II: Prophecy

II: Prophecy
Author(s):	RedCenturionG
Series:	For A Better Tomorrow
Dates:	28 May - 18 December 2013
Rating:	Rated MA15+ for Mature Audiences. Includes extreme sexual content, medium violence and high course language.
Genre(s):	Action/Science Fiction/Romance/Adventure.
Chapters:	57
Words:	453,023

"Many thought the destruction of Sovereign and the defeat of the genocidal geth would spark a new era of peace, prosperity and unity. They were wrong. A month has followed since the events of Enigma and the war is far from over; it's only just begun. A new enemy has arisen from its hiding place and is ready to declare total war on one enemy alone: humanity. Let the harvest begin."

— Book description on FanFiction.net.

II: Prophecy, alternatively known as For A Better Tomorrow 2: Prophecy, is the second installment in RedCenturionG's fanfiction franchise called For A Better Tomorrow. An alternative 'fan-revised' fiction piece based on the Mass Effect franchise, II: Prophecy is based during the events covering Mass Effect 2 and after the first game, with some sections based seventy years after the events of Mass Effect 3. It was originally published on 28 May 2013, and reached completion on 18 December of the same year. The first ten chapters of the story focus on Shepard's crew in the two years since his death in the prologue, and the rest of the story focuses on Shepard's return and his mission to build a team to stop the Collectors.

Plot

Prologue

The story starts approximately one month after the events of I: Enigma. Following the Battle of the Citadel, the Normandy has since been assigned to mopping up remnants of geth resistance across the galaxy. A few days after a brutal conflict with a turian mercenary and her batarian militia on Anhur, the Normandy enters the Omega Nebula, continuing its search for pockets of geth resistance after the slight delay.

Tali is working in engineering onboard the Normandy with Adams when they receive a general's quarters alarm from the cockpit. Shortly after, the ship comes under attack from an unknown vessel. Adams and Tali manage to escape engineering as the ship is torn apart under the enemy assault, managing to reach the Crew Deck. Shepard pleads with Tali to get into an escape pod just as Johnson is killed by a falling support beam. Having convinced her to get into an escape pod, Shepard rushes off to the cockpit to rescue Joker. Upon arriving, he discovers Pressly is dead, but manages to get Joker into an escape pod just before the enemy ship fires again, the resulting explosion propelling Shepard away from the ship and into the void, watching as the Normandy is split asunder, the enemy ship finishing off the wounded frigate. Shortly after, Shepard's oxygen tank becomes disconnected, and he suffocates as his body is pulled into Alchera's atmosphere.

In their pods, the crew learns of Shepard's death from Joker, and Tali, overcome with grief, collapses.

Chapter 1: Catalogue

In the present, Tali'Shepard is woken up in her home after having fallen asleep at her dinner table. She eventually gives into her geth assistant's, NeoLegion, insistence for her to go to bed. As Legion carried her to bed, she thought back to seventy years ago, when Shepard was still alive. Upon reaching her bedroom, Legion puts her down, and Tali looks at her old suits in the wardrobe. As Tali finally goes to bed and Legion leaves, she has a dream of herself, Shepard and their children on a beach, wishing it could have been true.

The next day, Thane and Reby drive towards Tali's house. Arriving at the house, they have to convince Legion they are not a couple before Tali arrives, who announces Wrex has also decided to visit. Wrex and Tali talk about politics, talking about whether or not the Dominion should devote all their resources to a straight up invasion of the Covenant and straight up end the war. 

Carter discusses with Reia about Tali's decision to move Shepard to her house for the interrogation, while Reia prepares a squad of Promethean blitztroopers for transfer of Shepard. Reia then announces her intention to accompany Shepard there, where she will keep an eye on Tali. 

A day later, Reia and her heavy troopers arrive at Tali's house with Shepard. Reia tells Tali to watch herself and that if she does, she will kill them both. Tali reassures her she will try nothing, and begins the interrogation once again in earnest.

Chapter 2: Hero of the Citadel

Back in the past, Tali and the rest of the Normandy crew attend Shepard's funeral on the Citadel at the Heroes of the Citadel shrine. Tali is disgusted at the Council's almost complete and utter whitewashing of Shepard's death, and accompanies the crew to Flux afterwards for drinks. They discuss how best to break the news to Wrex, while Tali wallows in grief at Shepard's death. Kaidan announces his intention to return to the Alliance, while Garrus announces his intent to become a spectre, form a team and continue Shepard's fight. Liara hopes to search the galaxy for evidence of possible prothean weapons to combat the Reapers, while Tali will return to the Migrant Fleet and prepare them for war. Adams is reassigned to the McKinley, while Chakwas is sent to a medical facility on Mars. The crew eventually part ways, and Tali goes to Dark Star, alone. There, she comes across Shepard's mother, and they have a long conversation before Hannah offers her a ride to the Migrant Fleet. Tali accepts.

On the Migrant Fleet onboard the Rayya in the Wilbak Nebula, the entire Admiralty Board meets to discuss the end of the war. Rael, Gerrel, Xen, Raan and Koris. Rael, Gerrel and Xen see it as an opportunity to fuel their war effort against the geth, while Koris argues avidly against it, and Raan tries to guide the topic away from the geth entirely. While discussing resource distribution, the Orizaba arrives and requests to dock with the Neema, with Tali onboard. Surprised, they hesitantly accept the request. 

