*FOB MEMORIAM STATION*
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

My helmet seals hissed as the samurai-type helmet locked into place. While my role in the battle ahead was going to be mostly in space, only a fool went around a ship in combat without a helmet. A pinhole-sized hole anywhere in the massive ship, and life support went down to absolute zero in milliseconds.

I strode across the giant cargo bay of Memoriam Station (aka the Crucible), escorted by the Conclave Battle Group Two. The massive station was acting as the mobile FOB I had always intended it to. Most of the twisted Leviathan/Rachni integrations had been undone, and gunners and normal drones stood side by side in the alcoves, maintaining systems, patching communication relays, and manning the massive Inusannon cannons the station still supported. I cursed silently again that we hadn't had the time to turn the giant "REAPER KILLER" weapon back into operational status, rather than focusing array for Oleg Petrovsky's "Crucible."

If wishes were fishes…

I took another look at small ship docked in the shipping bay. While Harmony-From-Chaos and her brood had offered me a place on the Queen's Voice, the massive Rachni Broodship, and Helena Blake had offered command of the massive dreadnought-class Azazael, I had chosen to make the Iswanee my flagship, yielding command of the Agamemnon to Morinth and her Ardat-Yakshi. The ancient Ohulu-class freighter was uniquely equipped as a Command Center, and (I hoped) it would appear to the Reapers as the very last ship that would house the Fleet's Commander.

Nom Rota saluted as I approached, as did his nephew Iliaas, both volus in their normal combat armors, leaving their heavy mechs onboard the ship. The young asari twins were also standing at the ready at their stations, overseen by a watchful Kapena, who gave an elegant elcor bow.

"We're all set to go, Boss-clan," Nom chuckled. "The old girl is ready to fly…for the last time."

"Let's hope not for the last time," I replied, returning the smile and the salute.

Iliaas chuckled in his turn.

"Uncle says, win or lose, he's gonna retire the old girl to a place of honor on our ranch on Alahya," he explained.

"Captain Rota," I said, adopting a serious tone for a moment. "If we win this battle, I promise that the Iswanee shall hold a place of honor outside the Hall of Heroes on Sanctuary itself. She was the first registered ship of the Conclave, and she will remain the First Vessel of the Conclave… always."

I thought the little volus would burst with pride at my words, but he only nodded and turned away to take his place in the main pilot's chair.

"So Boss-clan, let's get the old girl in the air, say you true?"

"Indeed, my friend."

Kapena moved to take the elcor co-pilot controls, while Iliaas and the twins moved below to take their places in the engine room.

As the Iswanee moved out of the docking bay and into open space, even though I knew it was there, the sight still caused me to take a breath:

Ships were stretched out in formation, as far as the eye could see: volus freighters, asari corvettes, turian battleships, Alliance cruisers. Old, new, refurbished, and every stage in-between, the collective might of the galaxy was gathered in a single location.

I opened a channel:

"This is the Imperator. All fleets, report your status."

The grinding sub-harmonics of Conclave General Septimus Oraka came first.

"Battle Group One is armed and ready."

"Battle Group Two is awaiting your orders," General Randall Ezno reported next.

Helena Blake actually appeared on the ship's small holo projector on the console.

"The Black Suns are cleared for action, Imperator."

Liselle T'Loak's black-armored figure appeared next to her.

"Terminus forces are standing by."

To her credit, the Queen of Omega had threatened, cajoled, and called in every favor she had to pull together the bulk of the Terminus military power, leaving her own colonies and homebase perilously weak.

But then again, none of this will matter if we're not successful.

Victory or death.

Precisely.

The two figures vanished and an unfortunately familiar face came into view.

"The Eclipse stands ready," Jona Sederis stated. "We await your signal."

The fact that the Eclipse founder was leading this attack herself had been… unexpected. But then again, she remained one of the only persons in the galaxy who her daughters hated, feared, and respected more than each other.

An ice-cold voice came over the radio next, crisp, brief, and to the point:

"Imperia fleet standing by."

That would be Yan T'Ravt's Admiral MacKinnon, leading every Xenthan ship the Lady could spare from her considerable resources, and a few that she couldn't'.

