacking the nuke site and Shepard has to choose: both Kaidan and Ashley are in trouble and there's no time to save both.

Once the choice has been made, Shepard brings reinforcements in, only to be confronted by Saren. He tries to make the commander join his cause but Shepard refuses, fighting Saren off. Saren gets away and the team board the Normandy, escaping Virmire as the nuke destroys the facility, killing either Kaidan or Ashley depending on Shepard's decisions.

Commandeering the Normandy
Thanks to the undamaged beacon on Virmire, Shepard's Prothean vision is now complete. During the debrief, Liara touches Shepard's mind to interpret it fully. The vision was a distress call intended to warn the Protheans about the Reapers. Liara realises that the landmarks in the vision are on Ilos, a planet she has studied as part of her Prothean research. Ilos had been impossible to reach because it was only accessible through the Mu Relay, which is why Saren needed the Relay's location from Noveria. After the debrief, Joker has a message for Shepard from the Council: they're putting together a massive multi-species effort to face Saren.

Thrilled the Council are finally taking this seriously, Shepard returns to the Citadel, wanting to personally lead the assault. But once back at the station, Shepard discovers the Council are only putting up a blockade around the Mass Relays to stop Saren reaching the Citadel. Neither they nor Ambassador Udina believe Shepard's story about the Reapers and they refuse to send a fleet to Ilos.

The Mu Relay is in the Terminus Systems and a Citadel fleet there could start a war. Shepard knows the Normandy's stealth systems can get them there discreetly, but the Council are getting tired of Shepard's insistence that the Reapers are the real threat. Udina, wanting to make nice with the Council, locks out the Normandy's systems and grounds the ship.

Frustrated, knowing Saren is close to finding the Conduit and they're losing time, Shepard is grateful when one of the squad offers support, but a real breakthrough comes when Captain Anderson gets in touch, asking Shepard for a discreet meeting at Flux.

Anderson believes the Commander's story and knows the Normandy is the only ship that can get Shepard to Ilos. He is going to unlock the Normandy's systems, allowing Shepard to steal the ship and take her to Ilos. Shepard is concerned that Anderson will be arrested and charged with treason&mdash;or worse&mdash;but Anderson sees his future as a small price to pay for stopping genocide on a galactic scale. Shepard goes to the Normandy and waits with Joker on the bridge. With Anderson's help the Normandy's systems are unlocked and they escape the Citadel, heading to Ilos.

Ilos
Shepard has the option of developing a romance with a crew member during the course of chasing after Saren, and the relationship comes to a head right before the trip to Ilos. This crew member visits Shepard in the Captain's Quarters, and they may either spend the night together or keep the focus on the mission.

Later, Joker announces that they're about to pass through the Mu Relay, and they soon arrive at Ilos. Shepard sees that Saren has already arrived with a fleet of geth dropships, though the Normandy's stealth system is keeping them safe for now. Navigator Pressly picks up some readings on the planet confirming Saren's presence. However, they can not find a landing zone. Shepard suggests dropping the Mako but they need about 100m of open terrain for a safe drop and Pressly can only find at most 20m. Joker insists that he can do it. The Mako is successfully dropped outside an ancient bunker, but Saren and his geth have already made it inside, shutting a heavy security door behind them.

Shepard looks for ways to get to the other side of the bunker doors. After fighting through the geth left on guard, Shepard and the squad find a security station and reopen the bunker doors. While in the control room, Shepard discovers an ancient Prothean recording which is heavily damaged. The Cipher allows Shepard to make out some of the words&mdash;it's another warning about the Reapers but it's just too broken up. They return to the Mako and enter the bunker.

After driving past cryogenic stasis pods, all apparently shut down, Shepard sees a mysterious energy barrier. As the Mako reaches the barrier, another barrier appears behind them, trapping the squad inside. The only way out is through a door at the side of the wall. After heading down an elevator, Shepard finds an ancient Prothean VI named Vigil, who has information Shepard needs to stop the Reapers.

Vigil unveils a startling revelation. The Citadel is actually a trap; a huge mass relay linking to dark space, outside of the galaxy, where the Reapers are waiting. The keepers are 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 signals them. It is also revealed that Sovereign is the vanguard of the Reapers. After every Reaper attack, they leave 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 are sufficiently advanced, the vanguard will activate the Citadel Relay and usher in the next genocide.

The reason the Reapers harvest the galaxy of all advance organic life approximately every 50,000 years is currently unknown. According to Vigil, not even the Prothean scientists could comprehend why they do it. They may be driven by goals that organics find impossible to understand. Once the galaxy is harvested, the Reapers return to dark space to hibernate and conserve energy. In this state, they are apparently vulnerable, so they always seal 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&mdash;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 respond to and prevented them from activating the relay to dark space.

Vigil also explains that if Sovereign assaults the Citadel alone, the combined power of the Citadel Fleet would be enough to defeat the single Reaper. However, if Sovereign is able to direct an agent to go through the Conduit as a back door and transfer control of the Citadel back to Sovereign, it will 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 gives Shepard a data file that will give the Commander temporary control of the Citadel to stop Sovereign. After leaving Vigil, Shepard heads through the archives, down into an old aqueduct guarded by geth, and reaches the Conduit. Saren had already gone through, leaving geth to stay guard.

Meanwhile, Sovereign begins its assault on the Citadel, escorted by a large geth fleet. The commander of the Destiny Ascension attempts to close the Citadel but the station doesn't respond&mdash;the operators at Citadel Control are all dead. Saren has begun his attack from within.

Back on Ilos, Shepard sees the Conduit is closing fast. Rushing to the Conduit, Shepard evades the geth in the process and drives the Mako through, just before the relay closes.

On the Presidium, now burning and heavily damaged, two geth troopers notice a blue glow around the Relay Monument. When they go to take a look, the Mako suddenly bursts through and crushes them, before rolling over and crashing against a wall. The race to stop Saren is on.

Battle of the Citadel
Shepard and the team manage to get out of the overturned Mako and use the nearby malfunctioning Avina terminal to get a sit rep. Saren is heading toward the Council Chambers and the whole station is infested with geth. The squad tries taking the elevator to the Citadel Tower, but it stops halfway when Saren locks down the station's systems. Shepard tells the team to suit up and blows out the elevator's glass with a shot. They have to walk the rest of the way in zero gravity with their boots magnetized.

Meanwhile up in the Chambers, Saren&mdash;angrily shooting keepers as he goes&mdash;reaches the central console and uses it to take control of the Citadel. As Sovereign gets closer, crushing the Citadel Fleet ships in its path, Saren closes the Wards, creating an impenetrable shell around the Reaper and the Geth Dropships already inside. Sovereign settles on top of the Citadel Tower, preparing to open the Citadel Relay once Saren transfers full control.

Elsewhere Shepard and the team are 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 appears and starts unleashing shock troopers on them; Shepard can activate the Citadel's defense turrets, and with their cover fire, takes the dropship out, or just wait until the dropship runs out of troops. Further along they run into several powerful geth turrets and have to use cover to get close enough to destroy them, or manage to sneak down a side route where Krogan Battlemasters are waiting. Eventually they reach a maintenance hatch that leads down into the Council Chambers, now burning and full of Saren's geth. The stairways provide some cover as the team fights towards the central console.

At that moment Saren appears and throws a grenade. Shepard's team are blown aside while the Commander takes cover close to Saren. He urges Shepard not to be a fool&mdash;everything is lost if Shepard continues resisting Sovereign. Saren boasts that his faith faltered but Sovereign has implanted him, made him partly synthetic, perfect. This is the future of organic life. Shepard can't believe Saren allowed Sovereign to implant him.

Shepard can attack Saren straight away, or try talking him down&mdash;the more Shepard talks, the more Saren is convinced, but his Reaper implants cause the turian intense pain when he begins to agree with Shepard. With enough convincing, Saren thanks the Commander for freeing him before shooting himself in the head. Whether Shepard kills Saren or Saren kills himself, he then falls to the bottom of the Chambers, falling through the glass floor and being impaled by a large shard.

Using the central console, Shepard uploads Vigil's program and gains control of the Citadel. With advice from the team, Shepard opens a communication channel and gets Joker... who has the Fifth Fleet just waiting for the Commander's word once the mass relays are unlocked. Shepard has to decide between sending the Fleet to defend the Destiny Ascension and save the Council, letting the Council die, or focusing on Sovereign. Once the orders are given, Joker brings the Fleet through the nearby mass relay as Shepard opens the Citadel's ward arms.

As the Fleet engages the ships outside&mdash;geth dropships and Sovereign itself&mdash;Shepard tells the squad to check Saren and make sure he's dead. They drop down to the bottom of the Chambers&mdash;one coldly shoots Saren in the head, while the other confirms the kill to Shepard. Suddenly Saren's body begins to twitch as his implants fire up, burning his flesh away until he is a cybernetic construct like a Husk, completely possessed by Sovereign. The shockwaves from his transformation cause the platform to collapse and Shepard falls into the bottom of the Chambers. The squad fights back against the creature, but it is fast and deadly.

Outside, the Normandy is leading the attack against Sovereign. The Reaper unleashes a terrible weapon that burns through several Alliance ships, but the Fleet is slowly getting the upper hand. As the squad finally destroy the cybernetic creature and it burns away to ashes, Sovereign begins to weaken under the Alliance attack and releases its grip on the station. A blast from the Normandy is the coup de grace and the Reaper is destroyed.

In the Chambers, Shepard looks up to see a huge piece of debris from the Reaper heading straight for the Tower. The Commander yells for the squad to take cover, just as it hits.

Much later, rescuers enter the Tower looking for survivors. Under a pile of rubble they discover Shepard's team... two of them, badly wounded but alive. Leading the rescuers, Captain Anderson helps them out, assures them that it's all right, and asks where Commander Shepard is. One of the squad looks sadly across the Chambers, where the Reaper debris has crashed into the floor. It would have crushed anyone standing under it. The rescue team helps the squad out of the Chambers, reluctantly believing Shepard died in the crash. Anderson looks back&mdash;to see someone moving. Commander Shepard, with an injured arm, manages to climb out from behind the debris, limps toward them, and smiles.

Epilogue
As a result of Shepard's decisions, there are four outcomes to the story:


 * The Alliance Fleet saves the Council (Paragon ending): In gratitude for the sacrifices of the Alliance Fleet and Shepard's help, they offer humanity the chance to become a Council race. This ending is almost the same as the Renegade one, but the Council meets Shepard in the Presidium. Again, Shepard can nominate either Udina or Anderson to be the human representative, and they decide to unite all the Citadel races against the coming threat of the Reapers.
 * The Alliance Fleet saves the Council (Renegade ending): It is also possible to have a Renegade version of this ending. The ending is pretty much the same, but with the main difference being that the Council thanks Shepard within a dark room with background ominous music playing, and dialog being somewhat different. Whereas the Paragon ending has the Council praising Shepard's selflessness and heroism and stating that humanity is ready to join the Council, the Renegade ending has the Council impressed by Shepard's ruthlessness and determination to succeed, at first thinking that such indomitable will made humanity stubborn and even dangerous, but now realising that this is what makes them strong, thus making humanity a powerful ally. Possible by having a Renegade Shepard save the Council.
 * The Council is destroyed (Paragon ending): The Alliance forms a new Council, with a human chairman but the other races remaining on the Council. Shepard can nominate either Udina or Anderson to chair the new Council, and they prepare to combat the Reapers with the Alliance Fleet at the forefront. This occurs if Shepard does not save the Council, but is not a Renegade.
 * The Council is destroyed (Renegade ending): The Alliance forms a new Council, with no other races involved. Shepard can nominate either Ambassador Udina or Captain Anderson to chair the new Council, and they prepare to combat the Reapers with the Alliance Fleet at the forefront. If Shepard is a Renegade and claims humans should work with other races, Udina will remark that this is uncharacteristic of Shepard's previous actions, and goes on to form the human-only council anyway.

In all four endings Shepard leaves the Citadel aboard the Normandy, intending to find a way to stop the Reaper invasion.

