Hello there,
If you enjoy my stories you can read advanced chapters in my patreon page: patreon.com/Samael61
Her Eternal Excellency, a Genshin Impact and ASOIAF crossover, Raiden Ei Reborn as Argella Durrandon, is 15 chapters ahead
DCU:Blacklist, a Raymond Reddington inspired OC SI using his knowledge for his own advantage, as well as the rest of the world, is 15 chapters ahead,
Geek's Guide to Thriving in a Low End Fantasy World, a Robert Baratheon OC SI in an AU, is 15 chapters ahead,
Commander Shepard, The Greatest to Ever Live, a Mass Effect story where Shepard is greater than ever, is 15 chapters ahead,
Loki: The God of Magic , an OC-SI into Loki who is not aware of the MCU, is 8 chapters ahead,
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—
Normandy
"Too close, Commander. Ten more seconds and we would've been swimming in molten sulfur. The Normandy isn't equipped to land in exploding volcanoes. They tend to fry our sensors and melt our hull. Just for future reference." Joker's voice came from the intercom as the team was gathered in the meeting room, ready to discuss the recent events with Liara T'soni.
"Joker, if you can't even save me from an exploding volcano, why are you here?" Shepard rebutted back, actually enjoying his usual banter with the pilot.
"Ouch." The pilot fell silent after that, having been burned by Shepard.
"We almost died out there, and your pilot is making jokes?" Liara found it ridiculous that the human wasn't taking the situation seriously enough.
"It's nothing to worry about." Shepard didn't feel like explaining human customs to Liara.
"Yes, let's worry about your dislike for the Commander." Ashley had heard from Kaidan about Liara's reaction to seeing Shepard d was in full defensive mode.
"I found him on my bed with my mother. Excuse me if I don't like him." Liara snapped back, the memories of that moment making her crankier.
"Easy ladies. Any other time it would be fun to watch you two go at it, but we are kind of busy now, so no kinky stuff." Shepard's little joke offended both females, who had horrified looks on their faces.
"Very well, by the way, thank you for saving me, Commander. Those Geth would have killed me or dragged me off to Saren." Liara shook her head, unwilling to give Shepard the satisfaction of annoying her.
"What did Saren want with you? Do you know anything about the Conduit?" Kaidan intervened, seeing that the discussion was getting derailed.
"Only that it was somehow connected to the Prothean extinction. That is my real area of expertise. I have spent the past fifty years trying to figure out what happened to them." Liara had come across mentions of the Conduit, but nothing on what exactly it was.
"So, no idea what the conduit is? Alright, now, you can stay onboard Normandy if you wish, or we can drop you off somewhere safe of your own choice." Shepard would understand if the young Asari—at least by the standards of her species—didn't want to stay.
"I hate to admit it, but I don't think I'll find a safer place than among you and your crew. While I might be an archeologist, I was also trained by Asari Commandos, and I can accompany you on your mission." She shook her head. There was only one person in the galaxy no one in their right mind would attack, and that was Shepard.
"Not going to say no to another Biotic, though; you are going to have to listen to my orders."
"Do not worry, Commander, I can control myself."
"Wonderful."
"Commander, any news from the beacon?" Right now the beacon was the only thing that could offer them any information on the Conduit, and Kaidan was keeping an eye on it.
"Nope. Eggheads couldn't figure out how to reactivate it."
"Beacon? Are you talking about a Prothean beacon? Where?" Liara's eyes brightened at the possible mention of a Prothean beacon.
"On the Citadel, under research. Commander Shepard interfaced with it on Eden Prime and got some weird visions." Jenkins blurted everything out, and while it wasn't a problem here, Shepard would have to talk to the young corporal about intelligence security.
"Yes, and if they are true, the Protheans were eradicated by a species they called the Reapers."
"The beacons were made to interface only with Protean physiology. Any lesser mind would have been utterly destroyed by the process, though knowing you, I don't find it surprising you even managed to make sense of those visions." Liara twitched while praising Shepard before launching into a lecture about her findings, or lack thereof, on the Protheans and the ones before them, speaking of a cycle of empires rising and suddenly vanishing.
She had more questions about these Reapers, but with the mentioned state of the beacon, it was unlikely the Commander had more information to share.
"Alright, thank you for the lesson, and welcome to the team."
"Thank you, Commander. I am very gratef– whoa. I am afraid I am feeling a bit light-headed." Liara swayed on her feet, events of the last couple of days catching up to her.
"Alright, Jenkins, take Miss T'soni to Doctor Chakwas for a checkup"
"Aye, aye, Commander." Corporal Jenkins got up, gently escorting the Asari to the med-bay.
"Dismissed."
"Mission reports are filed, Commander. Do you want me to patch you to the Council?" Joker decided to join in to see if Shepard wanted to report to the Council.
"So they could waste my time? No."
"Aye, aye."
—
Shepard was busy making modifications to Mako.
Why?
Because after Therum they responded to a distress call on a planet called Edolus, only to find out some nutcase had left a distress beacon next to a Thresher Maw.
Shepard had to get out of Mako to put it down with the laser rifle.
If he had to leave the vehicle every time he crossed paths with a Thresher Maw, then things were going to take too long for his tastes.
So here he was, switching its mass accelerator cannon with an upscaled version of his laser rifle's beam mode, which should easily be able to make filet mignon out of any Thresher Maw and everything else in its path.
"Garrus, hand me the microfusion cells." Shepard held out his hand and the Turian passed the blocky cell. They were larger than what powered the rifle and the pistols since the power draw would be greater, but it would be well worth it.
