Mass Effect: Brand New Day

Chapter 1: Brave New World

Earth-Washington D.C

Washington D.C, one of the three capitals of the United North American States, was under attacked by the reapers. Reporter Emily Wong and her assistant Rico Patel hid in a fortified area of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Art…once the premiere attraction of the D.C metro area was now nothing but rubble thanks to the reapers except for a few rooms that were surprisingly intact. Although they were safe, they could still here the chaos and carnage from outside…the war had hit both of them hard, especially Emily…for she was born and raised here, to see some her home being reduced to this was heartbreaking.

"Damn it, they're leaving nothing standing...forget winning…how the hell are we even going to survive this?" Rico said.

"This…this is wrong…" Emily said.

Rico looked at her. "Miss Wong?"

"This isn't how humans are supposed to die. We beat nuclear war. We beat overpopulation. We can't go like this." She said with tears in her eyes. She then stood up, and was about to walk away until Rico grabbed her arm. "Let me go"

"What are you planning to do?" Rico asked with a frown.

"I have to do something…anything, I'm tired of feeling useless!" she said.

"You're going to be feeling nothing if you go out there" he said. They then heard growls coming not far from them, they recognized those growls very well…it haunted their nightmares as they tried to rest, Husks. Rico pulled Emily to the wall and stood very still, not making a peep…by the looks of the shadows they were patrolling the area for more victims to either devour or gather up to bring back to the one of those processing centers the reapers had built. The shadow became larger, their blood instantly went cold…one of the husks was coming towards their way, if it found them they were as good as dead. The husk stopped just short of their location and growled, could they have notice them? They knew the senses of the husks were more advanced than before when they were human but they were completely silent, the only thing they could hear was their own heartbeat and the chaos of the war outside.

More shadows started to appear which meant more husks were coming, they needed to get out of there but one move and they could alert them. They weren't soldiers and they couldn't outrun them, they needed a miracle and soon. The husks growled, they could hear sounds of fighting…they heard no gunfire, Rico took a peek over their hiding spot and his eyes went wide…he couldn't believe what he saw.

"Ms. Wong, we need to move now while we have the chance" he whispered.

"What's happening?" She asked. Rico didn't answer and started to move, Emily followed him outside the Museum. She was about to ask him what he saw in the building, but didn't need to she saw what he saw…the husks were attacking each other and not just them but the reapers also. "What the hell? The reapers have been organized since the beginning of the war…why turn on each other now?" She asked.

"I don't but I'm not about look a gift horse in the mouth" Rico said. He looked behind Emily and saw a husk about to attack the reporter. "Look out!" He dived for the surprised woman while the husk was about to strike, Husk's claw dug into Rico's back.

"Rico!" she said holding him. His back was bleeding and the husk was coming towards them, the Husks and reapers didn't turn on each other they were attacking everything and everyone in sight. Another husk rushed into the husk that attacked them, giving her time to pull Rico away.

"Ms. Wong…please leave me behind, no reason for both of us to die" he said painfully.

"No way buster, I've seen too many people die because of this war, I'm not seeing another" Emily said pulling him into an alleyway. They were safe…for now, but Rico bleeding a lot and she had no medi-gel so she did the next best thing, she tore the lower end of her dress and made a make-shift bandage. She then heard growls, they weren't out of danger just yet, she took Rico's arm and moved to get out of the alley. Just as they were about to get out of the alley, they saw a banshee in front. "No…" Emily said. She turned to move the other way and saw husks coming from behind, they had nowhere to go and they were focusing on them instead of each other.

"Rico…I'm sorry…" she said.

"Don't be, it was an honor to know you, Ms. Wong" he said. The husks closed in…Emily and Rico closed their eyes, hopeful it wouldn't hurt when the end came. Then nothing, they felt nothing….the husks hadn't attacked them, they opened their eyes and found out why they were looking a massive swell of red energy coming towards them. What was that? It looked like the reapers' weapons but it was engulfing the whole city. The wave of energy washed over them, they should have been dead but wave washing over them was painless, that was more they could say about the husks. Banshee screamed in pain as well as the husks, as they dissolved into dust. Emily took Rico and walked out of the alley and saw as reaper upon reaper started to fall. The scene was unreal, it almost felt like Divine intervention from a higher power, Emily sat Rico down and activated her camera drone. "Ms. Wong, what are you doing?"

"Remembering this day…" Emily said. "My name is Emily Wong, reporter for ANN, today I'm talking to you not as a representative of ANN but as a fellow citizen of our galaxy"

"I don't know how, but the war is over…the reapers have fallen" she said. "Is it Divine will or was it our collective stubbornness? I do not know…but I know this, today we live…in the face of the greatest threat our galaxy have ever known, we have survived"

"I know it does not mean much now, we have lost so much…friends, family, peace of mind" she said. "But take heart, we have been given a second chance, let us honor our dead and build a future deserving of their sacrifice."

London

Garrus braced himself and the wave washed over him…there was some sensation but it was otherwise painless. The reapers slaves on the other hand were not so lucky, the wave dissolved into dust…the reapers themselves all toppled to the ground one by one, even the mighty Harbinger was not safe. The night air was filled with cheers…the hellish war was over.