Shepard's Reconstruction
After the attack on the Citadel, the Alliance sent Shepard to root out any remaining geth resistance. The Normandy was sent into a sector where three ships were reported to have gone missing in the space of one month. After four days of fruitlessly searching for signs of geth activity, the Normandy is attacked by an unidentified ship, ripping it apart.

As the rest of the crew abandoned ship, Shepard went to rescue Joker, who refused the initial evacuation order believing he could still save the ship. Unfortunately, a blast separated them just as Shepard managed to get Joker into an escape pod. The Commander's hardsuit was damaged by explosions and Shepard was flung into space, barely surviving the Normandy's destruction. However, the suit's pressure seals were compromised, and it is apparent that the Commander suffocated to death, coupled with the possibility of the hardsuit burning up on reentry to the planet below.

Due to his comprehensive knowledge of galactic events, the Shadow Broker sends Feron, a drell in his service, to obtain Shepard's body. At the same time, Liara T'Soni, who has been looking for Shepard since the attack, is recruited by Cerberus to recover the Commander's body. Feron had originally planned to return the body to the Shadow Broker, until he hears of the Broker's deal with the Collectors. At that point, he defects to Cerberus. Once the Commander's body is retrieved by the duo, they decide to give it to the pro-human organisation Cerberus, rather than turning it over to the Collectors.

In an effort undertaken by Cerberus called the Lazarus Project, Shepard is rebuilt and revived, organically and synthetically. Two years later, Shepard awakens in the lab of a Cerberus space station, which is under attack. As Shepard moves through the station, the Commander begins to learn about Project Lazarus and the effort taken to bring Shepard back&mdash;with many data caches citing the immense expense of the project and that despite their efforts to make the Commander exactly as before, Shepard may have been inadvertently altered in some way. Shepard has also been referred to as "asleep" for some time by the Illusive Man, leader of Cerberus.

All the while, the entire populations of human colonies have been disappearing without a trace during the Commander's incapacitation. Due to the ignorance and political red tape hampering both the Alliance and the Council, Cerberus is the only organization in a position to combat the threat, and Shepard agrees to work with Cerberus to solve this mystery. Meanwhile, rumors of Shepard's apparent survival have mixed concerns. Some would even think that Shepard is undercover investigating the colony disappearances.

Facial Scarring
Because Shepard was awakened before the Commander's reconstruction was truly complete, Shepard's face bears several glowing scars, that can act as a visible indication of alignment. Earning Paragon points will cause these scars to slowly fade, while Renegade points make the scars more noticeable, showing more of the glowing orange cybernetics. Higher Renegade scores will also cause the eyes to degenerate, first leading to glowing sections within the iris; at the higher two sections of the Renegade scale, the eyes visibly glow red.

Immediately after gaining access to the Normandy's Tech Lab, Shepard receives an email from Doctor Chakwas which explains that positive thoughts will heal the scars. It also states that, through an upgrade to the Normandy's Medical Bay, a surgery could insulate the cybernetic implants and accelerate the healing process. If the player chooses to have the surgery, the scars are permanently healed and Shepard's moral choices will no longer affect the Commander's appearance. This upgrade costs 50,000 platinum; the upgrade itself does not heal the scars, but upgrades the medical bay, where Shepard can go to heal the scars at any time.

Mass Effect 2 - Prologue
The Illusive Man and Miranda Lawson discuss Commander Shepard's actions in deciding the outcome of the Battle of the Citadel. Both of them agree that the Commander's efforts are being wasted on hunting geth holdouts from the battle, and they are of one mind that Shepard is essential to Cerberus if there is to be any hope in stopping the true enemy: the Reapers.

One month after the battle, the SSV Normandy is on patrol to locate and destroy any remaining geth. At the Terminus Systems, it comes under attack from an unknown assailant, its stealth systems ineffective against the massive vessel. The ship suffers extensive damage and numerous casualties, forcing the remaining crew to evacuate via escape pods.

Joker, the helmsman, continues to pilot the ship despite the received damage to it. He is rescued by Shepard, who drags Joker out of his seat and into an escape pod. Before the Commander may board the escape pod, however, the Normandy is attacked once again and Shepard is sent flying amidst a series of explosions. Debris slices through Shepard's suit and air vents out. Shepard asphyxiates and dies; the Commander's body is seen entering the atmosphere of a nearby planet.

Searching Omega
Mass Effect: Redemption begins one month after the attack on the SSV Normandy. Liara T'Soni arrives at the Omega space station in search of Commander Shepard. At the Afterlife Club, Liara encounters a drell named Feron, her contact with a lead on Shepard's whereabouts. Feron explains that Shepard is very likely dead, as Shepard's body, or what's left of it, is being stored in a stasis container. Liara insists on seeing Shepard's body for herself despite Feron's warnings.

On their way there, Liara and Feron are ambushed by Blue Suns mercenaries, who overpower them. The leader of the Blue Suns squad, a krogan, tells Liara that the Shadow Broker wants to know why she traveled all the way to Omega to find Shepard. As the krogan threatens Liara, a sniper blows his head off. More sniper shots take out the rest of the Blue Suns, allowing Liara and Feron to escape, but not for long: they are cornered by two Cerberus operatives, led by Miranda Lawson. Miranda offers to help Liara find Shepard if she'll listen to a proposition from her boss, the Illusive Man.

Brought to another part of Omega, Liara is ushered into a room where the Illusive Man appears via hologram. The Illusive Man explains that Cerberus is also looking for Shepard, but an enigmatic race of slavers called the Collectors are on the trail as well, and have hired the Shadow Broker to retrieve Shepard's corpse for their own unfathomable purposes. Initially suspicious of Cerberus' motives, Liara agrees to go along with the Illusive Man's plan, at least for Shepard's sake.

Meanwhile, a Collector angrily confronts the Shadow Broker about the delay in delivering Shepard. The Shadow Broker counters that no one else has Shepard's body, so the Collector has no choice but to tolerate the delay. He reassures the Collector that he will succeed, because he always does.

Recruited By Cerberus
Liara flashes back to the moment when the SSV Normandy was destroyed by unknown attackers, musing that the few who survived the attack could only wonder why it happened. Her reverie is interrupted by Miranda, who tells her that the Blue Suns have possession of Shepard's body somewhere on Omega and plan to hand it over to agents of the Shadow Broker. Miranda gives Liara the location of a Cerberus rendezvous point where she can bring Shepard's body once she has it, and tells Liara to follow Feron before departing.

Liara then confronts Feron, having concluded that he works for the Shadow Broker and was responsible for leading her into the Blue Suns ambush earlier. Feron calms her down, saying that he had no idea about the ambush and had been hired by the Shadow Broker only to lead her away from Shepard. Feron tries to leave, but Liara angrily reminds him that she paid him. Finding Shepard is her chance for redemption, and could be Feron's chance too.

Feron brings Liara back to the Afterlife Club to ask Aria T'Loak for a lead. Aria confirms that she knows where Shepard's body is, but is outraged when Liara tells her that the Collectors are involved. Before ending the meeting, Aria tells them to look in the mining processing plant in Omega's lower levels. There, Liara and Feron watch from a distance as the Blue Suns receive the Shadow Broker's representative. Feron's confidence dissolves when the representative turns out to be Tazzik, a salarian of imposing stature and the Broker's personal enforcer. As Tazzik pays off the Blue Suns, Feron attempts to use a nearby turret to disable Tazzik's ship. He misses and destroys a stack of crates, alerting Tazzik as Liara attacks the Blue Suns with biotics. Tazzik flees Omega, Shepard's body having been moved aboard his ship.

Infiltrating Alingon
Liara once again accuses Feron of purposely holding her back, but gives him one last chance when he says that they can still follow and catch Tazzik using Feron's own ship. Miranda tracks Tazzik from a Cerberus ship as he approaches the Omega 2 Relay. The Illusive Man tells her to stand down; Cerberus already knows where Tazzik is going, and they still need to learn why the Collectors want Shepard. On Feron's ship, Feron informs Liara that the Shadow Broker only has one base on the other side of the mass relay, in the Faryar system on the planet Alingon. Upon arriving in-system, Feron's ship is attacked by the Shadow Broker's sentries. As Feron's ship isn't armed, he flies through a nearby mined-out asteroid to evade the sentries, which crash one by one.

On Alingon's surface, Feron and Liara make their way to the Shadow Broker's base. Because of Alingon's strong electromagnetic field, only the most sophisticated communications technology is functional; the Shadow Broker is the only one with such technology, which forces his agents to come personally to Alingon to confer with him and make any calls on his behalf only while offworld. Feron charms his way past the base's turian guards, convincing them Liara is a prisoner. Upon spotting a Collector on its way to meet Tazzik's ship, Liara wants to find Shepard immediately. Feron persuades her to wait so they can find out why the Collectors want Shepard in the first place.

Feron takes Liara to the Shadow Broker's inner sanctum, where all of his agents receive their orders. There, the obscured figure of the Shadow Broker reacts with surprise to Feron's arrival, and surmises he was right in sending the Blue Suns to ambush him and Liara. While Feron searches the Broker's databases, Liara argues with the Broker, asking how he could trust the Collectors. The obscured figure is revealed to be a decoy that the Shadow Broker communicates through to his staff on Alingon. The Broker smugly explains that the exchange with the Collectors is underway. Feron then tells Liara he has the information they need. Liara smashes the decoy and destroys the room's equipment. As they head out to stop the exchange, Feron tells Liara who he is really working for.

Recovering A Hero
Liara single-handedly defeats a squad of the Shadow Broker's guards. Feron catches up with her, but Liara shrugs him off, angry that he lied and has been a triple agent all along: his employer is Cerberus. He explains that he started out working for the Shadow Broker running small errands. Cerberus had been trying to recruit him repeatedly to gain a foothold in the Broker's operation. Feron only gave in to Cerberus when he learned that the Broker was working with the Collectors, and that the Collectors were interested in Commander Shepard's corpse. The Broker had become suspicious however, and was cutting Feron out of work. To get back in, Feron volunteered to steer Liara away from finding Shepard so he could retrieve Shepard himself. Feron also let Tazzik escape Omega so he had an excuse to return to Alingon and grab as much information about the Shadow Broker's dealings as he could.

At the Alingon base's hangar, Liara and Feron watch as the Collector they saw earlier examines Shepard's body. Tazzik is ready to hand it over as soon as the Broker receives the promised payment. Feron boldly interrupts the scene, telling Tazzik that the Broker is unsatisfied with the current deal and wants all of the Collectors' payment now, before the body is exchanged. Tazzik believes him, and orders the body moved back into his ship's hold. Elsewhere, the Collector fumes to the Shadow Broker about this "betrayal". The Broker explains that Feron does not speak for him and is a traitor, but he can't communicate with Tazzik. Back in the hangar, the Collector alerts Tazzik, who pulls a gun on Feron. Liara hears Feron's signal and attacks the other guards and the Collector while Feron holds off Tazzik. Liara escapes on Tazzik's ship, but is forced to leave Feron behind.

Sometime later at a Cerberus facility, Miranda and Liara watch as Cerberus doctors work on Commander Shepard's body. Liara suggests that bringing Shepard back may not be the right thing to do. Miranda expresses doubts that Shepard can be revived because the body was in worse condition than expected and the stasis container was of little help, but says the Illusive Man is more optimistic and willing to devote a considerable amount of resources toward the project. Liara leaves, realizing she has another friend to help now, and another enemy.

Awakening
Commander Shepard awakens in the year 2185 aboard a Cerberus space station, a research facility of the Lazarus Project, which is under attack by hacked security mechs. Shepard aids Cerberus agents Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor in escaping, and then is taken to another space station and granted an audience with the Illusive Man. The Cerberus leader explains that Shepard was revived and "upgraded" in return for the Commander's aid in combating a new threat: human colonies have been attacked, their colonists deemed missing.

