Rain: Hello everyone, Rain here and I'm here to re-introduce this familiar Mass Effect Fic. Truth be told, I think it's cursed. As Mass Effect: Redemption for the Future, It was a flop so I took it off to work on it.

And while Mass Effect: Melody from the Futurewas a success, for some strange reason, it was deleted by Fanfiction itself and it stunned the loving stew out of me and it was then I decided to shelve it completely.

But…After so many people wanted me to upload it, I decided I would do it one last time...so all of you, Enjoy this fanfic known as…Mass Effect: Sins of the Future

Jack: Just read the fucking shit people!

Story Name: Mass Effect: Sins of the Future

Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Romance and Drama

Ratings: T-M Rating

Pairings: Shepard/Tali'Zorah, FemShepard/Liara and many, many more

Summary: As burning stars filled the sky, A Spectre filled with regrets at his final moments at the crucible, all he wanted was one last chance to change his past and become the hero but thanks to an unlikely source, Commander Rock Shepard is sent hurdling into the past in an alternate universe similar to his own to change the outcome but will going through the battle with Reapers once more change him into this hero? Or will the mistakes he made repeat themselves? AU

Disclaimer: Do not own.

Mass Effect: Sins of the Future

Chapter One: A New Dawn

Tired.

Broken.

Defeated.

These are the words Rockland "Rock" Shepard could describe himself as he sat beside the now deceased Admiral David Anderson, who had the dignity to smile in his last moments.

To those that knew him, Shepard was a force to be reckoned with. His prowess in battle, his unwavering determination, his brutal honesty, his cunning and his willingness to do anything to get the job done had given him the admiration of his peers as well as his commanding officers but as he sat there next to the dead Admiral, bleeding and tired, all he could think of was 'How did I end up like this?'

Shepard looked at the deceased man by his side and instantly felt foolish for thinking what he thought. His friend...One of the few people who never betrayed him had died and here he was thinking of his own misfortunes.

"I guess I'm still the same as I was years ago in that regard…" He said to himself as he forced his tired body upright on the ground beneath him, achingly stepping towards the console where Hackett's voice came to life...How it did, he couldn't guess but at this moment in time, he didn't care.

"What can I do for you sir?" He asked tiredly, his legs feeling weaker with each step he took until he fell to the ground with a grunt.

"Shepard? Commander, are you still there?" Hackett's concerned voice rang out into his ear, causing him to weakly groan.

Of course he wasn't alright. He had been shot at by not only a laser beam that incinerated many but he was shot at repeatedly. The only reason he was still breathing at this point was due to sheer stubbornness to die before his mission was complete.

Shepard groaned weakly as he forced himself to his knees and gasped out "What do you need me t-to do?"

No matter how beaten and broken he was, Shepard would never let himself give up, especially now that he was so damn close to ending this war between the galaxy and the Reapers. He had to see this through...Just one last time.

Hackett's voice was slowly fading out of the existence of Shepard's mind but he had thankfully heard what Hackett needed and forced himself to his feet but once more, his legs had given up and he fell once more but that didn't stop him...Instead, he dragged himself to console with every ounce of power he had left in his power but as he got to the console, he could feel that his limit was reached and like a fallen soldier, he laid in the spot he had crawled to, no longer bothering to move.

He could feel that his time had truly arrived as he laid there on the ground.

There would be no Cerberus to bring him back, no one from his ship to find him and take him to Chakwas, nothing. "Ha...I figured I would die alone again..." He murmured tiredly as he slowly turned his body around to face the ceiling only to see the many stars above him.

He didn't know why but as he laid there, blood flowing from his various wounds, a small tear fell from his eye.

He was never a man that had felt guilt for anything that he has done in his life but as he laid there, bleeding out as slow as possible, he began to think of all that he did.

When he was a child, he had felt darkness creeping into his heart but he had tried to ignore it but when his family was torn apart by those filthy Batarians right before his young eyes, he felt the darkness take over his heart and he held on to it. When he became old enough, he enlisted into Marines, pledging that he would do anything in his power to protect those he loved but he was lying.

He loved nothing back then.

He lived for revenge for the fall of his colony at the hands of the Batarians.

Nothing else mattered to him but killing as many of those filthy creatures by his hands.

And he had finally gotten that chance.

Flashback

Standing there in the middle of a room filled with the bodies of batarians and marines alike was a man in black armor with a red strip going down the right arm of the armor, the blood of batarians falling down the black armor and in the man's right hand was a long blade with a black hilt and an obsidian colored blade that was also dripping with the blood of the fallen batarians.

And finally, the man was missing his helmet, revealing the short black hair of the man which was matted onto his face by the blood of the slain and the man himself had a crazed, cruel smirk that was plastered on his face and with the one eye that was visible, it held rage.

Pure rage.

End Flashback

Present Time

Commander Shepard

Shepard could remember the all that he had done on that mission.

The countless lives he had sent to their deaths to get his revenge and at the time, he did not care for those he sent to die because he refused to let them win again. He refused to let these heartless monsters escape with their lives.

Because of his actions on that mission, he became the "Butcher of Torfan" and because of this action, his commanding officer was honorably discharged and disappeared, but Shepard did not care for his commanding officer. He had gotten the revenge he had craved for so long but he didn't know that this selfish, evil act would set him down the path of despair.

He was the answer to all the missions that had become…Problematic to the military and they knew he was cold, calculating and ruthless and the military knew he was one of the best.

All he knew was to get the job done at any cost necessary. It went so far that for a few years, he was paired with many more people like him and they became the Black-Ops group named "New Dawn," but he found himself the sole survivor of a trap made by the people who he and his team were going to kill.

Cerberus…

It was after this mission where he was recruited on the Normandy and that is when his life changed for the better.

All he had to do was extract the Prothean beacon but instead, this one mission sent him across the galaxy with aliens and humans alike to hunt down a Spectre named Saren and his synthetic allies, the Geth.