"Whoo! We did it, the putas are dead!" James yelled ecstatically. The rest of the Normandy ground them cheered at the fact the nightmare was over. Javik walked forward and was silent as he saw the reapers dead on the ground. Liara came up to him.

"Are you okay, Javik?" she asked.

"It's finally over…my people can rest" he said. "But now, I have no idea what to do next…I am a ghost, a relic from the past"

"You could travel the galaxy, see you missed for fifty-thousand years" Liara said.

"I suppose, I could go to Kahje, the Hanar would treat me like a king" Liara chuckled and Javik looked at her. "Why do you laugh?"

"Things are looking up already, you just made your first joke" Javik scoffed and looked away, the ways of the primitives were still strange to him. "If you're wondering what to do, I could use your help on something I've been working on" Javik looked at her.

"Does it have something to do with your Shadow Broker work?"

"No, I've been planning on writing a book about your people" Liara said. "I'm sure the galaxy would like to know the real story of your people" Their comms opened. "Liara here, what is it Garrus?"

"Jack and her student are trying to find survivors; they're asking us for help"

"Of course, Garrus be there soon" She said closing her comm. Liara looked at Javik. "Just think about it, okay?"

The Normandy-Alpha Centauri System

Shepherd was in the med-bay getting patched up by Chakwas while watching the live feeds of the reapers defeat on earth, outside he could hear his crew cheering. Though the reapers were defeated now, there were still lots of work to do…searching for survivors and collecting their dead. Not mention the long rebuilding…as Shepherd thought about the want was going to happen next, he felt a sharp pain and gave a loud yelp.

"Ah! Easy Doc, I'm delicate" Shepherd said.

"This wouldn't hurt so much if you didn't keep on squirming, Commander" Chakwas said sternly.

Shepherd groaned. "Yes mom…" he said annoyed. Chakwas finished wrapping his bandages and then injected him with some medi-gel for the pain. The pain from his ribs was starting to dull down much faster thanks to Chakwas improving the formula.

"You should fine, I would advise not to strain yourself too hard" she said.

Shepherd put on his shirt. "Noted" The door to the med-bay opened and Tali came in, unlike the spectre Tali's injuries wasn't too bad. The quarian sneezed a little; although she wasn't injured the damage to her suit had given her a mild cold. Kaiden was also fine, a few cuts and his hands had to be bandage from being burned due to him trying to protect them from Prime's blast. Anderson had the least injuries, only a few scrapes and bruises because of that, he opted to be treated last. Shepherd smiled as he kissed his girlfriend's forehead. "Hey Rookie"

Tali sniffled. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked nasally. She sneezed again. "Damn this cold"

"I should be asking you that…yeah, I'm fine Doc just finished treating me" he said. "I didn't think I would need it but Doc said my cybernetics was shut down" Tali pulled away from him and frowned, she knew that Shepherd's cybernetics didn't just help him heal faster but it also kept him alive.

"Should we be worried?"

"No, just the minor functions are shutdown, Shepherd's Life support systems are still functional" Chakwas shook her head. "I'm still amazed at the Crucible's power, we're not even in the Sol system and our electronics are still being affected"

"Anyway, his cybernetics should return to normal soon" Shepherd got off the bed. "Now Commander, remember what I said, no straining yourself"

"Got it" Shepherd and Tali left the med-bay so Chakwas could work on the other patients. The couple went to their cabin and sat on their bed watching the blue shift outside. It would be a couple of hour before they got back to the Sol system, so the couple rested a bit. "As soon as we're not needed anymore, we'll go straight to Rannoch"

Tali smiled. "Thank you, but the house can wait…I'm more worried about helping your homeworld recover" The sat there for a moment in silent until Shepherd spoke up.

"I was going wait until the right moment for this but fuck it, this is a better time as any" Shepherd got off the bed and went to the drawer, Tali sat up and tilted her head as Shepherd took a small black box out of the drawer. He went over to the quarian and went down on one knee as he opened the box. "Tali, you are my whole world…before I met you, I was unhappy…I was afraid of getting close to anyone because feared losing them" he said. "You give my life meaning, and can't imagine that life without…I want to be with you forever"

"Tali'Zorah Vas Nemma, will you make me the happiest man in the galaxy and marry me?" Tali was speechless and was stuttering…not the best reaction to his proposal. She then pounced him and hugged him tightly. Shepherd strained painful "Rookie, please say yes, so you don't re-break my ribs…"

"Oh Keelah, sorry Wayne! Yes, I will marry you!" Shepherd smiled and kisses her on her mouthpiece. He grabbed the ring and placed it on her finger. Tali looked at the ring but then grew sad. "I'm happy about this, Wayne but you know if we ever decide that we want children…you know I couldn't…" Shepherd placed a finger on her mouthpiece.

"I never cared about that, all I want is to be with you…and if it comes to that, I don't mind adopting" Shepherd said. "Okay?"

Tali nodded and smiled. "Okay" She hugged Shepherd, the com opened.

"Shepherd, Shepherd come quick…some…something's wrong with EDI!" Joker said. "Come here quickly!" Shepherd and Tali looked at each other, and went to the cockpit, the celebrations would have wait.

The Future Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd! Welcome to the Mass Effect: Brand New Day! I'm taking requests, so if you have any idea, Private message me on my profile. As always, Review and Comment!