Last Goodbyes
Admiral Hackett felt a cold shiver run down his spine and settle into a cold knot in his stomach, the Shepard memorial wasn't a beautiful construct, a solemn grave or even a heroic flame, those existed in their thousands across the galaxy, the Earth memorial was the only one of its kind, it was known as "The Scar" and it lived up to its name, a massive dome that was built around the final ground charge of the Hammer strike force, buildings still crumbling, the ground still crunched under foot, wrecked Mako's and Hammerheads sat silently, although the bodies of Reaper ground forces where long gone darkened patches of earth revealed where the great enemy had fallen. At the centre of this moment frozen in time was the inactive beam and in front of that was a single silver military issued transport casket "29187155777 CMDR Shepard SSV Normandy SR-2" machine pressed onto the head of the casket. Hackett swallowed hard as he strode through the desolate area, his footsteps echoing throughout the hallowed walls, as he approached the casket he breathed hard through his nose and prepared himself to open it. Inside Shepards casket was his armour meticulously collected, preserved and reassembled to show just what the saviour of the galaxy had endured, his N7 Defender armour that made Shepard into a living war engine was barely recognisable, outer plates cracked and scorched, left arm shattered, right mostly melted and warped, greaves unable to be fully reassembled and his N7 helmet bore a long diagonal tear that almost cut it half, Hackett unfolded a letter from his pocket and begin to read his farewell to the Commander
"It took every know resource pool we had, an impossible alliance of a united galaxy, every trick we had, every ounce of fight and an inconceivable amount of lives but the sentient galaxy stood firm and defeated the Reaper threat... well that's what the history books will say, they will focus on the noble struggle and the joy of finally freeing sentient life from death and despair, what they won't see is the true costs of the Reaper War. It's only been 5 years and people are forgetting what it cost. We are still here thanks to the efforts of that valiant majority who paid the ultimate price. 70% of humanity is gone Shepard, 64% of Turians, 61% of the Asari, 55% of the Salarians, aside from the Batarians with 98% of their species now extinct we got hit the hardest and the entire galaxy knows it. But that 30% wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you. This war cost the best humanity has ever had to offer. When they came to me to screen you as our first Spectre candidate, I knew you were different from the start Shepard, after reading the reports on Elysium and what you did by yourself I knew you would be our first Spectre, the shinning pride of humanity. Maybe it's is because of that you had to bear some much of the burden, I have served and fought alongside many great men Shepard, I have seen great leaders take on burden after burden until they cannot walk, I have seen good men die selflessly to save their friends, family, planet even a stranger and watching you carry the entire weight of the galaxy when it would have been easier to quit, to catch your breath and fade into the background, to take the break you earned, but you kept pushing forward no matter the costs. It made me sick to my stomach every time I would ask you to step into the fray, I could see it taking pieces of it away from you, perhaps I was naive to think you would make it through and become whole again. For everything you did for us we built memorials, have a holiday, a galactic day of mourning, name ships after you but in the end it will never be enough and I knew the second they declared the war was over, that this debut could never be repaid... I could never repay you."
Hackett stopped reading the letter and put it back into his pocket. The silence was deafening as Hackett stood there next to the casket of the Champion of Earth. The reason he had came for felt hollow, too little too late, why now of all times? Because it's an anniversary and everyone wants it to be special, just another dog and pony show. If they could they would have made a media spectacle of it but the N7's tasked to guard this memorial had zero tolerance for the press intruding on their brother in arms grave. Hackett pulled a small box from his dress blues jacket, inside the box were three medals "Commander Shepard in honour of your extreme heroism, selflessness, bravery and service above and beyond the call of duty I award you with the Order of the Alliance Navy, the N7 Cross of Gallantry and the Terra Star," Hackett felt pitiful giving medals to a broken suit of armour, the galaxies greatest hero and this is all that remains, he stood there for several moments before continuing
"You know Shepard a long time ago there was an officer by the name of Richard Winters, he was dedicated to his mission, he was a loyal, dedicated, brave, smart and sometimes unconventional commander but he got results. But at some point he realised he has seen too many of his friends under his command die or suffer horrifying injuries, he had killed and injured his fair share of the enemy as well and he realised he had enough of war, so when his mission was over he walked away and found a quiet corner of the world to keep himself and stayed away from war for the rest of his life. I think after all this time I will follow in his footsteps, find a quiet place in the world and just enjoy living out the time I have left, I'll do it for you Shepard I'm not going to waste my time chasing conflict I'm going to enjoy the peace you gave us," Hackett unpinned his Admiral's bars and placed them next to the medals. As he walked towards the exit he turned to the casket and saluted
"Hackett out."