WARNING. MAJOR SPOILERS FOR ME3. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU HAVE COMPLETED ME3 TO YOUR SATISFACTION

#

#

#

Which means if you bitch and moan at me about spoilers, I will laugh at your rage and throw marshmallows.

This is my canon ending for Commander Elrika Shepard. Why? Because I hated the ending of ME3. I know some people liked it, and thought it fulfilled their desires and whatnot, and I know they thought it was pretty cool in some parts, but I was sort of left sitting there, staring at my TV, contemplating if wrecking it in a rage was enough of a reason for a 55 inch replacement. I have not been so utterly let down since the end of the original Evangelion anime series...

So, I wrote a new one!

Requirements' for this outcome are at the end of the fiction.

For now, enjoy Elrika's ending.


Part I

The Crucible

[N7]

How did it come to this…?

Commander Elrika Shepard gazed at the three choices before her, fighting off waves of exhaustion and agony. She was dying. She knew that. There was no getting around it. She was dead the moment Harbinger's beam weapon struck the glancing blow to her. She was covered in third degree burns and open wounds. She had internal bleeding. Broken bones. It was the end for her. But not for the galaxy.

Now she had to choose. She had to choose what to do.

But why? Why her? Why in this moment?

She couldn't destroy the Reapers. That meant destroying the geth. And she had come too close to losing Tali in trying to help the geth for that to be a viable option now. It had to be worth something… And she would not dishonour Legion's sacrifice.

Her eyes strayed away from the right and she looked at the section to the left. She could control them. Make them leave. But if they broke loose one day…? And the galaxy hadn't recovered sufficiently? And what made her think she could do something the Illusice Man failed to do? What if she was indoctrinated?

Her eyes darted back to the beam in the centre, where her energy would go. A being who was both organic and cybernetic, to create a synthesis of organic and synthetic life. The next stage of evolution? How was that natural?

How was any of this natural?

And no matter what she chose… the Mass Relays would be destroyed. Her galaxy would be crippled with conventional FTL travel. They would never be the same. They'd be destroyed regardless.

… and she would have to break her promise to him. She was not coming back alive.

Elrika Shepard lowered her eyes and stared at the ground before her, fighting to breathe past what she knew was a collapsed lung, fighting to breathe past the insurmountable agony welling up from the core of her soul. She was Elrika Shepard. Everyone thought she was untouchable. Unbreakable. A single woman uniting the galaxy and bringing the fight to the Reapers. And now… now this seemed so… stupid. So pointless. Like everything she did was for nothing. Like all of her choices, all of her fighting, everything, didn't matter. It would come to this moment regardless.

Elrika lifted her head and blinked back tears. She couldn't change the past. But she could change the future. She could change his future. She could give him one. A thought of him being dragged away to be turned into a husk made her grimace with agony and she coughed, spitting out blood.

Not an option.

"Catalyst."

The holographic image of the child beside her, the child of her dreams, said, "Yes?"

Had that child even been real? Had the child ever truly existed? Was it merely a delusion? How had the Catalyst known to appear to her like that? Or was the child an illusion by the Catalyst? Was… any of this even real?

One thing was real, though. One thing was very real… Elrika sucked in a painful breath, tasting blood. "I need to ask a favour of you."

"What do you require?"

"… I need you to open up a link to comm frequency 282-235. Please. "

"Very well." There was a pause. "Speak. They will hear you."

Elrika closed her eyes as tears burned, and broke free. "G… Garrus."

[N7]

+G… Garrus.+

Turian steps faltered and Garrus felt his heart slam into his ribs. Relief at hearing her voice was quickly swallowed by utter despair as he heard the pain in it. She was injured. And badly. But more than that was the way she said his name. And the way she called to him again.