On the Orizaba, the dreadnought is approached by the Ulzabyk, and after some identification, they are allowed to dock with the Neema. Docking with the ship, Tali says goodbye to Hannah, promising to stay in touch. She then enters the airlock, boarding the ship.

Elsewhere on Cronos Station, Miranda addresses the Illusive Man regarding Shepard's death. Miranda says that without Shepard the galaxy won't stand a chance when the Reapers arrive, to which their chief scientist, Albert Wilson, agrees. By the end, the Illusive Man proposes the recovery of Shepard's corpse for resurrection. Miranda expresses skepticism at the idea, but he remains adamant about it. Miranda agrees to make it happen, as does Wilson.

Chapter 3: Welcome Home, Pilgrim

Tali boards the Neema, where admirals Raan and Gerrel are present, along with Admiral Rael'Zorah, her father. Kal, a long-time friend and marine, is also present, as well as a younger quarian named Peta, who has long since had a romantic interest in her to the point of being obsessive. Also among the group is a nervous quarian named Veetor and Kal's best friend and second-in-command Madi'Soi. Tali presents her gift to Gerrel, which is the geth data she acquired during the Armstrong campaign. She is welcomed onboard and becomes Tali'Zorah vas Neema. After a talk with friends, she manages to get into a clean room and changes into her new suit, before retiring to her new quaters for a well-earned rest.

Back on the Citadel, Garrus stormed into his apartment, having recently had his hopes of becoming a Spectre dashed by the Council. Suddenly, he spots a turian running from a group of Blood Pack mercs, and rushes to help. He kills the mercs, and the turian introduces himself as Lantar Sidonis. From Sidonis, who was pursued by the mercs on behalf of a loan shark on Omega who wanted Sidonis for debts he had yet to pay, he is shown a grim picture of life on Omega and realizes how crime-riddled the station is: the unofficial capital of the Terminus Systems, and haven for scum, violence and war, and Garrus, realizing his potential and fate lies elsewhere, takes Sidonis with him to book transport back to Omega. When asked why he would ever want to go back, Garrus simply replies "to get payback."

On Lazarus Station, Wilson provides an update to the Illusive Man, saying he has reached out to Joker and Doctor Chakwas offering them a job in Cerberus. The Illusive Man picks out the crew members he wants for Project Avenger, and states he wants a shackled AI incorporated into the new ship's design, naming it the Enhanced Defense Intelligence. Wilson indicates concern regarding building an AI, but the Illusive Man insists he stays focused on Lazarus and leave Avenger and Sentinel to their respective cells. Wilson, irritated at being kept in the dark, returns to his work.

On Tuchanka, Wrex listens to the rambles of Chieftain Gatatog Uvenk, a Traditionalist and one of his opponents in his attempt to unite Tuchanka. After Uvenk is finished, Wrex summarily dismisses him, refusing to give into his demands. Uvenk growls, stating that his clan, and all those loyal to the Traditionalist ideology, will continue to oppose Wrex's reformists, and storms out. Wrex is soon informed of Tali trying to contact him, and injures Wreav, his blood brother and adjutant, when he insults her. Reading the message, Wrex learns of Shepard's death, mourning for his battle brother.

Chapter 4: Lazarus

Three months later, Kaidan has been assigned to Horizon to help coordinate the deployment of ground-based GARDIAN AA guns as part of a colonial outreach program. Following the destruction of the Normandy, an unknown faction has been abducting entire human colonies without a trace, and the Alliance, although unwilling to jump to conclusions, believe Cerberus is behind the attacks. To combat the threat, Kaidan has become one of a few special deployments sent out to help facilitate better protection on the Alliance's outer colonies, hoping to prevent more abductions, with Kaidan being posted to Horizon for a three year tour, commanding a small company of marines, as well as the newly established Horizon Colonial Guard which his unit is helping to train. Mayor Elect Lilith Abraham, leader of Colony Grandeur, is one of the few to respect and work with Kaidan, while the rest of the colony hates and despises him and the Alliance. A riot breaks out and Lilith manages to contain it, but Kaidan realizes its going to be a long tour.

On Omega, Garrus, now known by his nickname "Archangel", leads his new squad in preparation for an ambush of a Blood Pack unit that was being lured into a run-down amusement park during his new war against crime. His men, including his second-in-command Sidonis, his EOD specialist Fal Erash, his tech expert Sensat Aben, a sharpshooter named Melenis Gaition, his machinist Makk'Veshli nar Terez, his CQB specialist Caity Monteague, his veteran muscle Grundan Krul, his secondary technician Lerkaw Mierin, his third-in-command Ripper, and his three reserves: Kay Vortash, Butler and Weaver, launch their attack, quickly slaughtering the Blood Pack mercs, and leaving Garrus to battle Omega's Blood Pack leader, Weyrloc Garm. They battle for a while, but Blood Pack reinforcements arrive, allowing Garm to escape. Garrus deems the failed ambush a minor hiccup in their operation, while Garm vows to get vengeance on Archangel's squad.

