Author's Note: (WARNING SPLOIERS) Hello fellow fans of Mass Effect, RedHawk09 here. This story is a rewrite of the ending for Mass Effect 3, personally I had no problem with Shepard dying, but I just straight up hate the endings that were available. I didn't think it was very fair for anyone, not for Shepard, Liara, Tali, Garrus, and the entire Normandy Crew, I mean just about all of them promised to buy Shepard a beer or something. Plus, I think that Sheaprd deserves to go out in a much better way. That being said, I'd like to thank Seracen Beta and his co-writer Jackie Almasy for their awesome work on their own Mass Effect 3 ending. If you haven't yet read it yet, do so right now! There will be some similarities between these stories, however that does not mean I'm copying them, they merely gave me the inspiration to write this story. Plus, I will be using my Shepard in the story: Paragon/Sole Survivor/Soldier/ Romanced Liara.
Chapter 1: All For Nothing
He walked towards the brilliant radiating blue light, it was the hardest thing he'd even done, more difficult than leaving Ashley to die on Virmier, than letting Mordin sacrifice himself, watching Thane die. They wouldn't be alone for long, he thought sadly. Tears started rolling down his cheeks, he was afraid, not for himself but for the others. He felt so selfish; if he did this then Liara would have to raise their daughter by herself. He thought of the asari he'd come to cherish, the turian that had been a brother to him, the young quarian who was like a sister to him. He was doing this for them, all of them. He reached the edge of the walkway, and was about to jump, when he heard a sound that could be described as snickering. He turned around, and saw the Catalyst, but the laugh didn't match its earlier voice, it was too...robotic. His eyes widen in realization, the voice was Harbinger's. "Harbinger," he shouted. The Catalyst's form began to shift until; it transitioned to Harbinger's.
"Shepard," the voice sent chills down his spine, it was Harbinger, and "You continued to be an annoyance This "war" you are desperately trying to fight is pointless, you are only prolong the inevitable. We can not be stopped." Shepard became angry, and somehow found more strength, and marched up to Harbingers holographic form. He looked it in the eyes, "If that's the case then, why are you trying to send me to my death?" The machine paused, and Shepard grinned, he already knew the answer. The Reapers had never faced such heavy resistance before, and it was because of him that for the first time they felt fear. Him, an organic, a human, he had killed three Reapers now, and had united the galaxy under his leadership to fight them. So it's logical that they wanted him out of the way. Harbinger finally answered, "Your existence has created heavy resistance, although it will all be in vain, your death will weaken it."
He looked back towards the beam of light, "What would've happened to me had I jumped into that beam?" Harbinger quickly answered, "You would've have been slowly ripped apart, molecule by molecule." Shepard was now more relieved that he had heard Harbinger's "laughter" but now upset that it was all a lie. "IS THERE ANYWAY TO STOP YOU BASTARDS?" he shouted. Shepard could've sworn he saw the machine smile. "Not anymore," it simply said, then disappeared.
Not anymore, he thought, was ever a way before. His mind made the connection, "That crazy indoctrinated son of a bitch," he muttered to himself. The Illusive Man had the right idea, he did created a signal that would affected the Reaper's, but not the way he'd hoped. He limped over towards the platform, he had woken up on. When he reached it, he aimed his gun for the power-source, or at least what looked like it, and fired his pistol. The platform began to quickly descend, he braced for the impact.
Thanks to what remained of his armor, Shepard only had a few bruises and two-cracked ribs. But due to his newfound exhaustion, he barely found the strength to stand. He walked towards the corpse of the Illusive Man, he tripped on the way, but he made it. He activated the Illusive Man's Omni-tool, and scan through the data, that was stored. After what seemed like hours, but was only two minutes, he found it, a signal that could disrupt the Reaper. He was no tech expert, but he'd recognize a Reaper signature in anything, and he'd seen plenty of jamming signals as well. But the signal alone wouldn't be powerful enough; he'd need a powerful transmitter. Or an army of communication relays, which the Citadel and the Crucible provided. He grinned, all he had to do was download the data to his Omni-tool, and upload the signal data to all the relay, and the Reapers would be helpless.
I'm still working on the other chapters now, but please, please review and let me know what you think.