"For the men, women, children; of ALL species , that have given their lives so that we may breathe for another day to give the galaxy a future, a future that we now can use to rebuild and improve what the Reapers took from us. From friends..to allies..to natural born enemies...we all found a brotherhood amongst ourselves, brought together by unevened odds, we have united. But yet let us not forget the price it took...the price that our heroes and legends were willing to pay..."

-Admiral Hackett; 2191; Speech among the Council a week after Shepard triggers

the distruction of the Reapers and is MIA; As well as the Normandy Crew

•

•

•

•

~•Chapter 1•~

•

•

•

•

He ran and ran, and as did soldiers, friends, and comrades alike. He was out of breath, sweat and perspiration clouded and seeped into his eyes. His legs burned and throbbed as the running never ended. His eyes never closed, never wavered, as he heard the loud and throaty THUMMM that he knew all too well; The Reaper's high tech cannons that shoot red lasers that obliterated all that it touched. He could see Harbinger's ship fire at the crowd among him, all whom took up arms and dashed courageously towards the tractor beam alongside him. They had to get to the Citadel...HAD TO. The world slowed, his movements, his comrades...the world passing by as if in Jello. He suddenly felt the pain..the suffering that he has been brought, yet his muscled legs and calves never swayed or faltered, but he suddenly felt years of loss hit him instantly. He has fought so much... in the back of his mind, he wished that a Reaper beam would take to him and end it. End...everything. He lost so much, his mind numbed by battle and scorched by loss...how much more can he give? How much more can he pay for...This? His eyes darted to the smashed buildings, to the flying debris and shrapnel and the blood...all the blood. From weeks to minutes old... blood...How much had to be given to stop this slaughter?

A quick and loud THUMM brought him back to reality, a red stream gashing into the earth right in front of him, cutting across a MAKO tank on his left side, the percussion sending him through the air and landing on his back. He coughed, blood covering the inside of his visor of his N7 helmet. He ripped it off his helmet and threw it to the side, his eyesight dazed and blurred, but yet he can hear...hear the screams...hear the loud thumps of weapons...all the noise he could hear...but hear could hear the silence too. The silence of the blurred, piled bodies of humans and aliens...the silence...as he regained his footing, he looked around, forcing the bodies and screams out of the back of his mind when he heard a yelp and a scream from the other side of the MAKO. Tali...he dashed as fast as he could, dodging the fire of Reaper Marauders, and firing at husks that were attacking fellow soldiers. As he neared Tali, he saw Garrus knelt beside her, his a hand to his stomach, blood seeping through his Turian armor, which was melted and charred black. He then looked at Tali, his heart stopped... He saw the blood seeping through her armor too, charred as Garrus' was, her left leg damaged and bloodied. But he knew...he knew she couldn't stay here to fight...She looked at him through her violet and bloody visor, and he looked back, then he and Garrus locked eyes...They both nodded. Garrus knew what he meant to be done. He could tell that Garrus knew all along how this might have gone...He pressed his fingers to his COMs, "Joker. Pull in the Normandy for evac. In and out.", he shouted. After a few cruel, silent seconds, the Normandy sped and quickly pulled to a stop, hovering in front of them. Garrus got up and limped to the bay, hand on side side, looking back to see him pulling Tali to her feet, supporting her arm around his neck, Tali hugging to his chest. He then carried her to the lowered bay.

He then looked up at Garrus, eyes firm. "Garrus...Take her and go!" Garrus reached and grabbed her hand, but then she turned around to look at him.. He looked back into her visor once again. She feebly spoke, barely heard among the explosions and gunshots ringing around the Normandy; "I want to stay with you...we have to be together." He stepped up to her, gently pressing his forehead against the top of her visor, "Tali...I need you to leave here and live. Go. Go and build you a home on Rannoch..." She sobbed, her unseen tears pouring from her Silver glowing eyes as she spoke almost dreamily, every word, every letter, every feeling put into her words struck him as deeply as anything ever had..."I have a home..."...He almost choked on his words, but he remained there holding her as he never held her before, but he stared into Tali's visor, his green and firm eyes with content and full of his love, and her shining white eyes glowing threw her visor to look into his..."Keelah se' lai"...

The next thing he knew, he was watching the bay slowly close, his squadmates...soldiers...comrades...friends...Garru s...Ashley...Liara...James...Joker...EDI...he watched as the Normandy faded away, then quickly snapped to, and made another sprint for the Citadel beam. His body didn't register the pain he should've felt. He pushed himself, angry. Angry at the galaxy. Angry at the Reapers. Only a few soldiers ran alongside him now, every single one of them looking towards him, their leader, as they ran. The galaxy on the line. Men. Women. Children. Their future... 100 yards...he and the remaining soldiers drifted along the debris and obliterated rubble, the bodies of all species hes ever known littering the scarred earthen dirt. He wasn't giving up. Never. Hes gone too far...given too much to let anything get in the way...50 yards...the constant spaz of lasers and thumps of them impacting the ground, the shouts and cries of the small groups of soldiers that they hit...25 yards...he dove out of the way of a Reaper shot, stumbled but regained his footing and kept on. He passed by a Krogan dragging a severely wounded Salarian out of the smoke of a MAKO, feebly shouting at the Salarian soldier that hes too much of a weakling to be able to die on him right now...10 yards...Shepard saw the beam. The white-blue glow of it past the small hills of Reaper and alien bodies, as well as human. He saw how much the galaxy had already payed for freedom from destruction. As he neared the beam, he vowed to never give up on everyone. To never disappoint them in any task. To survive and keep on surviving, to save the galaxy and those in it. He always kept his promises...to not give into pain until he did what he was supposed to...as he neared the beam, he saw the beam of red, bright light trailing towards him, he braced himself, sucking in a deep breath just as the Reaper beam neared hi-...

He suddenly and strong outwardly gasped, his chest heaving up and down, his eyes couldn't see anything his vision was clouded, blurry. He kept on breathing heavily, gasping, coughing for air. He looked down, his body covered with debris and rubble. Groaning, as he saw his armor, black and charred that had been infused with skin and bone. He felt it. He felt all of it. His breathing was shaky and fragile. he lifted a hand, to see it bloodied and charred as well. He coughed up grime and blood as he gasped again, looking down at his armor. He saw something...the reason why he did what he did...the reason why he refused to die...His N7 dogtag hung loose around his chest, all but a little grimy, somehow untouched by what he just did...he slowly and weakly reached for the dogtag and grasped it...grasped it and hung onto dear life...wanting to live...

...

...

...

...

[Thanks again for reading! ^.^ Lol I couldn't wait to publish a 2nd chapter(technically,FIRST chapter), but I couldn't leave you people hanging with a teaser hanging over your head...Okay maybe I did just that. Ive written enough to give you more information but not enough to give you where im headed to the story. Id like to hear some comments and reviews if they like the writing style, and if they have any suggestions. Once again, Im sorry if you all found it short, but im still feeling my way through and wanting to hear what ppl think. I hope you enjoyed and ill have chapter 2-3 by next week :) but if you wish to up the chapter updates, then pleases, submit reviews and faves!]