Shepard ran through the crew quarters towards the infirmary with Ashley in his arms, she was still unconscious. The door opened with a hiss and he quickly walked over to a bed and gently put her down. Behind him came Vega with the synthetic body and left it on another bed. Liara walked slowly over to Shepard who with a sad expression watched Ashley's body. They had removed her helmet, and they could see a bruised face with dried blood on it.

Liara turned her attention to Shepard who was standing over Ashley; he was silent and appeared worried and restless. Liara removed her helmet and clipped it to her waist on the armor.

Liara said softly, "Ashley needs medical attention."

Shepard did not look at Liara, his eyes was fixated on the unconscious woman on the bed. He did not acknowledge that Liara even had talked to him.

Liara leaned over the bed so she appeared in his view. "We need to leave Sol System."

Shepard still focused his attention on Ashley. "I know."

He could not help but to blame himself. He had never bothered to properly clear the Cerberus shuttle, instead he had walked over to Vega, furious over Vegas' carelessness and was about to discipline him when he had instead calmed down. But Shepard had left Ashley and Liara, alone, at the Cerberus shuttle. If he only had been there then this would have been prevented. Plus, they had no doctor aboard so the automatics would have to administer care, and that would only work for a short time, after that Ashley would need real doctors.

"We've to get to the Citadel, " Liara explained, still hovering over the bed, watching Shepard's sad stare.

Finally, Shepard saw reason and snapped back as the seasoned military commander he was. "Joker, get us to the Citadel."

"Roger, that." Joker replied in the speakers.

"Hold on, Ash." Shepard said softly to Ashley and gently touched her arm. He looked up at Liara who had retreated back from the bed. He tilted his head towards the other sick bed where the synthetic was, Vega stood next to it with his arms crossed, "What's the status on the Cerberus bot?"

During the 40 minute flight back to the Normandy EDI had connected to the Cerberus AI to decrypt the information. EDI had of course taken all necessary precautions as they had no idea what sort of countermeasures the Cerberus AI had which could have severely damaged EDI or the Normandy.

EDI chimed in via the intercom speakers, "The Cerberus AI downloaded the blueprints to its own memory core, I'm still working on decrypting it, Shepard. I'm positive I will have access soon."

"Good work, EDI," Shepard praised.

"Thank you, Shepard." EDI suddenly said urgent, "Commander, Admiral Hackett is hailing us on the secondary QEC."

"Understood. Where do I take it?" Shepard knew that the engineers had rebuilt various parts of the ship, especially the old briefing room and comm room. But he had never seen anything that they had done to Normandy.

"Just go through where you would have accessed Doctor Solus' old lab and then follow the gangway to the War Room and you will find the comm room on the opposite side of the War Room."

"Thanks, EDI." Replied Shepard and rushed off from the infirmary.

Shepard stepped into the comm room and on one of the communicators was a garbled holographic representation of Admiral Hackett.

The Alliance Armed Forces had invested heavily in quantum entanglement communicators in anticipation of losing the comm network during a full scale galactic war, thus select Main Operating Bases across the galaxy and select ships which included all ten supercarriers, all ten dreadnoughts as well as all the Normandy-class frigates had QEC hardware and software installed to facilitate continued communications, and thus a QEC-enabled unit did not have to rely on the comm buoy network or long-range communications satellites which most ships could deploy if in a system outside the comm buoy network. A QEC worked by separating a pair of quantum-entangled particles, a change to one particle will affect the other instantaneously, wherever it lies in the universe. QECs exploit this effect to transmit binary data any distance. Two pairs of entangled particles are necessary for transmission and reception.

"Commander, do you read me?" Hackett asked over the speakers.

Shepard walked over to the communicator. "Yes, but the communications is garbled, stand by sir. EDI, can you clear this up?" He removed his helmet and clipped it to his armor.

"I'll do my best." Responded EDI and a few moments later the communication were fixed. "All done, Commander."

"Thanks, EDI."

"Of course Commander, logging you out."

"Did you get to the archives?" Hackett asked.

"Yes, but so was Cerberus. I was confronted by the Illusive Man through a communicator."

Hackett sighed. "I was worried that Cerberus would be involved. With the help of Doctor T'Soni's work as an Illium information broker, and our own Intelligence service, we have tried to monitor Cerberus since you returned to Earth. We've had wearying degrees of luck but mostly we never got anything really usable as Cerberus was patching any leaks they had, but everything pointed to that they were interested in the Reapers and the protheans." Hackett paused for a moment and watched Shepard. "Did you get the data at least?"

"We were attacked by a Cerberus synthetic, Ashley is injured, but we think most of the data was downloaded to the synthetic, EDI and Liara are analyzing it." Shepard scolded himself for sounding so casual about Ashley.

"I'm sorry, Commander. But at least there's some good news. I want a update the second you've decrypted those files."

"Yes sir, barely. The Illusive Man also said he was seeking to control the Reapers. With the comm buoys damaged I cannot say whether or not Cerberus has those plans, but we did manage to intercept the synthetic so maybe Cerberus was unable to retrieve the prothean data."

"We've to assume that Cerberus knows something about the data, but let's hope we have the only copy, Commander," Hackett stressed. "If the Illusive Man is good at one thing, it's finding new ways to subvert science. It's never worked for him before, and it won't now."

"He seemed to think that by controlling the Reapers we can win this war."

"That's not how we win this war," Hackett asserted. "Cerberus has never played by the rules as we know them. I don't know what their agenda is, but it has nothing to do with humanity's best interests."

"They will likely intervene in our operations, we'll have to be ready for that," Shepard said.

"Yeah. What's the state of the Normandy? Crew? Weapons?"

"The ship itself is fully operational, but the crew is part of the retrofit, sir. We're talking young and most if not all are inexperienced. We've some small arms and armor onboard, but still a meager collection. We can get what we need from MOB Citadel."

Main Operating Base Citadel was the Alliance Armed Forces' military base on the Citadel.

"Understood, for the time being you've to roll with the crew you got. I'll update their clearance level so they can work on sensitive missions. If I detect any abnormalities with the refit crew I'll let you know and you can opt for new crew members."

"Copy that, sir. What's the status of the Alliance military?"

"Not good," Hackett sighed dejected. "Even this early we've lost the major command structure on Arcturus Station along with the civilian government, but we managed to evacuate a lot of military personnel from several major combatant commands. The First and Fifth fleets at Arcturus have taken a severe beating but I've ordered a retreat of the remaining forces and we're heading to secret staging areas as we speak. The Battle Fleet is being decimated defending Earth and evacuating as many as possible, but word came down that they're cutting their loses and will retreat to regroup with the rest of the Navy." With a sigh of relief Hackett said, "Luckily the other seven fleets were deployed or at their home bases and are still fully operational. I'm rallying appropriate personnel to fill the shoes of the combatant commands we've lost and we're going to set up shop elsewhere. We're also accessing off site servers to regain control of SEPRNET and other networks." He stressed, "We've taken a significant blow but we're not out of the fight."

SEPRNET was the acronym for the Department of Defense's Secure Extranet Protocol Router Network, a system of interconnected computer networks which transmitted classified information in a secure environment. It was vital for galaxywide military operations.

Shepard could hear footsteps from behind and turned to see Liara coming through the door and walked up to the communicator and stood next to Shepard.

"EDI finally decrypted the information," Liara revealed ecstatic.

EDI worked fast, Shepard mused.

Hackett gazed at Liara. "What did you find?"

"It seems that a first analysis suggest that it is some kind of prothean device," Liara revealed.

"A device?" Asked Hackett confused.

Liara brought up her omni-tool and pressed a few holographic buttons and linked up to the Normandy's computers where the prothean information was now stored. A holographic image emerged and displayed strange large arms, a cylindrical device with a large round sphere on top of it, hinges and other strange components. It was clear the blueprints didn't show the device assembled.

"It's a weapon, massive in scope, and it's capable of unquantifiable levels of destruction." Liara explained professionally as Hackett and Shepard looked on the rotating image.

Hackett nodded and showed almost no emotion, but he was more optimistic than he had been a few moments earlier. "Do not make any copies and send the original to me and we will do our own analysis and see what can be done. I cannot risk having components vital to the war effort on a frontline warship like the Normandy, we need one sole copy of it at a secure location. If Liara's right, this could very well be what we have been looking for to stop the Reapers."

Liara informed, "The information is close to 500 zettabytes so it will take some time to transmit once in buoy range, plus most of the files will have to be translated to a format we can work with."

Hackett nodded, "Understood."

Shepard called out, "EDI, as soon as possible, send the file to Admiral Hackett."

"Yes, Shepard," EDI replied. "Starting preparations for transmission."

Liara said, "I'll be in the War Room." The asari left the comm room.

"I hope you are right, sir." Shepard told Hackett, he was tired and fatigued. "With Ashley wounded, we're heading for the Citadel for medical assistance."

"I'm sorry Commander, but we both know this is only the beginning. Talk to the Council, show them what you've found and just maybe, we can start building an alliance to counter the Reapers on any and all fronts."

Shepard was doubtful, "What if we don't get their support?"

"Do whatever it takes to get them onboard."

Shepard snapped to attention. "Roger that, sir." He paused for a few moments, thinking about the skeleton crew he had aboard, including the ground team. "Admiral?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"With Ashley critically wounded, I only got Liara and Lieutenant James Vega with me. That's an awfully short roster for an assault team."

"What's on your mind, son?"

"I'm going to try and round up as many I can from my old team." Shepard said bluntly.

Hackett frowned, absorbing those words. "Do you mean the team that you had when you hit the Collectors?"

"Yes, sir. I need people I can trust."

"Some of them were Cerberus, and others were of the more…dubious sort," Hackett said, mulling over those implications.

"The Normandy crew, yes, but in the ground team there were only two Cerberus operatives." Shepard thought back to the assault, Jacob and Kasumi had been two more friends he had failed. He knew it would continue like that, it was the realities of war, but loosing close friends always struck him hard.