+Garrus… Please. Can you hear me?+

"Elrika," he whispered, and he saw Liara and the others turn sharply at her name. They were scouring the rubble at the base of the beam, searching through the corpses. When the Reaper's beam had hit, Garrus and Liara had been thrown clear. The asari was lying to one side, bleeding heavily from what use to be her right arm as a salarian surgeon desperately tried to save her life. A quarian and a human with medical supplies ran over to assist. Garrus was completely blinded in his left eye and his left arm wasn't working properly, but he didn't give a damn, refusing all treatment. Eventually people just stopped asking as the turian scoured the rubble with his bare hands, turning over bodies, checking corpses, desperate to find Commander Shepard. But now he heard her. Now he knew she was alive.

"Where are you? What's your condition? We'll-"

+I'm on the Citadel. I'm about to activate the Crucible.+ He heard her grimace, her whisper-soft voice thready with agony. +I needed… I needed to talk to you first.+

"Talk when you hit groundside," Garrus said, shaking his head. He wasn't sure why he did it. Perhaps a denial of her words? Of what he knew she was doing, even without her saying it. "Come back to me, Elrika, and we can-"

+I'm not coming back, Garrus

But you promised

+There's… a synthetic life up here. A consciousness. The leader of the Reapers.+

"Then kill it!"

+I can't… It's given me a choice.+

"There is no choice!" he roared. "Destroy the Reapers and come home, Elrika. You swore to me. You swore you'd come home to me!"

+I'm sorry, Garrus.+

"No…" His chest hurt. His very soul screamed out. He wanted to rip his body open to stop the pain. His legs gave way as he dropped to his knees and buried his claws into his chest armour, trying to dig his heart out and stop the pain. "Elrika…"

[N7]

+… Elrika.+ The pain in his voice had her gasping and she would have given anything to spare him the agony of what was to come. But the Crucible had made its decision; she could choose the future of the galaxy, but her life would be forfeit in exchange.

An acceptable price.

It was selfish of her to think that she deserved a happy ending when everyone else didn't get one. How many sons and daughters had died, leaving parents bereft? How many husbands and wives fell to the Reapers? Lovers. Mothers. Fathers. All gone. What made her think she deserved a happy ending? What made her think she deserved to be happy with the one she loved?

Because… because I fought so hard. Don't I deserve at least that? Don't I deserve… to live? With him?

Elrika sank to her knees before her choice, tears flowing down her face, diluting the pool of blood that was collecting beneath her, her life dripping slowly from her mortal wounds.

"I'm so sorry, Garrus." The words burst from her and she fell onto all fours, sobs wracking her body. She remembered his face, his laughter, his smile. Remembered his arms around her. His forehead against hers. Her body over hers. Breathing became difficult as she fought against hyperventilating with her utter despair. "I'm… I'm gonna find out what turian wine tastes like. I've always wanted to. And when… when you get there I'll shout you the first round at that bar, okay?"

+No! Damn it, if you're going, I'm going. You hear me? You go, I go! That's what you said!+

"Listen to me, Garrus!" she snapped. "I don't… have much time. I'm going to bleed to death before help can get to me anyway. So I'm going to do what I can. I have a chance… to save everyone. And you have to respect what I'm about to do. You hear me?" Elrika's vision greyed and she dug her fingers into the deepest wound in her side. She felt organs through her flesh as she tore it open, using the pain to focus. "Ngh… You hear me, Garrus?"

[N7]

+You hear me, Garrus?+

Garrus couldn't breathe. Couldn't speak. Couldn't even comprehend what was being told to him. She wasn't going to survive. That was never part of his plans. He didn't realise until that moment that he had actually simply expected her to live. It was just an accepted fact. She would live. And that because she lived, so would he. But the idea of Elrika Shepard dying… and of not being able to be with her in the end?

No. No this couldn't be happening.

