A little something a wrote whilst procrastinating in my studies. Thought as a sort of Next-Gen continuation of my other story Lazarus Rising (which I know isn't even close to done yet). Consider this a bit of a proof of concept.

Chapter 1: Heroes

"Thank fuck I didn't have to wear formal attire for this" Shepard grumbled as Miranda gave him a quick once-over one last time. This ceremony was important, of singular importance to them both, and his armour, black and crimson and high-tech, sword strapped to his back and his N7 issue pistol and SMG on his hips, had to be spotless.

"No cursing" she admonished softly as she patted his pauldrons one last time. "It seems you've finally learnt to put on your armour properly". Talking about her feelings had always been… difficult to Miranda. Shepard understood that – he was a clever though infuriating man, after all – but at time as these she wanted to tell him just how she felt without having it come out forced. "Now, you remember the procedure? You go in on the Admiral's cue-" she drifted off to let him fill in the blanks, and he didn't disappoint.

"– Shake hands with first the Admiral, then the Asari and Salarian councilmen, then the Turian and Quarian councilmen, then the Krogan" he went through the mode of conduct that he had memorised after much pressure from her. "Then I stand by while the Admiral talks a lot of bollocks, get pin pricked to my armour – as if a medal makes any bloody difference – step up to the podium, say a couple of well-chosen words, bow to the applause of the crowd, then fuck off to get so hammered I can't see straight".

"No cursing!" she shot an icy glare his way, causing him to swallow hard in apprehension. "And the Admiral worked long and hard on this speech. It's not bollocks. Ugh… you've been around Jack and Zaeed too much". Over the loudspeaker that echoed into the small antechamber in which she and Shepard had been standing she knew that it would soon be time, and so she reluctantly let go of him and headed for the back door of that Presidium room as he sank down on a chair with a tired sigh. "I'm-" oh, damn it, it did sound forced when she was standing in that doorway and looked back at him. "I'm proud of you".

He looked up at her, and suddenly his years seemed to drift away before her eyes until she saw before her a boy with black hair and icy blue eyes grin brightly despite his skinned knees and his mud-splattered shorts, a stuffed felt Varren under one arm that was as battered and dirty as he. "Thanks, mum" he grinned at her, and she smiled back at him, her heart near-bursting with pride. "Now get out of here. I need to get in the zone" he protested as she stepped back to him across the room and kissed him upon the forehead. "Mum!"

"I'm sorry, Kaidan" she smiled at him and pulled her hand through his buzz-cut hair, as black as hers and just as silky. "But you'll always be six years old to me". Everything he had done could feasibly be laid at her feet. He was her son, after all – hers and his father's. He had gone through life with talent and skill imprinted on him by the best teachers and trainers the galaxy had to offer, but all of that could still be laid at her feet. She smiled down at him. He had her eyes and her hair, but he had his father's face. No doubt about it – he was the true exemplar of humanity, the most perfect human specimen. "I'm so proud of you, Kaidan". Slowly the image before her inner eye drifted away to be replaced by the soldier that muddy boy had become, with black armour and striking looks and the skill and charisma to change the galaxy.

"Really?" he wondered at her in a challenging smirk. "You were the one who had a fit when I told you I joined the marines. Dad had to sleep on the couch for a month when you found out he had encouraged it. And now you're proud because I getting a promotion and a shiny piece of metal?"

"It's a mother's job to be proud of her son" she admonished and let go of him. "Now, I've got to get out to the crowd. Just remember your lines and don't agitate the Krogan councillor, okay?"

"Geez, can you say overbearing parent much?" he grumbled as she left the room and made her way to the main council chambers of the Presidium where a crowd was standing, elbowing her way to the front through alien dignitaries, reporters, diplomats and military officers both retired and in active service. Miranda drew many looks as she made her way to the front of the crowd due to her black and red dress with the Alliance logo stitched in silver over her heart – or rather due to the way she filled it out. Despite it being nearly twenty five years since she had her first child she looked as young as the day she had first met the newly resurrected Commander Shepard in shuttle bay of the death-filled Lazarus Station. Perhaps it was due to her superior genetic makeup that she still looked like she was in her late twenties even as she was approaching her sixties… or perhaps it was because of the life she had lived ever since she had pulled Commander Shepard's still breathing form from the wreckage of the very room she was standing at the end of the Reaper war.

Those had been dark days, but in the age that had followed light had seemed to be the ruling part of that cosmic balance. The mass relays had been rebuilt, the worlds scorched by the Reapers were blooming vibrant with life once again, and the species of the galaxy, though still suffering from the wounds of that horrid war, were recovering. A new generation had sprung forth in the aftermath of that war as the races of the Citadel Council strove to replenish and repopulate – children who knew the Reapers only as decaying husks drifting in space or as stories from the olden time entombed.

Her own children, except for the oldest of them who was waiting for his turn to come to the stage before the crowd, were standing in the very front of the crowd, and her youngest greeted her loudly and happily as she appeared. "Mum!" that six years old girl shouted excitedly and dashed from her older sister's side to hug Miranda around the hip, looking up at her with bright and blue eyes. "How is Kaidan? Is he excited?! I know I am!"

"Chill, sis" the second oldest of Miranda's children, along with her younger brother and second sister, came up to Miranda as they took their places at the very front edge of the crowd mere ten feet from the podium. "Kaidan is probably bored out of his mind. He's never been one to stand on ceremony". She was a near carbon-copy of Miranda at her age when it came to appearance except for her slightly darker skin, nineteen years old and already enrolled in the Alliance Engineer Corps in the top of her class despite studying at a 200% course intensity to be fit for active duty in record time, wearing her black hair coloured vaguely blue in a bun on the top of her head to go with her white and blue uniform fatigues.

"Moira Shepard!" a voice came through crowd and at once that oldest of Miranda's daughters and the second oldest of her five children froze, eyes wide and face pale in panic. "And little Thane!" Miranda's second son and third child had the very same reaction, the two siblings – one nineteen and one fifteen years old, reach out to take each other's hands in panic. Miranda, of course, wasn't concerned.

"Jack" she greeted the tattooed woman with the shaved head who made her way up to them, followed by a freckled Asari in a white professor's robe. "Liara. I'm glad you could make it".

