Mass Effect 3: Into the Unknown

by Fainmaca

With the defences around Arcturus breached and the homeworlds of the strongest races under siege, what hope remains? One man faces the oncoming storm. The Reapers will know defeat. They will know fear. They will know Commander Shepard.

36. 36: The Enemy Advances

Author's notes: Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Mass Effect 3 and all related characters and trademarks are property of EA/Bioware. Rated M for language, violence and suggestive themes.

Author's Notes: Vote Result:

Spare the Illusive Man: 15

Kill the Illusive Man: 5

Certainly did not expect that result! Anyway, sorry this chapter took so long, but here it is at long last. Enjoy.

Act Three: Retaliation

Chapter 36: The Enemy Advances

The Arcturus Prime Mass Relay hung in the vastness of space, its sweeping, curving lines and dirty grey hull standing out in sharp contrast to the black backdrop dotted with myriad tiny pinpricks of infinitely distant light. The gyroscope at the heart of the machine was a blur of motion, holding the burning core of element zero that powered the ancient device in place more securely than the mass of a star could hold a planet in its orbit. This brilliant blue core shone with blinding light, untold power stored within. This cast a faint glow across the outreaching arms of Arcturus Station, the grandest and most precious of Humanity's creations. The gargantuan station was the seat of governmental power in the Systems Alliance, home to the Parliament headed by Prime Minister Amul Shastri, and it was also the primary stronghold of the Alliance Navy, represented in this sector by the First Fleet under Admiral Kastanie Drescher, recently promoted to this prominent position after many years of loyal service at the head of the Second Fleet. At this moment in time what remained of the Fifth fleet, commanded by the stern Admiral Steven Hackett, joined the First Fleet in patrolling the immediate area around Arcturus Prime. Given what they were guarding against, dedicating two fleets to this task was viewed as a tactically sound move. Several ships belonging to both fleets could be seen drifting almost lazily between the Relay and the station, some moving in broad curves over the main hub of the station.

The hub of the station was shaped in a modified style of the Stanford Torus, a classical design that all virgin civilisations seemed to gravitate towards upon taking their first steps towards the stars. The bulbous disc spun at a rate of once per minute, nestled between two long prongs of metal and glass, akin to two tower blocks turned on their sides, that served to stabilise the structure. The disc was actually a framework to support a massive ring of metal, a doughnut approximately five kilometres in diameter that served as the main living space of the station. Within, the vast population of the station, now mostly composed of soldiers, engineers and Council or Parliament representatives, moved about on decks radiating out towards the outer circumference of the ring, the centrifugal force of the ring's motion providing adequate gravity to allow them to go about their normal activities. At the centre of the disc, a stationary segment stood out prominently, the central command module. This was the only part of the station to truly rely upon artificial gravity provided by powerful Mass Effect Field generators within the lower segments of the structure, the centrifugal forces of the station's rotation insufficient this close to its centre to exert any kind of downward force on its occupants.

One broad viewport looked out over the length of this station from this central hub, its panoramic view extending outwards between the two prongs and out over the disc. The corridor behind it was empty, possessing no real purpose beyond conveying people from one point in the station to another and past this breathtaking vista. At times, the view could be... peaceful, if not downright relaxing.

It was because of this quiet quality that the strict, imposing figure had chosen to seek refuge here. Pacing about restively, he sought calm and focus from the absorbing view before him, but the turbulent ripples dashing through his mind robbed him of any serenity he might have gained.

Standing at an impressive height of almost eight feet, Septimus Oraka, former general of the Turian Hierarchy's Allied Armed Forces, or AAF, was every inch the typical Turian. His head fringe was well kept, sweeping back away from his scalp in a severe plane, razor sharp edges narrowing to neat points. His white facial markings contrasted sharply with his deep-set eyes, eyes that glinted with the wisdom of many years of experience on the front lines followed by even more decades of work running the battlefield from a command post. Here stood a Turian who had seen damn near everything, faced innumerable unknowns with barely a twitch of his mandibles, and not just survived, but come out the other side the clear victor. And yet here he was, brought low by one small, fragile Asari.

Why did they assign her, of all people? Why did the Council choose the one being he would be most pleased to have working at his side, and find the most painful company to endure? He allowed a grunt of irritation to escape between his jagged fangs as he glared at his reflection in the viewport, shooting a venomous stare at the red-and-black-clad Turian image looking back at him.

A quiet hiss behind him caused his focus to dart to a section of the reflection just above his shoulder, allowing him to glimpse the individual that had walked through the doors and taken up a position behind him. He suppressed a shudder. It was her. He took in a steadying breath before turning to face her.

"Sha'ira." His voice was flat, cool.

"Septimus." She returned the greeting, her gentle tones conveying much more agreeable feeling than his. He chanced a look at those enchanting eyes, large compared to her other features, wide enough to draw even the strongest-willed soldiers into their dark, ageless gaze.

"Is there something you need?" He wanted her to get to the point, then leave. Just being around her caused his pulse to race painfully.

Her gracefully thin lips twisted downwards in a grimace of distaste, a negative expression that had no place on such a face.

"Is this how it must be between us, Septimus? I had believed that we were past this ill feeling."

The former general sighed, his shoulders slumping a fraction.

"I cannot control my heart, Sha'ira. My desires are not so readily put aside as yours seem to be. I wish I were like the Asari, living for such great spans of time that emotions and relationships become mere trivia, and attachment is something to be ignored or avoided."

"That is not the way of things, Septimus, and you know it. We feel just as strongly as Humans, Turians and even the Krogan. We grieve for relationships that cannot last, endure the same emotional binding to those we care about, and experience the same euphoric feeling when with the ones we love."

At this last, her sky-blue hand reached up to gently caress the side of his face, cupping the left mandible in an endearing gesture. For once, he risked truly locking his gaze with hers, seeing the raw emotions running high far behind those deep black orbs. He could see the warmth of her heart when she looked at him, but also the pain of their closeness. As he realised this, shame welled up within him. He professed to care for her, yet he caused her much suffering by his refusal to accept her inability to reciprocate his advances. Her position made a personal relationship impossible, no matter how much she herself may desire it. His head dropped a few inches, slipping further into the soft caress of that turquoise palm. She saw all of this, and her sadly smiling expression softened.

"The Council is relying upon us to work together here. We must not allow our history to colour our contribution to this operation."

"I'm still not sure what we're supposed to do here." The Turian grumbled. He raised a hand as Sha'ira opened her mouth to speak. "I know why the Council sent us, and I understand that part. One representative from each Council race to help monitor the situation should the Reapers move beyond the Sol system. But the Humans could do that just as well without us."

"Humanity needs to know that it does not face this threat alone. Our presence here is a small way that the Council can remind them of this."

"The stakes hardly seem in proportion, though. The Humans have lost their homeworld, their primary base of operations lies only one Relay jump from the enemy stronghold and complete destruction, and their foremost warrior is away on what seems like a fool's errand to unite the most hostile factions of the Galaxy in an effort to prepare us for a counteroffensive. Mean while our people only risk a retired general, a single Asari approaching matriarchal status, and a Salarian with what I think may be a background in the Special Tasks Group."

"Oh, do not remind me about that." The lithe Asari chuckled. "His constant war stories try even my patience."

This managed to evoke a smile from the glum general. Septimus looked down on her with fondness, his mandibles clacking quietly. He was about to say something more when the lights overhead abruptly turned an alarming shade of red. The scarlet light turned the Turian's armour completely black, illuminating his white facial markings in a ghostly pink. With barely a moment's hesitation, he nodded for the former Citadel Consort to follow him, his instincts urging him to rush to the Command centre.

Moments later, Septimus barged into the Command Centre, sharp eyes darting about until he located a knot of individuals standing before the primary viewscreen eyeing up an image of the Arcturus system. The first of these figures was a slight Human woman in the highly starched royal blue of an Alliance admiral. Her chestnut hair was shorn close to the skull, all the better to keep it out of her eyes. Narrow brown eyes placed fairly widely apart watched the proceedings inside of the Command centre with an attentive gaze. This was Admiral Kastanie Drescher, commander of the First Fleet and foremost among the circle of equals that was the Alliance Admiralty.

Beside her, former Councillor, now turned Admiral, David Anderson stood to attention. He had been promoted to this rank after his efforts in extracting the Council from the besieged London, the Alliance brass having decided he was the best informed and most highly qualified man to lead the Arcturus Defence Initiative, as it had been christened. He was responsible for relaying directives between the First and Fifth fleets and the station, and ultimately was the final authority on any decision that might affect the security of the system.

The final member of the triumvirate that held the most prominence in the Command centre was a Salarian. His wide, almond shaped eyes were narrowed with worry, pupils outlined in red against equally dark irises contracting in an alien expression of anxiety. His muddy-green skin was pale and wrinkled with age, just one sign of the years of experience he bore. He wore a clean, well-maintained suit of combat armour, lightly made in the fashion usually reserved for tech- or biotics-oriented troops. He reached up to pull at one of his pair of cranial horns distractedly, a clear sign of Salarian concern. Lieutenant Colonel Mannovai Hanikra Molianis Koll Mas Yeva Deridan, much more simply known as Deridan, was the individual selected by the Salarian Union to represent his race on Arcturus Station. Septimus had spent much time in his company, the pair reminiscing about past military exploits. The Salarian had never explicitly stated it, but the nature of his missions strongly suggested that he had been a member of the Special Tasks Group.

The trio focused their attention on a young servicewoman assigned to the sensor suite as Septimus stepped up next to them, Sha'ira in tow. The young woman's soft mid-Asian features creased with a measure of fear, surprise and confusion. Meanwhile, the low alarm continued to sound out above their heads, although it was somewhat muted here in the Command centre so that the crew could think clearly.

"And you're sure?" Drescher asked, ever the cautious operative.

"Yes ma'am." The youngster nodded. "Awaiting visual confirmation, but our sensor probes are picking up the signal. SSV Tucuman is heading to investigate."

"That won't be nearly enough." Anderson said dismissively. "We need to send in at least three cruisers and a dreadnought. Tucuman isn't even equipped with one of the new Grav-cannons!"

"We're not committing any more resources to this until we can confirm the danger." Drescher asked cautiously. "Once we have a visual, then we'll act."

"These things can tear through a cruiser in seconds!" Anderson protested. "You won't even get visual confirmation before all of those soldiers are dead!"

"The signal's coming from Arcturus Three." Deridan pointed out. "We'd have to pull forces from our line around Prime."

Drescher regarded her fellow Admiral contemplatively, held by indecision. Finally she sighed.

"Send in the Montreal, the Edmonton and the Tripoli." She conceded. "The Etna's equipped with a Grav-cannon. Send her in."

They waited for a few tense moments as the orders were relayed. Drescher dealt with a brief but heated communiqué from Admiral Hackett aboard the Krakatoa as he protested robbing his detail of so many resources, but eventually he realised the potential threat and conceded. As they waited, Septimus felt the tension rising to a boiling point as they waited, until finally Deridan could no longer hold his tongue.

"This makes no sense!" He said sharply. "Why are they attacking through Arcturus Three?"

"We know that the Reapers can realign the Mass Relays. We saw that when they attacked Omega." Anderson answered. "They must have gone around by a different route to attack the station from behind."

"If they can use a different route, why bother attacking Arcturus?" Septimus asked.

"Arcturus may not be their only way out of Sol, but it's our only way in." Drescher pointed out. "Eliminating our presence here will keep us from making a direct attack to retake Earth. Even if we find a way to take the fight to these things, the war will drag on a lot longer."

"Ma'am?" The servicewoman piped up. "Visual feed coming through now."

"Put it up on screen." Drescher ordered.

The map of the Arcturus system was swiftly replaced by a live video, relayed from the prow cams of the Tucuman. As a single entity, the staff in the Command Centre, Human and alien alike, drew in a sharp breath.

A single freighter darted through space, running as though the legions of Hell were chasing after it. What burst into being beside the Relay designated as Arcturus Three was something much, much worse. Menacing, ancient, and all too definitely real, the gargantuan form of a Reaper was hot on the tail of the freighter.

"By the goddess..." Sha'ira muttered under her breath.

"How long until the ships are in range and able to engage?" Drescher asked sharply.

"Still four point eight light minutes out, ma'am." The servicewoman answered swiftly.

"I don't understand." Sha'ira said, her brow creased questioningly. "How can we be seeing this if the ships are not there?"

