Omega Nebula, Amada System 2183 CE

Anastasia heard the hissing and instantly knew she was in trouble. "Shit, shit, shit," she fumbled blindly behind her head, desperately trying to reach the damaged oxygen hose that fed the precious air from her suit's environment controls into her helmet. It must have been ruptured during the explosion which catapulted her out of the Normandy.

She had no way to repair the damage and her only hope was to plug the hole somehow before she ran out of air. Time was not on her side, breathing was becoming more difficult with every second that passed, her senses were dimming quickly as her body shut down from oxygen starvation, "Oh, god no!" she screamed silently "Not like this, not after all we've been through!".

Hands becoming numb and unresponsive she was rapidly losing consciousness, she caught a brief glimpse of the ship's escape pods illuminated brightly by the burning hull of the Normandy. Her last thoughts before the darkness took her were of Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams, "Please let her be safe. I love you Ash, I'm so sorry we didn't have more time," tears ran freely down her face.

Mercifully, if it could be called mercy, within seconds it was over; the life of Commander Anastasia "Ana" Shepard, Alliance Navy, first human Spectre, survivor of Mindoir and hero of the battle of the Citadel was extinguished.

Her lifeless body became caught in the gravitational pull of the nearby planet and started to gain momentum. The N7 combat suit that had offered protection in life now became her shroud, it started to glow incandescently as she entered Alchera's atmosphere and plummeted towards the planet's surface several miles below.

Meanwhile the SSV Normandy, the most advanced ship in the Alliance Navy, continued to be wracked by internal explosions as fuel cells, ammunition and climate control gases became consumed by the heat and flames. Adding to the destruction caused by the enemy ships swift, unexpected attack. Debris from the once sleek and graceful frigate began to join its commander's fiery descent to the planet surface until even the burning hulk succumbed to gravity.

Sobbing uncontrollably Ashley was gently pulled away from the escape pod observation window and into a tight embrace by both Tali and Dr Chakwas. She had watched helplessly as Anastasia, her commander, friend and more lately her lover was first blown out of the disintegrating SR-1's bridge, then struggled frantically with a damaged suit until her movements slowed then stopped and her distant figure drifted towards the planet.

Ana had been the anchor for the crew during the previous mission, she'd treated all the souls on her ship equally, not once asking them to do a job that she wasn't willing to do herself. Taking time to familiarise herself with every crew member and ensuring that each one knew all their contributions and efforts were appreciated, she had created a bond of loyalty amongst them that none had experienced before.

Ash was no exception, she felt herself drawn to the emerald eyed spectre, gratitude to her for saving her life had turned to respect for the resolute and resourceful commander. After joining the permanent crew of the SR-1 their talks at the end of each mission had led to a deep friendship between the two. Eventually their kinship had meant that Ash was comfortable enough to speak with Ana of her families painful, personal history in the Alliance, her faith, the loss of her father and deep love of her mother and sisters.

Ana had unexpectedly started to flirt with Ash during the months they spent on the Normandy, at first, she had rebuffed her as she had never been attracted to women and Alliance regulations were very clear on the topic of fraternization amongst personnel. Never one to give up easily Shepard had taken the rejection in good humour but continued to gently tease Ash about their relationship.

She couldn't say at what point she started to feel more than friendship towards Ana, it was a gradual blossoming towards lust, love?. She wasn't sure. Ash had tentatively started to participate in the banter until, "Oh God", she'd even quoted poetry to Ana and issued a challenge to her of how difficult Ash was to handle. Shepard had laughed so much at that last comment, in that infectious way of hers, that Ash had to join in until Wrex shouted down the cargo bay and demanded to know what was so funny. Even Garrus had raised his head from his absorbing calibrations on the Mako, the all-terrain exploration vehicle/gun platform.