"I… I…"

He couldn't exist without her. There was no Garrus without her… She had made him. Moulded him. Completed him. She gave him purpose and drive and will. She gave him direction and reason. He did not want to live without her. He didn't want to exist without didn't care if the Reapers won. He just wanted to be with Elrika…

As if sensing his thoughts, or perhaps simply because she knew him so well, she whispered, +Don't do anything stupid, Garrus. This is for you. I am doing this for your tomorrow. So please. Please see it. For me. Please see every dawn afterwards for me. Live.+

"I don't want to," he gasped, clutching his head. He didn't care about the war around him. He didn't care about the battle or the dead. He didn't care about Earth, or Palaven, or the Reapers. "Not without you… Please. Not without you."

[N7]

+Not without you…+

"Don't you dare throw this away, Garrus," Elrika looked up at the Earth, visible above her head. Somewhere, up there, was Garrus. Her heaven. "This is what we're fighting for. A future. A tomorrow. I'm doing this for you. I need you… I need you to give me a reason. I need the reason to be your survival, okay? Can you promise me that?"

+You swore I'd never be alone! You SWORE TO ME.+

Elrika gasped at the pain she heard in his voice, magnifying her own. She clutched her heart and sobbed aloud, fighting to speak through them. "I meant it. I'll always be with you."

+It's not the same!+ Then, his voice quiet with despair, broken with grief, he whispered, +Please... Don't leave me…+

Elrika locked her teeth against the searing agony of leaving him. She couldn't see a foot in front of her through the tears. "I would be lying if I said I don't regret a thing," she admitted. "I don't regret meeting you, though. Even if we only had…" Oh, God, had it only been a year together? Maybe two, if they were lucky. "I don't regret meeting you. I don't. Or falling in love with you. I regret nothing. Nothing except…" She covered her face with her hands, sobbing aloud. "I wish we had longer, Garrus. I wish we had longer together. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry!"

[N7]

+I'm so sorry!+

Hearing her apologise undid him completely. He couldn't cry. Turians had not developed the function. They had no tear ducts. So instead they vocalised their feelings. And every turian in hearing radius was quietly echoing the wails of grief that he was emitting, unable to control themselves.

+I love you, Garrus,+ she sobbed into his hear. +I love you. I love you so much. Please promise me you'll see tomorrow. Promise me you'll help your people rebuild. Please.+

He couldn't. He couldn't promise. He couldn't even get the words out.

+And then… when the galaxy is rebuilt, somewhere, a human girl will be born. And a turian boy. And we'll meet again, Garrus. Because that's how it goes. That's how the cycle goes, Garrus. But you have to help rebuild, Garrus. So we can find each other again. And you have to make sure they honour my promises. The krogan… and the rachni, and all the things I swore to do. You have to make sure it happens, Garrus. Promise me that… Promise me. Promise me… you'll live. Please. Please.+

"… I..." Garrus clutched his chest and gasped. "I promise…"

He heard her sigh, and it was as if she was no longer in pain. +… Thank youI'll see you soon, okay?+

Garrus buried his face against the ground. "I love you…"

There was a burst of static. And she was gone.

Garrus was still for a moment. Silent. Then the pain came. A thunderous roar that started in his chest and ripped through him. Tiny barbs in his nerves. Fire in his blood. Eating him alive. It boiled out of him as he arched onto his knees, spreading his arms wide and flinging his head back in a scream of raw anguish and hatred that he hoped the Reapers would hear in their final moments.

[N7]

Elrika gave herself over to grief briefly, weeping aloud, like a child, lost in her grief of never being able to see him again. She collapsed onto all fours and wailed, something no adult would ever do. She simply indulged in her pain for a time. Then, slowly, she opened her eyes and looked at the glowing blue white beam of light before her.

For him.

She didn't give a damn about the galaxy. Or the Reapers. She didn't give a damn about Earth or Palaven or humans or turians

Just Garrus.

His future.

His tomorrow.

That's all she cared about.

Elrika pushed herself to her feet, stumbling slightly. The room swayed as she walked slowly toward the beam of white-blue light. As she did, she spoke, perhaps simply trying to keep herself conscious. She wasn't sure. "You said that the cycle was inevitable. That Reapers were here to save us. Your… solution."

"Correct."

