PROLOGUE – First Cycle

"What's going on...?''

That was the first thought that came into my head as soon as I 'woke up'. I tried to open my eyes just then, but something made it impossible to open it.

I tried a few more times, then gave up, and focused on trying to move my limbs, to no avail.

Confused, I tried to remember what had happened before I went to 'sleep' and it hit me like a truck,

' I had died.'

I remember the scene very well, but I don't delve into it because it already happened and the result was my death.

'Ah... so this is heaven, hell, or limbo, huh.'

Unable to change my situation, since I knew I was dead, it didn't take me long to accept what was happening to me. But... I was unsure what was happening to me, if that makes sense 'Let's see if I can somehow recognize where I am... as long as it's not hell, that's good enough.'

I once more forced my eyes open and this time I managed to open them. But what I saw in front of me scared me a little. It was a giant and she was holding me in her hands.

' No, wait... I'm the one who's too small!'

I then finally realized what was happening. Of course, it was absurd to think about it, as it only ever happened in movies, games, and such, but the reality that appeared to me in front of me was exactly like what transpired on those media.

'I was born again as a baby... now I just have to find out where, when. Of course, the why doesn't matter.'

With the goal formed, to just find out where I was, I mentally prepared myself for everything except the supernatural sleep that came over me and I quickly fell asleep.

YEARS LATER

Well, I quickly discovered which universe I was born in. In my old life, I read and played a lot of stuff, so I basically knew what to 'do' in situations like this, but I wasn't exactly prepared for what I discovered.

I discovered that I was in the Mass Effect universe. Of course, having played a lot in my old life, I discovered this information with ease.

However, instead of being excited by the prospect of living in a futuristic world, I can only remember the worst parts of this new world. One of them is Cerberus, an organization formed by humans who couldn't be more inhuman and who wanted to take over the galaxy at any cost. Then there were wars of huge magnitudes, that threatened the entire galaxy.

There are lots of other things too, but the worst was the Reapers.

If you've played Mass Effect or read anything related to it, you'll already know what the Repaers are, and I did too, but living in the same universe as them was frightening. They were, essentially, a race of highly intelligent and deadly machines that periodically extinguished life in the galaxy for unexplained reasons.

They were basically unbeatable, and the only reason we could beat them in the games was because it was a game. But now, I was here, inside this universe, and not playing. So my chances of actually winning were slim to none.

Yeah, that was the world where I was reborn.

Sure, it was bad, but I didn't lose hope, all because of a few people. Shepard, Tali, Liara, Wrex, Garus, and a few select others, were characters from the games. There, they beat the Reapers, at great cost, but they won.

Which meant that I had a chance of living if I snuck close to them.

However, the problem was that as well as being born in this fucked-up universe, I was poor. And since I don't have much knowledge of the universe outside the timeline of games and books, I had no choice but to survive by any means necessary and try to survive long enough to meet the crew.

It wasn't so bad, but it was better to have money than not.

Besides, I still had to find a way to get close to Shepard, but I didn't have many options. So, after several years of training my body and as soon as I got enough money, I decided to become a mercenary.

I knew when the Reapers would arrive and I still had a few years to go, so I decided to go down the route of showing my services and maybe being called up to Shepard's crew, and in the meantime, putting together my own group. It wasn't easy, but I had a good team, made up entirely of mercenaries.

I wasn't an expert or anything, but I was good enough not to die on the missions that were passed on to my group. And, after a few years as a mercenary, and with very little time left before the plot began, I managed to get close to Shepard... Jane Shepard.

She was better than I had imagined, in terms of appearance and personality, which was a mixture of paragon and renegade, or good and bad.

I quickly, already knowing the future of the missions, managed to get close to her, and helped her avoid making rash decisions, like killing Wrex. Of course, I had to improvise a few things along the way, but in general, everything followed the plot of the games.

I'll admit that in the middle of it all, I kind of lost my cool a bit, being close to those characters that I was a fan of in my old life and asked everyone on board the Normandy, Shepard's ship, to teach me a few things related to their area.

