Stardust
Meet Sarah Adams, a nineteen year old girl with a large vocabulary of curses and likes to shoot things.
When her surveillance team goes to a planet of a simple mission, Sarah finds herself the only survivor of a grenade that should have killed her.
Life takes a new direction when she finds herself part of the crew of the ship that will save the Galaxies from an unknown enemy.
Fights, jealousy and dark secrets are unearthed in the relationships she gains, the lives she ends and the friends she finds as well the strange powers building inside of her.
Nothing is going to ever be the same.
Prologue
Sarah Adams was not a remarkable woman according to the military. She took risks when someone close to her was threatened, and after three missions had been considered a large liability to the Alliance – and Sarah had found herself in a boring surveillance team full of sour, grumpy men who did not like having a woman on board.
She was a good soldier though, if you discounted her disrespect for authority. She worked hard, shot well and was a demon in hand-to-hand, though it wasn't needed often. However as a close friend had died when separated from her weapons, Sarah had promised herself to never be vulnerable – weapons or not.
Her commanding officer, Alex James was the only person in the team who even paid attention to her, apart from the frequent glares. He had taken her under his wings slightly at first, helping her train to give her hope of getting into a better team.
The disgrace of her father's betrayal to a group of pirates had quickly quashed any shreds of hope Sarah had ever had – leaving her with a grudge against her father and a scar to remember him by.
She was not going to make the same mistake of trust again.
"Adams! Get that skinny arse in the Mako before I kick it!" Sarah blushed as her commander, Alex yelled from the equipment room as Sarah strapped her own weapons to her. She mostly used a pistol, but was a pretty good shot with the shotgun and sniper rifle too.
The surveillance team was being sent to a warm planet for once, and they were all glad of the scenery change after being stuck 'surveying' a freezing cold ice-ball for three months. They were only there to examine crashed probes, satellites and find if there were any civilians there.
No matter how simple it sounded, Sarah had a bad feeling about the seemingly simple mission from the start, and it had nothing to do with the nightmares she had the night before…or so she thought.
She scowled as she was shoved into the Mako last, sitting as usual by the door. She swore colourfully under her breath in many different languages, getting several angry looks in the process.
It was a few minutes before there was the uncomfortable lurch as they hit the ground, and she sighed with relief as the commander yelled at everyone to get out – she could only guess that the Mako's engine had gone haywire again, and she certainly didn't want another explosion whilst she was in it.
As per usual she was at the back of the group, her eyes travelling along the serene horizon, smiling as the warmth spread across her body. She was used to a hot climate, and as her other team-mates moaned, she was pretty much happy with the heat.
The whole group looked up as a large, swift looking ship came in to land, dropping another Mako – with rockets and much better shields. Sarah raised an inquisitive eyebrow as she noticed the lettering on the side: it was the Normandy, and presumably Commander John Shepard and his trusty alien friends would be on board. Unfortunately, their own commander was not looking happy, and Sarah couldn't help an expectant smirk as he stomped over to the Mako just as three people got out – the Commander Shepard, a Turian and what looked like another girl whose fingers seemed a little trigger-happy as a pattering of warning fire was fired a metre or so away. Alex took no notice walking determinedly ahead with blazing eyes.
Sarah realised then that he would be next. With their battered amour and out-of-date weapons, they could be taken as pirates.
And it would only take one bullet.
Sarah flew forwards, stumbling slightly and flinging herself at Alex, knocking him to the ground just as a bullet whistled over their heads.
"We're Alliance!" she yelled and picked herself up and putting her hands up in surrender. Commander Shepard jerked the assault rifle from the girl's hands and strode forwards.
"Commander John Shepard – sorry about that, she is a little bit over-cautious sometimes."
Sarah snorted and put her hands down, turning to help Alex to his feet.
"I'm Commander Alex James; and this is my surveillance crew." He waved a hand over them, and Sarah watched as Shepard nodded to each, though his eyes rested on her for a moment longer before leaving.
Sarah stepped self-consciously back into the group, near the back as was her place. The two men talked for a while, gesturing wildly. Sarah soon became bored, shifting from foot to foot with impatience. She glanced around as she heard a small pat from behind her.
A small ball of metal sat innocently on the sand, a small ring around the middle and a red flashing light.
"Oh fuckety-fuck." Sarah swore, yelling 'grenade' and running as fast as she could whilst the rest if the team tripped over each other to get clear of the large explosion that was about to occur.
Sarah muttered another curse under her breath as one of her team shoved her to the floor, shoving her hard out of the way.
I'm not far enough away…run Sarah – get up!
Sarah scrambled to her feet, tripping over a large rock and sprawling awkwardly onto the ground with her eyes tight shut, waiting for it to happen. She jumped as a warm, strong arm encircled her waist, bringing her sharply to her feet and pushing her in front, making her run.
There were a few seconds of complete silence, the only sounds of panting breath and hurried footsteps.
And then it exploded.
Sarah flinched as she felt herself flying through the air as the force pulled her from her feet, and loudly uttered a nasty Krogan curse when she landed heavily on the ground. John Shepard was beside her, chuckling slightly.
"I am not going to ask where you learnt that." he laughed and got to his feet, extending a hand. Sarah grasped onto it wincing as she noticed many little rips in her armour, making short cuts in her arms, and she expected a lot of bruises to look forward to.
