Mass Effect I: The Beginning

by Savvy'sGut

Nothing about her was particularly obscure; she had long brown hair she often tied messily on her head, light build and small in height, overall she was completely average and she preferred it that way. People were easy to trust, and Shepard always took that advantage.

1. Chapter 1

"Damn it, Finch. This is stupid. We'll get caught!"

"Fuck, Iri." Finch hissed at her, his face angry. "I thought you had the balls to do this shit."

"You know as well as I do, another stint like this and we're going away for life." Shepard retorted, not backing down. She looked cautiously behind her, biting her lower lip. No way she was going back to that hell. "I'm not doing this."

Finch caught her arm fast before she could move. "And you know if we don't do this, we'll both be killed. Reds don't like failure."

Irenia Shepard knew he was right as she forcefully twisted out of Finch's grip and cursed under her breath. "I get it, Finch. We're going after asari for fuck's sake!"

"Shut up." Finch hissed again, looking around. "Come on."

Shepard stared after Finch as he stood up from the brick wall they were hiding behind. She hesitated for moment, then followed. Shepard knew she didn't really have a choice in the matter. Whatever the Reds wanted, they got. They had eyes and ears everywhere, and failure always meant death. But there were worse things than death, like going after damn asari.

Irenia sighed inwardly, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. It wasn't hard, she always had that ability. Nothing about her was particularly obscure; she had long brown hair she often tied messily on her head, light build and small in height. Overall she was completely average and she preferred it that way. Shepard was often assigned to petty thievery and was good at it. People just don't seem to notice a young-looking woman, quiet and soft-spoken. Shepard could be in one place and suddenly disappear. No one noticed until they left the area, their wallets had been stolen or their valuables gone from their homes, by the time a crime had been reported, it was much too late. People were easy to trust, and that was an advantage.

But she was tired. Of all of it. She didn't need it, she didn't want it, anymore. Shepard's only reason for joining the Reds was merely to survive. It was all she understood and at first it was exhilarating. The Tenth Street Reds were a major gang that more than often recruited or kidnapped children, their preferable age being under four, where the child's mentality wasn't mature enough to even understand right from wrong, only to know their name. Initial enlistment was simple; steal something. It didn't matter from whom or what as ng as you were successful. Irenia didn't even remember her first mark, but she did remember the amount she stole, fifty credits, and apparently it was a damn good job. She managed to quickly move up through the ranks and the riskier the snatch, the better off you were.

Irenia also remembered the kills. There were times where death was an essential part of gang life; if a member of the Red failed, he was to be shot dead, no loose ends, then someone else would be put in their place. The Reds had a reputation to hold; they Never failed.

Shepard's first kill was at the age of 14. This she can remember better than she'd like. One of the lieutenants of the Reds was suspected in passing information to a rival gang and Shepard was told to keep tabs on him. At this age, she had already established herself as a very good thief, but somehow she had made a mistake.

Shepard was tailing the lieutenant in the sewers when there was a noise. It almost sounded like water dripping but it was much to heavy. Shepard paused, wondering if she was being led into a trap. She kept her eyes on her mark and could feel the hairs on her arms stand as the lieutenant had stopped and was looking intently around him. Irenia hardly breathed, as she followed. Every time he paused, Shepard could swear he knew she was there. Yet, she still followed him. At one point, she lost him. Panicking slightly, Irenia steadied herself against the slimy walls of the sewer, trying to hide herself in the darkness as much as she could, trying not to lose sight of the lieutenant.