And it is only one person in the galaxy that can calm down my nerves, and she isn't here.

Shepard snapped out of it and continued evenly, "I need a good team; they were the best I've worked with."

Hackett reasoned that Shepard had a point and did not what to push the issue in regards to Shepard's sudden emotional change, "Commander, I'm not going to turn down help, do whatever it takes."

Shepard saluted the superior officer, "Roger that, sir."

"The Normandy will be attached to the Fifth Fleet's Naval Scout Flotilla, you'll receive orders from me, Commander, but will likely operate alone behind enemy lines and carry out special missions vital for the war effort."

"Copy that, Admiral."

Hackett nodded satisfied, "I'll be in touch, Hackett out."

The holographic communicator shut down and Shepard turned around and entered the circular shaped War Room and saw Liara waiting near the centrally located holographic war table. In the ceiling electrical wiring was hanging down, the War Room and the Conference Room was far from finished, but it would do the job, it would be the command center for the continuing fight against the Reapers.

Liara could see Shepard's sorrowful expression, his shoulders was slumped now after that Hackett had cut communications. "John?"

Shepard did not answer, his eyes were staring on the circular table in the center of the room, he was lost deep in thought.

"What about Ash?" Shepard asked, now meeting Liara's eyes.

"I've done what I can for her, the automatics are administering drugs and keeping check on her vitals, but she needs proper medical attention."

Only if we had Chakwas aboard, thought Shepard, then Ashley would have been in good hands.

"The Admiral is right, isn't he? It will get worse."

"If we don't stop the Reapers, then yes, but even so this war will be hard."

"The device, it could be the solution. If we can build it."

"Yeah," Shepard answered dismayed.

"But I sense that you don't believe it."

"You did not see what they're doing on Earth. How can this weapon solve that?"

"That's not exactly the reassuring words I got from you on Mars." Liara observed sympathetic. "You look tired, John."

"I am." Shepard answered truthfully.

"Thinking of Miranda?"

"Thinking of all those I've lost under my command. And Earth. The war."

"I did not mean to pry." Liara said apologetic.

"It's alright." Shepard said and gave her a tired smile.

"John, we don't have many options. You know we can't defeat them conventionally."

Shepard was silent for a long time. He tried to weigh in all the options, which were none actually. He remembered his little words to Liara back in the security station. She was right; if they fought the Reapers conventionally they would not last long, no matter how many fleets they brought into the war.

"It's worth a shot, isn't?" Liara was tormented by Shepard's depressed attitude. She did not really know what to do; Shepard had never acted like this before, not even when they went after Saren. Now he was tired, and the fire to fight was gone, he was broken.

Shepard noticed that his tired and depressed attitude was rubbing off on Liara, her question sounded as discouraged as his own thinking. But everything had come crashing down; Earth was being attacked, the Illusive Man was trying to advance his own twisted ideas and the Council would most certainly fail to act. But he did not need to drag his long-time friend down. He would do everything in his powers to stay the course; they needed to defeat the Reapers.

'We will blaze a path into battle for others to follow. Surrender is not in our creed!' Those were the words that his old drill Sergeant once shouted at him during his special operations training so many years earlier. He had too many things in his life that would be lost if they did not do anything, at least they would give the Reapers a hell of a fight. Maybe you should listen to your own speeches once in a while, John?

With a bit of renewed vigor Shepard told her, "Alright, make sure you can present our findings to the Council."

Liara gave him a small smile. "Of course. I'm sure the Council will see the need to help." Liara tried her best to be positive with Shepard.

Shepard wasn't so enthusiastic about the Council, he had worked with the old and remember how helpful they were, and the new was just as stubborn and narrow minded.

"It will be a hell of a short war if they don't. I'll check on Ashl-"

Liara interrupted Shepard and told him with a firm but concerned voice, "No, you don't. You are exhausted, John. You must sleep, it will take us about two days to get to the Citadel and we need you rested. Sleep till tomorrow and if anything changes with Ashley, I'll wake you."

Shepard looked at her tired, he was about to argue but sighed. He would not do much good fatigued. "Alright."

"Good, now go."

Shepard nodded and walked past her towards the exit and headed to the elevator. First he headed down to Miranda's old quarters on Crew Deck to gather the clothes Anderson had delivered. After that Shepard headed up to his own quarters to settle in there, placing the clothes in the closet and removing his armor before he went to bed.

Shepard slowly woke up from his sleep. The humming noise from the engines and the view of the stars through the window above him made him realize where he was. He smiled and slowly turned to the side to wrap his arms around the warm beautiful body next to him but he quickly found out that she was nowhere to be found. Shepard sighed and rolled back on his back and stared into the stars. That was the first time in many months that he had believed that she could be found next to him.

But at least he did not feel as exhausted as he did earlier, he actually felt rejuvenated. Shepard sat up and groaned tiredly.

In the large fish tank the aquatic life swam near the surface as the intricate VI feeding system dropped down food.

"EDI?"

"Yes, Commander?"

"Any changes with Ashley?" Shepard slipped out of the bed and began to dress.

"Third Lieutenant Williams is stable for the moment, but she is unconscious, the medical facilities of the Citadel should be sufficient to help her recover and they have been contacted. The Normandy and I are battle ready and fully operational, despite some minor esthetic interior flaws."

Shepard managed to smile at EDI's humor to ease the situation, "Understood, EDI. How about the data?"

"I've sent all information about the prothean device to Naval Command. The information is scarce but the protheans obviously never managed to complete it, apparently some sort of component was missing only referred to as 'Catalyst.' The surviving members of DEVCOM's Xenoarcheology Department have been assigned to work on the prothean data."

DEVCOM was the acronym for the Systems Alliance Navy Research and Development Command, which conducted a wide range of classified xenoarcheology studies, basic scientific research, applied research, technological development and prototyping.

"Catalyst?" Shepard pondered. He sighed tired, "No doubt this will take some detective work to figure out."

"Indeed," EDI agreed. "Orders regarding the Cerberus synthetic platform?"

Shepard put on a dark-blue shirt to go with his Alliance BDUs and thought for a few moments about what he should do about the synthetic and came to a conclusion. "I want the thing dismantled and ejected out to space as soon as possible."

"Of course. Commander?"

"Yes?"

"After your talk with Admiral Hackett, he gave us access to a small discretionary fund, an Alliance spending account; I've forwarded account privileges to you."

"Oh, thank you. I've to thank the Admiral later. How much money?"

"A little over 4 million credits."

Damn, you call that a small fund? "Okay, EDI, understood. Crew status?"

"The day shift is finished with their meals and are at their stations."

The Normandy had a day and night shift with personnel divided in different watches so posts were constantly manned by a number of crewmembers sufficient to fill all the watches, generally speaking a 24 hour day was divided into six 4 hour watches so everybody could rest and eat between watch duties. Crewmembers were also rotated so each crewmember wasn't stuck with the same watch every day and with so much automation via VIs or AIs some posts were not need to be manned round the clock. The pre-dominant number of crewmembers was assigned to day shift, unless something extraordinary happened, and there was always the possibility in case of emergency that both shifts worked at the same time.

"Well, thanks for telling me." He asked, "Are all you servers and files intact?"

"Yes, Commander. None of my servers were purged and I still retain all the information prior to when we turned ourselves in to the Alliance."

"Okay. And EDI, do I have an e-mail account?"

"Negative, Commander. Do you want me to create one?"

"Yes." Shepard was now fully dressed and walked up the stairs to the desk and sat down at the computer.

"Standby." There was a short moment of silence before the AI returned. "Account: John Shepard. Password: Spectre."

"Thanks, EDI. That will be all."

"Of course, Commander. Logging you out."

At the computer, Shepard went on to the extranet and logged into his private, civilian and non work related e-mail and quickly accessed the contact book of the ground team who had followed him to the Collector base, a few from the former team did not have any e-mail addresses but he quickly copied those that were present into his separate Alliance e-mail program, but left out Miranda's. He intended to write her a private message. He began writing the mass mail.

From: John Shepard

To: Garrus Vakarian, Zaeed Massani, Thane Krios, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Mordin Solus

Subject: Galaxy at war

They're here. We're facing war against a technological civilization far superior to our own. Yesterday, Earth was attacked, I was there and I escaped with the Normandy.

There are a lot of people back on Earth dying as we gather our strength; friends, family, parents and children, they're wondering if we're ever coming back; this isn't their fight, but they're buying us time with their lives.

The Reapers will hit every planet, every system and they will eradicate our civilizations. This is not about Earth; it's about the entire galaxy. The Alliance has an ambitious plan, it's our only plan and it might not work, but we can't beat them conventionally. We have to fight because we can't go down as all the other races before us. I won't go down.

I need a team; I need the one I brought through the Omega 4 Relay. We lost people then, and I can't promise that any of us will survive, but I'll do all I can to get you through this.

Commander John Shepard, Systems Alliance Navy

Commanding Officer SSV Normandy (SR-2)

Shepard sent the message through the extranet and stared into the monitor.

The words 'we lost people' stuck for a few moments.

Loosing people in combat was inevitable, but it was always difficult when you got close to them. Shepard had mourned the loss of lives, they were still on his mind, and their sacrifices would not be forgotten by him.

Shepard cleared his head and began writing his message to Miranda.

Roughly one hour and a quick shower later, Shepard stepped out of the elevator on the Crew Deck and walked to the mess hall where he found Vega alone, eating breakfast at one of the several large tables dotting the mess hall. He had a much more loose attire that morning, a white Alliance Marine Forces shirt and BDU pants.

"Morning, Vega." Shepard greeted.

"Sir," The Lieutenant rose from the table to salute, only to be waved off by Shepard.

"There's no need for that. I run my crews differently from others."

Vega nodded and sat down. "Okay, Commander."

Shepard eyed the tray on the table. "Judging from your tray, there's some food around?"

"Yes, but only basic stuff."

