Note: Special thanks to ShadowAngemon, who edited my original story,
Mass Effect: Grounded
Chapter 1
The Normandy SR-2 fled from Earth in the wake of hundreds of other ships. Each crew mourned the loss of Commander Shepard who had sacrificed himself in the last desperate efforts to defeat the Reapers. None, though, were hit harder by his loss than those on the Normandy. Legendary Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau mustered the will to accept Shepard's death and evacuate for the sake of the crew. No one on board failed to notice how the ship felt empty without Shepard standing as her Commander. However, there was not much time to dwell on these feelings. As the starship shot her way to safety, she was overtaken by a wave of light. The barrage destroyed her barriers almost as if they weren't there.
"Oh shit..." Joker said before keying the intercom. "Everybody, find a wall or something to hold onto. I don't think we are gonna have a smooth landing." It was unusual for him to remain serious even in a crisis.
"Right. We can never just breathe for a day, can we?" Garrus Vakarian muttered. He grasped Tali'zorah and led her to a corner in the main battery, the safest place he could find on such short notice.
Lieutenant James Vega was in the hangar at the bottom level of the Normandy. He was arguing over nothing with his best friend and shuttle pilot, Steve Cortez. They were just mouthing off, nobody got heated, until Joker's message popped over the intercom. James almost grabbed Shepard's mechanical dog before he noticed something. As an orange energy flowed through the Normandy, systems powered off as if the energy wave was a high powered EMP. James sighed heavily and Cortez signaled for him to take cover. They felt the Normandy grow unstable as it began plummeting.
Lieutenant Commander Ashley Williams had the same thought as Garrus but she was unable to react as quickly. She had just lost the man of her dreams to saving the galaxy and now she was expected to survive a crash? Ashley just laid in Shepard's bed in the Captain's quarters and wept. She was much stronger than this, she told herself. She was the one who told Joker to fly them away from Earth, saving everyone on the Normandy! Though when it was herself, she could do nothing more than pray. By the time Ashley opened her eyes the ship had stopped shaking. She smiled as if waking from a nightmare until she turned and saw the ceiling of the Captain's Quarters on fire. Exotic fish darted around the tank on the wall in futility. Ashley dashed into the elevator... but it stalled. She forced open a hatch and climbed a ladder down to the second floor to find the rest of the crew, and Garrus yelling.
"Joker, what are you doing? Get away from the airlock! We don't know where we are or what's out there!" Garrus reached for Joker, but he hesitated. A large part of him was just as curious about the outside world as the pilot was. Joker just smiled wryly and pried the airlock open. Joker limped outside and let the air fill his lungs. He felt he could breathe again, and the air? It smelled fantastic. Waterfalls surrounded them in the distance. The smell of fruits, varieties he could actually eat, filled him. Garrus stepped out from behind him, clearly just as surprised. Tali came as well, and together the three just stared. Soon, the whole crew was outside the ship. It was James who noticed something both beautiful and horrifying; the sound of a bird singing. The chirping brought him back home, back to Earth for a moment. This, though, was not Earth, and birds like this were native to human planets. There was life here with them.