I looked over the devastation that had enveloped the islands. What a tragic loss of memories and belongings. The current of the ocean still swayed into the small destroyed costal village reminding the Alliance core engineers what had just befallen the small hamlet. Standing on a small hilltop where a house had been utterly decimated, I stood in grass that had become utterly soaked from yesterday's hurricane. I turned around and saw a small beach ball come my way like a lost child. I walked away from the wreckage to the main road of town hoping to do what I had come here to do. Inspire.

Walking through the remains of the costal village was a bit disheartening. I remembered back to the conversations I had had with both Yeomen Chambers and Admiral Hackett. The light debris blew around me as their words echoed inside my head along with my own.

Chambers had called me down from my cabin. I had been contemplating my reluctant joining of Cerberus when she called. I went down to CIC and saw her turn to look at me with a watery look to her eyes. I approached her cautiously not knowing exactly what had brought her to the edge of crying but I figured I was going to find out soon enough. She decided to speak sounding more hurt and sad then I had ever heard her, "Commander, Admiral Hackett would like to have a word with you."

I thought about not asking her what was wrong but I decided to deal with whatever it was that was bothering her, "What is bothering you, Chambers?"

Kelly turned a bit from me and then said, "The entire island of Hawaii was hit on Earth by a bad hurricane. Most of the people were evacuated to several different colonies but it's still so sad."

Wondering how to approach this, I just simply asked, "Did you have family there?"

"No!" Kelly gratefully snapped but then her voice returned to that somber sad tone. "It's just…we're out here fighting off the Collectors, trying to keep humanity and the rest of galaxy safe, and for what? So that people can be killed anyway by a storm on their home world?"

I didn't have to think for long how to approach this. Even though a sudden mean streak did rush through me and I wanted to say, 'Damn it Yeoman! Storms happen constantly! What about that earthquake in Japan they had recently, what about that horrible forest fire they had in Brazil, not to mention that terrible thunderstorm in London that nearly wiped out the entire power grid. Your heart bleeds for some riff-raff out in the middle of the ocean?! Could have been worse, they could have been all melted by a volcano! Ever think of that?!'

I didn't say all of that though. I simply said, "Well, at least everybody was evacuated in time."

"Yes but to different colonies. Human colonies are not the safest places to be right now."

Couldn't argue with her there. However it struck me funny that the people of the Hawaiian Islands were evacuated to human colonies instead of somewhere else on Earth. I decided to ask but Chambers said that Hackett would have more details. I couldn't help but ask, "Why would Hackett know?"

"Because that's what he wants to see you about."

I was very confused. I shrugged my shoulders though and walked back to the elevator. Taking me to my cabin where I received video communication with Admiral Hackett.

His stern face staring at me with that scar down his cheek only adding to his ruggedness. The wrinkles in his skin etched on his face like beaten leather. If there was a harder human in the Alliance navy; outside of Anderson, I was yet to know of them. He began like he always did. "Commander, I believe we have a situation that you are perfect for."

"Sir, I'm not sure a tropical storm is anything that I need to be worried about."

"Ah, I see Miss Chambers already briefed you."

"Not exactly sir. I was told that this mission assignment that you had for me involved Earth. More correctly Hawaii."

"It's true commander. We need you to go ground side and observe the devastation from a hands-on perspective."

I twisted my head in confusion. "Sir, I do believe I have more important things to worry about and not to mention that…"

"Damn it commander! Do you know that most of the Alliance navy thinks your some kind of traitor?! I intended to prove them wrong. I have already given ground side clearance for the Normandy. At least for awhile before any of the high command gets word of your arrival.

I am sending you down there for morale. The Alliance core of engineers is getting quite tired. They have been building back up city after city and country after country because of all the horrible weather Earth has gotten recently. I'm sure I don't need to tell you about Narasawa in Japan, Brazil, and London."

No, he didn't. "Sir, why did you evacuate the civilian populace to colonies?"

