PRELUDE

First things first—this is involves fem!shep in all her feminine glory. Just thought I'd forewarn you there. Now. As you know, this is a crossover between two worlds that, on the surface, seem so different. However, upon much inspection, there are many similarities—string that, in the hands of one with some skill, can be knotted together to form a delicious web, whose intertwining plotlines form this very crossover. I ask the reader to please make note of the fact that some pieces of each story are not so easily woven together. Shepard is not related in any way to Desmond Miles, nor the great Altaïr or Ezio Auditore. It should be remembered that very few of the Assassin Order, besides Desmond (if any other exist besides him), had any cause to travel within the Animus. Also, this fiction will lean more heavily on the established world of Mass Effect—if only because it is more vast and easily manipulated than the world of Assassin's Creed. But this is not to say that AC will not be present. No, bits and chunks of its ideas will flow throughout this fiction, as seen in the Assassins and the Templars. However, they will be where they always have been: behind the scenes and lurking in the shadows. Simply because this: the war between these two factions was always fought beyond the common man. I hope when this is all said in done that (in your opinion my lovely readers) that I have woven these two worlds together in a way that both makes sense and is pleasurable. I believe you may enjoy whom I have chosen to learn towards each faction, as I sincerely enjoyed choosing them. I will try my best to put in as few original characters as possible as well, as I believe they will serve only to muddy the greatness of the two games I am striving so hard to emulate. Enjoy my tale, please, and feel free to rate and review. I look forward to your feed back. (Now I'll stop boring you with my long-ass author's note and let you move on to the good stuff. I just wanted to give ya'll a picture of exactly what this fic is essentially going to be. Now make your true judgments and read. )

2185 CE
Sometime between March and August
The Citadel

Things were working out perfectly. It took a little work, but after some strategic thieving and a careful leak of her 'contact information', Kasumi had made her way on to Cerberus' radar. It was about time. Having spent so much time in the shadows, the thief had no idea that it would be this difficult to get noticed. Now she had achieved that, her true mission could begin, and she was eager to get moving. This was to be her first real assignment since Keiji Okuda's death. The premise behind this mission was simple: Gain Cerberus' eye and turn herself into a possible asset. Give them a false but seemingly secure way to contact her. Join their ranks, but not as a full operative (because honestly, who wanted that kind of commitment) and then gain intel. However, fate always had a nice way of throwing a wrench into the simple things…

Two years after being claimed MIA and then dead by the Alliance military, Commander Shepard resurfaced. Only this time, she was commanding a ship and crew that flew under a Cerberus Banner. This sent the entire Order into a tail-spin. A mammoth hunt to gather information began, in hopes that the Order could discover why someone who had once been listed as a favorable recruit was now working for the enemy.

Kasumi's mission got more complicated. Her assignment evolved—she was tasked to get on to Shepard's ship (if it truly was Shepard after all) and find out what the hell was going on. When the message finally arrived from the Illusive Man, Kasumi had never been more eager. She even went so far as to set conditions for her employment—help in retrieving Keiji's greybox from Donavan Hock. The Order had refused to sanction the infiltration of Mr. Hock's estate, declaring it as too much of a risk to retrieve the lost intel. She had seethed and resubmitted her request several times, vowing to find a way. Shepard, and in turn the Illusive Man, merely provided a means to an end.

So here she was, in the Citadel, waiting for Shepard to arrive for their rendezvous. Kasumi leaned against the rail of the maintenance scaffold, smiling as an alert flashed on her omni-tool, signaling the Normandy's arrival in the docking bay.

Shepard- rather, who or whatever was wearing her face- soon arrived at customs in a shuttle, the commander's eyes flicking over the area in a cursory assessment borne from ears of militant service. Well. It certainly looked like her—Kasumi double-checked her data file. Reports in C-Sec stated that their scanners had indeed identified this woman as the one and only Commander Shepard. Citadel records no longer claimed her to be deceased, and the council had recently reinstated her Spectre status. Interesting. Everyone certainly believed this to be the true blue Commander Shepard—even the Alliance military, who listed her as an ally enlisted in temporary service.

It really could be her, Kasumi supposed. Her body had never been recovered after all… But how..? Reports had accounts abound from pilot Jeff Moreau about the Commander getting spaced- and that wasn't something people recovered from. Unless… Her lips twisted into a gentle frown, as Shepard continued to loiter below, searching for her contact. Cerberus certainly had enough funding…. Was it possible they had backed a project to revive her…? Kasumi sorted through the information the Order had compiled about Cerberus- gathered by agents or bought from the Shadow Broker- in her head. Over a year ago, Cerberus activity had come to a near stand-still. There was evidence of the asari Liara T'Soni being contracted by the organization, but the reason behind this had never been discovered… Soon after this, however, Cerberus began funneling massive amounts of credits into its research division- but the Order assumed this was in the interest of creating more technology to find the remaining Pieces of Eden. Still, no evidence was found to support it. What if that wasn't their purpose after all- what if Cerberus had been working to bring Shepard back?

The thief's eyes widened as the implications arranged themselves in her mind. The amount of credits certainly seemed to match. If so, all the plans the Order had made were now forfeit. If Cerberus had indeed been the one to bring Shepard back to the realm of the living… Only one question remained… Why?

Regaining her composure, Kasumi turned her eyes to the Commander, who now looked fittingly peeved. A few taps of her fingers on her omni-tool brought her to the advertisement's interface. The codes she had been worming her way through suddenly gave a brief green flash and a plaintive beep of defeat before the system opened itself up to her. It felt good to stretch her hacking muscles after her brief hiatus. With an amused smile, Kasumi leaned over the railing to observe her quarry as she set the advertisement's system to broadcast video. And thus, their partnership began…

Okay so this is some sort of Prelude flashback thing that has no real name. It's so short. I hate myself. Just give me your opinions?