(dossier.)

[oneman]

NAME◢ John Shepard CANON◢ Mass Effect CANON POINT◢ Priority: Cerberus Headquarters.

"It's not just about living until tomorrow. Sometimes, you have to make a stand."

PROFILE◢ Commander John Shepard human male born April 11, 2154 age 33 Alliance Spectre soldier paragon PRE-SERVICE◢ ▶Earthborn. You were an orphan raised on the streets of the great megatropolises covering Earth. You escaped the life of petty crime and underworld gangs by enlisting with the Alliance military when you turned eighteen. PSYCHOLOGICAL PROFILE◢ ▶Sole-survivor. During your service, a mission you were on went horribly wrong. Trapped in an extreme survival situation, you had to overcome physical torments and psychological stresses that would have broken most people. You survived while all those around you fell, and now you alone are left to tell the tale. "Grew up on Earth. Tough environment, no parents. You enlisted, and you survived a thresher maw attack that wiped out the rest of your team." "I lost a lot of friends that day. Going through something like that changes you, it can break you, if you let it." "I read the report, fifty marines died on Akuze. You were the only one that survived."

"Just another routine mission. Why do they always say that before a mission? Of course it's routine... you haven't done anything yet.
It's everything that happens along the way, the choices you make, the paths you choose -- that turn the routine... into anything but."

MASS EFFECT◢ ▶The mission comes first. As Commander, I knew a relationship had the potential to interfere with the mission. I decided discretion was the better part of valor and kept my focus on our goal... finding Saren. ▶Save the queen. I was left with an angry, dangerous Rachni queen to deal with. She claimed her drones would do no harm if I released her. But the Rachni had terrorized the galaxy before... I couldn't do it. I wouldn't doom an entire species for past sins. And the queen was true to her word. She left and took her army of drones with her. ▶Save Wrex. I had to destroy the base and all its research. Wrex disagreed. Violently. Wrex wanted the Genophage cure for his people. I tried to convince him to help me destroy it, that these Krogan weren't real. But he wouldn't back down... Fortunately, Wrex is smarter than he looks. He realized this wasn't the way to help his people. And that Saren was the real threat. ▶Save Kaidan. I was left just seconds to extract my squadmates. I tried... but I wasn't fast enough. I could only save one of them... Ash was a good friend. And a great soldier. But I had to choose. And I chose Kaidan. ▶Save the Council. As I fought to regain control of the Citadel, the council's flagships, the Destiny Ascension fell under attack. Despite Saren's death, Soverign and Saren's army continued to fight. The Council was aboard the Destiny Ascension and they were requesting assistance, but I knew in order to help them I would have to put our human Alliance fleet in jeopardy... The Council had to be saved. They represented the hearts and minds of the galactic community. Without them, the fleets would be in disarray. MASS EFFECT 2◢ ▶Mission first. Still. We were up against impossible odds. It was a suicide mission. This was too important. The fate of the galaxy depended on our actions. And again, I decided I couldn't let myself be distracted. ▶Don't trust Cerberus. I fully expected them to betray us at some point. And we'd be ready. I knew the stakes of working with extremists. Cerberus needed me. The Illusive Man said I was important to them. And I needed their resources. I needed the Normandy. But I wasn't Cerberus. I knew the Alliance and the Council wouldn't believe me about the Collectors. Not right away. And we didn't have the luxury of time. ▶Break up fights. Jack and Miranda never liked each other from the start. I couldn't blame Jack, not after what she'd been through. But it wasn't the time. It wasn't a surprise with Tali and Legion either. They all had their reasons. But our mission was too important to let personal grudges get in the way -- the galaxy would pay the price for it. My crew is smart. They all listened to reason. I can't say when it's over that they won't start fighting again. ▶All loyalty missions complete. I recruited only the elite, but for this mission I needed more than that. If I was walking into hell, I wanted someone I could trust at my side. The Collectors were like a time-bomb, but when my crew had a problem, I took care of it. I was asking a hell of a lot of them. ▶No one dies. The odds had never been in our favor. With the ship's upgrades and an elite, focused crew... we did the impossible. It was a suicide mission. But we all survived. ▶Destroy the Collector Base. The Collector Base was an abomination. They liquefied people. Turned them into something horrible. We had to destroy the base. As we worked to plant the bomb, The Illusive Man tried to talk me out of it. Tried to convince me that preserving the base would help the fight against the Reapers. But I made my choice. We'd fight and win without it. I wouldn't let fear compromise who I am. MASS EFFECT 3◢ ▶Romance Kaidan. The mission still comes first -- we know that. We're old soldiers. But... it felt right. After all this time, to have someone. Not just someone, but Kaidan. ▶Cure the genophage. The Reapers devastated Earth. The Council refused to help, but there was a way to get the turians to help us -- if we got the krogan to aid them. And the krogan had a very high price for their help: they wanted the genophage cured. More than that, Wrex had information that a cure had been found. The salarian dalatrass tried to convince me to trick the krogan. Let them think the genophage was cured when it wasn't. The krogan are as dangerous as they are violent. Curing the genophage could cause another catastrophic war... But I wouldn't condemn an entire species for what they might do. Wrex is a good friend and a good leader. ▶Talk Kaidan down. There was a coup. Cerberus tried to take the Citadel and Udina was the leading man. But Kaidan didn't know that, Udina had lied to him. When I showed up, things got a little tense. But I trusted Kaidan. I don't see how I could have shot him. We start killing our friends, war turns into murder. I trusted him and Kaidan turned his gun on Udina and shot him down. ▶Make peace with the geth and quarians. Legion had a code to make all geth as intelligent as when the Reapers were controlling them... with free will. All he had to do was upload it. And the geth deserved the chance. Legion asked me, "Does this unit have a soul?" I wanted to be able to answer yes. For centuries, the geth and the quarians have been at war. I had Tali try to call off the quarian fleet. Nobody else was dying that day. I was determined. The geth didn't want to fight. Everything the geth had done, they were forced to. If the quarians would just believe that for one minute, their war would be over. And the quarians listened to me. Note: Mass Effect 1 choice summary comes from ME2's interactive comic.