"These are high-magnification images taken from hundreds of kilometres away. The light takes so long to get to our ships when they reach the point at which they are able to discern the target that several minutes have passed. So what we are actually being shown is what happened several minutes ago when these ships arrived in-system, the instant our sensor buoys began sounding the alarm."

"Let's hope that freighter's still in one piece." Anderson said flatly. "Whatever it is, the Reapers want to stop it. I want to make sure that anything they're not happy about persists."

"Four minutes is a pretty optimistic time to hope that a small freighter can hold out against something like that." Drescher said grimly. "Frankly, they're doing well to have made it to a Mass Relay before it reduced them to atoms."

As the group watched the screen, they saw the freighter perform some impressive manoeuvres to keep itself ahead of the Reaper, dodging blasts of furious red fire emanating from the machine's tentacles as it powered along. The ship possessed an impressive turn of speed, and seemed to be holding its own. This lucky streak soon came to an end, however, when a red beam clipped its ventral hull plating, venting the contents of a cargo bay to open space and putting its flight profile off, causing it to wobble unpredictably.

"Come on, come on..." Anderson almost pleaded. "Just a couple more minutes."

Septimus felt his pulse quicken as the Alliance ships finally reached the beleaguered freighter, their weapons blazing as they rushed the Reaper. The massive machine-being turned to the new threat, reeling back as the Etna charged up her Grav-cannon and fired, the series of singularities tugging at its hull before the secondary bolt struck its body, punching an ugly hole through its main section, ripping through the purple-blue carapace and into the sparking machinery within. The cruisers accompanying the Alliance dreadnought soon opened fire, a couple of them wielding a cannon that set the Turian's brow twitching. He instantly recognised the Thanix technology, but did not deign to comment upon it before his allies. However the Humans had managed to get a hold of the classified Turian research, they had certainly put it to good use on their vessels.

The Reaper put up a good fight, holing the Tripoli and severely crippling the Montreal before the Etna scored another hit with her Grav-cannon, prompting the machine to whirl and attempt a retreat. The Alliance vessels scored a few more hits before the machine reached the Relay and vanished. Drescher reeled the pursuers in before they charged after it, wisely choosing to keep her forces within reach. She ordered them to escort the damaged cruisers and the recently rescued freighters back to the station. Once the ships were well on their way back to Arcturus Station, the Command staff sagged with relief, the alarm finally being deactivated as the threat level descended. Deridan, was the one to break the uneasy silence, his face trapped in a troubled scowl.

"Only one ship? Seems arrogant, even for them."

"Clearly an attack on the station was not their intention. It was just that their pursuit of the freighter took them into the system." Sha'ira reasoned.

"We need to find out what that freighter had that the Reapers wanted destroyed so badly." Anderson said, turning from the screen to head down to the docking bays, ready to meet the victims of this sudden, mysterious attack.

~o~0~o~

The freighter, whose transponder code identified as the Rogue Endeavour, touched down none too gently in the docking bay as Anderson, accompanied by Septimus, Drescher, Deridan and Sha'ira, watched carefully. It sat in the middle of the large bay in silence for a few moments before a boarding ramp folded down from its belly, allowing five crewmembers to step out, a Human, a Turian, a Krogan, a Salarian and a Quarian. Anderson's eyebrow rose to see such a diverse crew, but he'd seen stranger sights, so he shrugged it off.

"Welcome to Arcturus station." He stepped forward with a hand extended, briefly grasping the outstretched hands of each member of the newly arrived group in turn. "Admiral David Anderson, Arcturus Defence Initiative."

"Captain Saion Nerius." The Turian nodded formally. "Thanks for your help out there. Things were getting kind of hairy."

"Do you have any wounded?" Anderson asked.

"Nothing but a few bumps and scrapes." Saion answered, before his face fell. "The only real injuries were Faron and Nara. They were in the secondary hold when it got torn open."

"I'm sorry." Anderson said sincerely.

"Don't be." Saion answered briskly. "You didn't kill them. That damn thing did. But at least it was quick."

"Come on." Anderson encouraged. "We need to talk."

"Right." The Turian captain turned to his crew. "Segs, Nishto, Garatt, get to work on that hole. I want the old girl patched up as soon as possible. Nats, with me."

The Salarian, the Krogan and the Quarian nodded before turning back to the ship, walking around the landing gear to inspect the damage to their craft. The Human, a woman of no more than twenty, twenty-five years of age, stepped up to follow her captain.

In minutes, they had been escorted to a small briefing room where they could talk in private. As Anderson ushered both Captain Saion and his Human crewmate into a pair of seats, the Council representatives and the pair of Admirals taking seats opposite them, the door to the small office opened and an unexpected figure stepped through. Tall and refined, the impeccably dressed Amul Shastri, Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance, raised a few eyebrows around the room, not least of all those of Admiral Anderson.

"Mister Shastri, what an unexpected privilege. I thought the Senate was in session right now."

"Just finished. I thought that interviewing survivors of a Reaper attack was of more importance than negotiating the tariffs on Volus grain transports to the colonies in the Traverse."

"With all due respect, Mister Prime Minister," Drescher began severely. "I believe this debriefing would be best conducted by those involved in the ADI."

Anderson instantly understood his fellow Admiral's true concerns. Drescher had always been a strong proponent of removing the Alliance Senate from Arcturus Station, reasoning that having such key political resources in the same location as such a vast array of military resources turned the station into too tempting a target for their enemies, and made the Alliance vulnerable by 'keeping all of their eggs in one basket', as the saying went. She clearly not only felt that having the Senate on such a prominent target was a risk, but having the Prime Minister himself come down to debrief two complete strangers was almost beyond considering. But Shastri would not be cowed. He merely took a seat next to the frowning Admiral.

"Nonsense! These newcomers have performed an incredible feat, facing one of our Reaper enemies and escaping with their lives. Such bravery should be acknowledged, not hidden away."

Drescher glared for a moment before shrugging in resignation.

"As you wish." She grumbled.

"Excellent! Now, onto the matter at hand. Captain... Nerius, isn't it? And this lovely young lady must be Nats."

He smiled broadly as he offered to shake hands with each of their guests. The newcomers, somewhat awe-struck by his presence, numbly returned the gesture. Anderson raised an eyebrow at Shastri's knowledge of their guests, but didn't question it. All present faced the Prime Minister as he began the questioning.

"Perhaps you could begin with a description of what led to you arriving in the system with a Reaper in tow."

Saion leaned forward, thinking carefully. As his spoke in his deep, grinding voice, Septimus drew out his omnitool, recording the captain's words.

"We were on a supply run between Eden Prime and Tanlaria, out in the Verge. We arrived in the Vereus System, and were in orbit around one of the planets, making an unscheduled discharge stop. Been having a little problem with the drive core recently. It tends to run up a higher charge than you'd expect. We couldn't get to a proper station quickly enough, so the nearest planet had to do. We're about seventy-five per cent done when a massive fleet drops through the nearest Mass Relay. Biggest damn things we've ever seen that could move. At first, I thought Nats was running on red sand when she read off the sensor readings. Anyway, as they ran past the planet, they must have picked up on our transponder, because one of them peels off and heads straight for us. I don't stick around to make sure they're friendly, but retract the charge arrays and turn tail. That damn thing followed us through two Relay jumps before we got here. We got very lucky, lasting as long as we did."

"Indeed." Deridan said pointedly. "Any other ship would barely have lasted a few seconds in the face of that kind of fire-power."

"What can I say? I'm a very good pilot." Saion smirked.

"Vereus..." Sha'ira said ponderously. "That's on the outskirts of Asari space."

"How many ships are we talking about?" Septimus asked keenly.

"Twenty, maybe two dozen of the things. Who cares? One's more than bad enough."

"They came through the same Relay you used to come from Eden Prime?" Deridan asked.

"Yes."

"So that means they were heading in one of three directions." Anderson concluded, scanning a map of the known Relay network on his omnitool. "Into Asari space, into the Skyllian Verge, or into Council space."

"Any of those is a troubling development." Drescher said flatly. "And with them apparently destroying all possible witnesses, we'd likely have little or no warning of which planet they've chosen as their target."

"What can we do against this kind of force?" Shastri asked the two admirals.

"Without proof of what their target might be, nothing." Drescher answered. "The fact that such a large force is on the move is troubling enough, but being unable to track them adds a whole new level of complexity to any counteroffensive we try to mount."

"We can try to get a message to the Citadel. Maybe it'll reach the Council in time for them to mobilise some sort of fleet to counter them." Anderson suggested.

"Consider it done." The Human Prime Minister promised.

"In the meantime, I'll speak with Hackett." Drescher stood to leave. "We'll shuffle our fleets around a bit. Now that we can confirm the Reapers could approach from any direction, we'll need to cover Relays Two through Six as well as Arcturus Prime."

"Thank you for your information, Captain." Shastri nodded to Saion. "You've been most helpful."

"Well, I could hardly keep this all to myself, could I?" The Turian chuckled. "You did just pull our gizzards out of the fire."

"Is there anything you require? Parts, a repair crew?"

"Just some tools and the time to get to work on the old girl. We'll have her up and running in no time. She may not look it, but the Rogue Endeavour is a tough old bird."

"Very well. Please, excuse me. There is a lot to be done."

With little ceremony, the meeting broke up. The two admirals set off in the direction of the Command centre, discussing defence strategies. Amul Shastri made his way to the Senate chambers, from where he would proceed to his office to attempt to contact the various political entities of the Galaxy to spread the warning. The triumvirate of Council representatives stuck together, uncertain of what they could do to help. As they watched the Turian Captain Saion and Nats heading off back towards the docking bay and their ship, Septimus became aware of his Asari friend's downcast mood.

"Sha'ira, are you well?" He asked gently. He was rewarded with a small smile.

"A little worried, old friend. The Reapers are dangerously close to the colonies of my people. I imagine you would feel the same alarm if they had been sighted on the edges of Hierarchy Space."

The retired Turian general nodded glumly before joining his comrades as they set off, seeking some quiet place to contemplate the day's events.

~o~0~o~

Almost an hour later, Septimus was chatting with his two companions in one of the station's bars when the alarm sounded out for the second time in the same day. The trio did not hesitate as they broke into a dead run, heading straight for the Command Centre.

In the Command Centre, they found themselves confronted with the now familiar hive of frenzied activity that demonstrated some emergency or another. Anderson stood over the staff, barking out orders sharply. Drescher was nowhere to be seen. As the Council representatives rushed in, they noticed the captain of the Rogue endeavour, along with his Human companion, watching with a mixture of alarm and curiosity.

"What happened?" Deridan asked sharply. Anderson turned from his work to answer.

"Everything's hitting the fan down here. Our defence net around Prime is under attack."

"Where's Drescher?" Septimus asked.

"Getting the Prime Minister and the Senate to the evac shuttles. It's real this time. A Reaper force unlike anything we've seen."

"How many?" Septimus' tone was strong, carrying not a hint of the nervousness he felt.

"Thirty." Anderson turned to Saion. "Looks like we're seeing that strike force you encountered."

The Turian captain was silent as he watched the proceedings. His arms were folded pensively. Septimus could understand that. Having just so recently faced one of the mechanical horrors, he would no doubt have felt very unsure of having to deal with a full strike force.

"I don't understand this." Deridan muttered. "They use an alternate route to leave Sol, are discovered, then retreat back to Earth and launch an attack through our most heavily defended Relay?"

"Maybe the strike force was a ploy." Sha'ira reasoned. "Were we not preparing to move our troops to defend the other Relays in the system, further weakening our blockade around Arcturus Prime?"

"Yes. And that's just why we're taking such a hammering." Anderson grunted. "We're pulling all forces back to Prime, but Hackett's already lost some ground. They're on their way here."

"What defences does this station possess?" Deridan asked, thinking of ways to utilise potential resources.

"Our armaments are considerable. We're even kitted out with a few experimental large-scale Grav-cannons. If we can get the fleets back here in time, we should be able to hold our own until we get some reinforcements."

His words were immediately greeted by a menacing rumble, followed momentarily by a long, slow shockwave passing through the frame of the station. In that instant, all lights in the Command Centre died, throwing the surprised staff into darkness. As emergency lighting came on, the room was filled with an almost panicked chatter.

"Status report!" Anderson barked.

"Negative power readings on all systems, sir." A serviceman informed him. "Even my omnitool's dead."