Shepard nodded and walked over to the kitchen and started to make himself some breakfast. The kitchen still looked familiar even if it had seen some upgrades, which included the staple of feeding Marines and sailors; the AutoChef. Depending on the size of the crew just one could be aboard a ship, or hundreds. It was about the size of a fridge, and it stood right next to one as well, the AutoChef was an automated food dispenser which mixed all the necessary ingredients placed in compartments to heat, bake, warm and mix whatever food or beverage ordered by the user. Whether or not it would be good depended on the ingredients used, if high grade ingredients were used what came out was quite delicious. But Shepard was acutely aware of the standards of military provisions, whether it was made via AutoChef or manually. He made a mental note to have real food ingredients ordered in the future so people could make real food. They deserved that. Shepard turned to the fridge and the cupboards above the counter and collected food stuff and a few minutes later he returned to the table and sat down in front of Vega. Shepard had warmed some chocolate and made some sandwiches to eat.

Vega asked, "How is Lieutenant Williams, is she gonna be alright?" Vega motioned with his head at the infirmary.

"Talked to EDI earlier, Ashley is stable but is in need of medical attention at the Citadel."

Vega nodded and the two sat in silence for a few minutes before Shepard broke the silence.

"I'm sorry for snapping back in the Cargo Bay after we left Earth."

Vega was taken aback by Shepard's comment. "Emotions were running high, sir, I was not any better."

Shepard nodded and took a sip from the last of his chocolate; he had finished his last sandwich a few moments earlier.

"You still want to be dropped off, or do you want to stay?" Shepard asked.

"I want to stay, you were right, we can't win this alone. We have to fight the Reapers, and they'll show up elsewhere than Earth."

"Good, I need another shooter James; we're down to three with Ashley wounded. That's not nearly enough for a ground team."

"You had twelve with you against the Collectors?"

"Yeah, I have sent out a mass mail to several of them and hopefully they'll join. If not, then we have to soldier on." Shepard said matter-of-factly.

"Okay. But I'm unsure about the Council."

"Speak your mind, LT."

"They've never really been fans of humanity." Vega said bluntly. "Not the old one and not this one."

"I know."

"I mean, we even have Councilor Udina, but-"

Shepard mumbled with venom, "Udina is an arrogant shit."

Vega was taken aback by the Commander, "Ah, okay…maybe I should tag along to the Council."

Shepard chuckled, "It won't be necessary."

"Okay. But what if they don't help us?"

"That's a real concern of mine as well, if the Council stonewall me I'll have to figure something out. Maybe if their worlds are attacked as well they might listen and be more forthcoming. But then again, that could lead to that they want to secure their own borders and not involve themselves with us. But in the end, the galaxy needs to be united or we're screwed to the wall." Shepard sighed; he hated politics, that's what led them here in the first place.

"Understood, Commander. If anyone can do it, it's you."

Shepard chuckled. "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime." Vega said and smiled.

Shepard turned serious, "James, before we hit the Citadel tomorrow, I need you to get us a lot of provisions and medical supplies from MOB Citadel."

"Yes sir."

"And weapons; assault rifles, battle rifles, SMG's, pistols, DMRs, sniper rifles, the lot. Anything and everything, multiples of each weapon system and spare parts."

"You got it."

"I'll give you access to my Alliance spending account." Shepard brought up his omni-tool and gave Vega access to the account. After he was done, Shepard teased, "You better not run of with it."

Vega chuckled. "I won't."

The Lieutenant activated his own omni-tool and quickly accessed the account; he was stunned at the amount of money on it. Madre de Dios! 4 million credits?

Shepard smiled at the surprised Vega, "Good."

Vega rose from the table with his tray in hand. "I better go online and do some recon on what they have on the MOB Citadel."

"You do that. Where do you stay on the ship?"

"In the Cargo Bay, there are some computers down there."

Shepard nodded and Vega walked away with his tray to the kitchen.

Shepard finished eating and left the mess hall after disposing his tableware in the dishwasher. He took the elevator up to the Normandy's Combat Information Center and strolled through it, a handful of enlisted Navy personnel were manning the workstations, supervised by an Ensign.

The enlisted and the Ensign saluted Shepard on his way to the cockpit, and Shepard saluted back.

The Combat Information Center was a large hall with plenty of screens and workstations crammed on every square centimeter of both walls, and auxiliary stations on the ceiling in case the mass effect generated gravity segment failed. In the middle of the CIC was a large holotank surrounded by workstations, and in the middle on the side to the elevator, a few steps led up to a platform overlooking the holotank. At the moment the holotank displayed a tactical representation of the Normandy, detailing the status of the ship, but the holotank and computer systems also doubled as an interactive holographic galaxy map displaying detailed information about clusters, star systems, planets and stars for the user, the ships commander, who could also plot a course for the ship's pilot.

Shepard approached the cockpit and called out, "Hey, Joker."

Joker turned his seat around via a haptic control interface on the seats armrests to face the Commander, "Morning, Commander."

Lieutenant Senior Grade Moreau had quite the reputation in the Navy, he had graduated from the Naval Academy at Arcturus Station in 2177 and attended flight school where his surly attitude had earned him the callsign Joker by his instructors. And his often laid back and deadpan attitude in the years after flight school fit the callsign as he usually spurted out jokes, good and bad. But he could be very professional as he was unflappably cool under fire, and it was in combat he had made his name. He had been flying D-79TC Pelican dropships for the Navy right after flight school in 2179 and had ferried troops during Operation Rhino which had started one year earlier. Operation Rhino had been a major military operation in the planning since the Skyllian Blitz in 2176, it was primarily in retaliation for Hegemony-backed attacks on human colonies such as Elysium in 2176 and Mindoir in 2170.

Joker's baptism of fire had been during Operation Rhino and his exploits were legendary as he had flown missions deep behind enemy lines to infiltrate troops searching for pirate bases, as well as carrying out daring air support duties and exfiltrations. Coincidentally, Shepard had participated in Operation Rhino with special operations as it had been an operation spanning across the Terminus Systems, the Attican Traverse as well as fringe worlds to Batarian Space, but neither Shepard nor Joker had ever crossed paths. A few years later Joker had been ordered to transition from dropships to frigates – which the pilot had found odd – and in 2183 he was transferred to the new, experimental SSV Normandy, and Joker had learned that his transition orders had been issued from then-Captain Anderson who had heard about Joker's exploits during Operation Rhino.

"How are you doing, Joker? It has been frantic since leaving Earth, not much time to talk."

"Fine, it feels great being aboard her again. And these seats! Still leather." Joker smiled and moved enthusiastically around in the seat to emphasize his statement.

Shepard mocked scolded Joker, "Priorities, Joker. Lets' behave, we are with the Alliance now."

Joker sighed, "Fine. Civilian comfort by design you know and I'm amazed that the Alliance kept them."

"Well, if it works, don't fix it."

Joker asked concerned, "How's Ashley?"

"Unconscious, not much else we can do then administer basic aid without a doctor aboard."

"Yeah," Joker replied glum. "I hope she makes it."

"She's tough…" Shepard mused low.

He said quietly, "I never got around to thank Anderson for the reinstatement. Very gracious of him."

"Let's hope we get in touch with him again." Shepard asked curiously, "So, how has time treated you?"

"Fine. But it was boring as hell." Joker grinned and quipped, "You don't want to get on EDI's bad side; she's crafty now after I removed her shackles."

Shepard gave Joker a puzzled look before EDI's projection showed up on the AI console.

EDI explained methodically, "By our jointly developed ruse, Shepard, I was able to deceive the Alliance for a short time. The few Cerberus crewmembers who decided to defect to the Alliance didn't reveal that I was an AI either, so for some time the Navy engineers believed I had the limitations of a VI, thus I created a fiction that I could only respond to Jeff's commands so he was often brought aboard, under guard. However this ruse didn't last for long as the retrofit proceeded, eventually the more knowledgeable Navy engineers understood I was an AI."

Shepard nodded, "Yeah, when I was able to talk with Hackett and Anderson they pulled some strings to let you be."

"I appreciate that, Shepard," EDI said grateful. "I'm sure the Alliance would have entertained the idea to shut me off otherwise, the Normandy is after all still fully functional whether I'm active or not, but I never presented a threat to anyone and I was always of assistance. Suffice to say, work on the Normandy worked a lot smoother with my assistance. On a pragmatic side, I guess the Alliance was ecstatic to have access to a Cerberus AI and my servers that they elected to keep me active. That and my anti-Reaper capabilities."

"A wealth of information, especially your anti-Reaper capabilities," Shepard mused. "Good to see you two again. I'll talk to you later."

Joker nodded and turned his seat around to his interface, "You got it, Commander."

"Goodbye, Shepard," EDI said. Her holo disappeared.

Shepard had left the cockpit and returned the CIC and walked past the Galaxy Map. He intended to head return to Captain's Cabin, he had a lot of work to do. He was going to familiarize himself with duty rosters, progress reports on the ship's status, reading intelligence and war briefs and hopefully start writing a report on the Mars mission. It would be a full day's work.

He suddenly stopped in his tracks as a young dark haired woman near the Galaxy Map interrupted his thoughts. She saluted Shepard as he rounded the Galaxy Map for the elevator, "Commander, I'm Specialist Samantha Traynor. Communications Specialist. "

Shepard returned the salute, "Specialist. What can I do for you?" The young brunette's accent gave away her origin; London, Shepard wondered if she had relatives back there.

Traynor just noticed that the Commander looked like he was in a rush, "I'm sorry, sir, I thought I could talk to you, but if you are in a hurry…"

Shepard gave her a friendly smile and waved away her comment, "No, it's alright. Who are you?"

Traynor smiled back, she had heard off hand rumors of Shepard's way of commanding his crew, and she was pleased that the rumors appeared to be true.

"I was part of the joint-Navy team that retrofitted the Normandy. But I have family roots from Earth," Traynor turned silent and distraught of what was happening on Earth, in London and the thought of all those dying. Luckily her parents were not on Earth.

