Jolting awake from her sleep and gripping the side of the bed in terror, she sat up, twitching and groaning as her sense of sanity flowed in her veins once again. Reaching out swiftly, she snatched the sleeping pills from her bedside table in anger and growled at them. So much for 'nightmare blocking salarian sleeping pills'. Groaning, she rested her elbows on her thighs, running her hand through her hair. Unhappy with the texture, she decided a shower would be a good idea. Stepping into her small bathroom, she caught herself in the mirror, frowning at the pale face that greeted her. For a thirty one year old former soldier turned minor crew member, her features had certainly surpassed her age. For a start, her skin had a pale complexion, other than the bags under her dark grey eyes which lacked any notable expression, other than current exhaustion. Lines cracked her forehead and underneath her eyes, and her eyebrows were constantly overshadowed by creases from where she had frowned for too long. Her chocolate brown hair was long and thick, but she couldn't bring herself to style it without the absence of a bobble or an elastic band tying it back. Perhaps it was to not stand out, perhaps it was for the opposite, she didn't know. Turning on the shower, the tired crew member flinched at the sudden spray of cold water on her back before relaxing as it turned warm and refreshing. Only a year and twenty weeks to go until she was free from this damned starship, free from the memories that plagued her mind at every gunshot or cry. She had waited too long, and now the time was almost here. Examining her scars, a soft sigh escaped her lips.

'If only I could speak to someone..' she thought. A pang of mistrust soon bubbled in her heart. When was the last time she spoke to someone, other than Jason and Rani? When was the last time someone touched her without her severely injuring them? She didn't know, and didn't want to care.

'Only another year and a half...'

Stumbling into the Crew's Quarters with a yawn, she was greeted as always by the only friends she had, Jason and Rani. Both of them had been engineers on the Armageddon before she could even remember.

'Morning, Lana.' greeted Rani with a smile. She was one of the only asari's on the ship but even if she wasn't, her indigo skin and her beaming smile would make her recognizable at once. She had very strong, prominent cheekbones for an asari and full, healthy colored lips as well as two pretty beaming bright blue eyes. Lana always admired her for her looks and they would often complain their faults to each other as a sort of in joke.

'Are you alright today? You look really tired.' Jason asked. He had dark skin and chocolate brown eyes, and short spiky jet black hair. He also had the look of a soldier, with a large, muscular anatomy and arms.

'I'm fine, don't worry about me. Anything interesting going on today?' Lana asked, in an attempt to change the subject. She knew her friends worried about her and her sleepless nights, but she always tried her best to make them focus their attention away from her. She always dreaded the day they would start asking questions they already knew the answer to.

'Well if you call everyday engineering interesting then yeah, sure.' Rani grinned.

'Apparently there's some new recruitment thing going on today though.' Jason remarked.

'Oh god...' Lana sighed, knowing exactly what this would bring about.

'Exactly. I guess someone finally got sick of it here and left, now some other poor sucker's gotta take his place. In armory too, or so I hear.' Jason commented with a chuckle.

'I guess we all know what this means.' The two's eyes turned to Lana, leaving her only to nod and laugh.

'Lana?' A familiar voice beckoned. It was that of the Commander Davis. Lana groaned at the unbelievable irony as she turned to face him.

'Yes, Commander?' Lana mumbled, her voice shifting to monotone.

'As you probably have already heard, possible new recruits have arrived, and we have to choose someone who is-'

'Trustworthy. I know.'

'Yes. Your ability of deducing who is trustworthy or not could be useful to me once again. Do you mind if you could come along and help us?'

Lana gazed down at the ground as usual.

'Of course, sir.'

The commander nodded.

'Well then, lets move.'

Giving her friends a grotesque look humorously, Lana followed the Commander, her feet feeling heavy after every step. She really did hate these things.