Irenia suddenly felt a strong arm on her shoulder as she was forcefully shoved away from her hiding place. She let out a grunt as she was thrown into another wall, hard. Her head hit against the concrete so hard, she could see stars. She was pulled back again, and this time she was kicked onto the wet floor, the back of her head against a grate. Irenia could feel the breath leave her as she tried to get up, but she felt a heavy weight against her chest and an arm shoved against her throat. It was talking. Irenia didn't know what was being said, she could only feel and smell the putrid, alcohol-smelling breath against her skin and a faint tinkling sound somewhere below her. She could taste her warm blood as it tricked into her mouth. She was fearful for her life and thought she was about to die. Shepard suddenly remembered her knife pulled it out, screaming as she swung the blade right into her attacker's throat. She heard a sudden gurgle and crawled away as fast as she could. Feeling her heart in her throat, she turned to look at her attacker. It was the lieutenant, reaching out for her with one hand, the other on the handle of Irenia blade. He was unable to extract it.

Shepard calmed herself as she watched in faint horror what lay before her. The man was now lying face-down in the wet muck mixed with dark blood, his body rigid, yet relaxed. He was no longer moving. Irenia took a small step forward, her heart back in her chest, but still beating quite hard. She squinted in the darkness, taking another step forward. Shepard moved until she was beside the traitor and crouched down beside the lieutenant's head, her heart calmer, slower, a steadier pace. She quickly moved the still bloody hand away from her knife and pulled out her blade, surprised at how very deep it went. Irenia gulped and wiped the blood on the lieutenants partially lowered pants. She took a final deep breath to calm herself before running away to report the incident.

Her first kill, and not her last.

Irenia's generals didn't deem her mission a failure, mainly because when the body was found, the murderer was never caught. The police, however, correctly concluded that it was gang-related. The Reds generals ordered Shepard to expose the gang, which was successful, but she was also caught, mistakenly though, to be part of the rival gang. Without sufficient evidence, she was instead charged with other crimes such as larceny and assault. Shepard spent two years in the local penal institution, and it was enough for her to question her life with the Reds. They were all she knew, they were her family, but were they worth her getting killed?

No fucking way.

"Shepard!" Irenia looked around and saw Finch waiving to her, clearly annoyed. "Get your ass over here!"

"You're an asshole, Finch." Shepard muttered as she walked over to him.

When Irenia made it to Finch's side, they were standing on a crowded street of a popular plaza that stood before a huge mall. A giant fountain that had three spouts stood in the middle commemorating one of the mass relays. It had an inlaid of gold and silver that was polished every morning. At night, a series of lights shown on it from the ground, making it the brightest object in the plaza. It was one of Shepard's favorite places. As crowded as the plaza was during the day, hardly anyone visited at night. It was quiet and peaceful. Something Irenia always favored.

"There they are." Finch said, nodding his head over to two asari that were talking enthusiastically as they stared at a map some 50 meters in front of them. They looked like tourists. They were staring at everything around them, elegantly making their way through the crowds of humans, but that was hardly difficult. Everyone seemed to give them a wide berth. For good reason, Shepard thought.

"Who are they?" Shepard asked watching them, curious. "Why are they so important?"

"I don't fucking know, Iri." Finch replied, impatiently, "Weisman said that was our target, we go after them."

"You're an idiot, Finch." Irenia told him. Finch turned his head to look at her. "They're asari and probably hundreds of years old with the biotic powers to match. Do you even know what the generals want us to do?"

"Follow them." Finch grunted, his eyes still on the asari, "Weisman said they traveled all the way from some planet called Thessia. They've gotta be loaded..."

"That can't be it." Irenia said, following Finch, keeping her eye out. She was nervous, it wasn't often alien travelers would make their way to Earth and asari were as mysterious and dangerous as they come. "Weisman wouldn't just say 'Follow them'. He always wants something else. They all do."

"Just do what your told, Shepard." Finch said, glaring at her before turning back to the asari pair. "Wait until they stop again and go ask them if they need help. I can't see any pockets..."

Irenia was angry. Her hands were in fists and all she wanted to do was punch Finch in the face. She took a breath and exhaled, trying to focus on her task at hand. Feeling more nervous by the minute, she walked beside Finch, her eyes on the asari. It was a long while before the asari had stopped, Finch and Shepard even losing sight of them a few times, but they were hard to miss.

