Mass Effect Fanfiction 🚀 👾

Batarian!Zaeed confronts Shephard

**Spoiler Warning for the Arrival DLC for Mass Effect 2, this takes place after finishing the main story and dlc**
*This takes place in an AU in which Zaeed is a Batarian, instead of a human*

(Also if anyone has a better idea for a title, please let me know lmao)

You lay in your cabin, empty of energy and emotion. You never had to make a sacrifice like that, especially one that far out of your control. Hundreds of thousands of lives lost. For the greater good, you had to tell Hackett- and yourself. Was it though? The doubts swam through your mind like serpents, drowning out the noise of the intercom.

"Commander? You there?"

You broke out of your stupor and answered your helmsman, "Yeah, I'm here Joker,"

"Good, because I think Zaeed is about to be up there too and he does not look happy,"

As if summoned by name, the Mercenary veteran stomped into your room, hate filling his 3 living eyes.

"I'm going to kill you, Shephard, and I'm going to make it nice and slow," His words were laced with the venom of all those that died as he rushed you.

You barely had time to move out of the way, falling to the floor as he crashed into the wall.

"You killed all those people, Shephard! My people! People that had done nothing to you! The hegemony may be lying sons of varren, but they were right about you, humans, the council, all of it. You don't care about batarians, none of you. After I kill you, I'm going to take this ship and crash it into Eden Prime, let's see how you like having your colonies burn,"

Zaeed charged into, slamming you against the wall, the ringing in your ears helped to quiet the bloodthirsty screams of your companion. You grabbed your gun from the nightstand and before he could stop you, you put it under his chin and kneed him in the stomach.

"What are you going to do, Shepard? Shoot me? I'm surprised. That's more than you did for those colonists," He spat at you, his saliva stained with blood.

"No, I'm not going to shoot you, Zaeed, just let me explain,"

"Explain what? That you put every other race in the milky way ahead of mine? First you waste twenty years of me searching for the man that overthrew MY company and now you slaughter MY people without a second thought? There's no need to explain, Shephard, you're a human, it's what you people do,"

"Zaeed, there was nothing I could do, the relay had to be destroyed. I tried to warn the colony but the comm link was shut down. If there was any other way to do what was done, any way at all to save those people, I would have. I'm sorry,"

"Apologies don't bring back families made of ash, Shephard. The mission is over, the credits are mine, I'm leaving. You can keep your damn life, it's not worth taking,"

He started for the door and while you thought about stopping him, you knew there was no point. Some crimes can never be fully paid for and some bonds can't be mended.

EDI appeared before you, "The Mercenary, Zaeed, is attempting to take an escape pod to a nearby batarian settlement, do you grant him permission?"

A hollow sigh escapes your lips, "permission granted,".

(The art is by efleck on deviant art)