Xerol Shaaryak appeared on the screen, fully-armored, ever-present cane in hand.

"Batarian Faithful standing strong, Imperator. Pillars of Heart and Strength be with us."

I nodded my thanks as more confirmations began reeling in:

Mira's charming voice transmitted next:

"The Geth are standing ready, Ko'le."

The various asari, turian, salarian, and Alliance forces reported a similar state of readiness.

"Curiously," Kapena reported, "We have an incoming warp signature."

With a thundering whoosh, the ancient dreadnought Kalros' Fury warped out of FTL, followed by a host of similarly-ancient cruisers and obviously-converted ore haulers and cargo ships.

"Alright, you pyjaks," Urdnot Wrex rumbled, "The Krogan are here to win another war for you. Let's get this done."

I smiled, but before I could reply, a beeping on the console drew my attention.

"Outgoing broadcast from the Normandy, Boss-clan," reported Nom, "Broadcasting to all frequencies."

Time for an epic Shepard speech.

"Patch it through," I ordered, "General broadcast."

But when the switch was made, it was the gravelly voice of Steven Hackett that came across the airwaves:

"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.

They will terrorize 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.

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

Hackett out."

*EARTH*
SOL SYSTEM

The arrival at the Sol System was even more breathtaking than our departure from the Base Camp. It fell under the copious events that were "more spectacular than the games."

The sight of the Destiny Ascension coming out of FTL absolutely dwarfed all the other vessels around her, at least until the Queen's Voice came out alongside her.

The fleet moved in surprising unison, each group moving to its predetermined zone of fire.

Neptune passed us by.

Jupiter passed us by.

We moved through the Belt, the red sands of Mars coming into sharp focus now. All scans had shown zero life-signs from the various Martian research station and colonies.

And then the blue speck in the distance grew larger and larger, and the Reaper armada with it.

And all the continents burning of the major population centers came into unfortunate clarity. And in the distance, dark specks began to cluster together.

REAPERS.

Beast's snarl of rage was cut by an authoritative voice broadcasting wide.

"This is it, everyone," Shepard's voice came over the radio. "Be ready on my signal!"

Geth-targeting programs, executing millions of calculations per second, began relaying targeting information to each gunner's stations on the thousands of ships in Shepard's Reclamation Fleet. Even with our numbers, we couldn't afford to have any wasted shots. Especially as missing meant that the shots would travel down to the planet below, potentially ruining someone's day.

Sir Isaac Newton: the deadliest son of a bitch in space, indeed.

"FIRE!"

Each vessel fired, simultaneously. A wall of fire (I couldn't come up with any kind of descriptor) moved toward the Reaper fleet. Almost simultaneously, red trails of fire came from the planet towards our collective fleet.

"Evasive maneuver Seven! NOW!" I called out.

Very carefully, several ships dove giving room for the vessels above to plot evasive maneuvers out of the path of the incoming fire-trails.

Far in the distance, I could see explosions tearing apart the distant Reaper figures. Much closer, several of our ships that either hadn't been able to maneuver out of the way, or had unwarily maneuvered into other lanes of fire burst into flame, the massive turbo-lasers burning through shields and armor alike.

"Launch all fighters! All flight wings, Launch!" came the order from the Butcher of Torfan, Hannah Shepard's voice rising in the seasoned intensity of a veteran commander. "Hammer Force, follow the Normandy down. Make for the surface!"

Carriers poured forth their fighter craft, and the cargo ships released their shuttles and ground assault vessels. Glancing down at the screen, I could see the Normandy's signature lead the others down towards the southern hemisphere of the planet.

Good luck, Shepard, I silently willed. Would that I could go with you to the surface. But my destiny lies elsewhere.

Then the drones came.

The tiny little fuckers bobbed and weaved, individually mostly harmless in and of themselves, but then suddenly twenty of them would join together and fire a massive beam that would knock out a ship's engines or cripple a turbo-laser.

"Shield Force, move to screen Hammer," I ordered. "Oraka, redirect Squadrons Eight through Twelve to keep these bastards off the main fleet!"