"We're happy to be here, Miranda" Liara, who had changed little during the last twenty years due to the great natural life span of an Asari, remarked with a smile and fondly took Miranda's hand. "You must be so proud".

"The cheerleader's proud? Hah!" Jack scoffed, and though they had long since been on more amicable terms than they had started out of – they had only tried to kill each other thrice during the last ten years – the former Cerberus operative narrowed her eyes at the woman in the heavy leather jacket. "I'm the one who's got any right to be proud. My best f-" she looked to Moria and Thane, who were trying to hide behind their mother's skirts like they were still children, and censored her speech "my first student named Shepard, and I wouldn't come to see him get a f- fine medal? Not f- freaking likely!"

"How nice to know that you're being more proud of my son than I am" Miranda said sweetly through teeth clenched shut. "Kids" she said and pushed Thane and Moira to the fore from out behind her, followed by Davi and Legia, the youngest daughters at age ten and six respectively. "Don't be rude. Thane, is that any way to greet your teacher?"

"Sorry, mum" he shook his head and looked up at Jack with some trepidation, only slightly smaller than her but still feeling very slight before the woman that dominated his classes at Grissom Academy. Unlike his brother he wore his hair long, a little past his shoulders, and dressed casually in jeans and shirt beneath his blazer despite the momentous occasion. "Hello, ma'am. How d-do you do?"

"Better than your sorry-ass barriers, kid" Jack rolled her eyes at the boy who would have been attending her classes at that very moment if not for the fact that both he and she had taken a short leave of absence so that they could travel to the Citadel and watch his older brother be commended and decorated. "Hey, Moira" she looked to the young woman standing beside Miranda. "How're you doing? Still practicing your pathetic excuse for a throw, huh?"

"Screw you, ma'am!" Moira snapped back with an icy glare in the same vein as her mother's before she looked to her two youngest sisters. "You've met Auntie Jack, haven't you? She's the one that's going to make your lives a living hell too when you're old enough to go to Grissom Academy".

"Do we have to go?" Davi asked in a whine, to which Miranda chastised her in firm tones.

"Of course you have to, darling. By some miracle all of you developed biotic abilities in utero instead of tumours, and I'm not having anything but putting my kids to school to be taught by the best. That is final!" Miranda was the undisputed matriarch of her house, and in the family she had built only Moira ever talked back to her – well, it was in the nature of strong willed people to have strong willed children.

"But you're a biotic too!" Legia protested. "And so is dad! Why would we have to go to boarding school for it when you can just teach us?"

"Because your father and I are very busy people" Miranda explained to the two youngest while Liara and Jack broke off into other conversations with Thane and Moira respectively. The two girls were very similar, though Davi's hair was browner than that of her siblings and braided like she preferred it while Legia wore a butterfly clip in her voluminous black locks – a clip given to her by "Uncle Zaeed" just a few months earlier on her birthday. "I run the Omega Coalition of Cargo Transporters as well as the Chimera Security Group – two separate companies, and your father-" a loud thunder of applause rose around them in the chamber as the Citadel Council came onto the podium, followed by a series of bodyguards led by two Spectres. "Speak of the devil" Miranda muttered, a frown creasing her brow.

Councilor Sparatus and matriarch Firalla had been on the Citadel Council for as long as most people could remember, having served the races of the galaxy even during the Reaper War, standing now as icons of the past and stalwart representatives of their species, Turian and Asari respectively, in the ever changing and evolving galaxy. After the way the council of four members had been increased to six due to the bravery and fortitude displayed by the other races of the galaxy in the face of their near-certain destruction, and so not only were they accompanied by the Salarian councillor Dorin but also the Quarian admiral Shala'Raan and the Krogan councillor and ambassador Urdnot Grunt. The last of the six was, however, a man who needed no introduction – the admiral to whom even the others deferred on military matters, the human whom even the Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance and its parliament heeded when he chose to speak. Countless battleships, babies and military tactics had been named after him by members of all the council races in the years since the Reaper War.

"Thank you, thank you!" he smiled and ushered silence to the crowd, his face worn by the worries of his station. He wasn't a politician by mettle or by mentality – which had been the only reason why he hadn't been pushed to take the position of Prime Minister for the Alliance after the war had ended. He chose instead to continue doing what he did best: soldiering… though now he commanded fleets and armies instead of a single squad and a single warship, and he had still been urged to take the position of Councilor due to his many and intricate connections with an array of aliens. Slowly silence settled over the crowd, and he chose to, as he often did, open with a joke. "It's nice to see so many of you here today, from all of the great races of our galactic community. We've got Hanar, Batarians" he narrowed his eyes as if peering to the rear of the massive crowd of dignitaries "Elcor, Drell – even Vorcha! Well, I'm happy that you're all here. I'm Admiral Shepard, and you are my favourite people on the Citadel!"

"He's funny" said a strangely flanging voice from Miranda's close proximity even as the crowd laughed with Shepard, and Miranda turned to look to find an enraged Liara gripping a slender Asari, hooded and masked, by the wrist and whisperingly urging her to silence. Miranda thought it strange – she assumed it was an Asari beneath those heavy robes based on the body type and the protrusions on the back of her hood, but it might as well have been a human due to not an inch of skin being shown to reveal the blue Asari hue. But Asari usually showed off more of their assets, seeing the greatest beauty in their own physical forms…

Miranda turned her attention away from Liara and the strange figure in the hood who argued quietly to look back onto the stage as Admiral Shepard spoke. "But today isn't about me. Today isn't about the Council or even politics, as is. Today is about heroes. Today is about the people who are willing to lay down their lives fighting for others without asking anything in return. And today is about giving back to one of these heroes". Two Spectres, the human hacker and tech-expert from Omega Joshua Lawrence and the Asari former assassin Shara T'Lilium, were also present on the stage, and there was only one reason for Spectres to be present during the awarding of a medal: recruitment. Doubtlessly other Spectres were watching from the crowd or on extranet uplinks, standing by to assess the prowess of a potential recruit.

