35: Into the Fire

Fang Shipyard

USS Vanguard

Deck 6

October 15th 2183

xxx

Drake stepped out of the turbo-lift and examined the list of modifications that MacLeod had suggested be added to the combat suits. While most were small or easy enough to add, such as the addition of a high-tensile strength grappling hook, others were proving more difficult which was why he was heading to the one of the main mess halls.

The two main issues he was having were devising how to add eezo to the suits and the creation of a mono-molecular combat blade so he hoped to talk with the Alliance newcomers and examine their technology as it was a better base than the Asari equipment of Spectre T'Thon.

In all honesty, Drake found the Asari slightly off-putting, but he did not know why as he had no problems working with races from his home galaxy. Heck, the four Romulans who had joined his research and technology teams had had no problem integrating with the Starfleet crew. Indeed, it had been a Romulan, Eviess Liun, who had suggested the idea of using Romulan disruptor technology on the Centurion heavy armour and all the tests indicated that the disruptors would be more effective than Starfleet issue rifles. While the Romulan weapons had no stun settings – only a lower, pain overload setting would not kill – the heavy armour was not suitable for anything but warfare and so he suspected MacLeod would be comfortable with it, even if it did stretch a few Starfleet regulations.

Drake sighed as he looked at the last item on the list that MacLeod had suggested. Rocket packs. While he could definitely see the attraction of a flying suit of armour, the practicality of such a unit was seriously lacking. However, as a large jump-pack, there was some promise if were able to understand and use eezo to help negate the overall weight of the armour plus the jump-pack.

He looked up as the doors to the mess hall opened and he quickly spotted the Alliance team attacking a wide verity of food. Two security officers were waiting beside the door to act as escort for the team.

"Damm, this is almost as good as my mum's!" Exclaimed Martinez as he tucked into some fired chicken. "Almost!"

"Same with this." Concurred Picard as he enjoyed a well-done T-bone steak. "Can't remember when I had a steak this good!"

Rico smiled as he enjoyed the turkey sandwich he had ordered. "Well don't go getting fat or the Chief will have to devise one of his special training sessions." The team groaned at the idea of another training session from Mendez – who sat quietly enjoying the view of the Serpent Nebula while nursing a cup coffee called raktajino that had been suggested by Havaris before he had left for his shift. Mendez had quickly taken a liking to this new flavour to coffee, and he now was hoping to get a supply of the beans to take with him when they left the Vanguard.

"Commander." Drake said as he stepped towards the Alliance team.

Rico turned and examined the pips on Drakes neck carefully. Havaris had explained the ranks as he had escorted them to their quarters – not a small cramped billet like on Alliance ships but single quarters for all of his team and slightly larger quarters for himself that also contained a small work area. "Ensign. What can I do for you?" Something that stuck in Rico's head was that MacLeod had four pips when they had landed but was only listed as a Lieutenant Commander, which should have meant two full and one empty pip. Without knowing MacLeod, Rico refused to question why, but the change was interesting.

Drake smiled and slipped into the seat next to Rico. "Colin Drake. I'm in-charge of the on-board science teams and was wondering if you could help with a few things that the Captain has asked me to do."

"Captain?" Valentina asked, catching the strange usage of a rank that she believed was not active on-board.

Drake gave the South American beauty a smile, while trying to fight off a blush as she stared at him, and answered. "Yes, Captain MacLeod was given a field commission using Starfleet regulations."

"Explains the pips." Muttered Mendez, indicating he had also noticed the variance on MacLeod's neck, not that Rico was surprised, as the Chief was famous for always spotting the small details.

"True enough." Said Rico. "So what do you need Ensign Drake?"

"Well I was wondering if I could scan a mono-molecular blade as it seems the Captain is interested in having his own such weapon."

"That so?" Said Wang as he took a sip of his herbal tea, and allowed the aroma to bring back memories of his home on New Canton.

Drake nodded again. "The Captain is certified in around two dozen forms of combat and has a fondness for engaging in hand-to-hand combat. I'm not surprised that the top of his list was a sword."