"Hadasi, Drella, get on the turrets!" Nom Rota ordered on the shipboard intercom. "Clear us a path through these Plexus-damned eiaquah!"

I saw one of the twins pass through the main chamber, headed to the giant turret on the top of the ship, while the sounds of a hatch opening below told of the other taking manual control of the lower one.

Precisely at that moment, the Maia fired, the combined fire of the Pleiades coursing through the focusing dish. The beam tore a grievous wound down the side of the nearest Reaper, leaving it drifting and vulnerable to the two torpedoes the Iswanee launched towards it.

Kevin moved the background, Ko'le now almost in total control: The Seneschal of Protea directing ships to plug a hole here, to target an enemy there, or to shield a wounded friendly vessel as it limped back towards the mobile stations that had since warped into the System. Kronos, Lazarus, Typhon and Minuteman Stations: Cerberus' bastions had been remade and repurposed for this final battle. And in the middle of the four stations, sat Memoriam: the Inusannon-made Crucible. These five stations served as our forward operating base, our hospital, and our supply center. Rachni drones from all three hives stood ready to effect whatever repairs were possible.

"They're falling back, Boss-clan!" Nom Rota pointed excitedly.

Sure enough, as more of their brethren were torn apart by our combined and focused fire, several Reapers began turning and booking it towards distant Mercury.

Already? Wow… that was… easy.

Too easy, Kevin.

Beast agrees: far too easy.

"Ko'le?" another voice interrupted our musings. "Can you read me?"

The holographic figure of Shepard came online, along with figures of the other principal fleet commanders.

"Glad you all could make it to the party," Admiral Anderson grinned, but his face looked worn and weary, like he had aged decades in the past few months.

"Glad to see you alive, old man," I retorted, keeping the tone playful.

"The Reapers are pulling back towards your system's sun, Captain," Sederis stated, "But this was too easy by half."

"I agree," I nodded, "This is undoubtedly a trap."

My krogan are wasted up here in orbit, Shepard," Wrex grunted, "I'm putting as many boots on the ground as I can. You just tell us where."

Anderson nodded. "We're coordinating most of our efforts around Vancouver, here on the northern continent."

"But the main Reaper processing station is in London, here," Shepard added, bringing up the island of Great Britain. "It's where they've set up most of their dragon teeth."

The human Spectre closed her eyes for a second.

"It's…. it's bad."

All of the figures around the table nodded silently, each of them having seen the horrors of a Reaper occupation first-hand. I shook my head and did my best not to laugh at the irony of the situation: only a few short months ago, the idea of the Reapers was considered by most to be the delusional ravings of madmen.

How far we have come…

"We need to strike there, and quickly," I added aloud, "We will set up a defensive perimeter in orbit. The survivors of the conflict here have no doubt broadcasted our presence to their brethren in the surrounding systems: when the Reapers counter-attack, they will be swift and deadly."

"Just so," Xerol Shaaryak nodded, "I can deploy my ships here…"

*SHEPARD POV*

LONDON, GREAT BRITAIN
EARTH
SOL SYSTEM

"Good luck, Shepard. And if we live through this, drinks are on me."

Kasumi's image flicked and went out. I sighed and nodded at the communications officer, slowly striding out of Anderson's temporary Command Center.

"Everyone ready?" Ash asked me, falling in stride just beside me.

"Wrex and Grunt are setting up in Australia," I answered. "They'll be using it as a launching base into southern Asia."

"Krogan in Australia," Vega chuckled, joining us. "They must be right at home."

"Jack, Miranda, and the rest of the Grissom Grizzlies are south of our position," I continued, "And Samara is north of the city."

"Esteban?" Vega asked, concern on his face all of the sudden.

"Brought the shuttle down safely," reported Liara, looking up across the table from Tali and Garrus. "He's apparently found himself a Trident and will be joining the air support column."

"Of course he is," Jane chuckled from the corner of the room. "Damn fool couldn't just sit back and rest on the laurels of flying through a goddam Reaper blockade. He's gotta jump right back into the fight."

"Could YOU just sit back and watch?" I asked my…. Sister, the title sounding so right in my head.

