Though now a hero of the galaxy twice over, Shepard's work wasn't done — she knew it never would be, not so long as the Reaper threat still loomed. Following a request from Alliance Fleet Admiral Hackett, Shepard went alone to a prison on the batarian colony of Aratoht in the Bahak system, where she successfully extracted an Alliance operative, Dr. Amanda Kenson, who had been arrested by the batarians on terrorism charges and was being interrogated. Her real purpose, as Hackett had told Shepard, was that she had heard news of a Reaper artifact in the Bahak system and had gone to investigate. Upon freeing Kenson and speaking with her, Shepard learned that Kenson had found the Reaper artifact and was studying it. Kenson had supposedly received visions from contact with the artifact and had come to the conclusion that a Reaper invasion of the galaxy was imminent, determining that the Reapers would use the Bahak system's mass relay, which she called the Alpha Relay, to spread through the galaxy and destroy its civilizations. To prevent the invasion, Kenson had established what she called "The Project" — a plan to propel an asteroid into the Alpha Relay, destroying it and preventing the Reapers from accessing it. While the destruction of the relay would have massive consequences — the explosive force would be equivalent to that of a supernova and would wipe out every planet in the system — Kenson considered it worth it if it would stop the Reaper invasion, and Shepard had to agree with her. Upon reaching the Project base on board the asteroid, Shepard confronted the Reaper artifact, which Kenson and her team had termed "Object Rho." She was shocked and concerned that Kenson simply left the artifact sitting out in the open, unprotected and more importantly capable of exerting Reaper indoctrination on unsuspecting minds, but Kenson seemed to think it wasn't an issue and implied the artifact would show Shepard the same visions it had shown her. And it did — Shepard realized that Kenson was right, that a Reaper invasion was imminent. Unfortunately, Kenson had also been indoctrinated all along, and upon realizing that Shepard intended to go through with the Project, she had her guards attack her. Though Shepard held her own, even she was eventually overcome, and Kenson had her patched up but sedated, wanting to keep her alive but not wanting her to interfere.

But Shepard was, unfortunately for Kenson, not exactly an ordinary woman, and sedation that would have kept anyone else under wore off sooner than expected. Shepard woke to find that Kenson had kept her unconscious for two days, and she fought her way through the base until she reached the control room for the asteroid's mass effect engines. Activating the engines to propel the asteroid toward the mass relay, Shepard attempted to warn the colonists on Aratoht of the imminent explosion, but was interrupted by Kenson. Infuriated at what Shepard had done, she attempted to overload the base's reactor core in order to destroy the asteroid and everyone on it before it could hit the Alpha Relay. However, Shepard stopped her, and Kenson died in the process. Having only a few minutes to escape from the asteroid before it could hit the relay, Shepard was finally able to contact the Normandy, which picked her up and escaped the system through the relay seconds before the asteroid collided with it.

Though her actions delayed the invasion of the Reapers, Shepard was still responsible for the destruction of the Bahak system and its 300,000 colonists, and Admiral Hackett warned her that she would likely have to face trial for her actions in order to stave off war with the batarians. Believing that what she had done was right, Shepard indicated her willingness to defend herself in court-martial. Some time later, she returned to Earth, where she was stripped of her commission and placed under house arrest while the Alliance deliberated what to do with her.

This is the canon point I'm taking her from.

Powers/skills:
In a general sense, Shepard is a very, very competent soldier, having graduated from the Alliance's most intensive special forces training program, which teaches advanced combat, survival, and leadership skills. She has survived, and excelled, in circumstances under which most people would be killed or give up. In her own world, she's perhaps the galaxy's most famous hero (or infamous, depending), and she is well used to confronting situations others have deemed impossible or suicidal. Additionally, soldiers in her world undergo gene therapy to improve strength, stamina, speed and dexterity, so she's somewhat more enhanced in these areas compared to the average human or even the average soldier.

That said, Shepard has some skills specific to her military specialization — she is a Vanguard, a soldier whose talents combine combat expertise with biotic powers. While she has more abilities in canon than the ones listed below (mostly pertaining to certain kinds of special ammo that can probably only be used with firearms from her world), I'll be limiting her strictly to her biotic powers.

 ↳ Charge
Shepard cloaks herself in a biotic field and charges across the battlefield at an enemy, hitting them and sending them flying. This power enhances Shepard's speed and strength and inflicts massive damage when it connects.

 ↳ Shockwave
As the name implies, this power unleashes shockwaves of biotic energy along the ground that send weaker enemies flying and stagger or stun stronger ones; it also causes significant amounts of damage. This is one of Shepard's go-to abilities, and it's useful for clearing out crowds of weak opponents.

 ↳ Pull
This power levitates the target into the air with a mass effect field, simultaneously pulling them towards Shepard. While under its effects the target is unable to defend themselves, making them easy pickings for anyone armed with firearms or other ranged weapons.

City
Name: Sarah Wilcox
Position: Navy commander.
History: Sarah Wilcox was not the first person in her family to join the military, but she was the first woman. Determined to prove she could serve just as well as the men of the Wilcox line, she has earned every promotion she received on her own merit, and has already been decorated twice for valor. She was serving as the executive officer of the Navy's single aircraft carrier at the time of the disaster.

She was mostly a very serious woman, though with a certain offbeat charm and a warmth to her once one grew to know her well. Both her parents and two siblings were still alive before the Disaster, as well as a significant other whom she met on shore leave once. They'd only known each other two years, but she had intended to marry him once her tour of duty in the Navy was completed.
Proof: A photo of her with her family at her graduation from boot camp.

Playing
First-person sample:

Let me get this straight. You're trying to tell me over three years of my life — that everything I experienced was all some kind of dream? That that person I was isn't actually me?

I don't buy it. Photos can be faked. And don't you dare try to tell me I'm crazy. I've heard that enough.

... All right. The rest of you — let's get a headcount, figure out who else is here.

Third-person sample:
 ↳ A musebox post with Shep, an Eclipse mercenary OC, and the Illusive Man.

Did you read the rules? Yep!


ETA; fff sorry for the deletions, had to correct a factual error. This is what I get for writing apps in the wee hours.