A/N So, here's the first section for Earth. Thanks again for all your feedback on the last few chapters - enjoy.

Chapter 14 – Approaching the FOB

"Commander." Hackett saluted, Shepard returning it as he walked out of the elevator. He was now actually dressed, having left Miranda preparing in their cabin. He smiled at that, their cabin.

Shepard returned the salute, stopping in front of Hackett. "Admiral."

The Admiral drew himself up, clasping his hands behind his back. "Are you ready to bring the might of the galaxy to bear on the Reapers?"

"Yes Sir." Hackett extended his hand, Shepard shaking it.

"Then lets make sure the fleets are ready."

Traynor began to type information into her terminal, various lights flashing on the Galaxy Map. Hackett walked up to the command dais, standing bolt upright with his hands once more behind his back. He spoke in his chiselled voice, a stern and commanding tone carrying to millions of soldiers across the galaxy.

"Never before have so many come together, from all quarters of the galaxy. But never before have we faced an enemy such as this. The Reapers will show us no mercy, we must give them no quarter."

The entire of the crew had their heads turned, watching Hackett intently.

"They will terrorise our populations, we must stand fast in the face of that terror. They will advance until our last city falls, but we will not fall. We will prevail."

Shepard felt a hand slip into his own, seeing Miranda next to him. She gave him a slight squeeze and a smile before turning her attention to Hackett.

"Each of us will be defined by our actions in the coming battle. Stand fast. Stand strong. Stand together. Hackett out."

He stepped down from the dais, approaching the two. Miranda's hand shot out of his immediately, Shepard amused at how professional she was in front of superiors.

"Miss Lawson," The two shook hands, Miranda slightly red in the cheek. Shepard guessed she was still a bit embarrassed from earlier. The Admiral gestured to Shepard, the pair walking to the entrance to the War Room. Miranda did not follow them, instead approaching Traynor to talk.

As Shepard passed through the scanner he gave the Admiral an apologetic look.

"Sorry about earlier Admiral, it was a bit..."

"Shepard," Hackett fixed him a stern look as he was scanned. "We all need something to fight for, and from what I've heard Miss Lawson is worth it."

"She is Sir."

"Good," The two walked past the meeting room as Hackett began to relay the battle plan. "The Sword fleets are ready to strike at the Reapers surrounding Earth. While they keep the enemy engaged, you and Hammer ground forces can take London."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, it wasn't the plan he was expecting. "London? Why aren't we hitting the Citadel directly?"

They entered the QEC room, a hologram of Anderson appearing. "Anderson can brief you on that. Admiral, how are you holding up?"

A grim smile crossed Anderson's face. "We're ready to end this, but as you can see – the station has closed itself since it appeared over London."

A hologram of the Citadel appeared next to Anderson, the image closing it's arms to represent what had happened. Shepard shook his head, cursing.

"Damn it. Got to get the arms open to dock the Crucible."

"Exactly." Hackett propped his chin on one hand, intently studying the image in front of them. Anderson spoke again.

"But London is surrounded by Hades cannons, Hammer transports can't land while they're active," Anderson gestured at John. "You'll lead a squadron of smaller shuttles. Infiltrate with a ground team to take out the cannons using heavy weapons. Hammer can land, and then we'll set up a Forward Operations Base."

Shepard furrowed his brow. "I still don't see how we're getting to the Citadel from London."

Another image replaced the one of then Citadel, three spiky pillars were arranged in a triangle. By the information displayed next to them, they were huge.

"The Reapers use this Beam to transport humans, both dead and alive, to the Citadel," John took a pace forward, studying the diagram. "From the FOB, Hammer will launch an all out assault on the Citadel Beam," His tone dropped. "Everyone who makes it that far will take the Beam to the Citadel, then locate and activate the Citadel arm controls."

"Once we see those arms, Shield fleet will escort the Crucible to the Citadel," Hackett furrowed his own brows. "But timing will be critical, we don't have enough fire-power to keep the Crucible safe for long."

Both Admirals faced Shepard, waiting for him to say something. He chuckled humourlessly, it was a mad plan. "Nothings ever easy. No reason for it to start now."

