Think this was dead did you? Well no! This story has inspired me a lot. Thank you for your reviews, all criticism is appreciated, even though I don't agree with the story losing its potential, as there is still a lot to come. Onward!

Chapter 11: Operation Cannae 2.0

Less than two hours before this damn mission was completed. That was what Tali said to Shepard nearly five minutes ago. He was getting impatient.

"Reegar, how much time until your damn readings get everything you want?"

"One hour Shepard, don't push it." He replied with a grin beneath his helmet.

John grinned. "Better be, me and Garrus have a date with our dear friend, its name is Tequila, and we need it."

Kal stood there, getting the meaning of that special human word from his translator… after two seconds he laughed. "Ah, strong alcoholic drink? Can't blame you Shepard, not after all of what you've been doing."

"Trust me." Shepard looked at the bunker where Tali and her group of scientists were working. "You don't know how much we need it."

The male quarian chuckled and went on to check on his men while Garrus came back, huffing. Shepard raised an eyebrow at his friend's lack of stamina.

"Pissed Miranda off, don't ask."

Laughing, John checked his weapons when suddenly Joker's voice burst in his ear.

"Shepard, we got readings of geth activity, they are set on your location."

'What?' This was very odd. According to their last readings on the planet, there was no geth presence. The quarians had no problems so far. They would have been attacked already… Maybe the robotic bastards managed to land some troops at the other side of the planet? Unlikely… since the Normandy and her new teeth had made them think twice before going forth with that.

John nodded, his eyes wide. "Alright, strength of enemy forces?"

"Commander." EDI's voice came in. "I have detected forty geth platforms inbound to your location. The Normandy has repulsed several freighters with reinforcements in bound to Haestrom. Counter cyber warfare has been enacted."

It was Garrus' eyes who widened now. "Forty? Shit…."

"Miranda, come back to headquarters." John ordered, ignoring his friend's comment.

"Roger." Her smooth voice replied.

Shepard then turned towards Kal. "Geth forces approaching our position, got what it takes marine?"

"Hell yeah." Kal barked back at him and started ordering his soldiers around.

John sprinted towards Tali. He did not like the idea of her and the combat useless scientists in the open.

By the time he arrived, they were done with their experiment. "Shepard! We are done-"

"No time. Geth closing in on our position, get to that bunker with your scientists." He was now in his icy, commander tone, much to Tali's displeasure.

"I can fight Shepard, you know that."

Growling, John got closer to her. "Either you get there with your useless scientists or I will make you do it myself."

That "make you" comment surely brought goose bumps to the quarian girl, she liked watching him shout for some bizarre reason. Not wanting to disobey the commander any further, she shakily nodded and went on, along with her scientists, towards the heavily fortified and encrypted structure.

Now with Tali and her group out of the way, Shepard ran back and bumped with Miranda. She was already barking orders to Garrus and Zaeed, with Grunt amusingly just standing there.

"Miranda, put Garrus and Zaaed right over there." John pointed at the ladders to the side. "They will snipe them, stay in the shade guys. Grunt." He called his pupil. "You are with me, I need your damn Panzer ass here with us."

The krogan did not know what a Panzer was, but he was happy to get right in the action. Garrus and Zaeed readied their snipers, with the human mercenary muttering that he did not get paid enough to fight geth, and running towards their position.

"Kal!" Shepard barked. "You get some of your marines on the other side too!"

The marine officer saw what Shepard intended and smirked underneath his helmet. This was an excellent plan. Using the enemy's numbers against them, such a big "screw you" to the geth.

Nodding, he ordered three of his marines to move to the right side and use their sniper rifles. He then got a rocket launcher that the sun had not fried yet and awaited the enemy.

Shepard then stood in the middle with Miranda and Grunt, awaiting the enemy that was sweeping through the old buildings that were first encountered when they landed. The crane was providing some good protection for a full frontal attack, yet rocket troopers could be problematic…Where had the geth come from? If the Normandy was in orbit, the ship should have destroyed any attempts to land by the geth like EDI said. They must have been units already garrisoned in the planet. For what purpose? That was the mystery, just like Tali and her scientists trying to see what the hell was up with that star rapidly aging.

"Alright." Shepard began calmly. "We will let them get some space. The middle will serve as the shooting ground for us. Snipers will cause heavy casualties and make them run for cover." He then looked at Kal. "We don't know if they have any heavy units with them, so save that rocket launcher. Use your assault rifle for now."

Kal nodded. "I see what you are planning Shepard, damn good work."

"Save that for Hannibal." The human replied with a smirk.

