Shepard stood atop the Crucible, bloodied and battered, but unbroken. Her left arm clutched a wound at her side, trying to stem the flow of blood, as her right arm hung limp, barely holding onto her pistol. Dried blood and black ash covered her once pale skin, her short cut red hair singed and torn, and her reinforced Blood Dragon armor which carried her through so many battles was literally a shell of its former self.

Slowly walking toward the burning pillar of light, she knew that this was the end. Years of fighting have led up to this choice. Millions, if not billions dead across the galaxy, all falling to the cruel, uncaring hands of the Reapers. But she knew she could not damn the EDI and the Geth to destruction, not after Legion's sacrifice. She could have taken control of the Reapers and have them leave, but as with destruction it only solved a symptom, not the disease. Plus a not so small voice inside of her simply didn't want to give the Illusive Man the satisfaction of being right.

So her slow trudge forward turned to a walk, then a jog, and finally a run as Commander Jane Shepard threw herself into the light of the Crucible. Now in free fall, she felt her body slowly but painlessly start to dissolve, freeing itself into data as she began the Synthesis of organic and synthetic life. She closed her eyes and embraced the light, her last thoughts on her love Liara, on her crew and friends, then to Earth, and finally on the galaxy she was leaving behind.

This is a good end. She thought to herself, trusting her loved ones to carry the torch as her fight was finally finished.

"-pard!" Shepard could hear a voice. Soft and distant, but comforting.

"Shepard wake up!" The voice called again but louder, the aquatic accent coming into focus.

Jane lazily opened her eyes, her vision blurry. It felt as if she had the most pleasant sleep, no pain, no stress, no Reapers. As her eyes fully opened she could see the familiar green, reptilian face of a friend she thought lost. Thane Krios, Drell assassin and her former crewmate was staring down at her, holding her shoulders and shaking her awake.

"Thane." Shepard coughed out, her voice hoarse and tired. Shepard sat up slowly as she felt a tear roll down her cheek. When she last saw the Drell, he had sacrificed what little time he had left to save the Valern, the Salarian Councilor. He was at peace, and passed into the next life. She couldn't help but smile as she pulled the green man into a deep hug.

After about five seconds, she let go and looked back at Thane, his face a mixture of disbelief and sadness.

"So…" Shepard continued, "I guess I really am dead aren't I?"

Thane gave a sad smile back to her.

"Unfortunately that appears to be the case. What happened Shepard? Were the Reapers victorious?" Thane asked, his voice calm but carried faint traces of worry.

Shepard shook her head.

"No." she said with a smile. "The Crucible worked. The Reapers won't be hurting anyone anymore. And if my gambit pays off, no synthetic life will ever come into conflict with organics again."

Thane gave a slight nod.

"So your war is finally over." He sighed as an invisible weight was lifted off his shoulders. "I never had any doubt in your capabilities to do so." A smile returned to his face as he looked back to her.

"Of course. I'm the best Goddamn Spectre the galaxy has ever seen." Shepard sarcastically gloated as she slowly stood up, dusting off her leg armor. "And now this Spectre could use some R and R. Do you know where we are?"

She looked around, trying to get some bearing of where she was. She was surrounded by red peteled forest, massive trees of almost fey beauty. She felt the ground beneath her, grass and loose dirt, damp with what was likely recent rain. Thane rose in a single motion, no movement wasted, even in something as simple as standing.

"Well for one thing, I know we are not in the domain of Kalahira, the Drell goddess of the afterlife." Thane explained without inflection. "Nor are we in humanity's version of Heaven or Hell."

"Huh, didn't know you knew much about human religions Thane." Shepard half-asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow.

"In all honesty, I didn't." Thane gave the slightest hint of a shrug. "There are other humans here as well. They are the ones who educated me on the beliefs of the human afterlife."

"Really? Go figure. Anybody I know? Oh! Is Kaiden here? What about Anderson?" A flash of excitement rushed itself to Shepard's face.

Thane raised his right hand, stopping Shepard's overly enthusiastic questioning.

"It's, more complicated than that, Shepard." Thane looked down at the ground, contemplating what his next words were.

A scowl found itself onto Shepard's face.

"What do you mean?" She questioned, her voice brimming with confusion and frustration.

Before Thane could respond, the snapping of branches and leaves behind Shepard seized her attention. In an instant Shepard whirled towards the source of the sound, her hand automatically moving to her thigh. To her surprise, she found a pistol magnetically holstered to her leg. With an automatic reflex developed from years of training, she instantly drew the gun and leveled at the source of the noise.