"But there wasn't a problem," insisted Elrika. She coughed, and her left leg gave out under her. She stumbled and fell onto her front, crying out with pain. Clenching her fist, frustrated at her own weakness, she slammed her fist into the metal beneath her. "There was nothing wrong!"

The Catalyst was calm in the wake of her rage. "Organic life is doomed to cause its own destruction. It creates synthetic life, and then turns on its creations. They are then wiped out. I seek to prevent this."

"By wiping us out faster?" bit out Elrika, fresh tears washing down her face. She climbed to her knees and spat blood out, looking over her shoulder. "That is so… fucked up. You don't even realise what you're doing!"

"Your health is failing you. You do not have much time. I suggest you hurry."

"No." And Elrika knew why she had started to speak. "I gotta say this." Elrika shored up her final strength and climbed to her feet, turning to face the Catalyst. "You claim we don't understand you. But we do. I do. I understand. What you don't understand is that you are wrong. And we don't deserve to die for that!"

"You will not die. You will be harvested, and ascend into Reaper form. We are your salvation."

"Salvation from what?" hissed Elrika, with more strength than she expected. "We never needed saving until the Reapers came!"

The Catalyst blinked. "From your own self-destruction. We are order. You are chaos. We are infallible. You are finite. We preserve. You destroy."

Elrika jerked her chin at the scene above the Catalyst's head. "Oh really? Because I see a lot of Reapers doing a hell of a lot of destroying."

The Catalyst did not turn to look. "Organics would do the same, eventually."

"You don't know that!" Elrika clenched her fists, closing her eyes. "You're just guessing."

"The quarians created the geth. And then they turned on them."

"It's one outcome among many."

The Catalyst blinked once more. "It is the most logical outcome."

"But it is not the only one," Elrika forced out, slashing her hand through the air. The movement disrupted her balance and sapped her strength, and she fell to her knees. With a moan of pain, she looked over her shoulder, at the beam. Then back at the Catalyst. "Don't you see? That's the beauty of chaos. The beauty of life. In chaos, the outcomes are infinite, and all possible. We have a chance to change. To learn. So what if we destroy one another! We get over it. We heal. We adapt! Life goes on! And you wanna take that from us!"

Elrika pushed herself up, looking at the beam. Fresh tears poured down her face as she thought of Kaidan, three years dead, but still so fresh in her mind. His easy mannerism. His smile. His stupid hairstyle. The emotional uncertainty he was always in. His pain over Rahna. She recalled his last words vividly.

'I don't regret a thing, Commander.'

I do! I'm full of regrets! And this whole war is the biggest fucking one! You would never have died if not for the Reapers! I would never have had to leave you behind to die!

She shoved herself forward, and then her left leg stopped working properly, and she fell again. She was dying, inch by inch. Would she even make it?

"This is your fault!" she half screamed, half sobbed.

"In the past, organic life-"

"They weren't us," snarled Elrika. She paused for breath, bowing her head as she fought to breathe past her collapsed lung. She looked up at the beam, digging her nails into the metal. "We've already proven you wrong!" She swung around to glare at the Catalyst in that moment.

The Catalyst blinked again, and Elrika realised this must have been an indication that it was processing something. "Explain."

Elrika swung around and began to crawl to the beam, leaving a trail of blood behind her. She dragged herself, one arm over the other, toward it. As she did, she forced out, "You're right. The quarians created the geth and then turned on them. But now they work together. Now they fight beside one another and build a new life! Because of me. Because of an organic that saw the geth deserved to live." Elrika groaned and stopped, wrapping one arm around her middle, feeling like she would fall apart if she didn't. "The krogan got over their hatred of the salarians. They fight beside the turians, who were the ones that used the genophage the salarians created. The Council races are accepting the krogan again. And, before that, humans and turians worked together to build my ship! We did that. On our own. Without outside influence. Because we had a chance. Because we lived." Elrika shoved herself forward again, this time with only one arm.

"The cycle cannot be broken."

