User blog comment:The Milkman/Share Your Shepard's Story/@comment-173.58.59.228-20130906030939

Carter Shepard was born and raised on ships, more or less, being a spacer, although most of his time was spent aboard the SSV Noble, he was raised well by his parents, and was taught to be known as a guardian to be looked up to, like an angel, not a monster. Carter kept these lessons to heart, and spent his time on the ship doing good deeds with his friends Richard Jenkins and Jedore. Jedore eventually moved away, while he and Jenkins both would work together in the Alliance Military. One day, on Elysium, Carter was caught in the first wave of the Skylian blitz with little more than an M-8 Avenger. Carter sprung into action, killing every single slaver who dared lay their hands on the colonists, singlehandedly fighting off the attack the slavers mounted. For this pivotal role, Carter would become known as the Angel of Elysium. This, and other actions resulted in him being picked to go aboard the SSV Normandy for it's maiden voyage. It turned out to be a secret mission, and during this time, he would go groundside to assist a Spectre, Nihulus. Nihlus was murdered by Saren, another Spectre, and his body would later be found by Carter. Carter also met Ashley Williams, working alongside her after Jenkins was killed by a drone. He would return to the council, and after being laughed off after telling them of Saren's betrayal, he would go on to locate Garrus Vakarian, in the middle of a hostage situation with a trio of thugs and Dr. Chloe Michel. Carter promptly dispatched the three thugs and moved on, recruiting Garrus and checking on Dr. Michel afterward. He would later go on to assist Dr. Michel again, dealing with a Krogan Blackmailer in the "diplomatic" way. He would also recruit Urdnot Wrex, at the latter's "suggestion". Shepard and Wrex became good friends after this, and Shepard would help him recover his family armor. He also recruited Liara T'soni later on.

Despite all these friends, Carter felt a little lonely, he had a large and unrequited crush on Jedore in his earlier days, and her moving had been a blow to him. This all changed when he came to the rescue of Tali'Zorah nar Rayya. The instant he laid eyes on the Quarian his heart was thrown to the winds, and he struggled to just say a coherent sentence in her presence. Surprisingly, no one noticed this. Suffice to say, the Angel of Elysium had laid eyes on another Angel.

During the battles of Feros and Noveria, Carter made choices that were considered merciful, helping the colonists and saving the Rachni queen, deciding Mercy was the best choice for a species long suffered. Eventually, he tracked the traitor Saren to Virmire, and assisted Captain Kirrahe and his men in the ensuing battle, saving their lives in a situation they otherwise would have died in. Wrex was admantly opposed to the idea of destroying the base, and a tense standoff ocurred. Wrex and Shepard held guns on eachother, before Carter made the descison to stand down, and use reason and mercy in situations where it had worked before. Wrex understood, and he and Shepherd came to a peaceful resolution. During the final stage of the battle, it came to Carter's note that the bomb was armed, and there was only time to save one member of his team, Kaiden Alenko or Ashley Williams. Caught between this crossroads, he remembered what had happened to Jenkins, the fate of Nihlus, and of the two of them. With tears in his eyes, he came to the rescue of Kaidan, silently trying to avoid breaking down in front of his team. As they fled the planet, a heavily wounded Ashley looked up at the Normandy, and just before dying, smiled, knowing Shepard had completed their mission. Her last thoughts were of Shepherd, wondering if he had ever thought of her as more than a friend.

Returning home to the Citadel, the team learned the hard way that the Council didn't like their methods, and they were promptly put on forced lockdown. Carter resisted the urge to bring out his Lancer and shoot Udina after the latter refused to budge on his stance, and was all to happy to suggest that Anderson help the Normandy by walking into Udina's office and punching the SOB out. Carter promptly led the remains of his team to find the Conduit, and emerged in the middle of a battle with his team. Taking Urdnot Wrex and Tali with him, the two of them fought through the Citadel, ultimately finding Saren. Able to convince Saren that he was indoctrinated, the turian killed himself admidst the battle. Learning that the Council was in danger, Carter also decided to save them, reasoning that while they wouldn't have done the same for him had it been him in their predictament, it was still the right thing to do. When the Reaper Sovereign revived Saren, Carter brought out the one weapon that had seen him through the crisis, his M7 Lancer, and declaring that the fight was for Ashley, defeated Saren once and for all. The battle was a victory, and the Angel of Elysium became the Guardian of the Citadel. Despite this, Carter couldn't help but mourn Ashley Williams, and wondered if the right choice had been made saving Kaidan. He would later nominate David Anderson as councilor, partially out of gratitude, and partially because he knew it was the right choice. Shepherd would later be found near a window, empty handed and overlooking a world in a brightly lit presidium.