Appearing from behind one of the red leafed trees, a male human, or humanoid at least, wearing full white armor slowly approached. His armor seemed to be made of some kind of hardened plastic material, and was decorated with slashes of red paint. Or at least Shepard hoped it was paint. His helmet had a distinctive, T-shaped visor that glowed blue, and he carried a submachine gun sized weapon in his hands. The gun was lowered, and the stranger made no move to lift it, so Shepard slowly lowered her pistol back to her side.

"Thane…" The new soldier asked in a low, grizzled voice that was almost a growl. "Is she ready to go? These woods aren't safe."

Shepard kept her weapon down, but held a strong scowl at the red and white trooper. Thane stepped in front of her, gesturing to him.

"Shepard don't worry, he's a friend. This is RC-1207, Sev for short. He's a Commando from a place called the Galactic Republic."

"Ga-, Galactic Republic?" Shepard stammered out.

"Yeah, main government who rule my galaxy." Sev said flatly. "Filled with worthless hut'uune who spend more time debating with each other than actually trying to end the war." Shepard didn't know what a hut'unne was, but it sounded like politicians were the same everywhere.

"There are several people here Shepard, from what you could call alternate realities or universes." Thane interjected. "In Sev's universe, he comes from a galaxy different from the Milky Way, with technology more advanced than ours and thousands of sentient species. In addition, there are also several different alternate versions of Earth."

Shepard's mouth hung open as she struggled to take in all of this new information. This had been a long week for her. Between killing herself to stop the Reapers and catapult her galaxy's evolution by light years, and now finding out that other alternate realities exist, it would be an understatement to say she was a bit overwhelmed. Her mind raced with thousands of questions about these alternate worlds, when Sev's voice cut through her inner monologue.

"I get that this is confusing, believe me." Sev growled. "But like I just said, we're not safe here. We need to get moving, we can give you a full recap when we get back to HQ. Your weapons green?" Sev asked, pointing at the armament on Shepard's back.

For the first time since she woke up, Shepard took the time to assess her status and equipment. Looking at her body, all of the wounds she sustained on Earth were gone, and her ruined armor was replaced by her classic N7 armor. She glanced at the pistol in her hands, an N7 Eagle Heavy Pistol, pristine condition and fully loaded. Checking the weapons on her back, she found a Hurricane Submachine Gun and a Crusader Shotgun, both also top of the line N7 weapons, along with a plethora of thermal clips. Lifting her arm she clenched her fingers into a fist, and her entire arm began to glow blue with biotic energy, her L5N Vanguard Biotic implants still working strong. Shepard grew a savage grin that would've made Wrex proud.

"Yeah, I'm good to go." she said, as she drew her shotgun and gave Sev a nod.

"Let's move out then." He grunted, turning and motioning the others to follow.

The impromptu fireteam quickly took their positions. Sev, a highly trained hunter and tracker, took point. The close quarters master Shepard followed, and the master assassin Thane held up the rear. They moved swiftly and quietly, dashing between trees and not leaving a footprint behind. While Shepard always preferred going in hard and loud to stealth espionage, her N7 training easily allowed her to keep up with the two snipers.

The squad continued this pattern for fifteen minutes, making good progress through the forest, when Sev's fist shot up, halting their movements. Instantly Shepard crouched, raising her shotgun and scanning the forest for contacts. All three were statues, unmoving and silent, taking as much information in as possible, ready to pounce. There was no noise, save for the gentle wind that rustled the crimson leaves.

But then there was a crack, a snapping of twigs, North of their position. Shepard spun, crosshairs looking for a target, but only seeing shadows. Fast moving shadows that continued to run out of her view. More noise grew around them, the telltale sounds of something dashing towards them from all directions, followed by a single, piercing cry. A howl. A howl louder than any Shepard had ever heard before.

Shepard's eyes widened as she watched a creature appear from the shadows of the forest. It was a massive creature of black fur, with white, bony spines protruding from its back, and on its head, a sinister skull-shaped mask with blood red markings. It was lupine in appearance, but reminded Shepard more of werewolves she'd seen in old Holo-vids than any actual animal.

"Beowolves." Sev chuckled. Shepard could hear an excited bloodlust in his voice.

Around them a several more of theses beowolves appeared, followed by a single large bear-like shadow monster with similar bone armor

"And they brought an Ursa." Thane flatley added.