During this time, he kept himself at a distance to all that tried to get to know him.

This was a mission that was the utmost importance for not only himself to prove to the council that he was the better Spectre, but to himself that he could hunt down this man and kill him.

A lot of sacrifices were made which cost him the life of one his teammates but Shepard couldn't allow himself to feel remorse, especially after sacrificing his trusted and loyal Lieutenant, Kaidan Alenko.

He had a choice and he made it and that person carried out their final mission as they fled that god forsaken place.

In the end, he killed Saren not only once, but twice, once the Reaper known as Sovereign took over the Turian's body, with the help of a Krogan battle master and the Quarian girl.

But he didn't allow himself to celebrate this victory because a bigger battle awaited him on the horizon and it was something that got his blood burning red hot.

But as the years went on, Shepard could feel the darkness that had grown around his heart grow stronger, which was bad news to both his allies and enemies because after those bugs, the Collectors killed him and Cerberus resurrected him, he was itching for a fight. He enlisted allies, old and new for their fight and even had the chance to kill the Shadow Broker himself but at the end of all of this, half of his team was dead and he was sitting in a jail cell…All because he made the choice no one would and stopped the Reapers from killing them all.

The only solace he could give was that once again, the Batarians felt his wrath.

Then Judgment day arrived.

They blackened the skies.

They were each a nation.

They slaughtered millions.

It was as Sovereign had predicted.

They had existed because the Reapers allowed it and when it all came to ahead, the joint species operation and therefore, every single being breathing in this universe was going to be wiped out because the Reapers demanded it.

They were truly unstoppable and because of this, Shepard grew desperate and because of that, the darkness in his heart grew until he became as cold as the machines themselves. He murdered his friends, those who served with him in the past, whether by gun or his actions, he did not care. The Reapers had to be stopped and they were simply in his way.

He was too late and busy to help Jack and was forced to kill her when Cerberus morphed her into a husk.

He was too late in saving Thane, a Drell similar to himself from Kai Leng.

He shot Mordin in the back to sabotage the cure of the Genophage, effectively forcing the Krogan into extinction.

He betrayed Wrex and then murdered him in cold blood.

He let Samara commit suicide and immediately after that, he shot her daughter in the back as well.

He was too late to save Miranda, Zaeed and Kasumi from their deaths.

He even had to shoot Ashley when she refused to back down from getting the traitor human councilor.

But out of all these deaths…there were two haunted him.

Despite the darkness around his heart, there were two people that always bought light into him and the first name was Garrus Vakarian. When he first met him, he really could not stand the turian at all but by the end of their hunt for Saren, they had become friends. He even convinced the turian to become a Spectre.

Even when they reunited, their friendship had grown to unspeakable heights but when the raid on the Collector's base happened…Garrus died, taking a shot for him from a Collector.

That was the first thing that set him further down his darkened path.

The second was the death of the woman he had fallen in love with…

Her name was Tali'Zorah vas Normandy….She, this shy little quarian had snuck her way into his heart through her laughter, her tears, her smile, her strength, her loyalty and her compassion. She was the best thing that had entered his life but despite this, he couldn't let her get close to him.

He was far too gone for her light and she saw firsthand at how far he had gone when he let her people be exterminated by the Geth.

He could remember the screams, the wailing, the hits she delivered to him due to his choice and at the end, she took her own life by leaping off the cliff behind her, all while looking him in the eye without her mask.

And it broke his heart.

He could still remember the heartbroken look in her silvery eyes as she gaze into him as her black hair, freed from her veil, whipped around her, shielding the tears that were flowing down her face.

And her last words had stuck with him.

"I…I loved you…"

And now as he sat there, staring at the stars before him, more tears fell from his eyes onto the blood beneath him. He had done so much evil in his lifetime and at the time, he was doing what he had to do but now, all he felt was guilt.

He wished that he could go back to change it all.

To change the deaths he had caused.

To change his ultimate destiny of dying alone.

To become something more than a gloried killer.

He wanted to be what Garrus was on Omega.

He wanted to be what Tali was to the Quarians.

He wanted to be the hero everyone thought he was…

But as he closed his eyes, he knew that there was no way he could be any of that.

'I…wish I could go b-back to change it…'

And with that….All went black.

Eden Prime

Team Shepard

"The mission is in your hands now Shepard! We're counting on you!" Captain David Anderson roared over the harsh winds of Eden Prime entered the cargo bay as Commander Shepard and his ground team, Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko and Solider Richard Jenkins, each of them armed with a pistol, a sniper rifle, an assault rifle and a shotgun which were all placed conveniently on their backs, with the exception of their shotguns which were placed on the back of their hips.

"We will complete this mission at all costs, Captain Anderson," Shepard's deep, smooth voice replied, his cold blue eyes staring at his captain beneath his thick yellow visor.

With a stiff nod from Anderson, the three soldiers leapt out from the cargo bay and landed in a crouching position onto the ground of Eden Prime and as the three slowly stood up, each of their eyes widened in surprise.

Eden Prime was once called a Paradise to the human race, the crowned jewel of its galaxy, one of the most beautiful place in the universe, but what Shepard knew and read about this place before and what he was seeing now were now radically two different things.

The once clear blue skies were now a blood red color, the ground, which once was a luscious color green was now faded and crisp brown with splashes of blood on top of it and as the three men looked upon the horizon, smoke could be seen billowing into the air and the faint screams and gunfire could be heard as well.

"Oh my god…" Shepard's eyes immediately turned to the youngest member of their team with worry hidden in them and he was right to worry. Young Richard L Jenkins had fallen to his knees at the sight of the beloved planet he had grown up from in the state that is was in, with tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

Before his meeting with the Turian Spectre Nihlus Kryik, Shepard had overheard Richard talking to Dr. Karin Chakwas about his times back when he was a colonist on Eden Prime and despite wanting him to leave the planet, he loved it dearly and Shepard could clearly see that the man was in pain and as much as he wanted to care for the man's plight, he couldn't right now.