On Lazarus Station, Miranda and Jacob run a tour of the station. Miranda is the project head at Lazarus, while Jacob is head of security. Jacob wishes to see the equipment being used to rebuild Shepard, but Miranda does not allow him, deeming it for her eyes only. Jacob leaves and Miranda requests an update from Wilson, while revealing that Chakwas and Joker have agreed to join Cerberus, but Adams has refused. With the systems in place, they are ready to begin their project: now they just need Shepard's actual body.

On the Migrant Fleet, Tali has become a marine, commanding a small platoon led by Platoon Sergeant Prazza'Sal. Returning to the Flotilla after a failed exploratory mission on Gremar, Tali contacts Garrus constantly via omni-tool, and she asks how his mission on Omega is going. Garrus is reluctant to delve into the details, so Tali tells him to stay safe. Garrus' response is less than forthcoming.

Chapter 5: Light Years Away

Two months later, it has been eight months since Shepard's death. On Illium, Liara T'Soni leaves for a meeting with an anonymous contact who has reached out to her, claiming to have information important to her mission. Liara, having spent the last eight months fruitlessly searching through numerous prothean dig sites to find anyway to prepare for the Reapers, ultimately came up with nothing, and by the time the contact reached out to her, requesting a meeting on Illium, she was on the verge of giving up. Upon arriving at Illium, the batarian captain and his comrades try to extort Liara for more money, but she fights them off with her biotics, and pays them what she owes, and not a credit more. Heading into the Eternity Bar and meeting her contact, she is caught offguard when he suddenly grabs her and heads out a nearby window onto a rooftop to lose a pair of spies who had been tailing Liara. After losing the spies Liara, fed up with the whole situation, demands to know what's going on: the contact, a drell identifying himself as Feron Huul, reveals that he is an agent for the Shadow Broker and that the spies tailing her also work for him, but Feron has turned on the Shadow Broker to bring her this information. Frustrated, she demands to know the information, and Feron reveals that the Broker has recovered Shepard's body from Alchera and plans to sell it to the Collectors. Refusing to let that happen, Liara agrees to team up with Feron to stop that happening, but as they are walking through the streets of Nos Astra to the hotel she has booked, they are ambushed by the Shadow Broker's privately owned PMC. Overwhelmed and defeated, Liara and Feron are held captive while the Shadow Broker mercs question her, wanting to know how much she found out. Before the mercs can finish them off, they themselves are suddenly ambushed from both ends of the street by Cerberus commandos led by Randall Ezno. Liara and Feron flee in the commotion, but are stopped by the commandos: Liara, having faced Cerberus during the Eden Prime War and knowing what they are capable of, initially refuses to work with them, but she dares to hope when Miranda makes the audacious claim that if they can retrieve Shepard's body, there's a chance Cerberus can bring him back, revealing the Lazarus project. Not wanting to trust Cerberus, but desperate to have her friend back, Liara agrees to a meeting with the Illusive Man over the comms, and she ultimately is persuaded to help them get Shepard's body, kickstarting a shadow war with the Shadow Broker.

Back on Omega, Garrus, with his teammates Makk and Caity, move through the Gozu District, Caity having suffered an injury to her leg during some fighting nearby and, without any medi-gel on them, they can't immediately fix it, so they go to a nearby clinic run by Mordin Solus, who had just finished executing a group of Blue Suns mercs looking to extort him. He thanks them for their assistance, and recognizes Garrus from their meeting on Virmire. The two talk about recent events, and Mordin agrees to keep Garrus' true identity a secret, with Archangel and his men retreating back to their HQ.

Back on the Migrant Fleet onboard the Neema, Tali has been promoted to Second Lieutenant. While lying in her bunk, she gets ready to file a report on her latest mission when she files it away for later and gets a message from Liara, stating she may be onto something important and will have to go silent for a while. Tali tells her to be careful before deciding to file for some leave, wanting to visit Wrex on Tuchanka.

Following her agreement to work with Cerberus to retrieve Shepard's body, they head to Omega to seek an audience with Aria T'Loak, as Cerberus suspects the transaction will take place on Omega and only Aria T'Loak would know everything on going on her station. Going with Feron, Liara begins to suspect Feron is still an agent for the Shadow Broker, acting as a double agent, and remains incredibly suspicious of him, despite Feron's insistence he has defected. Liara and Feron arrive on Omega a few days later and meet with Aria, but Feron is hesitant to answer Aria's questions as to why the Broker is interested in Shepard's corpse. Liara answers that he wants to sell it to the Collectors, and Feron uses Cerberus funds allocated to them to pay for information on the location of the trade: Aria tells them that a Collector cruiser was spotted loitering nearby, and that it's possible the Collectors will meet with the Broker's agent to perform the trade in one of the old mine processing plants. Believing the Broker would be tipped off if the Cerberus commandos under Randall were to mobilize, Feron advises them to stay put, and to allow himself and Liara to handle it. Gukon Tazzik, the Broker's chief hitman, brings in the body on a dropship, and upon hearing of Shepard's body being present, Liara wants to move in, but Feron advises he use a turret to bring down the ship instead, preventing Tazzik's escape. Tazzik spots Feron however and is spooked, causing Feron's shot to miss and both the Collectors and Broker's men are alerted, scattering, with the Broker's men closing in on their assailant while the Collectors simply leave. Tazzik escapes, and Liara and Feron fend off the Broker's mercs, aided by the timely arrival of Randall's commandos, who hold off the mercs long enough for them all to escape. Furious that Tazzik escaped and believing Feron missed on purpose because he's a double agent, Liara hurls abuse at him only to discover Feron knew the ambush wouldn't succeed, aware of Tazzik's caution, and that he instead planted a tracking chip on Tazzik's ship before he left, intending for them to pursue Tazzik to the base where Shepard's body is actually being held. Still believing he was a double agent, Liara gives one last chance to prove her wrong, and leaves with him to pursue Tazzik, Randall and his commandos left behind on Omega.