"It's desperate," Anderson shook his head. "I don't even want to guess at our odds, but..."

"But this is the only plan we have. Conventionally," Hackett sighed, removing his hand from under his chin. "We can't defeat the Reapers without the Crucible. Get the arms open commander."

Hackett began to walk out, stopping to speak. "Whatever the cost."

"Yes Sir." Shepard knew the importance of his task, there was no other plan to defeat the Reapers/ There was one price he wasn't going to pay however, though John kept his mouth shut in front of the Admirals. Hackett spoke once more before leaving.

"Good luck, to all of us."

XXXXXXXX

Shepard walked up, approaching Joker's chair from behind. He was fully armoured, his Revenant and a Claymore shotgun attached to his N7 armour.

"Approaching the Sol relay commander. We're though in thirty seconds."

The blue shift around the cockpit began to increase, a slight juddering felt through the ship. Then the entire deck jolted, signifying the Normandy's transition out of FTL. Earth was seen in front of them, rapidly growing in the view screens. Even from this distance immense balls of fire could be seen, showing vast cities being annihilated by the Reapers.

Then Shepard saw various images lighting up on screens in front of him, showing the fleet passing through the relay. It was an incredible sight, one that would be forever glorified if they survived. Every angle behind the Normandy was full of ships, all sizes from all races. Giant lumbering Dreadnoughts of the Turians flew next to the more graceful Asari warships, Alliance cruisers flying in perfect formation with Geth and Quarian frigates. Despite what lay ahead, Shepard felt pride rising in his chest. Pride at the galaxy for finally putting aside it's differences, for giving their civilians a chance of survival.

"Alliance fleets reporting, Turian fleets reporting, Asari fleets reporting, Quarian and Geth fleets reporting, bet you never thought you'd hear me say that," Joker looked up at him with a grin. "All fleets reporting in, ready to engage on your command."

Shepard turned his attention back ahead, the bigger Reapers now visible to his eyes through the windows. They were turning and forming up, rushing straight towards the allied fleet. Shepard curled his lips into a snarl, he was ready to end this.

"This is it everyone, be ready on my signal." He glanced at a range indicator on his right, counting down until the main weapons of the gigantic Dreadnoughts were able to fire. The light hit green, Shepard letting out a sigh before speaking.

"Fire."

Flashes of light exploded all around the Normandy, tearing from the housing on various Mass Accelerator cannons and hurtling towards the Reaper lines. The brilliant, cyan lights collided with the front rank of machines, explosions visible from the behemoth's forms. Shepard doubted that many would have been destroyed in the opening volley, but they could begin to weather down the enemies shields and armour.

"On my command, engage the Reaper forces." Shepard sent the order to the various fighters in the fleet. He was answered by the commander of the fighter forces, an ace pilot whom Steve Cortez had recommended for the job.

"Roger that, all fighters on me."

Tiny craft shot past the Normandy, like the bigger ships there was a large variety from all of the accumulated fleets. They formed up just beyond the Normandy, arranging themselves in swarm like formations.

"Attack!"

"Acknowledged."

Jets of light shot from the rear of the fighters as they accelerated together, streaking towards the Reaper lines. They tangled with their rivals, Occuli drones, and immediately began a vicious dogfight. By now the capital ships were entering close range for ship combat, the Reapers having advanced just as aggressively as the allies.

The Reapers began to open their tentacles, red orbs of light charging up along their battle line. Then they fired, spoilt for target choice because of the huge volume of ships in front of them. The allied fleet scattered, breaking off into pre-arranged wolf packs. Their aim was to delay the enemy by injuring the capital ships with the hunting packs, allowing the Dreadnoughts finish off the targets from long range. It was still a high risk strategy, one Reaper could annihilate several cruisers on its own.

"Breaking off, preparing for descent."

Shepard nodded, turning around to walk through the CIC and head to the shuttle. He stopped when he heard Joker call out.

"Commander," He turned to see the crippled pilot haul himself out of his chair. Joker raised his hand into a serious salute, not a trace of sarcasm in his body. "Be careful down there."

