This is not how I'm going to start this. Connor Jace's stride was already stretched, only really stopped from breaking into a full-on run by the inconvenience of the heavy kit bag by his waist. He could not be late for the shuttle. Last night was a mistake. He shouldn't have stayed out so late with that freighter crew. He hadn't realised quite how long a run they had got back from, and he definitely should have known how easily he would have let himself slip back into old habits like he did whenever he was nervous. And knowing what was happening today, last night he had been very nervous. So now he was racing to avoid making the kind of terrible first impression he used to be proud of.

A couple of years ago, aged just 16 but already seemingly on a doomed path, he been offered a lifeline. A test had confirmed the suspicions of those who knew him, and if he stopped the fighting, the brushes with the law, the general juvenile delinquency, he would be given the chance to become someone great, someone who could make a real difference in the galaxy. A biotic.

He would never have believed the drive the opportunity had gifted him. An orphan his entire life he had drifted through the care system at a time in which it had faced an unparalleled burden. Making poor choices had been painfully easy. He was getting close to the age where the galaxy would give up on him entirely when an Alliance survey team investigating the incident on the Corona had picked up on his potential. One simple medical scan and everything changed, immediately and irrevocably. The day after the test he had been pulled out of class, again, but instead of the usual reprimand he had been sat down in front of an impossibly smart Alliance recruiter and given a 30 minute spiel on the multitude of advantages that came with a military career.

The officer needn't have bothered. Growing up Connor had been addicted to the vids dramatising

the Reaper War. The solders had been heroes, selfless and brave, providing examples of humanity he found lacking in his real life. He had leapt at the offer, even when the inevitable stipulations had been discussed. He would become a dangerous individual, more powerful than any conventional weapon, and that wasn't the kind of responsibility that that could be given to a miscreant. So he had been told to straighten up, to start foundation training and absolutely stay out of trouble. With the prize he was being offered, it had been easy.

Until last night, when nerves had got the better of him. Now he was in danger of missing the shuttle up to the station, the consequences of which he had refused to think about ever since a dozy glance at his bedside clock had caused a lump of ice to form in his gut twenty minutes ago. It remained until he rounded the final corner and spotted his gate number, a dwindling queue of excited-looking students still filing through a door that would lead to the shuttle. As he joined the back of it he breathed a sigh of relief and tried to compose himself. The sergeant on duty approached him and raised a small reader, the contemptuous look on his face making it clear how close the young recruit had been to disaster. Connor fished out his ID and handed it to the man, who scanned it, checked the screen quickly and returned it. "Nice of you to join us Mr. Jace."

Connor only nodded, fighting an old instinct to give a rebellious retort, but the man had already turned away. He didn't glance back as the students disappeared through the door and into shuttle.

On-board organised chaos reigned as students chatting and laughing as they dawdled into place, the attempts of the overseeing corporals to speed the process up seemingly futile. Connor accepted a barked ordered and dropped into his seat. As he fumbled with his restraints he scanned the faces around him, grinning as he took in the palpable aura of kindred excitement and nerves. His attention was drawn to the woman sat across from him. She was beautiful, with big brown eyes and full lips, but seemed distant, wrapped up in her own thoughts, paying no heed to anything around her. She was drawn from her reverie as she noticed his stare, pushing a lock of brunette hair from her face as she turned to focus on him. He sat up straight, his mind scrambling for the perfect introduction. Before he could speak she frowned at him, such contempt in her eyes that his momentum was taken from him and he was forced to look away, embarrassed by the displeasure he had somehow caused.

The whine of the engines powering up created a welcome distraction and he craned round to watch out of the small window almost behind him as the shuttle lifted off and the ground began to drop away.

As the spaceport disappeared he turned back, catching the eye of the recruit sitting next to him, a tiny, hawkish man with caramel skin and slick black hair. He extended his hand.

"Connor Jace."