He had a mission to do and he would accomplish it.

Nothing more, nothing less.

Shepard's head turned just enough so he could see Richard's fallen form and said with an empty voice "Jenkins, I know the destruction of your home world is devastating but we have a mission and we need to get it done….Mourning can wait."

Shepard could see the shock in both Kaidan's and Richard's eyes but as he turned his head away, he heard Richard say in a heated tone "Commander, my home world is burning to the ground. My family, my friends…All of them could be hurting…Even dying and that's all you can say to me? That Mourning can wait?"

"We are down here to retrieve the Beacon. Nothing else matters. Not this planet, not these people, not your tears. This mission is my top priority and it should be yours too as well." Shepard knew that the man shouldn't hear these words coming from his mouth.

Especially when the place Richard had grown up was in flames like this but Shepard knew that the man would continue down this path unless he did something now.

He needed his soldier to be focused for this mission and if angering Richard is what it took to get the man to focus, he would do it. The mission was important but leaving his teammate in this distressed state could lead to the man's death and Shepard didn't want that at all.

"If this is too much for you, I will order you to return to the Normandy and await our return…But if you are able to stand tall and face the ones who have done this to your world, you will follow my orders right down to the letter…"

Despite his words, Richard continued to stare fiercely into his eyes but he stood firm, his jaw clenched and his eyes narrowed. "Now what is it going to be Jenkins? Will you stay and follow my orders or will you leave?" For a moment, Shepard had a strong feeling that the man would take a swing but after the harsh stare down, Richard lowered his gaze and nodded reluctantly.

Giving a nod to the relieved looking Lieutenant, the ground team swiftly pulled out their pistols and slowly advanced down a steep hill, their nerves steeled and their eyes sharp, looking out at any movement that wasn't their own. Soon, the trio came upon a rocky incline in which Shepard's eyes flashed to the two men by his side before signaling the two to hold their positions behind him.

The two men followed his orders and held their positions while Shepard silently moved forward, keeping his back against the mountain next to him, he reached the end and peaked over the side and saw four pair of recon drones. Pulling his head back, he silently signaled for Kaidan and Richard to get behind the two large mounds of rocks nearby but also signaled to keep low and to keep quiet.

Nodding, the two men crouched down and silently walked down the incline and while Kaidan took the one closest to him, Richard took the one far from both Kaidan and Shepard but as Richard walked forward, forward, his foot had nicked a small mound of rocks, causing them to cascade to ground as well as alerting the recon drones.

Seeing this, Richard immediately dove behind the stone as the drones began to fire at him and had he not dived behind that large stone, there would have been a strong chance he would have been killed immediately.

Seeing their chance, Shepard and Kaidan stood up from their protection and shot at the drones swiftly, causing two of them to explode upon impact of their bullets and the third one to hover wobbly in the air before diving to the ground and exploding on impact.

After a tense second to see if more were coming, Shepard lowered his gun and looked at where the drones were while Kaidan went to Richard and asked if he was ok.

"I'm ok Lieutenant," Richard replied, getting on his feet slowly, an uneasy chuckle playing from his lips. "Thanks for asking. Whew, for a moment there, I thought I was going to-"Just then, another drone popped out from behind them and with sharp reflexes, Shepard turned around and shot it with his pistol, causing it to explode on impact.

"You were saying?" Kaidan said with a relieved sigh, causing Richard to let a blush of embarrassment form on his face but then the two grew serious as Shepard's voice reined them under control.

"Do you two hear that?"

Both men looked at their Commander and strained their ears for whatever he was hearing only to achieve success when they hear the sounds of gunfire nearby.

"I hear it too Commander," Kaidan said before looking at Richard, who nodded in agreement.

"Then let's move…Whatever has done all of this, they need to be stopped…" Shepard commanded and together, the three trekked through the small area of trees until they saw someone with white and pink armor running to take cover while firing back at an unseen enemy only to fall to the ground and that's when the three saw a twelve white colored robots and one larger red one walking towards her, guns drawn and ready to fire

"Whoa, there's a marine!" Richard said in shock before adding with shock in his voice "And she's running from…Geth?" Shepard's eyes narrowed when he heard Richard say that word.

Geth.

The Geth hadn't been outside the veil for over two hundred years since their war with the Quarian people.

Why would they be here of all places?

"That can't be. The Geth haven't been seen outside the veil for over two hundred years," Kaidan whispered with a stunned look before he and Richard shared a look to each other in concern.

"Until now…" Shepard's eyes narrowing behind his visor as he put his pistol away and pulled out his shotgun.

Like Richard, he had saw the marine taking cover as well before they saw the Geth shooting at the marine.

They had to save her.

She may be the key to the answers that they seek.

"Jenkins, I want you on sniper duty until all threats have been neutralized then wait for my command. Alenko, you're with me. That marine must be saved at all costs," Shepard ordered, giving a small nod to Richard before darting off with Kaidan following behind.

Richard took a deep breath and pulled out his sniper rifle and aimed it at the first Geth that was closest to her and with a "This is for my home!" He took the shot and smirked when the machine fell to its knees and on to the ground, sparks flying from its "eye".

"One down…"

Shepard and Kaidan charged forward until they reached a cover and with a single nod, the two leapt from the large rock and charged forward once more, Shepard's shotgun and Kaidan's Pistol screeching to life as four Geth fell to the ground, oil and sparks flying from their shells as the bullets slammed against them.

Shepard ran forward and slide behind another rock and switched out his shotgun for a pistol and shot at the next to Geth that were heading in their direction before leaping over the rock and tossing a grenade at the closet Geth and after a quick explosion which luckily managed to catch another Geth as well.

