Sorry for the slow updates!

Last time on TUKM

The Borg have engaged the fleets protecting the Superweapon and the council have taken the decision to fire the weapon, however the Borg have realised their plan to use the weapon and have begun to attack to citadel to stop the weapon from being fired, forcing Shepard to land on the Citadel and defend the Control room till the weapon can fire.

Meanwhile both Cerberus and Reaper Vessels are just minutes away from emerging through the Relay and joining the battle.

/.../

Shepard peaked around a corner and looked at the four or so Borg drones that were currently trying to lower the shields that were protecting a C-SEC outpost the team would need to pass through to get to the Citadel Control room, with no other drones in sight he moved from his cover and pumped his shotgun, while not his favourite weapon it was without a doubt the best up close and personal weapon he could use against the borg, because if it didn't break through their shields, with the mass effect generator attached to the barrel it would certainly cause the average Borg drone to stumble backwards a step or two.

The next to round the Corner was Wrex with James hot on his heels, then came Tali and Liara, both of which were looking at the Borg drones with caution.

The first to open fire on the Borg was Wrex with his shotgun, the powerful weapon decapitating the unfortunate Borg drone it was aimed at and when the Krogan realised what damage his weapon did he released a frankly maniac laugh that came from deep within the gut.

"I thought Captain Picard said their shields would have adapted to our weapons?" Asked Liara as Shepard pushed a Borg drone off a nearby ledge with a biotic push, dropping it a few hundred feet to its death.

"They have." Came the voice of Vega, he was unleashing his shotgun into a Drone's face from close up, nothing much was happening but the occasional blue spark. "Heh, you just need a bigger gun." Scoffed Wrex before he ran over like the excited Krogan he was and fired his own shotgun in the drones face, while it certainly sent the drone backwards a few steps it did not lower it's shields. "Huh, let's try again." Eventually with the combined fire power of both Wrex and Vega's shotgun the drone's shields fell, leaving just one drone left.

"This one's mine." Informed Liara as she picked up the drone with a powerful show of biotics and slammed it into the ground with bone crunching force.

"So it was." Replied Shepard before finding a nearby Avina terminal. "Avina, I need to get past this shield ASAP."

The holographic Asari assistant formed and buffered for a few moments before saying. "Spectre status recognised, shields have been momentarily lowered." When the shields were lowered the Commanders small group charged in through C-SEC's front door, allowing the shields to reform as soon as possible, but getting inside they had to swallow more than once at the sight that greeted them.

"By the Godess." Eventually came Liara's voice as they continued to look around the room where fifty or so people were lying on the floor or slumped in their chairs dead, but not from battle. "They must have been asphyxiated from the carbon in the atmosphere." Tali pulled up her omni-tool and took a quick scan, a nod of her head confirmed Liara's hypothesis.

"The Brutal Calculus of war." Sighed Shepard before strapping his shotgun to his back and picking up a few spare heat sinks. "I've got a feeling these are going to be scarce so pick up as much as you can carry." He informed his group as he moved over to another dead body to scavenge what he could.

The small party had just about restocked when EDI hailed them. "Commander, do you read?"

"Listening." Informed Shepard as he give a hand signal to move out.

The AI's response was immediate. "Cerberus has now joined the battle, they appear to be engaging both Alliance and Borg vessels. Also, you have incoming Cerberus forces."

The Commander rolled his eyes. "Why doesn't that surprise me EDI?"

"Cerberus has appeared in 73.21% of our recent..."

The Spectre cut the trusty AI off. "EDI, that was a rhetoric Question... or was it Sarcasm? What ever it was it didn't need a statistical report."

There was a small pause as the AI thought about what the Commander said. "I see."

"Hmm. Anyway, update on the battle."

"2 Borg Vessels have been destroyed, and we have lost 103 ships."

The commander give a sad sigh as he rounded a corner and came across another room full of dead people, it seemed like today was going to be the bloodies of the entire war and half the deaths were probably going to be caused by the council refusing to evacuate the citadel. "Understood. Let me know if anything changes."

"Will do Commander."

