prologue: final frontier
The blast from the last explosion projected the commander forward, pulling at her body in several directions as she clawed at anything to keep her from plummeting into darkness. She watched as the last escape pod disappeared into the distance. Her last means of survival..
It became painfully silent. With the explosion finished, the only light left in the area came from the planet. Her breath shallow, she tried to calm her mind and muster up a plan. She had never managed to make sound decisions in moments of panic. Closing her eyes, she counted to five. Slowly drifting away from the wreckage of the Normandy, the commander stopped and stared at the stars shining proudly from distant galaxies.
In that brief moment, her life stood still as her lungs caught her breath, her mind taking in the majesty of the planet and the stars before her glowing in faint blues as its sun hid behind its horizon. Busy serving on ships and adhering to strict time schedules, she had never had time to really get a good look at space, the "final frontier". Her entire life a sacrifice for the Alliance, and the only thing she could grasp at was the beauty of the universe that NASA photography failed to catch. It was never-ending and everywhere- a work of God. She had forgotten what it felt like to be weightless. It was akin to swimming in the deep end of the pool, the cool water enveloping her body as she floated idly on the surface. This time, though, she was being dragged down to the bottom. The atmosphere was starting to claim her.
"Come on!" she yelled, her eyes wide in fear as her lungs began to burn. Reflections of her comrades danced across her helmet as panic set in. Kaidan and Liara chatting over lunch while Ashley laughed at Wrex, his deadpan face ready to kill whoever drew graffiti on his face. Tali completely taken in by the state-of-the-art engine (a beauty now broken into pieces). Garrus and his funny mandibles flaring out in joy as they competed on the battle field, trying to outdo the other in headshots.
No. NO. Noa grasped for her oxygen tubes, desperate to retain every single molecule of what she needed most. She was Commander Fucking Shepard. She survived the horrors of Akuze, a Prothean beacon jamming terror into her skull, the monstrosity of the husks and lifeless geths that constantly hunted her as she tracked down and finally took Saren and Sovereign out of commission. Of all the times that she was to die, suffocating in space was unfitting and insulting.
The commander let out a bitter laugh, tears floating inside her helmet. The rescue she furiously was praying for was not coming. The oxygen was gone, and the pressure was crushing. Her body began to convulse, crying for that life-giving air that the space surrounding her had stolen. In pain, her vision blackened and her body became limp as the atmosphere began to claim her.
She will never be able to beat his tally again.