Rico nodded as he remembered the video of the training fight that had happened on the Normandy. Shepard had sent it to him when he told her of this assignment and he and the Chief had watched it several times. They both concluded that MacLeod should have won the fight easily as he was holding back, but beyond keeping something in reserve, they were not sure why he would do so as both fighters appeared to be fierce competitors. "Nothing wrong with that." He said as he pulled out his combat knife – the only weapon that Havaris had allowed them to keep with them when the rest of their weapons had been taken back to their shuttles. "You can take this."

Instead of taking it, Drake accessed his HLT and scanned the knife thoroughly. As the scan finished he looked at results and nodded to himself before turning back to Rico. "Thank you Commander. With this scan I can replicate a similar weapon for the Centurion armour."

Mendez whistled softly as he put the images of what MacLeod had planned together in his head – and wondered if he could get the same done to his armour.

Rico placed the knife back in its holster, a little shocked that only a quick scan was needed to allow them to make their own copies. He glanced over at the food replicator and wondered what else this seemingly magical piece of technology could create – and if he could get a few items for himself. "And the other thing?"

Drake sighed a little. "We simply don't understand how eezo works. Either on a large scale or inside the body. We've scanned the Asari while she used her biotics." Rico wondered if he could get a copy of that scan for Alliance R&D. "But since the Asari as a species are all biotic it doesn't provide a good base-line."

"Whereas we plain old Humans would." Finished Reigns, who until this point had been silently listening while nursing a bowl of soup.

Drake nodded at the Alliance team's engineer. "Yes. It will also allow us to see if there are any differences between you and ourselves." Noticing the looks, he explained. "Well, our medics are wondering if there are any genetic differences between the local Humans and the Humans on-board this ship."

"Well we all have genetic modifications which we got when joining the Navy." Commented Valentina, who was starting to enjoy seeing the cute Ensign blush whenever she spoke to him. "And your Federation is totally set against such things right?"

Drake shrugged a little. "More or less." Ignoring the un-asked questions this time he turned back to Rico. "Commander, members of my team and the medical department are hoping we can monitor you and your team while you use your biotics during a train program."

Rico looked first at Reigns, who shrugged her consent, then Mendez, who gave a barely perceivable nod, before looking back at Drake. "Very well Ensign. How about in thirty minutes in your training centre?"

Drake smiled happily. "Thank you Commander. I'll tell the teams to meet us at Holodeck One." He reached up to tap his badge only for a general alarm to sound, and a dull yellow glow to engulf the room.

Rico and his team bolted upright. While on a foreign vessel, they knew an alarm when the heard one. "Ensign?"

Drake looked at Rico in confusion drawn from why the alert had sounded. "That's Yellow Alert. It's an alarm to get ready for action, but I don't know why it would sound here and now."

"The Hannover's turning." Stated Wang as he spotted the lead Alliance cruiser and its escorts break off from their patrols. "Looks like they're getting ready to jump."

Rico glanced out at the Alliance vessels then turned back to his team. "Right, get down to the shuttles, just in case." He turned to Drake. "Ensign, could you escort me to the bridge so I can talk with your Captain."

Drake turned without waiting and moved towards the door, and led the team down the corridor to the turbo-lift. The two security officers followed slightly being, just far enough away to be out of easy reach but close enough to keep all members of the Alliance team in sight. Mendez smiled slightly and as he would have done the same, except his team would have kept their weapons trained on their guests.

As the doors to the turbo-lift opened, Drake and Rico stepped inside, leaving the rest of the Alliance team with their escort.

"Bridge."

Rico was a little surprised that it was that easy to access the command deck, but he suspected that if he tried to do so, the computer would deny him access. He had barely begun to open his mouth to ask about how long it would take when the doors opened and they stepped out onto the bridge to find MacLeod involved in a conversation with the Turian contingent's lead, Captain Virnicus.

