Dear Reader,

Let me begin by saying thank you for your patience and support during this story. The Mass Effect series, to me, was a place of refuge during some of my darker days during high school and college. A place where I could shoot off into space and defeat the impossible. It was a very special game and story to me. Thus why I wrote this. Why I felt like Annie Shepard deserved a real look into her life and her story and the impossibilities that a woman of her resolve could really defeat.

I do, of course, want to take a moment to discuss the very ending of this story. The final fall of Commander Shepard in an effort to save the galaxy. I never particularly liked the actual game endings. A decision between two (and eventually three) morally contrasting ideals. Yes, that is life in a nutshell, but I see Mass Effect as a way of breaking away from those norms. Overcoming the impossible. Being the impossible. As I see it, Commander Shepard survived this event. She was found amongst the rubble with a beating heart and a heaving chest. She healed and lived with the rest of the universe and in turn lived the rest of her life happily with Liara. That's what I wanted out of that ending, what I needed. It was my inspiration for this story, the very end, and why I struggled so much finishing it.

Endings are hard and definite. I rewrote this ending about six different times, trying to make the "happily ever after" ending fit before settling on the "unfinished". Allowing you, the reader, to interpret the ending however you wished. As I had with the end of the Mass Effect series. Perhaps the writers of the game had a similar viewpoint? After all, the beauty of this world is that it's the player's world. Their decisions. Their viewpoint. I may have told this story from my side of it, from Annie's side, but I hope you all take away from it that it could have been anyone.

Again, I appreciate the dedication and support some of you offered early on with this story and greatly appreciate your patience during my hiatus. This story is honestly one of my greatest. Both in size and personal meaning. It means everything to me that it was so well-received. And who knows, perhaps Andromeda has another Annie Shepard waiting to rise to fame.

Till the next great adventure..

Thank you,

Doctojuji (A.K.A Annie Shepard)