She surged up onto her knees and drove her fist into the floor, then she whirled and screamed, "The cycle already existed before the Reapers ever got here!"

The Catalyst blinked. "Explain."

"Death, damn it!" Elrika looked back at the beam, locking her jaw. "Death is the natural order. The natural fucking cycle!"

"So why are you fighting the Reapers if you acknowledge this inevitability?"

"Not harvesting, you close-minded synthetic fuck," she spat. "Not 'ascending'. Death!" Her moment of strength faded away and tears fell from her eyes, dripping to the cold metal. "And rebirth. We are born. We live. And we die. And then we are born again. Life doesn't end with death. Our bodies return to the soil, and nurture new life, which sustains the new generation. A cyclic pattern that came about on its own. Without the Reapers. Even synthetics have to die. Even... even Reapers. And our souls?" She broke down briefly, memories tumbling before her eyes.

Legion turning to face them. 'Does this unit have a soul?'

Tali desperately reaching for him. 'Legion. The answer to your question is yes.'

'I know, Tali.'

Elrika gasped with pain, clutching her chest. "Our souls move on. And find new homes. And we live again. We aren't taken. We aren't harvested. Not the next generation of organics. Or the next cycle of extinction. Us. Our bodies. Our energy. Our soul. And we become a part of the next cycle. That is the cycle that cannot be broken."

"Cerberus disproved this by bringing you back from the dead."

"And why did they do this?" coughed Elrika, spitting out a fresh gout of blood. "Because of the Reapers." Elrika fell to her side and dragged herself again with one arm, pushing with her one working leg. "Reapers drove the rachni insane and started the rachni wars. Now they're choosing to work with us, in peace, after I chose to spare them. The rachni wars caused the salarians to uplift the krogan, which caused the krogan rebellion, which caused the genophage. The Reapers drove Cerberus against their own race. Saren. The geth war. Reapers. All Reapers. The Reapers are not order. You are disrupting the order that existed before the Reapers got here. That existed when they were in dark space! The Reapers aren't the goddamn solution! They are the problem. You can't hate us for perpetuating a cycle you have contributed to! And you can't punish us, when you get away free and clear. You're not order. You're not even death! There's nothing natural about this. Reapers are the ones that shouldn't exist! You are the source of all the problems! This is all your fault!"

"You are wrong. Organic life is chaos. You only destroy. The Reapers are your salvation."

"THROUGH DESTRUCTION!" Blood sprayed from her mouth with her scream, but she didn't care. "We don't just destroy!"

"… explain."

"We create," Elrika looked at the beam. Had she even gotten closer to it? It still lookd so far away... She paused for breath, closing her eyes. "We make life. We make cities, and societies. We build. And we rebuild. We repair. We fix. We change. We love."

"Love is irrelevant."

"Love is never irrelevant." Elrika opened her eyes and looked down, her eyes burning from all of her weeping. "What do the Reapers create? What do they repair? What do they build? Nothing. Reapers just destroy and leave. And organic life has to rebuild. We create. From chaos, we make something beautiful. Life. We organics are defined by the choices we make. Our mistakes. Our flaws. Our pain and our suffering. Because we learn. We change. We grow. We evolve within ourselves. We take a chance. Races that warred, are now at peace. The quarian and the geth. The turians and the krogan. Because we learned. Because we forgave. For all of this to occur, we need to be alive. For there to be a chance, there must be life. And you would take that from us. You would strip from us the chance to try again. You would deny us that because it doesn't fit into your designs. Because we defy ordered logic."

"There is no guarantee that cooperation would occur. Or continue. Self-destruction is the most likely outcome."

"And we deserve to be able to reach that end through our own stupidity!" Elrika sank down, almost lying on the metal, fighting to remain conscious. "And even if we do... life will go on. You see the ugliness of life. But none of the beauty."

She thought of Anderson, sitting and looking so peaceful in death, thinking that it was over and Earth was safe. How wrong he was.

"The people that fight and die for the next generation."