Shepard and the team are dispatched to investigate the recently attacked colony of Freedom's Progress, located in the Terminus Systems. There, the group encounters Tali'Zorah vas Neema, one of Shepard's former squad members, and discovers that the mysterious insect-like Collectors were behind the attack and are responsible for the further abductions of other human colonies.

Shepard reports this to the Illusive Man, who then places Shepard in command of the Normandy SR-2, a larger ship modeled after the original Normandy SR-1. Two faces from the previous ship, Joker and Dr. Chakwas, are revealed to have staffed the new one when Cerberus sought them out. An artificial intelligence, EDI, is also introduced as the Normandy's cyberwarfare suite and overt surveillance mechanism.

With the guidance of the Illusive Man, Shepard begins traveling across the galaxy to recruit a new team for what is assumed to be a suicide mission.

Recruiting a Team
The Illusive Man initially provides 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, is found on Omega and is working to stop a plague engineered by the Collectors but distributed throughout Omega by the vorcha. The vigilante Archangel is also on Omega, holding out on his own in a battle against three mercenary gangs.

After reaching Archangel's hideout, Shepard learns that Archangel is actually Garrus Vakarian, a former C-Sec agent. Garrus is seriously injured while battling the mercenaries, and, although he is permanently disfigured, he survives and joins the team.

The krogan warlord, Okeer, is found on Korlus attempting to create the perfect krogan through unethical genetic research. When the warlord is killed, he leaves his creation, Grunt, under the care of Shepard.

The biotic, known as "Subject Zero", is revealed to be a human woman named Jack. Cerberus arranges for her to be purchased from the prison holding her; Shepard travels to the Purgatory prison ship. Once there, however, Shepard is betrayed by the warden as he attempts to capture Shepard for a bounty. Shepard manages to escape the trap and rescue Jack, who joins the team despite an initial distrust of Cerberus operatives.

Horizon
After the recruitment of the four characters, the Illusive Man reveals that a human colony called Horizon has come under Collector attack, and he dispatches the team in an attempt to save the colony. He also notes that one of Shepard's surviving crew members, either Kaidan Alenko or Ashley Williams depending who survived the incident on Virmire, is stationed at the colony to oversee the construction of massive defense towers.

Shepard arrives with a team and battles the Collectors face-to-face; the group appears to have arrived too late as half of the colonists have already been taken away. Shepard's team is able to activate the colony's defense cannons and turn them on the Collector ship, which then flees the planet under heavy fire. Shepard later reunites with the Virmire survivor, who leaves feeling betrayed by Shepard working for Cerberus.

After returning to the Normandy, it is revealed that the Illusive Man allowed the Collectors to attack Horizon by leaking a tip to the Alliance that Shepard is 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 becomes clear that the Collectors are targeting Shepard.

Further Team Building
Shepard is provided with dossiers on three more potential recruits: an asari Justicar, a drell assassin, and Tali. Shepard finds the Justicar, Samara, on Illium. She joins the team after Shepard investigates the Eclipse mercenary group and its involvement in a murder.

The drell assassin, Thane Krios, is also found on Illium and is in the midst of completing an assassination contract on Nassana Dantius. After learning of Thane's next target, Shepard fights resistances along the way to the top floor of the tower complex where the target is located. Shepard encounters Thane, who successfully dispatches his target and joins the team, as Shepard can provide him with a purpose.

Tali is found on a geth-occupied quarian colony world, Haestrom, where she is researching the system's rapidly dying sun. After she is rescued from an immense geth force, she agrees to join Shepard.

Collector Ship
The Illusive Man informs 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 respond. The Illusive Man requests the team to find any data or technology that can help them on their mission.

Upon boarding the ship, Shepard discovers many empty Collector pods, as well as the bodies of dead human colonists, apparently subjected to various experiments by the Collectors. Shepard then learns 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 reveals that they are in fact the long extinct Protheans, having been subjected to extensive genetic modification to alter them for the Reapers' purposes.

As Shepard proceeds deeper into the ship, Joker discovers that it is in fact exactly the same Collector vessel responsible for the attack on Horizon and the destruction of the original Normandy, which Shepard remarks is far too uncanny to be coincidence. When Shepard's team reaches the center of the ship, they discover that it contains 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 is able to link EDI with the Collector ship's systems in order to search for any useful information, but she is quickly interrupted as she discovers that the ship is not disabled; the Collectors have drawn the Normandy into a trap. EDI also reveals 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 fight their way out and escape from the ship on the Normandy before the Collector vessel can bring its weapons to bear.

After escaping, Shepard demands answers from the Illusive Man, who freely admits to the deception. He claims 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.

After talking his way out of the argument, the Illusive Man reveals the data gathered by EDI has led to the discovery of the Collectors' means of traversing the Omega-4 Relay: an advanced Reaper IFF system. EDI is able to calculate the location of the Collector homeworld from their ship's navigational data, and reveals it to be within the galactic core, an extremely dangerous area, which likely accounts for the fact that no ships ever return from the other side of the Omega-4 Relay.

The Key
The Illusive Man then reveals that Cerberus has 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 has 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 discovers that the Cerberus science team members had all been killed before their arrival. Video logs left by the science team make it evident that even though the Reaper is no longer sentient or functional, the indoctrination effect that emanates from all Reapers is still present.

The derelict ship automatically activates 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 is 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 are assisted by a single geth platform, somehow able to talk and also apparently friendly.

Shepard and the team recover the IFF and fight to the core of the ship, where the mysterious geth assists them once again before being disabled. As the Reaper's core is destroyed, its shields disappear and Shepard's team are able to escape to the Normandy before crashing into the planet, along with the disabled geth. Following the mission, Shepard may choose to either turn the geth over to Cerberus for research or activate it. If activated, the geth will be named Legion by EDI and joins the team against the Collectors.

Shortly after, Shepard departs with the recruited members on a shuttle towards their next mission as the Normandy prepares the IFF for testing in their absence. However, EDI discovers a hidden signal after activating the IFF, and realizes that the IFF is broadcasting the Normandy's position. This turns out to be another trap set by the Collectors, as their ship is able to surprise the Normandy with Shepard's entire team absent.

Collectors board and seize control of the ship, and Joker is forced to remove EDI's behavioral locks to enact countermeasures&mdash;a potentially dangerous move. After successfully regaining control of the ship, EDI manages to pilot the Normandy away from the Collectors and rid the ship of all enemies, but the entire crew barring Joker is taken by the Collectors. Upon returning to the ship, Shepard's hand is forced&mdash;the Commander can either continue completing secondary missions and sacrifice the captured crew, or to go through the Omega-4 relay immediately to rescue the Normandy crew members.

Beyond the Relay
Eventually, Shepard decides to travel through the Omega 4 Relay. Multiple factors come into play that decide the survival of Shepard, the kidnapped crew, and the gathered squad of specialists.

Upon exiting the far side of the relay, the Normandy appears 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 have stationed automated defenses in the debris field, each known as an Oculus, which the Normandy fights off.

Hull breaches enable 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 discovers the Collector Base, a giant space station orbiting a black hole. The Collector Cruiser is dispatched from the station, and the Normandy engages and destroys it, but as it explodes the blast cripples the Normandy causing it to crash-land on the outer surface of the base. Depending on the upgrades applied to the ship, up to 3 crew members may be killed while fighting the Oculus and Collector Cruiser.

Shepard and the team enter the station and battle their way through the Collectors to the station's core, rescuing any surviving Normandy crew as they go. Depending on the selection of the proper person for the challenge at hand, the focus of the squad, and the time elapsed from crew abduction to raiding the base, none to many Normandy crew casualties may be had.

Upon reaching the heart of the station, they discover that the Collectors have 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 hypothesizes that the Reapers attempted and failed to create a Prothean-Reaper, and instead enslaved them and turned them into the Collectors, and that they are now facilitating the Reaper equivalent of reproduction. EDI also guesses that due to its human appearance, Reapers are crafted to resemble the race from whose genetic material they are created. Shepard targets the weak supports of the contraption, which is in the very early stages of its construction, and it is seen collapsing into the lower confines of the area. Shepard then sets about with the plan to destroy the station.

At this point, the Illusive Man contacts Shepard and suggests 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 notes 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.

Shepard may choose to either refuse the Illusive Man's advice and destroy the station or use a radiation pulse to kill all surviving Collectors thus allowing Cerberus to take control of the station. If Shepard chooses to destroy the station, and if Miranda is with the Commander, then the Illusive Man orders Miranda to stop Shepard from destroying the base. However, Miranda, seeing the Illusive Man as a power-hungry madman, chooses to follow Shepard over the Illusive Man by resigning from Cerberus, depending on her loyalty to Shepard.

When Shepard makes the decision regarding the station's fate and begins the countdown, the Human-Reaper resurfaces from the depths of the station and attacks Shepard's team. After Shepard and the team destroy the Reaper, the surviving squad members escape to the Normandy and flee the station. Seconds before the station's destruction, Harbinger abandons the Collectors to their fate, berating them for their failure and declaring that the Reapers "will find another way."

Aboard the Normandy, Shepard converses with the Illusive Man a final time, who is either thankful or extremely angry with Shepard depending on the choice regarding the station. Shepard can either cut the Illusive Man off or promise him that they'll find another way to stop the Reapers with or without the Illusive Man's help or involvement.

Somewhere in dark space, the Reapers are shown awakening from their aeons-long slumber and setting a course toward the galaxy.

Mass Effect 2 - Lair of the Shadow Broker
These events can occur before or after the raid on the Collector Base. If Shepard has no involvement here, Liara still defeats and takes over the Shadow Broker organization but with mercenary help rather than Shepard's.

An Investigation
Following her past adventure in recovering Commander Shepard's corpse and delivering it to Cerberus, Liara T'Soni has been actively gathering intelligence on the Shadow Broker in an attempt to track him down and avenge her former partner's supposed death. Commander Shepard receives a message from Cerberus Information Processing. The message mentions that Cerberus has uncovered secret information that could give Liara a lead on the Shadow Broker's whereabouts, and suggests that the Commander should pass it along.

Shepard travels back to Illium to deliver the intel to Liara. At first, Liara is seemingly delirious about the information for it appears to hint on the Shadow Broker's true location. In addition, the message contains information that Liara's former drell partner, Feron, is actually still alive and is probably being held hostage by the Shadow Broker. After a short conversation on the subject with the Commander, Liara leaves her office and tells Shepard to meet her at her apartment.

The Commander arrives at the apartment finding it full of Illium police investigating the place. The asari Spectre with them, Tela Vasir, dismisses the cops as Shepard enters the apartment. In response to Shepard's question regarding the unexpected investigation, Vasir explains there has been an attempt on Liara's life. Vasir is unsure of Liara's current location and she is unsuccessful in finding any clues; she invites Shepard to further search the apartment for clues.

Eventually, Shepard finds what appears to be a backup disk, which is then played by Vasir and the Commander. The disk is found to contain a recorded conversation between Liara and a salarian contact by the name of Sekat, who explains that he has managed to pinpoint the Shadow Broker's location, and asks Liara to come to his office at Baria Frontiers in the Dracon Trade Center. Now that they have what they are looking for, Vasir and Commander Shepard travel to their next destination at Baria Frontiers.

The Truth
Just as the team arrives at the Dracon Trade Center, the three floors of the building are taken out by a sudden explosion, presumably an attempt to prevent Liara from receiving the information sought from Sekat. Vasir suggests that the Commander and the squad proceed inside while she takes off to the roof in order to seal off the building from the top.

As Shepard and the squad enter the building, they find it to be a chaotic mess with dead bodies and wounded civilians all over the place. Tela maintains contact with Shepard to guide the Commander through. As Shepard proceeds to the upper floors into the Baria Frontiers Office, the Commander finds a clue that Liara has just signed in a few minutes ago, confirming that Liara is indeed in the building. Proceeding inside the office room for further exploration, Shepard and the team are blinded by a flash grenade, followed by a wave of enemies who immediately scatter around the area and open fire. Shepard quickly radios Vasir regarding the ambush, who informs the Commander that they are the Shadow Broker's private army. With no choice to fall back, Shepard and the team return fire, slowly but surely making their way through the small hallways of the destroyed office.