"Commander, even though you think there is a Collector threat I have little faith in Cerberus. I don't know why colonies are vanishing off the radar but I can tell you that I know you are trying to find out. I figured that they would be safer on colonies for awhile rather then be stuck on Earth somewhere to deal with Alliance red tape."

I though about it for a minute. Maybe he was right. Then again, I couldn't save every colony. I thought back to Freedom's Progress and Horizon. Imaging that happening to more people then what it should. I couldn't imagine. Even though Hackett's heart was in the right place, he might have just sent all those people to their doom.

Hackett had one last thing to say to me before I headed out. "I think the engineers seeing you will do them some good."

'Do them some good.' The phrase echoed in my mind like a bad movie as the salty air of Hawaii slapped me back to the present. I didn't know how to be any more morally supportive then what I was doing right now. Looking around the destroyed village and seeing the chaos. I had no idea even where the people of the small village had been sent to.

I saw a strange sight. Some of the engineers were looking at a red t-shirt that seemed to be torn by the storm the day before. No telling where it came from but they were standing in the wreckage of a store that seemed to belong to a man named Kua-Kini.

My feet felt heavy as I walked over and saw the front plaque of the store destroyed. It was made of cheap wood and looked like it had been made by a man with shaky hands. However, it was something that somebody had lost to the storm.

The engineers looked at me and then back at the rubble. Their faces said it all. They were tired and did not need me here. As if to say, 'they could handle it and didn't need my traitorous presence in their midst.' I never thought that I would feel like an alien on my homeworld. Yet, here I was, surround by devastation and a bunch of people who looked at me like I was sick with a plaque.

That was when I decided to walk back to the leveled little house from before. I had had enough of this "moral supporting." When I got back there, I would contact Joker and get the hell out of here. My presence had provided nothing except I was a commander with a lost command.

I walked for what seemed like an hour and I still hadn't made it back to the small house on the hill yet. Finding the small path off the main road to the house, I kicked up sand as I walked. I felt like a lost child. I felt so lost. So many things buzzing around in my head.

Entering the forested area, I stopped and looked around. Some of the palm trees were down and the foliage was wet with water. My eyes drifted to the ground thinking about the people that had been sent to the colonies. They might have gone through Alliance red tape but they would have been secured. Protected from the Collectors. Out there though, looking up at the blue sky of Earth, they would be in great danger. I couldn't protect them all.

Looking ahead, down the path, I felt a word slip out of my mouth. I couldn't help it. It just easily rolled off my tongue and out into the damp, open air of the Hawaiian day. "Lost."

Suddenly, there came a rustle from a plant next to me. Instinctively, I pulled my side arm and pointed it at the plant scanning for movement. My Phalanx pistol feeling heavy and good in my hands. Finally I felt like I was doing something somewhat creditable.

Another rustle and I took a step towards the foliage. I turned my head a bit to the side trying to see what was beyond the greenery. Another step and I saw another rustle. My finger tapping the trigger of the Phalanx. Wanting some kind of action to take my mind off of everything.

I then saw a small, blue form move out from the foliage. It crossed the path of a big leaf and then it walked out onto the dusty road. It looked up at me and my aim faltered. It seemed to be some kind of blue dog/koala - thing. I had never seen anything like it. It stared at me with these pearl black eyes and blue fluffy fur. It's big, odd shaped ears pointed directly at me like antenna. Maybe trying to pick up on something. It just stared at me as I stared at it. It cocked its head sideways real fast still looking at me and then looked off into the distance as if it heard something I did not. Then it went right back to me.

My pistol was lowered all the way by that time and another word escaped my mouth not really being able to help myself, "Hello?"

It stood up on its back legs and walked towards me as if it was natural for it to walk like that. This was no dog. However, it had a sad look to it. Like it was missing something. It made a strange and very pronounced, "Bark."