He leapt from his spot when the smoke cleared to see one Geth dead, another one crawling and one Geth just getting out of cover so with a small sneer, he ran towards that Geth and jumped up to knee it in its head before wrapping his legs around its head and firing three shots into it, felling it instantly while Jenkins managed to take out the second Geth that was still crawling around without its legs.

Shepard then rolled off of the dead Geth's body as it was falling and landed into a kneeling position and pulled out his assault rifle and shooting up the third Geth's body until it fell in two then with another fast switch, he returned his shotgun into his hand and as the dead Geth slowly split apart to reveal another one aiming, Shepard fired twice, instantly making it crumble to its knees in defeat.

He then switched his shotgun into his sniper rifle and aimed directly at the red Geth's head and fired one clean shot, sending it flying back to the ground as its head practically shattered from the impact.

Switching one last time back into a pistol, Shepard rolled into cover as three Geth appeared, firing at him but Kaidan's biotics flared and with a thrust of his hand, a wave of purple energy flew from his hands and towards the three Geth, sending them off of their feet where he and Shepard threw a grenade at the three just as they were getting up.

After the explosion and a tense moment of silence, Shepard and Kaidan lowered their weapons, panting softly. The battle was over for now but as the two turned around, one of the Geth they had thought they had killed was slowly walking behind them, limping but as it lifted up its weapon, it bullet suddenly found itself slamming into its head, shattering it as well.

Kaidan and Shepard turned around at the sound of the body dropping with surprise in Kaidan's eyes but a calculating look on Shepard's but that's when they heard Jenkins' voice on their intercom, saying "Sorry for the scare Commander. I got that thing good, didn't I?'

Instead of responding to the bragging tone in Jenkins' voice, Shepard's head turned to the Marine in the pink and white armor and said "Get down here Jenkins. We have a survivor."

"Understood Commander," Came Richard's reply through the headset.

His calculating eyes then turned to the Marine in the pink and white armor who was now standing before him and Kaidan, her mouth opening to thank them for helping but at the moment, he did not need her thanks.

He needed answers so with a small glare beneath his thick yellow visor, Shepard asked the woman "Marine, I have two questions for you. What is your name and rank and what is going on here?"

The woman paused for a moment, a little taken aback from the harsh tone in his voice but she answered "I'm Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams Sir." She gave a quick salute before she lowered her hand and continued "And at the moment, Eden prime is being attacked by the Geth," Shepard didn't acknowledge Richard running up behind him but continued to stare at the woman before him, waiting for her to continue.

"It all happened so fast sir. One moment, everything was normal then the next, hell. It all started when this shadow flew over the area then seconds later, the Geth struck…My whole platoon was wiped out from the sudden ambush…I'm the only one left."

"Gunnery Chief, we are here for the Beacon. Can you lead us to it?" Shepard asked her crisply, ignoring the haunted look the woman had displayed when she told him and his squad about her platoon.

Once again, he knew that this wasn't the right thing to do to someone when they were upset but he knew that the more they kept focus, the easier things were for the person.

Ashley looked as if she had gotten punched in her stomach when Shepard didn't even bat an eye about her platoon being wiped out but instead of lashing out like she wanted to, she simply nodded her head, saying "Sure…Just follow me."

Shepard nodded and kept his pistol held tightly in his hand as he, Kaidan and Richard followed him.

Team Shepard

Beacon Dig Sight

"This is the dig site…Damn it, the beacon was right here!"

Shepard's hidden eyes flashed up to Ashley's form when she spoke, his jaw clenched lightly. "It must've been moved somewhere else…" Richard said with a deep frown on his face.

"I agree but the question is, was it moved by the Geth or was it moved by our side?" Kaidan asked, his arms crossed in thought.

"Hard to say," Ashley answered, falling silent for a moment before adding "Maybe we should head up to the research camp. Perhaps we'll find our answer there."

Shepard nodded in agreement, his eyes still gazing at the spot where the beacon was supposed to be. This wasn't how this mission was supposed to go at all and it was frustrating him even more now that the beacon was missing.

"Do you think there are any survivors there?" Richard asked her, his eyes flashing to hers with a hopeful look shining through them. Ashley saw the hopeful look in his eyes and as much as she felt that she was the sole person alive here, she also held some hope that there were some survivors.

"God I hope so….If there are survivors, they could be hiding in the camps, it's located just up this ridge, up the ramps," Ashley answered.

Shepard looked at the three in front of him just as they looked at him and for a moment, he stayed silent but then he gave them a nod, saying "Then let's move out."

With Ashley in the lead, the four man squad walked up the ramps with their weapons drawn up to the research camp but as they walked, Kaidan murmured to his team "It's a good place for an ambush, let's keep our guards up."

Richard opened his mouth to say something but then he stopped dead in his tracks, his head tilting to the left.

"Do you guys hear that?" He asked his team.

Everyone stopped and looked at him.

"Hear what?" Kaidan asked, confusion littering his eyes.

"That static sound…" Richard answered.

The group went silent and they were all surprised to hear the faint static sound as well. "It's faint but I can hear it…" Ashley said while Shepard gripped his gun tightly.

Something was wrong.

"Let's keep moving," Shepard responded after a moment, his eyes steeled and ready for anything but as he walked forward past Ashley and towards the camp, he saw eleven black spikes going high into the air with…a body impaled upon it.

"Good god, what the hell is that?" Richard asked with a horrified and disgusted tone in his voice, his pistol now raised.

Suddenly, one of the spikes began to descend towards the ground until it stopped on the platform, revealing a bald, blackened body with glowing blue electrical wires infused with its body which seemed to lead to its four brightly glowing blue eyes.

Slowly, it leaned off of the platform and placed its feet on the ground, its body hunching forward and its arms slung low. "Oh my god, it's still alive!" Kaidan exclaimed harshly as he held his pistol towards it.

"What did the Geth do to them?" Ashley roared with anger as her shotgun was aimed directly at it.