"That blast was internal." Deridan surmised. "Probably an explosion designed to generate an electromagnetic pulse. The EMP would have fried all active systems, and a good portion of the auxiliaries."

"Damn it!" Anderson cursed. "We're dead in the water. Our ships won't stand a chance without the station's guns, and we've got no way of warning them!"

As the crew looked about in the pale lighting, all became aware of shapes moving in the large window set in the side of the room that looked out over the station. They could see several Reapers drifting closer with purpose in their movements, setting up a perimeter around the station. In seconds they were hemmed in on all sides.

"God damn it, get every man out there that can wield a spanner working on getting power back up!" Anderson ordered. "And somebody find out where that EMP came from!"

Septimus' mind whirled at the sudden disastrous turn of events, trying to think of what might have happened. He thought back to the explosion, trying to work out in his mind direction and distance. His keen intellect swiftly worked through the problem.

"That blast was about three decks down, a few hundred metres aft of here. That would put it at about-" His eyes widened. "The docking bays!"

As he spoke those words, a wet slicing sound reached his ears. He spun to see Sha'ira stiffen slightly as pain assaulted her before sagging to her knees, blood pouring from a large, gaping wound in her abdomen. Behind her, the Turian captain, Saion, grinned wolfishly as he lifted up talons that had extended far beyond the normal length one would expect of a Turian. The long, almost sword-like digits were slick with purple blood, slightly curved and tipped with razor-sharp hooks. They glinted with the slight sheen of metal, hinting at their non-organic nature.

"Sha'ira? No!" His dismayed howl turned into a furious roar as he drew his pistol and fired wildly at the friend-turned-enemy standing over the body of the woman he loved.

Saion charged from one side while his Human ally, Nats, commenced with a chaotic charge through the weak servicemen of the Command centre. Anderson looked about in surprise as the room descended into chaos. Deridan was shouting something hastily, but Septimus didn't hear it. His world was filled with the mocking grin of his fellow Turian, eerily enhanced by a newly present blue glow behind his eyes.

~o~0~o~

~MINUTEMAN~

"What's it going to be, Commander?"

Shepard glared at the Illusive Man, finger muscles twitching as the trigger of his pistol danced back and forth, teasing the bullet within with the promise of being fired. His mind whirled, a myriad faces coming to mind as he debated the decision internally. He thought of his men, killed on Akuze for a simple experiment. Of Corporal Toombs, held captive for well over a decade as a part of their studies. Admiral Kahoku and his men, slain for straying too close to the truth behind those experiments. He thought of Miranda and Jacob, made into fugitives thanks to the Illusive Man's wrath, of the rest of his crew, made to suffer for three long months because he did what he felt was right. Finally, he thought of Jack, his dear Jack, subjected to an entire childhood of torture and abuse, then hounded for the rest of her life. They all screamed in his head for justice, for vengeance, urging him to pull the trigger, to just end the Cerberus tycoon's life then and there. And yet... he found his own heart resisting. The voices of those wronged by Cerberus sharply cried out in outrage at his hesitance. What was he doing? He couldn't let this man, this villain, walk away! But he had more to think about than petty vengeance, justified or not. With every ounce of his willpower, he managed to lower the gun.

"I'm not going to kill you." The words stuck in his throat, threatening to choke him with rage.

"What!" Jack's voice was nearly a shriek of indignation. "What. The. Fuck! Oh, hell no! We are not letting this fucker walk."

Her shotgun was in her hands, lifting to blast the Illusive Man's face clean off the front of his head. She had almost pulled the trigger, but then Shepard was standing in front of her, unflinching even with a shotgun pushed up against his chest, the barrel only inches from his heart. At that range, his kinetic barriers were only a drain on his suit's power cell, and his armour would be about as effective as a wet paper bag.

"Jack." His voice was firm, relentless. "Put the gun down."

"Fuck you!" Her voice was venomous, but held a plaintive note. As she grew more distraught, her language gradually degraded into a single, long string of curses. "Get the hell out of my way. I'm wasting the bastard!"

"We need him, Jack." Even though his voice offered no room for negotiation, it still had a gentle quality to it. His eyes were creased with regret and apology. "Without him, Cerberus will destabilise. Instead of a unified organisation, we'll be forced to deal with hundreds of operatives all working towards their own agendas. If Banes manages to assert his authority over the remaining cells, we have no guarantee he'll help us fight the Reapers. At least with him in charge," He waved a hand at the Illusive Man. "We can trust him to do what he can to help us fight the Reapers."

"Haven't you been paying attention?" She asked in exasperation. "Don't you understand all the shit they put me through? All those years I lost to some fucked-up experiment?"

"I know, Jack. I know. But the decision has been made." Shepard tried to speak as gently as he could. Her deep brown eyes locked with his, rage burning through them. "I understand that you-"

"No. You don't." She spoke bitterly, but her shotgun dropped. "Alright. Fuck you guys."

She spun and stalked away, leaving the Commander to deal with the Illusive Man. The tycoon stood, dusting off his expensive suit.

"You're making the right choice-"

"Don't think I'm done with you yet." Shepard interrupted him sharply. "Cerberus as you knew it is finished, you hear me? Liara's staying behind, and she's going to assimilate your personnel into her network. As of now, Cerberus is a wing of the Shadow Broker network. You're here to co-ordinate the surviving Cerberus operatives and serve as an advisor to Liara. You're going to give her everything. Your revenue streams, your research, all of those politicians and military figures you've got in your pocket. That gun, the Prometheus cannon? That's going to be shared with her and with the Alliance R&D branch. Your man Banes? Keep him on a tight leash. He's got the potential to cause serious trouble. Same goes for Kai Leng. If I hear of him so much as roughing up a Batarian for his pocket change, I'm going to stick the Cain up your ass and pull the trigger, clear?"

"And what if I refuse to meet these preposterous demands?" The Illusive Man asked, bucking at the orders already.

"Well, This station's blown halfway to hell, with no shields, no weapons and no engines. I could just leave you here and have Liara open up with a few of her Grav-cannons. Is that what you'd prefer?"

"Very well, Commander." He grumbled.

"And one final thing." Shepard said sharply, drawing the full attention of those eerily glowing eyes. "When we move to take back Earth, and I put out the call, you'd damn well better be at the head of a full fleet of Cerberus ships. 'Cause if you don't show up to help take back your own homeworld, then what I'll do to make you pay for it will make indoctrination look like a pleasant alternative. Is that understood?"

The way the Commander enunciated those last three words made it clear that any answer other than 'yes' would bring hasty retribution. The Illusive Man could only nod silently. With that, Shepard turned on his heel and walked away, Miranda and Elanie in tow. Once they had left the dark office, Miranda leaned closer to the Commander.

"I think he damn near pissed himself at that last bit, Commander." Her smile was small but genuine.

"That's what I was going for." He offered back. His lips twitched upwards in a small gesture before dropping again once they caught sight of the distraught Jack pacing about further down the corridor. He opened his mouth to speak to her, but she glared at him before turning away, offering him a one-fingered salute as she stalked back to where they had left the shuttle. The Commander sighed. He was not looking forward to smoothing out this problem. But he couldn't get too preoccupied with it. He had bigger problems at the moment. Namely, the threat to Humanity's strongest fortress and their best hope of striking back at Earth.

"Joker, do you read me?" He spoke into his commlink.

"Loud and clear, Commander. What's going on? Everyone just stopped fighting. Did we win?"

"In a way." Shepard said cryptically. "I need EDI to compute the quickest route back to Arcturus station. We're needed there. Then signal the rest of the squad. I want them all back on the Normandy inside of ten minutes."

"Aye-aye, sir." The pilot didn't question Shepard's instructions. He'd been a part of the Commander's crew long enough to understand when to simply do as ordered, rather than try to discover the reasoning behind the command. Once he had signed off, Shepard turned back to his comrades.

"Come on. There's no time to waste."

~o~0~o~

~NORMANDY~

Shepard paced tensely behind the pilot's seat, watching out of the front viewports as the red-shifted starscape of faster than light travel raced by. Joker hunched over his console, continually making corrections to keep them on as straight a course as he could. As the Commander turned and strode back the way he had just come for what felt like the millionth time, the pilot's patience finally reached its limit.

"Hey, Commander? Not that I don't like the company or anything, but do you mind? You're just about to wear a hole through to the Crew Deck. We'll get there when we get there, not a second sooner. You making the ship lighter by wearing out the deck plates won't do a damn thing to change that."

"Sorry, Joker." Shepard said distractedly before immediately resuming his pacing. Joker sighed.

"Look, can't you at least go be a nervous wreck back in the CIC? We're almost there. Just take a breather and chill."

"Okay, okay." Shepard conceded. He paused before turning to head back down the corridor. "How long until we hit Arcturus Five?"

"Ten minutes. That's two less than the last time you asked. Now scram! If you really want to get there quick you need me to not be distracted."

Shepard finally took the hint, heading off down the long corridor towards the CIC and the Galaxy Map. As he ascended the steps to his normal position above the Map, Kelly sidled up to him a concerned look in her eyes.

"Commander, are you alright?" She asked warily.

The Commander looked back at her with tired eyes. He hadn't slept in what felt like an eternity, first having to deal with the tension of the mission against Cerberus, and now the anxiety of the attack on Arcturus. His eyes felt hot, dry and too small for his eyesockets, and the rest of his face felt heavy, the skin warm and strained. He badly needed his bed, but refused to rest until the mission had been resolved.

"No. I'm not alright." He admitted. "And I won't be until Arcturus is safe again."

"You're worrying too much, Shepard." The yeoman tried to put on as soothing a tone as she could. "There's nothing to be done until we get there. Why tear yourself up about it beforehand?"

"For three years, I was the only one in the Galaxy who did anything about the Reapers. I don't know how to do anything but worry." He leaned forward on the rail overlooking the Map wearily, letting his forearms take the brunt of his weight.

"You're not alone in fighting them now." Kelly assured. "Find some comfort in that."

"They're just so relentless!" He said bitterly. "We destroy their Vanguard, they start up another scheme to bring themselves back. We destroy the Collectors, they carry on with the Dholen Relay. We destroy that, they take Earth. Now, we're finally making some headway in uniting the Galaxy, and we risk losing Arcturus. How can we fight something like that?"

"Don't allow it to wear you down. Focus on something more important." She paused, clearly hesitant about what she was going to say next. But her last sentence had already committed her to the course of action. "Have you spoken to Jack yet? She seemed very riled by the outcome of the last mission."

"I think it'd be best if I avoided the lower decks for a while." Shepard admitted. "Chakwas doesn't need any more patients today, especially not with Etarn still in critical condition."

"I hope he'll be okay." The yeoman said sincerely. "But I really think you should deal with Jack sooner rather than later. Her grudges have a tendency to… fester."

Shepard was about to speak when a quiet chime from EDI's interface warned him that the Normandy was about to perform its final jump into the Arcturus System. He looked back at her with an apologetic glance.

"Deceleration in three, two…" Joker's voice counted off overhead. "In orbit around the Mass Relay now. Calculating transit mass and destination. Relay is responsive, receiving approach instructions. Prepare for Relay jump. Commencing final approach. And… there!"

The ship shuddered, that familiar inertia tugging at the Commander as the ship was hurled across a vast portion of the galaxy art significantly higher speeds than those her normal drive could manage. In an instant, she dropped into the Arcturus System, countless light-years away.

Immediately the lights in the CIC dimmed. They knew they were dropping into a combat zone, so Shepard had ordered that the stealth drive be activated the instant they descended from FTL speeds. This meant reducing all power consumption throughout the ship to ease the strain on the capacitors in the hull, including nonessential lighting.

As Shepard straightened at his post, the Galaxy Map before him was swiftly replaced with a holographic image of the system as the ladar systems mapped their immediate surroundings. In an instant, the half dozen Mass Relays of the system appeared, swiftly followed by Arcturus Station. A moment later, the Reaper fleet appeared in all of its terrible might. Shepard's stomach dropped to see so many of the machines in one place. What remained of the First and Fifth fleets was being harried by the gargantuan machines. The Reapers displayed little damage themselves, but the human vessels had been cut down to less than half their original numbers, and those remaining were considerably hampered by damage sustained in the drawn out fire-fight. He glanced back over his shoulder as Kaidan, Garrus, Miranda, Mordin and Elanie stepped out of the elevator, taking up positions close to him as he considered the situation.