Besides doing that to get close to them, and as I said before, I was a good soldier, but nothing more. No biotics, no technology ahead of my time, nothing, so their expertise could also help me a lot in life.

And lucky for me, the crew helped. So I learned a few things from everyone. Wrex briefly taught me how to torture and fight like a Krogan, it was difficult but it helped a lot.

Garrus taught me how to handle weapons and improve them. Tali helped me with technology and how to improve other things. Mordin helped me with anatomy and doctor stuff. Liara taught me how to look for archaeological things, among other things. And so on.

I didn't have much time to learn everything from them, but at least I knew the basics.

In the middle of training, I became even more close to Shepard. As I knew her personality beforehand, and from what I saw, she had the background Earthborn and Solo survivor, which meant that she was born on Earth, was an orphan, and joined the military as soon as she could, to escape crime.

Solo survivor means that on one of her missions as a member of the military, her group was attacked by a Thresher Maw, which was a giant worm that spewed acid out of its mouth, leaving only her as a survivor.

So I used my knowledge to get close to her and after a few months, I got into a relationship with her. I never thought I'd manage it, but it happened.

But the most surprising thing happened later.

At this point in my story, we were approaching the end. As I saved Shepard from a Collector attack, a lot and very little changed. The most significant was that Liara didn't go off into the galaxy and stayed with Shepard and me.

And, well, it happened. I won't say I didn't want to, but ... Liara simply admitted one day that she liked Shepard and me. I was surprised and so was Shepard.

After much deliberation, we decided to accept Liara, and the rest is history. I thought that was the end of it, but...

"Are you saying you like me?'' I was genuinely surprised by Tali's confession, but I admit I was flattered, since in my playthroughs, she was my favorite romance partner.

However, I was already totally focused on Shepard and Liara and admittedly didn't notice Tali in a romantic sense.

Tali nodded in a shy way, if that was possible, '' Yes... I now regret saying it out loud.''

''Don't... just give me some time to sort out my feelings. This is not a no, by the way.''

I was a little taken aback too, because in this universe, I thought harems weren't things, but it seemed I was wrong, seeing as that was what happening to me. I admit I never researched about this topic, something I now regret a little.

Well, a conversation with Liara and Shepard later, and Tali joined us. The rest is history.

Finally, after a lot of sweat and preparation on our part, the Reapers finally attacked.

I won't lie, it was ugly, uglier than I imagined. However, we won the war using the Red Ending, which destroyed every kind of sentient machine in the universe, even our allies. A high price to pay, but we didn't have many options.

What came next was the reconstruction of the galaxy, which even though we have won, had many problems. Shepard used her status as the savior of the galaxy to get things back on track.

And in the middle of it all, there was me, Tali, and Liara. I was writing in my book/diary, which I had put in a place where no one could see it, about everything that had happened to me.

' And today is the last time I'll write here. After that, I'll probably destroy this book or something. It's all over and now I'm going to live my life in peace, with my wives.'

I smiled as I wrote and read the last part.

Putting the book in a safe place, I turned and looked outside the window 'So much has changed from the games...'

Liara didn't become Shadow Broker, who was the biggest spy boss in the galaxy, because I intervened. She was now more focused on being the best archaeologist in the galaxy and I helped her wherever I could.

Tali, after the war, decided to focus on helping her people. And I did too. Together with Mordin Solus, we developed a type of serum that helped her race to walk around normally out of their suits for a limited period of time, withouth any side effects.

I'm not going to lie, it took a lot of time, as we began this research even before the war, but it paid off, as we literally helped an entire species live better. Mordin even said there was room for improvement, making the effect of the serum permanent, if we focused more on the research.

We decide to rest a bit before going that path.

And Shepard, as always, was in a meeting to solve the galaxy's problems. The war against the Reapers had been ugly, and now the reconstruction was somehow even more taxing than the war.