Chapter 6: Warrior Line

Four days after the previous chapter, Feron and Liara's shuttle tracks Tazzik's ship to Alingon, where they discover one of the Broker's secret bases where Shepard's body is being held. Formulating a plan to get into the base, ruling out a full-scale assault as they left Randall and his commandos behind on Omega, Feron has Liara disguise herself as his prisoner so they can infiltrate the base unnoticed: it is here he reveals his true loyalty to Cerberus, and how he had been a triple agent the whole time, tricking the Broker into believing he was still loyal to him. Liara, furious at Feron's revelation, only begrudgingly agrees to Feron's proposal, who wants to win Liara's trust, as he has grown close to her. Upon landing at Waystation X-RAY, Feron's plan works and they manage to sneak past security and infiltrate the base's command center, where Feron begins immediately downloading information on the Broker's operations, and sifting through it for information on the transaction and why the Collectors wanted Shepard's body so badly: they discover the Collectors want it to perform experiments, with Liara suspecting Reaper involvement but unable to prove it. Suddenly, the Broker contacts the base wanting an update, and Liara finally confronts him for the first time, although he is using a voice changer and a fake image to hide his identity. As the two talk, the Broker notices Feron in the room and finally realizes who the mole in his organization truly is, and how Cerberus was able to counter his every move: knowing this, Feron accesses the mainframe and shuts down the base's communications array to stop the Broker from warning the base: before he is cut off, the Broker taunts Liara, claiming the transaction was already complete and she had lost. In a fit of anger, Liara unleashes her biotics and tears the command center apart, alerting the base's security. Donning their disguises again, the two leave the center before security arrives to investigate, but not before Feron slips her an OSD, saying it has enough information on it to help her start to bring the Broker down. On their way to Tazzik's shuttle, which has Shepard's body loaded onboard and ready to hand over to the Collectors, Feron and Liara are planning to steal it when they run into Tazzik himself, sealing the deal with a Possessed Collector in the hallway leading to the shuttle. Feron tries to slip past Tazzik with their disguise intact, but the Collector reads Feron's mind and discovers his betrayal, alerting Tazzik. Their cover blown, Feron holds back Tazzik while shouting for Liara to make a break for it. Liara uses her biotics to swat aside the Collector as she dashes for the shuttle, sealing the door behind her and taking off, Shepard's body stored in one of the compartments which she confirms on her way back to Illium. Liara thinks about Feron on her way back, believing he had truly been on her side the whole time, and left wandering if he was captured or dead. Regardless, she was determined to make his sacrifice mean something, and, though begrudgingly, decided handing over Shepard's body to Cerberus was the best course of action. Back on Illium, she personally oversees the body's transfer to Cerberus, meeting with Miranda Lawson and threatening her that if Cerberus is lying to her, she will make them pay. Miranda takes the threat in stride and leaves, with Liara once again left without purpose. Remembering the OSD Feron gave her, Liara decides to set up her own information brokering network, with the sole intent of destroying the Broker's information empire one brick at a time.

Just over a month has passed since the Raid on Alingon. On Tuchanka, Wrex is using his claymore shotgun to kill pyjaks as target practice. He had recently put down an attempted coup by Clan Joyrloc, who had been Traditionalists pretending to be reformists. A few klixen appear, and Wrex disposes of them as well. Suddenly, Wreav contacts Wrex, telling him that someone has come to visit him. Reluctant to leave, Wrex returns to camp, only to find it is Tali, which resets his grim mood. She explains that the fleet was mining the planet Sazgoth for palladium in the Dranek system, and she decided to pay a visit to the krogan she considered an uncle of sorts. After a short conversation, and a wrestling match between Wrex and Kal, Tali is recalled back to the Fleet. Wreav makes a comment disparaging Shepard, but before Wrex can punish him for his comment, Kal insinuates that Wreav lacks the balls to say it to the real Shepard's face and has to wait for a corpse before he finds his courage. This amuses Wrex and the other krogan in his cohort, praising the quad on Kal to insult a krogan to his face, but Wreav, humiliated, challenges Kal to fight. Tali objects, but Kal accepts without hesitation, telling Tali it will be alright: after a brief battle, Kal defeats Wreav, but the krogan remains persistent, rallying a few krogan behind. Tali steps up to Wreav, daring him to take another step, but Wrex finally decides enough is enough, and orders Wreav to back down. Privately, after Tali and Kal have left, Wrex headbutts Wreav, berating his brother for making a fool of himself. Wreav gloats that he would have torn the quarian apart had Wrex not stopped him, and Wrex merely laughs, saying "it's not her I saved, it was you. I taught her how to use that shotgun, welp. You'd best remember that."