Eventually, Shepard and the squad reach their destination, where they see Sekat's dead body after he was shot by a Shadow Broker agent, who is then shot by Vasir herself. Vasir asks the Commander about Liara's body, and if Shepard located it. However, Liara emerges from the shadows, wielding her pistol at Vasir.

Liara explains to Shepard that Vasir tried to assassinate her, broke into her apartment, and is the one that signaled the Shadow Broker's agents. She also remarks that Vasir is the one who killed Sekat and took his data, which is currently in her possession, revealing that Vasir is, after all, an undercover Shadow Broker operative. Exposed, Vasir shatters the glass with her biotics and makes a run for it.

Shepard tries to tackle Vasir before she jumps out the now-broken window but fails to do so, causing the Commander to fall to the floor while Liara proceeds to chase Vasir, not bothering to look back at Shepard and the squad. Shepard is then attacked by more enemies emerging from the nearby Eldfell-Ashland Energy office who attempt to slow down the Commander so that Vasir can get away. Shepard and the team continue to fight their way through the resistance while pursuing Vasir out of the building.

When they exit the building, the team finds Liara exchanging fire with Vasir at the parking lot. It doesn't take long before Vasir calls her X3M and quickly jumps into it to fly away. Nonetheless, Liara finds a nearby vehicle, which she and Shepard use to chase Vasir through the skies of Illium.

Vasir's skycar crashes on the roof of the Azure Hotel. Bleeding badly and limping, she still gains a considerable distance as numerous reinforcements arrive in waves to engage the pursuing Shepard and Liara.

After the battle on the roof, Shepard and Liara continue running inside and emerge to the other side of the roof. They spot Vasir's footsteps and follow them until they reach Vasir and aim their pistols at her, hoping she surrenders. Even though she is badly injured, Vasir grabs a random hostage to use as leverage against Shepard and Liara. The situation is quickly dealt with and the hostage escapes, but Vasir, not about to give up just yet, starts attacking the squad with everything she has.

At the end of the battle, Vasir drops to the floor, allowing Liara to pick up the data disk. Vasir protests to Shepard's remarks she sold out the Council, insisting she is nothing like Saren. She firmly believes in sacrificing a few for the greater good, as she claims her work with the Shadow Broker helped her save lives and kept the Citadel safe. She also brings up the Commander's involvement with Cerberus and tries to judge Shepard for it, before she takes her last breath.

Shepard then heads back to Liara, who is examining the disk, to have a conversation with her, which, among other things, involves the Shadow Broker's intention of wanting to kill Liara all along and at any cost. In any case, with the data in their possession, Shepard and Liara travel to the Shadow Broker's location for their primary objective.

Assault on the Shadow Broker's Base
The data obtained reveals that the Shadow Broker settles on the planet Hagalaz, in the Sowilo System of the Hourglass Nebula. Specifically, the Shadow Broker lives aboard a massive ship that travels through the thick, erratic atmosphere of Hagalaz. Shepard, Liara, and a third squad member take the shuttle from orbit down to the planet.

Liara provides Shepard with valuable input on the planet's atmosphere, the ship, and the general plan of the mission. First, they have to find a hatch that leads to the inside of the ship, where Feron is held. The shuttle lands, and Shepard and the team begin finding their way for a hatch to get inside. The weather is dreadful, and the layout of the ship's exterior isn't exactly easy to navigate through, but they proceed anyway.

Shortly following their touchdown, the team is engaged by maintenance drones, which Liara presumes is because the drones think the team is debris from the storm. After that, troops from the Broker's army start coming and attacking the squad as they advance through. Shepard and the team continue advancing until they reach a door that allows them in. However, the door is locked, but Liara tries to hack it with a certain hacking device, which she says will take a while before the door is completely hacked open. Waiting for the door to open, the team has to defend the position from numerous waves of Shadow Broker forces. Eventually, the door is successfully hacked and they run inside.

As the team makes their way inside, more troops are encountered. Liara remarks she has downloaded the ship's layout, saying that they're heading towards the prison block, where Feron is supposedly located. Continuing to the prison block and fighting their way through, the team reaches a locked door that leads directly to where Feron is. They bypass the door and enter to find Feron.

Liara attempts to release the drell, but instead, he is shocked. Feron explains that his current status makes him unable to be pulled out, otherwise his brain will fry. Shepard states that this "looked too easy" and asks Feron regarding the Shadow Broker, but unfortunately, Feron can't say much, either, since even that gets him shocked. At this point, Liara and Shepard decide that their only option is to confront the Shadow Broker himself and put an end to all this. They walk out the prison block, facing more enemies along the way. At last, they make it to the Shadow Broker's office.

Storming the Shadow Broker's office, where he calmly awaits them behind his desk, Shepard and the team find that the Shadow Broker is a species never encountered before. Not bothering to get up, the Broker coldly asks if Shepard and Liara are here for Feron, noting Shepard's actions are reckless even considering the Commander's history.

After a brief word exchange between Shepard and the Broker, Liara demands Feron, to which the Broker responds by reminding Liara that her own actions are what caused this to Feron. If the Collectors have not yet been defeated, the Broker states that their offer for Shepard still stands. On the other hand, if the Collectors have been defeated, the Broker announces his intention to use the Normandy SR-2's IFF to salvage remaining Collector technology.

The Broker notes the team's third squad member (commenting on the financial/political benefits their capture/death will bring him) while arrogantly disregarding Liara, telling her that he knows all her secrets. In response, Liara identifies 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 enrages the Broker, causing him to smash his desk and throws it at the three people standing in front of him. The third squad member is knocked out, leaving Liara and Shepard against the Broker.

The two rely on each other to fight the giant yahg, in what seems like an unwinnable battle at first. At some point during the fight, Liara suggests that Shepard distracts the Shadow Broker while she prepares for an attack. As soon as Shepard provides the distraction, Liara uses her biotics to pull down the liquid in the above tank straight onto the Broker, which causes the Broker's barrier to malfunction and explode, ultimately destroying him for good.

A New Shadow Broker
A momentary comm glitch from the battle causes the Broker's agents to radio his office asking for immediate updates on the situation. At first, Liara seems overwhelmed and unsure what to do. Then, she moves toward the panel and responds to the agents using the Shadow Broker's voice modification to avoid exposing herself: the situation is under control, and it was merely a hardware problem that disrupted communications. Liara ends the message by ordering all agents to resume standard procedures and to report an update on all operations within one solar day.

Feron comes to the room and quickly pulls his pistol before he realizes everything has been dealt with. Liara explains that she is now the new Shadow Broker, believing that it is something she has to do. Feron leaves with the just-revived other squadmate to check on the power system, leaving Liara and Shepard by themselves.

Shepard can comfort a crying Liara with a hug, who is happy that her revenge is finally over after two years' worth of struggling. Liara thanks Shepard for what the Commander has helped her accomplish and assures that Shepard is welcome any time.

The Shadow Broker's resources become available to Shepard. Feron stays with Liara to help around while he recovers. Along with everything else the former Broker owned, Liara assumes ownership of the yahg's Info Drone, which refers to any organic within its range as "Shadow Broker".

In a subsequent conversation, Liara remarks that her role as the Shadow Broker will likely play key role in the upcoming war against the Reapers. She also provides Shepard with additional insight on the Shadow Broker's plans and what he knew. Shepard can ask her about Feron, who is now residing with Liara.

Later, Shepard may choose to invite Liara to the Normandy for a catch up. On the other hand, if Shepard refuses to have Liara onboard the Normandy, she sadly accepts the refusal.

Mass Effect 2 - Arrival
These events can occur before or after the raid on the Collector Base. If Shepard has no involvement here, the mission is completed at great cost by the Alliance 103rd Marine Division.

A Favor
Admiral Hackett contacts Commander Shepard to ask for help rescuing Dr. Amanda Kenson, an Alliance deep-cover operative in batarian space who has come across evidence that a Reaper invasion is imminent. Hackett explains that Kenson was recently captured by batarians and charged with terrorism. Wanting to avoid a diplomatic incident with the Batarian Hegemony, Hackett requests Shepard go in solo and rescue the scientist as a favor. Shepard agrees to help and uses coordinates given by Hackett to travel to the batarian prison on the planet Aratoht where Kenson is being held.

Landing outside the prison, Shepard makes it past several security measures and prison guards. Shepard locates Kenson in the middle of an interrogation and frees her. Shepard and Kenson fight past more guards and escape the planet on a batarian shuttle.

On the way to Kenson's team's base, she reveals 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 are so high, Shepard insists on seeing Kenson's evidence first. Kenson agrees and informs her team at the Project Base that she and Shepard are en route.

Object Rho
At the Project Base, Shepard notices a numeric readout above the hangar gateway. Kenson says that the readout is a countdown to the Reapers' arrival; in two days, the Reapers will be at the Alpha Relay. The countdown itself is based on pulses emitted by Object Rho. The pulses are reactions to the Reapers' proximity and the intervals between them have been decreasing steadily. In little over 48 hours, the pulses will become constant and the Reapers will have arrived.

As Kenson leads Shepard to Object Rho, she explains that "the Project" is ready to go. The team hasn't been debating if it could be carried out, but rather if it should be. The Reapers will arrive regardless, but without the shortcut that the Alpha Relay provides, they would be forced to spend months or even years more traveling to another relay.

At the lab, Kenson presents Object Rho to Shepard. The Commander becomes wary after seeing that the Reaper artifact is sitting in the open. Kenson tells Shepard to wait for the artifact to show Shepard a vision which will prove that the invasion is real. Shepard is overcome with the vision, which shows dozens of Reapers speeding towards a mass relay. Suddenly, Kenson pulls a gun on Shepard and says she can't let the Commander stop the Reapers; Kenson and her team had been indoctrinated by Object Rho. Shepard disarms Kenson, who escapes and locks Shepard in the chamber as it is swarmed with guards. Shepard fights as long as possible, but is eventually incapacitated.

Countdown
Shepard awakens two days later in a medical lab in Project Base, to the surprise of the monitoring medic. Shepard disables two guards, but is locked in the room by the medic. At a nearby terminal, the Commander gains control of a LOKI Mech outside, which Shepard uses to kill the scientist and break the mechanism that seals off the room. Shepard suits up and advances through the Project Base, intending to complete "the Project" before the Reapers arrive in less than two hours.

The Commander fights through Kenson's indoctrinated security guards to reach the control center and prepares to activate the Base's engines. After being warned by the Base's VI that initiating the Project will kill all of the Bahak system's 304,942 colonists, Shepard confirms the order. The engines fire, and the asteroid accelerates toward the Alpha Relay. Dr. Kenson interrupts Shepard's attempt to access communications, threatening to overload the Base's fusion core to stop the Project.

Getting to the core, Shepard has to manually initiate cooling systems to stop Kenson's crazed plan. In the core chamber, Kenson laments not being able to hear the Reapers' whispers any more and witness their coming to the galaxy. When she raises a bomb detonator, Shepard either shoots Kenson in the chest to stop her or tries to talk her down, but regardless of the outcome, Kenson still presses the button and dies in the explosion, which also incapacitates Shepard.

When Shepard recovers, the asteroid is now minutes away from colliding with the Alpha Relay. Commander Shepard races to the Project Base's shuttle landing pads to escape, but is too late; the last of the shuttles lifts off and speeds away, leaving behind other Project personnel. Shepard eliminates them and finds a communications uplink nearby.

While calling the Normandy, Harbinger appears via a hologram projector and tells Shepard that the fall of the galaxy's civilization is inevitable. Before disconnecting, Harbinger warns Shepard to "Prepare for the Arrival." The Normandy makes its approach and Shepard lands a running jump into the airlock. Seconds before the asteroid hits, the Normandy escapes the Bahak system through the relay. As anticipated, the relay is destroyed and the explosion obliterates the system.