"They've stopped." Finch said, who was sitting on a park bench over-looking a man-made lake on a rich residential street. Shepard knew these streets very well; she did a lot of work here. "Get their attention. Get some information."

Irenia sighed. She didn't the best way to approach them, she had never been this close to them and wasn't sure how to get their attention except to fully walk up to them. If they were like humans, she'd be able to figure out a plan of action as they watched her. But they weren't.

She began to walk as she watched the two asari talking and pointing at the area around them. Shepard found herself distracted. They were beautiful; mysterious but fitting, their blue and purple complexions, contrasting significantly against the sea of human faces. They seemed oblivious, or just didn't care of the humans either staring only to turn away because of some guilty pleasure, or just simply stared. Irenia stopped a few feet from them and opened her mouth.

"Excuse me." Shepard started, feeling nervous. "You look lost..."

The asari turned the heads and looked at her. Shepard felt her stomach sinking; she had no way to gauge what the asari were thinking, their scarily bright eyes watching her. She cursed in her mind thinking the best way to proceed. At that moment, she hated the Reds and she hated Finch. She hated her life. She needed to get out of there. She was about to open her mouth again, trying another tactic when one the asari suddenly dropped to the floor.

Shepard blinked at the sight, the asari had crumpled, blue blood seeping out of her chest. The other asari suddenly began screaming, pointing an accusing finger at Shepard, and just like the other, she too had fallen in mid-shriek, blood making its way from a hole in the head. Shepard suddenly realized her mouth was open and a large crowd was beginning to form around them. People were looking horrified at the two bodies on the ground and turned their attention to Shepard. No, she was not going to get caught.

Irenia took a deep breath and screamed out as loud as she could and pointed away form the crowd to a random passerby a distance away. "Did you see that guy? Right there, in the brown coat! He just walked over and popped these two asari! Quick! Someone grab him before he gets away. He hid a gun in his coat!"

Two men turned around and began running in that direction, and suddenly, the attention on Shepard disappeared as quick as it came. She did not feel relieved, however, she needed to go, she couldn't stay there. The crowd was still forming a semi-circle around the two dead asari, but Shepard waited until she could hear the bells and whistles of the police before she slipped away. She quickly turned on her heel and walked away, smoothly, walking down the street and moving into another crowd. She kept her eyes peeled for Finch, but Shepard knew he was long gone. The fucking bastard was always a coward.

Irenia didn't slow down until she was miles away from the crime scene, where the news hadn't caught up with it, yet. She sat down heavily onto a bench outside a store that had a radio blasting and waited. It wasn't long before the music was interrupted by the news brief.

"This just in," said a woman over the radio. "Two visiting asari have been found dead at Plymouth Fall Park. There is no news as to who they were, but the police believe they have caught the suspect who may be responsible for their death. A weapon has not been found. More at 6:00."

The music came back on. Irenia felt relieved. It was short, but she wasn't mentioned in it at all and that's what she wanted. She sat for a moment, thinking about her options. She was at a loss. Who killed those asari? And where was she to go? There was the option of going back with the tunnel rats and Reds, but she would be punished for her failure. If she stayed above ground, she would have to live off the streets. She didn't have a place to stay, all she knew were the Reds and who gives a job to someone who doesn't even have an address? But, who killed those asari?

Sheppard looked up and noticed an advertisement. A woman in a crisp uniform was standing erect, her hands behind her back before she began to speak. Irenia listened as the woman mentioned she was representing the Alliance Navy. "...backed by Earth's most powerful nations, the Alliance has become humanity's military, exploratory, and economic spearhead. The Alliance has a brilliant reputation, gaining humans an embassy on the Presidium. The Alliance Navy is one of the greater naval forces in Citadel space, we seek to harness peacekeeping in unstable regions. Find yourself in the exotic planets of the Skyllian Verge or the Attican Traverse. Join us today, and you will become an essential part of human expansion and universal peace. You will be Alliance Military."

Three Years Later

"Everybody, pile out!" yelled the commander. The marines yelled out their consensus and jumped out of the two makos.