Miranda was impressed. Within a few seconds, Shepard had already planned this. It took her about five seconds to realize what he was doing. 'Battle of Cannae….' She smirked. It looked like he was worth every penny, every credit that Cerberus spent on him.

"On my command." Shepard said silently in the comms. "Silence until I say so."

With that, everyone turned quiet. The quarian marines were already aiming at the tunnel, where those demon machines will start coming out, most likely guns blazing.

'Thermopylae.' John smiled. This was good… Unless, they brought a heavy hitter, something like…

"GETH PRIME!" Kal screamed at the top of his lungs.

'Fuck my life, big time.' Gritting his teeth, John turned to Kal. "Use your damn rocket launcher now!"

"EVERYONE FIRE NOW!" The element of surprise was lost in seconds, but John did not care. They had to get rid of that gigantic monster. Garrus and Zaeed ripped apart various rocket troopers while the quarian marines at the other flank were peppering the normal geth units to further destabilize their front.

"Impact shot." Zaeed calmly reported as three rocket troopers were crushed to the ground.

Rockets, bullets and grenades landed on the monster, the damn geth prime. Zaeed's grenades were doing a fine job at frying the monsters shields while Miranda launched a ferocious biotic assault. Shepard, on the other hand, peppered it with bullets while Garrus took care of any geth platforms, many losing their 'heads' in the process. It was becoming somewhat problematic now… his snipers were now forced to fight the prime, leaving several geth troopers roaming the place.

The quarian marines were screaming orders and curses in khelish as the Prime closed in on their position. These marines were the ones placed on the right side. Shepard had enough.

He took his Collector Beam rifle out, found in Horizon, and started firing at it, long distance. It shocked Miranda, but she saw how the big geth soldier started retreating, feeling the pressure mounting. That beam was certainly frying its armor.

"Grunt! Pepper the geth to the left, I want them in the center!" Shepard ordered as he continued firing.

"Right."

With Shepard creaming orders at Kal and his marines to pepper the geth on the left to get them in the center, the battle soon turned into a bloodbath.

A marine's head was blown off by a blast from the Geth Prime, blood covering Shepard while Miranda took a round to her knee, much to Shepard's amusement. Garrus and Zaeed had to take cover because of a huge blast fired by the now wavering prime.

Shepard looked at Kal. "I will fire at the prime while you get some rockets at those tough little bastards, they are all in the center."

The quarian squad leader grinned underneath his helmet and nodded. "I'll buy you a beer after this Shepard!" He screamed as he fired several rockets while John, like a surgeon, destroyed the geth prime with a beam blast to the head.

Shepard then radioed Zaeed. "Grenades on the center."

"Loud and clear."

In an epic fashion, like one of those movies of the 20th century Shepard was so fond of, the prime exploded, sending several geth units flying, before meeting their demise thanks to the quarian marines, moping up the place and already advancing forward.

Within minutes, the geth were no more. Several parts of their platforms were all over the place. Shepard was about to smile when he heard a scream.

"ARGHHH!" It was a feminine scream, coming from the right flank where Kal's marines were positioned.

Rushing to the place alongside Kal and some of his men, Shepard had to fight the urge to cringe.

By some boxes, were the body parts of two marines, probably destroyed by a blast from the geth prime. Another quarian was decapitated, blood coming out of what was left of his body. Just then, Shepard saw a quarian female, dark suit, holding her devastated legs.

"Shit!" Shepard reacted fast and was now putting medigel on her knees, which were showing her bones. These wounds were screaming amputation, but he refused to believe it, he was going to save her and her legs.

After putting all the medigel he had to ease the pain somewhat, Shepard roared on his comm. "SHUTTLE, NOW!"

"Shuttle on its way, ETA three minutes."

Kal was shaking his head, muttering something in khelish as Miranda and Grunt arrived to the scene. Even the so called 'Ice Queen' cringed at the body parts spread, deep red blood all over the place. Shepard was trying to seal the wounds of the female marine. That called the attention of both Kal and Miranda, that determination of him to save a marine that was… well she could survive but…

"Sweetie, what is your name?" Shepard asked, trying to keep the quarian from drifting into unconsciousness. He took her hand, and pressed on it tightly to get her attention, away from her wounds.

She moaned in pain but answered, "U..rla, U..u…rla'O..lke Vas N..ee..ma."

"Listen Urla." Shepard told her sofly. "I need you to just follow my voice. Stay with me, shuttle is about to get here in less than sixty seconds." 'I hope it does.'

