I have plans as for how the Normandy returns, not that I'm going to tell anyone right now. And as for Romances, matters what you fans want.
Shepard opened his eyes and, much to his surprise, found that he was still alive. His first thought was that Cerberus had found him, and the Normandy, and had brought him back to life again. However, the chances of that were low and he knew he was not dreaming because his body ached. After a few seconds, he realized that he was still on the Normandy. He was lying on his back, on the cold metal floor of the cockpit, and was gazing up at the ceiling. It was dark inside the Normandy with only small flashed of light, accompanied by the crackling sound of broken machinery, to barely illuminate his surroundings.
Grunting in pain, Shepard got up to his feet and looked around, trying to see if anybody was nearby. "Joker. What happened?" It was the only question that he could think of asking.
"I think I broke my leg," came Joker's reply.
Taking a breath, Shepard slowly walked over to the pilot's seat and looked down at Joker. Though the darkness made it difficult, Shepard saw that a steel beam was pinning Joker's right leg . "Let me help you with that."
Joker shook his head, "No commander. It's not as bad as it looks. I still have feeling in my leg. Make sure everyone else is ok first." He took a breath, "EDI, what's that Normandy's status?"
"Normandy kinetic barriers are offline, as well as the main engines. Outer hull has suffered heavy damage as well as the Mass Effect Drive."
Joker sighed, "So we're basically stuck." He shook his head and turned to look at Shepard. "Commander… we're not going anywhere anytime soon."
Shepard nodded, "I'll be back to help you soon." Turning on his heel, Shepard left the cockpit with one thought on his mind. What had happened?
The Normandy was a mess, that could not be denied, but thankfully, despite all odds, there were no casualties. Many were injured in the wreck, receiving only bruises or minor cuts. Only a few were seriously injured. Rupert had been in the kitchen area during the event and had gotten several cuts from the knives flying around. Somewhere in Engineering and explosion had burned Kenneth badly. Jacob was cleaning a weapon when the event had somehow caused the pistol to fire, hitting him in the stomach.
After helping Joker, Shepard had asked EDI where they were. "Shepard. I do not have enough data to know where the Normandy's current location is. What's more, I have lost all forms of communication with Cerberus and the Alliance."
Joker looked confused, "What do you mean you've lost communication? Are we out of range?"
EDI paused for a moment before replying, "NO. It is not that the Normandy is out of range, but that the signals have vanished. If my calculation are correct, they show that Cerberus, and the Alliance, have simply vanished otherwise the Normandy would be receiving static."
"Vanished, but…" Joker was cut off when Shepard interrupted.
"EDI, we've obviously landed somewhere. Probably another planet considering that there are hull breaches and we're still breathing."
"Correct Shepard, the atmosphere is breathable and there are forms of life outside, but my external sensors have suffered enough damage that I cannot identify what type. One more thing. Scans show that the kinetic shields were not only damaged on the Normandy but for all crew members as well."
Garrus, coming up from behind, interjected, "Then we have to go outside. If we are on a planet, then there's likely a settlement that has a spaceport where we can repair the Normandy."
Shepard agreed and, after getting Zaeed to go with them, made their way to the airlock. Making sure that the others were ready, he pushed the release button and opened the airlock. Outside there was what looked like an abandoned construction site. Old cranes and abandoned pick-up trucks lay scattered around a large area that, after a second glance, resembled something like a quarry. Then he saw the life forms. They looked like huge lizards that stood upright. There were three of them and one was looking right at Shepard's squad.
The creature gave a loud roar then charged at them with great speed. Shepard's group fired upon the creature and while their attacks seemed to have some affect, the creature did not stop. When it was about 3 yards from them, it lunged forward with its arms outstretched, long sharp claws glinting in the moonlight.
Suddenly a ball of light, or something like it, struck the creature on the left side of its head. The force of the blow knocked it sideways, causing it to slide several feet away from where it had stood originally. Another of the monstrosities was dispatched in a similar fashion. The last one roared as it rushed towards the unseen attacker, but before it could go more than a few steps, the attacker shot it in the face, blowing its head off.
Several moments passed in which Shepard looked at the corpses, before turning to look at their savior. Relief overcame him when he saw that it was a human, who was wearing an armor of some kind. His relief turned to shock when he saw, what looked like a human corpse, walking beside the man, in a strange cowboy-like costume, as well as a strange robot. Whatever was going on, Shepard knew there would be a lot of question asked, from both sides.
Mike, Raul, and ED-E made their way over a ridge, climbing over rocks and scaling steep slopes, until they saw Quarry Junction before them. The crashed ship was off to their left, near the northern end of the Quarry. No smoke or fires were visible, but the ship had taken some serious damage. "There, we checked it out, now let's go."
Mike did not get a chance to reply, for at that moment, two things caught his attention. First was a group of three deathclaws that were slowly making their way towards the wreckage. The second came from the wreckage itself where three people carefully made their way out of the ship.
"Looks like they're in trouble." Mike stated as he drew his Gauss Rifle. Staring down the scope, Mike aimed for the lead deathclaw and pulled the trigger. The energy round flew straight towards the creature's head and hit with a force that sent it sliding across the ground. It took only a few seconds to deal with the other two and, once things were clear, Mike got up and, putting away his weapon, made his way towards the group of strangers.
"You sure about going down there boss? All that noise is bound to attract more of them." Raul stated nervously.
"Yes," replied Mike, "That's why we need to talk to these people and deal with the situation quickly before more deathclaws do arrive." Raul sighed, not bothering to argue.
The trio before him were an odd bunch indeed. All three looked like soldiers of some kind, but they had armor and weapons that he was unfamiliar with. Another thing was that one of them looked like they had an exoskeleton, but he assumed that it was another form of mutation caused by the radiation.
Mike stopped before the group and smiled, "Well now, looks like you three narrowly escaped being mauled to death by a deathclaw. I don't know if it was either good luck that I was nearby to save you, or bad luck that you happened to end up in one of the most dangerous places in the Mojave Wasteland. Anyways, name's Mike Anastasio and these are my companions, Raul and ED-D."