Shepard straightened up and looked around her. She had never seen a forest before and could only believe that is what Akuze was. There were trees everywhere, plants she had never seen before only a few feet away. She crouched down to look at one of them, pulling off a glove. She slowly ran a bare finger over a giant, red leaf and felt small hairs brush against her skin. She smiled to herself and stood again, listening to the strange noises of animals far beyond what she could see.

"Shepard! Move it!"

"Commander!" she responded, pulling her glove back on and jogging over toward him and five other marines, a sniper rifle in her hands.

Commander Teegs eyed her beadily as she approached and waited. He gave her a short nod and turned his attention toward a fellow marine. Shepard liked Teegs. He was strict and had no mercy but he was fair and he always got the job done. He could instill fear, and he was good at it. He was about 5'7" and had the ability to tower over anyone, even if they were bigger than he was. He had that presence about him that made anybody in a room shut up.

"I want you and Kassab to patrol the outskirts of the settlement. You see or hear anything, you radio me, got that? The rest of you have your orders. Get to it."

"Sir, yes, sir." Shepard and the others responded and they turned on their heels and left.

"Yo, Shepard, what do you think happened here?" Kassab asked, once they were out of earshot. The settlement was a made in a semi-circle and the two of them began to patrol around the south-east wing. "I was up front and I heard the commander talkin' with the Head, sayin' nothin' was wrong."

"Don't know, Kassab." she replied, staring out at the settlement as they continued to walk, past the forest with its wails and calls and the settlement overlooking a waterfall. She could get used to that.

"You know," he said, following Shepard's eyes. He positioned his gun. "I could retire here, I'll bring Nida. I'm going home next month. Wanna see a photo?"

Shepard watched as Kassab fumbled with a small pack by his chest and pulled a worn photograph of his very pregnant wife and a young boy smiling up at him.

"They're beautiful, Kassab." Shepard said with a smile. "You're a lucky man."

"Yeah." he replied, carefully placing the photo back in his chest pocket. "Do you have family?"

"No." Shepard said firmly. "I was an orphan."

She didn't mean to speak so sharply, but it put an end to that conversation and silence followed as they continued their patrol, comments made here and there about the environment. They passed the other marines making their rounds and nodded, but clearly, nothing was happening, and everyone was bored. After another two hours, the sarge called them up on the radio and told them to head on back. It was growing dark and everyone needed to converge to discuss the next plan of action. Shepard and Kassab headed back toward camp, tents had already been assembled and waiting. 15 marines were milling around, trying to finish up any last minute hygiene essentials or wandering over by the fires to try and get warm.

"Listen up, marines!" Teegs yelled out, and immediately, all movement was halted. "Another patrol is going to head up in five. You better be ready to move."

"What's goin' on Commander?" another marine yelled out. Shepard looked behind her and saw a tall lanky solider named Leach. He was in the middle of shaving; half his face was covered in shaving cream. "It's...peaceful, here."

Teegs looked at him before answering. He sighed. "It's unclear. No one has any idea why the settlement fell out of transmission, but the Alliance is not taking any chances, got that? We're here, we do this right."

"Sir, yes, sir."

Teegs gave another short nod, his hands behind his back as he rolled on the balls of his feet. "Alright. Those on patrol, get some rest. Instructions at 0200 hours."

Shepard was feeling restless. She had been sitting in a mako all day and was not the least bit tired. She made her way to a fire where Goodwin was finishing up cleaning her weapon, she was about to go on patrol. Shepard holstered her gun on her back and sat down.

"Hey, Shepard." Private Goodwin said with a smile. A good solider, a young solider and dedicated to the core. She had three older brothers and all of them were in the Alliance military, but she was the first marine. "Getting ready for down-time?"

"Nah." Shepard said. "I'm too restless. I've been sitting in the mako all day. I'm ready for some action."