"We'll be fine," Shepard returned the salute, giving his pilot a smile. "Stay focused."

"Aye aye."

XXXXXXXX

John looked around the shuttle, giving a glance to each of the squadmates. In return he received a series of amused looks, every member of the squad trying not to burst out laughing.

"OK, what's so funny?"

All of the squad looked up at him, smiles creeping across their faces. Then Garrus couldn't hold it in any longer, bursting out laughing.

"Sorry," He clutched his ribs. "It was just too good an opportunity to miss."

"Hmm," Shepard fixed him a glare. "I was wondering what reason Hackett would have to be on the crew deck."

"So, you weren't just trying to show yourselves off?" Ashley cocked her head, speaking in a teasing tone. "Your clothes actually ended up soaked in red wine? Really?"

"Yes," Miranda replied through gritted teeth, still not quite at ease of the teasing of the squad. "And the idiot here thought there would be no one else about."

"Still," Liara leaned forwards, placing her hands under her chin. "You're a deceptively cute pair, especially with Miranda wrapped up in a rug."

Shepard wasn't quite sure who started laughing first, but soon all of them were in stitches, even Miranda began to laugh. It showed the renewed friendship between the squad, though it also hinted at some nervousness from them all. Nobody could deny the pressure on the group.

Soon the laughter died down, replaced by a quiet mumbling as the team members began conversations of their own. Miranda leaned in closer to Shepard, whispering into his right ear.

"By the way, I never apologised for ripping your shirt apart."

He chuckled, turning his head to whisper a response. "Well, I always said you're a bit of a tigress in bed."

She laughed, nuzzling his ear as she quietly growled in response. "Grr."

"Commander," Cortez's voice came through. "We're entering the atmosphere now, and we're gonna take some heavy fire. You better hang on."

"Got it Cortez. Everyone, strap in."

He felt a lurch as the shuttle dropped into the atmosphere. Colossal explosions became audible as the first wave of Hammer began to land. The shuttle flew on though, a view screen on the side of the wall switching on to reveal images of the surface of Earth.

"My God, is that even Earth?" Ashley's face was one of horror, James had a similar expression.

The pictures were horrific, scenes of incredible destruction. All of the buildings were damaged, missing windows, doors, and even walls. The streets were lined with rubble from the buildings, mixed in with occasional wrecked vehicles. Shepard shook his head sadly, guessing that there were many dead bodies underneath all the mess.

"Shit!" Cortez's shout of alarm came from the cockpit. "We've got a lock."

John unstrapped himself and hurried into the cockpit. He stumbled as the shuttle banked to the right, avoiding the shot from the AA cannon. The shuttle flying next to them wasn't so lucky however, taking a direct hit and exploding in mid-air.

"That was the shuttle designated to take down the cannon." Cortez was still wrestling with the controls.

"Who else is on the Hades?"

"No one in this area, all shuttles are deployed or shot down." John cursed, realising that they would have to deal with it themselves.

"We'll have to do it," He turned and walked back into the main hold, receiving questioning looks from the squad. "Change of plan, we have to take down the Hades."

"And how do we do that?" Ashley stood up, loading up her rifle.

Cortez called out from the cockpit. "There should be heavy weapons in the wreckage of the other shuttle."

"Got it, Lets go."

The shuttle landed, Garrus opening the door. Shepard sprinted out first, followed by Miranda and the others. He ran straight towards a small section of wall, taking cover from an overwhelming amount of fire from the enemy.

"I can't stay here, I'm taking fire." Shepard could hear the strain in Cortez's voice.

"Get out of here Cortez, we'll meet up by the wreckage."

"Roger that."

The shuttle took off, Shepard glancing around to take stock of the situation. They were all hunkered down behind cover, a small hill ahead of them. At the top were many cannibals, marauders leading them. They were laying down a heavy barrage and there was no way the squad could leave safely. Shepard thought quickly, coming up with a plan.

"Grenades up the hill on three," Ashley, James, Javik, and Shepard all readied grenades, priming them for impact. "One, two, three!"

A series of explosions went off above them, the cocktail of grenades dealing tremendous damage. A whole series of red lights on his scanner blinked out of existence, Shepard deciding they should make the break.

