AN: Greeting Mass Effect Fanatics. It was a time of great timing for me this past week. The latest trainer for Mass Effect Andromeda dropped, just as I was finishing up my latest play through of Mass Effect 3. After the regular bittersweet feeling I get from playing through BioWare's incredible game series, I was inspired to continue my series of Mass Effect stories that take place following my Commander Shepard after the Reaper War. If you wish to see my other stories to have a better understanding of what is going on, please visit my profile. I hope you all enjoy.

Chapter 1

Shepard ran along the main boulevard of the Silversun Strip. The early morning hours of the day meant that the street was mostly empty. keepers went to and from wherever they went and the service and maintenance workers that keep the nearby apartments, entertainment attractions, and shops functional made their way to their shifts. Despite the early morning simulated light barely illuminating the artificial atmosphere, the lights from stores and advertisements made it easy enough to see.

Shepard was on the last half mile of a four-mile run that he did twice a week. Many people, even Marines, hated to do cardiovascular training, but Shepard's thought process was what good are your muscles if your heart and lungs cannot get the oxygen needed to power them to where they needed to be. So Shepard trained. At this point he was sweating in streams. The water stinging his eyes and weighing down his clothing.

At this point in the run he needed to sing a song in his head to keep his pace up. A common running cadence that he and every other Alliance Marine learned in basic training. It had originally been created centuries ago, but had been modified by every nation, and military branch to fit their own forces.

Kodiak Shuttle dropin' outta the bay, Alliance N7's goin' to a bad place.

Mission Top Secret, destination unknown. I don't even know if I'm goin home.

Shepard rounded the corner to the street that led to his and Tali's apartment building.

Stand up, stack, right along the door. Jump on out at the count of four.

Slide to the left, slide to the right. Slide right in to a firefight.

The only venue that was active at this point of the day was the Silver Coast Casino. People went there from all over The Citadel to win and lose money. But not everyone visiting worked a nine-to-five schedule, and fact that they didn't hang clocks in the place also made it easy to stay a while. The Castle Arcade and The Armax Arsenal Arena were still closed, but were going to be opening in a manner of minutes.

If I die on a enemy hill, take my body or a Reaper will.

Bury me in the leaning rest, so all my enemies can kiss my ass.

Shepard arrived at the front door to the apartment building. He walked through the lobby. Immediately on his left was a small store that sold furniture to the people who owned and rented apartments. An asari merchant named Neela opened up the kiosk. She wore a purple casual dress that complimented her light blue skin tone and purple facial markings.

"Good morning Commander Shepard." Neela smiled and waved.

"Good morning Neela." Shepard responded. "Anything good that's come in?" he asked. The Commander had taken to personalizing the apartment that he had inherited from Admiral David Anderson. The initial guilt from owning a home that had belonged to a now dead man had grown into pride in owning his own space. After outfitting the place with weapons stashes and traps with his friends Garrus Vakarian and Zaeed Massani, a fellow Spectre and a famous mercenary, Shepard had taken to personalizing.

"Two thing that I ordered special for you and Tali. A landscape painting of a city from Earth called Chicago, and one of the earliest landscape paintings of Rannoch in 300 years. It's sketch of the Rayyah Spaceport construction by a Geth, filled in with color by a Quarian." Neela explained.

"Sounds great. How much?"

Neela quoted a price. "Only 500 credits. The 'cute couples' discount.

"Thanks. Tali and I appreciate it." Shepard said.

"Oh not you and her." Neela said sarcasticly. "Those pictures will go great together. One city that's been around for centuries, and one that is being built up. Very nice contrast." She finished with a smile.

Shepard laughed. "Bill me. Send them up. I'll see you around."

"Bye Commander. Oh and take a shower. You stink." Neela said as she turned back to her work.

Shepard walked to the end of the lobby and walked into the elevator. The doors open and he walked in. He pushed the button for his floor and waited for the elevator to reach the destination. A few seconds of listening to the dull music that played in the elevator, and a familiar 'ping' came from the speakers. Shepard stepped out and walked right towards his place.

He walked into the apartment and was greeted with an empty building. Music played from over the speakers in his apartment. Thankfully not any kind of trashy pop music, but a raging metal song with lots of electric strings and percussion. Shepard immediately started to bob his head to the beat.

"Tali!" He called out. "You here?"

"In the kitchen!" Shouted the voice of his girlfriend.

Shepard walked into the kitchen that was on the first floor the two-story apartment. His Quarian girlfriend sat at the kitchens island. A tube of nutrient paste for breakfast and a datapad with the news in front of her. The metal from her environmental suit clinked softly as she moved to face the human male. He walked up and kissed he on the enviro-suits visor.

"Ugh." She said, waiving he arm.

"What!? What's wrong." Shepard asked backing off.

"You're covered in sweat. You stink. Even my suits senor filters can't deal with that." Tali said covering her lower face.

"I though most women liked that." Shepard stated not moving an inch.