"EDI, what have we got?" He asked, closely scanning the images.

"My scans indicate that Arcturus station is currently inactive. Little to no power readings from within. However, there are a number of life signs, clustered around the docking bays and Command Centre."

"How'd they manage to take out Arcturus without destroying it?" Kaidan asked.

"It would appear that the power core is intact. However, I am detecting residual radiation emanating from a rupture in the hull located around what was formerly a docking bay. It is possible that a nuclear device was detonated within this bay, destroying the bay and the immediate area around it and creating an electro-magnetic pulse that disabled the station."

"Testifies to the durability of the station if such a small area was destroyed by the explosion." Miranda commented.

"Hmm. Part of blast would have been diverted out into vacuum by weaker opening of bay doors." Mordin observed. "But EMP would still affect station. Clearly did not wish to destroy Arcturus, otherwise more direct method would have been used. Why? Tactically defensible location? Unsuited for size of Reapers. Valuable technology? Unlikely. Unlikely. Reaper tech very much superior to our own. Ah, yes, yes! EDI, names of important personnel assigned to Arcturus station?"

"There are currently three admirals of the Systems Alliance assigned to the station, Admiral Steven Hackett, Admiral Kastanie Drescher, and Admiral David Anderson. In addition, the Alliance Senate, including Prime Minister Amul Shastri, are present in-system. Following the Reaper attack on Earth, the Council assigned three representatives to oversee the Arcturus Defence Initiative."

"The Senate was still present?" Miranda said sharply.

"Yes. In an interview, Prime Minister Shastri stated that he believed they should not be seen to run and hide from the threat of the Reapers."

"A stupid gesture to try and boost morale among the remnants of Humanity." Elanie said with disapproval. "It reeks of desperation to curry favour with the voters. No one wants to vote for a coward."

"Sometimes a smart coward is better than a stupid hero." Garrus commented. "Well, more likely to survive a few extra months, anyway. EDI, what were the names of those Council reps assigned to the station?"

"Septimus Oraka, once a general in the Turian Hierarchy, now retired, Citadel Consort Sha'ira, and former Special Tasks Group operative Deridan Yeva."

"Deridan?" Mordin asked in surprise. "Knew him during work on anti-Geth weaponry on Felrium. Good kid. Suspected he would advance far in STG. Not much respect for elders, though."

"And we've met Septimus and Sha'ira before." Kaidan commented.

"Understand Reaper stratagem now." The Salarian began to pace about excitedly. "Hope to capture personnel with high-level clearance. Any one of Council reps could hold secrets to Council defences. Fleet movements in Hierarchy space, location of tactically valuable Matriarchs in Republics, spawning grounds of Dalatrasses within Salarian Union. Secure codes, secret armouries, all data valuable in any attack. Human prisoners less valuable considering mostly subdued nature of Humanity with loss of homeworld-"

"Thanks for reminding us, Mordin." Shepard drawled, a little put out by the off-hand way the scientist said it.

"Merely stating observed facts, Shepard. No offence intended." Mordin said quickly. "But Admiral Anderson or Hackett could present value as emotional trigger considering personal relationship with you. Maybe provoke premature strike against Earth, loss of many valuable resources because was not ready to face them. Capture of Senate would also paralyse remainder of Alliance."

"So we should expect plenty of husks on Arcturus looking for them." Miranda surmised.

"I cannot differentiate between Husks and Humans, operative Lawson. The basic biology remains the same even after the process." EDI said apologetically. "However, I am detecting several alien life forms aboard the station. Two Turians, two Salarians, a Krogan, a Quarian and an Asari."

"Home in on the Asari." Shepard ordered. "She's got to be Sha'ira. We'll worry about finding the others later."

"The Asari life form is located in section Delta Eighteen of the habitation ring. Her signal is very faint."

"Then we haven't got much time." Shepard set his mind to forming a plan. "Our first priority is getting to those Council reps. If they're who the Reapers are after, then we've got to make sure they don't get them, no matter what."

His allies nodded grimly, understanding just how far they may have to go to ensure the Reapers were denied a vital resource.

"Even stealthed the Normandy wouldn't get close to that thing." Kaidan objected. "How do we get in?"

"We've still got those cloaking shuttles Liara gave us, don't we?" Shepard looked to Elanie.

"Unfortunately, two were damaged in the firefight, and their cloaks no longer function. A third one was missing when the squad returned to collect it." She answered.

"Banes." Shepard muttered, his fist clenching angrily.

"Indeed." Elanie easily overcame the interruption to her train of thought. "So we've only got one left."

"So we're going to have to go in with a small strike team." Shepard concluded. "Okay, I'll take Mordin, Samara, Thane and Zaeed with me for this one. That covers biotics, combat and tech in a neat package. Mordin, I need you to be ready to analyse any Reaper tech we come across, be it a bomb or a toaster. Make sure you've got everything you need."

"Can do, Shepard." The Salarian nodded, turning to head back into the Tech Lab behind the CIC.

"Kaidan, I want you up here when I'm gone. I need you to contact whoever's leading the remnant of the ADI fleets, and begin co-ordinating our resources. If we get Arcturus back online, be ready for the extra firepower. But you'll also need to be ready in case we can't fix it and we've got to cut and run."

"You've got it, Shepard."

"Miranda, I need you to use your contacts, Cerberus and otherwise. Muster up what forces you can to join the fight here. If Liara's ready to move again, let her know she's needed here. Every cruiser we can aim at these things helps."

"You can count on me, Commander."

"And Garrus, I want you to help Kaidan. All of the major players here are Human. See if there are any Turian tactics we can put to good use out there."

The experienced Turian nodded silently. There was no need for words in a friendship as tempered by the fires of time and hardship as this one. Shepard smiled at that, glad he had so many people on his side he could rely upon.

"Good. EDI, bring us in as close as you dare, and have my squad assemble in the Main Cargo Hold."

"Yes, Commander."

~o~0~o~

~EN ROUTE TO ARCTURUS STATION~

The squad assembled in the shuttle travelled in silence, their tension almost palpable. Samara sat stiffly in her seat, eyes closed as she meditated to maintain some kind of calm. Thane, next to her, folded his hands before his chin, lips moving as he muttered prayers to several of his many gods, seeking the calm and focus needed to get through the coming mission. Zaeed, meanwhile, had his own spiritual regimen to go through to brace himself, systematically taking apart, cleaning and reassembling his rifle. Mordin kept himself occupied by scanning a series of documents on his omnitool. The frantic Salarian had left several experiments running in the Tech Lab, and would continue to dwell upon them until the very last moment before they disembarked from the shuttle.

Shepard expertly piloted the shuttle through the empty vacuum, weaving between the Reapers forming the blockade around Arcturus. As they drifted past one of those massive machines, Zaeed's nerves finally reached boiling point.

"Are you sure those things don't know we're here?" He demanded.

"The cloak's engaged. They wouldn't spot us even if they looked straight at us." Shepard explained.

"What about our drive emissions trail? The cloak won't hide that."

"Drive emissions are minimal." Mordin answered. "Somewhat akin to spatial disturbance caused by passage of weapon round. Tiny ripple, barely shows up on most scopes. With battle raging so closely, easy to assume simple errant missile or stray accelerator slug. Drive output of a starship, however, much more obvious. Think of spatial distortions and drive emissions as similar to ripples in fog. Crude analogy, but sufficient. Shuttle's trail indistinct. In fact-"

"All right, all right." Zaeed grumbled. "Sorry I asked."

"Stay sharp." Shepard cautioned. "We're just about to land."

The Commander guided the shuttle towards the underside of the central hub, finding the huge rent where whatever had disabled the ship had exploded. He angled towards the opening, wincing as the shuttle's system's flickered. The residual ionised radiation was causing havoc in the electrical systems. But that wasn't as disconcerting as the contents of the hangar he was drifting into.

The bay had been torn open, literally, by an explosion from within. Parts of what looked like it might have been a freighter at one time drifted lazily through the airless space. Scorch marks ran up the walls, a thick layer of sooty scarring spreading out in all directions. Some shards of the hull of the destroyed ship had been embedded in the ceiling, the walls, even the outer pressure hull of the hangar. As Shepard negotiated to treacherous metal stalagmites and stalactites, he spotted a couple of limp forms floating ahead of the shuttle. With a sickening lurch, he recognised the corpses of two Alliance engineers. Their skin was charred beyond recognition, and any surviving organs had ruptured during the rapid decompression of the hangar, making it impossible to identify them. They glittered with a coating of frost, the sub-zero temperatures of space freezing any bodily fluids left to them. Steeling himself, Shepard steered past this grisly remnant of the explosion.

The far wall had been ruptured by the explosion, presenting a small entrance to the corridor outside of the hangar. The Commander guided the shuttle into this opening, the craft barely fitting. He cautiously set it down in the buckled corridor, deactivating the cloak. The radiation hanging around outside would serve to keep the vessel hidden from any scans, so it was fairly safe to leave it visible.

"Expanding the Kinetic Barrier to block off the corridor." He explained as he entered in a few final commands. "Should hold in the atmosphere long enough for us to get through the next door without venting the whole station. Still, breathers on, just to be safe."

"Gravity's out in this section." Zaeed observed, looking back into the hangar where so much debris drifted like a grotesque metal snowglobe.

"Not a problem." Shepard commented, activating the magnetic soles of his combat boots. The others did the same. "Now, there's a good chance we're going to run into some Husks. Remember, a straight shot to the head will put them out like a light. Anything else is going to take longer, so take your time and make your shots count. Also, make sure they don't get too close. We don't want them frying our shields." He looked over to Samara, who had produced her omnitool. The Asari was ready to scan the surrounding area for nearby life forms. It wouldn't tell them whether anyone they detected was friend or foe, but it would give them a heads up.

The squad nodded before tensing as Shepard reached for the hatch, opening the shuttle to the freezing exterior. There was a brief rush of air as the atmosphere struggled to equalise with that contained by the kinetic barrier, causing Shepard's ears to pop, and the temperature dropped dramatically, inspiring a shiver up his spine.

They clambered out swiftly, heading straight for the nearest door. A brief moment of Thane's time had the door open, allowing them to file through quickly. With the door shut behind them, an additional barrier between them and the harsh environment of space, the Commander felt much more confident. He activated his omnitool, opening the map he had downloaded from Alliance records. He scanned it briefly, locating the series of landmarks he had planned out to get them from the shuttle to where the Asari lifeform had been detected.

"Follow me." He commanded.

They wove through the twisting maze of corridors, making their way towards the outer habitat ring. The corridors around them were silent, eerily devoid of life as they progressed through various office complexes.

"I do not understand." Samara said quietly, almost reverently. "I thought EDI detected many Human life signs within the station. Arcturus was home to many thousands. Why have we not yet encountered any survivors?"

"The station's been powerless for quite some time now." Zaeed surmised. "Plenty of time for their forces to infiltrate it. It's a safe bet we've got Husks running around mopping up the survivors."

"All the more reason why we need to get moving." Shepard said. "There's no telling how many might already have been converted."

"If they were converting Humans, surely we would have seen the Dragon's Teeth by now?" Thane asked, referring to the massive spikes used to convert Humans, both living and dead, into the hideous, pallid shock troops of the Reapers. Shepard had been forced to destroy countless hundreds of them, maybe even thousands. It irked him to be forced to 'kill' so many of these Human shaped things, but they lost their Humanity the moment they went on the spikes, being transformed into something else entirely. Shepard looked back to the Drell, unsure of how to respond.

"We can't worry about that." He said.

As they spoke, they drew closer to the end of the corridor they currently occupied. Before the Commander could open the door, Samara raised a hand.

"Wait." She pointed to her omnitool. "There are several beings in the room beyond."

"Species?"

"Six Humans, one Quarian, one Salarian."

"Doesn't tell us if they're friendly." Zaeed said, a little disappointed.

"What do you think, Mordin?" Shepard turned to the scientist, who cupped his chin in one hand.

"Hmm. Difficult to say. Never encountered Husks of other species. Humans known to have compatible biology, but other species remain unknown. Possible, of course, given fact of Saren's implantation, but that was performed over decades, not hours. Perhaps necessary to counter biological incompatibility, given Dextro-DNA. Similar process required for Quarians? Cannot say without further data. Inclined to assume Quarian conversion process not perfected. Number of Quarians in Galaxy too few to make viable source of servants or genetic material. Unlikely Reapers would invest resources in research in return for so little reward. Salarians also remain unknown. Is shorter life-span worth overcoming?"