"Go go go!"

They vaulted over the cover in front of them, heading up the small hill. At the top there was more cover, a small set of stairs ahead of them. They couldn't go further forward however, another wall several metres in front was lined with half a dozen Reaper troops.

"Lets..." Shepard was cut off by a huge noise, the ground trembling and throwing them all to the ground. In front of them the gigantic Hades cannon braced, a deadly white beam firing out of the top. The trembling kept them on the ground for about three seconds before it abruptly stopped, the Reaper troops popping out of cover to fire immediately.

Shepard dragged himself to cover, loading his Revenant with an inferno mod. Looking at his scanner he could see that they were surrounded, countless enemies homing in on their position. He peered over the top of the cover, realising exactly where they were. Big Ben was in front of them, surprising him that it was still standing. Next to it was the offending Hades cannon, completely immobile once more In front of them was a square of sorts, surrounded by buildings. It was crawling with enemies, a mixture of cannibals and marauders. John reckoned they would be OK if they got a foothold in the square, they just had to pass the gun wall in front of them.

"Grenades again, stagger them along the wall," He reached for another grenade. "One, two, three."

Again a line of explosions went off in front of them, hurling Reaper troops from the wall.

"Move!"

They all rose up from their current positions, moving into the square beyond the wall. Shepard looked left to see two marauders still alive from the grenade attack. Shepard stitched fire across them, decimating what remained of their health.

"Take cover, defensive perimeter."

The squad complied, forming into a ruff circle. Shepard was between Garrus and Miranda, facing the Hades cannon. A cannibal crossed into his sight, going down as Shepard shot three rounds into it's head. A nearby marauder took an EMP from Miranda before a sniper round from Garrus removed it's head.

Shepard leant out of cover again, firing a concussive round at a pair of cannibals running towards them. The round knocked both of them flying, Miranda finishing them off with fire from her SMG. As this happened a voice came over the comm.

"This is Captain Johnson, Hammer's getting torn apart. We need those guns offline now!"

As if to emphasise her words the Hades cannon fired again, shaking the floor once more. It was followed by another voice, Cortez's this time.

"Watch it, you got brutes."

Shepard cursed as he heard the familiar roar, looking to his right and seeing one jump out from an office building. Another one could be seen behind it, loping towards them. He didn't really fancy going toe to toe with any again, but it looked like there wasn't a choice.

"Incineration blasts on the brute, now!" He swung his rifle around to cover the area that Miranda would leave open.

"Yes commander."

EDI and Miranda complied, the synthetic moving up from her position by Javik. The two blasts collided with the great beast, causing heavy damage to it's torso armour plates. Shepard tapped Garrus on the shoulder, gesturing to the brute. The Turian understood his meaning, spinning around and aiming his Kyrasae at the brute. He squeezed the trigger, launching a mass reactive round into the wound in it's torso. It screamed as the round exploded, tearing it's chest apart even further. Shepard finished it off with a concussive round into the wound, the beast rolling over and dying noisily.

By now the other brute had closed, hurling a wrecked skycar out of it's path as it entered the square. The squad formed up behind him, by now having managed to clear the area of enemies. Ashley and James drew grenades without needing to be asked, hurling them just in front of the brute. They exploded beneath it's legs, temporarily covering it in clouds of smoke and dust. It charged out of the smoke with a roar, running towards them. Gunfire and biotics stopped it in its tracks though, the body of the beast dropping just behind the first one's corpse.

The captain's voice came across the comms once more. "Two guns down, but we still can't land."

Shepard narrowed his eyes, looking around for the crashed shuttle. The wreckage was on top of the building the brute had crashed through and there was a ramp upwards to the top level. He began to run towards it, the squad following him closely. As they approached the ramp half a dozen cannibals emerged from various grates and vents along the building, scrambling out of the rubble. The squad easily dispatched them, Shepard moving up the ramp as the last body dropped.

"Commander," Cortez's voice came over the radio. "You've got airborne hostiles inbound. I'm gonna try to keep them off you."

