Earth was already lost to the Reapers by the time Shepard boarded the Normandy, flanked on both sides by Kaidan Alenko and a support trooper. He found his balance on the loading ramp and turned around to provide Admiral Anderson some cover. Getting a better view of the scene, it was difficult to find Anderson in the chaos of it all.

"Welcome back, Shepard," Kaidan said with a nod.

"Thanks." Shepard leveled his rifle as Anderson came running up through the haze of Normandy's attack run. He got in position to help his old commanding officer aboard, when the man suddenly stopped at the loading ramp.

"Shepard!" Anderson called out over the engines, the explosions—the screams.

Shepard motioned toward the ramp. "Come on!" Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. A shuttle passed through, using the fallen buildings as cover. He saw Anderson's gaze following the craft, solemnly, but when the admiral turned back to Shepard, there was nothing but resolve behind the old man's eyes.

Shepard already knew what Anderson was about to do.

"I'm not going," the admiral said.

Shepard had no words.

"You saw those men back there," Anderson said. "There's a million more like them, and they need a leader."

Shepard wouldn't hear it. "We're in this fight together, Anderson!"

The admiral shook his head. "It's a fight we can't win. Not without help. We need every species and all their ships to even have a chance at defeating the Reapers."

Before Shepard could object, Anderson continued. "Talk to the Council. Convince them to help us."

Shepard threw his hands up, remembering the countless times the Council had done exactly nothing to help them out in the past. "What if they won't listen?"

"Then make them listen! Now go! That's an order."

Shepard shook his head. The last thing in the world he wanted to do was leave Anderson here. He knew he'd be leaving his friend to die. "I don't take orders from you anymore, remember?"

The comm hissed with feedback. Joker's voice came through. "Hey, can I close the hatch and get us out of here? We've been hovering in front of this Reaper for, like... half an hour—"

Shepard clicked off the comm, just in time to get hit on the head by a pair of dog tags. "What the f—?"

"Consider yourself reinstated," Anderson cut in. "Commander."

With an intense look of annoyance, Shepard bent down and took up the dog tags. They read: Commander John Shepard. Citadel Marketing Spokesman.

"These are the wrong dog tags," he said.

Anderson nodded with intense resolve. "You know what you have to do."

The roar of Normandy's engines intensified.

"No," Shepard shouted. "I said these are the wrong dog tags!"

"And good luck to you, too, Shepard!" Anderson returned with a staunch salute. The admiral quickly made his way back through the debris, disappearing into the destruction the Reapers had sewn throughout the city.

Joker's voice forced its way back through the comm. "That tears it, Shepard. I'm taking us out of here!"

"No!" Shepard called back. "You'll go when I say so, and not a moment sooner!"

The Normandy angled around until they were facing an emptied courtyard, where dozens of civilians frantically boarded military shuttles. From where he stood on the loading ramp, Shepard was able to pick out the small boy he had seen hiding in a vent earlier that day. The boy moved through the crowd, seemingly unsure of what to do or where to go. For a brief moment, he thought the kid was looking right at him.

The soldiers on the ground pointed up at something, and Shepard looked up to find a Reaper approaching, effortlessly pushing its way through the skyscrapers toward the evac shuttles. Some paneling on the front of the Reaper shifted away, revealing its primary weapon. It glowed red as it charged for an attack.

"Holy shit!" Joker exclaimed. "That Reaper's aiming for the civilians! Charging up the Thanix Cannon!"

"Hold your fire!" Shepard ordered.

"Wha... What! Why?"

"You'll fire when I say so, and not a moment sooner!"

The boy on the ground fled to the nearest shuttle, clumsily making his way inside. The shuttles closed their hatches and fled into the air.

"Joker, block their path so they have to fly in front of the Reaper weapon."

"Why the hell would I do that?"

"Because we're gonna play a very unfortunate game of Thumb War if you don't."

There was silence over the comm. "Goddamn you, Shepard."

The Normandy moved into position. The shuttles over-corrected, accidentally careening into the Reaper's line of sight. The weapon angled across the sky, taking out each of the shuttles in turn. Fiery debris from the boy's shuttle rained down on the courtyard.

Shepard looked away, distressed. "...This war... There was nothing we could do."

Joker gasped. "Yes, there was, you maniac—"

"Joker, get us offworld. We have a galaxy to recruit, and very little time to do so."

A drawn-out sigh came back. "Aye, aye, Shepard."

The loading ramp sealed up, and the Normandy accelerated upward through the atmosphere, passing between burning chunks of the defense fleet falling back to earth. When they were clear, the FTL drives were engaged, throwing the blue curtain of hyperspace between themselves and their homeworld.

Shepard hunched over terminal, trying desperately to hail anyone from the fleet, the full weight of his mission slowly settling upon him, darkening his mind. Unifying the races of the galaxy would be their only chance at repelling the Reaper invasion.

And he was playing with time he didn't have.

Commander Shepard is Easily Distracted

Written by: Knightfall