Prologue to the sequel of Through Fire and Storm...

If you have not yet read the prequel to this story, Through Fire and Storm, while it is not required it is highly recommended that you do so before proceeding. Thank you!

Shepard stared blankly at the glossy new monitor above her desk. They had not seen any geth for days since they've been sent out two weeks ago. The lack of action was wearing on her nerves. The Council had decided that her sole mission would be to eradicate the geth. For once, she missed the constant interruptions from Admiral Hackett requesting that she investigate this or that. But the comm remained silent. She absently pulled at the chain that hung at her neck. Two turian insignias and a human military dog tag hung from the end of it. As she studied the turian writing on the insignias she couldn't help but wonder how Garrus was doing. This last trip out, he had stayed behind to tie up some loose ends at C-Sec and take care of the formal screening process involved with his Spectre application. She anticipated that the next time she docked at the Citadel, he would be ready to begin his formal evaluation. The Council agreed to allow Shepard to take over his evaluation, despite Valern's reluctance. Ha! She grinned, recalling the irritated expression on the turian Councilor's face.

A faint rumbling from the ship caused the smile to fade and her head perk up. She stood and stilled as she waited for any following tremors. After a few moments of silence and stillness, she allowed her body to be at ease. Guess I should go see what that was about, she grumbled silently to herself. Suddenly another tremble reverberated throughout the ship, this one violent and abrupt enough to throw Shepard off her feet, causing her to land hard on her back. She scrambled to her feet, the shaking of the ship unrelenting. She glanced over just in time to see her brand new monitor fall face-forward with a crash. "Joker! What's going on out there?"

"We're under attack. Something just knocked out our kinetic barriers and weapons systems," Joker replied frantically. "They're still in pursuit. I can't shake 'em."

"I'll be right there, Joker!" She quickly sprinted from her cabin to her locker, suiting up at record speed. Another explosion nearly threw her off balance but she successfully caught herself before plummeting face-first into the lockers. Members of the crew were thrown into a frenzy. Some made their way toward the escape pods while others, confused by the chaos, hesitated, waiting for orders. Suited up and helmet in hand, she dashed toward the end of the ship to activate the distress beacon.

"Shepard!" Kaidan called out just as she was sealing her helmet. She turned to find the Lieutenant rushing toward her.

"Distress beacon is launched," she informed him as she grabbed a fire extinguisher and began putting out some of the angry flames that licked at the beacon console.

"Will the Alliance make it in time?"

"They damn well better," she spat. She didn't doubt that the ship may be lost, but the Alliance would certainly come to collect the escape pods. She just had to make sure all survivors were in those pods. She placed a hand on Kaidan's shoulder, peering into his eyes through the glass in her helmet. "Kaidan, I need you to get everyone to the escape pods."

He shook his head in the negative. "Joker is still in the cockpit. He won't abandon ship."

"I'll handle, Joker. Go make sure the crew gets evacuated." She paused briefly. "And don't let Wrex give you any shit."

"I'm not leaving you," he objected

"Kaidan, we don't have time to argue. I'll be right behind you. Trust me."

Of course he trusted her. He always would. "Aye aye," he said, giving her one last glance before heading towards the pods.

She made one last effort to extinguish the flames around the console before deciding it was a lost cause. Suddenly, another explosion rocked the ship, throwing Shepard back against a stasis pod. Loose cables tangled around her helmet and stuck between the segments of her armor. Fire spewed around her as she worked herself free of the cables. "Just what I need," she growled out loud to no one. Unhooking the final cable from her armor, and finally unrestricted she dashed towards the mess. Veering right, she rushed up the stairs, debris flying from every direction as explosions within the ship became more frequent. As the door opened to the upper deck, time seemed to slow and the air grew silent. A gaping hole in the hull explained why the ship's environment was no longer contained. Making her way slowly through the darkened CIC she peered up through the opening where the planet Alchera loomed peacefully over the chaos. Focusing her attention forward again, she could see Joker up ahead, contained within a protective barrier that still held some of the ships last remaining oxygen.

He spun around, a surprised look on his face when she roughly grabbed his shoulder. "Get out of here, Joker. Now."

"No. I won't abandon the Normandy. I can still save her!"

"The Normandy is gone. Don't throw your life away."

The pilot sighed and shook his head in dismay. He knew she was right. "Fine, help me up." She pulled his arm up over her shoulder and heaved him out of his chair. "Hey, be careful will ya?"

