Horizon.
If my information is correct - and it'd better be, since it cost me a small fortune - this is where I'll find my father.
From orbit, it looks peaceful. At this distance, you can't see the bodies.
It's hard to believe it's been a year. Of course, Horizon was different then. The threat was different then. The Collectors.
I've never told anyone this, but since Horizon, I've had nightmares. Bad ones. When I closed my eyes, I could see the pods. The swarms. The salarian's defenses made sure they ignored us, but they still flew by us, around us - close enough that I could feel their wings beating on my cheek. I shudder at the memory.
In the nightmares, the defenses don't work. The seeker swarms sense us, attack us. We are paralyzed, and I'm forced to watch as the swarms reach Shepard. They overwhelm her, but they want her alive. The rest of us are expendable. The last thing I see before a Collector shoves me in a pod is the sniper rifle dropping uselessly from Shepard's hands. Without it, she seems almost naked. The pod starts to close around me.
That's when I wake up.
A year later, and that's what scares me. Not the Illusive Man's spies. Not the dread of what I'll find when I land. Not even the knowledge that Kai Leng might be hunting me. What scares me most is the fear that Shepard will be taken from me, and I'll be powerless to stop it.
I bring up the picture of her one last time. But she's not here. Not this time. This time, I have to do it without her.
"Goodbye, Shepard." I shut down the holo. Can't let it distract me now. I set the shuttle's autopilot for a landing course, and double check my weapons. If this is to be my last act, I may as well be prepared.