"I hear you." Goodwin said, assembling the last bit of her rifle with a snap. "I didn't sleep a wink, but I have a feeling something is gonna happen tonight."

"How do you know?" Shepard asked looking at her curiously.

"It's too quiet." Goodwin replied, standing.

Shepard could still hear the calls from the animals. It was fading because it was getting darker, but otherwise, she could sense nothing unusual. "How can you know that?"

Goodwin was about to explain, when the sarge called out. Goodwin smiled and said, "See you later, Shepard," and bounded off. Shepard turned back to the fire and stared at the flames for awhile, thinking back. Her lone thoughts brought her back behind the reason she decided to join the military. It was to avoid prison, death, and because she had no other choice. Shepard never did find out who had shot the asari, and neither the police it was revealed, whoever it was though, was very good. The asari were shot about 382 meters away. Shepard never spoke about that incident and she doubted she ever would. Sighing inwardly, Shepard decided she might as well get some shut-eye; everyone else had already disappeared. She stood up and was walking when there was a faint rumble under her feet. She paused, wondering if she had simply imagined it. There was another rumble, stronger this time. No, she hadn't imagined it. She looked around her, the camp was quiet as no one else seemed to notice. She waited a bit longer, only to hear a caustic boom and a scream off in the distance. She pulled out he rifle and ran over to the edge of the camp, staring out toward the settlement. She gaped, her eyes wide as she saw what looked like giant worms coming out of the ground.

"Commander!" Shepard yelled, running back toward the camp. "Commander!"

"Shepard?" said someone emerging from a tent. "Did you feel that?"

"Commander Teegs!" Shepard yelled again, ignoring the confused faces. The was another boom, then another, right after each other and she felt herself falling forward. She could hear screaming in the distance as she grunted when she hit the ground. The last quake was much closer now, much too close. Shepard grunted as she stood up to run again.

Teegs had already emerged as Shepard caught up, his face grim. He took one look at Shepard's face and heard the screams in the distance. "Marines! Lock and load! Kassad, Jovic, Toombs, get your asses over to patrol, now! Alverez, get Lockett on radio! The rest of you-"

Before he could finish his sentence, there was a giant quake that brought everyone to the ground. It was impossible to stand before it stopped again. The camp was silent when without warning a huge explosion of reverberation of earth and rocks and a roar came out from the ground. A human scream also resounded as a giant creature emerged from the subterranean; it had shoved Payton up so high, her screams simply faded into the sky with her. Shepard gulped as she looked seeing a dreadful animal roaring a high-pitched shriek. It stood 30 meters above them, swinging its head around, with two pincer like arms jutting forward, it's mouth open, a strange blue tongue whipping back and forth as it continued to shriek.

"Thresher Maw." Shepard hear Teegs mutter.

"Commander?" Shepard asked, looking up at him.

"Go, people!" Teegs yelled out over the shrieking, getting to his feet and pulling Shepard to hers. "Get to the makos! Move, move, move!"

The marines moved as fast as they could, but the creature seemed to realize its prey was leaving. It let out another noise, but this seemed like a belch, Shepard didn't have to turn to see what would happened. Instead, she could hear the screams somewhere above her and saw a sickly green liquid fall onto the foliage, trees and a few marines.

Shepard looked on horrified as she saw her friends screaming in agony as their skin literally melted, she could see their muscles and skeleton exposed. She didn't even recognize them. She made a move in their direction, but Teegs caught her arm as other marines ran toward the makos even faster. She could hear rapid gunfire, but it only seemed to annoy the creature.

"There's no point." Teegs yelled over the noise, shoving her forward and pulling out a high-energy weapon. "We all need to get out of here, even if it's only one of us. Get to the mako and grab anybody else you see."

"What about you, Commander?"

"I'm right behind you, Shepard!" Teegs replied, pushing her again and running in a different direction. "Move!"

Shepard gave a stiff nod, as she heard the belch again and ran as fast as she could, keeping an eye out for anyone else, but all she could hear were screams. It was a nightmare. Shepard could feel her legs pulling and failing under her, but she had to keep moving.

