This is my continuation of the Mass Effect story, as told by my character in the game; ruthless earthborn shock trooper marine, Tassia Shepard. I did go for the Paragon route, and I opted for Kaidan as opposed to Liara (I am, however, in the process of replaying it as a renegade and Liara’s companion).

I do not claim ownership of any of these characters, or BioWare’s game. I support BioWare 100 percent, they are a fantastic company and I can only hope they continue making their amazing games. Not bad for the little Canadian company that could, eh?

Here we go.

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Here I stood on the precipice of destiny, or so an author might say about their story’s hero. But this isn’t a book, and I’m not a fairytale hero, though it may seem that way to some.

My life had been fraught with hardship. I was born on Earth, abandoned by my parents as a baby. I spent my childhood going through the foster system in Vancouver, which ultimately led to my enrolment in the Reds, a neighbourhood gang. After watching so many young lives get snuffed out by drug abuse and violence, I opted to get out, and so I joined the Alliance Navy.

I devoted myself to the military one hundred percent; it was my sole focus and reason for living. I was assigned as a squad leader earlier than most, and did my utmost to complete my missions with minimal losses. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned, though things rarely do anyway.

I was appointed commander, and was labelled as a ruthless marine doing whatever it took to get the job done. My peers both respected and feared me, and the higher-ups only used me on absolutely critical missions. I had been confused when I was moved to the Normandy for a simple shakedown run, but that turned out to be another critical mission. Looking back on it now, it was probably the most critical.

These past few months, I’ve seen things I never would have imagined possible as a child back in Canada. Aliens, dangerous synthetic life forms, and love... I mean, I knew these things existed, but I had never been in such close contact with them previously.

Fate seemed to have me caught in its tangled web, and events swept past me at uncontrollable speed. I was out of my element, I was terrified, and my life was transforming into something I was never prepared for faster than I could comprehend. I went from being a simple marine, to the first human spectre, and now I’m the saviour of the galaxy. I didn’t know how to react to this, and while my crew was definitely supportive, everything was so incredibly complicated.

I had to make choices, horrible choices throughout my mission to stop Saren. I lost Jenkins and Nihlus on Eden Prime, and later on Virmire was forced to choose between the life of Kaidan Alenko, or Ashley Williams. I didn’t want to lose either of them, but I had to choose one of them... I couldn’t bring myself to let go of Kaidan, and it seems like such an incredibly selfish decision now. Then again, I don’t know if I would have been able to go on after Virmire without him.

Kaidan Alenko, I don’t know what it is about him, but since day one on the Normandy, he always set my heart aflutter. I had been cold, calculating, and ruthless; the military’s description of me was absolutely in line with my personality... until I met Kaidan. I found myself unable to keep my entire being focused on the mission, and I found myself constantly worried for his life. No longer was I prepared to do what needed to be done to get the job finished, my feelings for him garnered a newfound respect for life.

My personality did a complete 180, and I started to look for peaceful resolutions to incidents. I talked my way out of a lot of bloodshed and fire fights, and became a paragon for humanity. A shining beacon of hope, I suppose.

As time went on, Kaidan and I went from friendly banter, to sneaking in some physical contact when we could. He would smell my hair, or I’d touch his forearm briefly, small things that easily went unnoticed by the rest of the crew. I longed to feel his body against mine, to taste his lips, but regulation kept us from doing more than just the occasional flirt. No matter how badly I wanted it, we would always refrain from anything, and it was driving me insane.

It wasn’t until our return from Virmire and the lockdown of the Normandy that we decided to explore our feelings. Or, at least, we tried to. He was right there, he had his strong arms around me, and our lips were mere centimetres apart. I could feel his breath fanning across my face, his hushed voice asking, “Are you sure about this, Shepard?” I wanted him to take me right then, but before we could kiss, Joker interrupted us with a message from Captain Anderson.

At great personal risk to himself, the captain was able to break into the ambassador’s office and remove the lockdown protocols on the Normandy. That night, Kaidan entered my quarters and asked to speak with me. He was worried about... a lot of things, actually; our insubordination, our flight to Ilos, our ability to stop Saren and the Reapers, and most of all me.

“Are you sure you’re alright, commander?” his husky voice sent shivers down my spine.

“I’m fine Kaidan, I promise. I’ve just been busy trying to formulate some kind of strategy for our inevitable showdown with Saren on Ilos. This is it, you know. We have to give it our all, or we fail the entire galaxy.” I sighed, and rubbed my temples in an attempt to stave off the massive headache that had taken root since Eden Prime. He moved silently across the room and placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, I smiled in return.

“I love how you look when you smile, commander,” he said quietly, blushing a bit.

“Please, call me Tassia. There’s no need for formalities, now right now, Kaidan.” I took his hand in mine, and brushed my lips across his knuckles. “Bunk with me tonight.”

“Are you sure about this... Tassia?” Hearing him speak my name for the first time made me weak in the knees, thank God I was sitting on the edge of my desk.

“I’m surer of this than I ever have been of anything before,” I replied confidently. I could see the hunger in his warm brown eyes; they were boring into my own with such animalistic intensity. Before I could even think, he had me wrapped in a tight embrace with his lips crushing down on to my own. His tongue invaded my mouth forcefully, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he lifted me off of my desk. I couldn’t help but moan as he took command of my body. He laid me down on my bed with a wry smile, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

“What is it, lieutenant?” I asked playfully, and he chuckled in response. He started to remove his clothing, piece by piece, exposing his muscular body to me for this first time. I watched in awe, feeling very much like a virgin again. He stood now, completely nude, in front of me.

“Your turn,” he said nonchalantly. I began to slowly pull my pants down, revealing my slender legs bit by bit, then moved on to my shirt. I could hear his sharp intake of breath as my breasts came into view, and I grinned. I couldn’t help myself; it was nice to know he was just as excited by this as I was, that he had longed for me as much as I did him.

My hands moved down to my panties, and Kaidan caught them in his own and moved them away. “No,” he ordered, his lips moving down my neck in soft kisses. My worries melted away as his mouth explored my body, my headache completely forgotten in our heated moments of passion. He moved slowly with me, as if wanting to savour every bit of our coupling, not that I was complaining. It was by far the most tender and beautiful moment of my life, and one I will never forget.

By the next morning, we were at Ilos, and it was time to save the galaxy. With Kaidan and Garrus at my side, we conquered Saren’s geth army inside of the ruins, made contact with an ancient Prothean VI, and found the conduit. I couldn’t believe it, the Citadel was one massive relay, and it was ultimately the tool of our destruction.

Thanks to the last Prothean scientists hard work, I was able to upload the program into the Citadel main control, and save both the Council, and the station. My actions ushered in a new era for humanity with Captain Anderson appointed to the Council as humanity’s representative.

It’s been one week since Sovereign was destroyed, and the rebuilding efforts are going rather well. I assume so, at least, since everything seems to be back to business as usual on the Citadel. Well, on the surface at least.

What awaits us in the future? Who knows. What I do know is that there’s a massive fleet of Reapers out there stuck in Dark Space, pissed off, and ready to slaughter all organic life in this galaxy. I must stop them. This is where my real story begins.