Commander Shepard

A military prodigy, born to parents already serving the Rhea Systems Alliance just a year after the end of the First Contact War. Shepard was a rising star in her early days in service, graduating from officer school into the Marines within a matter of years after enlisting, and becoming a venerated combat hero for her actions in the Skyllian Blitz that rallied the resistance efforts on Elysium and turn the tide against the attacking batarians at a mere twenty-two years of age. Since then, she has accumulated an impressive service record, and is the first human to be fully appointed as a Council Spectre. During the destruction of the SSV *Normandy* in late 2183, Shepard was vented into space and was medically deceased in a state of cyrostasis until revived two years later by the efforts of the human supremacist organization, Cerberus.

## Biography

Born to Hannah Shepard on Arcturus Station in 2154, Janice Shepard didn't know her father growing up, but became well familiar with the life of a military child, moving from posting to posting with her mother, until she herself enlisted at eighteen and quickly gained the notice of her superiors to earn a nomination to officer school within a matter of years. Hard work earned Shepard a quick rise to commission, and her unwavering resilience combined with quick tactical thinking won her the siege on Elysium during the Skyllian Blitz in 2176, as well as nomination to the N7 special forces training program when she returned to Rhean space from the Skyllian Verge. Following her successful completion of the training program, Janice would rise in the ranks and further study biotic abilities and tactics in a stint at Grissom Academy, having been previously exposed to Eezo radiation at 14 and discovered three years later to have developed biotic abilities.

After a tour of duty for the next few years aboard the SSV *Brussvall*, primarily policing Alliance space from slavers, pirates, and batarian terrorism, Shepard would learn along with the rest of the galaxy of contact between them and the "nearby" M1-B739 galaxy, revealed to be known to a region of its native sapient civilizations as "Sol-Daiban", and of a curiously very similar and genetically related species of humans from the planet known as Terra. She was eventually transferred to the newly activated recon frigate SSV *Normandy*, in 2183, just before the series events that lead to her rapid promotion to full Staff Commander, appointment as a Council Spectre, and the cataclysmic showdown with a massive sapient ship referred to by the rogue ex-Spectre Saren as "Sovereign" that ended in the deaths of thousands of humans in defense of the Council, and the destruction of Sovereign at the guns of the collected Citadel and Systems Alliance fleets with aid from the Outsider Sangheili. Despite the horrific Battle of the Citadel, the Council still refused to accept the evidence of the precursor Reapers and their threat, and assigned Shepard and her crew into the Traverse to investigate reports of Geth incursions. This led eventually to encountering a vessel of unknown design that tore through the *Normandy*, and left Shepard in a virtual state of death until revived through the efforts of Project Lazarus.

## Personality

Considered a firebrand rapid rise as a soldier, Shepard is not so much reckless and impulsive as she is confident and quick to action in hair trigger situations. She always considered the greater need and good in a situation, but often will follow her own rules when those in place are a hindrance to her task and objectives. The young commander had made a career of being unpredictable and erratic in her tactics and decisions, relying on her own instincts and intuition far more than orders from a distantly positioned superior who directs others from safety. Janice has little patience for political games and prefers direct action and results, easily determinable middle ground, and while willing to play loose with conduct and procedure in the name of the greater good, Shepard is unwilling to needlessly sacrifice lives or compromise protecting innocents, nor break her word if given in good faith for negotiations. Compassion has always been her guiding emotion, and she can find sympathy even for those she is expected to hate.

## Physical Appearance

While not standing at an imposing height, being a hundred and sixty centimeters, Janice Shepard makes up for it in sheer tenacity, and like other Rhean humans is built hardier than the Terrans of the Sol-Daiban galaxy as a result of Rhea's higher gravity. Her auburn red hair is distinctive, paired with rather impressive green eyes and a smatter of freckles across her face. Her build is lean and well toned, as her life as a marine kept her active and in top shape. While having picked up a very visible scar across her face as a result of her involvement in the Skyllian Blitz, Shepard otherwise has a still youthful appearance, though it has been further marred by a series of surgical scars attained from her revival at the hands of Project Lazarus. Her weight has increased substantially since her "death" in 2183, a result of implants and skeletal reinforcement during the Lazarus revival process, but such hasn't hindered her at all.

## Physical Abilities

Prior to her revival and augmentation via Project Lazarus, Shepard was typical for a woman in her condition and training. Capable of sprinting 28 to 30 kilometers an hour, bench pressing 70 kilograms, and many other upper expectations of a special forces soldier. Since her revival, Janice Shepard has been capable of increasingly new ceilings to her physical abilities that are not yet explored, though she is far more durable than previously and highly resistant to toxins and physical fatigue.