The main problems were the Krogans, who were now going to multiply rapidly, and the Rachni, who had to be kept in check as well. All that and stay alert to other unknown threats.

I helped where I could, but there was not much I could do, 'I should help more.'

I was doing a lot of small things for my wife, and in the middle of it, I used my free time to train with Wrex, who at this point was the leader of the Krogan Race.

We trained so much that he said I was basically a Krogan in the way I fight and the way I know how to torture.

I focused on fighting because I knew things would not be so peaceful after the Reapers, and now, while I can't be considered a master, I was confident in facing almost everyone in a one-on-one fight, but that might be arrogance.

I was fighting Wrex to a draw most of the time, and there are very few people in the galaxy who could do that, so yeah, I could be a little arrogant.

Well, today was my birthday, my 28th, to be exact. So, I knew when they ended the things they were doing, I would be showered with affection.

'I can't wait.' I looked at the time, and it was just past seven at night.

Just then, Tali finished what she was doing and approached me. Of course, as we made the serum to help the Quarians get out of their suit, Tali was almost nude, as she said she felt suffocated in that suit her whole life.

While I was thinking about and admiring her body for the 100,000 times, Tali approached me and tapped my head. ''Are you there?''

I smiled seeing that. '' Of course. Did you finish what you were doing?''

Tali nodded, then stretched her arms. I was already accustomed to that gesture, so I hugged her with all my heart. She clearly enjoyed that.

We continued hugging for some time, until she let me go. She looked around, "Are those two still occupied?"

I nodded. '' You know the drill, both are very busy. Shepard even more so.''

'' Yeah, yeah. Being the savior of the galaxy, don't let you have time for yourself.'' Tali was mad on Shepard's behalf, as she knew how much time she spent on those useless meetings.

Useless in the meaning that nothing changed even though there are a lot of those meetings every day.

I was mad too, because the time we spent together had decreased significantly since the end of the war, but I endured, as I knew it was only temporary. '' When this is over, let go on a vacation.''

Tali turned her head to me in a flash, her eyes twinkling.'' Can I choose the location?''

'' Sure.''

'' How about me?'' Just then, Liara appeared in front of us, asking about her input,'' Can I choose a location too?''

'' Of course! I don't know if I told you guys, but we are on vacation forever after this war. Being on the crew of the savior of the galaxy has its perks.''

Yes, the family of four was rich, more than people could think, thanks to their contribution to the war. While less than a year passed since the war ended and things were still going back to normal, this was set in stone almost from the beginning.

'' Good! I found this place that might have traces of an older civilization, from a cycle way even older than the Protheans! Isn't that amazing?'' Liara was always an archeologist, and now that there wasn't a big threat around, she could do what she wanted with no worries.

'' Yes. We can visit that too.''

'' What about me?'' Just then, Shepard finished her reunion and sat on the sofa near everyone, saying, '' I need a break since 11 months ago.''

'' You can also choose a location.'' I was amazed and lucky to have all three of them by my side.

While they started a conversation about where they wanted to go, I started to worry about our lifespan, 'Now that the war is over and we are the most powerful crew in the galaxy, things should be peaceful for a while, or so I think.'

Being the most influential person might not be good, as there would be a lot of people trying to use us for their benefit, and I don't like that one bit. I bet the girl also didn't like that.

' Maybe we should just retire to a distant planet or something... Anyway, about the lifespan, maybe I can talk with Mordin about this and see if he can think about anything related to this.'

While it was a far-fetched idea, it could work, as the man literally managed to fundamentally make an entire race infertile. Giving me a few extra years might not be difficult.

' The problem is, I don't know how much time he was left...' Mordin was a Salarian, a species that was known to have a short lifespan. He was nearing his end.' Maybe I should let him rest in his last years?'

While I was thinking about that, it seems the trio arrived at a conclusion and brought me back to my thought, '' We decided where we wanted to go.''

'' Oh? Tell me.''

'' First....''

