Miranda Lawson looked outside, at the dying star. She turned her head, looking at her boss, the Illusive Man.

"Shepard, sir? Are you sure."

"Trust me, Miss Lawson, when I say that Shepard is our best chance."

"He stopped Saren on accident. He couldn't handle-"

"Miranda, he managed to outsmart and outgun a Spectre, and the best ship in the Alliance."

"That's hardly an accomplishment."

"You give them too little credit."

"You give them too much. Applauding a slaver?"

"Applauding a man who can get things done."

"Does he even know about the Reapers?"

"No. Which is why we'll instruct him."

The Burukh flew past Alchera, smoothly and silently. The Council had rebuilt John Shepard's old ship, the Ryncol, from the ground up, and added a few upgrades to boot.

'Guess it comes with being the Hero of the Citadel,' he thought, as he exited his quarters.

Outside the ship, a large, cylindrical ship appeared. Large sheets of metal circled the ship, which went from metal to a rocky surface near it's middle. The ship fired a yellow beam at the Burukh, tearing a hole through it's side.

Shepard stumbled, and fell over, hurting his arm in the process. He picked himself up, as a Turian ran towards him.

"Shepard, we've been hit!" yelled Garrus. "But I'm guessing you knew that."

"Yeah, I figured it out. Where's Tali and Wrex?"

"They're getting the crew onto escape pods."

"Is everybody getting on?"

"The some of the crew is still in the cockpit."

Another explosion rocked the Burukh.

"Shit! Okay, get yourself in a pod, I'll go look for survivors."

"Shepard-"

"Move it Vakarian!"

"-good luck."

The Turian ran off below deck, towards the escape pods. Shepard ran away, in the opposite direction, grabbing a helmet.

'Thank God for armor fittings,' Shepard thought as he raced to the CIC. The room itself had been torn apart, it's left wall and ceiling being utterly destroyed. John slowed down, the magnets on his boots only allowing him to go so fast. No one had survived the blast here, that much was obvious. But… there was still movement in the cockpit. Shepard moved forwards, eventually making out the shape of Dharos, the Burukh's pilot. Shepard passed through a decontamination grid, and felt himself relax at feel of artificial gravity. The human grabbed Dharos' shoulder.

"Dharos, let's go!"

"John, I just got this one. I am not letting another ship blow up!"

"I think it's a little late for that!"

Shepard dragged Dharos out of the pilot's seat, and opened the doors to a nearby escape pod. A beam from the other ship tore through the hull, leaving Shepard floating as he held onto Dharos. The Batarian let go of Shepard, not wanting to hurt the human's chances of surviving, and grabbed onto a handle to hold onto. Dharos gave a weak thumbs up, before he saw the handle come loose. His four eyes widened, before shutting them tight, and drifting off into space Shepard pushed himself off of whatever was left of the now broken-off cockpit, attempting to go after his friend. He only hoped that the others had reached the esca- What was that? Shepard looked down, and, to his horror, discovered that the air was escaping his suit. He grabbed at his throat, hoping to keep just some inside, enough so that he could make a distr-