Ignoring his comments she half led, half drug him to the last escape pod. As the door swished open, a sense of relief washed over her. They were so close now. They were going to make it. Leveraging Joker's arm she guided him into the pod. An explosion to her right caused her to hesitate. That hesitation was a mistake. She could feel the intense heat seeping through her suit as the flames grew wild. Another explosion shook the pod violently and spewed debris from the broken ship every which way. A large chunk of metal slammed into her hard, throwing her back. Her hands grappled for the edge of the pod, but missed, the lack of gravity causing her to float opposite it. As she drifted backwards a bright beam of blinding light blocked the path between her and the safety of the pod. Her eyes drifted to the launch controls and her heart clenched in her chest. She was too far from the pod now and Joker would be in immediate danger if the pod didn't launch. At least one of them would make it out. Holding her breath, her hand pressed against the control. As the door slid closed she heard Joker's desperate shout from inside. "Shepard! No!"

A blast tossed her backward into space, clear of the floating debris from the broken vessel. Silence. Only the sound of her breathing could be heard in the dead of space. Pieces of the Normandy floated away into the darkness. As she drifted, she could quickly feel the oxygen levels in her suit grow shallow and her breath becoming more laborious. Her heart began to race as she realized one of her oxygen tubes had broken, leaking her precious life source out into space. She reached her arms back, struggling to catch the lose cable, but to no avail. Her chest felt as if it would burst as her lungs screamed for the oxygen that wouldn't come. When her body stilled, accepting the darkness of space, she allowed her final thoughts to drift to the team that she would leave behind. Those very different people, whom had initially had their own reasons for joining her cause, had become her friends. The thought comforted her and her lungs no longer ached. And even in the black emptiness of space, she didn't feel alone.

Garrus steadily made his way up the long stairway that led to the human Councilor's office. David Anderson, whom Shepard had appointed Councilor after the attack on the Citadel, had summoned the young turian. He couldn't be certain why. As far as he knew the Council was still running background checks on him and his psychological evaluation still hadn't been completed. So why now? Hopefully they weren't about to turn down his application into the Spectres. While he had thought about join the Spectres before, he hadn't wanted it quite so much until after meeting Shepard. Now, he needed it.

Upon reaching the door, he hesitated. Anderson had no guards like the other Councilors, so he keyed himself in and entered. As he stepped into the room he was met by Councilor Anderson and the holo images of the asari and salarian Councilors. It appeared that the turian Councilor, Valern, had not yet arrived.

"Officer Vakarian," Anderson greeted him. I'm glad you could make it on such short notice."

"Please Councilor, just call me Garrus. I'm not an officer anymore."

"Garrus then," he corrected himself. He motioned for Garrus to move forward to stand before the other Council members.

"Will we be waiting for the turian Councilor?" Garrus inquired.

"Unfortunately, Councilor Valern will be unable to join us," the asari replied hesitantly, her eyes shifting to the salarian to her left.

"Garrus Vakarian," the salarian Councilor addressed him. "We have called you here because we have just recently learned of an unfortunate… accident." He seemed to struggle with the last word.

"What accident?" Garrus demanded, his attention turning toward the human Councilor questionably. His mandibles clacked nervously against his face as he awaited an answer.

Anderson bowed his head slightly. "The Normandy has been destroyed. The Alliance Fleet has recovered the escape pods, but – "

"Where is Shepard?" Garrus interrupted. He narrowed his eyes in warning. Their apprehension at divulging the information he required to calm his nerves was ebbing away at his patience. Even as Anderson shook his head solemnly, he refused to acknowledge that anything could have happened to her. Shepard was indestructible. There weren't any odds she couldn't overcome. She would have saved whomever she could and got out of there with barely a scratch.

"The Commander didn't make it," Anderson told him. His voice was stonewalled but the dead look in his eyes told a different story. The man had been relatively close to Shepard, acting as her father figure throughout her career in the Alliance military. The news would have hit him hard, but as a hardened military man, he wasn't inclined to show it. "Joker was the last to see her alive. If you want to know more I suggest you speak with him."

Garrus stared at the man in disbelief. What he was telling him couldn't be true. She must still be out there, maybe in another pod-

"Now on to the matter of your mentor," the salarian Councilor interjected. "Since Commander Shepard can no longer fill this role, you will be required to select another if you wish to continue your Spectre evaluation."

Garrus barely heard the salarian, the Councilor's voice fading into the background of the turmoil that clouded his mind.

"Councilor, I don't really think this is the time—" Anderson objected.

"Nonsense, Councilor. It is the reality of the situation. Every Spectre candidate requires a mentor to carry out the evaluation."

The asari Councilor stared directly at the salarian and shook her head, indicating that she too believed this wasn't the time.

"Where is her body?" Garrus blurted out. When he felt all eyes stare at him blankly, he continued. "Her body. I have to see it."

"That won't be possible," Anderson told him. "Her body is missing. Probably burned up in the atmosphere of Alchera."

"How do you know that? If you didn't find her she could still be floating around out there! Are you telling me you won't send your people back out there to find her?"

"It's not possible that she survived. Even by now she would have run out of oxygen," Anderson bowed his head solemnly. "I'm sorry."