Consequences
Sometime later, Admiral Hackett boards the Normandy to debrief Commander Shepard in person. Hackett wants Shepard to explain why a simple rescue mission ended with the destruction of a batarian system. Shepard confirms 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 is satisfied by Shepard's story, saying he would give a medal to Shepard for this, but reveals 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 warns that at some point, Shepard will have to face trial over this incident on Earth.

Mass Effect 3
If Shepard took part in the events of Arrival, the Commander is on Earth and is placed under arrest, waiting to be tried for causing the destruction of the Bahak system and its 300,000 batarian colonists. If not, then Shepard is tried for working with Cerberus. Six months later, the Reapers launch an assault on Earth, having found an alternate means of entering the galaxy. Shepard and David Anderson escape to the Alliance-refitted Normandy SR-2, where Anderson recommissions and charges Shepard with finding help while he stays behind to lead the resistance.

As the Normandy lifts off, Shepard spots a young boy who previously refused help, climb into a departing shuttle, only for it to be shot down by a Reaper Destroyer. Shepard continues to have recurring dreams of the child, seeing him becoming consumed by flames before the Commander can reach him. In one such dream, Shepard sees the boy run up to another version of themselves, before both of them are consumed by the fire.

Shepard then begins trying to recruit the different races of the galaxy, both to fight the Reapers, and build a super weapon known simply as the Crucible, the schematics for which were discovered by Dr. Liara T'Soni in the Prothean Archives on Mars. Unfortunately, the Illusive Man seeks to oppose the Commander's efforts while trying to find a way to control the Reapers.

Fate
During the final battle for Earth, Shepard is gravely wounded in an attack by Harbinger. After reaching the Citadel and dealing with the Illusive Man, Shepard is greeted by the Catalyst - an ancient A.I. that controls the Reapers. The Catalyst explains to Shepard the purpose of the Reapers and their cycle of destruction, and then states that Shepard has up to three options for ending the cycle:


 * 1) Destroy the Reapers: In this ending, Shepard shoots a key energy tube, causing a massive explosion. Using the mass relays, the energy fired by the Crucible destroys all synthetics across the galaxy, including the Reapers, EDI, and the geth. The mass relays and the Citadel are either severely damaged but eventually repaired or (if the player's Effective Military Strength is low) blown up while causing galactic destruction. If the player's Effective Military Strength is high enough, a brief scene shows Shepard taking a deep breath amidst a pile of rubble.
 * 2) Control the Reapers: In this ending, Shepard grabs hold of two electrical handles, which slowly disintegrate the Commander's body. Using the mass relays, the energy fired by the Crucible uploads Shepard's mind as the new Reaper master consciousness. The Reapers depart Earth, the mass relays are damaged by the Crucible firing, and the Citadel remains intact. The Reapers rebuild the galaxy, including the mass relays, and the new Shepard A.I. vows to protect "the many" – though its manner of carrying out this duty is affected by whether Shepard's Morality was more Paragon or more Renegade.
 * 3) Synthesis: In this ending, Shepard jumps into the Crucible's energy beam, which absorbs and dissolves the Commander. Using the mass relays, the energy fired by the Crucible transforms all life in the galaxy into a new hybrid of synthetic-organic life (with all individuals developing green-highlighted skin and glowing eyes). The Reapers depart Earth, and both the mass relays and the Citadel are damaged by the Crucible firing. The Reapers work together with everyone to rebuild the galaxy, including the mass relays, and share the knowledge of previously-harvested civilizations.
 * 4) Refusal: In this ending, Shepard refuses to choose any of the three possible options or shoots the Catalyst. The Catalyst darkly acknowledges the Commander's decision and disappears, shutting down the Crucible and leaving it unable to fire. Shepard is left standing alone, turning to see a Reaper ship destroy an Alliance dreadnought. The Reapers succeed in harvesting all advanced organic life throughout the galaxy, allowing the cycle to continue.

Assuming Shepard chooses an option that activates the Crucible, then many years in the future, Commander Shepard has become a legendary figure known as "The Shepard".

If Shepard does not activate the Crucible, a future cycle learns of their actions through Glyph, and all that is known about "The Shepard" is what was stored in the archives left by Liara. This new cycle is implied to have solved the Reaper threat thanks to information passed down by "those who came before".

If Shepard chooses an option that activates the Crucible, the epilogue shows the squad along with Joker, Cortez (if he survived) and Traynor. The squadmate Shepard was closest to places Shepard's name above Anderson's on the memorial wall, and, if Shepard chose to merge organic and synthetic life, hugs EDI. If, however, Shepard chose to destroy the Reapers, and the player's Effective Military Strength was high enough, the squadmate hesitates to put Shepard's name on the wall and instead smiles hopefully.

Return of the Reapers
Six months have passed since the destruction of Bahak and Commander Shepard's voluntary return to the Alliance. The Commander has 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 begin to go dark. Admiral Steven Hackett, the head of the Alliance military, begins to prepare for an imminent invasion. Admiral David Anderson arrives in Vancouver and escorts Commander Shepard with Lieutenant James Vega to a meeting with an Alliance defense committee. Shepard confirms their worst fears: the Reapers have returned to the galaxy and are on their way to Earth.

At that moment, contact is lost with Luna Base and news reports begin to surface of an unknown alien force landing in Earth's cities. The Reapers have already arrived. A Reaper capital ship then descends through the clouds over Vancouver and blasts the Alliance building, killing the defense committee and Alliance staff. Shepard and Anderson survive and contact Ashley Williams or Kaidan Alenko (whichever survived Virmire), telling them to get to the Normandy.

As Shepard and Anderson make their way from building to building to get to the spaceport, Anderson tells Shepard that they have to get to the Citadel and seek help from the Council. They reach a comm set near a crashed gunship and hail the Normandy to evacuate. After holding off an attack from Cannibals, the Normandy bombs the area clear of attackers. As Shepard boards the ship, Anderson informs the Commander that he will stay behind to lead the resistance, and hands over Shepard's dog tags. Shepard protests, but Anderson charges Shepard with getting as much help as possible to save Earth and stop the Reapers.

As the Normandy lifts off, Shepard witnesses a child running to an Alliance evacuation area and boarding a shuttle. As the shuttles lifts off, a Reaper destroyer emerges from behind a cluster of buildings and targets the shuttles, killing those who were aboard including the child. Distraught, Shepard steps away from the open shuttle bay doors of the Normandy, and the ship escapes Earth as more Reapers and the wreckage of Alliance ships rain down upon the planet.

The Prothean Archives
Shortly after escaping Earth, Shepard receives a communication from Admiral Steven Hackett, ordering the commander to the Prothean Archives on Mars, where humanity first discovered mass effect technology. Hackett insists that Liara T'Soni has found there what may be the only way to defeat the Reapers.

Upon arrival, Shepard, James and the Virmire survivor take the shuttle down to the planet, receiving a warning from EDI that the base is not responding. They soon discover the reason why upon witnessing Cerberus soldiers executing Alliance personnel; the group fight their way through the enemy, inferring from the small size of the Cerberus force that they must have had help from the inside. Ashley/Kaidan is also surprised Shepard is unaware of this, given their past association with Cerberus, and is 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 explains why Hackett sent them to find her; she has found in the Archives blueprints for a Prothean device that might allow them to turn the tide against the Reapers. Unfortunately, Cerberus has learned of it too, and now they must hurry to recover the necessary information before Cerberus can.

Sending James back to the shuttle to secure their escape route and prevent Cerberus from doing so, Shepard, the Virmire survivor and Liara fight 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 contacts them by hologram, mocking the Alliance for failing to take advantage of the wealth of information the Protheans left behind and commenting that Shepard is fighting a losing battle. He also explains 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 vows to use the information to destroy the Reapers and dismisses the Illusive Man's warning not to interfere in Cerberus's plans.

The group then encounter Dr. Coré, who had been trying to upload information on the Prothean device, but her upload is interrupted by the squad and she tries to flee. Although Coré is able to reach a Cerberus shuttle, James disables it with a kamikaze attack before it can escape, having also alerted the Normandy to extract the squad. Coré, revealed to be an android by the explosion, emerges from the wreckage and attacks, critically injuring the Virmire survivor before being disabled by Shepard. The Normandy arrives to extract the team just as Reaper forces begin landing on Mars.

Having escaped Mars, Shepard forwards information on the Prothean device to Hackett, orders Liara and EDI to begin extracting intel from the android and orders the Normandy to the Citadel.

Uniting the Galaxy
Upon arrival at the Citadel, Ashley/Kaidan is taken for medical treatment at the nearest hospital and Shepard conveyed to a meeting with the Council. Despite Udina's insistence that Earth is bearing the brunt of the attack and needs the most help, the asari Councillor succinctly sums up their view: while the Reapers focus on Earth, the other races have time to regroup and build up their own defenses. The Council is 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 explains that a missing component referred to as "the Catalyst" prevented its completion. All is not entirely lost for Earth, however: the salarian Councillor informs Shepard of a war summit they are convening to properly organise their strategy against the Reapers, and that whatever the summit decides will give the final word on the deployment of Council forces.

Upon departing the meeting, Shepard and Udina are met in the human Councillor's office by the turian Councillor, who explains that Palaven's ruler, Primarch Fedorian, was to head the war summit, but didn't escape the system before the Reapers arrived. He requests that the Normandy extract him from his current location on Palaven's moon Menae, explaining that Fedorian will be a useful ally in accruing support for Earth. Before leaving, the Councillor informs Shepard that the Council has agreed to uphold/reinstate their Spectre status, granting them the benefits of the position.

The Normandy enters 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 learns from the commanding officer that Primarch Fedorian is dead, having been killed an hour before Shepard's arrival and they have no idea who has succeeded him because their communications with Palaven Command have been cut. Fighting through swarms of Husks to the comm tower and repairing it, the group soon learn that General Adrien Victus, a popular military commander with "a reputation for playing loose with strategy", has been named as Palaven's next Primarch; however, he is fighting at a base several miles away, with which radio contact has been lost. At the same time, Shepard receives a message from Joker that EDI and the Normandy are acting strangely; either Liara returns to investigate and Garrus Vakarian, now named strategic advisor to the turian army, greets Shepard fills her spot to lead them to Victus' position - if Garrus died in the suicide mission, Shepard and Vega continue alone.

Fighting their way through Reaper forces, Shepard and company arrive at the base and after helping Victus and his soldiers defeat their attackers, relay the news to the General that he is the newest leader of his people. Victus is doubtful about his ability to lead, claiming to be no diplomat and unwilling to leave his men, but he reluctantly agrees to accompany Shepard to the summit. He insists he can't divert troops to Earth until Palaven can be secured, something beyond the turian military's ability to do now. The turians will need reinforcements, namely the krogan, to succeed, and Victus insists they will have to be at the summit.

Upon returning to the Normandy, Shepard and the crew discover the earlier power fluctuations were caused by EDI implanting herself in Eva's body, a process which has completed successfully and given EDI more options, namely the ability to leave the Normandy and accompany Shepard into combat. Soon after, Shepard receives words from Admiral Hackett that Alliance Research and Development has begun construction of the Prothean device, dubbing it "Project Crucible".

Aiding the Krogan
The decision to involve the krogan in proceedings causes major problems; the asari pull out of the summit altogether, believing turian-krogan relations too fragile for anything to be accomplished. A diplomatic meeting is held between Shepard, Primarch Victus, Dalatrass Linron, the leader of the Salarian Union, and the clan chief of the krogan, either Urdnot Wrex or his brother and successor Wreav. The dalatrass is openly hostile and insulting to the krogan leader, who is ambivalent to the plight of the turians, insisting that the Reapers are moving on Tuchanka and refuses to provide military assistance unless their own demand is met; that a cure is created for the genophage. The dalatrass flatly refuses to agree to such a demand, arguing that what Shepard and Victus are planning to do in curing the genophage is the same rash mistake the salarians made when they uplifted the krogan to fight against the rachni, while Victus believe the plan impossible because it would take years they don't have to synthesise a cure.

