What Would Commander Shepard Do???

[Brittain95]

Shepards being a spectre his duty is not only the council but the entire galaxy so if he had to make a choice between 3 lives and 300,000,000,000+ it is the only logical choice one can make.
As Spock from Star Trek 2: The Wrath of Khan says "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" .

 

[NoriYuki Sato]

F*** the Council. If you save them they shove you aside in 2. If you don't, you still get shoved aside by the new council. No matter what they hate you for being human, they undermine you and refuse to believe anything, even though you have proof and they have seen what a Reaper can do. Let the council burn, save the rest of the galaxy. At least then you can justify your actions with, "I did what was best for the galaxy. We can always rebuild the council, and set up a new Base of Operations for the galaxy."

In other words, let the council burn, save the galaxy, and start the council anew.

 

[-Dragmire-]

I'd save them, as always.

I'd also be blaring on all channels the Miracle-of-Sound's Commander Shepard theme music to warn all my enemies of their impending doom.

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/miracle-of-sound/3158-Commander-Shepard

 

[Oliver Pink]

I imagine Shepard would don his gas mask, break of the submachine gun and get to work on the Aliens... then he'd resume his hunt for Gordon Free- Oh wait, wrong Shepard... my bad.

 

[Cheesus333]

I'M COMMANDER SHEPARD, AND THIS IS MY FAVOURITE IRONIC VENGEANCE ON THE CITADEL.

Probably go save them with his trademark blind luck, to be honest.

 

[nekoaitsu]

Depends on what I'm currently doing. Covering the escape of refugees? No. But the council ship would be in orbit, (probably), so I could send up half the team in the Normandy. If they were still on the Citadel, I'd still split the team.

 

[Ian Caronia]

So here is the setting....
You are playing Mass Effect 3 and you find out that the Citadel is under attack by the Reapers and you get an incoming call from the Council asking for your immediate assistance.

... if I were Shep, I'd get my ass over there - can't let them take control of the Citadel, they could shut down all the relays and totally screw any military maneuvers over. That was the plan in ME1 after all.

Smart thinking Twilight Sparkle-I mean, Bara_no_Hime. It's the smart decision, after all.

If it was my Shep I'd do the same. That is, unless the quarians were in trouble at the same time. Then tactical logic and the entirety of the Citadel can kiss the Normandy's rear jets because, well... Tali.
Come to think of it, I hope Bioware's writers don't make us choose between our love interest and an entire race of people. I mean it'd be some very deep character developement and would be incredible for the narrative, but it'd also kind of suck because, well... Tali.

*On Xauron 12*
"Mommy! When will Shepard come and save us?"
"Don't worry, sweety! S/He cares about the greater good. They're a hero, after all! Shepard will-"
Chooses Love Interest
"...Well fuck,"
*Xauron 12 and the entirety of the [insert race here] people annihilated*

Yeah... Sorry, Spock.

 

[Nexus4]

Shepard would team up with Chuck Norris and kick some reaper ass.

 

[thest3alth]

Why would the Reapers attack one of their own Mass Relays? Arguably the most important one, too.

If the opportunity presented itself, I would blow up the Citadel, creating a massive explosion (similar to the one in Arrival, though I'd assume it would be bigger.

Hopefully this would wipe out a lot of the Reaper fleet =)

 

[Bobbity]

Fuck 'em. I help them once, and what do they do for me? Fuck all, that's what.

 

[Joe Deadman]

He would welcome his new overlords and then help promote the reapers by proclaiming that its his favourite invasion on the citadel.

Or shoot them alot.

 

[BrotherSurplice]

I would save the Citadel, but if it was a choice between Earth and the Citadel as some have said, I would go for Earth every time. Humans FTW!

 

[TheDarklite]

I would go off and do a few side quests first, then finally go to save the citadel.

When I get there I learn that I took too long and the majority of the citadel get melted in these weird chambers and siphoned off into a reaper-larvae that I will then need to fight.

When I get the decision to keep the citadel to learn from it in the future or simply destroy it so it cannot backfire, I will choose the latter knowing the Secretive Man (leader of the Blue Suns, and who I assume I am working for at this point) will only betray me in Mass Effect 4.

When he goes off at me for destroying it I will tell him to shove off and walk away into the distance. At which point the Reapellectors will come out of dark space to be the harbinger of my doom.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

It'd be a hard choice, because I personally think the council are a bunch of retards and would quite happily let them die, but letting the Reapers take control of the Citadel would be a massive mistake.