"Shepard!" she heard.

She looked around and saw Lawpoint was on the ground, dirt and debris had fallen on top of her. Shepard bent down and took hold of Lawpoint's hands and pulled her out with a grunt. "On your feet!"

Lawpoint stumbled with her sprained ankle but looked virtually unharmed. She straightened up, and with one arm over Shepard's, the two of them moved as fast as they could toward the parked makos.

"Have you seen anybody else?" Shepard asked her.

Lawpoint shook her head and panted, "It came out of nowhere. No one saw me when I fell. It was so sudden."

"It's okay." Shepard said, pulling Lawpoint with her. "We're almost at the makos."

"Help me!" yelled another pained voice.

The two of them turned their heads and saw another marine, Riley. Shepard dropped Lawpoint's arm and leaned her against a rock beside Reily. Shepard peered over to him and realized, a tree had collapsed on the lower half of his body.

"I can't feel my legs." Riley said, panicked. "What's happening, Shepard? I can't feel my legs."

"I'm here to help, Riley." Shepard said, hearing another roar some ways away, more screams, the settlement? "Nothing is wrong, you're going to be just fine."

She needed something strong enough to hold the tree up so she could pull Riley up, even if it was just for a few moments. She looked around but could see nothing that would help.

"Shepard!"

She turned around and saw a ball of the acid spit heading their way. Shepard jumped away and could do nothing as she saw the acid ball land on Lawpoint and Reily. Shepard found herself throwing up as she witnessed Lawpoint and Reily screaming out as they tried to reach her. The smell of acid, eating the insides of her nose as Lawpoint and Reily's skin blackening and disintegrating into ash, falling to the ground. Their muscular and skeletal systems following, as the acid slowly ate through them. Shepard felt dizzy, tears and sweat mixing on her face. Shepard sputtered and coughed as she turned away, vomiting bile. Shepard turned and ran and ran, toward the makos.

She finally saw them, and felt a sudden burst of energy, running faster than ever.

"Let's go, Shepard!" a marine named Mann yelled out. He was pulling others inside a quickly filling mako.

Shepard nearly reached them, relief washing over her, when there was another ear splitting roar. Nobody had realized the thresher had gone underground and had now emerged right beside the vehicles. With one swoop, the maw bent down and took hold of the mako in one muscular curl of it's body. Shepard watched as Mann fell out of the door to the ground. Shepard ran toward him, trying to ignore the screams as they suddenly stopped with the sound of metal being crunched. She found Mann, groaning and breathing hard, his face purple with suffering, as he reached for his legs. He had fallen on them, maybe sprained, maybe broken, but he was still alive. Shepard holstered her weapon and reached down to take hold of his uniform.

She grunted as she pulled him over her shoulders. "Come on, Mann, there's another mako. Stay with me."

Shepard stood up straight and an, nearly tripping toward the other mako which was only a few feet away but it seemed like miles; nobody was around. There was another boom and crunching of metal and knew the maw had dropped the mako from its grip. She kicked the door open and dropped Mann inside. Shepard jumped in herself and pulled Mann further inside the mako, setting him on a chair and leaning him back, Mann still groaning, and trying not to scream from his pain. She could feel the sweat pouring down her face and her heart beating faster than ever, she could still smell the acid and bile as she strapped Mann in his seat as tightly as she could without hurting him. She stood up and ran over to the mako controls. Shepard had only driven this machine once during basic training. She couldn't stop to think though and let instinct take place.

"Shepard!" a faint cry called from the back.

"Hold on, Mann." Shepard yelled, pushing the safety break down and pulling on the auxiliary. She turned a few switches that seemed familiar and managed to turnover the engine. "Come on, Shepard, it's just like driving a car. A really big car."

She heard another rumble and knew what it was, but there was no time to stop. With both her hands gripping the steering wheel and two feet on the accelerator, she could feel the wheels working in the dirt, and suddenly the took off, but, first, she had to head back to camp, there had to be more survivors. She took hold of the in-car radio and called in.

