Author's Note: Hello, my dear readers. I'm updating again and much though I would like to say it is because I love you so much, it's actually more to do with me being bored. This will feature the extraction of the Primarch and the return of a squad member as well as something that everyone has been asking about.
Onboard the SSV Edinburgh
Rear Admiral Warren Gill of the Human Systems Alliance stood in the CIC of his vessel, the cruiser SSV Edinburgh, watching as the holographic representation of the four other cruiser and twenty-five frigates of the 72nd, 73rd, 74th, 75th and 76th Scout Flotillas floated by the Relay to the Trebia System. They were waiting for the arrival of the SSV Normandy as well as two CUFS battlegroups.
As the Normandy arrived from the Relay, eleven slipspace portals opened. Eight CUFS frigates emerged, followed by two 1km ships with a 2.5km vessel bringing up the rear.
"This Commander Shepard of the SSV Normandy to all ships. Report," Shepard's voice came over the comm. line.
"This is Rear Admiral Franklin of the 72nd Alliance Scout Flotilla, all ships are green," a woman's voice responded.
"Rear Admiral Karlenko of the 73rd Scout Flotilla, ready when you are," the man reported.
"74th Scout Flotilla under Rear Admiral Gill is set and waiting for orders," Gill told the others.
"75th Scout Flotilla under Rear Admiral Sato standing by," reported another man.
"76th Scout Flotilla under Rear Admiral Connor ready to engage," came a woman's voice.
"Spirit of Fire, Pillar of Courage, Majestic Dusk, Never Say Never, Memory of Peace, Wrath of Light, Emerald Dream, Nightmare Runner, Revealing Light, Medusa and Safe Return of the CUFS under Rear Admiral Cutter, reporting as ordered," came another man's voice.
"Glad to see you up and running again, Spirit of Fire. Now then, I suggest the Scout Flotillas head through the Relay ahead of the Normandy to distract from the Normandy's arrival. Then, the Spirit of Fire and her companions will move to arrive right above Menae once the other ships have shown them the layout of the battlefield. Once everyone is present, we only need to stay long enough for us to pick up the Primarch and extract him. No heroics, we're not here to save the turians yet. Understood?" Shepard stated.
Once the other officers demonstrated their agreement, the plan was executed. As the frigates proceeded through the Relay, the cruisers formed up behind them before following suit. Reaching the other side, they found themselves looking at a battlefield.
Reapers and Hierarchy ships traded fire around Palaven and Menae whilst the planet itself burned in the background. As the cruisers moved into formation with the frigates, the Edinburgh transmitted the sensor data to the CUFS ships, showing them the space above Menae. Moments later, the two battlegroups appeared directly above Menae. As she cruised out of slipspace, the Spirit of Fire opened fire on a descending Reaper Destroyer with her two new guns. Two 600-ton slugs soared through space at sixty kilometres per second before impacting on the Destroyer and obliterating it.
The Alliance Flotillas joined their Confederacy counterparts above Menae, doing their best to keep the Reapers preoccupied in space.
"SSV Leipzig, you've got fighters to your port, watch yourself. Monmouth, move to assist her. Waterloo, Arsuf, Bannockburn, come up on my flanks and concentrate fire on that Destroyer," Gill ordered.
The frigates hastened to obey, with the combined fire of the Leipzig and Monmouth making short work of the fighters while concentrated fire from the Edinburgh, Waterloo, Arsuf and Bannockburn was able to deal with the Destroyer.
"All ships, this is the Moscow. We have a Sovereign-class Reaper on approach and require immediate assistance," Karlenko called over comms.
"This is the Edinburgh. Confirmed, Moscow. 74th Flotilla is moving to assist," Gill informed him as the six ships swung around and moved to engage the Reaper.
"This is Beijing, 76th Flotilla en route," Connor reported.
"This is Pillar of Courage. We will be moving to assist with Medusa and Safe Return," came another voice as the aforementioned ships changed their heading.
As the 74th Flotilla arrived at the Moscow's coordinates, the second last frigate of the 73rd Flotilla exploded under fire from the Reaper. Moments later, the 76th Flotilla arrived, followed by the Courage, Medusa and Return. Under the combined firepower of the fifteen ships, the Reaper's shields fell before the Reaper itself broke apart.
"Karlenko, this is Gill. I suggest you retreat before you get engaged again. Both your remaining ships are badly damaged and can't do much more here," Gill pointed out.
"Agreed. Good luck. See you later, Gill," Karlenko responded, before pulling back to the Relay.
When no other Reapers moved into the nearby area, the remaining ships locked themselves into geosynchronous orbit above Menae.
"Rear Admiral Gill, this is Shepard. The nearby communication tower is down, can we route a call to Palaven Command through the Edinburgh?" the Commander asked.
"Yes, ma'am. Ready to transfer communication to Palaven Command," Gill informed her.
For a couple of minutes, nothing else occurred. Then Shepard contacted them again.
"Thank you, Rear Admiral. You've saved us a lot of time. Give us another half hour at most and then we can leave," Shepard told him.
"Yes, ma'am. We're holding position and are ready to engage as necessary," Gill reported before the comm. line closed.
The small fleet sat in orbit for a while, weapons ready to fire at a moment's notice. As they waited they spotted a crippled turian cruiser swept by, with a Reaper not far behind.
"Mayday, mayday. This is the TSV Resolute, our weapons, shields and sensors are offline and we have multiple hull breaches. We need immediate assistance. Repeat, we need immediate assistance," a turian voice cried over an open comm. channel.
"This is the CUFS Spirit of Fire. We read you, Resolute. We are moving to cover you, head to the Relay and get out of here," Cutter ordered.
The eleven Confederacy ships immediately advanced on the Reaper, opening fire as soon as they were in range. Within two barrages, the CUFS ships had obliterated the cruisers pursuer, giving the Resolute an opportunity to reach the Relay unhindered.
"Thank you, Spirit of Fire. Good luck out there," the turian remarked.
As the turian cruiser left, the Normandy raced up from the surface.
"All ships, this is Shepard. We have Primarch Victus and are ready to depart. Come on," Shepard ordered.
Just then, another unencrypted communication went out on almost all frequencies.
"This is Fleet Admiral Coronati to all ships. Fall back, get out of here. Repeat, this is Fleet Admiral Coronati, all ships retreat," came another turian's voice.
"Get out of here, Shepard. You too, Rear Admirals. Battlegroups 3-09 and 3-15, form up on the Spirit of Fire, we're going to help cover the turian retreat," Cutter ordered.
"Good luck, Cutter. Shepard out," Shepard responded before the line was cut.
As the eleven ships cruised toward the retreating turian lines, Rear Admiral Gill couldn't help but take one last look at them before the Alliance ships vanished through the Relay.