Suddenly, the thing's head turned and saw them and let out a loud, static-y shriek and started to charge forward towards them. The four Marines aimed at it and fired at it repeatedly but each bullet only seemed to slow it down for a moment before it continued forward.

Finally, Richard pulled out his rifle and aimed at its head and fired one shot, effectively stopping it for good. "What the hell did we just stumble upon?" Kaidan asked with a shuddered breath after a moment.

Suddenly, the remaining nine spikes began to lower rapidly, revealing the same forms that they had just killed and with a unified shriek, they all charged forward.

"A trap," Shepard responded darkly as he lifted his assault rifle and aimed at the closest one's head, sending it to the ground effortlessly before charging forward to take down two more but when he managed to kill the second one with five bullets to its chest and one to its head, the third one had gotten close enough before hunching forward, its arms holding its body tightly as its wires glowing brightly until electricity cackled violently around its body.

The static like noise coming from its mouth was getting higher and higher while its arms stretched out to its sides and without warning, a large bubble of an electrical wave exploded outwards from its body, knocking Shepard off of his feet as well as overheating all of his weapons but before he could get to his feet, the unholy creation leapt in the air towards Shepard, only to get flung back from a bullet hitting its chest.

Hearing a "Got the bugger commander!" Instantly told Shepard who had made the shot and once he got on his feet, he saw another one of those beings coming towards him, he ran forward and gave it a brutal clothesline with the butt of his assault rifle, sending it slamming to the ground where he pulled out his pistol and shot it point blank into its head, shattering it upon impact.

Ashley and Kaidan swiftly followed suit and started to aim at these beings heads, with Kaidan taking down two more and Ashley taking down three while Richard kept his distance and used his Sniper rifle to take out the remaining one that was getting closer to his location, ending their brief but terrifying scuffle.

"I think that was the last of them," Ashley said to Shepard, her voice distant but it held a slight tremble. Shepard realized that she could have known these…things that used to be human beings but he refused to say anything; instead, his eyes flashed to one the doors in one of the buildings nearby.

The door panel was glowing red instead of green, indicating that it was locked.

"Everyone, there's someone in that shed over there," Shepard exclaimed with a frown on his lips.

The three Marines looked towards Shepard and towards the door and saw the red door panel and then looked towards Shepard. With a single nod, the four of them, with their weapons still drawn, walked over to the panel.

With a look towards Kaidan, the Biotic nodded and hacked the security lock, turning the red panel to green with a hiss, the door swiftly slid up, opening the door.

With their guns still drawn, the four of them entered the room to see a young twenty-five year old Caucasian woman with short red hair, black eyes, with a white and blue uniform on standing next to a tall, gangly middle aged Caucasian male with balding brown hair, black eyes and a uniform similar to the woman's.

When the door opened, the woman turned around and let out a surprised gasp, initially terrified before letting out a sigh of relief. "Humans, thank the maker," She said with a small smile on her face.

"Hurry, close the door, before they come back," the man whispered harshly with an almost hysterical tone in his voice said as he stepped forward next to her.

"Don't worry, we'll protect you," Richard said with a wide smile on his face but that smile faded away when he stared at the woman. She seemed very familiar to him but he couldn't place her face anywhere just yet.

The woman seemed to smile more at this but she shook her head, saying "Thank you but we'll be ok now. It looks like everyone's gone."

Ashley's face scrunched up in concentration for a moment before realization dawned on her. "You're Dr. Emily Warren. The one in charge of the excavation," Ashley said with a small hint of anger in her voice but Shepard knew it wasn't the doctor she was angry at.

The woman, now known as Emily, gave a short nod, saying "Yes, that's me."

Richard's eyes lit up in surprise when the woman confirmed her identity and suddenly, he stepped forward with a bright smile and said "Hey Emily, do you remember me?" Emily's head tilted to the side for a second before she beamed and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

"Richard! Oh my god, I can't believe it's you!" she exclaimed as he hugged her back, confusing both Ashley and Kaidan but annoying Shepard.

"You know each other?" Ashley asked with amusement in her voice.

Richard and Emily broke away, both with subdued smiles on their faces. "Yes, Richard and I grew up here. We were best friends until he left for the Alliance Military," Emily answered with a nod, her eyes going back to Richard's, who was currently smiling happily down at her. "I'm so glad you're ok. Do you have any news about everyone else?"

"None yet I'm afraid. Everything had happened so fast, I hadn't even had a chance to reach out to anyone else on the planet…So many lives were lost today Rich…I just hope our families are ok," Emily whispered while pulling away from him with a small smile on her face.

Richard nodded in agreement and opened his mouth to say something but Shepard's voice cut through the room with "Gunnery Chief Williams said you were in charge of the excavation. Does that mean you know where the Beacon is currently?"

Emily nodded softly and replied with a small shaky voice "Yes I do. It was moved to the space port this morning. Manuel and I stayed behind to pack up the camp. When the attack came, the Marines held them off long enough for us to hide…They gave their lives to save us…"

Shepard saw Ashley look down at the ground on with a small frown, no doubt remembering those things they had encountered, knowing those were the Marines that had tried to stop the Geth.

"No one is saved," Manuel's voice suddenly exclaimed, his hands clenched together tightly as he eyes closed. "The age of humanity is ended. Soon, only corpses and ruin will remain."

Richard slowly turned his head to look at Emily with a look that read "Is this guy serious?"

She could only sigh.

"What else can you tell us about the attack?" Kaidan asked Emily while eying Manuel suspiciously….Just in case the man got jumpy.

"It all happened so fast…" Richard placed a comforting hand on Emily's shaking shoulder, causing her to still with a small smile of thanks towards him before continuing with "O-One minute we were gathering our equipment, the next minute, we were hiding while the Geth swarmed over the camp."

