Reapers End

Aftermath

From every angle, ships were being destroyed. The crew aboard the Normandy could only watch in dismay at what seemed to be defeat, until Admiral Hackett's voice broke out over the comm.

"All fleets! The Crucible is armed. Disengage and head to the rendezvous point."

Hearing his words but unwilling to depart, Jeff 'Joker' Moreau frantically scanned the battle screens before him, desperate to do something. He'd gotten their ship, the Normandy SR-2; the Alliance's flagship frigate, back to Earth to rescue Major Kaidan Alenko and Garrus Vakarian who had both been wounded in the charge, but their Commander, Paige Shepard had stayed behind for the final push to the catalyst. He couldn't abandon her.

"I repeat: Disengage and get the hell out of here!" Hackett's stoney voice called out again.

Not giving a damn about insubordination, Joker continued to search for any sign of their commander. Shockwaves begin to rattle the ship as Liara T'Soni, who stood behind him with communication specialist Samantha Traynor, jolted forward and placed her hand on his shoulder firmly, but not so much as to injure her friend with his brittle bone disease.

"Joker please, we must go." She said softly, her voice strained. Dropping his hand from the console, Joker curled his hand into a fist before exhaling sadly.

"Dammit" he whispered before reluctantly swiping to the FTL screen.

Behind them, the Crucible, now firmly attached to the Citadel continued to quake, sending out small shockwaves as a bright red light formed at its centre. The light quickly enveloped the entire structure as the surviving ships around the Normandy began to jump to a safe distance. Despite the imminent danger, Joker still hesitated, until the Citadel exploded and the light emitted a ferocious blast followed by a beam aimed directly at the Mass Relay. The fiery blast propelled out beyond anything they could witness through the reflective hull panes, impacting Earth in seconds. The resistance soldiers still on the planet, Admiral Anderson and Commander Shepard; all their fate's unknown. But there was no time to grieve, no time at all. They had to flee and pray they could jump from the Sol system in time. Using every trick he knew, Joker put all available power into the thrusters. It was too dangerous to reach the relay now but at FTL speed, he believed he could still escape the system. The ship trembled under the pressure as the space around them became nothing but a blur, but it wasn't enough. The Crucible light and its destructive energy caught them, knocking every system offline. From the corner of his eye, Joker saw his AI girlfriend, EDI and her brand new body fall into a heap on the floor. He wanted to dive out of his chair and get to her but he couldn't. Gravity was the only thing in control of the Normandy now, and all he and the rest of the crew could do was brace for impact.

Down in the med-bay, Kaidan Alenko was broken, and not just his body, but every part of him. It had all happened so fast. They'd reached the London FOB, he'd found his biotic students, and although he was pleased to see them, she was his priority; Paige Shepard. He couldn't lose her again, and he needed her to know that. When they'd found each other and he shared his fears, she told him when the war was over, she would be waiting, and that he better be there. Words poured from his heart as he assured her he'd fight like hell to hold her again, and he meant it. Then came the final assault and a sheer sprint to the channel of light that would transport them from Earth to the Citadel; the catalyst to arming the Crucible and saving every known species, civilisation and race in the galaxy. He'd run faster than ever before, Shepard just a few metres ahead, and her best friend Garrus; the Turian rebel who had stood beside her through thick and thin, even when to his great shame, Kaidan hadn't, was keeping pace. The Reaper before them was firing incessantly, it's beam vaporising any organic life in its path. Then came the explosion, a MAKO vehicle flipped and all he remembered was colliding into something, hard. He was concussed but before he knew it, Shepard was there, calling for an evac from the Normandy, which he and Garrus limped aboard as it came to their rescue. But as soon as she knew they were safe, Shepard turned back toward the battlefield. Kaidan had desperately reached out to her, begging, don't leave me behind, but deep-down he knew she had no choice. She was destined to finish this war, but it devastated him to realise he wouldn't be beside her when she did. Her final words were that she loved him before she commanded the ship to go. Now he was stuck in the med-bay, under the strict but caring watch of Dr Karin Chakwas. His brown eyes glanced over at Garrus. He too was wounded, blood seeping from a gash under his cheek down to his mandible, which was trembling. He cared for Shepard too, in the way only your oldest friend can, but was clearly trying to hide it.