 

[Zhukov]

I'd save 'em. Again.

I always thought they were fairly reasonable to dismiss Shepard's ranting. They never did get to see any hard evidence for the whole we're-gonna-get-reaped scenario.

However, I do want the opportunity to stand next to the Turian councillor, point at a bunch of Reapers tearing shit up and say, "Ah yes, is that a "Reaper" I see?"

 

[phantasmalWordsmith]

I'd go to commander Shepard's favourite store on the citadel. Easier said than done. Then I'd go have one round of crazy biotic love with an asari before the reapers enslave us all

 

[Zhukov]

Come to think of it, I hope Bioware's writers don't make us choose between our love interest and an entire race of people. I mean it'd be some very deep character developement and would be incredible for the narrative, but it'd also kind of suck because, well... Tali.

*On Xauron 12*
"Mommy! When will Shepard come and save us?"
"Don't worry, sweety! S/He cares about the greater good. They're a hero, after all! Shepard will-"
Chooses Love Interest
"...Well fuck,"
*Xauron 12 and the entirety of the [insert race here] people annihilated*

Yeah... Sorry, Spock.

Here's a thought:

What if the individual in question begged you not to choose them and hated you forever if you did?

 

[Ian Caronia]

Come to think of it, I hope Bioware's writers don't make us choose between our love interest and an entire race of people. I mean it'd be some very deep character developement and would be incredible for the narrative, but it'd also kind of suck because, well... Tali.

*On Xauron 12*
"Mommy! When will Shepard come and save us?"
"Don't worry, sweety! S/He cares about the greater good. They're a hero, after all! Shepard will-"
Chooses Love Interest
"...Well fuck,"
*Xauron 12 and the entirety of the [insert race here] people annihilated*

Yeah... Sorry, Spock.

Here's a thought:

What if the individual in question begged you not to choose them and hated you forever if you did?

Ah Now that is some fucking amazing writing! I would love Mass Effect 3 forever if it gave me such a realistic choice for certain characters. For instance, Jack would be the type to care more about the fact that Shepard cared for her that much whereas Samara would probably be too conflicted to continue the relationship (until later on in the game maybe if you do things right).

That puts me back into my Shep's boots:
In the end I think it's more about what my Shep can't do rather than what they can. My Shep can give up his/her life for innocents, but they can't give up the life of a loved one (my Shep was the type to lose their entire team to Thresher Maw). In that sense the selfishness of the act is increased ten fold since it'd be less about them making sure their lover is safe and more about them being unable to cope with yet another grim loss.
_Unless the LI and Shep can defy the undeserved guilt they'd feel (since they weren't the ones to set up such a situation in the first place) and stick close despite what the galaxy would think of it's fallen hero, and what said hero might think of him/herself afterward, then a permanent break would be inevitable.

So yeah, I'd RP that SOB and stick to my choice no matter the consequence, which in my eyes might turn out like this:

Based on how much each character cares about innocent lives in comparison to Shep:
(Paragon) Jack: Conflicted but Ultimately Stays
(Renegade) Jack: Unaffected and Stays
Garrus: Conflicted but Ultimately Stays
Samara: VERY Conflicted. Breaks up or Turns on You (Her Code could make her into an enemy...)
Ash: Conflicted but Ultimately Stays
Kaiden: Conflicted but Ultimately Stays
Joker: Wish he was a Love Interest (lol)
Miranda: Conflicted but Ultimately Stays
The other guy on the ship: Conflicted but Ultimately Stays
Thane: VERY Conflicted...but Ultimately Stays
Tali: ...I have no idea.

I have no idea what Tali would do. If it's a choice between her and a freighter full of quarians then she'd without a doubt turn on me, but not become an enemy. She'd rail into me, end the relationship and feel emotionally schizophrenic anytime she's near Shep. But if it wasn't quarians than it could go either way. She seriously values innocent lives to a more than neutral degree, but she also values family on a higher scale. Shep's family even before the romance, so afterwards...
Well, at least we know if it's geth then she wouldn't be too bothered by it. XD

 

[Voodoomancer]

Reapers haven't done shit in the ME universe sofar, I say sip a glass of lemonade and give them a chance, maybe all they wanted all along is cuddle.

Gigantic space dreadnought cuddles are probably less fun than they sound.

 

[DasUberCow]

My favorite store is under attack? Where's my shotgun?

Favourite stores*

Don't you remember?

And i think most of the point in 3 is that Earth is getting attacked. Good thing i'm a colonist and don't have to give a crap.