Kovak slipped off the shuttle, blinking his four eyes in the sunlight. As his vision corrected, he saw his family home before him. Standing in the doorway, was his wife and two children. His wife began to walk down the path leading to the landing pad. His children had no such patience. They ran towards him, laughing and shouting with glee. Ha smiled warmly, stepped forward and picked up his daughter, spinning her around once before scooping up his son as well. By then, his wife had reached them. She pulled him into a tight embrace.

"It's good to see you again." She whispered.

"It's been too long." He agreed.

His wife stepped away, and Kovak set down the kids. His son was battering him with question after question about his recent campaigns. His daughter inquired tirelessly about the many type of creatures he'd met on his travels. He took a knee, reminding himself that he'd have to take leave more often. He opened his mouth, blinking back tears as he gazed at his children's smiling faces. It was good to be home. He was about to regale them with tale after thrilling tale of his adventures in the Traverse, when his head exploded.

Half a mile away, Lieutenant Commander Avery Shepard slipped out of the tree she'd been camped in. She holstered her rifle. One more link between the Skillian Pirates and the Batarian Hirearchy was eliminated. Kill confirmed. Turning, she set off at a brisk pace towards the LZ. She ignored the mournful wails that echoed back from across the valley.

Captain Marrocco sat at the head table in the conference room of the S.S.V. Thermopylae. Across from him, another officer consulted his datapad.

"Another successful operation." The man across the table remarked.

"She's a great officer Anderson." The Captain remarked, shaking his head. "She's an even better soldier. But she'd be a terrible XO. She's just not command material." He sighed. "I'd be the last to say that I'd be happy to see her go, but the rest of my crew would be lining up to do so." He stood and began pacing up and down the table. "She's cold, unrelatable, unpleasant, curt." He stopped and looked directly at Anderson. "Hell, she's damn near robotic. Say more than a few words to her, and she just fixes you with this blank stare." He shuddered slightly. "I've had three professionals try and help her, but she refuses to talk to them. I'd be surprised if she's taking her medication. If she wasn't so good, I'd have had her declared Section 8 ages ago." Anderson nodded.

"I respect your opinion Captain, but I need Shepard."

Captain Marrocco nodded, and signed off an offered datapad. He handed it back to Anderson.

"She's your nightmare now."

Shepard strapped in next to the pilot's seat of the evac shuttle.

"Hey Shepard." The pilot greeted her, grinning.

"Kent." She nodded curtly.

"Now, now." He waved his finger at her, repeating the first words she'd ever said to him with only a minor change. "When we're on duty, it's Lieutenant Wagner." She just stared at him in reply.

He threw up his hands in mock surrender, and initiated the launch sequence. He'd been trying to get a rise out of her ever since she arrived on the ship. Shepard never responded, even when he threw her own words back at her. Still, he was the only one she called by his first name, so he liked to think he was making progress.

"So…" He drawled once they'd exited the atmosphere. "Kill anyone important?"

"Yes."

Kent sighed. She couldn't hold a civil conversation if her life depended on it.

"Any witnesses this time?" He took a sip from the completely against regulation sports drink he kept under the control board.

"Wife and children." Kent had to put a hand to his mouth to prevent himself from spraying the drink everywhere. "They're probably emotionally compromised. That makes them unlikely to be reliable witnesses. It shouldn't be an issue."

Shepard opened a datapad and began reading through it. Kent turned back to the controls.

"Dammit Shepard, you could at least act like you care." He muttered.

Shepard shuddered slightly. Kent turned towards her. She was staring straight ahead. Unblinking. Her lower lip was slightly agape. It was trembling. Beads of sweat began to form on Shepard's face. Her right trigger finger twitched repeatedly. Then she shook herself, and turned back to her e-book, still shuddering slightly. Kent never said another word to her as he plotted a course back to the ship.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy, Commander." Anderson said as they stepped through the airlock.

Shepard glanced around, noting the various details that made this ship different than the dozens of others she'd served on. Its command center was in the back, and its pilot sat in the far front. It looked more like a turian vessel than an Alliance one. In addition to that, the drive core was silent, despite the fact that it was obviously engaged. Together, she and Anderson passed several crewmen. Each saluted, and Shepard stopped to return each the favor. It earned her some odd looks. Anderson simply strode past them, leading her below decks. They were met by another marine.

"Shepard." Anderson said, stopping by the soldier. "This is Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. He'll help you get acquainted with the ship. I'll meet you in the comm room in an hour. We still need to go over the details of your assignment." Shepard nodded, Anderson turned and left.

"Shepard." Kaidan extended his hand. "It's nice to get to meet you. I look forward to serving with you."

Shepard took the offered hand. "Likewise Lieutenant."

"So what do you think?" Anderson asked. He sat in the comm room. Kaidan sat across from him.

"Honestly sir, she doesn't seem that bad. She's spent a lot of time this past week getting familiar with the crew. Talking with them, helping them get situated. The crew seems to like her."

"Yet she doesn't sleep."

Kaidan shook his head. "No sir. She spends most of her time working."

Anderson nodded. "I was afraid of that."

Shepard stood on the bridge, Typing commands into a console as the crew rushed about, preparing the Normandy for its shakedown run. Shepard stifled a yawn. She felt the effects of fatigue continually attempt to overtake her. She was blinking more. Dark lines had long since etched themselves under her eyes. It was harder to focus. She shook herself. There would be time for sleep later. Just one more systems sweep. It was her fifteenth in the last hour. She was vaguely aware of a presence behind her. She ignored it, focusing instead on the computer's readout.

"Shepard." It was Anderson.

Shepard turned around, snapping a salute. "Sir."

"Shepard, you've been on duty for the last thirty hours." Anderson pointed his thumb back over his shoulder. "Get some sleep."

"Sir," Shepard protested. "That's not necessary, I-"

"You look like hell." Anderson cut her off. "Now hit your bunk. I don't want to see you upright for eight hours. That's an order!" He turned and walked away, cutting off any chance of argument. Shepard lowered her arm.

She ran. The noises growing louder behind her. The ground rumbled, and a man screamed out in agony, and was cut silent. She was tempted to turn back, but the echo of gunfire stopped her. Women and children screamed. Tears welled in Shepard eyes, Mindoir was burning, and she couldn't stop it. She stopped, doubled over. She tried to catch her breath. Suddenly an armored four eyed man stepped in front of her, blocking her path, she turned around and saw two more running towards her. One of them looked human, and she tried to plead with him, but he simply smiled and reached for her, a bundle of sparking wired in his hand. Then his head disappeared, replaced by a cloud of red and pink. The man next to him fell too clutching at one of several red dots that appeared in his chest. She turned, and found that the one behind her had fallen over too. A group of men, clad in blue swept her up assuring her that she would be all right. But it wasn't. She could still hear the screaming.

"Shepard!"

She awoke with a start, almost rolling out of her bunk. She sat up, wiping the sweat from her brow. She stared down at her hands. They were trembling. Wisps of biotic energy curled around them. With a flick, it was gone. She hopped off the bunk.

"Shepard." She turned around. Kaidan stood in the doorway to the crew quarters staring at her, concerned.

She ignored him, putting on her uniform.

"Are you alright?" It was clear that he wasn't going away.

"Yeah." Shepard whispered, her voice nearly cracking. "Just a bad dream."

Kaidan looked unconvinced, but nevertheless, left the room.

"Just a bad dream." Shepard repeated to herself, her eyes staring straight ahead. "Just a dream."

Then why could she still hear the screaming?