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Thank you Commander." Traynor sighed, "I'm used to be working in a lab, and I never thought I would be serving on a war ship."

Shepard thought it was best to occupy Traynor's mind with something else then the war for a few moments, "Why don't you tell me about the retrofits?"

Traynor was relieved to get her mind focused on something else, "Normandy is in line with Alliance specifications now, state of the art Quantum Entanglement Communicators. Admiral Anderson intended this to be his mobile command center."

Shepard nodded; "I know, he told me that." He remained impassive but wondered despondently what was happening on Earth now. It chilled his bones to think about the Reapers destroying his home world, and Anderson was right in the middle of it.

Traynor continued, "In any event, sir, I'm honored to be serving with you. At least for as long as you need me, I was only here to be part of the retrofit."

EDI interrupted them through the intercom, "Specialist Traynor has been very effective during installation, and there are still some systems that require further testing. Keeping her aboard would be a wise decision. I would prefer that she remained here."

"Got it, EDI."

Traynor murmured, "You know, she tricked us for a short while, Commander. Deceiving everyone that she was some advanced VI. Her hardware not to be trifled with. Then some of the engineers became suspicious, shortly after that we was briefed on EDI, Admiral Anderson seemingly assured us it was nothing to worry about."

Shepard nodded genially, "I'm aware of that, Specialist."

Traynor said annoyed, "I knew Joker had been lying. Or at least suspected as much."

"Commander Shepard requested that I pretend to be a VI for as long as possible in order to protect myself until Shepard could talk to admirals Hackett and Anderson so they could use their influence to ensure my safety. I apologize for the deception."

Traynor smiled, "I understand EDI." She blushed a bit, "And I apologize for those times I talked about…" Traynor cleared her throat flustered, "How attractive your voice was."

Shepard joked, "Well, if EDI wants you aboard, I better comply. I know better than second-guess the AI; she could open the air lock or something."

"No Commander, I would only forget to recycle Normandy's oxygen."

"You see?" Shepard smiled amused at their banter. He continued evenly, "I should go, I have things to attend to Specialist, but we can talk later if you want."

"Of course Commander, it was nice chatting with you." Traynor turned to her station.

Shepard headed for the elevator and took down to the Engineering Deck and strolled towards the engine room and found Lieutenant Senior Grade Gregory Adams hovering over a workstation.

Shepard approached Adams and greeted cordial, "Long time no seen, Adams."

The engineer turned to Shepard and greeted, "Hello, Commander, indeed it has."

"Welcome to the Normandy," Shepard said and the two men shook hands.

"Thanks, Commander. It's good being here again, although SR-2 is much larger."

"Yeah, Cerberus expanded it and I prefer this one actually. Although the original Normandy will always be a special ship."

Adams nodded approvingly, "I agree Commander, but this ship is incredible, I can honestly say that Cerberus knows how to build ships despite my feelings for them."

"So, what are you up to, Adams?"

"When the Navy was about to start the retrofits I was assigned to be in charge of the work on the drive core. My days on the SR-1 made me an obvious choice they said, but the Tantalus-core and this engine," Adams gestured to the drive core, "is totally different. But I never said no to a challenge." Adams continued amazed, "This drive core is twice the size, this ship can fly, I'll tell you that. And the stealth system? Amazing, we can drop out of FTL without every sensor in range detecting us. And we can loiter far longer to."

"Yeah, it's a great ship," Shepard agreed. "Hackett or Anderson probably pulled some strings to get you here," Shepard mused.

"Probably Commander." Adams took a breath and shamefully looked down on the floor. "Regarding Cerberus, I want to apologize."

Shepard looked at Adams puzzled, "Why?"

Adams looked up glum, "Back when they were preparing for the mission against the Collectors, Karin contacted me and asked if I wanted to join. But I couldn't. I'm Alliance Navy at heart, and I just didn't believe what I heard, that you were back. I asked myself if it was really you. I couldn't trust Cerberus. I'm sorry I didn't have your back."

Shepard shrugged, he held no grudge towards Adams, "It's alright, we had an excellent team of engineers and managed just fine. You can make good now instead."

"Thanks, Commander," Adams said with a smile. "I'm glad to serve with you again."

Shepard grinned, "And what do you think of the all-seeing and all-hearing AI?"

Adams chuckled, "Well, I got to know her during the retrofit. It was a little strange at first talking with an AI, but it worked out. She tried to mask herself as a VI for a while, but a bunch of us engineers became suspicious after a while and I saw through that. I mean that processing power is of the charts, and problems kept fixing themselves." Adams exclaimed dumbstruck, "I swear, I thought I was going mad for a moment before I caught up."

Shepard nodded, "She's handy."

"Yeah, Joker seems to trust her so I guess it's alright. Admiral Anderson vouched as well."

EDI chimed in, "You didn't express any skepticism, Lieutenant Adams."

Adams shrugged, "I figure I play it safe with the Cerberus AI. No offense."

"None taken. Logging you out."

Shepard asked, "Is your family alright?"

Adams nodded relieved, "Yes. My parents are on an Alliance agricultural ship – the Viridian Zenith – and my sister serves as a navigator on the Benjamin Davis. Both ships are safe and under Admiral Hackett's command."

"Glad to hear that, Lieutenant," Shepard said sincerely. "I should go, but I'm glad you're making yourself comfortable."

"Thank you, Commander, I'll see you around."

"Likewise Lieutenant."

Shepard left Engineering and rode the elevator up to the Captain's Cabin. He would spend most of the day in his quarters working hard, war reports had been coming in all day, the turian planet Taetrus was the first attack on turian space. Arcturus Station was lost. Earth's Comm buoys, GPS and communications satellites had been wiped out alongside Alliance ships and orbital defense stations around Earth. Military installations, industrial centers and entire cities had been wiped out. The Alliance had also labeled the batarian husks as 'Cannibals' considering they devoured their own. Alliance Intelligence theorized from combat reports that the Reaper creatures were able to grow new chitinous armor from the biochemical process of devouring their own.

It was a somber read.

Before dinner he also visited the infirmary to check up on Ashley, but she was still unconscious. After a long day Shepard finally turned in for the night.

Two days after leaving Earth the Normandy finally emerged in a shimmering blue glow from the Widow System's relay in the Serpent Nebula where the Citadel was located. Joker piloted the frigate past the Citadel Fleet's choke points and defense grids where normally arriving and departing ships had to be inspected but with military clearance the Normandy didn't need to be subjected to any screening process and boarding inspections. After a fifty minute flight from the relay the Normandy finally docked at Docking Bay D24 on the Presidium. Electromagnetic clamps secured the frigate and a docking tube connected to the ship's airlock.

The Citadel Fleet was a massive joint species fleet of asari, salarian and turian ships poised to protect the Citadel. For over five hundred years the asari dreadnought Destiny Ascension had been the fleet's flagship, but during the Battle of the Citadel in 2183, when a indoctrinated Saren Arterius, his geth Heretic compatriots and the Reaper Sovereign attacked the Citadel to unleash the Reapers, the Ascension was lost when the Systems Alliance Navy's Fifth Fleet focused its attention on destroying Sovereign instead of aiding the besieged Ascension which was destroyed by geth Heretic ships. The entire crew of 10 000 Asari Republican Navy personnel perished alongside the Citadel Council which had been evacuated to the Ascension when the geth attacked. The asari dreadnought Bireme had replaced the Ascension in 2184 as the fleet's flagship. And now with human and turian planets under attack, the fleet was on high alert.

The Citadel was the cultural, economic and political center of the galaxy. With the five massive 43.6 kilometers long arms protruding from the central 7.2 kilometer ring it resembled a pentagram. Since the establishment of the Citadel Council almost 14 million people had made the space station their home. To defend the station it could close up its arms and form a long cylindrical tube. Thick protective slides – the entire station was made of the same material as that of the mass relays – in the front and in the back of the station would slide in place and close the Citadel. It would take days of concentrated fire to break through.

After docking with the Presidium a medic team from the Huerta Memorial Hospital had rushed in with a stretcher to Docking Bay D24. Shepard, Liara and Vega slowly trailed the medic team as they left the airlock into the waiting lobby of the docking bay. The medic team rushed through the waiting lobby and curious people looked at the unconscious Ashley on the stretcher.

Shepard stopped in the lobby and looked on as the medic team passed through a security checkpoint and scanner towards the elevator lobby at the end of the hallway. Vega and Liara hovered near Shepard.

"We're not going with them?" Vega asked curious.

"It's best to let the doctors at Huerta get Ashley stabilized with us out of the way," Shepard said quietly.

"And we will need to talk to the Council," Liara interjected.

"Right," Vega nodded.

Shepard looked at the medical personnel leaving in one of several elevators that would take them to the hospital. He was concerned about Ashley and the last thing he wanted was to head up to the Council.

Shepard saw a human C-Sec officer walk through the security checkpoint and head straight towards Shepard and his entourage. Shepard recognized the man, he sported grey hair, cut to military standard and a hard face with a chiseled chin, no doubt the man had seen his fair share of horrors as a police officer. It was Armando-Owen Bailey, the C-Sec officer Shepard had dealt with the year before during various investigations and missions on the Citadel. Bailey was a non-nonsense police officer who Shepard liked, he was easy to work with and had surprisingly helped a lot the year before. He might have been a little loose with the rules, but so was Shepard. The world was never black and white, instead it was more grey.

Vega noticed the uniformed middle-aged man walking towards them from checkpoint.

"It seems the Council is coming for you." Vega said.

"It seems so," Shepard said. At least one friendly face, Shepard thought.

"Commander Shepard, I got word that you were arriving," Bailey said friendly.

Shepard walked over to the C-Sec officer and they shook hands. "Bailey, good to see you."

"You too, but it is 'Commander' now." Bailey said dull about his rise in rank and duties.

Shepard noticed the dull tinge in Bailey's voice.