"You would be inclined to assume they are not indoctrinated, simply because the Quarians and Salarians would not be worth converting?" Thane asked.

"Statistically probable conclusion. Cannot guarantee accuracy of hypothesis, but possesses certain credibility." The Salarian shrugged. "Only one way to find out if correct."

"He's right." Shepard said. "If they're friendly, we can't ignore them. If not, we can handle that many enemies. Weapons at the ready."

With that, waited while Thane set to work on the lock. In seconds, it was open. Shepard charged through the opening doors, rifle held up and ready to tear into the first flash of pale blue-white flesh he saw. Samara and Zaeed followed, one lifting arms that glowed blue with biotic power while the other readied an incendiary grenade to hurl at potential enemies. Mordin was next, his omnitool flickering ominously while Thane readied his sniper rifle, scanning the room in a moment.

The room's occupants flinched at their sudden appearance, but made no aggressive movements as they moved back in fear. The foremost of the group, a Quarian in a red-and-yellow environment suit, reached instinctively for his pistol, but didn't draw it. As he studied the group, he relaxed.

"Keelah! You're Human! Thank the ancestors."

Shepard examined the strangers carefully before lowering his gun. There was no tightly drawn flesh, no odd machinery, not a glint of the blue light so synonymous with Reaper indoctrination. He relaxed. They were safe. He looked about warily, sizing up the room's occupants. Aside from the Quarian, the only alien in the room was a yellow-skinned Salarian. His green eyes glinted brightly in contrast with the black and blue armour he was wearing. The Humans dotted around the room appeared to be civilians, all wearing a wide variety of casual clothes.

"Who are you?" He demanded.

"Nishto'Vara vas Tinoay. Are you here to rescue us?"

"Its one reason I'm here." Shepard replied tactfully.

"We've been hiding in here for hours! Those, those things roaming the halls! Moaning, grabbing, staring… what are they?" The Salarian's voice had a manic edge.

"You're better off not knowing, trust me." Zaeed interjected before Mordin, who had opened his mouth, could give a gruesome explanation.

"Tell me what happened here." Shepard demanded.

"Well, Segs and I were here as part of a crew making a delivery." The Quarian explained. "We run a courier service out of Elysium, and the Alliance paid us to make supply runs to the station. As we were unloading the cargo, an explosion made the whole station shudder, and the power went off. Even my omnitool was knocked out. I was lucky my suit was well insulated, otherwise it might have lost power too, leaving me vulnerable to unfiltered air."

"The EMP." Thane concluded.

"Moments later, we heard screams. A horde of these… creatures come racing through the corridors. We turned and ran. Other people stood and fought, but I could hear them screaming seconds later. But we managed to stay ahead of the monsters long enough to get here. The Humans had already made it to this room. They let us through the door, we locked ourselves in, and they moved on."

"Do you know if anyone else survived?" Shepard asked.

"I'm afraid not." The Quarian said apologetically. "We got to safety here, and that was all that mattered to us. Can you get us off this station?"

"Do you think you can get to your ship from here?" The Commander inquired.

"My ship was damaged when whatever blast caused the EMP rocked the station. One of the landing supports collapsed, and she's almost on her side. I'd never be able to get her off the deck."

"Damn." The Commander pulled up his schematics, looking for an alternate route. "Okay, there's a bank of escape pods two decks up, a couple of hundred yards closer to the command centre. I can't guarantee that you'll make it through the blockade around the station, but I can message the remaining Alliance ships to give you as good a chance as they can. Get to the pods, send out a signal on this channel," He transmitted the codes. "And then wait five minutes. Head for a small frigate called the Normandy. You'll be safe with her."

"Thank you." The Salarian said warmly. "We'll warn any survivors we meet on the way."

"I'd appreciate it." Shepard nodded. "Meanwhile, we've still got work to do. The location of that Asari signal wasn't far from here." He turned to his squad. "Come on."

With that, they left the cluster of survivors behind, heading for the main space of the habitation ring of the station. After a brief few minutes, they received Nishto's signal, and Shepard opened a channel to the Normandy.

"Shepard to Normandy, come in Normandy."

"Normandy here, Commander. You're calling sooner than I'd have thought. Something wrong?"

"We've encountered some survivors. Apparently there's a large Husk presence on Arcturus. I've instructed them to head for the escape pods. In five minutes, they'll be launching. I need both you and the remnant of the ADI fleets to provide a distraction for them. Pick them up, make sure they get to safety."

"Aye-aye, Commander." Came the prompt response.

"Good. I'll signal you if there's any new developments." Shepard closed the channel.

As the squad advanced, they arrived at yet another set of heavy metal doors. Shepard waited anxiously while Thane knelt next to the doors, working to bypass the lock. With a whoosh, the two halves of the door parted, allowing the squad to step through cautiously.

The wide-open space of the habitat ring curved away from the doors on both sides. Large tracts of real, Earth-grown vegetation had been transplanted into the artificial living space, creating vast fields of grain to feed the station's inhabitants, forests that swayed in artificially created breezes, and rolling meadows of well maintained grass. Overhead, the inner portion of the habitat ring was transparent, allowing a glimpse of the rest of the station, showing the Commander the far side of the ring and the underside of the central hub. The distant sun of the Arcturus System could be seen as well, its light magnified by the clear material of the ring's roof in order to illuminate the interior. Shepard had no doubt the meagre ultraviolet rays of the sun were also supplemented by artificial means to create a more Earth-like atmosphere for the vast array of vegetation.

This multitude of greenery was interspersed with the occasional cluster of buildings, none over three stories in height. Most of them looked like some kind of housing, but some of the buildings could have been well appointed offices or even shops. The Commander, having visited the station more than once, knew that only the very well off could actually live in the habitat ring. Most inhabitants of the station lived in the deck's closer to the outside of the ring, right under the pressure hull, in vast living complexes where one may be lucky if they saw the blackness of space even once in a day. Aside from the select elite living up here, the habitation ring was reserved solely for the station's oxygen producing needs and for growing its food. An unintentional but not discouraged use for the ring was as a massive park, a place where many would come to relax and walk among the plants, or to stargaze during the ring's night cycle.

The squad stepped out into the ring, striding into a plaza in the midst of one of the small groupings of buildings visible. They looked about cautiously, but could see no signs of life. They paused for a moment to take in their surroundings.

"I had heard of the gardens of Arcturus." Thane murmured. "But I had never expected them to possess such elegance. While a little humid for my taste, I can appreciate the beauty here."

"I've been on the station plenty of times before," Zaeed explained. "But they never let me into the habitation ring. I guess the toffs living up here would have complained if they saw someone looking like me wandering about."

"Section Delta Eighteen is this way." Shepard prompted.

They moved through the empty streets as quickly as they could. After passing a couple of silent buildings, Shepard became aware of faint sounds that he recognised. His fingers tensed around the trigger of his rifle as the groans of the pallid Husks became louder. Around him, the squad prepared for combat.

They rounded a corner to finally spot the Husks shambling down the next street, arms limp by their sides as their heads, barely supported by narrow necks, leaned lazily to one side. There were only ten of them. As the squad stepped into view, they turned as one, operating on the same set of instructions. All together, they immediately charged the group.

Shepard didn't hesitate, even with the ghastly nature of his enemies. He fired carefully, ripping a line of holes through the chest of one Husk before managing to strike the forehead of another, dropping the second one in an instant and slowing the first one considerably.

Samara tensed the biotic field around her arms, sending out a wave of dark energy that struck one of the Husks square in the chest. The lumbering monstrosity took a couple of steps before coming to a hesitant stop. It seemed to struggle with its own body for a moment before dropping to the deck limply, a stream of grey fluid leaking from its mouth. Shepard recognised her Reave technique, a biotic attack that basically destroyed a target's insides, bypassing outer defences. It was a difficult and draining technique, but inarguably effective.

Thane had dropped back, drawing his sniper rifle. Calmly, coldly, he sighted on the head of the first Husk he set his eyes upon. The rifle cracked in his hands, leaping back from the recoil, and a neat round hole appeared in the centre of the forehead of that target, a spray of brains, gore and machinery bursting out of the back of its head as the bullet escaped. A quick click of the loading mechanism had a second bullet ready to be fired, and the deep green-black eyes began seeking a new victim.

Mordin opted to use his omnitool, firing a bolt of ice that struck the street under the Husks' feet, causing three to lose their balance. The Salarian's SMG quickly tore into one of the prone enemies, ripping it to shreds. He further wounded the second of the fallen before it managed to clamber back to its feet.

Zaeed drew an Incendiary Grenade from his belt, lobbing it at the front ranks of the enemy. Two Husks squealed and groaned as flames consumed their flesh. One was quickly silenced by a bullet from Shepard's rifle, while the other went quiet as it dropped to the ground in a pile of burning guts and wires.

A second shot from Thane's weapon killed another husk, and Mordin's omnitool fired a ball of flames this time to consume yet another of the pale horrors. Shepard unloaded the last of his clip at the already wounded creature from his initial outburst, finally finishing it off. This left the final husk to be ripped to shreds by a warp blast from Samara, nothing but tatters of flesh dropping to the deck where it had once stood. With the last of the husks dead, the squad relaxed, although the tension still remained in the back of their minds. Zaeed was the first to speak out.

"No way that's it." He grumbled.

"Indeed." Thane nodded. "Those creatures did not seem as challenging as my memory led me to expect. They also lacked significant numbers."

"Samara, got a read on Sha'ira?" Shepard asked.

"Not far from here." The Asari scanned her omnitool. "However, there is another signal, much closer. Turian, just two streets over."

"Let's go check it out." The Commander decided. "Whoever it is, they might know something."

The squad nodded in agreement before following the Commander as he made his way past a few more grandly appointed buildings, guided by Samara. At last, they approached the ornate façade of a sprawling two-story mansion on the edge of the cluster of buildings, nestled just within the borders of one of the forests dotted across the habitation ring. Cautiously, Shepard led them through the front gate and up to the wooden double doors that formed the main entrance. The Commander tensed as he noticed the doors were ajar. With great care, he teased the doors further open, glancing inside at the main foyer. The squad slowly filed in, covering every possible angle of approach. Mordin was the one to break the tense silence, pointing at the smooth orange-red marble floor.

"Blood. Turian. Freshly spilled." He muttered, kneeling next to a small pool that had collected around the seam between four tiles. Thane hurried over to join him, probing the tiny puddle with a testing finger.

"This blood has barely begun to thicken. Dextro-based coagulants work very fast. Either the person who spilled this blood was very ill, or they passed by recently."

"Quantity suggests serious injury." Mordin's large eyes narrowed. "Unlikely to be accidental in nature. Was attacked?"

"Most probably." The Drell nodded. "But not here. The form of the puddle does not match that of an ongoing attack. This pattern suggests they were fleeing from whatever caused the damage."

"He's right. A gun or a knife would have spread the mess all over the goddamn place." Zaeed muttered from here he stood, holding his rifle loosely, almost casually.

"Samara, which way now?" Shepard prompted.

"I believe they are upstairs." The Asari said, eyes fixed upon her wrist.

"Whoever this is, they're likely panicked. No sudden movements. Don't give them cause to lash out in defence. We don't want them hurt." Shepard warned. Most of the squad nodded at the order, but Zaeed just shrugged, a gesture that said 'yeah, yeah'.

They moved through the dark hallways, ascending a flight of grand dark-wood stairs to the upper story. There, they followed a hallway lined with doors until they reached one that Samara indicated was the one they were looking for. Shepard stood facing the door for a tense moment before pushing the door open, rifle at the ready.

A single male Turian was in the room beyond, sitting in a chair rather awkwardly. Blue blood seeped from a series of bullet wounds across his torso, further staining his clothes with every breath he took. He sat at a desk, readying an application of Medi-Gel. In front of him, the medicine dispenser unit that had been attached to the wall was in pieces, disassembled by his hands. The Commander wondered at that for a moment, but assumed that the alien had done this because the machine was broken, his urgent need for something to stop the bleeding coming before leaving the house's belongings intact. Shepard could see why the device was not functioning. In the pile of disassembled pieces, he could see that a few vital parts were missing.

"Please!" The Turian shouted. "Don't shoot!"