However, the Urdnot leader reveals intel he has 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 are also immune to the genophage- and took them offworld. The dalatrass, under pressure, reluctantly reveals that the females are being held at an STG base on Sur'Kesh and accedes to their release, though she insists that curing the genophage will have dire consequences for her people and the galaxy as a whole.

Shepard, their squad and the krogan leader arrive on Sur'Kesh to oversee the exchange, meeting up with the salarian scientist in charge: Mordin Solus, if he survived the suicide mission, or Padok Wiks, if Mordin died. This scientist is responsible for the krogan females' care and is 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 has survived. A Cerberus strike force hits 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 are forced to fight off Cerberus troopers deploying into the base as the salarian scientist and the Urdnot leader attempt to extract her.

The team escape Sur'Kesh with the female krogan, who is christened 'Eve' by the salarian scientist, and the cure is rapidly developed. Eve takes some time to regain her strength, and when she's ready the salarian doctor proclaims her fit for travel to Tuchanka, where she's needed for the last leg of the genophage cure's completion. The krogan and turian leaders approach Shepard with problems of their own, requesting that the Commander deal with them if there's time.

The Normandy then deploys to Tuchanka when Shepard decides it is time, where the Reapers have begun attacking in force. They decide 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 is contacted privately by Dalatrass Linron, who insists Shepard cannot go through with the genophage cure and reveals that the Special Tasks Group sabotaged the Shroud years ago to prevent it being used for such a plan. The dalatrass offers Shepard a deal; prevent repairs to the Shroud, thus causing the cure to fail, and in exchange, the salarians will provide military support and technical expertise to help construct the Crucible.

Upon arrival on the planet, the Urdnot leader rallies the krogan forces, who will 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 goes awry, with the krogan ground forces delayed and the fighters decimated as they attempt to attack without support. The ground forces are scattered and Shepard's team is forced to detour through ancient and impressive krogan ruins, that also happens to be home to the largest known thresher maw.

They improvise a new plan, luring the thresher maw into attacking the Reaper destroyer to buy them time. This strategy is significantly more effective than the last: despite overwhelming Reaper opposition, Mordin/Wiks and Shepard make it to the Shroud and Kalros manages to kill the destroyer. Eve is either alive in a safe place or dead depending on whether Shepard saved Maelon's data months before but the cure is fully completed nonetheless and awaiting planetwide dispersal.

There are, however, complications. The salarian scientist, now aware of the STG sabotage, explains that the sabotage must be counteracted from the top of the tower in order to ensure proper release of the cure; a task that, with the tower collapsing as they speak, is essentially a suicide mission. Shepard must decide whether to let the salarian scientist sacrifice himself to spread the cure, convince him not to, or shoot him if that fails.

No matter the salarian scientist's actions, the Shroud lets out a blast of particles, blanketing Tuchanka with a shower of cure (or the illusion of such) before disintegrating.

The Citadel Coup
Following their mission on Tuchanka, Shepard is contacted by the salarian Councillor, who requests a meeting on the Citadel regarding an important matter. The Councillor explains that it concerns Councillor Udina, who has been moving vast sums of money and the Councillor wishes to discuss where it is going, claiming that Shepard "won't like the news."

Upon arriving at the Citadel, however, the station is worryingly silent. Scanning emergency channels, the Normandy receives a transmission from an old associate of Shepard's (either drell assassin Thane Krios, who has retired to the Citadel to enjoy his remaining life, or Commander Bailey if otherwise) who explains that the Citadel is under attack; Cerberus has hit the station in overwhelming numbers and C-Sec are struggling to retaliate. The contact explains that Ashley/Kaidan (having recovered from the injuries sustained on Mars and been named a Spectre by Udina since then) has gone to protect the Council, while they are attempting to reach C-Sec Headquarters, since C-Sec cannot launch an effective counterattack while Cerberus holds it. Deploying in the shuttle, Shepard and their squad land 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 uncovers 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 is implicated.

Reasoning that the Councillor is likely holed up in the Executor's office, a fairly defensible position, Shepard's squad fight their way through Cerberus' troops, but when they reach the office and extract the Councillor, they come under attack from Kai Leng, who is under orders from the Illusive Man to assassinate the Council. The salarian Councillor also reveals that Udina is collaborating with Cerberus to stage a coup. If Thane and Major Kirrahe are both dead, Leng manages to assassinate the Councillor. If one or both are alive, then one of them thwarts Leng's assassination attempt, but is mortally wounded in the process. Leng retreats 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 reaches the Council ahead of him at a shuttle pad, locking the exits to prevent Cerberus troops from getting in and a tense standoff ensues, with Ashley/Kaidan standing in their way. Shepard reveals Udina's treachery to the Council and while he attempts to deny it, the rest of the Council, after all the times they didn't listen to Shepard, begin to believe Shepard. With the Council's escape shuttle destroyed, Udina suggests overriding the lockdown and Shepard must convince the Virmire survivor to get out of the way, either managing to talk them down or being forced to shoot them.

Udina, left with few options, begins to override the lock on the door. The asari councilor tries to stop him, but he pushes her to the ground and pulls a gun on her. Shepard or Kaidan/Ashley are 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 retreat, while C-Sec begins securing the station.

En route back to headquarters, Leng reports his failure to the Illusive Man, who assures his agent that Udina was expendable and he has other plans in motion, though the Illusive Man does admonish Leng for letting Shepard get the better of him; Leng angrily promises it won't happen again.

The Quarian Offensive
Following the coup attempt, efforts to speed the pace of the Crucible's construction and drive the Reapers back increase. Admiral Hackett contacts Shepard with news on that front, informing the Commander that while turian and krogan ground forces are making progress against the Reapers on Palaven, they need more support ships and the quarians are willing to talk. Hackett requests Shepard to meet with the leaders of the Migrant Fleet but urges caution, as recent intel suggests 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 learns, much to their chagrin, that the quarians are 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 concludes that the signal is Reaper tech, which must be destroyed if the quarians are to have any chance of survival. The admirals explain that the signal is being broadcast by a geth dreadnought far beyond their ability to destroy. Shepard proposes 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 agree and offer Shepard technical support in the form of one of their own: Shepard's old crewmate Tali'Zorah, based on her knowledge of the geth, or Admiral Xen volunteers herself if Tali died.

Arriving in the middle of a pitched battle between the geth and quarian fleets, Shepard and company board the dreadnought and make their way through the ship, fighting off geth crew to reach the drive core, where the signal is being broadcast. Inside the drive core is a unique geth platform hardwired to amplify the Reaper signal: Legion, if it survived Shepard's suicide mission, or an equivalent Geth VI constructed in its likeness otherwise.

The geth unit explains that the quarian attack drove the geth into an alliance with the Reapers in order to save themselves. At the geth unit's direction, they shut down the drive core, freeing the platform from its shackles. In return it disables all shields and weapons aboard the dreadnought as a sign of good faith. Making the most of the advantage, Admiral Gerrel deviates from the plan and launches a full attack on the dreadnought, hoping to destroy the crippled geth flagship, regardless of Shepard's protestations that they are still inside. Shepard and company narrowly escape the vessel in time.

After returning to the Normandy and either accepting or condemning Gerrel's explanation of his actions, Shepard requests information from the saved geth unit. To the horror of the admirals, the platform explains that the dreadnought's destruction has only severed the Reaper signal at long range; a base on Rannoch's surface is still transmitting the signal at short range, and the geth will soon recover from the disruption. Orbital bombardments are out of the question; the geth have set up jamming towers that prevent the quarian ships from pinpointing the base.

Several sorties on Rannoch's surface are 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 begins the assault on the signal base when its location has been determined, armed with a targeting beam that can cut through the jamming signal. The geth unit drops in solo to disorient geth forces and provide remote technical assistance.

The plan works, but when the Normandy bombs the signal generator, it is revealed to be a Reaper destroyer. The destroyer pursues Shepard and co. as they flee in a geth shuttle, while the quarians and the Normandy attempt to provide supporting fire from orbit. A chance weapons strike from the Migrant Fleet reveals a weak point in the Reaper's defences; that the firing chamber is vulnerable when priming. Using the handheld laser guidance system and dodging the Reaper's attacks, Shepard directs the Normandy and Migrant Fleet's weapons against the Reaper, eventually severely damaging it.

Following its defeat, the badly damaged Reaper and Shepard exchange barbed words; the Reaper, recognising Shepard from Harbinger's description, asserts that Shepard's opposition to the Reapers is pointless, that they are preserving organic life from chaos and that the cycle must continue if organics are to be saved from destruction. Shepard dismisses the Reaper's warnings and assures it that the races of the galaxy will continue to fight until a way to defeat the Reapers is found. With nothing more to be said, the Reaper 'dies'.

With the Reaper destroyed, the geth fleet is left disabled and vulnerable to the quarians, but the geth unit requests permission to upload a modified form of the Reaper code to all geth that would grant them true intelligence. Shepard must choose whether to let the upgrade be broadcast, spelling death for the quarians, or prevent the platform from uploading long enough for the Migrant Fleet to wipe out the geth. If Shepard built up enough trust on both sides owing to a multitude of factors the Commander can call for a ceasefire and eventual peace between the races. Whatever Shepard decides, the conflict between the quarians and geth that has raged for three centuries is brought to an end, and the fleets of one or both races are acquired for the fight against the Reapers.

The Fall of Thessia
Following the resolution of the quarian-geth conflict, the asari councillor requests that Shepard come speak with her on the Citadel. Though the Crucible's construction nears completion, the absence of the Catalyst still makes it useless against the Reapers. The Councillor reveals to Shepard that there is a highly classified artifact located on Thessia that may help the Commander identify the Catalyst; however, she urges haste, as the Reapers have descended on Thessia in droves, seeking to annihilate the most advanced race in the galaxy.

En route to Thessia, Liara, who insists on coming to help her homeworld, explains that the artifact is housed in the Temple of Athame, a deity whose worship is nearly as old as the asari, but has fallen out of practice. Arriving on Thessia to find the asari military fighting a losing battle against Reaper forces, Shepard and the squad make their way to the temple, where a science team is purported to be waiting for them. They arrive at the temple to find a security field blocking entrance, strangely high-security for a temple of a dead religion. When Liara deactivates it, they enter the temple and find the scientists dead, but not at Reaper hands. They search the temple which houses artifacts related to Athame's worship, including ones that look suspiciously Prothean.

While Liara explains the temple's history, Shepard comes to a realisation; the artifact the Councillor sent them to find is a Prothean Beacon hidden within the temple. Considering the temple's age, the beacon is likely the reason why the asari are technologically and scientifically ahead of the other races, and they have directly violated Council law by keeping the beacon to themselves. The beacon is 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 activate it, a Prothean VI identifying itself as Vendetta appears. Establishing that it is in a post-Prothean cycle and detecting nearby Reaper forces, it attempts to shut down, but Shepard insists that it wait and provide information on the Catalyst and Crucible.

Vendetta explains that the Crucible is not of Prothean origin, but is 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 mentions that the Protheans learned that similar patterns of evolution and dissolution occur 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 infers that the Reapers are "servants" of the pattern, not its creator, but cannot identity their true master or motive, only its intention: galactic annihilation. Before Vendetta can specify what the Catalyst is, it detects an indoctrinated presence nearby and shuts down.

The intruder is revealed to be Kai Leng who demands their attention, pulling a drone from his coat and remarking that "Someone would like to talk with you". The drone projects a hologram of the Illusive Man, who has learnt of the Thessia beacon from the Mars Archive and mocks Liara for missing it. The Illusive Man goes on to expand on his belief and convince Shepard that controlling the Reapers is the best course of action and that the Thessia beacon contains the information to do so. Shepard asserts their conviction to destroying the Reapers and dismisses the Illusive Man's scheme, accusing him of being indoctrinated. Rebuffed, the Illusive Man orders Leng to kill Shepard and recover the data.