Shepard turned to see the shuttle soaring past, clumsily weaving between buildings. A harvester was in pursuit, firing relentlessly at the rear of the shuttle. A pair of shots struck on it's aft, explosions lighting up the far side of the shuttle.

"Damn it, I'm hit."

"Steve!" Shepard shouted in a moment of slight panic, not sure if they were about to lose their pilot.

"I'm alright, but I'm not going to be able to pick you up." Shepard cursed, there weren't many other shuttles available for extraction duties.

"Just get safe."

"Anything for you." The transmission cut off straight away. Shepard looked over at Miranda who gave him a raised eyebrow, an amused look on her face. Shepard shrugged in return, he didn't need to protest his heterosexuality.

They rounded the corner, emerging on the roof top of a building. It was a rectangle in shape, lots of half demolished walls criss crossing along the top. Cannibals and marauders swarmed the area, emerging from ducts and air vents around the roof.

Shepard looked straight to his right, sighting the wreckage of the shuttle dead ahead. A ravager sat in front of it, slowly bringing its powerful cannons around to face them.

"To the shuttle, break off as we go. Vega on me!"

He began to run, hearing acknowledgements in response. It was a technique he had perfected when fighting with a bigger squad during the Collector mission. Shepard would lead the charge with the others in tow, groups of squadmates breaking off every few metres to form rear guards. Garrus and Ashley broke off almost immediately, breaking out their snipers for covering fire. Liara and Tali stopped a few metres further on, Javik, Miranda, and EDI stopping just after.

By now Shepard and James were closing on the ravager, both drawing their shotguns. The blue, laser like, targeting system of the ravager locked onto the men quickly. Heavy cannon fire traced across their armour, damaging their shields. The two carried on regardless however, both leaping over a gap in the floor of the building. James shot first, burying pellets into the sacks underneath the ravager's body. The sacks exploded, covering the area with pungent brown gunk and releasing tiny swarmers.

Shepard shot next, his round hitting the ravager underneath its body where the sacks had been. The injury caused the Rachni to jolt backwards, screaming out in pain. It tried to get a lock back on to him but Shepard rolled to the left, grabbing a grenade from his belt. Getting back to his feet he threw the grenade forwards, rolling backwards out of the blast radius. His grenade attack worked in two ways, taking out the ravager and all of it's spawn.

John reloaded his shotgun and placed it on his back, scanning the wreckage with his eyes. He caught sight of one of his favourite weapons, a Heavy Cain. He picked it up, turning around to face the Hades cannon.

"Form up, defensive positions."

Garrus, Ashley, Liara, and Tali left their gun line positions, joining the other three in a defensive ring around Shepard. James stood to their right, holding off enemies climbing the side of the building.

John charged up the nuke launcher, bracing his legs apart for its immense recoil. The barrel of the weapon glowed a bright red as it spun, the Cain shaking slightly in his hand. Then a warhead erupted out of the barrel, a popping sound emitted as it was launched. The warhead hurtled towards the Hades, curving upwards, and then streaking down into the maw of the great cannon. For a second nothing happened, then there was a colossal explosion accompanied by a bright flash of light. The upper section of the Hades blew apart, large chunks of it flying in all directions around it. The captain's voice came over the comm again, almost straight away.

"That's it, last gun down. Hammer, prepare to land."

Shepard threw away the used Cain, removing his Revenant from his back. He looked around, checking their situation. They were now stuck on the building, wave after wave of cannibals appearing. They could hold out, but not for too long. He put out a general communication, hoping to pick up someone.

"Come in, anyone. This is Shepard, we need an extraction." There was no reply.

He slid into cover next to James, popping up and taking out a cannibal with a concussive round. The marine next to him shot another cannibal who had exited cover nearer to them. To his left, Miranda leaned out from behind another wall and shot an EMP at a marauder. The creature was slammed off the edge of the building by Javik, dropping out of sight.

Shepard tried the comm again, widening the bandwidth of his call. "Anyone, this is Shepard. We need..." He trailed off at the scream of a banshee, the creature itself appearing on the other end of the building. Another scream was heard, a second banshee appearing next to it. Then a third climbed upwards, followed by a forth and a fifth.