"I have to admit, Shepard, your weapons are something else. How did you even make these?" Garrus was in love with the laser rifle and would marry it in a heartbeat if the VI in it ever became sapient.
"Basic science—just think outside the Mass Effect technology, and the results are evident."
"I wish more people would do that if the result is this beauty."
Between responding to distress calls and random signals, Shepard learned more about his crew.
Turns out he and Ashley were trained by the same Gunnery Sergeant; Alenko talked about BAat; he warned Jenkins about not telling everyone everything without his CO's permission; he had a philosophical conversation with Wrex concerning his species' fatalistic outlook towards life and the Genophage; Tali was all too eager to talk about her father and the Migrant Fleet; and and and Garrus, who was quickly becoming his favorite Turian, spoke of his C-Sec days, especially about a Salarian doctor named Saelon.
Now, he was heading back to the Citadel to pick up more materials, since Mako was a last-minute decision.
—
The Citadel
Shepard gave the crew some downtime at the Citadel, though it was on hold while Rear Admiral Mikhailovich inspected the ship.
He wasn't happy.
"Admiral, if you think you can do better than me, by all means, I'll convince the Council to make you a Spectre so you can take Normandy and chase Saren across the galaxy. If you don't, then stop giving me grief about how I run my ship. We are all friends now, and since humanity is getting a Council seat soon, it will be for the best if you play nice before the politicians decide to get rid of you."
Shepard left while his tirade had nailed Admiral Mikhailovich on the spot with an open mouth.
He also helped solve some little issues that popped up like ordering the Alliance authorities to return Mrs. Bhatia's body after giving his own research on Geth weapons, and he convinced the Volus and Elcor ambassadors that if their species wanted Council seats, they had to have fleets capable of defending the galaxy should the need arise.
His next step was Noveria, but he was waylaid when Admiral Hackett called, informing him that an asteroid prepped for mining had been hijacked and was currently heading to Terra Nova, and Normandy was the closest vessel, and Shepard had been ordered to handle it.
Normandy's VI and a distress call they picked up from the asteroid informed Shepard of the obvious solution of shutting down the fusion torches.
The first torch had several heavy turrets around it, and it gave Shepard the perfect opportunity to test the new weapon of the Mako.
A crimson red beam cut through the darkness of space, piercing through the armored and shielded turret with almost no resistance. The platform exploded, sending shrapnel through the vacuum.
Inside the fusion torch installation, Shepard, Wrex, and Tali came across Batarians—because no one else was stupid enough to attack a human colony except Saren—and their Varren, which charged upon command.
And that was only because Shepard was wearing a helmet, which he removed.
"Sit." He growled at the varren, and the space dogs obeyed.
So did the Batavians, after throwing down their weapons and raising their hands in surrender.
Shepard opened his mouth, about to say he didn't mean them, but shut it back, shrugging.
If it worked, it worked.
"I don't know what gave you lily-livered bastards the courage to stage an attack like this, but I am going to find out."
—
The Batarians were secured, with crew from Normandy arriving to keep them down, while Shepard talked with Simon, the chief engineer, about the Batarians and the security covering the rest of the fusion torches.
The second fusion torch guarded by more turrets and proximity mines. Clearing out the turrets and the Batarians shooting at them was easy, as Mako's new and improved weapon evaporated the four-eyed bastard on the spot.
Before entering the installation, Shepard pulled out two more weapons out of the back of the Mako.
For Wrex, he had a six-barrel rotary laser machine gun with an alt mode spreading the barrels apart and firing plasma contained within an eezo field, basically a plasma grenade.
To Tali, Shepard handed over a shotgun that fired long horizontal laser beams that got longer the more they travelled, though it reduced the power of the laser, capable of taking out several enemies at once, and it could be switched to fire a concentrated laser to take out heavily armored assailants.
"This is what I am talking about." Wrex grinned in the bloodthirsty way the Krogan do fore rushing inside to test his new toy out, and Shepard could soon hear the sound of laser fire accompanied by the Battlemaster's almost maniacal laugh.
Tali quickly followed, her expression unreadable due to the helmet she was wearing, but Shepard would bet she was happy after all the time the young Quarian spent asking him about the weapons.
Inside the fusion torch building, Wrex had already turned several Batarians into charred pincushions, and Tali joined the fray, firing her new shotgun and taking out three rocket drones in one shot
Shutting down the fusion torch, Shepard found a comms terminal and heard Kate Bowman's voice, whose shaking voice warned them about the Batarians setting up explosives in the main facility, before the four-eyed aliens broke into the room, asking about who was shutting down the torches.
"This is Commander Shepard, and if you know what's good for you, you'll be gone by the time I get there without harming anyone, or I am going to space each and every single one of you."
—
Shepard warned Normandy to intercept anyone taking off without his permission as he entered the final installation.
He didn't even get to unholster his weapon before Wrex moved down the Varren and the Batarians with superior firepower, leaving shutting down the torch as the only thing to do for him.
The trio turned to leave, only to come across some Batarians, who simply laid down their arms and surrendered.
"Who are you?"
"Charn. Balak ordered us to kill you, but everyone knows it is impossible, so we are surrendering to you."
—
With the second set of prisoners secured, Shepard drove the Mako to the central installation to find Balak, but Joker handled that first.
"Commander, we found shuttles trying to leave and have grounded them. What are your orders?"
"Send everyone else on the ship and take them into custody. I am sure Navy Intelligence will have some use for them."
"Aye aye."
—
Explosives neutralized, all hostiles either dead or in custody, and autographs signed, Shepard finally left the small asteroid and ordered a course for Noveria.