Miranda narrowed her eyes at speaker upon the stage. Had he planned this and not told her about it? That wasn't how her husband usually operated…

"A joint colony world in the Skylian Verge, Solus's Rest, a joint effort of colonisation between Batarians, Krogan and Humans, was a month ago attacked by pirates and extremists bent on destruction and slaughter" Shepard went on atop the podium. "An Alliance ship was in close patrol – a single frigate – and went to the defence of the colony, bravely charging against a foe much more numerous and savage then its own. In the ensuing fight the frigate managed a landing on Solus's Rest and its marines came to the aid of the civilians, holding off the pirates while as many people as possible were evacuated. The commander of this force, Captain Fatima Henderson, was killed in action, but her second in command took immediate action and held the line for nine days. No rest, no reinforcements, no quarter – he held the line until the pirates were driven off with only a handful of loyal soldiers at his disposal. At great risk for his own life and limb he defended the innocent and went above and beyond the call of duty. Dignitaries, honoured guests, esteemed diplomats, ladies and gentlemen – I give you" Shepard flashed out with his hand to the doors to the side of the podium "Lieutenant-Commander Kaidan Shepard!"

Applause followed as that young man in the black and crimson armour took the stage with heavy steps, smiling and waving at the crowd before he took the hand offered him by the Admiral and shook it after saluting. Miranda could read the older Shepard's lips from even that distance though his words were muted by his distance from the microphone. "Sorry about all this, son" he said to the boy who he knew hated ostentatious ceremonies and political posturing even more than he himself did. Regardless the young man merely gave a slightly nervous nod to his father and then proceeded to shake hands and otherwise salute the councillors, one of whom was his adopted brother Grunt. With the shaking of hands done and over, as well as some posing for press coverage and pictures, the Admiral took to the microphone again with Kaidan standing dutifully beside him.

"Let me tell you some things about this sterling young officer" Shepard went on and needed no notes for this part of the speech, as he had memorised all the achievements of his son long ago. "Kaidan Shepard joined the Systems Alliance navy as a marine the day after his coming of age at eighteen Earth standard years old. During training he showed great aptitude with both biotic and technological disciplines, as well as great expertise in hand-to-hand combat. He was assigned to the command of Major James Vega aboard the SSV Elysium and soon earned the respect of his fellow servicemen, earning two promotions for courage under fire before the year was over. He was then recommended for N7, the Systems Alliance Special Forces, training by his commanding officer, and subsequently passed training for N1 through N6 ranks in record time, passing all courses with flying colours. From this program that has provided the best and brightest of Human military he is the youngest graduate in history, and he was placed under the command of Captain Henderson aboard the SSV London after it. Then followed the heroism you have all heard about today".

"It is my great pleasure" the Admiral spoke and pulled out two medals from his inner breast pocket and gestured Kaidan over towards him "to present this soldier with the Star of Terra and a Galactic Unit Citation, the highest honours we upon this Council can bestow". He attached the two medals to the breastplate of Kaidan's armour with Omni-gel clamps to the thunderous applause of the crowd and the flashing of a thousand cameras. "With these follow the responsibilities of representing the Systems Alliance Military and Navy as a Staff Commander of the Marine Corps. Wear them with pride, son of Earth, and know that the whole of our galactic community is ever grateful for your service – Commander Shepard".

"Thank you, Admiral Shepard" Kaidan replied with a slight tremble in his voice as he saluted his father, who promptly saluted back and then showed him to the centre of the podium and the microphone there. "Ahem" he cleared his throat, slightly flushed about talking before so many people before he spotted his mother and siblings and promptly grew even more flushed. "Hi" he blushed at the crowd, to which Miranda just about kept herself from putting her palm to her face in frustration. "I'm incredibly honoured by all of… this" he gestured to the room around him. "I'm not sure that I deserve it, though. I did my duty and kept my people alive, like any good commander would've. And no matter what titles I may bear or what medals I may earn, that is all I aspire to do: do my duty, and protect my people".

Miranda nodded slowly to herself, glad that he was finally following the script of the speech he had written for this occasion and asked her to spell-check. "But my people aren't just humanity" the young man went on, growing less uncertain and more fiery as his words picked up steam. "There were Batarians on Solus's Rest, and Krogan and Turian and Salarians as well as Humans. All of us, working together to achieve a greater goal: unity. In the dawning of this bright future, after we awoke as a galactic community after the end of the Reaper nightmare, we can do that. Those machine monsters killed trillions, but they did something else too – they destroyed the barriers between us. And together, united as one, we destroyed them. Together, united, as one, we face the future. These are my people: all of us who stand together for peace and prosperity to face the dawning sun. And that is the unity for which I would gladly give my life to defend-"

He stopped, standing stock still, and Miranda scowled deeply. This wasn't part of the plan or the speech. What was – suddenly she saw it – the red dot of a laser-assisted ballistic aim had appeared in the centre of Admiral Shepard's brow, and Miranda's heart froze with terror.

"Get down!" Kaidan shouted and threw himself at his father, slamming into him an instant before the shot was fired, and the bullet meant for the champion of galactic peace struck instead the Quarian Councillor at the edge of the stage, shattering the visor of her ornate helmet and striking right through her eye, killing her instantly. Admiral and Commander tumbled to the floor in a crash of armour and uniform, Kaidan's biotic barriers up in full force even as he activated his crimson Omni-shield and pulled his pistol from his hip while chaos erupted in the crowd and screams filled the air.

Then the screams fell silent as darkness enveloped everything, the lights in the station winking out as an unknown perpetrator hacked the Presidium lighting and intercom. And from out of that darkness boomed a dark voice, a forbidden voice, a voice heard in that bright age only in the nightmares of countless survivors of the Reaper horror tought beaten.

"We are the Harbingers of your Perfection" it spoke, and that era of peace and light died as the Presidium exploded.

Miranda had struggled for the longest time to reverse her infertility. It had been one of the final things she did before embarking upon the suicide mission through the Omega 4 mass relay all those years ago, and one of the greatest feats of medicine ever accomplished by Mordin Solus, the now greatly renowned and martyred Salarian saint of science and biological studies. It had been an extensive procedure, having him open up her entire lower abdomen to remove the cysts growing on her ovaries with laser surgery, but she had needed it done. She had needed to know that if she was going to die beyond that cursed red relay then she would die free from the last shackles her father had ever laid upon her. She had kept her sister free; it made only sense that she freed herself next.

