Chapter One

Soft, golden ground, crashing water on stone, warm rays from the Sun. For those still alive this was a normal, daily occurrence. For Shepard, this was one of the legion of things she thought she would never experience again. After everything that happened with the reapers and the mass relays, any sense of existence seemed impossible. However, through some miracle, she had survived. A wave of the sea crashed over her worn and tired body, waking her from her deep slumber. As she opened her eyes, all she could see was a bright light. Quickly closing them again, she tried rolling over. Too weak and injured, she didn't succeed. Another wave crashed over her, this time causing her to cough violently, dispensing a mixture of saliva and blood onto the sand. Opening her eyes again, she managed to focus a lot better, and discovered that she was near civilisation. This then gave her the strength to roll over and sit up. She looked toward the horizon, thanking whatever entity saved her, and only wished that she would see her crew and her beloved again.

Brushing herself down, she notices a lot of scratches and scrapes all over her body, some deep and through her armour. Another wave washed up to her, dragging away the blood stained sand that surrounded her. She stood herself up, steadily and cautiously, with no sense of direction. She staggered towards what seemed to be a road and cars, to houses and, what she hoped, people. Pain shot through her leg as she walked, and as she looked down she discovered that with every step more blood poured from her leg. She had to find help, fast, or she wouldn't make it past the beach. With every ounce of strength, she walked faster towards the road, and tried to call for help.

"H…. Help…. P…. Please, help me!"

With each try, she got louder and louder, until someone finally called back to her. She fell to the ground, exhausted and wounded.

"… help…"

As she reached out, her eyes slowly beginning to close, she realised that she wasn't where she thought she was after all, and that she wasn't surrounded by her own kind.

Once re-awakened, she was greeted by the obnoxious beeping of what seemed to be a futuristic heart monitor, and a breathing apparatus on her face. The heart monitor looked like it ran on its own source of power. The only leads that came away from it were attached to Shepard. It glowed a deep blue and silver liquid was being pushed through several tubes at her heart beat rate. Adrenaline rushed through her body accompanied by fear as she sat bolt upright, tearing off the wires and mask. Launching herself off of the bed, she fell to the floor almost immediately. Her leg was strapped up and weak, she had bandages and patches all over her body. Her side felt like someone had thrust an omni-blade right into her and twisted it before retracting. Groaning on the floor, she attempted to drag herself to the door before being ambushed by several strange looking doctors. When they gathered round her to put her back onto the bed, she stared at one of the doctors. He was a salarian, who looked like the spitting image of her old comrade Mordin.

"Mordin? I… Is that you?"

Turning to his assistants he shrugs it off.

"Delusional, must run more tests. Yes, more tests, make the saviour better, good physical condition" the salarian responds.

As they lay her back on the bed, Shepard tries to force her way back up again, to no avail. The salarian doctors are on her like a shot, and decide to strap her wrists and ankles down.

"What are you doing?!" cried Shepard. "I'm not a convict!"

"We know who you are, and what you have been through. We are grateful, but we need to fix you once again before you go out there. The universe has changed since the reapers attacked" replied the solarian doctor.

"Changed? What do you mean changed? I have to find my crew, I know they're out there". Shepard spoke with a hint of fear in her voice.

"I'm sure you'll find them again, but for now, you will stay here and be fixed up. By the way, the name's Karkhan". As he finishes he places a gas mask over Shepard's face, causing her to begin to drift into a deep slumber.

"Karkhan, huh? Where have I heard that before" she consults to herself as she falls asleep on the bed.