(Mass Effect 2) A month after the crisis with Saren, Shepherd and his team would be caught in an ambush set by an unknown assilant, and Carter was forced to go back for Joker, being killed in the effort. Just before dying of asphyxiation, Carter's last thoughts were of Tali.

Two years later, he would awaken in a medical facility run by an unknown organization, and resisted the urge to break free and kill everyone in the area. Shepherd eventually was woken up by Miranda Lawson, and guided by this angelic voice, fought through a chaotic base, reminding him of Elysium along the way. He met up with Jacob Taylor, and after disposing of nearby Mechs, got every single possible bit of data about his whereabouts and life out of Jacob. He and Miranda Lawson would later escape with Shepherd from the station, and they would meet Joker, or rather, reunite with Joker. Shepherd resisted the urge to give Joker a hug, but still was glad to see him regardless. They would meet Tali on Freedom's Progress, where Carter was given an M-8 Avenger. Said Avenger was love at first sight, and Carter would name the Avenger "Claire", in honor of a fellow marine who died saving him. Meeting Tali was a joyful reunion, with Carter wishing he could just hug her. But he had more important things to attend to, and he certainly did. He would go on to recruit Mordin Solus, whom he became good friends with, and he would come to the rescue of Garrus Vakarian as well, bringing along a very feisty convict, Jack. Together, the three located the Warlord Okeer, and Shepherd learned much to his chagrin that Jedore was present, and that she wanted to kill him. Jedore recognized him, although neither remarked on it. While Okeer saved his prized Krogan, Carter and Jedore fought each other in single combat, with Carter's M-8 Avenger and Jedore's ML-77 putting them on equal footing. Carter ultimately prevailed, and reluctantly ended the life of a woman he once loved.

Bringing the "Perfect Krogan" back to the Normandy SR-2, "Grunt", as he was called, attacked Shepherd, would calmly reasoned with him before revealing he had a gun pointed at him the entire time. Grunt and Shepherd would talk down in the cargo hold, quickly becoming close. Carter was immensely popular among the crew, being known for being friendly among his team and treating them equally. He would recruit Tali once more when the time was possible, where he fought a Geth Armature, albeit after forcing Kal'Reegar to stand down and ensure no one got behind him, Grunt and Garrus. After saving Tali, he would recruit Kasumi Goto and Zaeed Massani, performing their personal quests once they were aboard. Kasumi and Carter dealt with Donovan Hock easily, and Carter secretly made arrangements to have the Statue Of Liberty's head wrapped up and sent to the U.S. as a gift. Zaeed's quest was much harder, as Shepard was given a choice between the workers or Vido. Shepard chose Vido, with great reluctance, and earned Zaeed's trust. With Zaeed, he would learn that his rifle, Jessie, was defunct, and taking pity on him, gave him a new M-8 to utilize in battle. Inevitably, it became known as "Jess".

He would go on to recruit Samara, the Asari Justicar, and Thane Krios, and during this time, dealt with the personal issues of all his previous squadmates. He convinced Garrus to stand down, gave the Quarian Fleet the stare of doom and convinced them to make Tali an admiral, all the while gaining her trust, reunited with Urdnot Wrex and personally killed the Thresher Maw with the help of Claire, and then saved Maelon's data, believing it had a purpose, and let Maelon live, following his doctrine of Mercy. Samara came a bit harder, and he was able to win her trust by defeating Morinth, resisting her enchantments with ease, and he helped Thane find his son, and reconcile. He saved Miranda's sister, and urged her to spend time with her.