The girl nodded, shakily. She was holding to the humans hand with dear life, the pain completely insufferable. Even though it eased a bit with the medigel, and then the antibiotics swimming in her body, she could not help but fear death.

John gritted his teeth just as Garrus and Zaeed arrived, Grunt tagging along. The krogan and the mercenary were unfazed by the scene, while the turian just sighed and looked away.

Most of the quarian marines were at the entrance, guarding Tali and her scientists under orders of Kal, who had to scream at them to follow his command, as they wanted to go look at their dead comrades.

"Shepard!" Miranda raised her voice. "Shuttle is already here, we…"

She was cut off and subsequently ignored as Shepard and Kal, joining forces, carried Urla to the shuttle, Jacob already rushing with Doctor Solus.

"Hmm, problematic, severe trauma in legs, quarian immune system troubles could cause a powerful reaction capable of killing patient. Amputation a possib…"

"Will you shut the fuck up!" Shepard screamed, looking at the salarian. "She needs medical attention, not you rambling your ass off."

Nodding, Mordin and Jacob started carrying her to the shuttle, which took less than two seconds to fly away, its destination the Normandy. Chakwas and the crew were probably already preparing themselves for the patient. Shepard had to trust these Cerberus ingrates on this one. Of course, he was going there himself once all the wounded were transported.

Chakwas was used to quarians already, Tali being one of her daily patients back in the days of Saren being a pain in the ass to the whole galaxy. Shepard knew that Urla was in good hands, probably the best in the galaxy, safe the Migrant Fleet of course. Mordin was there too, and he was a genius. John felt bad for screaming at him.

Garrus turned to look at Shepard, who was shaking in anger, but then calmed down, sighing, almost tiredly.

"John." The turian called. Seeing his best friend and commander turning to see him, he asked. "Are you okay pal?"

Shepard stared at him, his face blank, before looking away. "She looked like them…"

"Who?"

"Urla. She looked like them."

Garrus approached him. "Like who John?"

'That pain, the shaking… the screaming…' John was taken to the Skyllian Blitz, and relived those painful seconds where his friend, Martha, was killed, her legs blown off by mortar fire. He was enraged and went on a rampage, killing several batarians that looked too tough for his squad to kill, all by himself, himself and his biotics. Still, the thing that made him angry was…

"She looked like… Daro… and Tali…" It was something that he never wanted to see, and that he promised himself would never occur. That marine looked so much like Daro with that suit, it almost made Shepard think it was her. Tali also got in the way, that screaming similar to hers when she got surrounded by husk in Feros…'That will never happen, ever.' He promised to himself as he sat on one of the boxes, his friend, Garrus, doing the same.

"Quite the view eh Shepard?" Garrus commented, trying to break the silence.

Shepard only stared dead ahead, his eyes lost at the scenery. "Yes it is… quite the view."

Both just looked at that certain view… full of geth parts, quarian blood and pieces of their bodies, as if someone with a messed up head had decided to paint the place up and put all that in sick amusement.

John looked away. It was just sick. Sick because both Daro and Tali popped into his mind. He felt stupid and weak for thinking that way, thinking he could lose them just like the five marines that perished.

"Freaking geth." He muttered. "The quarians could not finish the job three centuries ago… but I certainly will."

Garrus only stared at him, unable to come up with a funny or at least some kind of retort. His friend looked so… worked up.

Three hours after the battle, Shepard and his squad had departed to the Normandy. The commander was in his cabin, giving orders to not be disturbed unless there were some news on Urla. Tali tried to engage in a conversation when they departed in the shuttle, but it was obvious the human did not want to talk much.

Her group of quarians had lost their ship, thanks to the attacking geth. Its systems were fried way before they noticed. As a result, Shepard offered to give them a ride to the Migrant Fleet, provided they did not attack the Normandy. Tali reassured the Commander they would not, as she had a password that would let the ship enter without any problems.

Tali was very interested in what Kal said about him. He mentioned the commander going "crazy" with the wounded quarian, yet that was just him. The quarian engineer knew Shepard was like that with most people. However, Garrus said something else.

"He was afraid of losing both you and Daro."

"Did he say that?"

"Not exactly, but I think that's what was going through his mind."

"Any news on Urla?"

"No, but I think Mordin mentioned amputation…."

"Keelah…"

Shepard had gone crazy when she was surrounded by Thorian Creepers back in Feros. His biotic potential was seen, furiously ripping several of those creatures apart. Tali had never been scared of her commander before. 'Heh, my commander…'

She felt flattered, yes, but she pushed it out. A friend of hers was fighting for dear life in the infirmary, and surgery was being done. Tali felt repulsive for thinking such happy thoughts in a moment like this.

