Jane Shepard could see the sky.

All the hazy blues and scattered greys were like strokes of paint on a canvas. Jane smiled weakly atop her pile of rubble and debris. The last time she just stared up at the sky was when she had been with the Reds. It had been just as beautiful, and just as far away as it was now. Jane wanted to raise her hand to see if she could touch it, but it didn't respond.

Broken, then. Maybe the sky was even farther away than she'd thought.

Every breath was effort and pain, a deathly rattle that Jane felt seeping into her bones. Jane wanted to close her eyes, let it come quickly and in her painful sleep. At least Jack couldn't see her here, on the battlefield.

Could EDI?

Jane's actions had probably killed the AI. Jane started to cry, thinking about her actions and how soon she'd have to face what she'd done. Making a robotic race sentient only to kill them all had to put her ledger in the red.

"I'm sorry, I couldn't... I couldn't see any choice being viable..." Jane said to the sky. Her faint smile vanished as her sight blurred over with what Jane hoped was just tears. "I'm leaving them all behind, even though I promised Jack..."

This was it, the ultimate moment wher Jane would break off with the Alliance for good.

"Fuck, I'm so scared. You know, as Shepard I couldn't show fear?" Jane asked the sky. "It's what they teach in the gangs, but it's repeated in the military too. Fear is the enemy, you have to fight it and shove it down. Emotions too. They get you killed. As Jane, I'm dying. I'm sorry, I sound so good at speeches normally, but..."

Jane tried to blink away the tears. "I'm not actually very good at them. Mordin probably knows that I just borrow bits and pieces from speeches I read. Either that or Legion looked it up on the extranet. I'm a shit soldier, I'm afraid. Even shittier leader. I led them all to their death."

"But Jack's safe. Her students are safe too. It's weird, but... I know there's some kind of afterlife. So I guess I'm talking to you guys that left us. We won the war. Yeah, we won. I didn't think we could, for a while."

Jane put on the biggest smile she could manage, which wasn't much. It felt good to talk to the sky. To talk to Mordin, Legion, Thane, Anderson... she could say everything she ever felt her heart wanted and no one would care. If she lived, she'd probably be court martialed for all the stunts she pulled. She could be sent away from Jack, or maybe she'd never see her crew again. If she did see them, she have to explain what happened to EDI to Joker.

"I'm tired of serving, captain. Can I be released from duty?" Jane asked at last, her voice starting to get quiet and raspy from talking so much. Her vision blurred again, but no matter how much she tried, it didn't come back.

"Is that a yes?" Jane asked, trying to sound like she was joking.

The sky didn't answer. Jane was fighting to stay awake now, the sky darkening and starting to fade away.

"My last words will be... Jack. I'm sorry I couldn't keep my promise. I promised to stay by your side... ugh," Jane tried to shift to keep awake. She had to finish her thought. "I'm sorry that you'll be alone again. I'll try to stay by your side, though. I won't be able to do much, though. Sorry about that. I..." breathing was getting harder now. "I'm sorry. Out of time. Jack, I'll miss you..."

As Shepard's vision faded to black, a voice could be heard.

"There's a survivor over the ridge! I heard someone! Hurry!"

The ragtag group looked like they had literally been through hell, a group of a Krogan, a couple Turians, a Quarian, and one Human gathered around Shepard. They'd never met her personally, but seeing her broken and beaten body stopped the group in their tracks, but the Quarian didn't stop, they leaned over Jane started to work.

"Jona, she's dead," the krogan said.

The Quarian shook their head and continued to work, using their omnitool as a defibrillator. "She got us home, so I'm going to return the favor!"

The last charge caused Shepard to cough.

A/N: First regular schedule update! I'm pumped! Unfortunately, now I have to go write more before next week so I don't fall behind. At least finals week was taken care of, so I don't have to study and write at the same time.