The small man shook it emphatically, white teeth gleaming in his huge smile. "Ravinder-mitra Krishnamurthy." Seeing Connor's jaw drop his smile somehow grew, obviously used to the reaction. "Call me Ravi."

"Will do" Connor muttered, glad the escape offered has killed off his embarrassment before it had a chance to bloom.

Ravi didn't seem to notice his discomfort, perhaps used to the reaction. "Incredible, isn't it?" He head swung almost wildly as he took in the other passengers. "So many people like me – like us." He calmed "Sorry. It's just before a few day ago I'd hardly even met anyone with biotic potential. So this seems so crazy."

"You didn't have any other potentials around growing up? When element zero gets dumped into the atmosphere, it usually spreads out enough to affect a big chunk of population."

"No." Ravi shook his head, all the joy gone from his voice. "My story is a bit different from the usual. I wasn't exposed to Eezo because of a faulty engine seal or a freighter breaking up in the atmosphere. It was... different."

The enthusiasm had disappeared from his voice quickly enough that Connor knew not to pry. "Well, that's what happened to me. The freighter my mother was on got hit making a last ditch run from the Reapers. Everyone on-board got a dose of Eezo."

"Going to be a lot of stories like that. 19 years since the war, and the aftermath, this must be the biggest intake the academy has ever seen."

"Not a ship in the galaxy that didn't take a battering." Connor sighed "The worst of times."

"But we won." Ravi looked up, remembering the stories everyone their age had grown up on. "Thanks to him. It must have been a terrible time, and growing up during the recovery seemed pretty rough, but we've rebuilt. Bigger. Better. Like the station. They destroyed Grissom, so we construct Grissom 2."

Connor nodded, buoyed by the small man's spirit. "Damn straight." He craned round again, staring out into the black of space, searching for their destination. It was unmissable. "Speaking of which..."

His words prompted Ravi to turn as well, and the two of them gawked through the porthole as the shuttle skimmed over the station on its way to the hanger. The station looked like a huge dagger, over 3 kilometres long, somehow seeming strong and reliable against the grand backdrop of Elysium below.

All too soon the shuttle entered the landing bay and the majesty of space was replaced with the cold harsh interior of the station. No sooner had the craft touched down on the spotless floor than the recruits started unbuckling restraints and moving round the cabin. The rear door opened with a hiss and those nearest started moving towards it, only to scamper back from the impossibly ominous sound of boots on the gangway. The man who appeared in the door was huge, his uniform perfectly presented, his posture painfully precise. He opened his mouth to speak, white teeth highlighted against ebony skin.

"ATTENTION!" The barked order silenced the recruits. They had all completed some basic military training in preparation for their time at Grissom, but it was more the command in the word that caused them to snap upright in a vaguely passable manner.

The instructor paused, letting the near-silence permeate the cabin. When he spoke again his words were barely more than a whisper, yet he managed to project them the entire length of the shuttle. "Welcome to the Jon Grissom Academy. Every single person in this shuttle is here because he or she has the potential to become a top level Special Talents Officer." He swept his gaze over the recruits before clarifying the official term with slang. "A biotic. Many of you will not make it. Training is hard. It is relentless. Some of you will lack the attitude. Some will lack the ability. But those who have both in abundance will go on to be some of the most valuable individuals in the Alliance, be it on the front-line, support, or alternative positions." He didn't need to explain that last sentence. It was well known how the Alliance's spec-ops teams had a high percentage of biotics. "You have the honour of being the last of this year's recruits to take your place here. Station time is 2100 hours. Once you have passed through processing find your billets, get a meal, and then consider yourselves at liberty for the evening. Do not worry if the change between planetary and station time stops you from sleeping. Training starts tomorrow, and I guarantee you'll have no problem after that."