Two days later on the Migrant Fleet, Tali is now a Major. Herself, Kal and Prazza attend a meeting with Admiral Gerrel. Gerrel announces that the Migrant Fleet, specifically the Idenna, is being used as a temporary refuge for four humans: two human males, a female and a child, all of who were offered asylum by a quarian pilgrim. The captain of the Idenna, Ysin'Mal, requires assistance to help protect them: Tali's unit has been chosen for that task. Prazza, who's homeship is the Idenna, is suspicious of the humans, but agrees to help. She runs into Peta, and after his incessant questioning, yells at him to back off before storming out. Later, onboard the Idenna, Tali and Prazza meet with the ship's captain and learn of the details pertaining to the plight of the humans: they are being chased by Cerberus because of the child, Gilian, who is an autistic, but powerful biotic that Cerberus wishes to "recruit" as a potential specimen to enhance human ascendancy, but in reality want to experiment on her: among the Idenna's security contingent is Corporal Seeto'Hodda and Staff Sergeant Isa'Pal. Prazza reveals the Idenna is his birth ship, and that his sister, Yalu'Sal, is onboard and soon to be going on her pilgrimage. Tali compliments Prazza's sister, and the two, for once, are not hostile to each other as Prazza gushes about how smarter his sister is compared to him. Isa explains that the Cyniad, a scout shuttle, was sent out to investigate a possible beacon on Shelba and that they just sent a request to dock. When the shuttle is cleared to land, the entire ship is taken by surprise as a platoon of Cerberus commandos spills out of the shuttle, lead by none other than disgraced quarian exile, Golo'Mekk. As Cerberus begin shooting their way through the ship, killing civilians and marines alike in their search for Gilian, Tali rallies her own platoon and the ship's security to push back the Cerberus attack. During one particular push, Prazza discovers the body of his dead sister, enraging him, causing him to irrationally blame Tali for her death. Paul Grayson, Gilian's father who works for Cerberus and was helping them capture her, finds Gilian and drugs her, knocking her out and hoping to escape quickly. Kahlee Sanders catches up to him and tries to rescue Gilian, but Golo surprises her and begins beating her whilst on the ground, taking out his anger on her person. Kahlee manages to persuade Paul to save his daughter, and he shoots Golo in the back of the head, and hands himself over to the quarian marines when they arrive. After the last of the commandos is killed, Tali surveys the destruction left by the attack, with dozens of civilians killed in the crossfire, and Prazza cradling Yalu's lifeless body. Tali realizes whatever rapport she may have been developing with Prazza was over, and he glares daggers at her from across the room, hatred in his eyes.

Chapter 7: Alot Has Changed

Well over a year later, it is now 2185 CE: two years have passed since Shepard's death. In July, Shepard wakes up prematurely, confused and dazed as to where he is, still reeling from his death over Alchera which, as far as he is concerned, occurred only minutes ago. Shepard manages to escape confinement, but is soon cornered by a group of Cerberus commandos, led by Miranda and Jacob. Shepard is furious to learn he is in the hands of Cerberus, and he uses his biotics to attack Miranda. He succeeds in throwing her back, but using his biotics causes him unbelievable pain. Jacob tries to tell him he died and was resurrected, and that two years have passed since he died. Shocked, he is left surprised when a tranquilizer dart is shot into his neck, knocking him unconscious. Miranda is confused as to how Shepard could have woken up so soon, but forgets soon after when she learns Shepard's brain activity has fully actualized, meaning he would be able to fully wake within a month. On Cronos Station, the Illusive Man is informed by Miranda of Shepard's awakening. Miranda also expresses concern about Wilson, suspicious as to how Shepard could have woken so early in the first place, and the Illusive Man agrees that she should keep an eye on him. Miranda nods and disconnects, leaving the Illusive Man to ponder.

Roughly just over two weeks later on Omega, Garrus is scoping out a possible Blood Pack smuggling operation in one of the many processing plants on Omega: Sidonis had informed him of a possible Blood Pack drug smuggling operation and that Weyrloc Garm might be present. Garrus goes alone, wanting to make amends for the botched attempt on Garm's life before, and not wanting to waste the team's time on a dead end until he knew it was worth committing. Waiting for an hour at the supposed meeting site with no sign of anybody turning up, Garrus grows suspicious and he contacts Sidonis to see what's going on. Sidonis confesses that he has betrayed the squad, having been captured and tortured by the Blue Suns into giving up the squad's hideout and to lure Garrus away with a fake lead. Garrus rushes back to the hideout as he promises to kill Sidonis for his treachery, cutting off the comm. He rushes back to his base, but is too late: most of his squad has been killed, with Makk as the only survivor. He tries to save the quarian, but he soon passes away. With the Eclipse, Blood Pack and Blue Suns having teamed up on him, he grabs his sniper rifle and holds off their initial assault, filled with rage that overcomes his despondency. Tapping into an open comm channel, hoping Tarak, Jaroth or Garm were listening, he taunts them with their failure to kill him, and promises to send them all to the spirits before he allows himself to die. Knowing his number was up, Garrus settles in for a long siege, checking his ammo and calling his father, hoping to have one final conversation with the estranged family member to patch up loose ends.

