Chapter One: The Spark

Jack looked down at the inscription of the statue before him.

In Honor of the Hero of the Galaxy,

Commander Dawn Shepard

Leader

Friend

Savior

The eight foot statue towered over the new memorial park in downtown Los Angeles, the figure of the late Commander majestically peering into the distance, rifle in her arms, chin held high. Jack began to wonder what a statue of himself would look like if it were built today.

Officer Jack Kirk

Destroyer of Randy's Donuts on Manchester Boulevard

Jack could picture the statue now. Jack had seen the war first hand. He was on the ground on Earth when the Crucible had fired, he had cried and cheered in the arms of his fellow marines as the last of the Reapers crumbled, completely devoid of life. He had attended more memorials than he wanted to remember. Yet, after all of that he had decided he had had enough. Jack was offered the chance of a lifetime. He had been selected as a candidate for the N7s, to take the horrifying experiences gained from fighting a war against extinction and turn it into a career of bravado and exciting missions across the galaxy. His best friend Will had pleaded for Jack to accept the promotion.

"They only accept the best", Will had said.

Jack was well aware of why he was selected. Being the last one standing in his ground team during the greatest battle ever had that effect on his superiors. They saw a hero, were as, Jack saw a man lucky to be alive. So he retired from duty, gave up his rifle and went home. Well… home was no longer the same place as before the invasion, but he had made do with a temporary apartment in Dana Point. For a career he decided he wanted to help those around him find stability as humanity rebuilt Earth. He joined the Earth Police Force: LA Branch and quickly rose to be one of the most respected officers in his department. However, this quickly led to a love affair with the infamous Randy's Donuts.

Jack was not overweight, per say, but not overly built either. The muscle accumulated from his years as a marine was still there, but he was lean by nature. Jack ran his hands through his short brown hair, now parted to the left, just above his steel blue eyes. He had let it grow a bit while he was on the force. It had felt like ages since he had any length up top. As he walked through the memorial park, he held a great grin, basking in the sun a little in his patrol. One of Jack's favorite parts of being back on Earth full time was the feeling of the sun on his skin. In his opinion, no Alliance ship's on board lights could ever compare to the feeling of Downtown Los Angeles on a mid-spring day. This was now especially true, since the technology had been invented to completely eliminate smog. A lack of smog made Los Angeles a breathable environment once more.

Jack's radio came to life suddenly.

"Officer Kirk, you're needed back at HQ, over."

He clicked his radio, "Roger that HQ, ETA eight minutes, over."

The other end echoed silence for a few moments, before the eventual reply… "The captain will be expecting you, head right to his office."

Jack didn't reply. Strange that the captain would want to see him, but he hopped in his squad car and slipped into the skycar traffic to HQ. Traffic… after the invasion the amount of people in Los Angeles was severely depleted due to Reaper extinction events that had occured. Most of the city had been devastated, but three years later a sense of normalcy had returned. Many buildings had been repaired, a repaired skyline began to take shape again. Streets were repaved, and Reaper evidence had been swiftly removed by the Alliance cleaning crews. People had not forgotten, nor would they ever forget, but life had made the effort to move forward. And the traffic, oh how he hated that damned traffic. Eight minutes soon turned to twenty as he finally parked in the officer's parking structure next to LA Branch HQ. As he hustled through the door of the slick, steel looking building and up the several flights of stairs a fellow officer flagged him down. Jack looked over and realized it was his closest friend in the force, Officer Kuypers. The taller man waved at him in his casual civilian outfit, recently put on by the look of him… "must have just gotten off his patrol shift", he thought to himself.

"Hey now, where's the fire there sergeant?" asked Laurens confused by the fury with which Jack was now bounding up the stairs past him.

"Can't… huff… talk… meeting with the captain!.." Jack managed as he continued the long sprint up the stairs.

"Ah, I see… well I wish you luck there bud, I'm off to watch the Ajax game, if you get off later swing by!" Laurens shouted after Jack.

Jack only managed a wave over his shoulder in response. There was no being late when the captain wanted to see you. The older man demanded respect and timliness was one of his biggest pet peeves. He made it to the captain's office, a little red in the face, but not too sweaty. He rapped his knuckles on the door a couple times. The door read Captain Lovett.

"C'min" a gruff voice responded from behind the sliding door.

The door opened for Jack and he walked in wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"I believe you wanted to see me captain?" Jack asked cautiously.

