Horizon. A colony to some, farmlands to others, but for Gemma River, it was home. The twenty-eight-year-old biotic had lived in this tucked away colony her whole life, being deep in the Shadow Sea Cluster made it a modest colony. The colony was populated with a population of half a million, the colony was composed of humans who didn't want to be a part of the Alliance nor Council rules.

The Terminus System, where the colony was located was run by slavers and thugs, life was hard enough dealing with them, let alone the arrival of the Collectors in 2185.

The Collectors showed up around the death of Commander Shepard in 2183, killing her and destroying the Normandy SR1 ship in a surprise attack. The galaxy was partially lost with the Commander gone, but life continued. Fast forward to 2185, Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, a former member of the SR1 before her destruction and ex-partner to Shepard moved on with his life, but the reports that had been coming in lately were staggering... Commander Shepard was alive, and according to some reports, she was working with Cerberus, a pro-human splinter group. Their own goals were to place humanity on top and have command over all other Milky Way species.

Horizon was one of the first colonies hit after the resurrection of Commander Shepard. Kaidan was there when it happened, he was lucky to come away with his life. Gemma and her family also survived. Seeker swarms, a dangerous weapon used by the Collectors to freeze and paralyze their victims, were able to get hold of Gemma and her family, but Gemma's biotics were able to deplete the paralyzing side effects, and she was able to save those who she came into contact with.

Shepard arrived just as the attack was taking place and was able to save more than half the colony. Before leaving, she met with Kaidan, face to face for the first time in over two years. They hugged, but Shepard could feel the strain between them, and Kaidan reserved himself. Words were exchanged, those words formed into vulgar and snarky words, Kaidan called her names Shepard thought she would never hear from him. Traitor, liar, they broke her inside. He left her, turning his back on her and their relationship. Shepard wanted to drop to her knees, but she had stood tall, the colonist had walked over to her, gratitude on their faces of her heroic duties.

Gemma was amongst those who met Shepard. She listened to the words spoken of the Reapers. They were coming and they needed to prepare, but everyone turned their backs on her words, they dismissed her and her pleas to listen, but Gemma listened, she listened to Shepard's words. Believing what she said, the moment Shepard left Horizon, she started studying, finding out what she could about them and their histories, she wanted to prepare. There was war advancing and Gemma was prepared to protect her family.

Life continued, the Alliance sent help with soldiers that carried food and supplies to defend the colony from another attack. Nine months on and the colony was beginning to thrive again. More humans joined the colony and started their own families, Gemma continued her job as a patrol officer for the outskirts of the colony. Slavers and wild animals were known to poke close to the colony, stealing food, weapons and materials. Gemma's responsibility was to stop them and guard the colony.

That morning started off as normal, waking up, making breakfast. Gemma lived with her mum Lynn and her dad Daniel, they were neither biotic like her. She never knew the story of how her biotics manifested, only they have been with her since birth. They were part of who she was.

The morning shift for Gemma to start work was creeping closer, she finished off the eggs and bacon for her family. Her mother was the first to walk downstairs. "Morning sweetheart," Lynn says as she joins Gemma's side in the kitchen, planting a small kiss on her cheek.

Gemma looked up from the sizzling pan, a smile edging to her lips. "Morning mum," she replied. She brought the pan away from the heat, serving the food up on the plates. Lynn helped by collecting her own and Daniels plates to the table. "How did you sleep?" Gemma asked, sliding into her seat.

"I slept well," Lynn said quietly, she tapped her fingers on the end of the table, looking down at her knees. Gemma watched her, seeing the reluctance to continue speaking. "Your.. um, father did sleep well, but the extranet news has published a report of some L2 biotics getting treatment for their side effects of the implants." Lynn met Gemma's gaze, she could see the hurt in her daughter's eyes. The feud between herself and her father about biotics had been going on for years. They would argue about the politics behind biotics, Daniel believed they would be useless for the Alliance and humanity by being dragged down by them, he would never, of course, say this to Gemma. But she knew it was the truth of what he thought about her.

"Mum," Gemma argued. "Dad has got to realise those biotics have a hard time as it is without people like him, dragging them down." Gemma's voice amplified. "He isn't allowed to be angry about some L2 biotics getting the help they so rightfully deserve." Lynn tried to take Gemma's hand to calm her down, but Gemma leaned herself further back into her chair, out of the reach of her mum. "No, mum.." Gemma was cut off by the sound of the stairs pounding and creaking from heavy footsteps.