"Congratulations?" Shepard asked confused.

"Thanks." Bailey responded almost sarcastically. He shook his head, "Now everything I do is to escort VIPs and dealing with political bullshit." Then it struck Bailey that Shepard and his friends were just that, VIPs. Bailey respected Shepard and felt that it was a poor choice of words. "No offense."

Shepard waved it off, "None taken. You are here to escort us to the Council?"

"I was notified of your arrival, and the Council wanted me to say that they are expecting you. But they have their own problems now with the war." Bailey said trite, "They apologize for the inconvenience and blah blah blah. You are expected at the Council Chambers. They will be ready soon enough."

"All right." Shepard.

"I think you will have time to check on your friend at Huerta at first, though. They're still discussing things internally." Bailey rolled his eyes, "And you know how long that might take."

"Thanks, Bailey. I'll do that."

Liara interjected. "John, you can go ahead and I'll meet you at the chambers."

Bailey turned to Liara, "I can have one of my men show the way."

Liara smiled, "Thanks, but I know the way, Commander."

"Of course," Bailey replied. He turned his attention to Vega. "And you?"

Vega shook his head. "Thanks, Commander, but I'm a tourist today and have some assignments to carry out. I will try my best not to get into any trouble."

Liara turned to Vega, "We can share elevator, Lieutenant."

"On your lead," Vega said friendly and gestured down the security checkpoint and the hallway leading to an elevator.

"I'll see you two later," Shepard said.

Liara and Vega said their goodbyes and left for the security checkpoint and the elevator lobby.

Bailey was about to say something to Shepard when he was interrupted by a voice in his earpiece, it was one of his C-SEC aides. "Commander Bailey, I got a situation in the embassy quarters, I could need your help."

Bailey sighed. "Alright, I'll be there."

"What was that?" Shepard asked.

"My other half of the job. I got to go now, Shepard, but I'll see you around."

"No doubt." Shepard said as the C-SEC Commander rushed through the holographic barrier of the processing checkpoint.

Shepard was about to leave to the elevator lobby as well when he was interrupted by a woman's voice from behind.

"Commander Shepard?"

Shepard turned to the direction of the voice. He saw a black haired woman in her mid-twenties with a floating camera over her shoulder. She had a white low cut outfit with the Alliance logo on it.

"Yes?"

"Diana Allers, Alliance News Network." She gave him a professional smile and extended her hand.

But Shepard watched her, and the camera, cautiously and did not shake her hand.

Not another news reporter, Shepard complained to himself.

Allers slowly retracted her hand and cleared her throat. She had never expected this to be easy considering Shepard's strained relationship with the news media, "I think we can help each other."

Oh, this will be good. Shepard braced for another attempt at a smear interview and crossed his arms, "I suppose you want an interview."

"Oh no Commander, I got an even better idea. I'm a military news reporter on a show called 'Battlespace." Allers explained, "We're carried on almost all planets in Citadel Space. My producers want me embedded on an Alliance warship, and I want that ship to be the Normandy." She tilted her head at the ship docked behind them and smiled at the Commander.

Shepard rolled his eyes and shook his head, "That's not going to happen."

Allers lifted her arms to stop him from talking and thinking. "But wars can be won in the editing room. I got military clearance and you get veto over any segment."

"No." Shepard said plain and simple. "Find another ship." Shepard turned around and walked away from the reporter before she could say anything.

Shepard left through the security checkpoint and down the corridor to the elevator lobby. There were several elevators there and a few were in use, either going or leaving. Shepard looked at the interfaces to find an empty elevator and entered. He decided to leave for Huerta before heading to the Council Chambers punched in the hospital on the elevator interface.

The door closed with a hiss and the elevator started to move down the length of the Presidium.

In the elevator's speakers a human male newscasters talked about the current news developing around the galaxy.

"In an apparent bid for self-preservation, the entire raloi delegation has left the Citadel. In parting, Representative Ari'ka said, "We have no wish to battle those who have yet to wrong us, nor have we the capability." The raloi plan to destroy all artificial satellites and observation equipment they currently have in orbit. They say the Reapers will see them as a pre-spacefaring civilization and spare their planet. The raloi species made first contact with the asari, and were formally welcomed into the galactic community last year."

Shepard mused sarcastically, that's going to work out well for them.

Eventually the elevator stopped at Huerta Memorial Hospital and the door opened and revealed a large patient lounge which was surprisingly almost void of people with the exception of a hand full of doctors and visitors. The war had probably not reached the hospital yet.

Shepard quickly raced through lab services and arrived at the patient wing.

In the patient wing, Shepard noticed two doctors talking to each other near a doorway leading further into the hospital, and to his surprise, one of them was Doctor Chakwas, and Shepard walked up to the two doctors.

"Doctor Chakwas?"

Chakwas turned to see Shepard and greeted him with a smile, "Hello, Commander."

"I didn't know you were working here?" Shepard did not expect to meet his old ship doctor on Huerta.

The other doctor, a male, walked away to leave the two of them alone.

Doctor Karin Chakwas was in her mid sixties, and a harsh military life made her look a bit older then what her age really suggested. Considering the advances in health science, medical care and a much healthier food and lifestyle humans lived longer and it wasn't until when you reached roughly 100 years of age when you started to age and leave your prime age of looking young and having a very active life. But it wasn't unheard of that people aged earlier because of a harsh lifestyle.

Chakwas had a short dark grey hair with piercing eyes and had seen a lot in her decades of service to the Alliance military. She was a trauma surgeon and held the rank of Captain in the Systems Alliance Navy. Chakwas had enlisted in the early days of the Alliance right after the Mars discoveries because she was seeking exotic adventures. Her military career began in 2150 as an Ensign in the Systems Alliance Navy Medical Corps through a scholarship program while she had been a medical student at the University of St. Andrews School of Medicine in St. Andrews, Scotland. She graduated in 2153 with a Doctor of Medicine and received a commission as a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Chakwas had served the last 33 years at various billets across both the Navy and the Marine Forces. She had been battalion surgeon part of forward deployed ground forces fighting in the First Contact War as well as during the anti-pirate campaigns and the anti-terrorism/anti-insurgency campaigns in the 2160s and 2170s, she had also been deployed aboard starships leading the trauma and surgeon departments, and she had been the Head of the Surgeon Department of Naval Hospital Arcturus before she had eventually been assigned to the SSV Normandy (SR-1) in 2183.

"No, I'm working at the medical facilities at our Citadel base," Chakwas explained. Her smile disappeared, "I heard that you escaped Earth and that there was someone critically wounded. I came as fast as I heard the Normandy had docked, I'm sorry about Williams."

"Yeah, Ashley was injured by a Cerberus synthetic on Mars. How is she doing?"

"She's doing well considering, and I'm impressed with Third Lieutenant Williams' resilience. I'm sorry I was not with you, I could have helped Williams."

"Yeah, me to. It's been six months, Doc. How have you been?"

"Good. When they impounded the Normandy, I was interrogated just as you but they were not as interested in me as in you, and no doubt Admiral Hackett pulled strings to get me cleared as soon as possible."

Shepard faintly smiled, "It's good being friends with the CNO."

"Exactly." She chuckled grim, "But I suppose if you had been judged to be a war criminal, I would have been dragged right along."

"I appreciate that you were with me during the Collector mission. Where's Ashley?"

Chakwas motioned with her hand, "In the room behind me."

Shepard looked through the window and saw someone in the bed. "Thanks. Karin, you're place is on the Normandy, not in some lab. I'd very much like you to join me."

Chakwas gave him a warm smile, "I couldn't agree more."

Shepard smiled back, "Good, we're docked at docking bay D24, get your things and get there. We will stay for a few hours I think so no rush, not that I have any mission objectives yet."

"Yes, Commander, and thank you."

"Don't thank me yet, Joker's still aboard." Shepard teased.

Chakwas shook her head. "And I'd be surprised if he had remembered taking his medications. I'll see you on the Normandy, Commander." Chakwas gave him a nod and walked away; she would return to the Alliance base to collect her things.

Shepard turned and walked through the door to the room and saw Ashley on the bed in hospital clothes. Shepard slowly walked to the bed and stared at Ashley.

"You got pretty banged up back on Mars, Ash. You had me worried." Shepard told the unconscious woman, he had no idea why he was talking out loud or if she could even hear him. But he felt the need to get a few things of his chest.

"I just wanted to check in on you, see how you were doing. Despite our infighting, it's good to see you; it brings back a couple of great memories." He sighed, "Memories seems to be all you and I have left."

Shepard heard the door slid open behind him, a doctor walked in; it was the same doctor that had been talking to Chakwas.

"Get some rest, Ash, and when you feel better I'll come back when you are awake. We'll talk."

Shepard turned to the doctor. "You need anything, call me, doc."

"Uh, of course. I'll see to that." The doctor said, slightly flustered finding Commander Shepard in Huerta.

Shepard punched in a few buttons on his omni-tool and sent his contact information to the doctor whose omni-tool chirped receiving the information. Shepard gave the doctor a friendly nod and walked out of the room, stopping at the door and gave Ashley one last look before the door closed.

I'll see you soon.

Shepard had arrived at the Council Chambers and met up with Liara in one of the antechambers before walking up all the stairs. He had not been in these chambers for over three years now, but it all looked the same. Liara and Shepard stopped on the extended catwalk in front of the podium where the Council already was in session.

The turian Councilor, Quentius, was speaking with Udina, "Councilor, the Reapers are in our space as well. Earth is no more or less unfortunate than any other Council world."

"But Earth was the first Council world attacked; our reports suggest that we face the brunt of the attack" Argued Udina.

The salarian Councilor, Esheel, interjected, "How do you know that it's the case? New Reaper fronts are opening up everywhere."

"The reports are accurate." Shepard said, the councilors turned their attention to the Commander. "Earth was attacked; it is a full scale invasion, and indeed, the rest of the galaxy will soon follow."

The councilors, even Udina, were silent, watching Shepard on the catwalk.