Jane pursed her lips together, but nodded at my point.

"What's the word from Mom?"

I chuckled and shook my head.

"Last time anybody saw her, she was leading the attack in Vancouver, dual-wielding M-920s."

Jane smiled as the rest of the room chuckled.

"We'll need the Butcher and the Lioness before this is over," she grinned.

Tali cleared her throat, drawing everyone's attention.

"Hammer Force is ready to being our offensive into the heart of London," she reported, bringing up a map marking our various positions. "EDI is running full cyber-warfare sweeps to keep our systems clear, and the word from all beach-heads is that there are no Reaper Behemoths left on the planet, just Harvesters and Destroyers."

"The only problem being that there's a few thousand of them, which means only a couple million husks,"
Garrus added, "ranging from Brutes, Cannibals, and Banshees."

Grim looks came over the faces of everyone present.

"Anybody miss combing backwater planets looking for Iridium deposits?"

That earned me a couple of laughs and wry grins.

How far we've come in only a few short years.

Mein Gott, I wouldn't trade any of these friends for an army or fleet of dreadnoughts.

"This war's brought us pain, and suffering, and loss," I began slowly, and faces and names rose in my mind's eye:

Kaiden Alenko.

Richard Jenkins.

Zaeed Massani.

Jacob Taylor.

Karin Chakwas.

"But it's also brought us together, as soldiers, allies... friends. This bond that ties us together is something that the Reapers will never understand. It's more powerful than any weapon, stronger than any ship. It can't be taken or destroyed."

I bent over and picked up my rifle.

"The next few hours will decide the fate of everyone in the galaxy. Every mother. Every son. Every unborn child. They're trusting you. Depending on you to win them their future. A future free from the threat of the Reapers!"

All around us I could sense more than see other soldiers, Alliance and otherwise, gathering up to listen to my words. Liara was in my peripheral vision, but I could feel a pulse of admiration and confidence from my bondmate; emotions which I channeled into my challenge.

"But take heart! Look around you! You're not in this fight alone. We face our enemy together, and together, we will defeat them."

Now the looks around me were resolute, confident, and full of hope.

"You all know your places," I concluded, "Gott sei mit euch allen: God be with you all."

I began walking with Ashley and Liara, heading over to Anderson's table, where I could see several other of the Resistance leaders had gathered.

"SHEPARD?! ANDERSON!?"

"What is it, Ko'le?" Anderson asked, bringing up his Omni-Tool.

"We've got a massive Relay activation incoming."

I winced, if only internally.

"It was too much to hope that the Reapers would just leave us alone while we mopped up here," I answered. "How are you all set?"

"As well as we can, I th…FATHER AND MOTHER SAVE US."

"What? What is it?" Anderson's and my voices were nearly simultaneous.

"IT'S THE FATHER-DAMNED CITADEL!"

Author's Note:

I hope you all have enjoyed the first section of the FINAL battle here in Beacon's Effect.

More to come (Obviously), the chapter was just getting too long and unwieldy, so I made the executive decision to break it in half.

ROCK ON!

-Tusken1602

Reviewer Responses:

Lyceris, ronnambi, griezz, BJ Hanssen – Yes, "Spoon" was the very first word Liara every said to Ko'le when he awoke on Therum. Ko'le was Mind-Sharing the memories of that very first encounter, much to Liara's embarrassment.

general-joeseph-dickson – It was tough for me to write, to be honest.

jessetimm5491 – Think of it not as an end, but perhaps as the start of a new beginning. ;)

Appbeza – More to come on that strange relationship (if it can be called that yet, really).

Guest – I'm also looking forward to more Skyrim.

Tahkaullus01 – Perhaps… maybe… or maybe not.

Tom712 – Fast and Furious/Mass Effect crossover, anybody? :P

maesde, METALHELLSPWN, seabo76, OnkelJo, KyuubiNodachi, Deathknight999, The Enclave Assassin, griezz – It's readers and reviewers who are the reason we've gotten so far. Love you all!

May the Father accept you when your time comes, and until then, may the Mother keep you always.

EE-RAH!