Lashes fluttered in the darkness as Jeff slowly opened one eye, then the other. He shifted in his seat and met resistance with the little-used safety harness. As he fumbled for the buckle, memories penetrated through the disorienting fog of his headache.

He'd flown the Normandy away from Earth and the detonating Citadel at the ship's maximum speed. Knowing his commander was still there fighting had made him wait to depart as long as possible. Were it not for his crewmates urging him to escape, they would have gotten caught in the blast.

Garrus…Traynor…. With tentative caution, Jeff looked from side to side. There were no signs of his friends where they had been standing when the blinding red light had enveloped them. His fingers finally found the mechanism to release the seat belt, and the thick straps snapped back into the recesses in the leather seats.

He took a deep breath and winced. Fractured ribs were possible, if not probable following the crash. Bracing himself on the armrests, he attempted to put weight on his legs. Luck had accompanied their rapid descent, for he was able to stand.

The only light on the bridge came from the few emergency sensors that were still operational. Not a single icon on his expansive control panel glowed. Turning around, he saw a figure collapsed on the floor against the wall several yards away. He hurried over as fast as his feet would let him and leaned over.

Though unconscious, Garrus was breathing. "Guess those plates on his head come in handy," Jeff mumbled to himself. The sounds of movement behind him grabbed his attention and he straightened up.

Blood trickled from a gash in Samantha Traynor's forehead, streaking one cheek with crimson rivulets. Despite the injury, she tapped on the screen of her terminal. "Almost every single one of our systems is down," she explained when the pilot approached her. "I can't even figure out where in the galaxy we are."

"Well, if life support isn't functional and we haven't suffocated yet, that's a good sign, right?"

She nodded.

"Only one way to find out." Jeff backtracked to the airlock and faced the door. No electricity flowed to the mechanisms, but he was able to activate a series of manual levers. Sunlight blinded him as the door slid open, and he stepped out of the damaged spacecraft.

Lush foliage and verdant hills greeted him as his feet hit solid ground. His body throbbed with the exertion, yet he pushed himself to explore the immediate area. Boots thudded in the dirt behind him. Kaidan appeared at his side, soon followed by James. Neither one spoke.

Gentle breezes and stunned silence swept over the group as one by one, the crew exited the Normandy. Tali was the first to voice everyone's thoughts. "What happened? Where are we?"

"Surface gravity and atmospheric pressure seem to be similar to those of Earth," Liara said. "If we had to make an emergency landing on a planet, there are certainly worse options in the galaxy."

Jeff squinted out over the landscape. Memories of manipulating the ship's controls just prior to impact pricked at the edge of his mind, though they still lacked clarity. He turned around to ask the others if they could fill in some of the gaps, but as he scanned the personnel assembled around the door, a knot twisted in his stomach. "Where's EDI?" he asked.

His crewmates exchanged panicked glances. "She got on the ship with me when Shepard…." Kaidan winced, as if someone had punched him. "I didn't see her after we crashed, but I came upstairs as soon as I woke up."

Jeff shoved past him to return to the airlock. He climbed back inside the ship and stumbled towards the elevator. "EDI? EDI!"

"It's not working." Kaidan said, having followed behind him. "I had to take the emergency stairs."

A tiny recessed door stood in an adjacent panel, which the major had left open. Jeff slipped inside and began the painstaking descent to the shuttle bay, ignoring any offers of assistance from his companions. His legs ached and burned, yet the risk of fractures wasn't nearly enough to deter him.

The same dim emergency bulbs lit the lowest level of the ship. In the poor lighting, few details of the stored machinery were visible. Out of the corner of his eye, something metallic glinted in the eerie glow.

He swiveled his head to the right. Silver limbs jutted out from a heap at grotesque angles. Like a rag doll cast aside in a child's bedroom, EDI lay crumpled on the floor, her visor shattered into jagged pieces beside her. The rest of her chassis appeared intact, but she remained motionless at the men's approach.

"EDI!" Jeff staggered towards her, lowering himself to a sitting position by her side. There was no reply. He pulled her body towards him, straightening her arms and legs as best he could while he slid her across the cold metal floor. "EDI!"

The only response was his own voice echoing throughout the massive chamber.

Several other members of the crew appeared behind Kaidan. Jeff looked at them all, searching their faces for impossible answers. "How do I…what do I do?" he asked in a strained whisper.

Another bout of silence descended upon the usually talkative group, this one far more awkward than the previous. Liara was the first to break the discomfort. "Tali and some of the others went to the engineering deck. They hope to start restoring the ship's systems as soon as possible."

"Do you think it'll work? Will it…will it bring her back?"

Apprehension clouded the asari's cobalt eyes. "I hope so."

Hours passed. Jeff's colleagues found other ways to busy themselves on the grounded ship, leaving him alone with the unmoving robot in his lap. The lingering shreds of hope disintegrated further with each endless minute. He remained frozen in place, unsure of his options and unwilling to leave her.

After what felt like weeks, the lights in the shuttle bay flashed back on. The majority of the ship's systems were still down, but a gentle hum emanated from the heart of the vessel. Evicted from the shadows by the restored illumination, Jeff gazed downwards. With one fingertip, he tenderly traced the line of her angled cheekbone and made one last plea. "EDI?"

Cold, unblinking eyes stared back up at him. No traces of life, synthetic or otherwise, shone behind them. EDI was gone.