"Commander MacLeod," Started Virnicus. Even after being asked to refer to MacLeod as Captain, he refused to do. He was still embarrassed and offended by Varik's little demonstration, and so was refusing to acknowledge the change in rank as payback. "Without formal conformation, I cannot allow you to leave the shipyard."

MacLeod placed his face into his palm, half because of the stubbornness of the Turian, and half so he could not say what he was thinking. After taking a deep breath, and removing his hand from his face, he replied. "Captain, I respect you have to follow your chain of command but…"

"There is no 'but' Commander." Interrupted Virnicus. "You will not leave this shipyard without the express permission of the Council."

MacLeod growled as he stood to face the viewscreen, his anger quickly getting the better of him. This individual was actively delaying them from what could be a major battle all because he felt slighted. If this lasted much longer, he knew he would do something he would regret later, even as an idea occurred to him. "Captain. Two questions. One, did I, or any senior officer from Starfleet of the Federation ever sign a treaty recognizing that we were subservient to the will of the Council?"

Virnicus' mandibles twitched in confusion at the question even as he answered. "No."

MacLeod smiled, though to Virnicus it looked more like a snarl than a smile. "Well, if that is the case, by what authority do you claim to stop us from leaving?"

"The Council." Virnicus blurted out, only to stop as his eyes flared at being trapped by his own words.

MacLeod paused and turned back and spotted Rico, who had clearly enjoyed that little exchange, and walked to his chair. As he reached it, he turned back to face Virnicus. "Then you have two choices Captain, move aside," The smile grew until it managed to worry Virnicus. "Or we go through you." MacLeod slipped back into his chair. "Vanguard out." The viewscreen changed to show the Turian lead ship, Talon of Justice, which currently was parked directly in their intended flight-path.

"Captain, I believe you enjoyed that a little too much." Commented Sahen as he leaned over to speak quietly, a smile on his face that matched the one now dominating MacLeod's.

"Now Major, Starfleet Command does not approve of their Captains putting down the commanders of other ships." Replied MacLeod as he accessed the console built into the command chair.

"Then it is a good thing that Starfleet Command is not here." Replied Sahen as he turned to the console next to his chair. Sahen had been adverse to even bothering to help, but quickly saw the benefits; mainly the political capital they would gain if they won the battle, and the simple fact that if they did not rush to the Citadel's aid then the Reapers would overwhelm them very quickly. While he did not believe in the concept of an ancient race of alien starships, he was at least realistic enough to know that the threat posed by the Geth was worthy of being treated as real.

"Alliance ships are jumping." Reported Havaris. "Turian ships are starting to turn."

"Good," Commented MacLeod. "I really didn't want to scratch the paint." Sahen tried and failed to not chuckle – as did a few other members of the bridge crew. "Set course for the Citadel."

"Course laid in," Answered Reiji. "At warp eight it will take thirty-five minutes."

MacLeod shook his head slightly, forgetting that Reiji could not actually set his face from her station. "No, maximum warp."

Reiji turned and looked back at her captain, her antennae drooping in slight fear and worry. "Sir, Commander Varik stated that he would advise against pushing the engines beyond warp eight until such time as he can carry out a full level one diagnostic on all parts of the warp assembly."

"I understand, but we need to be there now." His firm look told Reiji that his decision was final, so she turned back to her console and altered their flight-plan.

"Warp nine point eight, aye sir." She rechecked the calculations. "ETA is fifteen minutes."

"Punch it." MacLeod watched as the stars on the viewscreen started to blur as the powerful ship accelerated to warp. He only hoped that they arrived in time to stop whatever it was that Sovereign was doing.

"Captain?" MacLeod turned and noticed that Aishia had joined Rico and Drake beside the turbo-lift so he stood and walked over to the tactical situation display behind Havaris' station and made sure they joined him. Drake quietly slipped away to take over the main science station. Even if they were not going to enter a battle, he could not pass up taking a few more discreet scans of the Citadel and its fleet-level protection.