"Legions of destroyers, Bringers of Darkness, Heralds of our extinction!" Manuel added causing Kaidan and Shepard to stare at him while Richard continued to comfort his friend.

"We c-could hear it outside…" She continued, despite her colleague's interruption. "Gunfire, screams. I thought it would never end…Then it just got quiet. The two of us just sat here alone, too afraid to move…Too afraid to breath…." She paused and stared into Richard's face. "Until you arrived…"

Rolling his hidden eyes, Shepard tapped his foot loud enough to get her attention and asked "Did any of you see a Turian come here?"

"I saw him!" Manuel whispered in a harsh, delirious voice. "The Prophet, leader of the enemy. He was here before the attack!" Shepard, Richard and Kaidan all traded a look while Ashley looked confused.

What the hell were they talking about?

"But that's impossible," Kaidan said softly to Ashley, who turned to him in confusion. "Nihlus was on the Normandy with us before the attack. He couldn't have been here."

"I'm sorry," Emily broke into the conversation suddenly, making all eyes turn on her. "Manuel is still…Unsettled. We haven't seen your Turian. We've been hiding in here since the attack remember?"

The three men nodded before Shepard asked "Can you tell us anything about the Beacon?"

"It's…Some type of data module from a galaxy wide communications network. Remarkably well preserved. It could be the most scientific discovery of our lifetime. Miraculously new technology, ground breaking medical advances, who knows what secrets could be locked inside?" She explained, her eyes shining up lightly, causing Richard to laugh.

"She's always like this when she finds something new and exciting," Richard explained with a teasing grin.

"Oh? Like you weren't when the Alliance personally selected you to join?" she retorted with a grin, causing him to laugh slightly more, seemingly taking some edge off of her nerves.

But Manuel made sure to change that when he interrupted with "We had unlocked the heart of evil, We have awakened the beast! We have unleashed…The Darkness…" He ended with a low but terrified whisper.

"Manuel please…This isn't the time," Emily said calmly but clearly her voice was clearly strained.

Richard's eyebrow rose a little more before he finally asked "What's up with him?"

"Well, Manuel has a brilliant mind but he's always been a bit…Unstable. Genius and madness are two sides of the same coin;" She explained with a heavy sigh.

"Is it madness to see the future? Is it madness to see the destruction rushing towards us? Don't you all understand there is no escape, no hope?" Manual stated with anguish in his eyes before he then stepped forward in front of Shepard with a shake of his head, his eyes lowered towards the ground before looking up at Shepard's face, saying "No…I am not mad, I'm the only sane one left!"

"I gave him an extra dose of his medication after the attack. Hopefully after everything has settled, his meds should kick in and put him to sleep," She said but seeing his mouth about to open again finally clicked on Shepard's nerves.

"I have a way to put him asleep now," Shepard announced just before his fist slammed into Manuel's jaw so hard, Manuel was unconscious and snoring before he hit the ground.

"Oh my god! Why did you do that?" Emily exclaimed with surprise and horror in her voice.

"I did it because he could have easily did something rash…And I didn't want to take his life if he did," Shepard replied calmly.

"I…I suppose you're right…" Emily said with a sigh.

"We're done here. Williams, take us to the space port," Shepard commanded.

With a salute, Ashley walked out of the shed first, followed by Kaidan and Shepard but just as Richard was about to leave, He heard Emily call out to him so with a turn of his head, he stared at her with a smile.

"I know, I'll be careful…You always worried too much," Richard said as Emily stepped towards him to give him a brief but strong hug.

"With good reason…Be safe…" She whispered, adding a small little peck to the side of his helmet.

Richard smiled at her and broke away from their short embrace before nodding and running off, leaving her and her sleeping Assistant alone. "Now…Let's get off this planet Manuel."

Team Shepard

Outside the building

Richard ran down the steps of the shed and ran up to his squad just as a loud "bang" was heard all around them, causing all four of them to share a look of confusion at this while Shepard grimaced, feeling that bad feeling in his stomach once more.

"Everyone, let's move out!" he ordered before jogging off, causing his team to follow but as they turned the corner and ran on the dirt road, that's when they saw it.

It was a very large, squid shaped black ship with red bolts of lighting shooting up its body as it slowly began to shoot up into the air. "What in the hell is that?" Kaidan asked.

"Whoa…" Richard said dumbly.

"The fuck is that thing?" Ashley asked.

Shepard had no answers for it but he had a feeling that things had just gotten worse.

And Shepard was right.

Once they hit the Space Port, they had found a deceased Nihlus Kryik laying faced up on the ground. His eyes wide open in surprise and his mouth slacked open as well.

"I guess that answers our question about Nihlus," Kaidan said with a wry grin, given a salute to the fallen Spectre, along with Richard but Ashley merely frowned at the dead turian before looking away.

Shepard had spared the Turian a look and a nod of respect but something had caught his attention so with his pistol drawn, Shepard shouted "Get out here before I put you down!" the others, suddenly hearing the threatening bark from their leader, drew out their guns too, with Ashley adding the sound of her cocking her shotgun for good measure.

Within seconds, a man walked out from behind the crates with a scared expression and with a sigh from all of them, they lowered their guns slightly, reading for anything else to happen. The man had explained what had happened between Nihlus and another Turian named Saren.

"Saren…" Shepard murmured with a wondering tone in his voice but the man continued, telling the four that he saw Saren heading down to the tram station but just as he finished, a gunshot rang out and the man's head suddenly whipped to the side as blood splattered on Ashley's white armor, causing her to shriek in surprise.

Shepard and Kaidan turned their guns on the Geth that had taken the shot while Richard kneeled down to check on the man, the three Marines shooting it until there were multiple bullet holes in its body but another Geth walked from behind the wall and was also taken down without a blink of the eye.

"He's gone Commander," Richard said after the three stopped firing, causing Shepard to grunt in annoyance at the only lead to the case being taken.

"As well as out only witness to Saren killing Nihlus…We must move…" Shepard stated while frowning heavily.