She brushed the sand from her armour and glanced around, her expression changing swiftly to one of horror and dismay. The bodies of her team-mates were scattered across the plain, faces contorted with pain and fear.
She abruptly sank back to her knees as the other people who had been with Shepard walked over.
"The Turian is Garrus, and she is called Ashley Williams."
Sarah nodded, trying to fight back tears.
"Are they all…?"
Shepard glanced at Garrus who sadly nodded his head.
"Why did I live? Why are you alive?"
Garrus stepped forwards and helped her up, letting her lean heavily on him as he walked her to the Normandy.
"I think," he said quietly, "That our shields saved the Commander, Williams and I – but you…I don't know. I just don't know."
Sarah couldn't stop the sob coming from her throat, and as she broke down in tears, Garrus looked at her in concealed dismay, but feeling sympathetic as he swung her into his arms.
He knew that if any of the crew from the Normandy died, he would be distraught and the concept of the entire crew dying was almost unimaginable; and so he felt some kindness towards the human as he carried her, heading straight for the elevator.
"You can explore the ship if you want, just ask anyone if you need help – Alenko and Joker are your best bet," he said kindly, "I must go with the others to investigate."
Sarah nodded, wiped her eyes and inwardly scolding herself for looking like a fool and walking slowly to the elevator and slamming her hand on the button with a growl.
She pulled off her armour, flinging it to one side as she slid dejectedly to the cold floor, putting her head in her hands.
They're all dead…I'm so sorry Alex…
The promises of a relationship that he'd made to her with the briefest, lightest of kisses seemed a lifetime away, feeling like a memory of someone else. Sarah clenched her fists and smacked one against the floor hard, ignoring the sharp pain as a gash from a spiked piece of metal sliced her hand.
She regarded it with mild interest, knowing that the throbbing pain as blood gently oozed from the cut was nothing compared to what her team had felt…nothing compared to the pain of being torn apart by an explosion of metal shards and fire.
Sarah looked up as the elevator slowly came to a halt, trying to muster up the courage to get up.
Why me.
She heard footsteps coming close, and buried her head back into her hands, trying to ignore the person who came and knelt next to her.
"Um hi – I'm Kaidan Alenko; are you the girl they…found?"
Sarah appreciated the fact that he wasn't pressing the fact that her whole team was dead.
Oh god…why not me?
She felt him shift his wait and sit next to her, leaving some space. After they had sat in silence for a moment, she finally looked up, her green eyes meeting his.
"Hi…Kaidan. I'm Sarah Adams, and yes to your…other question."
Kaidan nodded, and a quick glance from Sarah perceived him as reasonably good-looking, and so far quite kind, though she knew better than to trust people from first judgements.
He sighed and rubbed his temples slowly, obviously to try and soothe a headache.
Sarah's curiosity instantly perked up and after some thought (maybe a second or more) she spoke.
"Are you a biotic?" she asked, clasping her hands in her lap, somehow wanting him to explain so her thoughts were away from those who had died.
Why am I still alive?
"Yes…an L2."
Sarah felt a pang of sympathy, even more questions arising considering which side-effects he had. However even she wasn't stupid enough to press that line of conversation yet. She searched her mind for something to say, but all words had flown from her mind when she saw the bodies.
All dead…
She settled for an unimaginative "Oh."
Kaidan chuckled at her bad efforts of trying not to offend him and got up waiting for her. Sarah scrambled to her feet picking her up her armour and weapons in a large bundle.
"You can put them in one of the spare lockers." He said, politely taking it from her and putting the messy pile carefully away, aware of her eyes following him.
"I'm tired. Where can I sleep?" she muttered casting an eye at the nearby door. Kaidan sensed that she just wanted to be alone, and considering the circumstances, he completely understood.
"You can use my room if you like – it's down there and you'll know it's mine because unlike everyone else's, I actually keep it tidy."
The tiniest hint of a smile brightened Sarah's gaunt features as she walked away.
Kaidan had the feeling that she would be around for a while longer.
Sarah crept into Kaidan's room, unnecessarily wary as she shut the door behind her and crawled thankfully onto the messily made bed, sliding under the warm covers as she shut her tired eyes. She had never ever wanted to see the events that had occurred, storing the slightest dread away before it became too much.
She forced herself to calm down and soon enough let go to the comforting darkness of a deep slumber, her dreams more like nightmares as fire and pain ricocheted through them.
She did not awake when Kaidan slowly opened the door to check she was okay. He frowned as she muttered in her sleep, her face distressed and her covers tangled, but he knew better than to try and wake her. He got the impression that Sarah did not like to be seen as weak, and it would take a lot for her to ever reveal her weaknesses to anyone.
He studied her from the doorway, taking in her short messy blonde hair and smiling ruefully as he remembered the confusion in her eyes as she looked up at him – she certainly wasn't the tallest person he'd every met, mostly the opposite.
She seemed like she'd be a helpful asset to the crew, and he could only hope that Commander Shepard felt the same.
"Hey Alenko," Joker's voice filtered through the speakers, "Shepard's back, and they look like they've been shooting things again."
Kaidan rolled his eyes and stepped out of his room, shitting the door softly before making his way to the airlock. He had a feeling that this Sarah was more than she seemed.