"Spectre, Commander, welcome to the bridge." Even after nearly a week on-board, this was the Asari's first time on the bridge and MacLeod was more than certain that they were both taking mental notes of the locations of every crewmember present – and trying to understand the displays all around the bridge.

"Sitrep?" Asked Rico, now fully in combat mode as he eyed the tactical layout of the display that MacLeod had lead them too.

MacLeod nodded and gave them the rundown. "Less than five minutes ago I was in communication with the Asari Councillor via the QEC aboard the SSV Hannover when the signal was abruptly cut off. It seems that all communication with the Citadel has been severed. This suggests that the Citadel has come under attacked and been boarded by a hostile force. Who or whatever has done so is also blocking all of our scans, which is a trick you don't yet know how to do."

"That's not possible." Stated Aishia in disbelief. "Nothing could get past the Citadel Fleet without a major alert being sounded."

"Anything is possible." Countered Rico as he quoted an ancient proverb, even as he turned back to look MacLeod. "Though as you say, I don't know how any Citadel race could block your scanners without understanding them first."

"I can think of only one being that could, Sovereign." Noticing the blank looks, he sighed again at the lack of information that was being released by the Council or the military commands of the individual races. For the first time he actually found himself missing the Starfleet Command; at least there, everyone was on the same page, even if most of the time he suspected it was the wrong one! "Saren's command ship. A super dreadnought code-named Sovereign. It has been identified as a Reaper."

"Reaper?" Started Aishia, her eyes bugging a little at the word. "As in the race that, according to the stories, that destroyed the Protheans? Or one of their ships?"

MacLeod nodded, thankful that at least the Asari seemed to know about the Reapers in passing, though why the Turians and Humans –if Rico's look was anything to go by – did not was another thing to investigate later. That list was turning into a very long list, but not something he could be concerned with at this moment in time. "Yes, though the Reapers seem to be sentient AI's, not any kind of race."

"That's impossible." Muttered Aishia. "They would be at least fifty-thousand years old." She vaguely remembered the stories from what the Humans would have classed as a school about the myths and legends that had been discovered about the enemy that had destroyed the Prothean Empire. While the term Reapers had stuck, no-one ever really knew who or what they were. For MacLeod to suggest that they were sentient AI warships was just preposterous. However, if someone had told her a few weeks ago that other universes actually existed she would have thought the same, and now she was glad to have been wrong as it gave her a chance to experience something completely new and unknown to other Asari.

Honestly, the Reapers had only come back into her mind when she had become curious about why Doctor T'Soni had joined Commander Shepard's team. She had found many of the Doctor's papers outlandish, if not worthy of being made into a bad action/horror movie; indeed she could name three such movies from last year alone. Yet here she stood arguing with an extra-dimensional Human about the idea of such a fantasy being reality. She found that itch from earlier coming back again – this ship and all the craziness it brought was like a curse from the Goddess!

MacLeod bit his tongue about how old Sovereign had claimed to be, as it would only delay this briefing; and he knew it would only make things worse. "Be that as it may, I am ordering the Vanguard to the Citadel at our maximum speed, which is around half of the Alliance and Turian tops speeds." Noticing the looks the pair gave them he smirked. "Yes, we scanned those ships very thoroughly."

"How long?" Again Rico's question was direct and to the point. He mentally jotted down that the scans had been made – and to ask if the Alliance could get a copy of the Turian ones – but right now, there was a far more pressing concern. The Citadel was likely under attack. While all this talk of ancient sentient starships was way above his pay-grade, the comms blackout was something that needed to be investigated immediately.

MacLeod smiled at the simplicity of dealing with his Human counterpart. "Now, around ten minutes. I have no idea what the situation will be as, as I mentioned, who or whatever took out the QEC systems is also blocking our scanners. Since no Citadel race can do that, it lends further credence to the attack being led by Sovereign."

Rico gave a slight nod. "Permission to leave the bridge?"