On 2 August on the Migrant Fleet, Tali and Prazza's platoon are summoned to another meeting with Gerrel. Tali's platoon is given a mission to extract a pilgrim on Freedom's Progress, as the planet has just recently become the latest victim of another abduction in a series of similar incidents across Alliance space over the last two years, and they no longer believe the pilgrim to be safe and they want him returned home. Prazza, still resenting Tali for his sister's death, is taken aside by Tali and told to pull himself together for the mission, as a quarian life hangs in the balance. Prazza agrees, and the two depart to ready their platoon for deployment.

Chapter 8: Back and Better

On Lazarus Station, Shepard once again awakens, this time fully resurrected. He wakes up naked and finds himself in the middle of an attack on the station by an army of mechs. The station's security mechs have gone rogue and started killing all personnel on the station, and Miranda hastily rushes Shepard into some armor. He manages to shoot his way through most of the mechs, Miranda guiding him through the station until he meets up with Jacob. With Jacob's help, they manage to save Wilson, but with no sign of Miranda, they are forced to make their way to a shuttle to try an escape, goaded on by Wilson's insistence they escape. Much to Wilson's shock, Miranda shows up at the shuttle first, raising her weapon and executing Wilson on the spot. She reveals that she had suspected Wilson, and that he had been hired by an outside source to betray Cerberus and to kill Shepard and retrieve his body. Shepard is hesitant to go with them but eventually agrees, wishing to meet the Illusive Man and intrigued by why Cerberus would put so much money into bringing him back. The shuttle leaves, heading for Minuteman Station.

Chapter 9: Run In With Fate

The next day, their shuttle arrives on Minuteman Station. Kelly Chambers, Project Phoenix's yeoman and unofficial psychologist, greets him, but he shoves past her, still bitter about Cerberus. He finally meets the Illusive Man, but is disappointed to not be meeting him face to face: they talk using a QEC. Shepard is hostile to him, but is interested when the Cerberus leader mentions a mutual interest in stopping the Reaper threat. He explains that human colonies have been disappearing ever since Shepard's death, and that the unique nature of them hints at a connection to the Reapers. Shepard reluctantly agrees to go with Jacob and Miranda to Freedom's Progress to investigate a recent abduction before the Alliance's first responders get there, hoping to find a clue as to who is behind the attacks. 

A day later, Tali, Prazza and the platoon arrive on Freedom's Progress, minding it eerily empty after the abduction. No signs of battle are present, leaving them confused. Tali splits her platoon into three teams to sweep the colony faster, where they run into a few security mechs which immediately turn hostile and attack them. Only a handful of LOKI and FENRIS mechs, as well as some HEL drones, provide any resistance, and Tali quickly leads them through the colony in search of Veetor.

Nine minutes later, Shepard, along with Miranda and Jacob, arrive on the other side of the colony. They find the colony to have the same aspects as the other abducted colonies: everyone is gone, no signs of battle and everything looks as if people simply disappeared with no explanation. They find the security mechs to have been reprogrammed to attack everything on sight, and they are forced to take them out. They soon find evidence of another group that is present, and within a few minutes, they run into Tali and her platoon. Shepard is just as surprised as the others to find quarians on the colony, but is soon left shocked when he realizes the leader is the woman he loved. Tali is initally in denial, refusing to believe it is him. However, after some convincing, he manages to persuade her that it is really him. She tells him of her mission and he tells her of his, and they agree that they can help each other. Prazza is reluctant to help them because of their ties to Cerberus, but begrudgingly agrees to work with them; they both elect to help find Veetor, as Veetor could tell them who attacked the colony. Splitting up to cover all bases, they fight through waves of mechs to their objective.

Unfortunately, Prazza and his platoon end up disobeying Tali's orders in favor of getting to Veetor, and end up fighting a large YMIR mech. In the ensuing battle, the platoon is slaughtered, with Prazza among those dead: Tali is one of only seven survivors, the rest of them injured. They find Veetor however, who reveals that he took surveillance footage of the attackers. To their surprise, they find the enigmatic Collectors to be behind the attacks. Jacob and Miranda are shocked by this, as the Collectors usually arrange others to give them specimens, and only in small groups: no more than 10 at a time. Shepard tries to convince Tali to join him in his new mission, but Tali says she still has a duty to her people and must get Veetor home. Shepard sides with Tali when Miranda tries to have Veetor taken back to Cerberus for interrogation, and she takes him home. Tali says she has one more important mission deep in geth space, and then she can join him. With that settled, they part ways, with Shepard going with Miranda and Jacob back to Minuteman Station, and Tali and Veetor back to the Migrant Fleet.

