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A Time to...

Summary:

Mass Effect 3: Destroy ending and post-destroy epilogue. The closing events of the war against the Reapers and how the galaxy faces the consequences of the events leading up to it in its recovery.

Special thanks to Kunari and Andrew Ryan whose works were very inspiring to me. And there are also other authors and artists who have just helped me find the right moods, and random people who helped me out when I had little what if questions.

Chapter 1: Stand

Chapter Text

"You did good, son. You did good. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you, sir," Lieutenant Commander John Shepard knew Admiral David Anderson hated being called 'sir' but in this moment, it was fitting. He never replied. "Anderson?" He turned to see Anderson, still sat in the same position, head slouched, those had been his final words. Shepard had never known his real father and his mother had never explained it to him in any detail but Anderson had taken it upon himself to fill that role better than any stranger could ever hope to, and Shepard in turn, had given Anderson the relationship he never had with his own son, a regret he ended up taking to his grave. Shepard gave a soft sigh, he looked down at his blood-soaked hands, he'd been injured before but not like this, his near miss with Harbinger's beam and the shock from the Citadel's relay had taken their toll on him. He couldn't help but be mesmerised by the view of Earth as he felt his consciousness slipping.

"Commander," the voice of Admiral Steven Hackett roused Shepard back to reality.

"I…" Shepard tried to stand but instead rolled forward, unable to find the strength to pull himself up, "what do you need to me to do?" Shepard was an Alliance soldier, nothing had ever stood in the way of him doing his duty, and he would not let that change now.

"Nothing's happening, the Crucible's not firing," Hackett replied. Shepard managed to get to his feet but immediately fell down, "it's got to be something on your end," he dragged himself to the nearby console as Hackett continued talking. "Commander Shepard!" Hackett's voice was filled with concern.

"I don't see…" Shepard reached towards the console, desperately to will it closer to him, "I'm not sure how to…" his strength was draining rapidly.

"Commander?" Hackett was still there, but Shepard couldn't move, he felt the platform he was on rise and as his vision blurred he was sure he could see signs of life on the Wards. Then everything faded to black.


"We need to get the emergency shelters secured, the station's mass effect fields can't hold up for long with the arms fully extended like this!" Commander Armando-Owen Bailey rallied his resistance cell, they'd been fighting since the Reapers landed on the Citadel and pushed from the Presidium to Shalta Ward. "Noles!" Bailey yelled back to one of the stragglers, C-Sec officer Jordan Noles, she screamed as she was ambushed by two Keepers who dragged her into the tunnels.

"What are they doing?" Aria T'Loak thought aloud.

"The Keepers were created by the Reapers. They seem to be abducting humans much like the Collectors did," a Salarian answered.

"And just who are you?"

"My name is Chorban. I've been studying the Keepers for years ever since I got extensive scans of them from…"

"Must all Salarians always talk so much?"

"Doctor, how's Lang?" Bailey asked between shooting a swarm of creepers, Salarian based husks that could crawl flat on their fronts and effortlessly scale vertical walls.

"I've stopped the bleeding," Karin Chakwas reported, if there was any doubt left in her mind, the invasion of the Citadel had fully convinced her that Shepard made the right decision in persuading her to stay onboard, her expertise as a field medic proved invaluable.

"I'm good, Commander. I can fight," Captain Eddie Lang tried to lift himself up.

"No you can't," Chakwas pushed him back down with ease, "how are the rest of you holding up?" She turned her attention to the Salarian, Turian, Asari and Human ambassadors, the Presidium was the first area of the Citadel hit when the Reapers invaded, the Citadel Tower had been cleared, either the Councillors were dead or they would soon show up on the battlefield as Reaper creatures.

"We're okay," Ambassador Dominic Osoba of Earth replied on behalf of his colleagues, they were scared but unharmed.

Two sirens advanced, Reaper husks formed by combining Asari and Salarian DNA, they were swiftly taken down by a Turian weapon.

"Are you sure you're up for this, General?" Bailey asked.