It hadn't taken immediate effect, of course. A long period of hormonal treatments and injected artificial ova, created by Solus from cells taken from her blood in a process not even she could fully understand, had followed, most of it undertaken while she was busy bringing down Cerberus and Shepard was locked in prison by the Alliance. However, by the time she and Shepard had managed to be intimate the next time, mere weeks before the battle of London and the destruction of Harbinger and the Reapers, it had seemed to have great effect. Shortly after Shepard had recovered from his trials at the Crucible and then the machinations of a clone that tried to kill him and replace him she had been stabbed by said clone's benefactor, and when treated for that injury she had found out that she had been pregnant.

Since then she had been a protective mother. Damn the science, damn the world – it was a miracle that she could even have one child. And it seemed that the procedure had been immensely effective, more so than even Mordin could have predicted, for the treatment that was supposed to give her only one chance at motherhood resulted in no less than five children. Five adorable, bright-eyed, intelligent and fiercely determined children. Nobody criticised her and Shepard for having plenty of kids though, as humanity had been crippled numerically by the Reaper menace and needed to repopulate. Still she had been acutely aware of what she had gained with that operation, and so to say that Miranda was merely a protective mother was a bit of an understatement.

"Mum!" came Davi's voice as Miranda forced herself away from the ringing in her ears after the explosion to find herself pulled against a wall with her youngest daughter pressed against her one side and her second youngest straddling her outstretched legs. "Mum!" Davi had been crying in fear but then began to weep in relief as Miranda woke from her unconsciousness and Legia held the rags of her once expensive dress tighter.

"Thank God" she whispered through a dry throat as she discovered her two baby girls, her two little angels, were alive and well. "Where's-"

"Mum's awake, sis" Thane informed his older sister shortly from aside, moving to Miranda from having squatted over the still form of… was that Jack? She too, as well as Liara and two other humanoid shapes Miranda couldn't quite tell from the haze before her eyes, had been dragged against that wall, but the light was strange and… Miranda looked away from the immediate vicinity and raised her eyes to stare at complete destruction.

"Thank fuck for small mercies" Moira replied testily as she squatted by the side of one of the others by the wall, scanning them with her Omni-tool and using her meagre knowledge of the medicinal field to try and find out who could be saved. "Lay still, mum" she shot over to Miranda. "You took one nasty piece of debris to the head in the blast. You've also got two broken ribs and a fractured skull – so if you move one fuckin inch I'll give you a night-night tazing before you can say 'G'day, mate'". Both of them, all four of them, had seemed to have escaped the explosion unharmed except for their clothes, garments now torn and dirty by soot and grime.

Miranda wasn't overly concerned with moving, as she was much more focused on staying alive and keeping her children safe. The once so stately halls of the Presidium Council chambers had been reduced to ruins, the walls fallen over and foliage blasted apart, fires burning on near everything flammable in places lighting up the otherwise inky blackness, and everywhere, crawling through the dust and ash that covered the entirety of their existence, lay the dead and dying, weeping and screaming or laying in lethal silence, broken forms thrown about as if a murderous giant had rampaged through the glorious galleries and destroyed everything in a fit of titanous spite. "Kaidan" Miranda forced out through fractured and paper-dry lips. "John-" a large piece of the ornate ceiling decoration in the council chambers had fallen to the floor in the space between the crowd and the podium, blocking any view of the Council and the Spectres from sight and ken.

"The podium was at the centre of the explosion" Moira informed in short terms as she hammered away at the military engineer grade Omni-tool, cursing under her breath. "Fuck! All coms are down, and the extranet's dead. Dead as dead can be, as I'm not getting any bloody signals even using the built-in router".

"Getting online isn't what we should be worrying about, sis" Thane spoke a little darkly and sounding more than a bit frightened as he turned his head to look farther down the gallery of the Presidium's highest chamber, and through the distant noise and the ringing in her ears Miranda heard it too. Gunshots. Lots of gunshots, from assault rifles judging by the frequency and durations of the bursts. Military grade weaponry, wielded not by C-Sec but someone else, as they certainly weren't the antimatter rifles of the Turian legions by which Citadel Security was armed. It sounded… to Miranda's ears it sounded like Reaper tech.

"Fuckface" Moira spoke affectionately but severely to her little brother, rising and grabbing a hold of his shoulder to make him turn and face her and block the approaching danger out. "When they get close – listen to me! When they get close you've gotta stay calm, okay? I know you're shit at barriers, but you're the most powerful human biotic in recorded history. Mum and the two pixies – we're all they've got right now, okay? We hold this location until C-Sec gets their shit together or dad gets here".

"What if-" was all he had time to say before she put a stern hand over his lips.

"Don't even say it" she warned. "If the fucking Reapers couldn't kill him one measly little explosion isn't going to take him down. And you know how tough Kaidan is. They're both alive, and they'll come for us". Slowly she nodded, as if urging him to do the same, and so he did, at which she took her hand off his mouth.

"Yeah" he muttered back as he turned to see a group of humanoids in dark green and dully gold armour sprint up the stairs to the far side of the great hall. "Sis" he licked his lips and tried to steady his rapid breathing as he tensed noticeably. "I've never killed anyone before".

"Neither have I, Fuckface" she replied and reached at her hip for a pistol that wasn't there.

"I guess there's a first time for everything" he spoke then and cocked his head to the right and then to the left, electing a series of loud cracks from his perpetually stiff neck. He opened and closed his hands a few times as if pumping himself up and rolled his shoulders, loosening his muscles up as those figures in the distance saw them and wheeled the muzzles of their rifles at them. "Showtime" he hissed and punched out with his arms, biotic blue exploding out from his limbs in a burning blaze, raging around him like an aeonian halo, burning like a small blue sun in the gloom and casting dancing shadows around him.

Always he had been powerful, Miranda reflected as she saw her youngest son advance a few steps towards the approaching enemies in armour. He didn't charge up his fields in waves or in a slow building hum like most did: the power exploded off of him, as if he was always holding it back and simply chose to let it loose on the unsuspecting. And as those terrorists in dark green and clashing gold approached, firing a few stray warning shots meant to intimidate, he showed them just how powerful he was.