A vicious battle ensues, but Leng is unable to gain the upper hand. Leng calls in assistance, ordering a Cerberus gunship to destroy the temple's structural supports and the temple begins to collapse. Shepard and squad are forced to react quickly to save themselves and by the time they recover, Leng has already acquired the data and fled aboard the gunship. They can only watch helplessly as Leng's ship escapes and more Reapers descend to complete the destruction of Thessia.

After escaping to the Normandy, the asari Councillor contacts Shepard, though the Commander delays the meeting out of reluctance. The Councillor eagerly requests information on the Catalyst and when it will complete the Crucible, but Shepard is forced to tell her of Cerberus' interference and their failure to acquire the data. Realising that asari civilisation, maybe all civilisation, may now be lost, the asari Councillor cuts communication, leaving Shepard to brood on their failure.

Chasing Cerberus
Following the disaster on Thessia, Shepard bemoans the fact that Cerberus always seems to be one step ahead and asks the crew for any intel they might have to get the jump on the organisation. The Normandy's communication specialist Samantha Traynor mentions 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 is Sanctuary, a refugee camp on the planet Horizon for those fleeing the war, the Commander decides that a lead is still a lead, no matter how slim, and agrees to check it out.

Upon arriving at the facility, Shepard and their squad find signs of battle between Cerberus and Reaper forces, a surprising discovery given Cerberus' collaboration with the Reapers. Investigating the camp, Shepard finds evidence left by former squadmate Miranda Lawson or her sister that the 'refugee camp' was in truth a Cerberus laboratory run by their father Henry Lawson, working for the Illusive Man. Deeper in the facility, they discover that the refugees were being experimented on and ultimately turned into husks, in order to further Cerberus's research into indoctrination. A further bombshell is 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 their way through Cerberus troopers who hadn't evacuated in time and Reaper forces left behind after the attack, Shepard and their squad make it to the tower that has been broadcasting the signal, as well as blocking all transmissions from the planet. Here, they find Henry Lawson holding Oriana hostage. The Lawson patriarch tries 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 leave the Lawsons to their fate.

Miranda, if she was alive, executes her father no matter Shepard's words; otherwise, Henry Lawson either goes free, is gunned down by Shepard after convincing Lawson to release his hostage, or dies with Oriana when the latter defenestrates herself and her father. Shepard and company learn the location of Cronos Station, the headquarters of Cerberus itself, after Henry has been dealt with.

Shepard alerts Admiral Hackett to this discovery, and the Alliance begin 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 warns that once an assault on Cerberus is 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. Once military preparations are completed to Shepard's satisfaction, the assault begins.

Leading an armada to assault the station, Shepard, EDI and a squad are deployed to fight Cerberus forces in the base, while Hackett battles Cerberus's fleet with the rest of the Alliance ships. The base is 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 reaches the Illusive Man's personal office, and begin to scour his private terminals for the location of the Prothean VI. The Illusive Man contacts Shepard by hologram, sneering that he has already acquired the Catalyst and all he needed to control the Reapers. Again, he dismisses Shepard's claims that he is indoctrinated and assures Shepard that the idea behind Cerberus will survive any physical damage they cause to the organisation itself.

The Illusive Man severs communication when EDI discovers and activates the Prothean VI. They find that Vendetta's security protocols have been overridden and he informs the squad that the Catalyst is 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 realises it then should be relatively easy to activate the Crucible, but Vendetta has more shocking news; the Illusive Man has fled to the Citadel and warned the Reapers of the plan to destroy them. As if this wasn't enough, the Reapers have already reasserted control over the Citadel and transported it to orbit one of their conquered planets: to be precise, Earth.

As Shepard attempts to contact Admiral Hackett to tell him this devastating news, he is cut off by the return of Kai Leng, who once again engages Shepard in a furious battle, aided by various Cerberus forces. This time, Shepard emerges victorious. After the fight between Shepard and Leng, Shepard goes to back to the Illusive Man's computer to activate the Prothean VI. Little does Shepard and their squad know, Leng survived the beating he took. After silently limping to the Commander, Leng raises his sword in an attempt to kill Shepard; the Commander senses the attack and in the nick of time either disarms Leng by shattering his sword or dodges Leng's attack and finishes him off with an omni-blade stab, avenging either Thane, Kirrahe, or Miranda. If both Thane and Kirrahe are dead, the salarian councilor was assassinated, and Miranda survived the Illusive Man's orders to have her killed (or was killed during the Suicide Mission), Shepard will taunt Leng over his cowardly victory on Thessia.

The Battle for Earth
Shepard alerts Hackett and Anderson to their discovery of the Catalyst's identity and location. With no alternative, Hackett and Shepard order the forces they have gathered to the Sol system with the intention of taking Earth back from the Reapers. Hackett and Anderson brief Shepard on the three-fold plan of battle: 'Sword' Fleet will engage the Reapers in space, while 'Hammer' ground forces will land in London. When Shepard queries why London is their landing zone, Anderson explains that the Reapers have 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 is 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 is done, Hackett will signal 'Shield' Fleet, which will 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 deploy for the Sol System and a brutal space battle ensues between the fleets Shepard has gathered and the Reapers in orbit around Earth. The Normandy breaks off from the battle and descends to the planet. Shepard and several other squads have been ordered to take out Reaper Destroyers planet-side, fitted with anti-aircraft Hades Cannons that threaten Hammer's landing. After eliminating the destroyers, Shepard and their squad are extracted by Anderson and local resistance forces, who convey them back to their forward base. At the same time, Hammer troops begin landing en masse in preparation for the assault on the Citadel beam.

When the bulk of surviving Hammer forces have landed and deployed, Anderson briefs Shepard and the other team leaders that they must fight their way through the city to the beam, though they will 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 is brought down, but by that time, Hammer's forces have suffered heavy casualties, Reaper forces are gaining ground and to make matters worse, Hackett warns that several Sovereign-class Reapers, including Harbinger, have broken away from the space battle and are descending to Earth. By the time the remnants of Hammer reach the Citadel beam's immediate vicinity, Harbinger has already deployed to protect it.

Hammer attacks, but Harbinger annihilates them; countless soldiers are killed and Shepard's squad is severely injured (possibly killed, depending on how prepared the galaxy's forces are). With its stealth technology, the Normandy is able to move in and carry Shepard's squad to safety, if they're still alive, without Harbinger noticing. Almost immediately after the ship's departure however the Commander is hit by Harbinger and critically injured. Believing itself victorious, Harbinger retreats back to the space battle, not noticing Shepard managing to get back to their feet and stagger into the beam.

Upon arriving aboard the Citadel, Shepard is contacted by Anderson, who followed them up but was somehow separated. The two find themselves dumped in similar-looking tunnels; keepers prowl about and there are human corpses dumped everywhere. Staggering to what looks like a control room, Shepard and Anderson are ambushed by the Illusive Man, the skin of his face and neck rotted and riddled with Reaper tech. These "upgrades" allow him to take control of their motor functions, even forcing Shepard to shoot Anderson.

The Illusive Man again asserts the necessity of controlling the Reapers and that the Crucible will grant him that power, but it is clear to Shepard and Anderson that he is deeply indoctrinated. Shepard can try 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; otherwise the Commander is able to briefly shake off the Illusive Man's influence and shoot him. In this case, the Illusive Man turns to the view of Earth and with his dying breath laments that Shepard could not see humanity and Earth the way he sees them: perfect.

With the Illusive Man dealt with, Shepard opens the arms of the Citadel and Hackett orders Shield Fleet, along with the Crucible to move in. The Crucible successfully docks with the Citadel, but nothing happens. At this point, Shepard and Anderson, if he is still alive, sit together and look at the vast blue planet beyond. Anderson tells Shepard that he is proud of them and it has been an honor to fight at his protegé's side. After this final conversation, Anderson dies from his injuries and Shepard passes out from blood loss.

While unconscious, however, Shepard is transported to another part of the Citadel. when they regain consciousness, Shepard is confronted by an entity of energy, manifesting itself in the form of the small boy Shepard saw die at the Reapers' hands when they fled Earth. The entity explains that it is the Catalyst, the creator of the Reapers and architect of their galactic purges every 50,000 years. The Catalyst explains that the purpose of such genocide is to solve the problem it was created to stop; the total annihilation of organics by the synthetic races they inevitably create.

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 have completed the Crucible, a feat never before achieved, the Catalyst no longer believes the cycle will work, and thus a new solution must be devised. The Catalyst offers Shepard choices for this solution, leaving the Commander to decide the fate of the galaxy while explaining how events will play out whatever Shepard decides. The Crucible in conjunction with the Citadel, the Catalyst and the mass relays can 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 means that all synthetic life: geth, EDI, and the Catalyst itself included, will be destroyed as well. All other technology will be affected to varying degrees depending on the Crucible's condition, and the Catalyst warns while there will be peace, it won't last. The organic-synthetic conflict it has worked against all these eons will inevitably surface and result in chaos.

Control over the Reapers means that Shepard can use the Crucible's energy to control the Reapers. The process will destroy the Commander's body, but the thoughts, memories and consciousness will remain and replace the Catalyst as the Reapers' master AI. The end result is Reapers obeying Shepard's lead. When Shepard remarks that the Illusive Man was right after all, the Catalyst explains he could never have taken control since the Reapers already indoctrinated him.

Synthesis of organic and synthetic life is another solution the Catalyst may present, and touts it as an ideal solution. According to the Catalyst, organics seek perfection through technology. Synthetics seek perfection through understanding. Organics will be perfected by integrating fully with synthetic technology. Synthetics, in turn, will finally have full understanding of organics. By merging themselves with the Crucible's energy, Shepard will create a new organic-synthetic "DNA" for all denizens of the galaxy, bringing an end to the cycle and the need for the Reapers.

Rather than choose from the AI's options, Shepard can reject them and and insist that a decision with such massive ramifications for the galaxy and its inhabitants cannot be made. The Catalyst acknowledges this, and the Crucible is not activated. The Reapers defeat the forces that the galaxy's races amassed against them, and succeed in their harvest.

If Shepard chooses to destroy the Reapers, the Crucible fires a red beam of energy that destroys the Reapers on and around Earth and transmits this energy to every relay the mass relay network through the Charon Relay before damaging the relays and the Citadel as well. If Shepard chooses to control the Reapers, the Crucible releases a blue wave of energy that brings the Reapers under Shepard's control, damages the relays, and leaves the Citadel intact. If Shepard chooses to merge organic and synthetic life, the Crucible fires a green beam of energy that causes the Reapers to cease attacking, but also damages the Citadel as it transmits the beam to the mass relay network.

While Shepard chooses how to activate the Crucible, Admiral Hackett notices the Crucible activate and orders the fleet to disengage and rendezvous outside of the blast zone. Joker hesitates until the last possible second, desperate to save Shepard, before reluctantly following the fleet. However, he leaves too late. The Normandy jumps to FTL speeds but is caught by the energy released from the Crucible and crash-lands in a jungle on an unidentified world.

Epilogue
One of Liara's time capsules activates on an unknown world. A recording of Liara explains that the capsule contains a record of her generation's war against the Reapers and ultimate defeat. She urges whoever can find the capsule to use the information she gathered on the Reapers and the blueprints of the Crucible to try and succeed where the people of her time did not.
 * If Shepard refuses to activate the Crucible...

Many years into the future, a woman of an unknown race called the Stargazer tells the story of "The Shepard" to a young boy, and how their sacrifice and warning allowed for them to eventually defeat the Reapers, once and for all.

Admiral Hackett relates how the Reapers were defeated, saying that this victory belongs to every civilization. Even though the galaxy is devastated and the mass relays are severely damaged, Hackett is confident they can rebuild stronger than before. He regrets that so many people will not be able to witness the future that Shepard made possible, but resolves to honor their sacrifices. Eventually, the mass relays and even the Citadel are restored, and the galaxy enters a new era of peace.
 * If Shepard uses the Crucible to destroy the Reapers...
 * If the player's Effective Military Strength is too low, the Crucible will backfire, and annihilate most life in the galaxy. An alternate narration will be heard from Hackett; his outlook on the galaxy's future is much more negative.
 * If the player's Effective Military Strength is moderately high, the Crucible will still cause some collateral damage to the galaxy, including the mass relays. Hackett's speech is mostly the same as in the high EMS, though he adds that it may take years to restore the relays.
 * If the player's Effective Military Strength is high enough, Shepard is shown to have survived the Crucible's blast, taking a gasping breath in a pile of rubble.