"What about the pods? Are you sure they're all accounted for?" Garrus pressed.

"We all feel Shepard's loss. She was a hero," the asari said. "But now that the threat is over we must continue on and rebuild what she helped save."

"The threat is not over!" Garrus shouted, eyes narrowing. "The Reapers—"

"The Reapers," the salarian Councilor interrupted, "are a myth. You would do well to remember that."

"Then how would you explain that ship that attacked the Citadel?"

"Saren and the geth attacked the Citadel, not a ship. A ship does not act on its own. I will not listen to any more talk of the late Commander's obscure visions," the salarian said dismissively.

Garrus's eyes burned with an intense fury. His gaze focused on Anderson who remained silent. He had no doubts that he human Councilor believed Shepard's claims, however his unassertive stance wasn't helping Garrus's current state. "Shepard risked everything to save the Citadel, and you turn your backs on her as if it all meant nothing. If this is how you treat your heroes, then I want no part of it!" He hunched in anger, turning his back to the Councilors and storming out of the office in a rush. He needed to get out of there. He couldn't think clearly. Every thought that came forth was shrouded in bitter anguish. Barely dodging a working keeper, he quickly made his way outside to the Presidium.

The Presidium grounds no longer had the park-like feel it had before the attack. Much of the lighting was not yet repaired, so the area remained dim. The blue "sky" above was now a grey metal that loomed overhead. The holograph, having been damaged in the attack, was not yet operable. Debris was still littered throughout the area where pieces of the architecture had broken off due to the various explosions brought upon by the geth. Various keepers skittered along the area, hard at work with repairs while Citadel workers, in an attempt to avoid disturbing the creatures, made repairs elsewhere. However, all of this faded into the background as Garrus's thoughts fixated on the pale haired Spectre he had come to care for. If she was really dead then everything he had been working toward these last few weeks had become meaningless. Without her, none of it mattered anymore. He wasn't certain what he would do or where he would go, nor did he really care. He felt empty. He stopped when he heard a commotion near the now blocked-off entrance to C-Sec.

"You're a coward," the familiar gruff voice accused. When Garrus turned he could see the krogan, Wrex looming over another figure. A human. Kaidan. "I kill cowards."

Kaidan glared at the krogan, arms crossed over his chest. "What's your problem, Wrex?"

"Because of you, Shepard is dead," Wrex growled angrily, pointing his finger in the other man's face. Kaidan's complexion reddened in anger at Wrex's accusation, but he held his ground, a dangerous thing to do before an angry krogan.

Garrus thought about ignoring the situation altogether, because truthfully, he just wasn't in the mood to deal with any of it. However, if Shepard were here, she would immediately intervene, controlling the situation with her persuasive words and authoritative air. She would have wanted him to do the same. And that's just what he did.

"Is there a problem?" Garrus demanded, drawing the attention of the other two males.

"No problem," Wrex grunted, turning to face him. "Just about to teach this human about what happens to cowards."

Garrus turned his avian eyes towards Kaidan, who scowled at the krogan's disrespect. "Don't worry about it, Garrus. It's nothing I can't handle."

"Is that so? Why don't we test those words? You're no Shepard. You don't stand a chance!" Wrex spat.

"Will you two stop!" Garrus snapped. "The last thing Shepard would have wanted was for her team to turn on one another."

Wrex slumped a bit, his crimson eyes locked on Garrus searchingly. "So you know?"

"The Council told me." Stealing a glance at Kaidan, he could visibly see a fraction of the anguish the man had felt. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were glossy with moisture, two obvious human signs of grief. Turning his attention back to Wrex, it was clear that the krogan couldn't bear to look him in the eye. He shifted his bulk uncomfortably, his expression transitioning from murderous rage to discomfort. Her death had affected them all in ways that would remain unspoken.

For a while, three friends of a lost hero stood in deafening silence before finally parting ways, the one tie they had to one another, broken.

Valern sat alone in the darkness. Datapads and various other items were scattered over the floor of his office, some in shattered pieces. Deep gouges from desperate claws scarred the surface of his desk. His surroundings were a harsh result of his grief and rage. She was gone and he felt at fault. He had agreed that she should be the one to eradicate the geth. They were all aware of the disappearance of the vessels around Alchera. But he couldn't have known it would result in this… She was Shepard. She was supposed to be indestructible.

His talons drove into the arms of his chair, tearing through the delicate garjanx leather, a rare product of his homeworld of Palaven and one that could not easily be replaced. But his thoughts were only with her. A nearly inaudible howl escaped him as he remembered the last night he had spent with her and his reaction to her dismissal of him. He could vividly remember how much it had hurt and angered him. His frustrations had caused him to lash out at her. She, a human, had brought out the best and the worst in him. What he wouldn't give, now, to tell her so.

Please stay tuned for Chapter 1 (where the real fun begins) :)