Chronicles of a Legend: The Return of a Legend. Part 3 of the trilogy. Shepard has voluntarily returned to the Alliance in order to warn them about the Reapers. No one believes her, until one day, her warning comes true. But it's all too late. Shepard has to join forces with old allies and new ones to fight the toughest battle of their lifetime.

A/N: From part 2 onward, it's an alternate universe setting, mainly due to Kaidan and Shepard's early reconciliation, and his involvement in the Collector mission. So part 3 will not follow the canon. You'll see the changes right from chapter one.

I don't have a beta reader, so please excuse any typos and mistakes. You can reach me at gmail – pinoko19, or tumblr – pinoko-k, or just leave a note here. Love to hear from you. Now, let's continue with the last part of Aerin Shepard's story.

Disclaimer: All characters and settings belong to Bioware.

Chronicles of a Legend

Part III: The Return of a Legend

Prologue

Year: 2186CE

Location: Alliance Headquarters, Vancouver

Six months.

For six months, Shepard had been wasting her time with endless interrogations in one form or another. Whether it was in a cold and uncomfortable interrogation room with an Internal Affairs officer, or a high-ceiling formal meeting hall with the brass in their dress blues, or a cozy office with plush armchairs and fresh-brewed hot coffee with the psychiatrist. They all asked the same questions, over and over again.

Shepard had enough of this nonsense.

"Commander." A gentle yet somewhat hypnotic voice guided Shepard out of her reverie, and back to the cozy office she was currently trapped in.

A quick glance at the clock told her she had twenty more minutes to go. Twenty minutes until she could get the hell out of here and head to the training arena. The daily session in the combat simulator was the only thing she looked forward to in the past few months. Her training partner was not bad, either. With all his muscles and his size, Lieutenant James Vega had proven to be quite fast and a decent shot. The kid had potential, too bad he was wasted as her glorified jail guard.

"How is your sleep lately?" asked the psychiatrist.

"Still not quite used to the bed, it's too soft for my taste. But comparing to some places I've slept, the detention center is a five-star hotel."

Unfazed by her deflection, Doctor Troy reworded the question patiently, "Do you still have nightmares?"

"Sometimes," Shepard admitted. There was no point in lying, not when every single minute of her life was closely monitored. Right now, they were probably studying her body language and her eye movements through hidden cameras and sensors.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

No. But that wasn't an answer they wanted. "I dream about what I saw at the Collector base," said Shepard with her tone flat, her face emotionless. "About what happened on Virmire. About the attack on the Normandy. And... about dying."

"I see." The doctor glanced at the datapad on her lap. "What about the Reapers? You used to have dreams about them after Eden Prime."

More often lately than Shepard cared to admit. It was as though she could sense them getting closer and closer. A dreadful feeling so intense sometimes it suffocated her in her sleep. That, however, was not a detail Shepard was willing to share.

"Sometimes," Shepard repeated with the same vague answer. "I won't rest easy until the Reapers are defeated."

"Reapers," the doctor repeated as if testing the sound of that word. "The ship that attacked the Citadel..." She paused to look at her note. "Sovereign. That was a Reaper?"

"Yes. And Sovereign was not a ship. The Reapers, they're..." Shepard thought for a second, trying to explain without sounding crazy. The last thing she wanted was to give the brass the killer ammo to discredit her by labeling her as clinically insane. "...They are sentient beings. Sovereign is the vanguard of their army. They're here to destroy the galaxy by wiping every civilization off the map. Or worse."

"Worse?"

"Genetic mutation, turning an entire population into mindless slaves."

No matter how she phrased it, despite telling the truth, Shepard had to admit everything sounded like what she'd expected: Utterly insane.

The doctor wasn't at all disturbed by her statement, for everything was already listed from Shepard's previous testimonies. "And you know this because you talked to a Reaper."

"Yes," Shepard admitted for the thousandth time, to the IA, to the brass, and even while under oath. "On Virmire. I talked to Sovereign."

"You talked to a hologram in the form of Sovereign," Dr. Troy pointed out, reviewing the notes on her datapad. "Not face-to-face."

"Yes." She knew where this was heading. "And I know what you're going to say. It's not some sort of trick by Saren."

"It's possible, isn't it?" the doctor countered calmly. "A well-programmed VI to shift the blame from Saren himself to this... Reaper."

Not this shit again. The Council had been insisting this song and dance for three years. That's even after they had been attacked by Sovereign itself.

Taking a sharp breath to suppress the fire in her belly, Shepard kept her composure and explained, "I know how this sounds like, but I'm not crazy, doctor. The Council knows the truth. They're suppressing it, burying data, making up lies to cover up the fact that they screwed up. If they'd listened to my warnings, they could have stopped Sovereign before it came anywhere close to the Citadel."

The doctor studied her with an unreadable expression for a moment. "I agree," said Doctor Troy eventually. "You are not crazy."

Good. That's a start...

"You have displayed symptoms of PTSD," the doctor continued. "Post-traumatic stress disorder. Recurring nightmares of past events, constant fear that you or others are in danger, feeling helpless, that things are going out of control. Lost of appetite, lack of sleep, or perhaps even a sudden and unwarranted feeling of panic."

No. No. Goddammit! Not this!

"What you have seen, what you have been through, it's enough to break anyone," said the doctor soothingly. "It's not uncommon to develop PTSD after facing traumatic events, even for an elite soldier like you. And it's definitely not uncommon for veterans to ignore their symptoms and suffer through them silently. There's treatment. It will take time, but you will-"

"We don't have time for this," Shepard cut her short. "The Reapers aren't going to wait for me to be reinstated before they invade."

"You don't have to shoulder all the responsibility, Commander. We have many capable soldiers. If there's a war, let them fight. You need to focus on your own well-being; that is the war only you can fight."

"No. I won't be sidelined! Not when I still draw a breath." Shepard shook her head with a scowl. "Sign me off, and I promise I'll start whatever treatment you want once the war is over."

"You are strong, Aerin. However, that doesn't mean you are unbreakable. As your doctor, it's my responsibility to see that you receive proper treatments in a timely manner. Your well-being is my first priority."

"If we don't win this war, my well-being won't even matter because we'll all be dead!"

"We cannot risk your health just because of the possibility of a war."

"It's not a possibility. It's a certainty." Shepard leaned forth and looked her straight in the eyes. "The Reapers are coming. And they will annihilate us if we are not ready. We need all boots on the ground, all ships deployed. We have to fight, or die trying."

A/N: To those who have been following Aerin Shepard's story, welcome back. And to those who have just started reading this series, welcome aboard.

A tidbit since this is the last prologue in the series: When I wrote Shepard's shrink in all three prologues, I had Deanna Troi from Star Trek in mind.

Prologue and Chapter one are posted on the first update. Chapter two coming up soon. Thanks for reading.