At the beginning of the game, Shepard is killed when the Collectors attack and destroy the "Normandy". The commander is revived by Cerberus, a human-supremacist organization considered to be terrorists by the Citadel Council and the Systems Alliance, with instructions by Cerberus leader the Illusive Man to be brought back unaltered and exactly as they were before their death. The Illusive Man provides Shepard with both a new ship (the "Normandy SR-2") and a crew, and sends them on various missions against the Collectors, who are revealed to be puppets of the Reapers.