Captain Lovett looked Jack over a second… fiddled with his pen while he reclined in his rather large brown leather chair. The perks of command which Jack one day hoped would be his own. The office was very comfortable. The seats for guests had good support. There was a newspaper stand from the old days when the news was read on physical paper in the corner by his desk. The captain's posture gave Jack relief because when the captain was angry he was never known to recline like that.

"Yes… yes I did, I wanted to let you know I am nominating you for a command position which opened up in San Francisco recently. Captain Taylors is retiring from the force. If you took the job you'd receive a promotion to captaincy… if you don't mind the relocation. Your record is spotless, and I haven't met an officer like you in years. The job is most likely yours… that is if you want it."

Jack's eyes widened with each passing word form the Captain's lips. This was a lot of praise from a man who usually never said much of anything to him except the occasional, 'Sergeant' in the morning briefings. Of course the captain had occasionally enjoyed hearing his stories of battles he had been in. Captain Lovett had served before the First Contact with the Turians and always mentioned how he had loved his own time in the Alliance.

"Well sir, uh… I'm honored!" Jack exclaimed.

"Is that a yes, Sergeant?" The captain's eyes narrowed.

Jack remained silent as the captain's stare searched through his soul.

The captain raised an eyebrow and he rose out of his chair. The captain placed his large hands on his brown oak desk and leaned over the papers spread over the top.

"I tell you what sergeant, think it over tonight… I'm letting you off your patrol early today."

The captain cracked his knuckles before he continued.

"This is a very big decision for you and I can understand needing a bit of time to think it over."

The captain straightened up and walked over to Jack, putting his arm around the younger officer… patting him on the back a bit.

"I know exactly what you're thinking right now… 'am I ready for this'?"

He looked at his captain… the years were definitely starting to catch up to the older man, but he still had quite the grip, Jack noticed as Captain Lovett squeezed his arm. The captain then grabbed both of Jack's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Son… I know what you're thinking, and I can tell you… you are meant to do great things… I know this because I see it in you every day. I see how you want to help every single person you run into on patrol… you have that spark in your eye that I had in my younger days… you're a hell of a shot in a fight, reliable in the pinch… you've been through so damn much and you're not even 28… but if I know one thing that is true.. it's the fact that you're ready, son!"

Captain Lovett smiled at Jack and Jack couldn't help but release a bit of a smirk himself. The man could perform one hell of a motivational speech.

"I'll think about it… about what you said… and you'll know your answer by tomorrow, sir… I promise" Jack replied, adrenaline flowing through him at the prospect of what the captain was offering. "My own command", Jack thought to himself, attempting to let it all sink in.

Jack was quickly brought back to reality by the captain again.

"Get outta here Sergeant, go home and think. I'll see you tomorrow."

Jack nodded emphatically.

"Yes, sir!"

Jack arrived home about forty five minutes later. At least the traffic to Orange County wasn't as bad as the traffic downtown. People must not have gotten off work yet because he had noticed just how bad all traffic seemed to get during the weekday afternoons. He opened the door to his apartment and set his keys on the kitchen counter. His apartment wasn't very spacious truth be told, but his days in the military had reduced the need for certain comforts. Jack remembered the real estate agent asking him what he was looking for in an apartment when he was looking for a place to stay, and remembered the amused look on her face when he had replied that if the place had a good kitchen and a bed he would like it. Of course he had "settled" for a balcony as well. He was always a sucker for a view no matter if the view was planets, mountains, or an ocean as it was in this case. Making his way out to the balcony he looked out to the Pacific Ocean. His neck eventually leaned to the right as he peered out to the Los Angeles skyline. When he was growing up originally, Los Angeles had been too far away to see any of the buildings which stood there, but as the architecture progressively became more and more massive the buildings had become visible from as far south as San Clemente, California.

He turned his attention back to the ocean, the sun had just started to set on the endless horizon.

"Nice view there, Sergeant", said a voice behind Jack.

Jack jumped at the voice. He hadn't had company at the apartment in weeks. The face that presented itself when he turned around was even more surprising.

"Will? What the hell are you doing here? I mean how'd you even get in?" Jack asked, as he rushed into a big hug from his best friend.

Will shrugged and smirked at Jack before replying.

"Just thought I'd drop in, hell I was on shore leave in Southern California for a few days why not?"