The three nodded at Shepard's command but as Shepard, Richard and Kaidan ran off, Ashley stayed behind to give a small prayer to the dead man before running off after her squad mates.

When she rejoined them, the three males were on the tram, hiding behind the many seats that were there. When she got close to the tram, she was forced to take cover as a bullet whizzed by her helmet, making her swear in surprise while pulling out her shotgun, firing and killing the Geth that had tried to take her out.

"About time you got here," Richard exclaimed with a grin as his pistol screamed into the air, shooting one Geth in the arm, knocking its gun out of its hand and swiftly shot its head, defeating it as Kaidan used his biotics to have them floating in the air so Shepard could shoot them until the two Geth that were floating were nothing more than scrap metal.

Shepard then leapt over the seat, his knees landing on the soft and comfortable cushioning of the chair while he pulled out his assault rifle and with a satisfied grin, he fired at the larger Geth that was barreling through the aisle towards them, making it stumble back with each hit it took until it finally fell to its knees and to the ground in defeat.

"I think that was the last of them," Kaidan said with a pant, his right hand grazing his helmet while his eyes clenched in pain for a moment before he slowly opened his eyes as Richard placed a hand on his shoulder with a small smile, causing the marine to smile in return.

"Thanks," Kaidan said at his friend's wordless comfort.

Ashley looked at the two for a moment with a small smirk written on her face but she didn't say anything. Instead, she turned around and faced Shepard, who was at the tram's console; his hidden eyes narrowed in concentration and said "Do you think there are anymore Geth waiting for us?"

"I wouldn't be surprised, given that every time we go deeper into this place, more and more Geth seem to be around every single corner…" Ashley nodded at this before looking up at the sky, a bitter sigh leaving her lips. "Good…These Geth bastards fucked with the wrong planet…and the wrong team."

That made Shepard smirk even more as the tram began to move forward

Unbeknownst to any of them, thanks to the tram's movement, one of the Geth's that were mercilessly ripped apart from the combination of Kaidan's biotics and Shepard's shotgun single eye began to glow dimly and with a small noise, it began to pull its destroyed upper body up to a shotgun that one of its comrades had left behind.

"It's no problem Kaidan. You're my best friend after all" Richard replied with a smile, unaware that the Geth was trying to lift the shotgun up with its one arm.

"And when did I agree to be that?" Kaidan asked, amusement twinkling in his eyes as they gazed upon his friend, not seeing the Geth slowly aim at his back.

"When you pushed me across the room with your biotics that was pretty fun," Richard gleefully said with a wide grin but then he saw the Geth raising its gun at Kaidan's back.

Without thinking, Richard pushed Kaidan aside while pulling out his pistol and yelling "look out!" but as just as Richard performed this action, the Geth had fired, not only tearing through Richard's shields but Richard's armor as well.

Kaidan, Shepard and Ashley could only look on in muted horror as Richard was sent stumbling backwards and slamming into the ground with a loud "slam", making them all realize what had happened.

And only a second later, the Geth lowered its weapon and the glow in its eye slowly faded away.

"No!" Kaidan shouted in horror as he scrambled to his feet and ran to his friend, who was coughing and hacking in pure, agonizing torture. "Come on Richard, stay with us!" Kaidan shouted while scrambling to find some Medi-gel but to his horror, he was unable to find any on his person.

"Guys! I need Medi-gel!" Kaidan screamed at Ashley and Shepard before looking down at Richard only to see Richard gasping, blood dribbling down his lips.

It was then that Kaidan knew it was hopeless.

It was far too late to save him.

"I-I'm so sorry…" Kaidan whispered to his friend, tears falling from his eyes.

Richard took several more breaths and gripped at Kaidan's hand that rested on his chest and gripped it hard, fear shining in Richard's eyes but then the light faded away and Richard went limp.

Ashley shut her eyes as whispered a soft prayer as Shepard watched Kaidan lower his head on top of his friend's forehead, tears falling from his eyes.

But Shepard didn't feel anything.

He had seen many of his friends pass away under intense circumstances and unlike him, his team or his sister, he didn't allow it to effect him. He had a mission to complete and he would see it to completion. "Alenko…Unless you want the Geth or Saren to succeed in their plans, we need to get to the beacon…" Shepard responded coldly, causing Kaidan's head to whip to him with a glare on his face.

"Can't you show some emotion Commander?! One of your squad mates has been killed!" Kaidan shouted tearfully, anger laced in his face.

"He has," Shepard responded, allowing his voice to soften ever so lightly. "But if we don't get to them…If we do not stop them, his death would be in vain…Do you truly want that to happen?"

Kaidan looked down at Richard's cold expression and after a few seconds, Kaidan shook his head and laid Richard's head down on the pavement below and shut the deceased man's eyes, whispering "I'm sorry Rich…Watch over me, ok?" And that was when Kaidan stood up, Richard's blood coating his armor and took a deep breath.

"Let's keep going…Commander…" Kaidan said in a calm, eerie tone and with that, both Kaidan and Ashley walked away, leaving Shepard behind to stare at Richard one last time and merely nodded his head in respect before walking away.

Richard may have annoyed him at times but he was a true soldier and for that, he would make sure his body was returned to his family with full honors.

As the now three man squad drew closer to a platform where the tram lied, they saw a single Geth kneeling on the ground, tinkering with something only to lifts its head up to see them approaching…which was soon taken off its shoulders by Shepard with his sniper rifle.

Once the tram stopped, the three jogged over to the down Geth and saw that its body was covering something.

Moving its body with his foot, Shepard's eyes narrowed.

It was a bomb.

Luckily, it was unarmed due to his preemptive strike but he realized that Saren and the Geth were trying to destroy the place. He didn't know why but it didn't matter.

"Everyone! We need to keep moving. They're trying to blow this place up!" Kaidan and Ashley of them looked alarmed but Ashley was the first one to respond.

