*Note* I apologize for not updating this story very often, I've been very busy but hope to update it every time I get the chance.
Miranda awakes from her bed screaming and sweating. The crashing sound of thunder and the heavy rain outside fill the room. Breathing heavily, she wipes her eyes and proceeds to get out of bed and walks towards the kitchen. She pours a glass of water from the faucet and drinks. A flashback shows Commander Shepard smiling at Miranda. "Why did you have to do what you did?" Miranda asks in present time. In another flashback, Shepard, bloody and beaten is seen staggering his way to a set of foot tall cylinders. He lets out a blood curdling scream and his body begins disintegrating to this ashy texture like wood being burnt on a fire. Miranda breaks down to her knees, the glass falls to the ground shattering into pieces. "Shepard..." Tears, now flowing down her face, "Why did it have to be you? Couldn't it have been someone else?" "Why?! Why?! Why?!" She slams her fist on the counter by the sink. A man comes walking out the doorway leading to Miranda's room. Very muscular and tall, this man is Kaiden Alenko,formally of the SSV Normandy. Kaiden comes to the aid of the crying Miranda and gets her on her feet and holds her close. "It's okay baby. Shh." He says. "Why did he have to do it Kaiden?" Miranda asks, now shaking against his chest. He rests his head on hers and strokes her hair with his hand.
The Citadel sits in space full of traffic. The Citadel's shape can be described as that of a pentagon or a pentagram with a circular top and five arms extending out. Starcrafts zoom in and out of the space station blasting very bright lights, almost blinding. Inside the Citadel is the Presidium, a combination of a park and a town with luscious plants growing from small gardens and shops surrounding the area. People are sitting at the tables in the center, some with children, others not. At one table in the center sits Miranda with another human, Admiral Steven Hackett of the Alliance Navy, a 53 year old man, by the scars on his face questioning whether or not he's seen combat would be foolish to ask oneself. He wears a two layer outfit, a dark blue shirt only seen around his neck and a second layer jacket that hangs over his pants, it is blue with gold medals on it, one side of the jacket covers the other.
Hackett and Miranda have already finished their drinks with the glasses three-fourths of the way gone and excess soda dripping from the bottom of the straws.
"We need your help Miranda." Hacket says. Miranda looks up at him. "What do you mean, you need my help?" Asks Miranda, curious but not very pleased to hear this. "A new threat has risen from the Herate Nebula. They call themselves 'The Initiates.' They've been destroying Alliance bases all across the galaxy. " He hands her a datapad and begins to scroll through the information. Pictures of destroyed bases on what appears to be desolate planets surrounded by a black mist. She puts the datapad on the table and slides it to him. "I'm not apart of the Alliance anymore Admiral. Not since the battle with the reapers on Earth." "I know but we need your help Miranda. Our best team was sent to their location but we lost contact after 20 minuets."
Miranda thinks about this very hard. Is risking her life against a new threat worth it? "I'll do it."
3 men walk on a baron planet. Buildings destroyed and dead body's cover the ground in cold blood. The sun casts a tangerine orange on the city. The men are wearing heavy battle armored suits with pulse rifles in there hands. They walk slowly, observing the land in a triangle formation. "Any sign of them rookies?" The leader asks. "Not yet sir." Responds one of the rookies.
Eyes appear from the top of a building as the men walk. They follow the men. "You guys hear that?" Asks a rookie. "Hear what?" Responds the rookie.
BANG! A gun goes off. One of the rookies fall to his knees. He lets out a blood curdling scream. "Shit! Here they come!" Screams the leader.
A horde of Cerberus troops jump from the rooftops to the ground as the men began to fire. The Cerberus troops are wearing the classic white and orange suits. They begin fire at the 2 men left standing. The second rookie is shot in the chest and falls. The leader, fearing he has no ability to win, makes a run for it. The troops follow behind staying hot on his tail. The leader makes a turn around the building and fires his pulse rifle at the troops killing several of them. A Cerberus troop appears behind the leader and shoots him several times in the back.