Connor arrived at his dormitory with a bag on each shoulder, his own personal belongings now mirrored by a huge hold-all he had been given as he entered the station. The bag supposedly contained everything he should need over the next year, though he had yet to look inside. The room contained four sets of bunks beds, most of which were in some state of disassembly, carnage presumably caused by students who had been here for at least one night. He identified the one he had been assigned and dumped his gear into the adjoining locker. Its mate on the other side of the bed was locked, so his bunkmate was obviously here already, but the bed was made with a precision that matched those that hadn't yet been exposed to the care of students. Guess I'll meet him later. A grunting noise behind him caused him to turn as Ravi hauled himself through the door, struggling with a bag almost as big as he was. Connor reached out and plucked the hold-all away from him, then dumped it on the bed Ravi nodded to. The little man took a couple of seconds to catch his breath before he spoke. "Thanks."

"No problem." Connor smiled. His stomach growled. "Food?"

The mess hall was huge, a man-made cavern that looked like it could host the station's entire 3000 person compliment if need be. Right now it was laid out with table for about half that, and was crawling with students. Next to the main doors was a raised stage with the instructors' head table. Most of its occupants were humans in high ranking Alliance uniforms, but there were also a couple of blue-skinned Asari and an avian Turian.

After collecting their pre-plated meals, which would have been designed to provide the exact nutrients required and eliminated all possibility of choice, they started the search for unoccupied seats. Eventually they spotted a couple at the end of one of the long tables, and dropped themselves down. The two people across from them were both tall and well muscled, one a man with green eyes and a strong jaw, the other a woman whose long blond hair was a obvious contradiction to her otherwise masculine aura.

As the recruits sat the two broke from their conversation and assessed the new arrivals. After half a second they extended their hands in unison.

"Reese Majors." The man introduced himself.

"Magda Solheim" The woman's Scadanavian accent was strong enough to make comprehending her require conscious effort.

After the greetings were dispensed with the group began discussing the Acadamy.

"So you guys are new?" Reese asked

Connor tried and failed to swallow a mouthful of food quickly enough to answer, but the perennially chatty Ravi was ready "Very. First night."

The two senior students turned to look at each other dramatically, inhaling through pursed lips. Hazing. Connor realised. Whatever they're about to tell you is bullshit.

Magda leaned in, looking earnest. "You guys know about the early morning drills right?"

Ravi's eyes widened. "Drill?"

"Oh yeah." Reese didn't pause. "They'll drag you out off bed at about 3 tomorrow morning. Surprise test of readiness."

Magda continued the story. "Thing to do is set your alarm for just before that. Then you'll be prepared."

"Wow, thanks." Ravi seemed relieved. "I will."

Connor shock his head. The lie was so obvious, he couldn't believe anyone would buy it. "So you guys have been here a while?"

Reese smiled, realising they hadn't caught both the new recruits. "Starting our third year. We'll be spending most of it on exercise away from Grissom, putting what we've learnt into practice."

He looked like he was about to go into more detail but a sudden, palpable hush swept though the mess, rippling out from the doorway as boisterous conversations became mummers and whispers. Connor turned in his chair to identify its source, craning his neck, aware the rest of the table – and the entire room – was doing the same. A woman, young enough that she could only be a first year, had entered alone. After a second Connor recognised her. She was the pretty brunette from the transport, the one who had given him a look that had turned his blood to ice. Seemingly oblivious to the commotion she was causing she grabbed a meal and sat, somehow managing to find a seat isolated from the rest of the diners.

Connor turned back to the table and exchanged an confused glance with Ravi. At least he wasn't the only one who had no idea who she was. Apparently the others were more informed.

Reese's gaze was locked on the mystery woman. "Is that her?"

Magda nodded. "That's her."

"Damn." Reese exclaimed, as he leant back on his chair and folded his hands behind his head "She looks just like her mother."

Connor raised his eyebrows, exasperated by his continued ignorance. "Who is she?"

Reese looked shocked at his ignorance. He spoke the name with heavy reverence. "Shepard."