MacLeod turned and started back for the command chair. "Granted. Suit up and be ready to deploy in your shuttles." He paused and turned to Aishia. "Spectre, you should go with them." Aishia gave a full salute, which MacLeod replied to by shaking his head in something that Aishia took as a mixture of disappointment and pity, and then joined Rico in the turbo-lift. Rico looked at her, unsure of what the command was to get to the flight-deck – or if the computer would accept his command.

Aishia gave him a smug little smile as she spoke. "Flight-bay." As the turbo-lift rapidly descended she turned to the younger, but taller Human. "May I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

Aishia was not sure about the choice of wording but took it to mean she could ask. "Why did MacLeod dismiss my salute without returning it? Was my posture incorrect?"

Rico chuckled. Obviously, the Council had told this Spectre to be as polite as possible to the Starfleet crew, but they obviously forgot to mention one little detail. "From my understanding, this crew is not military correct?"

"That is correct. They lack the suspiciousness to be truly combat trained, save for their security personnel and the Romulans."

Rico filled that little titbit of information away with the others for future reference and then explained. "Well why would a non-military crew expect you to salute them when they give you a suggestion?"

Aishia's features twisted into one of slight embarrassment as the dawning realisation of her error came to light. "They would not expect, nor welcome such an action." She nodded as she turned back to the doors. "That explains their behaviour when I do so. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Rico replied as the doors opened and they spotted the entrance to the flight-bay a short distance down the corridor. Taking off a brisk jog Rico lead Aishia over to the Alliance shuttles and explained the situation to his team.

…

Destiny Ascension

xxx

Lidanya grabbed the back of the helm-operator's seat as the massive Asari dreadnought was buffeted with incoming fire from four Geth cruisers. "Where are our escorts?"

"Apologies Matriarch, but they are heavily engaged with Geth forces." Replied the Asari operating the sensors. "Captain Tanius says he is unable to act as a screening force as the Geth are moving to target Kithoi Ward."

Lidanya grimaced at the news; without her screening force, the Ascension was at risk of suicide attacks from Geth drop-ships. The whole idea of intentionally ordering such attacks had only come up during one of the first war-games with the Alliance when they had carried out such an attack in the opening phase of the battle against the lead Asari dreadnought. It had so shocked the Asari Matriarchs in command of the fleet that the Alliance had managed to turn the expected- victory into a hollow one; no other race had ever been able to take out an Asari dreadnought without losing several of their own in the process. What had truly surprised Lidanya was that the Humans even had a special word for it.

The Citadel races had retro-fitted their dreadnoughts as best they could with more point-defences but Asari vessels were unable to do much with current generations as it meant removing or shifting the massive layers of Silaris armour at an astronomical cost which, even to the Republics, was not practical. The next generation of dreadnought would have more low-yield cannons and GARDIAN lasers, but those ships were only schematics being discussed by the various houses and guilds with the Republics, and thus useless at the moment to Lidanya and the Ascension.

"Send out a general request for new escorts." She turned to the communication station. "Selena, have we received the last of the ambassadors?"

Selena gave a slight shake of her head. "Apologies Matriarch. The shuttle carrying the Volus and Hanar ambassadors has only just cleared the Presidium Ring. Its arrival is expected in five standard units."

At the sound of the lift doors opening, Lidanya turned to see the three members of the Council and their Spectre bodyguards emerge. She started to speak only as the massive ship shook again.

"Barriers are down to seventy percent."

"Engineering reports that the tertiary core is fluctuating and needs to be taken offline."

"Primary cannons recharged."

Lidanya turned back to the viewer. "Target the lead Geth cruiser and fire one cannon." A slight hum filled bridge as the charged plasma round was launched down the massive barrel of one of the three spinal cannons and shot towards the rapidly closing cruiser. The Geth ship tried to turn away, but at the close range, it was a futile tactic as the plasma splashed against its barriers.

"Barriers are down."

