Mass Effect: After the Smoke Falls

The new commander

Shepard sighed as he stood before his crew. They were loyal, tough, and his friends. Sadly, he had to leave them. He was chosen to be the Ambassador to the Quarians, so he could stay with Tali and still be part of the Alliance. He wanted to hunt down Mao Leng and skin him, but it wasn’t in his nature to do so. He was a soldier, and a peacemaker. He didn’t like to resort to violence if he could help it. From fighting Saren, to dying, all the way to his rebirth only a few months before, it had taken a toll on him. He was done, but he had to do it.

“I wish I had better news to tell you, but I am leaving the Normandy.” He said finally.

The room was filled with cries of anger. “What?” “Why?” “No way!” “Not a chance in hell!”

James stood up. “Loco, are you being serious?”

Shepard looked down. “I wish I wasn’t, Vega. But Admiral Hackett decided that I should be promoted to Admiral.”

“Admiral Commander Shepard.” Garrus said. “Has a nice ring to it.”

“I have a name you know.” Shepard said with a small smile. “I have also been appointed to be the Ambassador for the Quarians. I will be part of the Alliance, but I’ll also be working on Rannoch, staying with Tali as well.”

“So you’re a politician?” Kaidan asked.

“Wish I wasn’t, but hey not my call.” Shepard said. “With my departure, I have to leave one of you behind to command the Normandy.”

“Who will that be?” asked Robert.

Shepard closed his eyes. He wanted to choose Robert, he was his clone and had at least some major experience with the Normandy, but from what he saw he suffered more PTSD than he did, and with the large gaps in each other’s timeline, he wouldn’t want Robert getting in trouble. Wrex was the clan leader on Urdnot, Grunt was too wreckless to be the commander of a pressurized vessel in space, Liara was a good nomination but with her as the Shadow Broker it would complicate things. As he thought and thought he finally had his choice. He was with Shepard from the begining, helping fight Saren and joined him spite of his work with Cerberus.

“Garrus.” Shepard said. “You.”

Garrus’s mandibles dropped. “What? Me? As the Captain of the Normandy?”

Shepard nodded. “You led a squad back on Omega.”

“But you saw how that turned out. Why me?” Garrus said.

“You’re an exceptional fighter, both on the front lines and tactical. You managed to keep Omega safe and survived, even though you’re squad was killed. You led infiltration teams on the Collector base, and led the Turians on Meane against the Reapers. You’ve been with me from the beginning and I’ve seen you fight firsthand. You’re one of my good friends. I wouldn’t have anyone else take my place.” He faced the rest of the crew. “All of you have been the closest thing I’ve had to a family. I thank you for sticking with me to the end.”

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TWO HOURS LATER

Shepard sat at his desk in his soon-to-not-be quarters. He stared at his computer, looking at his new duties as Admiral and Ambassador. Basically he summed it up to he was relieved of duty until they needed him. He would help with the relationship between Quarians and the Alliance and command his own frigate when the time came, which translated to when they finally found Cerberus. He took a sip of his Earl Grey tea (It was his secret: Only Tali knew that he drank the stuff when he was stressed, but he was sure it would get out eventually). The doorbell chimed.

“It’s open.” He said.  The door slid open and he heard footsteps. He turned the chair around in his heart skipped two beats and he instinctively reached for his sidearm.

“It wouldn’t be any use, Shepard. The bullets would just hit the wall.” Said Admiral Anderson.

Shepard rubbed his eyes. “I must be going insane.”

“No Shepard, actually you’re quite sane.” Said Anderson. “See, the Drell have a way to manifest their form into the real world when they die. And it turns out all creatures meet up in the same place. Thane taught me how to do this, but it takes so much energy I can only hold on for so long.”

Shepard felt tears well in his eyes. “What’s it like up there?”

“Its . . . different than what you’d think. It’s like having a second chance on life. It doesn’t look like anything pictures or vids may describe. What I can say it looks like Virmire before you attacked Saren’s base, according to your descriptions.”

Shepard nodded. “It sounds peaceful.”

“I saw you’re mother and father.” Anderson said. Shepard’s eyes went wide.

“You did? How are they?”

“They’re doing just fine son. They’re so proud of you. They wanted me to tell you. We are all proud of you. And the decision to make you leave the Normandy was unjust. The Ship has been your home, and to leave it is like losing a limb. But you do deserve a break. Rannoch does seem like the perfect place to live.” Anderson said.

Shepard chuckled. “It’s quite a view.”

Anderson walked up and placed a hand on Shepard’s shoulder, the feeling was like cold water on his skin. “I have to go Shepard, if I have to I’ll visit you again.” And with that, he disappeared.

Shepard wiped his eyes and sighed. Now ghosts of his fallen friends were following him and he wasn’t sure if he was sane anymore. He looked at the view screen and there was a message from Chakwas.

SHEPARD,

            TALI IS AWAKE AND SHE IS DOING FINE. INFECTION HAS  GONE DOWN TO A BARE MINIMUM. JACK IS AWAKE AS WELL AND UP AND MOVING ABOUT. I WAS REQUESTED TO INFORM YOU AS WELL THAT ELENA, THE TRATIOR, IS ON BOARD AS WELL. I CHECKED HER BLOOD FOR ANY TOXINS CERBERUS MIGHT OF PUT IN HER TO SHUT HER UP AND I FOUND SOMETHING STARTLING. SHE HAS THE SAME BLOOD TYPE AS YOU. SHE IS YOUR CLONE.

-CHAWKAS.

Shepard’s mind instantly went back to the dream of him in front of the mirrors. The mirror with the face he knew must have been Elena’s. How come he wasn’t able to see it before?