After we made plans to visit a few planets, I went to take a shower. It was 23:55 by the time I got out. I knew they must have had a surprise for me right outside the bathroom.

I stood in front of the mirror, looking at my reflection. I wasn't saying I was handsome or anything like that, but God did make me good enough. In some parts, he was very generous too.

As I looked at myself, I could not help but think about my life to this point.

' Reicarnaiting in the Mass Effect universe as a baby, growing poor but with a loving mom, going out to the galaxy as soon as I could, training hard until I fainted, entering a mercenary group, making my way up to the Shepard crew, then getting all the girls... I give my life a pass.'

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine. As I mentioned before, we won the war, but we lost a few allies, 'Garus, EDI, Ashley, Samara... I could not save them.'

Even with all my knowledge, I'm not omnipresent. I wasn't present for a few of their deaths, but the majority happened at the end of the war. While the games only showed Shepard's perspective, they didn't mention that the Reapers sensed their defeat getting close, and started to go crazy down on Earth, the place where the more centralized fight was occurring.

They launched attack after attack, and unfortunately, all those I mentioned, minus EDI, as she died when Shepard killed all machines, died at that moment. It was frustrating, but life isn't perfect.

'... I will honor your memories.' Giving a silent prayer to my fallen comrades, I put the sadness aside and started to get ready for whatever was going on outside the bathroom.

I checked the clock, and it was 23:59.

''... Are you coming out?'' I heard a voice calling me from outside.

'' Yes, give me a second.''

I was already dressed at this point. I gave one last look in the mirror and vowed to enjoy my life, for me and for those I lost, 'We will see each other again, I'm sure of it.'

With that, I was about to go out when, suddenly, darkness started to consume my view. I panicked a little, but before I could even say something, I lost consciousness.

That was the end of my first cycle and the start of my journey, but I didn't know that yet.

----

AN:

Well, normally, I would only put this part in the last chapter of the fic, but I decided to put it as an author note in the Prologue ( I can't do that in the specific place in WN because the limit was 500 words, so I had to put it here), as people generally start reading from the first chapter posted.

With that out of the way, let's start my monologue.

I always wanted to write a Mass Effect fic, in fact, I wrote one back in 2019 on fanfic.net, but stopped writing because it was trash, and I eventually deleted it from the internet. Which is something I now regret but oh well.

So, after 5 years and 4 fanfics later, I decided to once more try to write the Fanfic. But, this time, I will write a somehow 'new' story. New OC, new plotline, etc.

The majority of the fic will pass BEFORE the first game and AFTER the third. I will be honest with you all, I don't think I can do justice with the fight between the Reapers and the galaxy, but I have confidence I can do a nice fic without going into much detail in the fight. I'll, however, try my best, so please bear with me.

I got the idea of this type of time loop from a novel I was reading it ( A Regressor's Tale of Cultivation, go check it out if you haven't, it's amazing). I even wanted to make a few 10 or 20 chapters of the MC past cycles, but I know my limit, and that is above what I could do at the moment. I mean, I could try, but I don't think it will amount to the quality I wanted to give you guys, so I-we have to accept the prologue as a way to show the past cycles, even if little to nothing.

As ME has a lot of characters across the games, I don't think I can introduce ALL of them and develop them that well, so they would most likely appear in the background and that was it. But, I'll give focus to a few of them, as they will have their little arc. Again, I don't think I can do that to everyone but I'll try my best.

Our MC will be a broken yet healed man, who is trying his best to live a happy life. He will do anything to achieve that goal, so if you want a hero who will save everyone because he should, this is not for you. He will try to help those he can, but don't expect him to sacrifice himself for 'the greater good' of the galaxy, he leaves that part to the others. Well, he has a sense of responsibility with the galaxy, as he was the only one who knew the extent of what the Reapers are capable of, but that was it.

I'll try to write the best I can to show that part of MC's personality, but I don't know if it will come out well or not. I'll let you guys be the judge with that part.

Anyway, that was it. I hope you enjoy my fic to the end, and have a nice day!