"Let's kick some asses!" Ashley shouted while pulling out her Shotgun

The three of them quickly trekked into the area with their guns drawn and their eyes open, crushing any opposition that came between them and their mission but as they moved forward, they managed to deactivate three more bombs until finally they were at the beacon where ten Geth and several husks remained.

"Ashley…" Shepard said with narrowed eyes.

Without a word spoken, Ashley pulled out her sniper rifle and kneeled down on one knee, aiming directly at the Geth trying to activate the bomb and with a single shot, the Geth was struck and it fell forward in front of the bomb, catching the attention of the surrounding Geth and Husks, which wailed and charged forward while the Geth armed their weapons and began to fire.

Shepard, and Kaidan ducked for cover and fired at the army of Geth and the husks, managing to down five of the Geth as well as two Husks in the barrage and that's when they ducked down to avoid getting hit.

When it sounded as if most of their weapons had overheated, Shepard shot a look at Kaidan before saying to Ashley "Provide cover fire," before he leapt over the railing and landed on the ground, his assault rifle immediately coming to life as he began spraying rounds of ammunition at his opponent, killing six Geth until it overheated and that's where he then pulled out his shotgun and took one shot, downing a Husk as he simultaneously dove for cover, just as they were beginning to fire.

"Damn, shields are down," He muttered to himself as the bullets slammed against the steel crate that was covering him.

Seeing his Commander in danger, Kaidan pulled out his pistol and leapt over the railing as well, landing into a roll where he shot a Geth point blank in the chest and as it fell, Kaidan took its pistol from his hands and rolled into cover where he then took aim and fired both pistols, killing three of them before tossing one to Shepard, who then rolled out of cover and killed another two Geth and a Husk that had gotten to close.

Not to be outdone, Ashley leapt over the railing as well and landed with a "thump" before running forward to one of the husks and slamming her elbow into it hard before killing two of them with two shotgun blasts and just as the first one was getting back on its feet from behind her.

Seeing A the last Husk coming towards her, Ashley ran forward slammed her shotgun at the last Husk's chest hard, sending it to the ground where she then stepped on its chest and fired at its head in point blank range, whispering "Forgive me."

Ashley took deep breaths as she stared at her kill before removing her right boot from its chest while saying, "I think that's all of them…" she then huffed and placed her shotgun on the back of her hip after giving it a slight pet before turning her head to the beacon, which was glowing an eerily green, much to her confusion.

"The beacon wasn't doing that when we dug it up…" She murmured to herself as Kaidan walked up behind her and touched her shoulder, making her jump slightly.

"Oh, sorry about that," He murmured softly before looking at the beacon and saying with awe in his voice "Whoa, a real Prothean Beacon right in front of our eyes…Richard would have loved to see this…"

Ashley looked at Kaidan and wanted to say something but she couldn't find the words so instead, she nodded and placed a comforting hand on his shoulders, silently offering him relief from losing his friend and silently, he nodded, knowing if anyone was feeling the same hollow feeling he was, it was the Gunnery Chief.

Shepard let out a deep breath of relief after making the call to Joker to pick them up along with the beacon, enjoying the feeling of success he had for completing the mission but it did have sacrifices.

As Shepard slowly walked towards his team, he noticed that Ashley was eying the beacon but suddenly, he saw her body suddenly jerk forward, accompanied by her shriek of surprise and her panicked expression as she turned back to look at the male of her squad for help which Kaidan immediately grabbed for her arm but the pull was too strong so with a yell of panic, Ashley slid out from Kaidan's grasp and flew towards the beacon.

Thinking quickly, Shepard rushed forward, swerving past Kaidan and grabbed her by her arms and flung her to Kaidan, who caught her successfully but then Shepard found his own body flying backwards and then forcefully turned around by the beacon and just as he got close enough, his body was being lifted up.

Panic filled his veins as he struggled for a moment to break free of the invisible grasp this thing had on him but that's when he saw it.

With an emerald border around the edges of his eyes, Shepard saw that himself lying on a platform soaked with blood, tears pouring from his eyes as he began to take his final breaths but then, a small, light blue ethereal child appeared standing before him.

"This…This was quite the disappointment…" The being said while looking down at Shepard's form.

The Shepard watching was confused.

What the hell was he watching?

"This simply won't do…You got this far only to fall…I wanted a better outcome…" It was then the being placed a hand on the dying Shepard's chest while saying "I think I know what to do…"

The watching Shepard's eyes widened in shock as he watched the dying Shepard's body began to glow a bright green before it began to break away into particles that floated in the air and that was when Shepard saw something that shocked him.

He saw these large…metal squid like ships firing red beams of energy at a ship that looked a lot like the Normandy before causing it to exploded in a brilliant explosion, causing fear to shoot through his body but then when saw the green particles fly towards him at top speed.

He watched as green balls of energy came shooting towards him and before he could do anything, the orbs of light slammed into his body, causing sharp visions to fill his mind in such rapid succession, he couldn't keep up with even if he tried and to make it worse, each vision that filled his mind made the headache he now worse than ever before until finally, the beacon exploded in front of him, sending him flying backwards to the ground with a crash.

But as he laid there, drifting into unconsciousness, Shepard heard the voice of that strange being in his head, saying "I have given you a second chance…Let us see how far you get this time…"

And with that, it all went black.

Mass Effect: Sins of the Future

Rain: And with that, my first chapter ends. Now this chapter was a combination of both First chapters of my first two Mass Effect fics but I decided to give Richard more time among the living and let himself be fleshed out more as a character before his time was up. We also got to see more emotions from Kaidan than we saw before and trust me, Richard's death will be an ongoing issue with Kaidan from this moment on. Now, what will happen once Shepard wakes up? Find out next time on…. Mass Effect: Sins of the Future

Jack: Fuckers better review this shit too…Or else…