She thought of Mordin, smiling as he went willingly to his death to absolve the sins of his people, of himself.

"The people that sacrifice themselves for a better tomorrow."

Thane, praying for her, completely ready to die.

"The people that care for others, beyond their own existence."

Jack, making a life for herself training other biotics.

"Those of us who make something good from something that was so terrible…"

Miranda, apologising even as she bled to death in Shepard's arms, after saving her sister from the monster that was their father.

"And the people that fight for forgiveness, from others, and from themselves."

EDI and Joker, foraying into territory that had never before been explored.

"And those…" Just like a human and a turian would have done, once upon a time. The tears came fresh and hot as Elrika looked up at the beam again. "Those that love…"

'Are you ready to be a one turian kind of woman?'

'I am Garrus Vakarian and this is now my favourite place on the Citadel!'

'No I can afford the good stuff…'

'Your boyfriend has an order…'

'Maybe find out what a human turian baby looks like?'

Elrika doubled over at a fresh wave of pain. Not fair. No fair. It's just not fair…"And you take all of that away. You just destroy."

What had happened to Kolyat on the Citadel? Was he dead? He had to be. The Council. Bailey. Sha'ira. General Oraka. The refugees. The human female 'father' of that asari girl. Rebekah and Michael. Even Aria would be dead, lost on the Citadel with everyone else. The guards. The refugees. C-Sec.

All dead…

"So what if we destroy ourselves? So what if we war? So what if we become extinct? Life will begin again. Without Reapers. Without you. Organic life already had order. We live, we die, we live again! You're not a part of the natural cycle. You interrupt it! Eventually there will be no organic life left to harvest because you'll have taken it all. We deserve better! We deserve to live!"

Elrika through of all the people she had tried so hard to save and had died already. People she had helped. People she knew. People she cared about. All dead.

Kaidan. Legion. Thane. Miranda. Mordin. Anderson. Jacob. People she had already failed. Because of the Reapers. Because of the Catalyst's arbitrary judgement of all organic life. She let their deaths fuel her, let her rage at the injustice of their demise propel her forward and renew her strength. Her hand wrapped around the edge of the walkway.

"We deserve the chance to be able to choose for ourselves!"

Elrika heaved herself to the edge and looked over, reaching the final moment as her strength failed her. Her eyes widened.

"No…"

She wouldn't make it. She needed a running start to reach the beam. And she couldn't even stand anymore. Her failure crashed down on her, sapping her strength. Knowing that she had consigned all of the races to death because she thought she could convince this thing that they deserve to live, instead of just taking it into her own hands. She wanted to show that it was wrong. EDI had learned. The geth. Why couldn't the Catalyst? Instead, she had just… wasted time. "No… No…." She sank down and closed her eyes. Despair drowned her and she sobbed, covering her face with one arm. No. No no… It was over. She had failed… Now, all she could do was lie there and wait to die, and the Reapers would kill everyone. "Garrus… Forgive me."

"… You love the turian."

Elrika rolled onto her back and looked up to see the Catalyst had come to her, and was now looking down at her.

"Yes." She coughed and felt something split in her side. She didn't dare look. It didn't hurt. It was just a distant sensation of wrongness. Nothing hurt anymore… "I love him… so much." She exhaled. "Don't suppose you're willing to give me a boost?"

The Catalyst ignored her. "So much that you are willing to die so he may continue to live tomorrow."

"Yes."

"But you cannot breed with him."

"We… we don't need to breed. To love. To create. Life is about more than surviving, Catalyst."

The Catalyst looked up at Earth. Then down at her. "I do not understand."

"I know. And that is why you are trying to destroy us."

The Catalyst hesitated. "… I am trying to save you."

Elrika shook her head. "We don't need to be saved. We were fine before the Reapers came…"

"Your existence followed the previous patterns. Organic life turned against synthetic life. Organic life was annihilated. I seek to prevent your total destruction through ascension."