"Gemma, you need to understand. Biotics have no place in our world, they are untrained, unorthodox," Daniel slowly spoke whilst taking his seat. Lynn looked between them both. Daniel was relaxed, shoulders shrugged as he sat comfortably. Gemma was tense, annoyed as she bit hard on the inside of her cheek. "You are too young to understand, biotics are not part of our world," he said slowly.

Gemma slammed her hands on the table, pushing herself up to her feet. "Don't you dare!" She yelled at the top of her voice. Her biotics reacted with the aggression of her emotions. "You have no idea what biotics like me have to deal with," she said, aiming her finger at him. "People like you are the worst of them all!" Gemma started to walk around the table towards the door.

"Gemma, honey," Lynn called out, trying to grab her wrist as she walked by. Gemma yanked her hand away from her grasp, scuffing under her breath.

"Get off me!" She yelled. Stopped by the front door, she turned and looked at her parents. Lynn had tears in her eyes. Daniel, on the other hand, was eating his food, disregarding the situation and his own daughter, she became even more infuriated. "I'll be back tonight," she said quietly. "Hopefully his fucking attitude changes," she mumbled as the door slammed behind her.

Lynn slumped into her chair, watching her husband calmly eat his food. "Why do you have to be like this with her?" He shrugged her shoulders. Lynn huffed under her breath, rising from her seat, she took her own and Gemma's plate to the sink. "You know..." she began as she tossed the plates in the sink, they clashed together. "I have begged for years. For you both to stop arguing, you know the reason why Gemma has her biotics and it wasn't her fault." She turned her back on him, bracing herself on the counter. "One day she will turn on us both, she will hate and resent us and it will be your fault." She turned to walk towards the stairs. "You think on that," she adds as she walks up the stairs.

Daniel watches as she disappeared from view, slamming his fork down beside his plate, muttering profanities under his breath. His opinion won't change, not for his wife, not for his daughter, no one.

Gemma walked out into the outskirts of the woods, striking objects as she walked past them, muttering her dad's bullshit to herself. How could he believe she was not a part of 'their' world? He doesn't understand what biotics go through from their own species. The only species that gave them the utmost understanding was the Asari, some did make it a contest. But others made them understand, their biotics aren't something they should be ashamed of, they are... unique.

She felt the anger build up in her, she was trying to keep herself calm to stop the biotics from responding. They flamed red, revealing her frustration. She started to spark her biotics into a warp around her fist, letting out a cry as she drove the warp towards the tree trunk in front of her. The warp hurled into the tree, she heard the creak of the bark cracking and splintering.

She was about to continue walking, but the heavy creek in the buckling tree caught her attention, it started to fall... towards her. "Shit!" she shouts, throwing herself to the floor to get out of the way of it. The tree toppled down, scarcely missing her.

Gemma rolled away further as the branches snapped off from the impact, she rolled onto her back, looking up at the sky. Her breath coming through thick, the anger subsided inside her. She needed that.

She laid there for a while, just thinking. But the movement from behind her urged her to her feet. She stayed low, the wind was high enough to not pick up her scent, she thought it was probably a predator. But she only heard two feet hit the ground in a small group, they were making cries that rang her eardrums, the screeching sent a shiver down her spine.

The noises got closer and closer, she scuffed her feet backwards towards a tree. Biotics and pistol at the ready. The noise stopped, she thought about possibly peeking her head out or just waiting it out, she couldn't detect an exact number through their footsteps, but there were more than five.

Gemma decided to go with peaking, settling her stomach flush with the tree she poked her head out. She saw the huddled bodies of something she couldn't even describe, they were... unusual. Their bodies were round, their skin burnt brown. They were huddled around the fallen tree, Gemma watched them for a few moments, trying to figure them out.

The news of unknown attacks had been occurring, but the colony had lost contact with the Alliance, Earth and the Citadel so they didn't know of any reports of invaders, Gemma thought they should have been worried about not hearing from anyone in so long, but it was normal for Terminus system colonies, their comm buoys were shit.