"Who are you?" Shepard demanded, a little disappointed it wasn't Septimus. He was eager to find his old acquaintance before any misfortune befell him.

"Saion Nerius, of the Rogue Endeavour." The Turian stammered. "I'm sorry about the house, but I needed to fix myself up…"

"It's okay." Shepard said a little more gently. "I'm Commander Shepard. I'm here to find any survivors."

"Shepard? I know that name! You're the Human Spectre, right?" The Turian stood, a little unsteadily. Mordin hurried over to run a scan of his injuries, while Thane loaned a shoulder for him to lean on.

"Where were you when the attack took place?" The Commander asked.

"I was in the Command Centre, talking with some of the station's command staff. An Admiral Anderson, I think." Saion explained. "My crew and I stumbled across a fleet of those things moving through a system in Asari space. They sent one machine to hunt us down, and chased us here until the Human vessels managed to fend it off. We were giving our report when a whole bunch of the things burst through the blockade around the Relay leading to Earth. Then the power went out in the station, and those monsters started swarming through the hallways. I was injured in the crossfire between our own guards and the creatures. I think that's why they ignored me afterwards. I saw them carrying off those they thought to be alive. I managed to crawl all the way here through the ventilation system."

"You mentioned that you arrived here in a ship, the Rogue Endeavour? What happened to your crew?"

"I lost track of my four crew mates during the attack, a Human female, Nats, a Quarian called Nishto, a Krogan named Garatt and a Salarian called Segs."

"We bumped into the bucket-head and the frog a coupla floors down. They were hiding with some Human survivors." Zaeed explained.

"Were they alright?" The Turian asked with concern. "Nishto's suit didn't rupture, did it? Last time that happened we had to hunt down a Quarian ship on a mining expedition to get him the appropriate treatment. We nearly lost him."

"They're fine." Shepard soothed. "We showed them the way to the escape pods. Our ship's working on picking them up now."

"Good." Saion sagged with relief, although his expression remained tense. "I hope the rest are okay."

"If we find them, we'll make sure they get out okay." Shepard assured. "Did you happen to see the Council representatives at any point?"

"No, I'm sorry. But I did hear some shooting close by on my way here. Perhaps, if they are not who you seek, they can point you in the right direction."

"Thanks. Do you think you can make it to an escape pod?"

"Its safer with you." The Turian shrugged. "I'll stay close, if it's all the same. Don't worry, I can look after myself."

Shepard hesitated for a moment, but was forced to agree. One survivor on his own wouldn't last long against a group of Husks, especially injured.

"All right." He acceded. "But stay very close. It's going to be all too easy for someone to disappear with the things wandering the station now."

"You've got it." Saion said, all too eagerly. As the squad turned away, the ghost of a smile crept across his face, but he managed to contain it before anyone could see.

~o~0~o~

The habitation ring was growing brighter, its day cycle just beginning, when the squad, with the limping Saion in tow, reached the point where Samara's omnitool indicated they would find the Asari. Their pace increased as time went on and the signal became fainter and fainter. Emerging from the boundary of one of the demi-settlements dotted across the ring, Shepard came to a slow halt, taking in the structure that had become the refuge of the signal they were following.

Sprouting up from beneath the rich soil of the habitation ring and reaching up to meet the transparent ceiling far above that kept the atmosphere from rushing out into space, resembling the trunk of a massive tree of steel and glass, one of the support struts responsible for maintaining the structure of the ring loomed overhead. Even this structure had been put to use, not a cubic inch being wasted where possible. Windows spiralled up around the pillar, behind which lay comfortable offices, expensive shops and a few luxurious apartments. At the base of the tower, the wide door to an elevator shaft remained imposingly shut.

Shepard had taken but a few steps out from cover to take in the strut before a gunshot echoed out, sending up a plume of loose soil from where the bullet landed.

"Sniper!" Shepard yelled.

The Commander and his companions reacted instantly, racing back into cover within the protection of the streets they had just left behind. Shepard chanced a peek to see where the bullets were coming from and, although another shot sent him back into hiding, he managed to spot a broken window about thirty stories up the pillar. He looked over to Thane. The Drell nodded silently, peeling off from the group to find another angle of approach on the pillar in order to find out more about its defender.

"That ain't a sniper rifle." Zaeed surmised. "If they're using an assault rifle at this range, they must be desperate, using what they can grab. Definitely not attackers, then. You invade a station, you make goddamn sure you've got enough weaponry and ammo to do it."

"So probably the people we're looking for." Shepard concluded.

"Shepard, I have a visual on the target." Thane's calm voice filtered through the comms. Shepard turned back to the pillar, looking about for any sign of his friend. He saw nothing, but was not surprised. The Drell could evade the eyes of even the most alert of guards. "Thirty-first floor, inside what appears to have been a computer hardware store. Salarian, male, carrying a rather worn-out Mattock assault rifle. Injuries to his right arm, his lower jaw and the left knee."

"You going to tell us how much ammo he's got left in his gun?" Zaeed asked sarcastically.

"Three shots. And two thermal clips in his ammo pouch," Thane answered without skipping a beat. Shepard couldn't tell whether he was being serious or participating in the joke. "I have him in my sights. Should I take the shot?"

"Negative. He may be one of the Council reps." Shepard cautioned. "Be ready, but don't fire unless I give the order."

"Understood. Awaiting further instruction." The Drell said in his clipped, professional manner. The Commander turned back to his other companions.

"Stay here and wait for my signal. I'll try to approach them alone."

"Be careful, Shepard." Samara warned, radiating concern.

"Aren't I always?" Shepard asked with a grin.

"Hell no. That's why you've been dead once already." Zaeed fired back sardonically.

Shepard turned away, carefully placing his rifle on his back. He then lifted his arms, holding his hands with the palms facing outwards, and walked slowly into view of the pillar again. He strode forward as confidently as he could, although his gut tensed when the thought of a bullet from the Salarian in the pillar going through his skull danced in his imagination. A treacherous shiver in the base of his spine tried to override his motor functions to make his turn and run, but his will was strong, and he pressed forward.

"He sees you, Shepard." Thane's voice buzzed in his ear. "He's tracking you with his rifle, talking to someone else in the room behind him." There was a pause. "He's saying something, but I'm having trouble reading his lips… He's taking the shot! Get down!"

Shepard's survival instincts kicked into overdrive, screaming at him to turn and run. But his sheer willpower, combined with the bull-headed stubbornness that had got him through so many dire situations before, fought down the panic. Instead, his body compromised by stopping in the middle of the open space, neither advancing nor retreating.

"Shepard! Get out of there!" The Drell's voice possessed a tension he had never heard before, the pressure of the situation finally breaking his unflappable demeanour.

A single shot rang out, striking the Commander's shields. He staggered back as the force of the shot was transferred through his barriers to his shoulder, forcing him back a step, but he did not turn and run. He held his ground firmly.

"He's lining up another shot. Commander, what are you doing? Get out of there!" Thane paused, struggling with a decision. "I'm taking the shot."

"No." Shepard's voice was strangely serene, even in the face of death. "Hold your fire. That is an order."

"I- yes, Commander." Shepard knew that that would not hold the Drell back for long. Professional as he was, he wouldn't let Shepard die needlessly.

Less than a second later, Shepard's stance was vindicated by another update from the assassin.

"Somebody's speaking to the Salarian. Human, male. Can't see his face yet… it's Admiral Anderson!" The relief in the Drell's voice was very much in evidence. "He's talked the Salarian down."

Shepard relaxed, but kept his hands up in a gesture of peace. He waited a moment until a shout reached down to him.

"Who goes there?" The familiar voice was tired, but strong.

"Commander Shepard, of the Normandy. You wouldn't happen to know where I can find some tenacious old bastard of an Admiral called Anderson, would you?"

"Shepard!" Anderson's tone lifted with a mixture of hope and relief. "Should have known you'd turn up here. Hang on, we'll throw the rope down."

As he waited, Shepard signalled the others.

"I'll go check everything's alright up there. Secure a perimeter, and let me know if anything happens."

"Understood." Was Thane's crisp reply.

"Yeah, yeah."

"I'm on it."

"On it!"

Shepard looked back to the pillar in time to see a rope unfurl from the broken window, dangling down just a little bit off the ground. Taking a deep breath, he clambered up the rope, his mind flickering back momentarily to his training sessions on this very station, deep under the soil in one of the decks below, where he had done pretty much the same thing on a daily basis. He was quite pleased with himself when, upon nearing the top, he found himself barely tired out by it. He was still in as good shape as when he had been a young, fresh-faced recruit.

He clambered up the side of the pillar using the rope, until finally he hauled himself into the store that had become a temporary refuge for the small group of survivors. He looked about carefully, taking in the condition of all four of them. As Thane had pointed out, the Salarian had minor injuries, but his right arm was hampering him somewhat as he stood next to the window with the Mattock rifle slung under one arm. Further into the shop, an Asari lay on the floor, her features, once so familiar to the Commander, now drained of almost all pigmentation by blood loss. A grievous wound had pierced her torso, running straight through her body from her back to her front. Purple blood still seeped from the wound, the insufficient application of Medi-Gel barely covering the opening, let alone going to work on the internal damage. A Turian, his features tense with worry and sorrow, leaned over her. He appeared to be relatively unmarked, although his armour had a few dents in it. Shepard's heart went out to them upon spotting Sha'ira and Septimus, realising that there was probably little to be done.

The room itself was a well-kept computer hardware store. It occupied the entire floor of the pillar, its circular walls made almost completely of glass to allow a panoramic view of the habitation ring. Shelves criss-crossed the floor, holding various computer chips, omnitools displayed on artificial hands, and display screens that had now gone sullenly dark. In the centre of the room, the wide circular elevator shaft passed through on its journey upwards, the spine of the pillar and the most stable part of the structure.

He turned to Anderson, inspecting the older soldier for a moment. He was unharmed, but the creased around the corners of his eyes and the deep shadows above his cheeks spoke of the stress of the past day. He offered a hand to the Commander, who shook it eagerly.

"Good to see you again, Shepard. We were starting to think we wouldn't get out of this alive."

"Things have certainly gone to hell since I was last here, Admiral. What's the situation?"

"We're in pretty bad shape. I was in contact with a few clusters of survivors spread out across the station, but they've gone silent, one after another. It's fortunate that Admiral Drescher managed to get the Senate out before that damn EMP went off."

"We found some survivors on our way here. They've gone to the escape pods now, and Joker's going to pick them up."

"Good. Wouldn't want them sticking around here to be found." Anderson's tone was sombre. "There are indoctrinated servants of the Reapers aboard. More sophisticated than Husks. They show very little sign of conversion, just like Saren. It was one of them that caught us off-guard and wounded the Consort." He pointed over his shoulder at the Asari.

"Well then, we can't afford to stick around much longer." Shepard concluded. "If there are no more survivors, as you say, or even if there's only a few left, that's nowhere near enough to run the station. If we can't power it up, we need to scuttle it."

"Scuttle Arcturus?" Anderson asked incredulously. "Are you mad? Do you know what this means to Humanity?"

"I'm aware." Shepard said evenly, swallowing the bitter taste in his mouth. "But I also know the value of this station in the wrong hands. If we can't take it back, we need to keep it out of Reaper control. We're not ready to take the Reapers on, especially not when the only forces in system are what's left of the ADI fleets. I have some reinforcements en route, but they won't be enough for anything but a tactical retreat. The Arcturus System is lost, Admiral. We just haven't admitted it yet."

Anderson glared for a moment, before sighing.

"You're right." He relented. "Better that it's reduced to scrap than turned into a weapon pointed at us."

Shepard glanced past the Admiral at the wounded Asari. He bit his lip as he tried to work out how to get her to the shuttle. The elevator was out, thanks to the damage the electro-magnetic pulse had caused, so the only way down the pillar was via the rope dangling out of the window. Sha'ira was too weak to climb down herself, so they'd have to lower her, but they couldn't do that without risking further injury. She needed a little more attention before she could be moved. He pulled out his commlink.

"Shepard to ground team. Come in ground team."

"Ground team here, Commander." Thane replied. "No movement as yet out here."

"Pull back to the pillar. We have wounded here in need of preparation for transport. Mordin's going to have his work cut out."

"Understood. On our way."