Shepard continued, "And it's just the beginning, we need to amass an effective defense and counter the Reapers. They'll just push forward, taking world after world the longer we do nothing."

"Earth maybe suffering, but the turians have lost Taetrus. The asari and the salarians need to bolster our own defenses." Irissa, the asari Councilor, said.

Udina was getting impatient, his world was burning, and the aliens were stalling. Shepard had been right all along, he conceded bitterly, although he would never admit that. Udina snapped emotionally, "We must fight this enemy together!"

Irissa told Udina in a sharp tone, "Need I remind you that the last time we fought the Reapers, the previous Council was sacrificed to protect human interests."

"The previous Council was sacrificed so the Fifth Fleet could focus on Sovereign," Udina replied vexed by the accusations. He decided to be more diplomatic and said evenly, "And in the end we survived because we followed Shepard's lead."

Shepard was taken aback by Udina's comment.

He must be getting desperate if he defends me. That bastard, it took the invasion of Earth for him to listen to me.

Quentius' mandibles twitched and he reflected on Udina's words and then turned to Irissa, "And what if that's not enough this time?"

Irissa sighed and looked at Udina and countered, "If we throw everything we have at the Reapers on Earth and loose, what then?"

Shepard intervened and told the councilors, "Earth is the latest to be conquered – as is Taetrus – and more worlds will follow. I don't expect anyone to follow the Alliance haphazard in fighting the Reapers."

"So what do you suggest?" Irissa asked dubiously.

"Before we left Sol System we stopped a Cerberus raid on a research facility on Mars," Shepard explained. "A Cerberus synthetic managed to download blueprints for a prothean device, a super weapon, which they designed with intent on destroying the Reapers. We cannot say if Cerberus has those prothean plans but we managed to intercept the synthetic and have downloaded the prothean data which is now in the hands of Alliance Naval Command. We're working on the assumption that Cerberus have knowledge about the plans."

Liara stepped forward, "Councilors, frankly, this is all we got at the moment."

Esheel was perplexed, "And this is capable of destroying the Reapers?"

"So it would seem," Liara replied. "But we're unsure what the weapon does at the moment, Alliance scientists are working to decipher the data into a format we can understand."

Irissa was not impressed, "It's a fool's errand, and the protheans were wiped out by the Reapers. Clearly the weapon is flawed."

"It was incomplete." Liara explained. "From a cursory glance we've learned that there was a missing component, something referred to as the 'Catalyst'. They ran out of time."

Shepard interjected, "We don't know much more than that, and the Alliance is busy translating the database at the moment so we can learn what this weapon is and what the missing component is."

"Do you believe in this, Shepard?" Quentius asked concerned. "After what you have seen of the Reapers?"

Shepard turned somber, "It sure as hell beats standing around here and arguing about it. And Udina's right, we need to stand together, now more than ever. The Reapers won't stop at Earth; they will destroy every organic being in the galaxy if we don't find a way to stop them."

The alien councilors said nothing, they watched each other, gauging each other for an understanding until Esheel shook her head.

Udina barely showed any emotion in front of his counterparts, but he was not happy.

Irissa turned to Shepard, she spoke just as superior as the asari race saw themselves, "At the moment the Council cannot commit to the Alliance's plan and give you the military support needed. Our own planets and systems must be defended." Irissa continued coldly, "Frankly the Alliance is bound by the Citadel Charter to turn over any and all prothean artifacts to the Council."

"To do what with?" Shepard countered. "Hand it over to Council-members that are hesitant to join the war effort? To study while the Reapers are encroaching on our planets?" He snorted snarky, "Will you even commence the building of the device or will you just commission a group to talk about it?" Shepard shrugged, "This is something you have to take up with Councilor Udina and Fleet Admiral Hackett."

Udina glanced at the councilors and declared, "Humanity will not sit idly by, councilors. We will fight even if alone and if this device is the only option the Alliance will research it with or without the rest of the Council."

"This is unprecedented!" Irissa said vexed. "The Alliance is in contempt of the Council Charter, we can revoke your status -!"

Quentius intervened with a commanding voice, "Councilor Irissa, fragmenting the Citadel Council-members will gain us nothing. Frankly, I'm sure that's what the Reapers would want. Have us bickering while they destroy us." He stressed calmly, "Divide and conquer is a concept we turians know intimately about."

Esheel said diplomatically, "I'm not enthusiastic about this, letting one member race have these files, but Quentius speaks the truth; the Citadel Council cannot falter now."

"We're not excluding you from the device," Udina stressed. "But the Alliance Armed Forces will be on the offensive to fight the Reapers and eject them from Earth and the galaxy."

Irissa glared and spat, "You're holding the artifacts hostage, Udina!"

"The Hierarchy is in favor of the Alliance working on the device," Quentius revealed.

Shepard blinked and looked at the turian. He was visibly unflappable, but on the inside he was thoroughly surprised by this and wondered what was going on. There had to be a reason, and Shepard suspected that reason was Palaven.

"Have you even talked with your government before making such a statement, Quentius? Have you talked with the Primarch?" Irissa asked flabbergasted by this stance.

"Palaven is under attack, I'm in constant communication with Unified Command on Palaven," Quentius replied determined. "We still have a somewhat functioning comm buoy system thanks to our military's bravery."

Esheel considered Udina's words, and Quentius' words, and said, "We are convening a summit amongst our species, if we can secure our own borders, we might be able to help you with the device, Councilor Udina, but only if these plans appear to be viable."

"Our fleets are preoccupied with bolstering our defenses." Irissa explained through gritted teeth, she was simmering. "Honesty is all I can offer. I will not make a promise of support of the Alliance's plan I can't keep. I have to talk with the Circle."

The Circle compromised twenty influential matriarchs, called the Matriarchs of the Circle, which were part of the Asari Republics' legislature and was based in the asari capital Serrice on their homeworld Thessia.

The three alien councilors walked away, leaving Udina alone, he glanced at Shepard and Liara, "Shepard, meet me at my office later. Alone."

Udina turned to follow the other councilors.

When they were alone, Liara turned to Shepard who was leaning over the handrail. She spoke with a soft and concerned voice, "So, what do we do now, John?"

Shepard sighed and turned to her; he spoke in a mournful voice. "I don't know, Liara. I'm…it's just they're stalling." Shepard shook his head, "'Conveying a summit.' If these…alliances had been built earlier we would have been able to better respond."

"I know that, John. But at least Udina is supportive."

Shepard shrugged, "What good will that do?" Shepard mused, "That was an interesting spectacle though. Curious why Irissa and Escheel didn't stand up against Quentius' support of the Alliance keeping the plans."

"Maybe they don't want to risk losing that umbrella protection of turian fleets."

Shepard agreed, "Could be." He continued annoyed, "Or they wish for the data to be researched but this way they don't have to throw any of their own resources on it."

Liara wanted to give Shepard a friendly hug, something to make him happier, something to stop his sudden anger. They had been close friends during the hunt for Saren, but now, after she had assumed the role of an information broker, she was much more protective, introverted maybe, she had forgotten a bit what it was like having friends and what to properly say when they were in distress.

She watched Shepard in silence for a few more moments as he stood with arms crossed and looking down on the floor, "I'll go back to the Normandy and see what I can offer the Alliance. Go talk to Udina and see what happens, alright?"

Shepard nodded and gave her a faint smile. "Sure."

Shepard walked out of the elevator and was standing in the lobby at the Citadel embassies. There were not a lot of people in the lobby at the moment; only a handful was occupying the hall. He followed the sign which directed him to the human embassies up the stairs. On his left he saw the C-SEC sign on the wall to the offices of Commander Bailey.

Udina had probably not arrived yet, Shepard thought. Regardless, he felt he needed to clear his head and thought that talking to Bailey could be interesting. Shepard opened the door and went into the spacious office. He saw Bailey sitting at a table, talking with a woman.

Crap!

He recognized her almost immediately; it was Khalisah al-Jilani, the slandering reporter that had ambushed him a few times over the years. He stopped at the door.

"There's no antihuman conspiracy here, Ms. Al-Jilani." Bailey insisted. "The Council is simply not granting interviews at this time." Bailey noticed someone coming through the door and acknowledged Shepard with a small nod.

Al-Jilani was standing in front of the desk with crossed arms, agitated about Bailey's refusal for letting her interview the Council. "My viewers are going to know that C-SEC and the Council are denying them access."

Bailey shook his head, "Listen, lady, you think I like playing gatekeeper between the paparazzi and the politicians? I don't have time to babysit them and I'm not here to hold your hand."

Al-Jilani shrugged, "Well, I'm not leaving until I'm granted an audience."

"Be my guest, I hope you brought a sleeping bag."

Al-Jilani did not say anything and stormed away furiously from Bailey. Shepard stood aside and held the door open for her. Well out of the room, Al-Jilani turned angrily to Shepard, "Commander Shepard? Humanity has questions!"

The door closed shut and Shepard walked away towards Bailey.

"Damn press." Bailey said and shook his head.

"I see you are keeping the peace." Shepard stopped in front of Bailey.

Bailey snorted, "I feel like a glorified doorman."

"Most people would see it as a move up the ladder." Shepard reasoned.

"Wedged in here with all the suits? I rather be fighting crime in the wards. I appreciate the higher pay grade, but I'm not a political person."

"Then why did you take the job in the first place?"

"You don't say no to Councilor Udina." Bailey stopped for a moment and chuckled, "Well, maybe you would, but I gotta live here. I know, Squeaky wheels get the oil, but I did not lobby for a promotion like some officers do. "

"How did you get the job?"

"Udina has become a big shot around here, a lot of ambition. He suspected that Executor Pallin was conspiring against the Council and had me investigate. "

"You found anything incriminating?"

"Enough to arrest him. When we were to arrest him I was forced to kill him and then Udina rewarded me with a promotion and I'm not sure why he would pick me because of that. I guess you never know with politicians. I hate political BS."