With a strike of a raging biotic hand he summoned a dense mass effect field just behind the small enemy formation of five soldiers, staggering them slightly before he struck the front of their formation with the strongest throw ability he could muster. They flew backwards, kinetic barriers broken, into the pull of the singularity he had created to slam against each other – before he caught them in a stasis field that he then proceeded to crash into the floor of the chamber. One of them had his neck snap by the whiplash of the clashing momentum, one simply crumpled in on himself as he was caught in the centre of the singularity, and the two but for the last crashed into each other as they hit the floor, bones breaking and armour cracking and splintering. The last was caught in the upper part of the singularity's pull and was thus unaffected by the stasis field, and Thane finished him off by using a pull ability against the gravity of the singularity, tearing the soldier in half to expose human innards as his top half sored through the air and landed before him in a wet thud.

Panting, amps burning in the back of his head, Thane fell back and struggled for breath as Moira dashed forwards, ripping the helmet off the head of that terrorist and scooping the rifle from his still twitching arms before she returned to their mother's side, Miranda holding her hands before Legia's and Davi's eyes to spare them the sight of the carnage. "That" Thane struggled to say through the panting as the blue faded around him "was easy. Weird. Everyone keeps saying that killing is hard".

"I always knew you and that psychotic bitch got along too well, Fuckface" Moira noted as she patched into the communications of the humans and Turians in green and gold that had seemed to be the ones attacking the ceremony and shoved the earpiece of that helmet into her ear, but cursed again. "Shit! The assholes're speaking in code, and the translator app on this damn thing" she gestured in frustration to her Omni-tool "is being useless!"

"At least I got you a rifle" Thane muttered back through his heavy breathing as he struggled to drag the half corpse of that human over towards them before crouching down by it, remembering his father's words of wisdom to always check downed hostiles for thermal clips and grenades – the former of which there was only one, the latter of which there were three, as well as some blank metal canisters decorated with warning labels in a language he could not read. "What're these?"

"Give them here!" Moira beckoned, and he immediately obeyed his sister as he heard more of these strange enemies in unknown colours were approaching fastly, pushed back by the charge of C-Sec forces closing in on them. "Liquid nitrogen canisters, or napalm ones – meant to Incinerate or Cryo Blast your target" she explained to her brother, who nodded quickly. "You keep them in your armour and activate them with your Omni-tool before you eject, throw or blast them into the enemy ranks – and sit back and watch the fireworks. That, dear Fuckface" she grinned encouragingly to help disguise the fact that she was terrified and scared out of her mind "is what they teach you at Military Engineering school".

"Nerd" he muttered her way to try and regain some sense of normalcy as the world was literally burning around him and his mother was drifting in and out of consciousness behind him clutching his two younger sister. "I need some time to recharge and cool down. Could you-?" he went as he saw more enemies getting close while Moira found a kinetic shield module on that corpse and activated it by strapping it to her arm.

"Yeah, sure" she replied and stood from out of the low cover before them while simultaneously bringing up an overload protocol on her military grade Omni-tool, the advancing soldiers a little taken aback when they found a tanned beauty in military fatigues aiming an assault rifle of their own make straight at them. "Eat this!" she cried loudly and opened fire, and Miranda, drifting awake once more, noted that on some level she was very proud too over her most troublesome child.

Moira had always been a troublesome one. She had never been very quiet about the fact that she wanted to become a soldier just like her father and a doctor too, just like the Salarian she had been named after. But as she grew older it became apparent to all that she had not simply ambition, for Moira had inherited her mother's immense intelligence and her father's bull-headed stubborn aggressiveness, and she would let no one stand in the way of her achieving her dream, even her mother who had always been against letting her children join the military – a battle that had been soundly lost when Kaidan sprung it on the family that he was joining the navy the day after his eighteenth birthday.

Moira was a biotic, but had never bothered with developing her abilities as she considered her mind, her technical prowess and her crush-everything attitude her greatest weapons. The mysterious warriors that had come to slaughter the survivors of the explosion learned that the hard way as the one leading their formation had his entire armour lock itself down in an electrical overload before he was hit with a blast of explosive gel-condensed napalm exploded against his visor, making him scream in searing agony even as the splash came over the armours of his men while he cooked as if trapped in an oven on the surface of the sun. A grenade hit the left part of their flank after less than two seconds after the screaming began, and so the lot of them moved to the right – right into the concentrated fire emitted by the young woman's newly acquired assault rifle.

She had to say that although the rifle was a strange one, of a sleek, black and alien design, it was quite effective in her hands, cutting through their kinetic barriers and shields so that she could use her other abilities to take them down, and when a few stray shots from them had begun to wear down her newly acquired shields Thane lashed out with a biotic throw, sending the most of that formation scattering to the wind. Still more of them came though, retreating into the council chambers as C-Sec pushed them back, and they were running out of grenades and her rifle was close to overheating.

But rescue came in the form of a knight in black armour.

While Shepard Sr. had always been of the motto and the mind to never let up the assault in battle, charging into the fray with shotgun and sword, Miranda had herself always remained a little more calculating, remaining in the rear of any given formation and using her diverse skills in both tech and biotics to control the flow of battle in her favour. Kaidan, in contrast to his parents, had chosen the middle option – like only a Shepard could.

Having climbed, unseen by the conflicting siblings down on the floor of the chamber, up onto the great debris separating the podium from the rest of the hall, he gathered his biotic barriers around his limbs in that special way his father had taught him – called "Biotic Charge" - and leapt high onto the battlefield. As he slammed into the middle of the advancing enemy formation he wielded his sword in one hand and his N7 Hurricane submachine gun in the other, the red Omni-shield of his scarlet and indomitable upon his arm, and he wreaked absolute terror in their hearts as his two fighting siblings hollered excitedly behind him while the enemies fell before his sudden attack like wheat before the scythe.

"You lot know why the big brother is always born first?" Kaidan said darkly towards that hesitant formation that was scrambling away from him as he angled his sword, dripping with gore, towards the floor, his face marred with soot and ash and blood not his own. "To protect all the little brothers and sisters that come after him".

