Shepard; the only composite-class specialised N7 graduate, 1st human Spectre, saviour of the Citadel and, most recently, Cerberus' cyborg…. was currently in a "predicament".

"You can't hope to stop the Arrival!"

Well, she called it a predicament, given her "thrilling" line of work and propensity to enter dangerous situations on a whim, but, in reality, it was what most FNG's would refer to as a "royal clusterfuck"; that, or a more simplistic slew of derogatory cuss words applicable to a situation where one is surrounded by mindless thralls serving billion-year-old biomechanical monsters hell bent on exterminating all sentient life within the Milky-Way. After 5 brutal rounds against waves of minions surrounding Object Rho, the final two waves switching up their objective from "capture" demands to kill orders, Shepard was torn, tired and battle-scarred; her self-regenerative skin weave looking as blood-red as the crimson locks that flowed from her now shattered helmet, deformed tissue healing to desperately stem the blood pouring out of her cheeks from scrapes and burns caused by numerous evasive techniques and heavy weapons damage. On the subject of "scarring", the lumbering mass of Krogan Battlemaster, known to the galaxy as Urdnot Wrex, was fairing marginally better due to his species natural regenerative abilities and redundant nervous system; however, it was clear that the extensive pyrotechnics employed by the security personnel on this god-forsaken-asteroid was beginning to make him slower and more conservative then he might have been earlier in the bout.

Now, Shepard was no slouch in stature, standing at a commanding 6"2ft, with a build that was amplified by both the Alliance's gene therapy treatments and Cerberus' cybernetic biosynthetic fusion, allowing her to give off an aura of authority when present on either the battlefield or the boardroom; it also allowed her to wield a variety of weapons inaccessible to standard human personnel. For example, while she often preferred to use a refurbished M-7 Lancer assault rifle (complete with Incendiary Rounds and an extended cooldown sink) and STG Scorpion pistol (courtesy of "someone's high level access" within the Salarian Government) in the majority of her conflicts, after some thorough reassurance from Mordin prior to his departure from the Normandy-SR2 and a little field-testing, she discovered she could use the Claymore Krogan shotgun and M-98 Widow Anti-Material Sniper Rifle utilised by her allied Geth-trooper, Legion; interestingly, the latter of which Legion made a prototype version of, complete with an extended thermal clip and unique rounds coated in a superconductive fluid that "flash"-converts to plasma upon impact, for her specifically about a standard galactic week before he…"it" (…..they?) returned to the Perseus Veil. Apparently, the extra-energy generation made the increased thermal clip capacity necessary, as it would, in Legion's own words, cause "extremely excessive thermal levels to liquefy surrounding metallic materials"; so in reality, it could still only fire one "round" per clip. That one "round", however, was powerful enough to obliterate even the toughest of Krogan warriors in a single shot; in principle and practice, it worked similarly to the Geth's Plasma Shotgun. When Shepard questioned Legion about his construction of such a rifle, it responded by stating that a farewell "gift is commonly seen as a gesture of co-operation" within organic societies; when further questioned about why it went through the "oodles" of effort for such a lucrative gift, it used it's expressive head-flaps to convey an equivalent of organic confusion in its characteristic way, before stating "….No data available" and leaving on the (assumed) pretence that it needed to "build consensus" on an "issue". Although this weapon was dwarfed in power when compared to the M920-Cain or Blackstorm singularity gun (a personal favourite of Shepard), it had the advantage of using rechargeable thermal clips over power cells, giving it greater longevity than both; the Blackstorm still found extensive use in this battle, however, as it ripped YMIR-Mechs left and right into pieces big enough to fill a coffee cup.

"Your galaxy is in sight! Your final days are at hand!", the Object taunted; Shepard contemplated this before thinking of an appropriate response, calling out "Maybe, but the last two-kilometre ship who trash-talked me can attest to the fact that I don't quit!", before releasing a flurry of biotic attacks against the opposing forces.

This variety of devastating weaponry was matched only by Shepard's top-of-the-line armour. Thanks to both her Council Spectre status and a minor degree of coercion from a certain blue-skinned Shadow Broker, she was able to procure a set of N7 Shade Armour from an alliance R&D lab reverse-engineering Cerberus technology as preparation for the invading Reaper force; after fast-tracking the armour's approval through development, she installed numerous add-ons to the armour's virtual intelligence chassis, chief among them, an advanced tactical cloak based upon Kasumi's own personal device (who was more than willing to share the schematics with "Shep"; in exchange for Jacob's camera feed in the Normandy's armory, of course).

However, even while swimming in enough gear to equip a small army, Shepard's frame almost looked diminutive in comparison to the 800-year-old-warlord that was her current companion; much of his current gear was an amalgamation of both his own collected weaponry and armour from his time as Clan Chieftain, as well as specific additions from Shepard given to him as "gifts" and as payment for his help on this mission (although Wrex believed it was not required, Shepard's nature as a paragon of virtue insisted he be compensated in some way for his service). Jokingly, Wrex had once said that Shepard was a woman after his own heart and that, as much as he appreciated it, she'd have to put in a breeding request with the other females for his "attention"; a kick to the quad and a glass of ryncol later, Shepard had got the Battlemaster donning some of the greatest Krogan-tailored equipment available either side of the Milky Way. After a few weeks of haggling and negotiating with the Geth armoury prior to this meeting, the emerald-eyed warrior had managed to procure a set of Krogan Rage Armour, as well as a few pieces of Geth equipment normally reserved for their Prime or Juggernaut ground units.

As mass accelerator rounds pelted the reinforced glass cover currently shielding her body from harm, Shepard took this temporary reprieve from harm to observe how this equipment was being put to use in combat against the, what seemed to be, endless hordes of personnel who would, without a doubt soon overrun this position. Wrex was supplied with a series of revolutionary stimulant packs that the Geth had designed to temporarily boost shield performance and strength with less than a .04% chance of any long term negative effects, one of their Spitfire assault-rifles which were now in mass production in preparation for the Reaper's arrival, a few biotic grenades and a Geth-Plasma-Shotgun. Although he refused to take a regular assault rifle or SMG, Shepard insisted he take at least one lighter long-range weapon in addition to his modified M-300 Claymore; this outcome was expected by the hardened alliance marine, and, since it was technically a "mid"-range weapon, she allowed him to take the shotgun as his reserve weapon.

While he was currently holding back the impending forces in an admirable fashion, utilising the Spitfire's rate of fire, it was clear things were about to become problematic; Shepard's green iris' peered through the remnants of her visor to Object Rho. A thick black aura began spreading like a mist through the lab, soon reaching their location; dear god, was the feeling foreboding. Every hair in her body stood on end, the air turned as cold as corpse at the point of rigor mortis and even Wrex's expression turned to a grim frown. Making an attempt to call out to Wrex, Shepard's throat felt constricted, sealed like she hadn't drank in a week; it felt like she was back on the SR-1 those many years ago, choking in the vacuum, her consciousness fading away into emptiness. Before she could even consider the abhorrent feeling of helplessness, a burning pulse shot through the now-crowded science lab, sending her flying into the black abyss of her mind…