It wasn't until the flight towards Ilos that Ash came to the realisation that they may be hurtling towards death and was determined to show Ana the depth of her feelings, she had almost run to the commander's quarters in her haste before bursting through the door. That night they had made love for the first time, it was Ash's first experience with a woman and Shepard had taken it slowly and gently, so Ash could be sure it was what she truly wanted. Later it had become more frantic as they desperately clung to each other before falling asleep, limbs all tangled. Waking with a huge grin on her face, the sight of Shepard quietly getting dressed so as not to disturb her was one of Ash's happiest memories, "Captain, oh my captain".

Even though Ashley was a seasoned soldier and had witnessed the brutal loss of her 212 squad on Eden Prime she'd never lost a loved one in combat. Ash felt herself slipping into shock, "She could still be alive, she's survived worse than this, she can't leave me," she kept repeating almost inaudibly.

Behind her mask, Tali's face was set into a determined grimace, even though she too felt Shepard's loss deeply and her cheeks were streaked with tears. Still, she tenderly helped Ashley back into her seat and crouched down in front of her not letting go, not once, she both comforted the stricken woman and found comfort in the contact. It was almost too much to process, only a short time ago they had been celebrating their victory against Saren and the Reaper ship Sovereign. Tali had been talking with Ana about arranging her return passage to the migrant fleet with the geth data they had retrieved on one of the planet-side missions and how much it could help her people.

Shepard had shown more kindness to Tali in the short time they had known each other than any other individual she had encountered on her pilgrimage. With the commander's encouragement the rest of the crew had eventually warmed to the young Quarian but was Ana's friendship that had made her life so much brighter….and now that was gone. Her heart was broken from the loss but how much worse could it be for Ashley who had lost even more with Ana's death?

Dr Karin Chakwas, eyes bright from unshed tears for the commander assumed a mask of professionalism and swiftly began to treat the wounded crew members that shared their lifeboat, starting with Ash. The dark-haired marine had only suffered minor cuts and bruising during the escape from the Normandy but had then beaten her hands to a bloody mess against the window in her distress at watching Shepard's demise. She applied medigel, administered a mild sedative to calm Ash and made a mental note to scan her hands when possible to ensure there was nothing more than superficial damage.

Karin would grieve for Anastasia later, when they were safe and the injured tended to. The crew knew that she and Shepard shared a close friendship, but it wasn't common knowledge that Karin was her godmother. She'd been best friends with Shepard's mother Hannah since high-school, through University and into the military and was like a second mother to the red-headed soldier.

She'd watched Ana grow up from a crying baby, to teenager and then into a confident but compassionate young woman. It had been one of her proudest moments when she'd been invited to Shepard's N7 training graduation ceremony. When she found out that the Normandy was recruiting for a doctor she jumped at the chance to serve alongside her god-daughter and pulled in every favour she could to transfer to the new ship.

Although she wanted to be the one to inform Hannah about the attack and Ana's loss, it was a call she was dreading to make to her oldest and dearest friend.

Karin prayed that the alien ship that had ambushed them was satisfied with the destruction of the Normandy and had no further designs on the survivors that were now completely at its mercy. Her second prayer was that Joker had managed to send out a distress signal and that help was on the way and would reach them in time.

Jeff "Joker" Moreau the ship's pilot was slumped forward in his safety harness with his head in his hands. He had witnessed Shepard's death from close range having been thrust into the escape pod designed to service the flight deck and forward bridge by Ana herself seconds before she was blown into space. "It's all my fault. She's dead because I wouldn't leave the Normandy and she had to come and save me. Why didn't she save herself first and leave me?" He moaned, angry with himself for not realising the ship was doomed despite all his efforts and the result his actions had brought about.

Jeff already knew the answer; it wasn't in Ana's nature, she never left anyone behind. The all too frequent comments from Dr Chakwas about having to patch her up after attracting weapons-fire away from endangered squad members testified to that self-sacrificing attitude and why all her crew would follow her through the Gates of Hell itself.

The Normandy crew were huddled in the dispersed escape pods, they were scared, angry, most were injured to some degree after their ordeal, but they but felt a universal urge.

Survival first, grief and revenge for the Commander later…