"Come on, Joker! We have to get out of here!"

Commander Shepard leaned on the back of Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau's chair as multiple alerts went off on the Helmsman's dashboard.

"No, I won't abandon the Normandy!" Joker said as his hands flew over the display, "I can still save her!"

The Commander sighed as he leaned forward and looked at the Pilot in the eyes

"The Normandy's dead - just like us if we don't get the hell out of here!" he told Joker aggressively.

"No! We just have to -" The pilot leaned forward and stared as his display as he said, "oh no."

The unknown ship that had been attacking the Normandy engaged its beam and fired again - right at the centre of the Normandy, just behind Joker and the Commander.

Shepard grabbed a fire extinguisher and attempted to extinguish the flames, but failed as behind the cockpit was a massive wall of fire.

The Commanding Officer rushed forward and grabbed the Pilot's arm, hoisting him up

"Ah! Watch the arm!" Joker moaned as they rushed forward to the escape pod opposite the airlock.

The commander put Joker into the chair and the helmsman of the SSV Normandy laid back as the Commander was about to enter the pod.

But then, the ship's beam hit the Normandy again, flinging the Commander out.

"COMMANDER!" shouted Joker from inside the pod.

With no chance of getting back into the pod, the Commander slammed his hand into the pod's control panel as he was flung out into space with the pilot screaming,

"SHEPARD!"

Joker stared out the blast window as the pod fired away from the SSV Normandy, watching Commander Shepard struggling in the nearby planet's atmosphere. Tears ran down his face as he watched his best friend struggling, his suit damaged and finally going limp. He never cried. Pilot School had taught him that. But this was an exception. He just watched his best friend dying. As his pod flew away from the wreckage of the Normandy, he got a message on his radio inside the pod.

"Commander, please tell me that's you," said the Asari's voice.

Joker breathed in deeply and turned on the microphone.

"No, Liara - it's me," he said.

"Joker - is Commander Shepard with you? Did he make it out alive?" The voice sounded close to tears.

"Liara - I'm so sorry" said Joker, finally bursting into tears.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Please review! I'm gonna try and make this a complete fanfiction, at least up until Joker meets Shepard and flies away on the Normandy.