Shepard, now a Catalyst-like being with absolute control over the Reapers, achieves a new state of existence and ponders immortality. Shepard commands the Reapers to rebuild and protect the galaxy, and, depending on Shepard's morality, either intends to act as a guardian who will protect and serve the galaxy's civilizations (Paragon), or act as the strong leader that Shepard believes the galaxy needs (Renegade).
 * If Shepard uses the Crucible to control the Reapers...

Shepard also vows to watch over their former crew and friends. The Reapers restore the mass relays, and under Shepard's direction, stand ready to defend against anyone that threatens the new peace.

The exact nature of Shepard's intentions for the galaxy depends not only on their morality, but also on the outcome of the genophage mission.
 * If a Paragon Shepard cured the genophage and Wrex leads the krogan, Shepard intends to give the many hope for a future and ensure that all have a voice in their future.
 * If a Renegade Shepard cured the genophage and Wrex leads the krogan, Shepard vows to "right the wrongs of the past" and as well as to provide a voice for the weak.
 * Wreav rally - destroy 1.png a Paragon Shepard cured the genophage and Wreav leads the krogan, Shepard vows to "provide a voice for those too weak to speak for themselves."
 * If a Renegade Shepard cured the genophage and Wreav leads the krogan, Shepard intends to ensure that "the strongest are not feared or reviled for their strength."
 * If a Paragon Shepard sabotaged the cure, they desire to give the galaxy a chance for peace and let the mistakes of the past be fixed on their own accord.
 * If a Renegade Shepard sabotaged the cure, they intend to act as a powerful leader who will put an end to the bickering of the many.

EDI speaks of how Shepard's sacrifice changed the relationship between organics and synthetics forever. Now that both forms of life understand each other, the Reapers have stopped attacking the galaxy and begin to help rebuild of their own accord, and have also begun to share the collective knowledge of countless previous civilizations.
 * If Shepard uses the Crucible to merge organic and synthetic life...

EDI speculates that with the differences between organics and synthetics disappearing, mortality itself could one day be transcended to a new level of existence that she cannot imagine. Finally EDI concludes by saying that no matter how far they advance, they will always remember Shepard and the others who died for this future. EDI's remarks on the new relationship between organics and synthetics differ based on the outcome of Priority: Rannoch.
 * If the geth destroyed the quarians, EDI states that synthetics are now free to choose their own paths.
 * If the quarians destroyed the geth, EDI states that organics no longer need to fear their synthetic creations.
 * If Shepard managed to achieve peace between the quarians and geth, EDI states that organics and synthetics can now coexist peacefully.

The war against the Reapers is now over. Various epilogue scenes will be shown, all of which are dependent on the choices made throughout the game/whole series...

Depending on the outcome on Earth, various scenes of aftermath can be shown:
 * Earth
 * If Shepard's Effective Military Strength was low, London will be seen in ruins.
 * If Shepard's Effective Military Strength was high, London will be seen damaged, but largely intact.
 * If Shepard chose to destroy the Reapers, a restored London will be seen with a new conduit connecting it to the Citadel which has also been restored.
 * If Shepard chose to control the Reapers, a restored London will be seen being guarded and protected by the Reapers.
 * If Shepard chose Synthesis, then humans, aliens, and Reapers will been seen working together to rebuild Earth.

Depending on the outcome on Tuchanka, various scenes of aftermath can be shown for the krogan:
 * Tuchanka

If the genophage was not cured: If the genophage was cured:
 * A lone female krogan sits on a desolate Tuchanka. If Wrex was the Urdnot leader, another scene will show dead krogan lying amongst the rubble.
 * If Synthesis was chosen, it will cure the genophage instead.
 * If the rachni queen was saved (the real queen, not the breeder), the rachni settle on Tuchanka.
 * Krogan children on synthesis ending.png Eve survived, she can be seen holding a krogan child.
 * If Eve did not survive, another female krogan will take her place.
 * If Urdnot Wrex leads the krogan, scenes of krogan reconstruction are shown.
 * If Urdnot Wreav leads, scenes are shown of him amassing a krogan army. If Eve survived, she is shown having gathered her own army and confronting Wreav.
 * If Wreav leads, but Synthesis was chosen, his plans for retribution are seemingly abandoned and instead the krogan begin rebuilding their civilization.
 * If the genophage was cured and Synthesis was chosen, the ancient krogan temples are restored to their former glory.

Depending on the outcome on Rannoch, various scenes of aftermath can be shown:
 * Rannoch

If peace between the quarians and geth was achieved: If the quarians destroyed the geth: If the geth destroyed the quarians:
 * Geth and quarian in synthesis ending.png the Control ending, the quarians are shown having established a new city on Rannoch. A separate scene shows the geth building their own city, apparently with the aid of the Reapers.
 * In the Destroy ending, only the quarians appear.
 * In the Synthesis ending, a special scene shows the geth working alongside the quarians, who are now able to live without their environmental suits.
 * In the Synthesis ending, the quarians are still living in their environmental suits.
 * In the Destroy ending, Rannoch appears deserted.


 * If the following characters survived until the end, they are featured in the epilogue sequence:
 * Miranda Lawson can be seen studying Reaper schematics with Oriana (Control), or planning construction with other technicians (Destroy and if Shepard is dead - or Synthesis). If Shepard's love interest, she will be seen looking at the stars (Destroy and if Shepard is alive).
 * Jacob Taylor can be seen working as an instructor (High EMS Control and Destroy), or comforting a female civilian with Brynn Cole (Synthesis or Low EMS Control and Destroy).
 * Future city - synthesis.pnga can be seen visiting Falere at the new Ardat-Yakshi monastery, or resuming her life as a Justicar if she failed to apprehend Morinth.
 * Zaeed Massani lounges on a chair by the coast (Destroy).
 * Kasumi Goto can be seen reuniting with Keiji Okuda (Synthesis, and if the Greybox was saved), or still holding the graybox in a room (Control and Destroy).
 * Jack is seen in a graveyard, laying flowers at tombstones (if her students were sent to the front lines), or working with Kahlee Sanders and her students (if her students were kept in a support role and Kahlee survived). If she was Shepard's love interest, she will be shown looking at the stars instead of Miranda (Destroy and if Shepard is still alive).
 * Grunt and Wrex are welcomed back home to Tuchanka. If Grunt is dead, then a helmeted krogan will take his place next to Wrex. Grunt will not appear if Wrex is dead.
 * Mordin Solus, Thane Krios, Legion, and any other squadmate that wasn't saved in the course of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 will be seen in individual shots, seemingly nodding their approval at Shepard's actions. If Eve did not survive, she too will be included in the montage. If fewer than six characters are dead, then the last image will be that of a charred N7 helmet.
 * If Mordin Solus is still alive (which is only possible if Wreav is the Urdnot leader, Eve is dead, and Shepard either Charmed or Intimidated Mordin to not fix the Shroud sabotage), Mordin will be shown near computer monitors studying a datapad in his hand while two krogan, one male and one female, are in glass tubes behind him.

If the Normandy survived the crash landing, the crew will be shown at the memorial wall, honoring the memory of all the people who gave their lives in the war. Shepard's love interest puts Shepard's name on the wall, right above Anderson's. If Shepard does not have a love interest, Shepard's love interest is dead or does currently not serve aboard the Normandy (such as Kelly Chambers or Miranda Lawson, for example), then the character Shepard interacted with the most will put the Commander's name on the wall (with the exception of EDI, James Vega, and Javik). If that character is dead, then Liara T'Soni will be the one putting Shepard's name on the wall. If Liara is dead, then Samantha Traynor will take her place.
 * Exclusive to the Destroy ending, Shepard's love interest (or Liara, if Shepard does not have a love interest, the love interest is dead or is not a character who is currently aboard the Normandy) hesitates to put Shepard's name on the wall, and instead smiles hopefully. Shepard is later seen taking a single breath in a pile of rubble.
 * In the Synthesis ending, EDI and Shepard's love interest embrace after Shepard's name has been added to the wall.
 * Depending on how badly damaged the Normandy was, the final scene shows the Normandy either undergoing repairs or taking off from the unknown planet.

Many years into the future, an old man known as the Stargazer tells the story of "The Shepard" to a young boy.

Trivia

 * Commander Shepard is named after Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr., the second person and the first American in space (May 5, 1961). He later commanded the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 and became the fifth person to walk on the Moon.
 * Shepard's birthday (April 11) is the same day that Apollo 13 (an American attempted manned moon landing mission that almost ended in disaster) was launched (April 11, 1970).
 * In the advertising for Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2, only a male Commander Shepard was depicted. For Mass Effect 3, BioWare created a trailer featuring a female Commander Shepard for the first time. In addition, the box-art for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of Mass Effect 3 was reversible, featuring a male Shepard on one side and a female Shepard on the other.
 * The default male face for Shepard is based on that of Dutch model Mark Vanderloo.
 * Shepard seems to speak with a hint of Canadian dialect. This may be because Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale, the voices of the male and female Shepard, respectively, are Canadian.
 * Both of the actors who voice Shepard have extensive voice work in BioWare's library of games.
 * In addition to providing the voice for Male Shepard, Mark Meer also provides the voices for all of the vorcha characters, Blasto, Delan, Niftu Cal, Opold, Prazza, the Preaching Hanar, and Zymandis in the Mass Effect series. Previously, Meer provided the voices of Zhong and The Watcher in Jade Empire. Meer also voices several characters in the Dragon Age series: Athras, Jethann, the Lothering Marchant, The First, and Tug.
 * The female Shepard is played by prolific voice actress Jennifer Hale, who also voices May O'Connell in Mass Effect. Previously, Hale voiced Bastila Shan in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and would later provide the voice for Satele Shan and the Female Republic Trooper in Star Wars: The Old Republic and Krem in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
 * When Shepard is inducted as a Spectre, according to Admiral Hackett, Shepard is, technically, still part of the Alliance military (though Captain Anderson claims otherwise). Therefore, Shepard should still be referred to as a Commander, even though Shepard is outside of the Alliance military's chain of command and answers directly to the Council.
 * Military ranks can, in some situations, be deferred in favor of civilian ranks. Considering the nature and authority of Spectres, it is likely that this is considered to supersede any military rank.
 * The default names of both the male and female Shepard are the names for an unidentified male (John Doe) and female (Jane Doe) respectively.
 * It would appear that Shepard has a gift for being a leader. Miranda Lawson draws attention to this, claiming that Shepard has "that fire that makes someone willing to follow you into hell itself". This is similar to the protagonist (Revan) of BioWare's Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, who is also said to possess such a trait.
 * To keep the exact nature of Shepard's return quiet in Mass Effect 2, it is often stated that the Commander almost died, which is not really truthful. The male Shepard would later joke with Jack that he is "technically undead".
 * When stopped by a C-Sec officer on their first return to the Citadel in Mass Effect 2, one of the dialogue options has Shepard say that he/she was "only mostly dead." This may be a reference to Miracle Max's line from The Princess Bride.
 * Commander Shepard appears in another Electronic Arts game, MySims SkyHeroes, as a pilot.
 * Renegade facial scarring in Mass Effect 2 is reminiscent of the effects of dark side corruption in BioWare's Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, as morally questionable actions adversely affect the protagonist's appearance in both games.
 * One early idea for Mass Effect 3 had Shepard self-augmenting with Reaper technology, deepening the rift between the Commander and Ashley / Kaidan.
 * BioWare held a contest prior to the release of Mass Effect 3 to allow fans to choose a new default face for female Commander Shepard.
 * As of March, 2013, 82% of Mass Effect players play a male Commander Shepard (according to Bioware's statistics).