Chapter 10: Nostalgic Moments

The shuttle arrives back at Minuteman Station two days later, and Shepard updates the Illusive Man on the success of his mission, and reveals that the Collectors were behind the attacks, and likely also the destruction of the SSV Normandy SR-1. The Illusive Man is not surprised by this however, saying he had his suspicions, he just needed them to be confirmed. Shepard agrees to a mutual alliance with Cerberus against the new threat, but after learning that most of his team has moved on, he agrees to forming a new one. Afterwards, Joker walks in, shocking Shepard.

Shepard and Joker talk while the pilot takes him to the hangar, showing him Project Avenger: a larger, more advanced version of the original Normandy. Codenamed Avenger, Shepard and Joker jointly decide to name it in honor of its predecessor, christening it the Normandy SR-2. Moving onboard for the tour, he runs into Kelly again, apologizing for his previous behaviour. EDI, the ship's AI, announces itself, much to Shepard and Joker's chagrin. Jacob and Miranda continue to show him around the ship, where he meets the new crew members as well: he meets the ship's cook and custodian Mess Sergeant Gardner, engineers Ken and Gabby and other members of the crew. Shepard asks where the chief engineer is, but Miranda states there isn't one, as Adams rejected their offer to join Cerberus. After seeing the ship in all its glory, he orders them to leave port, ready to start his new mission.

Chapter 11: I Am Omega!

Several days later, the Normandy arrives at Omega, Shepard looking for the first recruits for his new squad. Upon arrival, the trio is greeted by a slimy salarian named Fargut, who is waved off by one of Aria T'Loak's lackeys, a batarian named Moklan. He demands they see Aria, as she is curious to know why a war hero was brought to a cesspool of criminal activity like Omega. Shepard reluctantly agrees, and they follow Moklan and his men into Afterlife. Making their way through the club, Shepard puts down a group of batarian thugs before they are brought face to face with Aria T'Loak herself: self-proclaimed Queen of Omega and of the Terminus Systems. After a quick search to make sure of his identity, Aria allows him to sit. He asks for the location of his first two recruits: Mordin Solus and the mercenary known as Archangel. She directs him to the Kima district where Archangel is making his last stand, and the Gozu district, where Mordin is trying to cure a recent outbreak of the plague. Afterwards, Shepard chooses to try and save Archangel first, and heads for the nearest Blue Suns recruiter with a plan.

On the Migrant Fleet, Tali has been promoted to Colonel and ponders. She is happy to know Shepard is still alive, and is determined to join his side again once her coming mission is complete. Kal is shown to be aware of Shepard's survival, and the two of them talk about it. Kal promises he hasn't told her father about her relationship with Shepard, and that Veetor is recovering well with the Neema's doctor. Tali also expresses concern that Peta hasn't been harassing her as much, and that he may be planning something. 

Elsewhere on the Neema, Veetor is being treated by the ship's doctor, who is quite rude and disrespectful towards the young quarian. The Rayya's doctor appears, her name being Elan'Shiya, who has agreed to take Veetor back to the Rayya; with his pilgrimage complete, he is now crew of the Rayya, and therefore Captain Kar'Danna's responsibility. Kaso agrees to the transfer, and Elan takes custody of Veetor. Veetor takes a liking to Elan, who promises him a safe return to his home, and his parents.

Chapter 12: Conflict Arising

Returning to 2251 CE, a geth by the name of Xerxes commands the RNS Blood Horizon, an Archangel-class battleship and the flagship of the Maginot Armada. One of the many ships forming the expansive and nigh impenetrable Maginot Line, spearheaded by the command station known as Orbit, as well as the gargantuan RNS Deep Savannah, a Transcendence-class dreadnought-carrier. The fleet watches carefully over the remnants of the destroyed Thessia, which was obliterated during the PA war, and the asari driven to near extinction. Soon, the Line comes under yet another assault from another Covenant probing fleet. The combined might of the fleet wipes out the enemy fleet, and afterwards Xerxes begins to question the futility of the Covenant's struggle: the will of the Dominion was unstoppable.

In Sanctum space, Ambassador Rini'Ralin, accompanied by geth diplomats Aristotle and Pythagoras, and protected by Baltazar, visit the leadership of the Sanctum on their capital station, Alpha. The prime minister of the Sanctum, Sata T'Loak, strongly distrusts the Dominion, but is willing to hear them out. Before any ground can be made however, a Covenant wetwork team sets off bombs across the Spire, including several in the Palace of Eden. Sata manages to protect the parliament, but Rini is knocked out in the blast and injured, while Pythagoras is damaged. Baltazar shoots and kills a batarian working for the Sentries that is moving to finish off Rini, before slinging her over his shoulder, while Aristotle picks up Pythagoras, and make their escape.

At a undisclosed location, Liara T'Soni, the new Shadow Broker, is frustrated to find out that the intel she had on the upcoming Palace of Eden attack was not forwarded to Sanctum's intelligence bureau as she ordered. She quickly learns that the quarian commander coordinating the team from the base was a Prometheus plant that had allowed the attack to happen in the hopes of giving the Dominion more diplomatic leverage over the Sanctum. Summoning her, Liara summarily shoots and executes the quarian. Liara is perturbed by the idea of Prometheus infiltrating her organization, meaning there was intelligence leaks and her organization was no longer as airtight as it used be. She gets to work tracking down any other potential moles.