"Holy shit!" James turned to look at Shepard with a horrified expression on his face. "We're fucked at this rate!"

Shepard agreed, they were in a grave situation. They couldn't fight that many banshees, let alone all of the other Reaper troops. He looked around them desperately, looking for something, anything. His desperation was answered, John spotting something in the wreckage behind them. He pulled the item from under a door panel, revealing a second Heavy Cain. Finally, some luck was on their side.

"Stand by team." Both James and Miranda turned to look at him, looks of shock on their faces.

"Are you fucking nuts Loco?" James shook his head as he spoke, though Shepard agreed with his point. It was practically suicide to shoot a nuke at this range, the banshees were only about fifteen metres from them. There was no other choice though, fighting conventionally would also be suicide.

"Don't you bloody dare John Shepard! John for god's...Oh fuck it, just don't miss." She glared at him as she cursed in resignation, Shepard chuckling at the first time he had heard her swear so violently.

"Take cover." He stepped forwards, looking for a suitable impact point. Shepard was aware of an exchange between Garrus and Tali, though he was busy aiming for a wall just behind the last banshee.

"He can't be serious."

"He won't...Oh keelah, he's going to do it isn't he?"

"Spirits save us..."

Shepard charged up the device, narrowing his eyes at the particular wall he wanted to hit. He reckoned it was far enough away to avoid killing the entire squad as well as the banshees. The warhead shot forwards, Shepard diving behind cover as it left the housing, straight at the point he had been aiming for. The nuke detonated savagely, tearing apart the close area around the impact point. The noise was incredible, dust and debris flying past them.

Shepard peeked out of cover, looking at the devastation he had caused. With the exception of the walls they were behind there was nothing left of any other rubble, having been annihilated by the blast. There was also nothing left of the enemies, Shepard assuming they had all been disintegrated by the explosion.

The squad came to stand near him, a whistle audible from James. Javik laughed, chuckling darkly at the scene. Miranda merely rolled her eyes at Shepard, opening her omni-tool to try and communicate to any nearby Alliance forces. A second later her head perked upwards, Shepard realising that she had heard something. Then he heard it too, a whine of an eezo core getting louder. Then a shuttle came into view, bearing Alliance colours. It hovered by the end of the building, the door opening to reveal an Alliance soldier with an Avenger rifle.

"Commander!" Shepard followed Javik's exclamation, seeing more cannibals coming from behind them.

"Let's move!"

The squad began to run towards the shuttle, jumping in one by one. Shepard jumped in last, the Alliance soldier now providing covering fire against rapidly approaching enemies. The man slammed the door shut, shouting to the pilot.

"Get out of here corporal," He looked at Shepard. "Well, I've never thought of using a nuke as a flare. Are you OK though?"

"We're alive."

"That you are commander." Shepard turned at the sound of the familiar voice, seeing David Anderson walking out of the cockpit. He felt a great sense of relief at seeing the man relatively safe, Anderson had been a father figure to John for many years.

"Anderson."

The Admiral smile at him, spreading his arms out wide. "I knew you wouldn't let me down commander."

Shepard walked forwards, clasping hands with the man. They embraced in a warriors hug, clapping each other on the back.

"Good to see you."

"You're a sight for sore eyes." Shepard laughed at Anderson's joke, taking a closer look the Admiral wasn't in such a good state himself.

"How are we looking?"

"Now that the heavy air defences are dealt with, Hammer can land."

The other soldier spoke out, Shepard noting his British accent. "And not a moment too soon."

"What's left of the resistance is holding the Forward Operations Base," Shepard turned back to Anderson. "But the Reapers are countering already. Once we regroup its gonna be up to Hammer to take up the fight."

Shepard agreed with that, the soldiers who had remained on Earth had been fighting continuously for months. They couldn't be expected to give any more than they already had, he expressed his views to Anderson.

"It must have been brutal here, cut off from the rest of the Alliance."

"It's been touch and go from day one," Anderson nodded his assent. "But once we figured out the Reapers were focusing on the major population centres, it became easier to avoid direct contact."

The other soldier spoke up. "Until London."