Lidanya allowed herself a slight smile. The plasma cannons, until now un-tested in true combat were proving their worth as it would have taken two direct hits from the older style dreadnought cannons to take down the barriers of an assault cruiser, whereas the plasma cannons were taking them down easily with a single shot, and against anything smaller it was simply overkill. "Fire the second cannon and use others plus the supporting weapons to target other nearby Geth ships. Get us some room to manoeuvre." Ignoring the confirmations, she spoke to the Council. "Apologies."

Sparatus tried to hide his shock at seeing active plasma cannons on an Asari dreadnought as Tevos gave a slight nod of understanding for the break in protocol of not greeting the Council as they entered the Command Centre. "Understandable Lidanya. How are our forces faring?" For his part, Valern was quietly observing and listening to everything for a report to the STG and the Circle regarding the new weaponry developed by the Asari; something they had done without the STG noticing.

Lidanya lowered and turned her head slightly, in an Asari gesture of failure. "Again apologies, but we are losing."

"How so?" Sparatus asked. His initial shock rapidly dissipating as the realities of battle sunk in. "From the initial reports I received we out-number Saren's fleet!"

"Indeed Councillor, but Saren's dreadnought is more powerful than any vessel I have ever seen." She turned back to the main viewer as it showed the massive warship extending its tentacles and obliterating two Turian cruisers and one Salarian destroyer while smashing through the remains of an Asari vessel. "Its rate of fire and destructive force is almost inconceivable. The Primarch's Pride was destroyed with one extended blast from the main cannon."

"Main cannon?" Valern inquired, clearly shocked at how easily this supposed Reaper had sliced through the Citadel defence forces. He also worried that Shepard could be right that there were more waiting to attack.

Lidanya stared to answer only for Selena to interrupt. "The Pertinacious is firing again."

All four leaders watched as the state-of-the-art Turian flagship fired both its main cannons, this time finally at the super-dreadnought, only for the monster vessel to shrug off the assault as it turned to face the Pertinacious and deal with the latest nuisance, even after it neared the very tip of the partially closed Citadel. Why it had stopped closing was an issue to determine after this battle; if they survived the battle that is.

"Incredible." Muttered Valern, both impressed and terrified at the ease with which the enemy dreadnought had shaken off the Pertinacious' attack. "What is the drop in barrier strength?"

Lidanya looked over at the sensor operator, a young Asari named Lieria, who answered the question. "The drop averaged six point seven percent per strike from each impact."

"Less than seven percent per round?!" Sparatus' booming voice filled the room as he spoke. "We need to call for reinforcements!" As if to punctuate the statement, the super-dreadnought fired three of its secondary beams at the Pertinacious. The massive Turian vessel visibly shuddered as its barriers strained against the energy beams that smashed against them. Unfortunately, they could not hold and inside of a few seconds, the three red beams pierced the command ship - somehow missing the drive core or any critical power system - and the once proud Turian warship started to drift as her external lights flickered and then died. With the Turian command ship out of the fight, the monster slowly turned back towards the Citadel, even as four Geth cruisers closed in for the final kill on the crippled Turian dreadnought.

"That would be ideal; however we lost contact with Citadel Control and C-Sec almost as soon as the Geth fleet came through the Relay." Stated Selena, having momentarily forgetting her place in the command structure.

Tevos nodded, both in understanding, and as a way to excuse the breech in battle protocol. "That explains the initial attack on the Citadel, but how did they sneak such a large force onto the Citadel?"

Sparatus shook his head, again clearing it for battle. "We can sort it out later; we need to concentrate all our firepower on that monstrosity."

Lidanya managed to keep all but the slightest of traces of a smile from creeping onto her face. She had already given the order to prepare for a step-jump to close to lethal range on the super-dreadnought. "As you suggest Councillor." Lidanya turned to her helm operator. "Junila, Charge the secondary core for short range FTL flight."

"By you command Matriarch."

Tevos ushered her fellow Councillors over to a trio of empty chairs and made sure they sat down. While the Asari ships were well known for the step-jump, the other Councillors had never experienced it, while she unfortunately had.