He charged again, slamming shield first into the most heavily armoured of the enemies and sending him reeling before he was dispatched with a biotically enhanced slash with the sword, followed by Kaidan kicking the still standing body aside to fire the full capacity of his SMG into the next foe, wearing down her barriers by the time he had spent his full thermal clip. Holstering the pistol he fired a napalm canister at that enemy soldier with his Omni-tool's launcher capabilities, reducing her to a smouldering corpse in a matter of seconds even as he turned for the next enemy, standing back and overloading that Turian's armour with a massive electrical burst before he stabbed it through the helmet's visor with his trusty blade. Another enemy attacked him, desperately going on the offensive, but the shots he fired Kaidan caught upon his shield before the N7 graduate yanked him towards him with a biotic pull so hard that he was sent flying through the air, gravity and a precise angle impaling him on the young man's upraised sword.

As Moira downed another terrorist with a few precisely aimed shots and the C-Sec troops were storming up the stairs towards their section of the council hall all but one of the terrorists was still alive – and in turning to flee he was shot through the head by the limping man who had been busy climbing down the dividing debris, borrowed N7 Eagle pistol in hand. Miranda, dazed and aching all over as a C-Sec medic rushed to her and the others' sides by the wall her children had held, smiled widely as she saw that indomitable man stand tall, her heart at ease as he made his way limping towards her. "Thank God" she repeated drowsily as the medic tended to her while Shepard Sr. crouched down by her side. "I thought that maybe something had happened to you".

"Something nearly did" Shepard grunted and used a dirt-streaked, bloody hand to move the hair out of Miranda's brightly blue eyes, eyes all of their children had inherited. "Shala'Raan, Firella, Sparatus, Dorim – they're all dead. Grunt was thrown out the windows by the blast… but knowing him he probably survived the fall and is now busy trying to find something to eat". Shepard, not wanting to worry either his children or his wife, shot the medic a look while the C-Sec tactical response team commander made her way over to him, giving Kaidan, Moira and Thane long and apprising looks as the children gathered around their mother and father.

"Her injuries are none too serious, Councillor" the medic dutifully stated even as he, with a delicate precision contrasting strangely with his clawed Turian fingers, spread a thin layer of Medi-gel over the gash in Miranda's upper brow. "Two broken wrists, a fractured skull, a concussion – but nothing dangerous. Just keep her under observation. The other four are merely unconscious, though bruised".

"Good – wake them up ASAP" Shepard nodded and looked to the C-Sec commander who now was standing at attention mere feet away. "Report".

"Three seconds after the first shot was fired in the council chambers the C-Sec Presidium offices were attacked by these insurgents, sir" she answered dutifully in true Turian fashion, as was befitting a legionary commander of the Fifth Stellar Legion. "We beat back the attack easily enough despite heavy casualties, but by then we found out that light and communications with this entire zone had been cut. They were swarming over this entire sector like Pyjaks on a dead Thresher Maw, Councillor – and they were well armed and well trained. The ones we drove as far back as this were tired and beaten, and we estimate that this immediate area is secured. Still" she looked to the trio to her right "these three were… impressive. Personal bodyguards, Councillor?"

"My children" he corrected her and waved her off, to which she saluted and went to check on the rest of the few survivors of the explosion. "You three" he shifted his eyes, tired and dazed and bloodshot and filled with worry and fury in equal measure, onto his eldest three. "Kaidan I understand, but Thane… you're fourteen. No one's supposed to make their first kill when so young. Tell me you didn't-"

"I did, dad" he spoke back firmly though shaken as Davi and Legia pulled their father down to rest beside their now peacefully sleeping mother "and I don't feel bad about it. I don't care if that makes me some sort of psycho, too – I was just a weapon, you know? Just shut all the feelings off and go with the biotic flow".

"I'll just chalk that up to another point in the favour of the existence of reincarnation" Shepard grumbled at his son, not sure if he was supposed to praise him or scold him or take his trembling young shoulders in a hug and tell him that it would all be alright. "Just… just don't do anything like this again unless you absolutely have too. Still…" he shifted his gaze between Moira and Thane while Legia, silent and scared and confused, pulled his arm around her like a blanket. "Good work, you two. You too, Kaidan. I've had all of you trained well".

"Dad" Kaidan spoke up as he stepped towards the closest downed enemy human combatant and flipped his head over by the edge of his armoured boot, revealing a sickly face with a corpse-like blue tint around eyes sockets filled with deathly blue optics instead of actual biological organs. "I've seen things like this on the history vids, and I heard that voice after someone tried to put a bullet through your head. Reapers – but I thought you killed them all?"

"They aren't Reapers" Shepard Sr. hissed as his face twisted into a grimace after he closed his eyes and reached out with his senses. "The Domination implant from Leviathan – I can still use it to piggyback onto the control signals emitted by Reapers. It still works. But… I get nothing. No domination field, no indoctrination signals. They aren't under Reaper control – so why the hell are they using Reaper tech?"

"What're you asking me for?" grumbled a voice from beside Miranda, and to Thane's great horror and joy it was the sure sign of Jack and Liara waking up under the tender ministrations of the C-Sec medic. Jack looked merely fazed and clutched her aching head with heavy hands but Liara, who upon waking began to hurriedly scan the crowd for something only she knew, soon broke out into a near panic.

"Atha!" Liara trembled with terrible urgency as she looked to a confused and dazed Shepard. "Atha! We've got to find her!"

"Atha?" he wondered back, rubbing a finger in his bleeding ear to try and clear out the damn ringing. "Who's that? The Turian or Asari in the hood who you were so pissed off at before? I noticed that during that crap speech I gave before. Damn, the blast must've been bad – I can't even remember what it was all about".

"Atha…" Liara knew much as the Shadow Broker and as a consummate archaeologist, always with the urge to dig deeper and further, but now she had the air of knowing a terrible secret. "Atha's the whole reason any of this happened". That got their attention in short terms, and all eyes in the chamber still awake turned towards her. "If they find her, if they get her…" She, on the other hand, looked only at Shepard, begging him to trust her, to believe her "We're all doomed".

For a few seconds that lasted for aeons silence reigned supreme as the lights switched back on up above their heads. "Define 'doomed'?" Kaidan asked, wondering if his Asari aunt was on drugs.

"She's the genetic destiny of the Asari, Shepard" Liara informed in a low tone as they stood leant around the table at the centre of the human embassy, their centre of command as the citadel burned around them. "I told her to stay away, to stay hidden. Atha… this is all my fault".