Her quarian subordinate, Kal, was preparing himself to talk to John, as Shepard requested the man to go to his quarters. Strange…. yet Shepard voiced his admiration, in his own way, of the gun ho soldier, so maybe he was trying to recruit him?

Tali sighed. "I better go to engineering." With that, she left the mess hall, getting some stares, particularly from Kal and Garrus.

Kal entered the commander's cabin, puzzled and unsure of what John Shepard wanted of him. He had heard quite a lot about the "Geth Slayer," or "God of War." In the flotilla, he was famous for helping Daro and another one of her subordinates leave Alliance space back in the day when humans were brand new to the galaxy.

After, the Skyllian Blitz came in, where the commander fought and outmatched an entire army of pirates and slavers. In addition, his hate on the geth and countless battles against those robotic bosh'tets made him a "famous alien" on the flotilla. Kal was impressed with his extensive curriculum, he had to admit.

The quarian marine entered and his eyes widened. The cabin was outrageously vast in space. A couple of quarian families could fit in here just fine. There was a couple of stairs, a big aquarium to the left and a desk, full of medals, ships and a couple of pistols.

"Come on in, won't bite marine." Shepard's gruff voice startled Kal a bit.

Nodding to himself, Kal made his way through towards the bed. Turning his head to the right, Shepard was on a sofa, drinking what looked like beer and smoking.

"You needed something Shepard?" The quarian asked, his tone cautious.

John nodded. "Indeed, I do." The human turned his head towards Kal, his eyes piercing. "I wanted to talk to you about something I had in mind."

Kal nodded. "Shoot."

Chuckling, Shepard got up and fidgeted with his omni tool. Frowning at it, he dismissing it with a growl and turned towards the corner of his room. "EDI, play Hans Zimmer, song Time."

"Yes Commander."

'EDI… ugh..' Kal felt a stomach ache just by thinking about the artificial intelligence in the Normandy. He did not make a fuss like Tali did though. That very fuss ended with Shepard yelling at Jacob to get out of the room. The commander calmly told Tali and Kal of it and how it won't affect the mission. She was still shaking in anger, but remembering Shepard's face after the incident with Urla, she agreed with him and left.

"I am very impressed with you Kal." John's voice startled the quarian male. "You see, I am a man that has an eye for talent." The human got up and took another cigarette from a box, labeled 'Marlboro.'

Kal nodded, but could not help feel a little proud.

"My ship." He growled. "It's infested with vermin…. Cerberus to be straight to the point."

Eyes widened, Kal said. "I thought you were with them."

"If I was with them, I would have left your group to rot in that god forsaken planet."

'Point taken Shepard.'

"Indeed, I don't trust any of them, particularly Miranda and Jacob, Cerberus scum." He gritted his teeth as he took a drag out of his cigarette. "That is why I am recruiting good, loyal people, and you just caught my eye."

"Recruiting as in being a part of your squad?" Kal could not help but feel proud at that.

"Exactly." Shepard grinned. "I offer you pay, a room, supplies if you do any crazy experiments like Mordin does, which I doubt, and free geth kills. What do you say?"

Kal was… tempted. Sure, his place was in the Migrant Fleet, but Tali briefed him minutes earlier of the Collectors and then the Reapers. He believed everything she said, as the quarian girl just plain sucked at lying. It would be hard, but surely, he was interested in joining Shepard, after all, this guy only wanted to destroy geth, something he largely enjoyed.

"I will report this to my captain in the Migrant Fleet, I am interested."

Shepard smirked. "Good, now you can go check on those scientists and your marines. I can't help but think they will blow up my ship if I let them do whatever they want."

Laughing, Kal nodded and left.

The commander just sighed after the possible recruit left and laid back on the sofa, trying to relax, but his mind was about to give in to an explosion of epic proportions. Cerberus on one hand, being a pain in the ass like always, Ulsa being treated and fighting for her life and then the other dossiers.

"Commander.." EDI's voice chimed in.

"What?" He growled. John was still wary of the artificial intelligence in the Normandy.

"Professor Mordin Solus is requesting your presence, surgery has been finished."

Shepard did not think twice. Within a few seconds, he was already rushing to the elevator.

Well, here you go. I tried my best here, honestly. Bled and all... nah just kidding, but maybe took an arrow to the knee. Hope you enjoy the chapter and to be clear, this will not be a long story. Daro will be prominent in the next chapter heh.