The step-jump was a unique trick of Asari dreadnoughts due to their tri-core setup. The secondary core was designed to allow a short-range – no more than five light-minutes – FTL jump. The primary idea was to allow a dreadnought to escape from heavy fire and fall back to a better tactical situation. In this case however, Lidanya planned to use it jump the Ascension to virtually point-blank range and hope that an overload-strike would damage the attackers barriers enough to allow the rest of the fleet to destroy it.

The real risk of this attack however, was that with the tertiary core down, they would be unable to achieve FTL speeds for nearly one Citadel hour as the step-jump disrupted the normal operations of a eezo core enough to make it slip out of alignment.

"Secondary core is overcharged." Reported Junila from the bridge engineering station, as Lidanya sat back down and strapped herself in.

"Very well. Sound the jump alarm." A distinctive lyrical siren sounded which warned the crew of the impending combat jump. After less than twenty seconds the alarm stopped. "Execute."

As the battle raged around the out-stretched arms of the Citadel, the Destiny Ascension started to glow as the elegant giant activated one of its eezo power cores.

Detecting the build-up – and having long ago gained access to all classified data on the Citadel through Saren and other such agents –Sovereign turned to face the expected assault even as it re-routed power to its forward barriers.

Sparatus held the arm rests of his chair tightly as he felt part of his lunch catch in his throat – obviously the short-range jumps were inherently unstable manoeuvres – and gasped as the lumbering front of the super-dreadnought opened.

"Power build-up!" Warned Lieria as the central cannon of the super-dreadnought glowed red.

"Fire main cannons!" Ordered Lidanya with the barest hint of fear now creeping into her voice. She gripped the armrest of her chair and felt – for the first time since she was a Maiden – the real fear of defeat as the dull hum filled the command deck.

All over the battlefield, sensors flared as the two mighty behemoths powered up and fired at each other; red beams passing by green plasma globules before colliding against their targets.

Lidanya watched in horror as Junila's chair – and Junila as well – was flung across the deck before colliding with a thankfully empty station. The sickening crunch telling all that the poor helm operator was with the Goddess.

"Medic!" Lidanya did not have time to turn at the sound of Tevos' voice as she turned to the helm station. "Davila, get us out of here! Selena, signal for…." Lidanya was cut off as the ship rattled again and Selena's head impacted hard with her console, covering both in a rapidly growing pool of blue blood.

"Barriers down! Fore armour holding at eighty-two percent!" Reported the bridge engineer, the shock in her voice at having the Ascension's barriers taken down in a single shot was unmistakeable. "Secondary core is re-aligning however the primary is showing signs of a rapid power build-up."

Lidanya frowned at the news. If they lost the primary core then they were dead. "Tell engineer Havjia to do whatever she has to get the cores under control."

"Enemy dreadnought now reading at forty percent barrier strength." Lidanya – and several others – snapped round to stare at Lieria in varying displays of shock. That attack plan was the most powerful assault that any dreadnought was known to be capable of, and was meant to be a virtual overkill on even another dreadnought. Yet it had only drained the barriers on Saren's monster by around half.

"Goddess save us." Muttered Lidanya as she digested the news. With her hope rapidly draining she turned back to the main viewer expecting the death blow but was heartened as the massive dreadnought started to move away.

"Enemy dreadnought moving for the Citadel." The operator paused. "Matriarch, the Citadel is starting to close again."

"Spirits!" Muttered Sparatus as he reached the communication station. "That demon will be protected from us inside the Citadel while the rest of the Geth fleet pick us apart."

"Incoming Geth ships!"

"Display!" Ordered Lidanya and the new wave of Geth appeared. Four cruisers and eight dropships were closing rapidly on the Ascension. While they still had their secondary cannons that were of the standard variety, their main cannons were underpowered due to the step-jump and over-fire. "Reinforcements?"

"None in range."

"I'm sending out a general distress call." Stated Sparatus from the secondary communications console. In the commotion, Lidanya had not seen him move but she was grateful that he had taken over the vacant, but now necessary, station.

