Hi all, welcome to my first ever fanfic and my first fanfic for Mass Effect 2. So time for the usual disclaimer: Mass Effect the game and characters are owned by the Bioware corporation…not by me.

Now please note this fanfic will contain spoilers to the Mass Effect 2 game, however it will not be a strict retelling. So main events will be in place but lesser ones will be entirely made up by yours truly. This will be told from a Female Shepard's point of view, occasionally alternating between various characters to get an idea as to how their minds work a bit. So please enjoy

Info about Shepard:

Name: Serenity Shepard (her first name doesn't get used much)

Class: Soldier, but has some biotic abilities

Background: Colonist

Psychological Background: Sole Survivor

Paragon or Renegade: Paragon with some Renegade tossed in

Chapter 1: Death and Destruction

"Shit" I swore, the stubborn interface just wouldn't work for me. Despite my attempts on coaxing it back to life for the past hour. Funny how time gets away on you, one minute its business as usual the next 'BAM!' you're under attack from some unknown enemy cutting into the hull like Swiss cheese.

I watched Kaiden Alenko, one of my crewmates who helped me stop Saren and the geth a few short months ago, come running up waving his hands in the air. At the sight I had suppress this insane urge to giggle, so I took my mind off it by putting my N7 helmet on. I think I somehow got my hair caught in the base as I could feel a slight pulling sensation every time I turned my head to the right.

"Commander! The Normandy is under attack!"

"Well, well and here I thought that Joker had gotten drunk and started mixing up his buttons again" I said sarcastically as I reached for a nearby extinguisher. Yeah, that'd happened once…and it wasn't an experience I'd like to have repeated anytime soon.

"This isn't the time for bad jokes, Commander. Any word from the Alliance?"

"They won't give up on us this easily, we'll have rescue in time" I didn't add the words 'I hope' to the end of that sentence, Kaiden didn't need my worries tacked on to his own.

"Get everyone to the evac shuttles" I ordered proceeding to put out a nearby fire that threatened Kaiden's leg

"I'm not leaving you Commander!"

Damn the man for being so stubborn, especially when his life and everyone else's was in jeopardy. I bashed my hand down on the sprinkler system, using it to put out some of the fires that stopped people from getting to the shuttles, I then turned back to Kaiden.

"Damn it Alenko, get your ass to that shuttle before I start kicking it there myself!" I snapped, that, at least gave him pause before his shoulders slumped in resignation.

"As you wish Commander, Joker's still on the bridge, he still thinks he can save the ship" At that Kaiden turned his back and ran helping a fallen crew member along the way.

'Great, another suicidal idiot trying to go down with the ship' I thought, did no one value their own safety anymore? I turned to the debris and flames and quickly made my through it to the command deck.

As the doors hissed open and all air rushed out I stopped and stared at the ice covered planet above, it was so quiet and yet there was an enemy so close by. I was broken out of my reverie at the sight of some of the Normandy's debris floating away into space. I gave my head a shake, again feeling the tugging sensation (yep, my hair was definitely caught in the crease again) before moving to the bridge.

I stepped up behind Joker watching his fingers flying across the interface with almost inhuman speed and accuracy, I marvelled for a moment.

"Joker, what do you think you're doing?" I asked exasperatedly

Joker gave me an incredulous look before responding "Uhhh I'm trying to save the Normandy, in case you haven't noticed" I responded to that with a look of my own that usually makes people think twice about crossing me.

"Joker, the Normandy is lost and going down with the ship isn't going to change that. It usually means you're either extremely loyal…or you're extremely stupid. So far, I'm looking at the latter option for you"

Joker contemplated that for a moment before looking up and grinning at me "Yeah, help me up, besides I wouldn't like 'Galaxy's most stupid pilot' on my headstone anyway"

I felt a strange rush of pressure behind me, as I turned I saw a large yellow beam of energy cut into what remained of the command deck. I grabbed Joker's arm (issuing a minor complaint from him) before hauling him to the escape shuttle near by and shoved him inside. I felt the floor give way under me as the artificial gravity failed and a intense vacuum pulled me away from the shuttle entrance. I grabbed onto a bulkhead and somehow managed to press the button to release the shuttle and send it into space.

The resulting blast knocked me into a large piece of metal and as I blinked back stars I got to see the ship that had made such short work of the Normandy's shields. Hell, we couldn't have even put up a decent fight against that thing. At least most of the crew got out okay, now I just need to…

A loud hiss caught my attention as the oxygen got thinner and thinner in my suit. 'Dammit, I must have punctured my oxygen line on that metal' I thought angrily 'Great, Commander Serenity Shepard, saviour of the Citadel, first human spectre, KIA by suffocation after saving her stupid pilot's life after he tried to go kamikaze on her' oh yeah, that's what they'll put on my headstone.

As the darkness began to close in on me I thought about the crew: Kaiden, Wrex, Tali, Liara, Joker (damn him), Ashley and lastly Garrus whose image stuck in my mind. 'Now why the hell am I thinking about you at a time…. like….this…" at that final thought I fell into darkness.