Gemma didn't know if she could sneak off or kill them, but then she heard it, that noise... Reapers. The floor rumbling noise popped her eardrums, the odd creatures responded, Gemma knew then they worked for the Reapers. She had heard that noise before, from a recording, found deep on the extranet, it seemed to be edited together by groups of anons who also believed Shepard.

Gemma launched a warp to the ground from behind them, running out and firing her pistol as she skidded behind the next tree. Their bullets grazed the side of the tree, she was able to take two down with headshots, she looked around swiftly, only four more. They fired at the tree, it was starting to wear from the bullets, she needed to move and get back to the colony.

She threw a singularity, they screeched as they scraped the floor, trying to grab hold as the biotic field took them in. Gemma walked out of cover, they couldn't get her, their guns had fallen from their grasp. She looked at them, getting a good mental image, they had some sort of light gloss to their body, it resembled oil over their skin. Their screeching broke her thoughts, the singularity wouldn't last much longer. The more bodies that were in it, the less amount of time it will uphold.

Gemma shot each one twice for good measure. The singularity fell with the last one, it tried scrambling to its feet but Gemma threw it against the tree, she heard the snap of its neck, killing it. She huddled over, her knees buckling as she tried to catch her breath, shivering as her gun contracted against her hand. What was happening? Had the comm buoys stopped working for a reason? Gemma needed answers, she dragged herself to her feet. The world around her seemed to slow down, her head felt light. But the noises of those... Reapers threw her off.

Gemma finally got her thoughts back in check, running towards the colony, her home. She could see the sky above her changing, the only parts she felt was the scrub beneath her boots as she ran and the Reapers as they started to come into the planet. She ran faster, but the colony seemed miles away, it got further the closer she got.

Gemma finally arrived at the heart of the colony, she kept low, using the back parts of gardens and buildings to get around. She needed to get home, the creatures ran past her, dragging people with them and shooting those who resisted. She kept low, not wanting to draw attention to herself, there were too many for her to take on alone. Her home was close, just a couple of streets away.

Finally, she arrived. But her home was.. gone, destroyed. The roof had caved in and smoke was emitting from the pipes and wiring that was intended to provide their electricity. Gemma stood at the bottom of the stairs that would have led to her front door. She wanted to go in, but it was practically impossible.

She turned on her heel, swaying, trying to get her thoughts into order. Where to look now? Should she stay close? Gemma stood in the courtyard outside her home, the other houses around her were just as bad. Some were just brick and dust. The world fell quiet, background noise rang behind her.

"GEMMA!" The voice struck straight through to her, getting her attention. It was her mum, running towards her. Her clothes were shredded with dried blood and dust-stained into them. Gemma shot off from her foot, running to meet her mum. Her biotics flared around her, she needed to protect her mum, no matter the cost.

But, it was too late. Those creatures ran from the side of Lynn, cutting her off and hauling her to the ground. She screamed and fought against their restraint, but she couldn't. Gemma had come to a full stop. "Gemma! Please!" Her mum begged. "DON'T LET THEM TAKE ME!" She screeched the last words, but it was too late. Lynn was gone, dragged behind the buildings and vanished into the smoke like a ghost.

Some of the creatures stayed behind, running towards Gemma with bullets hurtling towards her. But they pinged off the barrier her biotics had put around her. Gemma clenched her fists, the tears stained into her cheeks as her eyebrows furrowed. "You," she ignited, her biotics curving around her body. "BASTARDS!" she cried in a roar as her charge let off, she landed dead in the centre of the creatures trying to shoot her, but the bullets weren't penetrating. Gemma could feel the sting behind the base of her skull, her implant started to protest, but she didn't care. She charged her biotics at the ball of her fist, jumping in the air as her arms extended above her head and back down she slammed into the concrete floor, the nova transmitted static around her, overloading and frying the creature's alive.

Gemma stayed in her defensive stance for a few moments, letting the sounds of their dying cries and bullets cease. She stood up fully, eager to find her mum. Checking her gun for thermal clips, she put one foot forward, ready to go in the direction her mum was dragged off to... it fell silent.

Gemma collapses to the stiff, solid ground, she tries to fight it, but unconsciousness is coming. The bleak world around her fell silent.

She was now alone...

Cold...

And scared...