Shepard agreed, "I'm not a fan of politics either. But don't lose your edge, you might need it." He thought the entire incident sounded shady, he knew Udina was an ambitious politician. He hadn't gotten to his position by being a push over. Udina was probably used to get his hands dirty to advance his own agenda.

Bailey sighed, "Its killing me about Earth."

"You and me both," Shepard replied somber.

Bailey said sorrowful, "I have not been back in years and now I may never. If this isn't the end of days, we're damn close."

"You have family on Earth?"

Bailey nodded and continued troubled, "Yeah, ex-wife somewhere, and a daughter and son, the kids live in Kirkland Lake in Ontario, Canada."

"I'm sorry, Bailey." Shepard told him sincerely.

"Yeah, I'm like everyone else, losing myself in things I can control. And that means creating the illusion of security here."

"You have a lot on your plate?"

"You can say that, with the Reapers tearing up the galaxy, the Council is in session all the time and diplomats are pleading their cases."

"Thought it would be calmer here."

"The war is felt everywhere, millions of people are being displaced, and most come here. It's putting a strain on my guys as I have to relocate them to Customs to screen and catalogue everyone coming here."

Shepard told him sober, "It will probably become worse before it gets better, Bailey."

"Yeah, if it ever does."

Shepard nodded, "I should go, I have a meeting with meet Udina."

"Right. Good luck."

"Thanks."

Shepard turned around and exited the office and walked down the hall to enter Udina's office. It was an exquisite office with tasteful lighting, just off the side of the entrance was Udina's secretary's cubicle, but in all fairness it was actually quite a spacious office with a table and a computer, certainly nothing to sneeze at. The chair was empty for the moment, the secretary was elsewhere.

Udina's office was a luxurious suite, the entire back wall overlooking the Presidium was all windows and skycars raced by in the distance. There was a short staircase leading down to the main floor where Udina was seated behind a large mahogany desk. The opposite wall of the desk was composed of bookshelves filled with hard copy books, and nestled in between the shelves was a large screen. Udina had a small lounge nearby with a lush cushion couch and two Art deco chairs. At the far end of the lobby was a door leading into Udina's personal QEC-room.

Udina saw Shepard enter and quickly rose up as Shepard strolled down the staircase.

"Shepard, they're a bunch of self-concerned jack asses!" Udina was furious about the Council's inept actions. "Humans may have a spot on the Council, but we're still second rate citizens!"

Shepard said indignantly, "Does not surprise me. How can they be so indecisive?"

Before Udina could say anything, the door opened behind Shepard, and Quentius walked in.

The turian Councilor was blunt, "Commander. I can't give you what you are asking for, but I can tell you how to get it." The turian walked down the staircase and approached Shepard and Udina.

"I'm listening," Shepard said evenly, but he didn't show that he was surprised to see the turian Councilor.

Quentius stood in front of the humans and explained the situation, "Palaven's Primarch, Fedorian, is the one that called for the war summit. He's your kind of man, open to extreme solutions."

Quentius slowly walked around the office as Shepard and Udina watched him and explained evenly, "The problem is, he did not get out of the system when the Reapers attacked yesterday, we don't even know if he is still alive." Quentius turned to the humans, "He is essential to the summit, if the Normandy can extract him without being detected. Several of our fleets are tied down, and our own stealth ships are either destroyed or tied down elsewhere and cannot be at Palaven anytime soon."

Shepard glanced at the Councilor and mused, "So rescuing the Primarch will be a step in the right direction, huh?" Getting allies together might be for the best considering the alternative, and the turians were militarily strong, they would be invaluable.

Quentius continued to explain calmly, "Yes, I'm trying to help you Commander. The summit will set forth our war strategy. Save the Primarch, gain an ally. An ally that can grant you the military forces you are looking for."

Shepard pointed out acerbic, "It is things like this which should have been established months or even years ago, Councilor. And now Earth and Palaven are being ravaged. And more is to come."

"The situation is what it is," Quentius simply said. He wasn't amused being on the receiving end of Shepard's 'I told you so'-lecture. He tilted his head at Udina, "Donnel is right, we need to work together and this is the best way to get that. Our intelligence says that Fedorian is on Palaven's largest moon, Menae. Get in and out undetected and he will take care of the rest. I'll get in touch with Palaven Command to inform them of the extraction and send you the necessary details. Do we have a deal?"

"Yeah, I'll get it done," Shepard said evenly.

Quentius nodded pleased, "Good. And good luck, Commander, you are going to need it." Quentius brought up his omni-tool and pressed a few buttons and explained, "There is one other thing, though. The Council has agreed to reinstate your Spectre status." "I'm sure it will come in handy, Commander. Good day." Quentius turned around and walked towards the door while Shepard and Udina stood in silence, watching the turian as he left the room.

"Well, that went well." Shepard commented dryly looking down on his own omni-tool that had activated when his Spectre status had been reinstated. Although he was happy being a Spectre again, it did give him some leeway in conducting his mission even if he had some limitations. Being a Spectre didn't mean he could move mountains though.

"It's a start," Udina said as he walked towards his office table and sat down on his chair, he chuckled darkly, "You know, when the old Council perished in the attack on the Citadel, I actually thought we would be able to get a proper position on the Council, advance human interests."

"Well, let's see it from their perspective, they don't like us," Shepard deadpanned and turned to Udina.

Udina spat in anger, "If we don't figure out something soon, Earth will be a mass grave of eleven billion people. And then all our colonies…"

"I know what I'm going to do. But what are you going to do?"

"Humanity have done some goodwill in the galaxy, it's time to cash in. I'll get us funding and materials and I'll spread a message; help humanity, help yourselves. I'll institute a draft in the colonies, I'll have civilian ships armed and I'll pour resources into this Prothean device."

"Did you know anyone on Earth?" Shepard asked, surprised that he was about to start what could be considered a civil conversation with Udina.

"Many, it's monstrous to think that they're being killed, but the part that gets me is Arcturus station. I knew everyone on the parliament on first name basis." He shook his head in frustration and looked down on the table.

"Any news from Earth?"

"Yeah, constant, but it is all bad. The Reapers are destroying our satellites, our old nuclear missile silos, everything that could be used against them. We have a few quantum entanglers spread out over the continents, all other communication is cut."

"I find it ironic that you don't have any pull on the Council."

Udina shrugged, "With Arcturus gone I'm the most powerful human in the galaxy – no, in human history - but you saw how little that meant today."

"Just see to that you deliver, and I'll do my part out there."

"You will need a carrot and a stick to drive a mule, but we have none of that now. Our fleets are tied down or fleeing, our comm buoys are gone and our economy is reduced to an IOU. But leave that to me."

Shepard nodded and worked hard to get the last words out of his mouth, something he never thought he would say to Udina, "Thanks."

Codex: Human Space Exploration

Humans have always been fascinated with space, and astronomy predates reliable recorded history, and it was in the early 20th century that the development of large rockets allowed physical space exploration. Since the dawn of human space exploration common rationales for it include advancing scientific research, human prestige, uniting different nations, ensuring the future survival of humanity, and developing military and strategic advantages against other countries or alien species.

Prior to the rockets of the 1940s, shells fired from the German long-range siege gun, the Paris Gun, reached at least 40 kilometers altitude during World War One. During World War Two, Germany put the first manmade objects into space while testing the V-2 rocket on October 3 1942. After the war limited suborbital rocket launches were made by the United States using German scientists and their captured rockets in both military and civilian programs, and in 1947 the Soviet Union, also with the help of German scientists, launched their own rockets into space. In the late 1950s the Soviet Union managed to launch the first satellites into Earth orbit, and in 1961, during the height of the First Cold War, the Russian Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space shortly followed by Alan Shepard, the first American in space.

In 1962 the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) was founded, and is considered the predecessor to the Earth Systems Alliance of today. UNOOSA's mission was to encourage international cooperation and research of outer space matters in a peaceful matter, banning nuclear weapons in space and limiting the use of the moon and other celestial bodies for peaceful purposes only.

After Neil Armstrong became the first human to set foot on another world in 1969 humanity dreamed about reaching further into space. But that dream was farfetched due to distance, technological issues, political indecisiveness and shrinking budgets. As Earth's over population and consumption of Earth's increased, proponents of space exploration pressed the matter for humanity's survival in the coming centuries. Thanks to private endeavors into space in the early 2000s followed by the Mars landings in the late 2030s, humanity's space exploration surged.

Space exploration progressed in the 21st century, and colonization operations required international cooperation and assistance in order to effectively conduct territorial expansion throughout the Sol System and in the 2040s the UNOOSA was dismantled in favor of the United Nations Space Exploration Agency which was formed by Earth's leading commercial space corporations with backing from government space organizations. The goal was to spearhead a colonization of Luna by the 100th year anniversary, and in 2069 humanity established its first colony on Luna named after Neil Armstrong. This spearheaded a massive colonization effort of Sol System and after several decades of manned and unmanned landings on Mars a permanent colony, Lowell City, was established in 2103 by the European Space Agency.

By the 2110s, human colonization of the Sol System was fully underway with colonies on Luna, the asteroid belt, the Jovian Moons and Mars which became major centers of science and industry which drove the goals of space exploration. Earth became more centralized and globalization progressed under the United Nations and space settlements increased substantially as Earth transitioned from Earth-based capitalism to post-industrial space capitalism.

In 2148, a mining team on Mars made perhaps humanity's greatest discovery. After investigating the "Bermuda Triangle-like" reputation of the southern pole, the team unearthed the subterranean ruins of an ancient alien research station, revealing incontrovertible proof of the existence of alien life. Humanity was no longer alone in the galaxy and this led to an "us versus them"-mentality in human politics. Humanity had to be united against potential alien intervention, a governing body that would represent humanity in all matters had to be established, and that meant that it was in humanity's best interest to make sure that Earth was united and that no member nations collapsed.