While Shepard and his team were successful, The Illusive Man had plans for Horizon. Shepard was told to head there immediately, and he did, dealing out massive damage to the Collectors alongside Tali and Garrus, and there they were reunited with Kaidan. Kaidan didn't trust Carter, and refused to help him in his fight against the collectors, much to Carter's dismay. Carter would also recruit the Geth Sniper known as Legion, and managed to gain it's loyalty as well.

While away on a mission, the Normandy was ambushed and almost everyone was abducted, bar Joker and EDI. Having anticipated a final confrontation with the Collectors, Carter was prepared for them, having made every possible upgrade to the ship and secured loyalty from all his squadmates, and immediately went after the Normandy Crew upon getting back, thinking it would be what they would do if it was him in their position. En route, Tali and Shepard finally gave into their feelings, and Carter Shepard and Tali'Zorah vas Normandy became more than just friends, and were finally lovers. During the approach, a laser beam hit the ship, and the armor held up. The collector cruiser confronted the team, and the Thanix Cannons, known as "Frodo and Sam", promptly destroyed it. The debris hit the ship, and the shielding shrugged it off as if it was a gnat breathing on it. The team confronted an Oculus in the cargo bay, and defeated it with ease. Upon heading groundside, Shepard entrusted Kasumi to dealing with the base security vents, while Miranda was redeployed to lead the fireteam. Taking Tali and Garrus, he would carve a swath through Collector forces, searching desperately for his abducted crew. Miranda and Kasumi came through, and all of the team made it, finding the crew, he was too late to save Lilith, a colonist, but his crew was saved, every last one of them. Dr. Chakawas was grateful to him for showing up in time, and Shepard sent Mordin back to escort the survivors. Mordin held the line, and got through with no casulties.

Taking an alternate route with Garrus and Tali once more escorting him, with Samara as the biotic specialist and Jacob in the diversion team, they once more pulled off the impossible, dealing with all hostiles in the area with no casualties. Carter learned that they needed a rearguard, and promptly left everyone except for Garrus and Tali to defend the area. The ensuing slaughter was horrific, and Grunt radioed in with no casualties, and that Shepherd was missing a great fight. Carter rolled his eyes as he confronted the Human-Reaper, the creation of the Collectors. The Reaper awoke, and in the space of 7 seconds, was defeated with the combination of the M-920 Cain and M-98 Widow. Afterwards, Shepherd would escape the base, after setting off a timed radiation pulse, believing the base's information was too valuable to destroy. Carter had defeated the Collectors. Later, he would return in triumph with his team and also destroy the Alpha Relay.

Six Months Later, Shepard was put on trial for destroying a relay with 300000 Batarians on it, and personally, the amount of attention he paid was the same amount of attention he paid to the gnats who informed him of it (which in other words meant he literally dozed off.). He would be forced to escape Earth in the ensuing invasion, and set off to rally the Galaxy.

