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Suggested by the Normandy's Doctor Chakwas, I have decided to keep a journal. Apparently, it helps with dealing with the pressure of commanding the Alliance's state of the art stealth vessel and the events of the previous 8 months. If i do decide to publish these, must remember to edit out any confidential information.

Name's Sophie Shepard, daughter of Gean and Rachael Shepard. Survivor of the raid on Mindoir. Lost both parents and one of the few survivors of the Baterian's raid. No doubt, i would have been raped first then sold into slavery as a sex slave. Now, I tend to keep an open mind about all the races, yes, including the Geth but Baterians claim slavery is their right. Raiders, i say and if it weren't for the SSV Moscow being on patrol, chances are I would not be here as Commander Shepard but as Sophie the sex slave. I enlisted a week after being rescued after undergoing therapy for Post Tramatic Stress Disorder. Looking back, it was a precaution and my behaviour wasn't really the best. I was an angry 18 year old back then wanting to wipe out the baterians. Fortunately, i matured over the years and serving in the Alliance helped. They discovered my raw potential as a biotic after I accidentally flipped one of the Makos at base into an old storage hanger. Fortunately, no-one was killed but i was told it was the result of me "Triggering" the Element Zero in my DNA. I can't remember to be honest what they said but that's not important. What is, was my training.

Toughest training i underwent at least, until the N1 program. I had to mentally and physically adapt to my abilities and combat style. Mentally, i had to focus on a single target and cause something to happen. It was hard at first to even move a cup but i was a fast learner and maybe, my raw biotic abilities were unnaturally strong. Don't know if it's due to the Element Zero mining ships that refuelled and restocked at Mindoir, my home at the time or just natural ability. What i do know is that i was compatible with implants. Most biotic humans have them. Unsure if other races do baring the Asari. Anyway, i spent 2 years training as what we call a Vanguard. A high risk, high pay off style of biotic combat. Close quarters combat is incorporated and we're given the training to use shotguns efficently. First mission i went on was routine. Routine, they always say that. Of course it's routine, i haven't done anything yet. Just take back an outpost from Batarian raiders. A simple job. Oh, how our intel was wrong. Turned out that it was an ambush!

There were only 20 of us assigned to the mission for what we expected a group of 200 hostiles. We did take out those 200 but they sprung their trap and soon, we were fighting hundreds of the [&@%!]. They had 3 gunships at their commander and our frigate was disabled by their flagship's cannons. I can still recall the explosion of the SSV's Regal engines to this day. We were ordered to retreat once we made it known to Central that we were outnumbered but we refused. We were eager to prove to the baterians that humanity does not tolerate hostility. At least, that was my captain's view. Had i been in charge, i would have retreated and returned with greater numbers. Anyway, we held the outpost for a few hours but we slowly lost our small numbers. I did what i could. If this is published, i won't blame you for thinking i'm blowing my own horn. I managed to disable 2 of the gunships. Just used what we refer to as a Biotic Charge. It gets us in close to our target with enough force generated by the charge to floor most foes. I jumped onto it despite it being a very bad idea. I blew out the cockpit window with my shotgun whilst trying my damn hardest not to fall. It worked to a degree. The pilot was killed but the ship was on course to crash into us. So I adjusted the controls slightly by climbing into it. Fortunately, the Baterians got cocky and hadn't bothered to staff their gunships with more then one pilot. I crashed the gunship into the second one and barely escaped. Broke my leg on landing. Had to charge to try to avert death from a 30ft drop. It wasn't the impact of the ground that broke it. The speed generated by a charge from that height did. It was agony but I knew i had to hold the line. I forced myself over to one of the few working turrets whilst pulling the remaining gunship to the left to save my colleagues from a rocket. It worked.

I knew i couldn't take it out using my biotics so i charged over to the nearest turrets. I manned it and unleashed hell. It was a risky move but that comes with the terrority of being the Vanguard. I faced the full fury of the Baterian gunship and i'm told that i shot it down before passing out from my wounds.

I suffered several shots to the chest, shoulders and stomach, 1 broken arm, 1 broken leg, third degree burns and some deep cuts. I'm told that they shot a missile before i dealt the fatal blow to them. Either way, i was lucky to be alive and it got me invited to the N1 program.

I thought Vanguard training was hard. N1 training is hell on earth. They don't just push you to the limit. They beat you with the limit. They break you to rebuild and remold into the cloest thing we have to supersoldiers. Then they mold that to the limit. N2 training was that on steroids. N3 was Threser Maw material. Hell, taking one of those one would have been easier then N3 training. The rest, i can't describe without repeating myself. I achieved what one or two others did before. I reached the famed N6 training and was given the rank of N7 to indicate that I reached the end of the best of the best of the best that we had training. By myself, I can be considered to be a one woman army. We're expected to do that.

Anyway, my first assignment was to Captain Anderson's ship, the Normandy. The rest is history and i don't feel like going over the events of the past 6 months. 2 months of nothing but silence is a welcome break from fighting a Reaper, the geth, cloned Krogan and picking Anderson as our ambassador. Offically, i'm hunting down the remains of Saren's geth. Unoffically, I'm looking for leads on Reapers. The council may not believe it but they are real. I sure as hell don't want to be right but if the Reapers are preparing an invasion, i need proof and the galaxy will need to be united. Thankfully, Admiral Hackett and Anderson are believing me. They can't do much without any proof and offically, can't command me as the result of me being a Spectre.

Sophie Shepard out.

The Normandy gave a violent jolt as an unknown vessel hit the side. It's beam melted through the steel like butter and caused multiple explosions. Despite Joker's best efforts, the ship was unable to dodge the fire. The Central Information Centre was punctured, killing all who were unfortunate enough to be there at the time. Their bodies were vapourised. "I'm not doing this so the alliance can fish our frozen corpses." Sophie told the worried Asari, Liara T'Soni. "But Shepard.." An explosion shook the eningeering bridge. "Liara, go now. Get the crew to safety." "Joker's still in the bridge." Liara told the commander. "I'll deal with Joker. Get everyone to the pods." Sophie told Liara.

Liara managed to evac most of the crew but Sophie Shepard had the task of convincing Joker to not be a fool. "You can't save it, Joker." She told Joker after reaching the cockpit. "I can still do it, shepard. I'm not giving it up." He retorted. "Joker, going down with the ship won't change anything." "Ok, help me up." Joker was assisted by shepard to the escape pod but the Normandy was hit again. She was thrown against the wall and could see the beam coming towards her. "SHEPARD!" Joker screamed as he saw her press the button and the escape pod was jettisoned. "[&@%!]." was the last word Sophie uttered underneath her helmet as the rest of the ship exploded. She was thrown into space and her suit was ruptured. Amazingly, she managed to remain in one piece but with her oxygen escaping her armour and being burnt by the heat of the explosion, it was cruel. She slowly began to suffocate. The air escaped through the holes in her suit as she was pulled towards the planet. The seconds that passed lasted forever for the commander as she suffocated. She gasped whilst clutching her neck for some air. It was instinct taking over but there was no air. The last thing she saw was the Normandy exploding. She was killed by the unknown vessel and the galaxy mourned her death.

Only, Commander Shepard never stayed dead.