With a snarl the first beowolf lunged right for Shepard, covering nearly a dozen feet in a single leap. Shepard rolled to the side, dodging the blow that ripped apart the ground she had been kneeling on. Charging her biotics into her left hand, she threw the beowolf backwards. It flew through the air, smashing into the side of a tree, sending splinters of wood into the beast. The beowolf fell to the ground, injured but not dead, bleeding some kind of black substance. Before it could recover, Shepard rushed forward, and with a single blast from her shotgun put the beowolf down.

Two more wolves snarled at her before making their move. But like their now dead packmate, these two beowolves acted more on instinct than with strategy. They dashed towards Shepard, savagely sprinting straight for her. Seeing the attack Shepard decided to meet them head on. Blue biotic flames burst around her as she flew directly at the closest beowolf, biotically charging it. The beowolf's momentum immediately reversed as it was sent ragdolling backwards, with Shepard standing where it once was. The second wolf, still running forward, overshot Shepard. It desperately tried to slow itself, turning and digging its claws into the ground, skidding through the dirt. But it wasn't fast enough as a quick two tap from Shepard's Crusader shotgun turned the beast into a pile of black smoke.

Meanwhile Sev and Thane were dealing with their own would-be ambushers. Sev, already having his DC-17 blaster in the sniper rifle configuration watched as two beowolves ran straight for him, ignoring any type of cover the trees could provide. With an expertly placed shot, a blue bolt of plasma shot forward, burning its way through the beowolf's skull plated head and out the other end. Shepard's mouth fell open as she saw what appeared to be a fully functional, hand held direct energy weapon.

Before Sev could get another shot off however, the second beowolf had closed the distance. The wolf gave a wide horizontal swing. Sev barely leaned back in time as the claws passed inches away from his face. It was telegraphed and easy to predict, but the speed and ferocity of the strike made it hard to dodge nonetheless. Continuing its momentum forward, the beowolf growled and went for a vicious bite at Sev's arm.

The beowolf's fangs clamped down on air as Sev narrowly slipped the maw of teeth. Moving off pure instinct, Sev grabbed one of the bony protrusions on the wolf's shoulder, pulling it down while he jumped up. In a single motion, Sev flipped himself over the beast and mounted the beowolf, balancing himself on its wide shoulders. Flicking his left wrist, his knuckle-punch vibroblade extended from his gauntlet. Bending down on the nape of the beowolf's neck, he began repeatedly stabbing it with his blade. Shepard could've sworn she heard him laughing as the last knife strike drove the beowulf into the ground.

Seeing that Sev was fine, Shepard moved to check on Thane who was engaging the Ursa. To her surprise, Shepard saw him choosing to fight the bear in close quarters. Thane had his M6-Carnifex pistol in his right hand, and in his left he had what looked like a sword. Shepard recognized the blade as a Jian, a double edged Chinese straight sword often used in Wushu or as a military officer's sword.

Shepard questioned where he got the sword from, or if he even knew how to use it, but these questions quickly disappeared as the Ursa attacked. Thane spun in the air, twisting with a butterfly kick to dodge the Ursa's cumbersome claw. Sticking the three point landing, Thane then dashed towards the bear, cutting the distance and nullifying its advantageous reach.

The Ursa swung with its other claw, but Thane dropped and slid on the dew covered grass, gliding between its legs and ending up behind it. With a quick flash of his sword, Thane sliced into the back of the Ursa's hind legs, cutting the tendons with surgical precision. The bear stumbled back, its legs no longer able to support its massive weight. Thane simply stepped to the side as it fell, landing on its back in a daze. Before it could even register what had happened, Thane leapt onto its chest and aimed his heavy pistol, unloading the thermal clip into the Ursa's throat.

With the area cleared of all hostiles, Shepard approached the assassin as he jumped off the dissolving beast. Flicking black blood off of his sword, Thane sheathed it on his back and holstered his Carnifex pistol.

"You look good with that blade, Thane." Shepard said with a grin. "I knew you could throw a punch but I've never seen you pull off moves like that.

"Indeed." Thane responded, nodding his head. "After the duel with the Cerberus assassin, I thought it was prudent to become proficient with the usage of a sword. Luckily, we have several very skilled swordsmen among our number."

Shepard felt her blood boil at the very mention of Kai Leng, the cyborg assassin that killed so many people and hurt so many of her friends, but she quickly shoved the feeling down. He was dead and there were more urgent things to worry about.