Hitting a button on his omni-tool Shepard turned the Comm link off and then signalled to his party to take up defensive positions as he prepared to open a door that would reveal the hidden tunnels that Engineering crews used to access the Citadels critical systems. "3...2.." He signalled '1' with his finger and then slammed the button to open the door, Wrex having the strongest shields and armour charged through the door first like a raging bull but nothing was hidden behind the door, so his efforts were for nothing. After running though the corridor for a few minutes EDI called again, but the communication channel was filled with static. "Commander...hear...Cerberus..."

Stopping in a sheltered location he rose a hand to press his helmet so that the speaker inside was pressed further up against his left ear. "EDI, your breaking up."

"Com...mander...Cer...forces..."

Shepard scowled, either Cerberus were blocking communications, which he would bet on, or these tunnels were interfering with the communication channels. With a shrug he continued down the corridor till he came to the access point he needed to exit at. With everyone once more in defensive positions he tapped the button for the door to open, but the metal door opened an inch before grinding to a halt after becoming jammed on something.

"Fantastic." grumbled the commander before he peaked through the crack to see what was behind. "Actually, probably for the better that it didn't open." He laughed before closing the door with his powered armour. "Lets go to the next door."

"What was there?" Asked Wrex as they begun a fast jog.

"Only about a hundred or so Cerberus troops."

The reply Shepard got was just a grunt from Wrex and "Yes, I can see why we would avoid that fight." From Liara.

Getting to the next door the team once more took up defensive positions before the commander opened it, this time they were in luck, only a few Cerberus troops were around. After quickly dispatching them Shepard pulled up his omni-tool and studied the map, by not being able to take the first exit they were now ten minutes from the Citadel control, he could only hope that the Control room's defences could hold out till he got there.

/.../

Picard allowed himself to celebrate a small victory as a Reaper Borg vessel disintegrated, but they still had 4 Borg ships left, of which one of them was the Cube and it had barely sustained any damage, however the captains small celebration could only last so long. "Captain, the Relay."

"The Reapers?" He asked already knowing the answer deep down.

"Yes." With the View Screen turned to show the Relay Picard felt his stomach turn as hundreds of Reaper vessels varying from small destroyers to the Monstrous Harbinger class vessels emerged, the Captain swallowed, the Local forces had already lost a quarter of their forces just trying to kill the Borg, to now try and kill the Reapers at the same time as Cerberus and the Borg would be an impossible task, meaning unless the Superweapon fires Picard could see no victory today.

But the Alliance had a small glimmer of hope, the Reapers main goal was not to eliminate them, but the Borg, or at least the Reapers were going to focus all forces on eliminating the Borg first, then what ever was left in the aftermath was going to be set on the locals.

Hackett meanwhile brought a hand up to his jaw and rubbed, the weapon needed firing right this second. "Get me Citadel control room."

The line rung for a few minutes before the Admiral turned to his communication officer. "Pull up Control room security cameras."

It took the officer a few seconds but eventually the security cameras were placed on the view screen, and the image caused the Admiral to scowl and bark. "Get me Shepard."

There was a moment of silence and then the Commanders voice was heard, but half of what he was saying was cut off from static. "I'm kind of busy... Fuck that hurt you piece of... I'm going to cut off your bloody... and feed them to your..."

If the Admiral wasn't so worried and stressed he would have raised a brow at the odd outburst. "Shepard, can you hear me?"

There was a period of heavy breathing before he responded again. "Yeah... I'm here. What you need?"

"Control room has gone dark, you will need to fire the weapon."

"Understood. We're 7 minutes out"

"Make that 2 commander, we don't have 7 minutes."

Hackett could only describe the Commanders response as a growl before he heard. "Understood."

Shepard meanwhile peaked around a corner and up the next alley way he would have to pass, it was filled with Cerberus troops battling off swarms of Borg Drones, and at the end of the long corridor was the control room. "Two minutes my ass." He whispered before turning around to look at his squad. "We need to get to the far end of this corridor as soon as possible."

"Okay." Replied Wrex before starting to turn the corner, but when he witnessed all the enemy forces he quickly retreated behind the corner and barked. "This is why I love your missions Shepard."

"Why, what's wrong?" Asked Liara before taking her own peek. "Oh, I see."

Tali had a look too before sighing. "I'm really getting bored of these suicide missions Shepard."

/.../

Sorry again for the delay.