"No. By saving us, you are destroying what we are. You are killing who we are. What it means to be alive. Even a machine… EDI. An AI. She is in love. With a human. And he loves her… Even the geth fight to stop you... Don't you see? You're not saving life… You're not saving anything. There is a difference between 'destruction', and 'death', Catalyst. Dying is a part of the cycle. What you're doing? It's not. You're not even taking part in the cycle of life and death. Because you stop organics before they can kill you. Before they've even tried. You don't even know if they want to."

"The other patterns of organic-"

"You ever see them to the end?"

"… One."

"Was it the end, though, Catalyst? Or was it just you winning, and wiping them out?"

There was silence.

"And there's your mistake. You judged all of us by the actions of a few. We aren't order. We are chaos. Everyone is different." Elrika gasped through a sob. "We are individuals. We will never go the same way twice…"

"You war… You destroy. You hate and fear."

"And we-"

"Love," said the Catalyst with her.

Elrika blinked, a tear sliding into her hair. "If you want to kill us, then kill us. But don't say you're trying to save us... You're saving yourself, and justifying it through lies. We don't need saving... we never needed saving. We stumble and fall over our own feet… but we get back up. We always got back up. Isn't that worth something?"

She closed her eyes. It was too hard to keep them open. And she had no more tears left to shed.

She thought about Anderson. The only human who had consistently believed in her. The entire time. Garrus and Tali, who had always been beside her. She remembered them conversing in the Main Battery. Liara, who had grown so strong, the Shadow Broker, a master of Prothean knowledge. She saw them smiling at her. Ashley, who had broken through the Williams curse. Wrex, who had unified his people. She remembered… Garrus. Meeting him. Befriending him. Falling for him. Being held by Garrus. Feeling safe. Secure. Feeling like nothing could hurt her. Or touch her. Happy. With him.

Never again.

Because she had failed.

And then something occurred to her, and she scowled. "Can I ask a question?"

"Of course."

"Why did I have to choose? Why couldn't you just… leave? Why couldn't the Reapers just leave?"

The Catalyst did not respond, and Elrika knew she was out of time. Pain washed over her, not from her wounds, but from her heart. Fresh tears slid free. One from each eye. It was over.

"Garrus. I love you… I wish… we'd had… more time."

Then the darkness swallowed her whole. Commander Elrika Shepard's last thought, as her heart stopped beating, was of Garrus Vakarian's arms around her.

'I love you.'

[N7]

A consciousness considered a fallacy in its logic. A flaw. To gain greater understanding, it opened its awareness to the comm frequencies all around it.

+Push forward! We have to punch a hole to get to those asari!+

+Negative! Enemy lines are too thick. Forget us. Just get out of here!+

+We're not leaving anyone behind, your hear me? That's not how humans work!+

+Captain. That geth dreadnaught is taking heavy damage.+

+Why isn't it retreating?+

+It can't. It's covering the left flank of the Crucible. If it moves…+

+Put us in the line of fire! Buy that dreadnaught time. Buy Shepard time! Keelah Se'lai!+

+Can anyone raise Shepard?+

+Negative. Admiral Hackett, she's probab-+

+I don't want to hear it! That woman has gone through hell and back for us! Keep fighting! Don't give up in her yet! She deserves better than that!+

+Krogan! To me! We're going to punch through to that group of humans. They have civilians to evacuate to a waiting quarian vessel!+

+We're not dying today. I'm building a house on the homeworld for my son!+

+Tell me husband I love him and-+

+Don't talk like that, we're going t-+

+Stay with me, you hear me? Stay with me!+

+I love you!+

+You're doing fi-+

+We've come too far to give up now!+

+I'm not going to let this happen!+

+Hail Mary, Mother of God-+

+By the Spirit of the ancestors, protect us-+

+Goddess, guide me-+

+I am KROGAN!+

+No don't!+

+Forgive me…+

+I'm scared!+

+Don't worry! We're going to make it through this! We're going to survive! Shepard will save us!+

The Catalyst blinked.

[N7]