"Yeah, we held back as long as we could, sending recon teams. Lost a lot of good men planning this assault," Anderson shook his head sadly. "But with soldiers like Major Coates, and knowing you'd bring help...We held on."

Shepard looked the Admiral in the eye, speaking with absolute sincerity. "Without you and your resistance, we'd be dead in the water."

"Yeah," Major Coates stood upright, regarding both the Admiral and Shepard. "The Admiral's being modest. He's the reason any of us are still alive."

"Lets not start handing out medals just yet," Anderson held his hands up, a small smile crossing his face. "This fight is just getting started, and Hammer better be ready for it."

Shepard took a moment to think, recalling all that had gone on to band the forces together during the war. From the battles on Tuchunka to the Morning War he had fought both the enemy and politicians tooth and nail, trying to unite a force for Earth. Now that force was ready, having put aside their differences for the sake of the galaxy.

"They didn't start out together, but they're ready to stand side by side and win this war."

"Good," Anderson turned around, looking at a view screen displaying images of the shattered streets below them. "That's what its gonna take."

Shepard walked over to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder. "We'll get it done Anderson."

The Admiral paused before talking, replying in a much lower tone. "I was born in London."

That surprised John. "Really?"

The Admiral turned back around, clearly avoiding the question. "The entire galaxy united...Too bad it took the Reapers to bring us together."

Miranda walked to stand next to Shepard, a look of absolute pride on her face. "Shepard did that, nothing and no one else."

"That's exactly what I meant," Anderson held his hands up in a way of apology. "I know you didn't like leaving Shepard, but nobody could've accomplished what you've done."

Shepard decided not to answer that, he wasn't so convinced of that statement.

Major Coates spoke up. "There's the FOB."

"Looks good," Anderson turned to Coates. "Give Hammer the all clear."

The shuttle touched down, the door opening to reveal a busy cross road. Lots of soldiers were moving around, shifting weapons and shoring up defences. An Alliance soldier walked up to them as the group left the shuttle, speaking directly to Anderson after giving a salute.

"Admiral, we've set up a command centre in the building ahead."

Anderson followed the officers gesture, putting a hand under his chin. "Looks like we've still got groups coming in."

"Yes sir," The soldiers gaze dropped. "But not as many as we'd hoped."

"Hmm," Anderson clearly agreed. He turned to Shepard. "Come see me when you're ready Shepard."

Anderson left the group with the other officer, inspecting data on a data-pad. The squad stood and watched the troops below them, Miranda walking up to John.

"I assumed there would be more of Hammer here by now."

Shepard stared off into the distance as he spoke mournfully. "A lot of them won't be making it."

Miranda kissed him on the cheek, whispering as she did so. "It's not your fault John."

He gave her a sad smile, not completely convinced by her words. He turned to regard the squad, addressing them all. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up."

The team members all nodded before walking over to a ladder and descending into the base. Miranda stayed for a second, placing another kiss on his cheek before leaving. Shepard watched her walk off before turning, seeing Major Coates walk over to him. The officer stood next to him, both veterans watching over the preparations.

"The fighting here has been some of the worst on the planet," Coates turned his head, Shepard still looking onwards. "It looks bad, but there's still hope. And you're here, it'll do the troops good to see you. Bolster their resolve."

Shepard looked at the Major, shaking his head. He knew what the man was implying. "I'm just a soldier like them."

"You might see yourself like that, but they don't. Like it or not commander, you're a hero to these men and women. Don't discount the effect that can have on them," The officer gave a salute to Shepard. "I better go meet up with my battalion, I'll see you at the command centre."

As the soldier walked off Shepard stayed for a few seconds, thinking over what Coates had said. He knew what people thought of him, he knew that he was an inspiration to many of the troops in the Alliance. He didn't want it to be that way though, he didn't want to be an idol for anyone. In his opinion the men he had left behind on Earth were the true inspirations.

He turned around, walking over to the ladder. He wanted to find all of his squad, to speak to them all one last time. To say goodbye before the end.

A/N OK, I may have gone a bit OTT with the banshees, but its much cooler to kill a hoard of them with the other Cain than just one and a bunch of cannibals.