"Geth are entering optimal firing range." The statement was given with incredible calmness and Lidanya was truly impressed with the behaviour and character of her crew. If they were to die now, then she could die knowing that the crew had done all that they could to please the Goddess.

Though it seemed that today was not their turn to die as the Geth ships came under attack from off-viewer, forcing them to break from their attack run on the Ascension.

"Incoming signal." Reported Sparatus as he piped it over the bridge.

"This Captain Shepard of the Hannover. We stand ready to assist."

Lidanya offered a silent prayer before she spoke. "Your timing is excellent Captain, but why are you here?"

"Captain MacLeod's suggestion Matriarch." There was a slight pause as the Hannover's barriers were struck by return fire from a Geth dropship, drawing Shepard's attention away from the comms. "He was talking to a Councillor when the QEC cut out. He also told us to alter our FTL trajectories so we could drop back to sub-light nearby and ready to assist immediately."

Tevos smiled at the quick thinking of MacLeod, and the fact that he had gotten Shepard's mother to understand so rapidly. Valern and Sparatus both wondered which of their cohorts had been secretly talking to MacLeod, and what they had been discussing.

"Where is Captain Virnicus?" Asked Sparatus as he noted only the six Alliance ships were engaging the superior Geth force.

"Captain Virnicus was having…. difficulties with his core." Answered Shepard, though Sparatus harrumphed at the reply, as he knew it was a lie, however he was impressed that the Alliance Captain was smart enough to not openly discredit her Turian counterpart. Obviously, the elder Shepard had more understanding of the complexities of command. "He should be here momentarily."

As if to prove her right, the Turian contingent from Fang shipyard dropped out of FTL near the Ascension and quickly turned to fire on the Geth ships, catching them in a crossfire from the two small groups of reinforcements.

"And the Vanguard?" Asked Lidanya hopefully. Right now, it was the only ship that she knew of that maybe, just maybe, could stop Saren's super-dreadnought. Even then she was not sure, but only a short while ago she had mistakenly believed that no ship was more powerful that the Ascension.

There was a pause, as though Shepard was consulting with someone on her bridge, before the answer came. "My XO calculates they should be here in another few minutes. It was because of them that we were able to so close to the Ascension." She paused as someone shouted in the background. "Even with the jamming going on, they were able to detect certain eezo signatures and direct us to you."

Lidanya did her best to process that the Vanguard could actively target and track a ship from light-years away, even with all the interference that Sovereign was putting out. "Very well, we need to rally what remains of the Fleet and prepare to drive the Geth away from the Citadel." Stated Lidanya, her confidence outwardly returning. Even if inside she was still expecting to die, she had to provide strength for her crew and the crew on all the other ships left in the fight.

"By your orders." Stated Shepard before the link closed and the Hannover and her escorts manoeuvred to take up defensive positions around the Ascension beside the Turian units.

Lidanya looked over at Sparatus. "Councillor, I need you to send a general recall for all ships. We need to re-group quickly." Sparatus nodded his understanding and set to work. Right now, he was not the Turian councillor, but a solider in a battle. Something that was as natural to any loyal Turian as breathing.

"What about the Citadel?" Asked Tevos. She already knew the answer but felt the question had to be asked.

Lidanya gave a slight bow. "Apologies, but until we can organize, they are on their own."

Tevos gave a slight nod of consent. She had expected the answer but it still felt to her like they had failed in their duties as leaders and protectors of the Citadel. "Do as you must Lidanya with our blessing." Both Matriarchs shared a look and issued the same silent prayer; that the Vanguard would arrive in time, and be as deadly as they hoped and prayed it would be.

…

xxx

As it entered the finally closing arms of the Terminal, Nazara pondered the sheer futility of the organics plan. Even if they somehow managed to overwhelm the pitiful machines that were assisting it and reclaim the space around the Terminal, the oncoming storm would sweep them aside without a concern. Even the extra-dimensional ship could not stop them now.

All that remained was for the organic known as Saren to initiate the sequence and open the Doorway to the Armada.

…