By KasumiCain. Dedicated to DoubleMMia, Bexaday and sisirongana (and LegionN7, but don't tell him that)
It was working! The Alliance brass, almost six months after her arrest, were finally willing to listen to Shepard.
But Shepard didn't have time to lay down a plan of action, as suddenly fiery streaks of light lit up the sky behind the Alliance representatives, and lasers fired down at the city, burning everything in their path.
Shepard was paralysed with fear, and would've remained rooted to the spot if Anderson hadn't warned her that the Reapers might get angry enough to flip a table. Shepard expertly rolled to the side, amazed at the precision and power behind her roll.
Turning to look for Anderson, she shouted "Did you know that I could roll? I sure didn't!" She followed this up by rolling between the table and pieces of debris in the room.
The newly-promoted Admiral sighed, glancing at Shepard "You've been able to roll ever since the fight against the Shadow Broker. But instead of rolling about in your spare time, you've been watching little kids play with spaceships. Now for God's sake woman, focus on your job and follow me!"
Leaving the burning building, David Anderson looked at the besieged city of Vancouver, before exclaiming to the still-rolling Shepard "This can't be Canada, there's no snow!" At this point, Shepard rolled right up to Anderson...
...and right off the edge of the skyscraper.
Waking up in a puddle of her own blood, with smoke filling her lungs and smell of charred flesh consuming her senses, Shepard tried to rise, despite the strong pain throughout her body. It was futile. She could hardly see anything at ground level, but the constant roar of battle continued. Shepard noticed she had lost vision in one of her eyes as she lay on the ground, her eyes flickering, all hope lost. Shepard shut her eyes to this world.
She was old. She was too old for this, she had seen too much, fought too long, and lost too many. She didn't want another Virmire. Another mistake. The soldiers and sailors fighting in the streets, or in the dreadnoughts in the skies, they were the planet's last hope. Not her. Not anymore.
The far-away gunshots and explosions of the Alliance's desperate defensive continued, merely whispers to Shepard's blissful ears.
And yet, her eyes opened again. She spotted a model spaceship beneath some rubble. She crawled over to it, picking it up, inspecting the Everest-class dreadnought. "He's probably dead by now." She thought of the happy child she saw playing with it just minutes earlier. "We're all dead. Even me."
The borrowed dreadnought still in her hand, Shepard turned to lie on her back and look at the sky. Was it just her eye, or did the sky look just that little bit more blue, that little bit more pure next to the Alliance dreadnought hanging above her, guarding her. And that's when it hit her: despite the smouldering remains of civilisation, of cities in dust, and a choking cloud of smoke threatening to obscure the sky, there is always some hope. And some hope is better than no hope. The dreadnought fired into the distance, beyond the dark clouds. Shepard smiled.
She saw several Reaper capital ships fire at the human ship simultaneously, utterly destroying it, replacing the area the ship occupied with blinding light.
Moments later, unfazed, Shepard rose from the rubble. Vancouver would have its nuclear winter, and humanity would have its saviour, and she'd be damned if a bad day would stop her!
- KasumiCain
A/N: Femshep finally debuts in Ignominy! By ... not dying. Shyamalan twist!