"As far as I can recall I was the one with a bullseye on his forehead" Shepard replied to her and took stock of the room once more. His offices had been stripped out of decorations long ago and hung with memorabilia from all of his battles and campaigns – rifles and model ships and medals and a few battered helmets – and the desk that once had been so empty and clear had been lined with holos and pictures of his family and friends, the friends he had given his all to defend, the family he had struggled to gain. Said family were sitting on the couch at the edge of the room along with Jack and the parliamentary representative Clarence Mei, Miranda sleeping with Legia in her lap and Davi under one arm and Thane on the other while Moira was frantically hammering away at her Omni-tool, trying to gain access to the locked down C-Sec network. "Liara, I don't have the resources" he informed her darkly, noting that he had only eleven soldiers on his hands guarding the office and scouring the Presidium. "You know what's happening in the wards right now according to C-Sec? Anarchy. Full havoc. Civil strife of the highest damn order. The Humans and the Batarians are blaming each other for the explosion, the Turian are blaming the Krogan, the Krogan blame the Salarians, the Asari are blaming everyone and everyone blames the Quarian. Riots, Liara. People are making war in the streets, and C-Sec can barely hold the Presidium as it is. Sorry about your friend, T'Soni… but right now I have to protect my family and restore the peace".

The doors of the office slid open and in through them walked Kaidan with a pair of weary marines in black and blue armour in tow, a grim look upon his face as he and the two saluted before the Admiral. "We searched the Council chambers as you said, Admiral Shepard sir" he spoke formally onto his father, military discipline restored as he was the nominally second ranking officer among the few still living Alliance military personnel in the Presidium. "As far as we can tell there were over nine hundred casualties in the explosion, which is nearly all of the Council embassies in their entirety. The entire council except for you and Urdnot Grunt are dead, as are Spectres Lawrence and T'Lilium. Urdnot Grunt is unaccounted for. Orders, sir?"

"Jackson, Cao Fei" the older Shepard looked to the two soldiers standing behind the newly minted Commander. "Corporal Chandra is currently sweeping the financial district. Make your way over to her squad and help in their efforts. Dismissed". The two saluted, awed at standing before the living legend, before they turned heel and marched off out of the office – but Shepard's eyes didn't see them as they fell on his son. "How're you doing, kid?"

"I'm… fine, dad" Kaidan answered back, telling by the change in tone that he was no longer speaking to the Admiral but to the man behind the mask of authority. "I can't say the same for Spectre Lawrence. The guy's head was crushed, dad. Smashed like mashed potatoes by a piece of bulkhead, brains everywhere. Even on Solus's Rest… I've never seen anything like it".

"You're doing fine" John Shepard assured him softly, giving his oldest son a slow nod. "You're keeping your cool and following orders – what you're supposed to do in this situation, despite all the chaos. There's no doubt in my mind about you being up for Spectre status now". Kaidan's eyes widened at that, shocked at the very notion, but before he could say anything Liara voiced her frightened concern again.

"Shepard" she spoke harshly, turning both the younger and the older man to face her where she was standing by one side of that table on which maps of the Presidium had been laid. "Atha is the reason why you were attacked. These bombers… I've no idea who they are, but trust me when I say that they after my d– my friend. Shepard, if they get to her my entire species could become extinct. Please – I can't explain why, but you have to trust me".

"I trust you, Liara" Shepard nodded at her after locking stares with her for the longest time. "But I haven't got the men to-" an idea seemed to occur to him, and he looked to the young man in front of him, intent and pondering. "Without any ambassadors or councilmen to keep control the Ciradel is in chaos. It's suicide to march into the streets in force – but two might have luck where a hundred would be crushed. Kaidan, would you-?"

"He is just a child, Shepard" Liara protested, but Shepard Sr. put her assumptions straight.

"Look at me, Liara" he gestured to the sling his left arm was in and the bandages around his entire midsection. "My shoulder's shattered, my hip's fractured, and my two deadliest people" he glanced towards the couch and Miranda and Jack on it "are out of commission. I've got no armour or heavy ordinance or even my goddamn sword – and now I sound like Zaeed. And… this child is more skilled right now than I was while taking down Saren. Not to mention he's the best damn soldier I've ever trained in addition to being the only one I can absolutely trust to do the right thing, no matter what".

"You can count on me, sir" Kaidan said with a military nod, but the older Shepard wasn't done yet.

"Staff Commander Kaidan Niket Shepard, as the sole surviving member on the Citadel Council I'm bequeathing onto you Spectre status" he pulled, from the inner pocket of his destroyed uniform jacket, a round badge of shining blue metal into which the Council symbol had been marked in white, and tossed it to the young man. "Inauguration will have to wait. Your first mission is to investigate the attacks upon the Council and my person, and to restore as much order as you can in the wards. Liara, do you have any idea where your friend went?"

"She's always liked crowds, even though…" Liara bit her lip to keep herself from revealing too much. "She's always been fascinated with Zakera ward and the lights above Silversun strip. I think she might have gone there, but the tracer I put on her isn't responding to my pings from this distance".

"Give the tracer program and frequency to Moira" Shepard went, and his olderst daughter lifted her head at them, her concentration broken at the mentioning of her name. "Kaidan, take Moira with you… but drop by C-Sec and the Spectre requisitions there. Arm yourselves before you head out. If the Citadel is in full rebellion then the streets of Zakera ward will be doubly dangerous".

"You up for this, sis?" Kaidan looked to his sister as she rose from the large sofa and made her way to stand beside him.

"Ready and able, Dickhead" she informed him before she saluted at her father together with him and then had Liara transfer the relevant information onto her Omni-tool. "And someone's got to keep your stodgy ass alive – it might as well be me".

"Don't let your mother catch you cursing like that" Shepard reprimanded the two softly as he looked to them with pride mixed with a great deal of concern. "Stay safe and stay alive – and bring me the heads of the people who were dumb enough to mess with my family".

"Copy that, sir" Kaidan saluted one last time before he turned and headed for the door. "Come on, sis – let's go kick some ass". After the two of them left Shepard's slight smile remained on his lips, and he shot eyes wistful eyes over towards the couch and the rest of his family resting there. This… this was what he had fought for during all those cruel and bitter years, even though he hadn't known it back then. He was sending his two oldest children straight into the fire, but he knew that they could handle it. They were his and Miranda's kids after all. They could handle just about anything.