"If tailor-made poison couldn't keep me down, neither will this," General Septimus Oraka barked.

"Someone get that door closed!"

"Does anyone know how?" Chakwas asked.

"I think I might be able to," a nervous young man spoke up.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Simon Michel."

"Are you Chloe Michel's brother?"

"Yes, she's a doctor too."

"I know, she's working with my friends right now. They'll save us, Simon." Chakwas gently urged Simon towards the door and he began working on the locking mechanism.

Another type of husk scuttled towards the door, an exploder, a creature based on the volus, its three mechanical legs allowed it to move faster than before it was converted and it held a detonator in its hand which was wired into its torso. Aria rose and shot the creature; her precision strikes hit its head splitting open the casing formed from the suit. Flesh spurted out of it; it was evident that the Volus' fragile physiology, while converted into a weapon by the Reapers, was still a vulnerability.

"How did you know how to do that?" Lang asked.

"It's just a matter of knowing the right spots," Aria grinned.

A tank created from an Elcor rose up and fired the large cannon on its back, the blast struck Oraka in the chest, killing him. Bailey took cover and looked up as another nightmare arose; it was an apostle, a creature created by fusing a Hanar and a Drell. Bailey knew the face of the Drell, it was Kolyat Krios. "Forget about me and close that damn door!" Bailey ordered.

The door to the emergency shelter shut but it wasn't sealed yet, Chakwas helped Simon regulate his breathing so he could remain calm. He struggled to get the door locked, "something's fighting it," he realised. Outside of the door was a hacker, a converted Quarian which was attempted to bypass Simon's attempt at locking the door. It was succeeding. "I can't fight it."

"Then I'll buy you time," a woman stood up.

"I know you," Chakwas realised.

"Kalisah Bint Sinan Al-Jilani. Commander Shepard was always polite to me; he showed far more integrity than I ever did. If I can help any friends of his then I'll feel like I've really done my part."

"You're pieces on Earth were…"

"The least I could do."

Meanwhile, Bailey stood and fired at the apostle, he continued to drive the creature back, it was unaware it was nearing a precipice as it lashed out with one of its modified Hanar tentacles, the claw pierced Bailey's body, he grinned as he threw himself forward over the edge, taking the apostle with him.

As Bailey fell, Kalisah dived onto the hacker; the door behind her was successfully sealed as she succumbed to the creature's sharp claws.


Shepard stood, he had heard enough. The Catalyst, the intelligence created by the Leviathan race and the embodiment of the collective knowledge of the Reapers had issued him with a choice. It was not something he needed to think about, the past years had been about a singular goal, destroying the Reapers. Shepard had been offered the ability to control them, to override the Catalyst with his own thoughts and morals, in essence to become what the Illusive Man had always hoped to be. This was unacceptable, he had brought down Cerberus, he had even heard of Protheans attempting to achieve the same goal, all of them indoctrinated, he could never believe the Illusive Man was right. He was also presented with synthesis, the ability to fuse organic and synthetic life, changing everyone everywhere was playing god, to Shepard this act was an abomination, it was reminiscent of Saren's ravings. But more than that, both of these resulted in Shepard's death, he hadn't come this far to lose everything he had, he was willing to lay down his life for the cause, but for his cause. He wasn't fooled, beneath its exterior this was the Reapers he was talking with, their agenda, their survival. Not an option.

Shepard took up his gun and fired and the power conduit, the force of the energy release was explosive. He thought back to Anderson, who would've done the same in his position and he truly felt like a son fulfilling his father's wish. He thought about EDI and the Catalyst's ambiguous threats about all synthetic life being wiped out if he destroyed the Reapers, he didn't fully believe it but even if it was true he knew she would've done the same thing. And finally he thought of Kaidan Alenko, the man he loved, their relationship had had its up and downs but it was worth fighting for and Shepard knew if there was even a remote chance he could survive, it would be for Kaidan, he had heard him say 'I love you too' and that was more than enough reason to live.