"Yeah. And too much of a good thing is not. Go shower." Tali said as she pushed him away.

"Fine."

Shepard walked out of the kitchen and upstairs. He went through the master bedroom, past the small workshop that house Shepard's weapons and armor when he wasn't out on a mission. The back corner of the bedroom lead to the master bathroom with held a walk-in shower stall, couples vanity, and a very large hot tub. Shepard stripped off his soaking gray t-shirt and black sweatpants. He then turned on the hot water, and stepped in.

As Shepard started to wash himself, he hit a waterproof video interface on the shower wall and started to watch the news. The Big headline of the morning was that the Krogan had revealed their genetically modified fruits and vegetables had finally started to flower and spread pollen. This means that they had finally created a renewable food source, as well as several strains of plant life that could survive the environment of the Krogan home world of Tuchanka. This was a massive scientific and cultural breakthrough for the Krogan.

Shepard recognized the Krogan researcher that the news network was interviewing. He was Lord High Researcher Fortack. The last time the Spectre had met the scientist, he was less than enthused that he was working on crops and medicine instead of guns and explosives. Now he listened to Fortack explain with pride his work as Shepard washed his brown, crew cut hair.

"These plants represent that the life here on Tuchanka is able to survive the harshest living conditions known to the galaxy. It will help in Krogan colonization of new planets for two important reasons." Fortack explained on the video screen. "First, if the plants growing here can able to survive long enough to pollenate, then they can survive environments that plants and food sources of other species may not survive. Second, they will be able to serve as food for colonists instead of having to rely on the nutrients in their humps. What I have accomplished here represents the solution to one of the biggest logistical problems to any future Krogan colonization efforts." Fortack gloated.

Shepard smiled. He was glad that his friend Urdnot Wrex was the leader of the United Krogan Clans. The UKC formed in the Reaper Was after the creation of a cure for a genetic disease that made reproduction only a .1% possibility for any given Krogan. Wrex was the one of the few Krogan who wanted to achieve Krogan expansion through peace instead of war, as was standard for Krogan culture. Since the end of the Reaper War though, the Krogan were steadily reproducing, and within a generation would likely be attempting colonization of other worlds.

As Shepard finished up washing, an audio link notification started to beep on the video screen. Shepard answered.

"Hey Shepard. You may want to finish up." Tali said eagerly.

"So I can continue to play grab ass?" Shepard asked hopefully.

"No. Because Garrus is here with some people who would like to speak with you." Tali said.

"Who are the guys with him?"

"Well one is Kirrahe. The STG guy who worked with us on Virmire, I don't recognize the other guy, but he's a Salarian."

"All right. Be down in a few moments." Shepard said with a little annoyance. He was hoping to have a pleasant breakfast. Apparently, it was going to be a working meal.

Shepard turned off the water and grabbed a towel off a nearby rack. He dried himself off and put the cloth back. He went into the master bed room in the nude and over to a nearby dresser. He pulled out a pair of gray cargo pants and a black t-shirt with the N7 logo on it. He quickly put on his outfit and a pair of socks and boots before going down stairs.

Shepard walked down briskly and back into the kitchen. Tali had moved to the dinner table and seated with her on one side was Shepard's best friend Garrus. On the other side was Major Kirrahe, a commander in the Salarian covert operation group known as the Special Tasks Group, or STG. The other Salarian at the table was a familiar face. He had a brown skin tone and wore black and yellow armor. His name was Jondum Bau and was another Spectre agent, like Shepard and Garrus.

"Agent Bau. So you're the mystery man. How are you?" He asked with enthusiasm.

"I am well. Thank you for asking." The salarian said with a smile. "I am pleased the you survived the assault on earth. Though I am not in the least surprised. I was sent to reinforce N7 cadets at their training facility in Rio De Janeiro. I arrived and we just saw a bunch of dead Reapers and they were all sitting around playing cards waiting for orders." Bau explained as he finished with a laugh. "So I figure if your even better, you would be okay."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence." Shepard said with a smile. He turned to the second Salarian. "How are you Major?"

"Well I'm a Lieutenant Colonel now." Kirrahe said with pride.

"Really. How did you get that job?" Shepard asked.

"My superior died. Detonated a fuel air bomb to take out a few hundred Reapers on one of our colonies." He explained.

"Oh. Sorry to hear that." Shepard said sadly. Even six months after the Reaper war, there was a great number of people who were still missing, and all were presumed dead. Either because they were killed, or turned into a Reaper.

"Yes. Very sad at the time. Still, successful mission. Only casualty, but an attack on a city was halted quite dramatically. You would have liked Sek." Kirrahe explained fondly. "Still, here on business. Requesting help."

"How can help?" Shepard asked.

Garrus cleared his throat. "Well, Atlas analyzed the data that he got from Limitless Innovation. We've got more problems with the Order of Linron. They're on Bekenstein."

AN: Some bad news, I know that I will be insanely busy this next month, so please be patient, as I am not likely to update until March.