I looked at it remorsefully. It came up to me and reached out to my leg and touched it gently with its black claws. It made another strange pronounced, "Bark." More like it was saying the actual word rather than making the sound.

Kneeling down to get a better look at the strange creature, I took its weird paw in my hand and examined it. This was not a dog at all. Its paw was more like a hand then a paw. However, I looked back at the thing's black ,pearlescent eyes and I felt sadness. A sense of loss. It made me sad and I asked, "Are you lost little guy?" Having no idea how to approach this weird animal.

It turned from me and looked around as if it was scarred. Or as if it was looking for something. Something that it had lost. It put its hand up to its mouth in a weird sort of gesture. To me, it looked like it was worried about something. Contemplating on whether it should leave me and try to find it or drag me along. No, that was crazy. Then again, it really seemed like it was thinking intelligently. Even though it was worried or frightened by something, it was still having rational logic going through its head.

"Do you have a home somewhere around here?"

Suddenly, it turned it head to me and began to pull on my armor. It began pointing down the dusty path and began making this sound. "Eh. Eh-eh."

It then suddenly took off and I followed with a, "Hey wait!"

It wasn't about to wait for me though. I followed it as far as I could until I reached the crushed house. It was sitting just ten feet from it looking back at me with its ears down over it back and this sorrowful look to its black eyes. It let out a long and sad, "Eh." As it pointed to the house. Its small blue arm extending outward like a furry sign post to despair.

I walked up to him, towering over the small blue-furred animal and knelt down beside him. Even though I was aware that this thing was disguising itself as a common Earth dog but was clearly not, I decided to play along to a certain extent. "Was that were you lived?"

A sad and long, "Bark."

I looked at him calculating my next question. "Is there anybody to take care of you?" Making my question specific. As expected, I got a simple answer to a question that no dog with the best training in the world could have answered.

He shook his head side-to-side with a small, watery tear dropping from his eye. He began to make sniffling sounds as he looked at the crushed house.

My heart went out to him at that point. I began to pat him on the back like a small child and he sort of snuggled into my armor letting go of his tears. He was crying. I was still curious as to what he was but it was in the far reaches of my mind as his little blue form sobbed into the armor on my arm. At that point, I only wished I had cloth clothing on so the armor wasn't so cumbersome to the little guy. I patted him on the back some more as he sounded like letting out into a wail. He didn't though and just kept crying on my armor.

One of the Alliance engineers came over to the both of us and asked, "Hey, is that the dog of the people who lived here?"

I looked up at him answering, "Yeah, I think so."

The engineer said, "Well, I'm not sure but I think they were evacuated to a colony."

Standing up quickly I asked, "Which colony?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't think I should tell you commander. I could get in big trouble. You're with Cerberus and I could lose my job."

Paragon Choice: "Nobody has to know you told me. Just tell those engineers you're working with up there that I figured on that colony because I used my omni-tool to scan the dog's collar and found the names of the owners and it gave me the EVAC coordinates and you tried to talk me out of it. Add some stuff like you're going to report me to Alliance high command and that you hope that I get arrested and thrown in the brig forever and some other stuff like that."

Renegade Choice: "What are you, blind?! There are plenty of other engineers on this island who know the coordinates to the EVAC colonies. Pick one and tell them he told me. Just make sure you tell your buddies up there the same thing if you go making a lot of noise about this."

The engineer looked back at his companions and then back at me. He took a sigh and said, "Well, alright. They were EVACed to Patton's Progress."

Nodding my head in thanks, I watched him return the nod heading back up the hill towards the crushed house and the engineers he was working with.

I looked back down at the blue dog saying a little enthused, "Patton Progress it is."

With a small, happy "Eh" he walked over to me on four legs and looked up at me waiting to go.

I just shook my head and said to myself, "Joker is just going to love you." I then patched into my communicator and said, "Normandy, this is shore party; I got a package that's coming aboard."

Joker just responded back, "Copy that, commander. ETA 15 mins."