During this time away from Earth, Carter dealt out as much damage to the Reapers as he could, all the while obtaining the support of the Galaxy and building upon his relationship with Tali. He first went to Palaven's moon, finding Garrus there, and at the same time worked on building a friendship with James Vega. After this battle, he would learn that EDI had acquired a body from their previous encounter with Cerberus, and Liara had also joined in the fight as well. A trip to Eden Prime, the source of a nightmare in days long gone, brought about the revival of a long dormant Prothean, Javik. Carter was happy at having a new guy, an experienced guy, to fight the reapers. As the war progressed, Shepard would rescue a Krogan Female from the Sur'Kesh, and reunited with Mordin Solus, taking great comfort in his singing talent. He would also talk to Javik, and convinced him to let the past rest. He, James and Javik would head to the Attican Traverse, reuniting with Grunt, and found the imprisoned Rachni Queen, where Carter saved her, and as a result, the Rachni joined in the war. Grunt was heavily wounded during this encounter, but survived and was put in a hospital. Legion was later found in a dreadnought, and during said time, Tali and Javik would become acquainted. Admiral Koris was saved and the Geth Concensus was entered as well. Things between the Geth and the Quarians came to a head at the final battle of Rannoch, where Shepard, with the help of Legion, Tali, Raan and Koris, convinced a peace between the two species. Ultimately, Legion was forced to sacrifice itself for the greater good, but peace was achieved. Legion's name would later be added to the Memorial Wall, joining Ashley Williams, Richard Jenkins, Navigator Charles Pressley and twenty others. Shepard would also reunite with Jacob Taylor, Miranda Lawson, Kasumi Goto and Zaeed Massani along the way, gaining their support in the war as well, albeit convincing Kasumi via bribery and using Zaeed to convince Din Korlack to give Shepard both the bombing fleet and the colony. Jondum Bau and his team would also join in after Kasumi saved the Hanar homeworld, much to Carter's amusement, kill a Hanar to save the Hanar homeworld. Or perhaps irony. He couldn't tell. Carter would also go through with saving the Krogan Race, becoming a true hero in the eyes of Urdnot Wrex and Urdnot Bakara. The Salarians officially didn't join the war, but Major Kirrahe did assist with STG teams. Jack and her team joined the war in a support role as well, followed shortly by the remnants of the Batarian race. Shepard and his team also recruited the Levithans and Omega's followers into the war, and had a particularly rowdy and joyful party on the citadel, in which almost everyone bar L'iara, Samara, Garrus, Zaeed, Jack, Kasumi, Miranda and Jacob got hangovers. So many bottles of stuff that should better be left unknown were consumed, and Carter and Tali woke up in each other's arms, with Tali wondering where she got a tattoo, and when she got it. Unfortunately, not everyone could be there, Mordin Solus perished curing the genophage, Thane Krios died saving Councilor Valern, and Legion died saving the Geth and Quarians. A memorial service was held for Thane, Mordin had STG agents leave a collection of works for Carter to find, and Legion was fondly remembered by the others. Kaidan also attended, having taken Shepards side and watched as Shepard ended Donnel Udina aboard the Citadel. He would also kill Kai Leng in combat, personally ensuring his death.

Eventually, the time came for the battle of Earth to begin. Knowing that it was it, Carter resorted to the favored pair, taking Tali and Garrus with him. Watching as Cortez crash landed, albeit surviving and walking away from it, he defeated another reaper with some difficulty. After reaching the FOB, he was reunited with Anderson, and finally, knew it was time. Choosing his preferred setup, an M-8 Avenger, Black Widow Sniper Rifle, M-300 Claymore and M-3 Predator, he took Tali and Garrus with him once more and fought through no-mans-land. Eventually, Harbinger himself joined the fight, and Shepard and the team were critically wounded. Reaching the Normandy, Carter and Tali professed their love for one another, and Carter managed to reach the Citadel, where he was beamed aboard and promptly captured by the Illusive Man. Shepard would then convince him to kill himself, and would sit down shortly afterward and share a few last words with Anderson before the latter passed. Shepard would later reach the Crucible, and then would be confronted by the Catalyst. Shepard saw visions of the Crucible, Anderson representing Destroy and the Illusive Man representing Control. Shepard chose Synthesis, walking forward and jumping into the beam, seeing Admiral David Anderson and Thane Krios in visions as he jumped, and as Carter Shepard was absorbed by the beam, the Angel of Elysium's last thoughts were of Tali.

The Normandy crashlanded with little damage, and Joker and EDI would exit the ship, embracing, while Tali also exited the ship. Later on, as EDI narrated the end of the war, revealing that Jacob and Brynn were together, Kasumi and Keiji reunited, Miranda working alongside Alliance brass, Wrex returning home to a triumphant welcome, Engineer's Donnelly and Daniels helping rebuild London and the Krogan becoming a peaceful, yet powerful race.

As the Normandy Team watched on, Tali approached the Memorial Wall, where plates with Legion, Thane Krios, Ashley Williams, David Anderson, Richard Hadley, Mordin Solus, Charles Pressley, Richard Jenkins were all present, Carter Shepard's name was added to the wall, and Tali and EDI shared a hug afterward. The Normandy returned to space, and Tali returned home to build a house on Rannoch, where a picture of her beloved Carter is present, forever known to all as the Angel of Elysium.