The UNSEA was dismantled by the United Nations Security Council, and the eighteen most powerful countries drafted plans for a new governing body in conjunction with the Security Council. Various treaties and agreements were signed, and several United Nations agreements on activities in outer space had to be cancelled, for instance weapons of mass destruction and militarization of space was now allowed. The Earth Systems Alliance was established in record speed in 2149.

After reverse engineering prothean technology leading to faster-than-light speed engines and uncovering the Charon Relay, the Alliance began a rapid campaign of expansion, establishing numerous colonies in the Local Cluster as well as reaching Arcturus System through the Charon Relay. Maintaining this expansion policy, the Alliance activated all the mass relays it could find to seek out new resources and possible colonies. In 2157 a scout fleet was trying to activate a mass relay and encountered a turian patrol fleet. Activating a dormant mass relay without knowing where it led had been declared illegal by the Council, though the humans did not know this, and the turian ships engaged the humans and one ship fled to Shanxi and the pursuing turians blockaded the colony. The First Contact War was a fact as human reinforcements from Arcturus evicted the alien occupiers.

After the Citadel Council intervened and negotiated a cease fire two years of negotiations followed after which humanity joined the Citadel Charter as an associate member race, giving the Systems Alliance access to new markets and technologies which enabled further space exploration. Although many humans saw Earth as subservient to aliens and this led to an exodus of humans to the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems in order to escape Earth's and the Council's control. The Systems Alliance and its Inner Colonies have a strenuous relationship with the Outer Colonies although it results in beneficial trade, yet many extreme insurgent groups demand complete freedom from the Systems Alliance and a low intensity armed conflict persists between the Systems Alliance and the insurgents seeking to destabilize these colonies and settlements until they are no longer valued by the Systems Alliance.

Humanity continued to expand to unclaimed star systems on the edge of Citadel Space and claiming the Skyllian Verge regions which had until recently been part of the Attican Traverse, and this eventually led to a conflict with the batarians who wanted the Skyllian Verge declared as "a zone of batarian interest," but the Council ignored this plea in part because the Council wanted to expand Council influence and territory. The batarians in turn closed their embassy and withdrew from Citadel Space and became a rogue state. Over the next 20 years humanity and the batarians would often clash which resulted in brutal pirate attacks instigated by the Batarian Hegemony against human colonies such as Mindoir and Elysium.

As of 2185 a total of 567 colonies has been established by humans encompassing hundreds of star systems and planets, moons and planetoids settled by colonists, some terraformed to greater degrees than others depending on the local conditions and presence of indigenous life. These colonies range from heavily-populated and economically, politically and strategically significant worlds to struggling pioneer outposts which can barely sustain a few hundred colonists. The colonies are divided among the stable Inner Colonies in the Systems Alliance Space, while the restless Outer Colonies are located in the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems. Both the Inner and Outer Colonies are dominated by humans but it is estimated that several million aliens resides on Earth and the larger planets in the Inner Colonies, and millions more in the Outer Colonies. Only the most jingoistic Outer Colonies have a pure human population as many humans in the Outer Colonies resent aliens.

Codex entry: Earth Systems Alliance

The Earth Systems Alliance is the military, exploratory and economic governing body of humanity and their colonies. The parliament and most of the military command structure is based out of Arcturus Station and its associate space stations which serve as the Alliance's capital. The Alliance gained associate membership to the Citadel Council in 2165 and was awarded a seat on the Citadel Council in 2183, with former Ambassador Donnel Udina assuming duties as humanity's first Councilor after a unanimous vote by the Alliance Parliament.

Humanity's presence has not been without alien detractors and critics claiming the race have bullied its way to the top, with many considering humanity's actions during the Battle of the Citadel – and failing to protect the Destiny Ascension from geth attacks – as a calculated military maneuver to assert human dominance over Citadel Council affairs.

In 2148 a mining team made perhaps humanity's greatest discovery near the southern pole of Mars, unearthing the subterranean ruins of an ancient alien facility. With the revelation of incontrovertible proof of the existence of alien life humanity was faced with the dilemma of acknowledging they were no longer alone in the galaxy.

When analysis of the facility and the rest of Mars conclusively pointed towards an extrasolar origin a debate began raging within humanity as to what their policy should be regarding first contact with any alien species during interstellar exploration and potential colonization. Erring towards a cautious and defensive posture humanity concluded that it was imperative that they be united against potential alien intervention.

The nations of Earth convened emergency gatherings to discuss and draft plans for a new governing body representing humanity, with an emphasis on their defense, expansion, and economic interests. The Earth Systems Alliance was established in 2149 with human nations of certain financial, military and space exploration capabilities being admitted as full member states. All other nations signing the Systems Alliance Charter were recognized only as associate member states.

This alignment garnered harsh criticisms, with many less powerful human nations relegated to associate member status contending that these restrictions were really attempts by full member states to control new technologies, discoveries, interstellar politics, and trade. The Systems Alliance argued that due to the heavy burdens on member states a strong economy and military participation was an absolute necessity. The dominant nations on Earth were concerned that any potential alien powers would use economics, politics and military force to splinter humanity and compel them into complying with demands they didn't want to.

After reverse engineering prothean technology the Alliance began a rapid campaign of expansion starting in 2151, establishing numerous colonies in the Local Cluster as well as reaching Arcturus System through the Charon Relay. Maintaining this expansion policy the Alliance activated all the mass relays it could find to seek out new resources and possible colonies while funding the creation of an interstellar military force to defend these interests.

In 2157 humanity made first contact with an alien species when a human scout fleet trying to activate a mass relay encountered a turian patrol fleet. The illegal activation of a dormant mass relay prompted the turian vessels to engage the humans, resulting in a perceived unprovoked attack on humanity. The sole surviving human vessel fled the engagement and returned to the nearby Shanxi colony, which was subsequently discovered by turian fleets and blockaded.

The Alliance mustered the military and counter attacked the turians - who believed they had defeated the bulk of the enemy forces - resulting in the First Contact War. Admiral Kastanie Drescher led the Second Fleet against Shanxi, catching the turians by surprise and evicting them from the planet and star system. The turians and humans prepared for full-scale interplanetary war, drawing the notice of the rest of the galaxy and forcing the Citadel Council to intervene with a truce and offer of peace negotiations which brought the war to an end. During the two year long peace negotiation the Systems Alliance concluded that it was in humanity's best interests to accept the offer join the Citadel Conventions as an associate member race, helping them avoid status as a rogue race and giving them access to galactic markets and the technologies.

The rest of the galaxy has since viewed humanity as aggressors which created a climate of xenophobia amongst humans. Despite the Systems Alliance's authoritarian military and economical policies, the Alliance received a surge of popularity coupled with growing human jingoism. The turians in turn viewed humanity with suspicion and contempt as the Council decided that the Hierarchy had to pay reparations for their overly aggressive actions. The Systems Alliance also gained key concessions; including the rights to colonize the Skyllian Verge and Attican Traverse regions downspin from current territories held by humanity; rights to the backwater system formerly known as Asthos (today known as Boltzmann System) in the Serpent Nebula and all its planets where humanity successfully terraformed the planet Sporaxos and renamed it Bekenstein which is now a booming corporate trade planet; and finally the Alliance was given Argos Rho's Phoenix System, its planets and the Hierarchy Navy space station located there to militarily support humanity's expansion.

In 2165, after five years of further political negotiations with the Citadel Council, humanity was granted an embassy on the Citadel and an ambassador to the Council, the governing body of all member races and associate races part of Council Space, was appointed. The timing of this achievement – less than a decade after first contact – caused some friction with other Citadel races who had waited decades for such recognition, and it was not welcomed by a large contingent of humans who saw their species as being subservient to the alien controlled Citadel Council. This led to an exodus of humans to the Attican Traverse and the Terminus Systems in order to escape Earth's and the Council's control. The consensus has been that the Outer Colonies seek autonomous governance and an end to all dependence on the Systems Alliance yet wish to keep lucrative trade relations vital to their existence. The Systems Alliance has insisted that reliance upon Outer Colony resources makes it necessary that they retain close ties so as to better defend their interests from external and internal threats. This has resulted in a constant struggle between Systems Alliance military forces and radical independence movements

After decades of lobbying and political pressure the Systems Alliance finally encouraged the Citadel Council to induct a human into join the ranks of the Spectres in 2183 when then Lieutenant Commander John Shepard was appointed on the onset of the Eden Prime War. Months later Commander Shepard and his allies would be instrumental in defending the Citadel from an attack staged by rogue Spectre Saren Arterius and geth allies. After their heroic and timely actions in defending the galaxy during the Battle of the Citadel humanity was awarded a seat on the Council alongside the newly appointed replacements for the council members lost during the battle. Ambassador Donnel Udina was named human Councilor in 2183 while Dominic Osoba assumed ambassadorial duties, giving the Systems Alliance more power in determining the course of galactic politics, economics, and military actions.

Quotes; Heartbreak Ridge, Transformers (2007).

I can't see a suicide mission without a few casualties. I have nothing against those lost, but I needed a few killed.

Kirkland Lake in Ontario, Canada is Michael Hogan's birthplace (voices Bailey).

I decided to make some changes to the whole issue about EDI and the Alliance. I also wanted the Alliance to be less of a clown organization not noticing all the intricate hardware in the server room, and that it was actually Shepard's idea to craft a ruse around EDI until he could have talked to the admirals. It seems more prudent that Shepard would actually think of something like that than Joker.

Some depiction of the Citadel inspired form the book "Mass Effect: Revelation."

The AutoChef is inspired from a blurb in James Cameron's script to Aliens. The depiction of the machine's function is written by me.

Considerable creative liberties when it comes to Joker's past, I changed his background because how he became the pilot of the Normandy in canon is just ridiculous. He would have been court-martialed in a heartbeat if he pulled such a stunt. BioWare have no idea about the military! And I'm borrowing the Pelican dropships from Halo because that franchise has a much more detailed military with a lot more interesting military hardware than Mass Effect.