Authors note: For the few who read this already, thank you! I really hope you liked it. I've spent the last few months reading almost nonstop, and now I have a better understanding of how this site works, and how to post on it. So I'll be reposting this 'chapter' into far more manageable pieces.

And I will finally be adding to it as well. I have a whole novel planned for these characters, that will take place across most of the two year gap of Shepards death. And I even have other ones planned down the line for when I get to them, but only if this one turns out well.

So please, read, review, offer ideas or advice or criticism or just shoot the breeze, and most definitely enjoy!

I don't own Mass Effect, am not affiliated with BioWare or EA, this isn't for profit. I would like to get this noticed and published as an add on for ME, so if anyone knows anyone and thinks this good, put in a good word!

Shepard's gender will not be mentioned, and I'm toying with not mentioning the fate of the Citadel Council at the end of ME1, we'll see how it goes.

Prologue

Last stand at Flux

Battle of the Citadel – 2183 AD/CE

The Citadel; hub of the Mass Relay network, seat of authority for the Citadel Council, a floating, five armed, 30 mile long station in space with millions of residents, a veritable floating city five times over, and crown jewel of the known galaxy. Protected by the Citadel fleet, one of the largest fleets in known space, and deep inside a nebula that hides it, only to be found by the Mass Relays, all watched and guarded.

The Citadel is essentially the ruling city of the galaxy, home to members of every interstellar alien species, and so well protected as to be virtually untouchable.

The attacking fleet of Geth warships led by the Spectre traitor Saren Arterius didn't seem to agree with that assumption. With Sovereign, a Reaper dreadnaught nearly two kilometers long as their flagship and Geth soldiers secretly transported to the Citadel control towers beforehand, Citadel forces were hard pressed to stop them. The Council was evacuated to the Destiny Ascension, but everyone else in the Tower, the Presidium and the upper Wards were under attack from the synthetic killing machines and left largely to defend themselves.

One such group was at the upper Wards club Flux, located near the ring of the Presidium. They were being defended by a squad of Alliance Marines, under the command of Lieutenant Commander William Cauthon, who had arrived a few hours beforehand for some shore leave.

A real vacation alright; a few drinks, some gambling, fine dining, a little dancing, rounded off by a nice full scale firefight with robotic invaders. Quite the sales pitch. Cauthon thought sourly as he waited for the next push.

The volunteers had finished pulling the metal Geth bodies up the stairs that led to the club and using them to barricade the top and bottom of the stairs. Flux was a pretty exclusive club, you went up a stair case, entered a large, adjacent hallway that led to another set of stairs that the club entrance was adjacent too, rather than right behind them. It was a great club location, but as it turned out, tactically, it was nearly a dream. An elevated location not in the direct fire path, a long metal hallway with no cover whatsoever connected to an adjacent door, offering minimal enemy fire support positions.

The only downside was the clubs other exits led into street alleys currently filled with rampant Geth and possibly even Husks forcing them to be barricaded. So while no one could get in, no one could get out either, and thus, it had become what action vids loved to produce and real soldiers hated to live; a last stand.

Cauthon looked over the work, the base and top of the staircase had been barricaded, with volunteers hauling the heavy metal bodies of downed Geth as his men rested, checked weapons and armor, or got battlefield treatments. The Geth had made two major pushes, both spectacular failures, but he could feel a third being readied, and he knew it wouldn't suffer from lack of information or reinforcements like the first two had.

Heading back into the club he looked around at the people, humans and aliens alike, most were in shock but where doing their best to work through it as they also worked to stay alive. They were cleaning wounds, practicing briefly on the dance floor with weapons, reading the second floor stairs for assault, or moving fuel cells to the doors for his plan for the coming wave. Decidedly not what any of them had planned for the day when they came to Flux only a few hours ago.

Staring out the far wall that was actually a two story window that ran the entire length of the club, Cauthon tried to wrap his own head around the mess. Looking out at the Citadel spread out before him, the arms sealed together so it looked like he was in a massive tunnel of city lights, he shook his head.

And the day had seemed to be going so well.