"Are you sure this is wise, Shepard?" Liara questioned the wisdom of sending such inexperienced and young people after the person who was most precious to her in the entirety of existence.

"Merciless times are coming, Liara" Shepard shot back at her. "We need new blood, because the heroes of old aren't going to cut it anymore".

Again, proof of concept merely. Will expound on this given time and interest.

Update: Alright, since the first introductionary chapter is out of the way I thought it was time to introduce you to the squad. Basically the story is about this squad under the command of the new Commander (Kaidan) Shepard doing what is essentially a mix-up of Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3: fighting a crapload of bad guys and keeping peace in the galaxy from the Citadel to Thessia to the far reaches of the Nemean Abyss. Much violence and excitement is to be had, and hopefully you people will like it. Here's a little dramatis personae of the people I imagine being in the squad – if you have any suggestions or ideas that you would like to see in this story, don't hesitate to contact me and tell me all about them.

Anyway, here goes the squad:

Staff Commander and Spectre Kaidan Niket Shepard – N7 Paladin Sentinel – commander of the *as of yet unnamed ship* and leader of the Nemean squad. Backstory: Being the oldest of five children in a family with very busy and often distant parents Kaidan quickly adopted a protective instinct when it came to his family – an instinct later transferred greatly onto the galactic community as a whole, which led him to join the military just like his father. However, his naiveté and his tendency to see the best in people at all times has proven more a weakness than a boon. Skills: Essentially a sentinel Sheppy from the games but with tech-armour traded for Biotic Charge and heavy weapons swapped for a monomolecular blade and a Omni-shield.

Engineer Ensign Moira Oriana Shepard – Human engineer – chief engineer and member of the shore party. Backstory: The renegade to Kaidan's paragon Moira was always just as smart as her mother, Miranda Shepard (née Lawson), and as aggressive as her Vanguard father. From warships to mechs to weapons there is nothing she cannot design that won't be as deadly as it is beautiful, and in contrast to her mechanical skills she has let her biotic powers go vestigial and unevolved. She joined the military engineering cops out of seeking a challenge worthy of her rather than a desire to protect and serve – though a family of military habits and traditions has left their disciplinary mark. Skills: Mixing the skills of the Quarian engineer with the human one, though has biotic barriers instead of shields.

Athame T'Soni – Asari-Prothean Adept – biotic powerhouse and member of the shore party. Backstory: You'll see. Skills: The strongest biotic ever born – but at the cost of her constitution, which is weak, and her lifespan, which is on par with that of a human's.

Octana Vakarian – Turian Cabal Vanguard – melee and assault specialist and member of the short party. Backstory: Being the niece of the Primarch as its advantage to most Turians – but not if you are a biotic. Biotics are rare and untrusted in the Turian military, segregated into special secret units referred to as Cabals, and Octana has always riled against this segregation. Strong of will and unrelenting she always pushed for change in the hierarchy and even in her own legionary team, which earned her nothing but a transfer to C-Sec and a slap on the wrist. Skills: Combining the skills of the N7 slayer (phase disruptor and biotic charge) with the Cabal Vanguard (poison strike and nightshade blades).

Jaeto'Zorah nar Rayya – Quarian Marine – assistant engineer, XO and heavy weapons expert. Backstory: In being the adopted son of the Turian Primarch and the Quarian Admiral of the research fleet Jaeto'Zorah has always had very big shoes to fill. Pressured to become a scientist by his mother and a sniper and calibrator by his father he took neither option and trained to be a leader and an infantryman, a military grunt compared to his illustrious family. In comparison to his mother he is strict and often severe, a side-effect of his slightly more Turian upbringing, but cares deeply for anyone who would earn his friendship and his loyalty. Skills: Special suit allows for booster packs (and havoc strikes), and stim-packs and tactical scans allow for great effectivity in combat.

Battalion / Geth Battle Platform 19440606-MA8 – Geth Juggernaut – main tank and member of the shore party. Backstory: Admiral Tali'Zorah had always doubted in her son's abilities to take care of himself, despite his heavy armour and his skill with an assault rifle. She managed to persuade the Geth consensus to send a combat platform to be his personal bodyguard, and the consensus complied – sending their most advanced platform to the Admiral to show their willingness and eagerness to cooperate. Battalion is just that – a lumbering hulk of a Geth only a little smaller than a Prime, with integrated weapons in the dozens and a massive custom firearm that is, in essence, a combination between a Geth Spitfire and a rocket launcher. Skills: Geth Juggernaut-tank and heavy weapons platform. For when a battle-ram is needed.

Kolyat Krios – Drell chief medical officer. Backstory: Kolyat has spent his life since the death of his father searching for a cure of Kepral's Syndrome, though the sudden elimination of the Citadel council at the hands of the Ladon Initiative has seen him transferred to the Citadel navy and the Spectre Kaidan's ship. Honouring his father's wishes he has sworn to never pick up a gun or kill another living being – but violence and murder is in his blood, and blood always tells.

Johnny Williams – Human staff officer, communications officer and Yeoman. Backstory: It was always ironic that the muscular powerhouse that was James Vega and the briefly-Spectre Ashley Williams would have a crippled son, and the irony is lost least of all on Johnny. Despite that he is a clever and sarcastic if rarely truly happy young man, and has resigned himself to being a communications officer and an assistant – but the best damn military assistant in human history.

Casok Solus (Sur'Kesh Shanta Torgali Solus Casok) – Salarian STG sniper – member of shore party and assault team. Backstory: We all remember Mordin Solus, and so does the rest of the galaxy in ME: Generations – but especially so his family. Casok, Mordin's favourite nephew, always strived to be like his uncle and joined the STG's military division as soon as he was old enough to do so. However, to his great shame, he lacked his uncle's brilliant analytical mind and so became a soldier and a sniper/infiltrator instead, a fact that has made him paradoxically both very proud but also left him feeling very inadequate. Skills: Sniper and infiltrator, he trades overload for stim-packs for even more erratic energy.

As always, Read and Review, and DFTBA!