Moments later, the rope twitched as the first of the squad clambered up. Mordin, breathing somewhat heavily from the climb, scrambled into view, barely pausing before moving over to kneel next to Sha'ira. Shepard saw the Salarian, Deridan, brighten upon catching sight of him, but his offered greeting died before the first syllable as the doctor rushed past to deal with his patient first. As the rope began to bounce again, the Salarian scientist set to work.

"Hmm. Internal haemorrhaging. Damage to secondary kidney and primary liver. Spleen intact, but bruised. Mild abrasion to left lung. Damage mostly to muscles rather than organs. Fortunate. Easy to treat. Although… field dressing is sloppy. Soldier's work. Amateurish. Little more than container for spilt blood now. Will have to remove, clean wound and start from scratch."

Septimus, hovering behind him, bristled at the derision of his work, but held his tongue. All that mattered was that Sha'ira was healed.

As Samara clambered into view, swiftly followed by Thane, the Salarian set about repairing the internal damage and properly stopping the bleeding. With the former Justicar available to lend her gentle hands to the work, the rudimentary surgery went off without a hitch, although the Consort remained very pale. After five minutes, the doctor had completed his work, patting his hands together with satisfaction.

"Have done what I can. Medi-Gel is working to repair damage, but body must do most of work. Not up to anything strenuous, so should avoid combat and use of biotics, but can travel, as long as pace is reduced."

"Thank you." Septimus said sincerely before going to kneel by Sha'ira again. She was slowly becoming more lucid, the light-headedness of her blood loss still plaguing her.

"Now, on to you, Deridan." Mordin said, turning to his fellow Salarian. "Disguising broken arm well, but cannot fool me. Needs splint."

"I'm fine." The Salarian Lieutenant Colonel dismissed.

"Arrogant to proceed with such injury. Thought time in STG had taught you to admit when needing treatment. Allow me to look at it. Do not want a repeat of mission to Perneusa."

"That was twelve years ago!" Deridan protested.

"Yes, but Private Nixal still lacks right foot. Should know. Helped him purchase mechanical prosthetic on Omega last year."

"Alright." The Salarian sighed. "Do your worst."

As the two Salarian's settled in one corner to work on the broken arm, they began chatting. Shepard picked up a few stray words, including numerous mentions of Tuchanka, as well as a number of Salarian names he had heard Mordin mention before. Although they had initially seemed grudgingly civil, it seemed they were actually good friends. While they worked, the Commander turned back to the window just in time to see Saion finish his ascent.

As the Turian dusted his hands off, the atmosphere in the store cooled by several degrees. There was a moment when all present went silent before the survivors burst into action. Before Shepard could blink, Deridan had drawn Mordin's SMG from its holster and aimed it at the Turian survivor, Anderson had dropped into a crouch that had him finish up by retrieving Deridan's discarded Mattock, and Septimus had lunged forward with a roar. The Turian general's arm shot out, lifting Saion off the floor and pinning him against a wall by his throat. Saion barely blinked.

"Whoa! Whoa!" Shepard shouted in surprise as he heard Thane unfolding his rifle behind him. The ominous hum of Samara's biotics thrummed from somewhere close to Sha'ira, and Mordin had drawn his pistol. The Commander raised his arms, trying to calm everyone down. "Hold on, Septimus. This is Saion. He's a survivor we picked up on our way here. He's an ally."

"He is no such thing!" The Turian spat. "He's one of them, the one who hurt Sha'ira!"

Shepard paused, looking to the other Turian's face for some kind of confirmation. The flat, emotionless way he glared back at his kinsman spoke volumes, and had Shepard reaching for his own pistol. Still, he had to ask.

"Is this true?" He demanded. The Turian's eyes darted to him, and now he could see the light behind them, a bright blue luminescence that was growing in the heart of the pupils, coming towards the surface like a shark rising from the depths. There was no denying where his allegiance lay now. "What is your purpose here?"

"Our masters are beyond your comprehension." Saion's voice had changed. Now it possessed the deep, bass quality that the Commander had come to associate with the Reapers.

"I comprehend that they die just as easily as anything else." Shepard said strongly. "Just like any of their servants who get in my way."

"You have yet to face the true power of one of our masters' servants. " The Turian's voice was arrogant, mocking.

"I've faced plenty of your masters' slaves before. The Geth, the Collectors, countless Husks…"

"The Geth were nothing but a tool enlisted by Saren Arterius to further his own campaign. The Collectors were the result of fifty thousand years of degradation from what we had originally intended for them. As for the Husks, you have yet to come to know the meaning of the word. Those that came before were nothing."

"Explain." Shepard demanded. He didn't expect Saion to answer such an abrupt request, and so was surprised when he received an explanation.

"The Husks you have encountered before now are the creations of lesser servants. Firstly imitations created by technology gifted to the Geth, beings too primitive to fully grasp its capabilities. This was their test to discern whether they were deserving of ascendance. They were not. The ones utilised by the Collectors were once again crude replicas of our technology. Such pale imitations are not worthy of the fear they are shown, and show just how inferior these races are."

"If they're so terrible, why keep using them?"

"The pale degradations you have seen are all but eliminated now, making way for the true format to be created."

"The true format?" Samara asked hesitantly. Shepard could understand her trepidation. He didn't like the sound of it either.

"Servants created by the Reapers themselves, creatures of greater power than any you could imagine. Creatures indistinguishable from the beings around them. We shall infiltrate every level of your society, starting with the Council representatives present here. Perhaps even you shall be converted, Shepard. What a victory, to convert our greatest enemy into the foremost of our servants!"

"Enough!" Septimus growled, threatening to crush the not-Turian's throat with his arm. "We're putting an end to thins, right now!"

"You cannot stop it." Saion's face grinned. "The infiltration has already begun."

"What?" Shepard asked sharply.

"You sent Nishto and Segs to the Normandy, did you not? She is a fine vessel, perfectly designed for travelling unseen. And, with the permissions of a Spectre, well placed for getting operatives into any location we so desire. In fact-"

Saion was interrupted by the terrible crack of a gunshot, half of his face vanishing in a splatter of gore that sprayed across Septimus' armour. As the Turian general flinched, the creature's arm slashed out with a glint of shining metal. Septimus staggered back, clutching at his now torn open armour. A glint of blue seeped from a shallow gash across his belly.

The squad did not hesitate, unleashing everything they had. Mordin launched an Incineration blast while Samara used her biotics to try and grip the creature, but Saion was too fast. Using supernaturally fast reflexes, he dodged both attacks, launching himself upwards. His face still gushed blue blood, one mandible hanging loosely on one strip of scaly flesh. He struck the ceiling, lengthening claws on his hands and feet digging into allow him to scuttle along like a spider.

Thane, Anderson, Shepard and Deridan unloaded their clips at the creature, but his speed and agility meant that precious few shots landed. Even those that hit him appeared to cause little damage. Saion paused in on the ceiling of the store, turning to look back at them with a malevolent blue glare. For a moment, Shepard saw what Saren had become after his noble sacrifice on the Citadel to stop Sovereign. There were similarities, but Saren's indoctrinated form had seemed more incomplete. This was a full-blooded version of an indoctrinated servant, a creature of incredible potency and a terrible threat. He could see where the claws would retract and remain unseen, and that set him to wondering what other kinds of upgrades the reapers may have forced upon the former Turian. The overall result was a creature the Commander found unsettling, causing him to wonder if the dead faces of the zombie-like Husks was a preferable alternative. At least you could see them coming a mile off.

Saion leapt from the roof, landing directly in front of the broken window. He turned to stare at Shepard.

"I'll see you soon, Commander." It almost chuckled as it spoke.

"Hey, arsehole."

The creature turned inquisitively at the harsh voice. There, standing in the frame of the broken window, Zaeed Massani held a large, broad-muzzled shotgun. Standing at point-blank range, he pulled the trigger twice, sending two bursts of metal shrapnel tearing into the Turian Husk-creature, eliciting a fountain of gore that turned his blood red armour a royal blue. The monster that had been Saion stumbled back from the blast, struggling to keep its innards from spilling out across the floor.

"Get out of the goddamn way."

The creature howled in pain and anger before lunging for him. With a speed that betrayed his ageing appearance, the former bounty hunter dodged to one side, only receiving a light graze from Saion's deadly claws. The Husk-creature stumbled for a moment as it failed to meet any resistance in its headlong dash, but was unable to stop before it went through the window, roaring as it tumbled down out of sight.

Zaeed picked himself up from where he had landed, pumping the shotgun to reload. He glanced at the tide of red streaming down one arm, shrugging indifferently, before looking to the Commander.

"What the hell was that? You started the killing without me!"

"That was Saion. He was indoctrinated by the Reapers and… upgraded." Shepard explained, unsure of how to describe it. Frowning, he looked over to Mordin. "Did you understand any of what he said?"

"Hmm. Advanced form of indoctrination carried out by Reapers themselves. Makes sense, actually. Creation of Husks always seemed like waste of resources. Weak combat troops insufficient reward for investment of conversion technology. But, if Husks encountered so far are only inferior copies of true design, then should expect many more of Saion's kind to appear."

"They've gone to a lot of trouble to make sure they looked normal." Thane observed.

"Also sensible. All stories heard about Reaper cleansing cycle mention indoctrinated servants seeding chaos and betraying location of places of refuge. Creating of covert operatives tactically sound."

The squad tensed as an ear-piercing shriek rose from the foot of the pillar. As one, they rushed to the window, looking down. There, about six stories down, Saion's body clung to the side of the pillar, claws digging in deep. It reared up like a wolf howling at the moon, that terrible sound reverberating from its throat. After a moment, howls could be heard throughout the surrounding artificial countryside. Pale bodies began running through fields, forests and small settlements, all racing towards the pillar.

"Bloody hell." Zaeed breathed.

"No way we're fighting our way through that." Shepard concluded. "We've got to hold this place until we get a chance to make a run for it."

"I suppose there's no hope that the damn things can't climb?" Zaeed asked. Moments later, the first of what Shepard was now thinking off as the 'old' Husks reached the base of the pillar and, without a moment's hesitation, began scaling the sheer surfaces, pale fingers finding purchase in the smallest of crevices.

"Thane! Zaeed! Sniper rifles. With me. Samara, Mordin, ready anything that can dislodge them. Ice, biotics, whatever you've got. Wait until they're high enough that the fall will kill them."

The squad lined up in a neat rank of five, leaning out of the window to watch the approaching horde. In seconds, Thane and Zaeed had started firing, quickly sending a number of Husks tumbling back to the ground. Shepard followed suit, his quick reflexes letting him jump from one target to the next without hesitation. The Husks made for easy targets, possessing no fear or sense of self-preservation. They simply rushed into the line of fire with no hesitation, not even dodging as the bullets zinged by overhead or killed one of their comrades climbing beside them. Sometimes Shepard would hit a Husk just so, and it would tumble into the ones coming up behind it, dragging them off the side of the structure with it.

Samara and Mordin worked to keep the front rank of the enemy horde back, the Asari's biotics and the Salarian's tech skills quickly sending clusters of Husks plummeting down to smash on the ground in a mess impact.

As Shepard popped the heat sink in his rifle for the third time, he became aware of an additional presence at the window. He saw Anderson, Deridan and Septimus step up, each holding a weapon resolutely as they unleashed hell upon the mass of bodies scaling the pillar. Even Septimus, who only had a pistol from their small stock of weapons, did not hold back from throwing as much metal as he could at their opponents.

This blistering hail of fire held back the front ranks for a couple of frenzied minutes, until Saion, still present in the heart of the horde, let out another roar. The Husk rush faltered, a large number of the pale bodies splitting off to move further around the pillar.

"They're trying to flank us." Shepard warned. "Quick! Take out the other windows. Cover all sides of the pillar. Fan out!"

The team nodded as one, spreading out until every angle of approach was covered. Windows shattered as the defenders got into position, resuming their attack on the oncoming Husks. Shepard remained at the first window, sniping the Husks as quickly as he could. He launched a couple of Concussive Shots, causing groups of pale bodies to tumble away from the pillar and making holes in the front rank, but every time he made an opening, another Husk would surge forward to continue the advance. As much as he hated to admit it, the enemy was making progress.