Back on Rannoch, the interrogation of Shepard continues. 

Chapter 13: Archangel

Back in 2185 CE, Shepard, Jacob and Miranda pretend to be mercenaries signing up to take down Archangel. The merc recruiter doesn't reveal any details, and simply points them to Salkie, their driver. Once signed up, Shepard and his squad turn to leave, only for a young teenager to walk inside, wishing to sign up. Shepard takes the kid's pistol and breaks it, saying that the kid will thank him later before leaving. They later approach Salkie, who waves them into a skycar before taking off and taking them to the Kima district.

Sometime passes and they arrive at the Kima district, where the three mercenary groups have Archangel cornered. After asking Salkie some questions, the trio depart to find Sergeant Cathka, the Blue Suns mercenary in charge of coordinating the numerous freelancers, as well as repairing Tarak's personal gunship. They manage to find the batarian, and after learning that Archangel managed to disable Tarak's gunship, the word is given for the freelancers to launch the operation. Before leaving, and wishing to fully disable the gunship permanently, Shepard shoots Cathka through the back of the head and then joins the freelancers in their strike.

Meanwhile, Archangel continues to take out the mercs as they try to cross the bridge. In the meantime, he calls his father, asking for his forgiveness. Just as his father is about to give him a speech about turian militarism, he spots a squad of three killing the freelancers, and realizes that despite them being Cerberus, he now has help. He tells his father his luck just got better, before saying goodbye and continuing to snipe the mercs.

Pretending to fight with them until reaching the building, Shepard then turn on the freelancers and kill them all. Afterwards, they confront Archangel, who reveals himself to be Garrus. Garrus is shocked to find out Shepard is alive, but is relieved to know that his friend is back. Their reunion is cut short however when the mercs make their first push, with the Eclipse launching an assault with a YMIR mech to reinforce them. With the help of Shepard and his squad though, the Eclipse was repelled and their mech destroyed: Jaroth is also killed while attempting to rally his men. Before they can celebrate, the Blood Pack manage to hit the back of the building, and Shepard leaves Jacob behind to help Garrus while he and Miranda repel the Blood Pack. The successfully deal with the assault, but Garm and his men manage to flank around and attack Garrus. After a brief, but dangerous, skirmish, Garrus finally manages to kill Garm, finishing his mistake.

Unfortunately, Tarak somehow managed to repair his gunship, and quickly assaults Garrus' position, mortally wounding him with a rocket to the face. Shepard, Jacob and Miranda manage to successfully deal with the Blue Suns assault and, in his anger, Shepard destroys Tarak's gunship by shooting into its exposed fuel tank, destroying the gunship and killing Tarak in the process. Returning to Garrus, they find him in dire straits and bleeding out. Shepard immediately calls for evac, desperate to save his friend.

Chapter 14: Quarantine Break

Back on the Normandy, Miranda declares the mission to recruit Archangel a success, with Doctor Chakwas saying that his wounds will heal, but he will not combat capable for a while. Despite this assumption, Garrus walks into the debriefing room with bandages around the wounded side of his face, ready to report for duty. With the first recruit up and running, Shepard elects to recruit Mordin next, deciding to leave Zaeed, their third recruit located on Omega, until later. Afterwards, Garrus catches Shepard up on the status of his squad, and notes the absence of Tali. Afterwards, Garrus announces that he's glad to be back, fighting by Shepard's side once more, with Shepard nodding in agreement.

Later, Shepard, Jacob and Miranda, now with Garrus with them, approach the entrance to the newly formed quarantine zone surrounding the Gozu district, where the plague broke out. They find a human woman arguing to be allowed to enter, but the turian refuses. Shepard persuades the turian to let them in, arguing he will help cure the plague, and the turian allows it. Garrus stays behind, as the plague affects all species, except humans and vorcha. With that in mind, they enter the Gozu district, finding it in turmoil. Because of the plague, the Blue Suns, who once acted as the district's extortion-based police force, were severely crippled, allowing the vorcha of the Blood Pack to push in and take territory. Pushing what little Blue Suns resistance is left, they quickly encounter the rogue vorcha. With some difficulty, they finally reach Mordin's clinic, where they hear Mordin's hypothesis that the plague is engineered by the Collectors to target all but humans: the ones they want to capture. The vorcha were then used as its delivery, with the added bonus of them being able to capture the Gozu district and deal a huge blow to the Blue Suns. Taking Mordin's cure, they defeat the Blood Pack defending the ventilation control master system, and deploy the cure. It's delivered through the Gozu district within minutes, curing the whole district.

Returning, they learn from Mordin that what little Blood Pack are left are being pushed back by Aria's mercenaries, and that arriving Blue Suns reinforcements will soon push them back out of whatever gains they've made. With his assistant, Daniel, being left behind to look after the clinic, Mordin agrees to join Shepard's squad. 

Other books in the series

For A Better Tomorrow

• I: Enigma
• II: Prophecy
• III: Requiem
• IV: Holocaust
• V: Ultimatum

Forward Unto Tomorrow

• VI: Ascendance
• VII: Jubilation
• VIII: Descendance
• IX: Defender