"This is Shepard. Anyone out there? Respond! Over." She waited, only static. She could feel the rumble that did not belong to the mako. She urged the vehicle to move faster. "Respond, damn it!"

Camp was not far, but she was trying to move around different routes to avoid the maw and so far it was working, or the thresher was smarter than she thought. She tried the radio again, but nothing. Shepard had to make a choice and she could feel her temper rising. She threw the radio away and slammed her hands against the steering wheel. She took a quick look behind her and saw Mann on his seat, his eyes closed as his head rolled like a rag-doll.

"Mann!" Shepard yelled, turning the mako from the camp and the settlement. "Mann! Don't you fucking die on me! Mann!"

There was another roar and Shepard had to stop the vehicle, causing everything in the back to rush forward. "Shit!" She heard the blood-curdling roar before it made the weird belching sound. "Shit, shit!" It was too late, the acid had made it's mark as it fell upon the mako, making its way through the mako's shielding. Shepard put the vehicle in reverse and stepped on the accelerator as hard as she could. The mako moved away from the maw, and Shepard turned the steering quickly, causing the mako to nearly flip onto it's side. She let out a breath, and place the mako in gear and drove as fast and as hard as she possibly could away from the thresher. She had an idea how far the Alliance base was, she just hoped she could get there in time. She looked behind her, surprised at a large opening the maw's acid spit had caused. She gulped and turned her attention back toward her destination. She couldn't stop.

Sheppard didn't remember driving into the Alliance base. She didn't remember leaving the vehicle controls and finding Mann, with his legs completely decayed from the maw's acid. She didn't realize that he was already dead as she carried him over her shoulders and out of the mako. She didn't remember crumpling to the ground and fainting.

When she awoke she saw a window. It was black with tiny white orbs polka-dotting the world. It took her a moment before she realized she was in an Alliance ship medical bay, no longer on Akuze. She felt sore and pain all over as she laid on her side. Turning her head turned out to be workout. It was like her brain had forgotten how to control her limbs. She gasped as she tried to turn over onto her back. The pain was almost unbearable.

"I wouldn't recommend it, Corporal."

Shepard looked up and saw a an Alliance officer make his way to stand in front of her, Captain David Anderson. She had never been this close to him, and she had never spoken to him directly. Suddenly, all pain was forgotten as she looked on. Anderson commanded respect and she wanted to give it to him. She knew his stories and everyone knew his reputation.

"Captain." Shepard said, trying her to be at her best.

"At ease, solider." Anderson said kindly. He was soft-spoken for a man with such a presence, something she would never have guessed. "You start to move, Dr. Chakwas would have my head. You've got quite a nasty injury on your back."

"Captain." Shepard muttered, feeling slightly embarrassed.

Anderson, took hold of a chair and moved it over to sit in front of her. He peered at her, his face calm as he spoke quietly. "I am sorry to say that you are the only survivor reported on Akuze out of 50 marines and the settlement itself. Care to explain what happened?"

"But Mann..." Shepard said looking at him. "He was in the mako, his legs are broken, I think. He..."

Anderson said nothing, merely looked at her. He then shook his head, sadly.

Shepard swallowed, feeling the need to puke again. It never came. She took a deep breath and began to speak. She knew the words were coming out of her, but it almost felt as if she were somebody else, listening to her story. She mentioned everything she could remember, the first rumble, the screams she heard in the distance, how Kassad was going home in a month, that he had a pregnant wife and a young son, that Goodwin was probably one of the best soldiers she had the pleasure of working with, Teegs did whatever he could to put his people he commanded first. She told Anderson she didn't even know he died. Shepard said she found Lawpoint and Riley and blames herself for not saving them in time. She tried to save Mann, but she didn't remember anything after that.

Anderson didn't speak right away. "Alright, Shepard. Rest easy. We'll be seeing each other again."