"So what the Hell were these things? Beowolves? Ursas? Names aside, they looked too similar to wolves and bears to be pure alien." Shepard questioned. "Some kind of, genetic engineering? Bioweapons?"

"Would you believe me if I said magic?" Sev sniggered.

Shepard raised an incredulous eyebrow at Sev, unamused by his comment.

"Bullshit." She spat out.

"It'll be another thing to tell you in the briefing." Sev laughed. "What I can tell you right now is that they're from another world, Remnant I think it was called. They are literal magic beasts that sense fear and eat humans. They're dumb and not too hard to kill, but can be problems in big numbers."

Shepard was agape, stunned by the one revelation after another. First, Sev was holding an actual plasma gun in his hands, something only the Geth or Collectors were able to come close to making, and even their guns were only faux-energy weapons. Then he says that magic animals are real. She'd be giddy if they weren't trying to kill her.

Sev simply shook his head as he turned around and resumed leading them out of the forest. Still confused, Shepard looked to Thane, who only gave his small shrug before falling in line behind Sev. Shepard simply sighed and moved to catch up with the two snipers.

The group continued East through the forest for another hour. Luckily, the rest of the way out of the forest was mostly clear, save for a smaller pack of grimm that was quickly put down. About a hundred meters in front of her, Shepard could see the edge of the forest, which emptied into an expansive desert region.

The shift in environments was jarring. On one side of Shepard was a lush, dense scarlet-leaved forest. On the other was a mountainous, arid, desert landscape, filled mostly with rocks and dry grass. It was as if someone took two separate biomes that should've been miles apart and crammed them next to each other.

Shepard scanned the horizon, examining the sand dunes and rocky cliffs that lay in her way. She could see some small black figures, moving in packs across the sand. She quickly surmised they were Grimm, and was thankful that their black appearance would make them stick out in the desert.

However, her survey of the landscape brought a stunning revelation. It took several visual passes, reexamining different sections and rock formations, but Shepard realized she recognized this land. She had seen photos of the terrain back during her special forces training in the Systems Alliance. Every N7 operative knew of the decades of special forces operations and guerilla warfare that took place in these mountains.

"Guys." Shepard muttered. Sev and Thane both stopped to turn to her. "Do you know where we are?"

Sev and Thane shared a look, before turning back and shaking their heads.

"These aren't just any old mountains. This is the Kabul Province, in Afghanistan!" Shepard practically yelled. Both Sev and Thane raised their eyebrows, confused at the importance of the region's name. Shepard sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"That means that this entire region is from Earth. As in the cradle of humanity in our universe." Shepard explained, gesturing to her and Thane.

"Oh, well good for you I suppose." Sev grunted before turning back ground, his indifference palpable.

"You can just barely see our HQ from here." Sev continued, changing the subject as he pointed to a large plateau overlooking a river. On top of the shelf Shepard could barely see the remains of a medieval castle. "Let's move. I want to be back before the sun starts going down. We get there too late all the good MREs will be gone."

Shepard wanted to say something about Sev's absolute apathy to what she thought was a huge revelation, but he was already on the move. Shepard glanced at Thane who caught her eyes. Thane just gave a simple shrug before moving to catch up with Sev. Shepard could only give an exasperated sigh as she began hoofing it was well.

The trio jogged their way through the desert, and soon enough reached the river below the castle. The plateau the structure rested on had one avenue of approach by foot, a long road to the Southwest that gradually inclined to the castle. All other sides of the stone mesa was surrounded by hundred foot cliffs, carved out by millenia of erosion, which were protected by castles walls atop them.

As they approached the castle, Shepard could make out more and more of the layout. The castle had a simple design, a large, rectangular complex that ran flush with the cliffs beneath it. The walls looked to have been made with some type of granite originally, but had been recently repaired with concrete and steel. Shepard could see Anti-Air guns atop the defensive towers and bastions of the walls, and the castle gates were replaced by a pair of steel blast doors.

Sev moved two fingers to an ear, opening a call on his comlink.

"T3, open the main gate and notify the Boss of our arrival." Sev ordered.

Shepard could hear a series of electronic chirps and whistles over the comms, as the hydraulic pumps of the gate hissed to life. With a resounding clang the main lock of the blast doors disengage, and they began to slowly open inward.

"Well Shepard," Sev said, turning back to her and likely grinning underneath his helmet. "Let me be the first to officially welcome you to Mother Base."