The turning point came when the Husks finally managed to swarm close enough that the squad's sniper rifles became inefficient, forcing Thane to swap out his favoured weapon for an SMG while Zaeed and Shepard drew their assault rifles. Sensing their prey was becoming more vulnerable, the Husks dashed forward, ascending the final few floors with ease as bullet after bullet ploughed into them. The burst fire nature of the assault rifles worked against the squad, forcing them to waste a lot of ammo for every head shot they landed, meaning they spent more time trying to just land a kill. In this close quarters fight, Samara and Mordin really came to the fore, managing to sweep masses of pale bodies off the side of the pillar. Thane, too, began using his biotics to attack, rather than his rarely used SMG. Zaeed changed his tactics, dropping Incendiary Grenades on the husks. The canisters would burst open in mid-air, sending waves of liquid fire washing over many Husks, sending them dropping to the ground like flaming meteorites. Deridan stepped up to the challenge as well, displaying some surprisingly well developed biotic powers, something of a rarity for Salarians. Shepard, Anderson and Septimus kept up the assault with their various weapons. The Turian general showed that he had indeed earned his rank, showcasing some impressive accuracy with his pistol, while Anderson, showing familiarity with the older model Mattock, managed to achieve nearly a one-shot, one-kill policy.

After only a couple of minutes of this frenzied defence, the Husks finally ascended to their floor, clambering up in ragged numbers. Even considering the horde's vast size, the squad had managed to thin the numbers somewhat, leaving a pile of Husk corpses stacked up at least ten feet deep at the foot of the pillar all around. As they tried to scramble into a standing position on the squad's floor, Shepard and his allies kept on gunning them down, but their position was quickly being compromised.

"Fall back to Sha'ira!" Shepard commanded. "Back to back!"

The squad swiftly closed up, forming a ring around the wounded Asari. Even in her injured stupor, the blue alien had the presence of mind to pick up a discarded pistol, firing it at any Husks she caught sight of. She could manage little in the way of turning the tide of the battle, but she managed to peg a few Husks, slowing them down enough for another squad mate to finish them off. Shepard wasn't about to reject any help in this fight.

The Husks pressed in on all sides, but they couldn't get close enough to the squad to cause any real damage. The trio of biotics were managing to send groups of Husks hurtling to their destruction off the edge of the floor, while the more weapon-oriented members of the group simply kept unloading their clips into the mass of pallid flesh.

"Keep it up!" Shepard encouraged, pausing briefly to reload. "Don't let them get close enough to take out your shields!"

"Yeah, thanks!" Zaeed shot back sarcastically. "Never woulda thought of that!"

Shepard didn't respond to that, knowing it wouldn't do to argue in the middle of such a tense situation. Instead he turned back to the oncoming Husks. He could see their numbers thinning now, less and less appearing over the edge of the floor, but they had drawn dangerously close. His stomach dropped as he heard a cry to his left, seeing Mordin go down under a pile of a half dozen Husks. He caught a few glimpses of the Salarian's terrified face beneath the writhing mass. He cried out his old friend's name, rifle chattering as he turned to attack those pinning the professor down. Samara looked over from her position and, seeing the threat, unleashed a shockwave that tore the creatures from the scientist's prone form. Shepard glanced to the Asari as he helped Mordin get back to his feet.

"We won't last much longer at this rate. We need to clear this floor out." He said meaningfully. Samara looked at him for a moment before nodding silently. He felt a twinge of guilt at making the request. He knew that this was asking a lot of her.

The Asari frowned for a moment as she struggled to muster the needed energy, raising her arms above her head. A pair of Husks dashed at her, but Zaeed quickly gunned them down. The biotic clouds around each of her upraised fists intensified, growing in size and potency with each passing moment. The Husks continued to press in, not affected in the slightest by the ominous sight. As Samara focused, the air around her hands began to purr ever so slightly as the molecules vibrated wildly. This purr rose in volume until it was a quiet roar in the squad's ears. Samara's knees started to shake as all of her power flowed into the attack, until finally she could barely take it any longer. The only signal she could spare in her focused state was a silent nod to Shepard.

"Everyone get down!" He yelled, just before dropping. Around him, the rest of the squad did the same, Anderson and Septimus placing themselves protectively over Sha'ira.

The Asari exile's hands slammed down into the floor, leaving twin dents in their wake. Centred upon her, a massive blast of dark energy radiated outwards, catching anything in its path. Shepard clutched at the floor, struggling for purchase as the powerful biotic tidal wave threatened to drag him away. Around him, the rest of the squad struggled with the same powerful force, Mordin even being swept along a couple of metres by it before finding sufficient purchase to hang on to. The Husks, however, were not so lucky. Like a house of cards caught in a powerful breeze, they were swept away from the squad, tumbling out of the shattered windows. Plaintive moans and shrieks could be heard diminishing rapidly as they dropped to the ground far below. Over these tortured shrieks, Shepard heard more and more windows shattering both above and below them, blown out by the force of the biotic explosion. The pillar swayed, its structure twisting from the after effects of the blast. A few tortured shrieks of twisting metal cautioned the squad against doing anything rash.

Releasing his grip on the floor, the Commander stood on unsteady feet. He cautiously walked over to where Samara knelt on the floor, head slumped, shoulders drooping. He placed a hand on her shoulder, silently congratulating and thanking her.

The squad's relief was brought to an abrupt end as the pillar shivered, sending more creaks and groans running through its structure. The rumbling shake happened again and again, a rhythmic thump, thump, thump. With a howl of rage, Saion leapt into view. His face had partially repaired itself, as had his ruptured belly, the Reaper tech quickly setting about ensuring that its vessel was intact. Given time, Shepard could see that the mechanism would once more make the Turian indistinguishable from beings that were not indoctrinated.

"An impressive display, Shepard." The Turian growled. "But ultimately pointless. You will die here, Shepard, by my hand or at the hands of one of my kin."

"I've taken out far worse things than one Turian." Shepard replied boldly, lifting his rifle and firing off a couple of shots, which Saion dodged out of the way of with ease.

The squad attacked in earnest after this brief exchange. Mordin and Zaeed took refuge behind one of the few shelves still standing, sending brief bursts of fire at the dodging Husk creature, while Thane helped Samara seek refuge behind the cylindrical elevator shaft, the pair sending the occasional biotic bolt blazing towards the fight. Septimus and Anderson covered Sha'ira, keeping her safe while they tried to fend off the leaping Turian. Deridan raced to one side, hoping to draw Saion's attention by triggering a singularity close to him. The indoctrinated alien took the bait, following the Salarian doggedly.

Shepard emptied his clip at the creature as he dashed for cover behind an overturned desk. He slammed a fresh clip into the loading slot, then turned just in time to see Saion land on the floor, arms and legs spread out like an insect. On all fours like this, the creature glared around, looking for a target to vent its wrath upon, when a small metallic clink made it look down. A tiny metal cylinder rolled to a stop against its clawed hand before erupting in a blast of flame. The pillar of fire engulfed Saion, hiding him from view as it licked at the ceiling and washed across the floor. His howls sounded out loudly. The Commander leaned back from the fire, being close enough to feel his eyebrows starting to smoulder from the heat.

The flames died as quickly as they had started, leaving a black spot in the Commander's vision that pulled at his gaze. He blinked, shaking his head to clear the blind spot. As his vision returned to him, he saw what remained of Saion stand erect. The Turian's flesh had mostly burned away, leaving charred flakes of scales and muscle crackling loudly. The metal in his body was now in evidence, running through his bones and internal organs. His skull had been replaced in its entirety with a metal replica, wires descending out of it to infect his entire form. Glowing an eerie white, a false heart could be seen pumping powerfully.

"I cannot be stopped, Shepard!" The Turian monster breathed, a chuckle in the back of its throat. "The Reapers have granted me immortality!"

"Good." Shepard said flatly. "I always love a challenge."

Without flinching, he lifted his rifle and pulled the trigger, sending several short bursts of bullets at the Turian Husk. At such a close range, the rifle tore into Saion easily, blowing off chunks of burnt flesh and sinister metal by the handful. The Husk growled before leaping back and up, clutching the ceiling as he scuttled away.

Shepard took a step to follow, but froze as he felt something lurch underfoot. He looked down to see the floor ahead of him begin to fracture, a spider's web of cracks criss-crossing his path. He looked up to see the ceiling above him in a similar sorry state. He looked about for his squad, making eye contact with Zaeed.

"You got any more of those little toys left?" He asked.

"A couple, yeah. You need 'em?"

"Keep them ready for when I signal you." Shepard instructed. He then turned to Thane. "Ready a biotic pull for when I shout, okay? You'll know the target."

"Yes, Shepard." The Drell nodded.

"Good. Now everyone, stay in cover! Let him come to me!" With that, Shepard turned and raced towards the Turian Husk, dancing across the damaged floor warily as he ran. His rifle chattered in his hands, peppering the Turian corpse with flashes of metal. Saion howled in fury, turning and bounding towards the Commander, his claws tearing chunks out of the ceiling.

Shepard backed up, heading back towards the damaged section of the floor. As his feet reached the edge of the charred section, the former Turian caught up with him, swinging at the Commander with a powerful arm. Shepard felt the air rush out of his lungs in one whoosh as he tumbled away, managing to stop just short of the edge of the floor. He got to his feet quickly, aware of the long drop behind him. The floor buckled gently under his weight, the lack of support making it weak. He needed to get away from the edge before a section of flooring snapped away, taking him with it.

The Commander made to run back towards the centre of the store, but Saion was quickly upon him. The Turian's weight bore him to the floor, making it shiver uncertainly under their combined weight. The duo wrestled on the floor for a few seconds, going dangerously close to the edge at one point, before Saion raised an arm and slashed at the Human with his wicked claws. Shepard groaned in pain as the claws went straight through his armour, tearing at the flesh of his arm and drawing a spray of blood from a nicked artery. Instantly Shepard felt the injury begin to sap him, and that realisation galvanised him into action. With a roar, his leg shot out, catching the Turian on the side and making something crack within. As the creature doubled over in response to the damage, Shepard rolled out from under him before turning and running. He darted back to the burnt section of the floor, stopping almost in its centre. He turned back just in time to see Saion loping across the ceiling. The Turian Husk raced towards him, maintaining a good pace until it hit the worst of the damage caused by Zaeed's grenade. The ceiling failed to hold his weight, crumbling under his claws and sending him tumbling to the floor in front of the commander. Shepard raised an arm to protect himself as more and more debris rained down from a widening hole. He turned back to his allies.

"Now!"

Thane's reaction was instantaneous, a biotic field enveloping the Commander and hauling him free as the worst of the damage gave way, dropping a sizeable portion of the ceiling on the remaining Saion. At the same time, Zaeed lobbed another grenade, Mordin complimenting this with an Incineration blast of his own. The combined inferno burned even hotter than the first, the shrieks of what had once been Saion echoing out from its heart. This blaze, combined with the falling debris, proved too much for the floor, with it finally giving away with a series of thunderous cracks. With the Turian Husk trapped in it, the burning pile of rubble dropped out of sight, a pair of follow-up crashes heralding its passage through a couple of floors below. Everything went quiet.

Lying on the floor where Thane's Pull had cast him, the Commander struggled to get his rapid breathing under control, easing back onto his feet. He winced as his leg, badly injured by a piece of falling metal, protested each step, but he held strong, stepping right up to the edge of the hole Saion had fallen through. He'd faced too many fantastical foes to simply accept the death of his opponent. He had to be sure.

Flames still burned on the floors before, carpets and furniture set alight by the rubble's passage. It had stopped three floors below, where it smoked merrily. The upper half of the creature could be seen protruding from the pile, clearly inert. The metal Turian skull lolled back limply, almost seeming to stare back at the Commander balefully.

"That's it." Shepard sighed, finally relaxing. "He's dead."

"'Bout goddamn time." Zaeed muttered, standing with a groan. It was only then Shepard noticed the many wounds he had sustained during the fight with the husk horde. The old mercenary's armour was riddled with scratches and splits where dead fingers had broken through, and he walked with a pronounced limp.

Shepard moved to examine the rest of his squad, but his eyes were drawn back to the hole in the floor as a bright white light shone up it. Looking down, dreading that he might see some Reaper trickery reviving their servant, he raised his eyebrows as he saw Saion's body twitch. The heart at its core pulsed uncertainly, erratically. Its pace began to increase, reaching an incredible rate. White light flickered along the outline of the corpse, tinged with blue. The corpse began to radiate massive amounts of light, building up to something. Just what, Shepard could not say. But it only took a second for him to decide it fell into the category of Bad News. He turned to his friends.

"Get back!"

The explosion dwarfed anything that had occurred during their fight with the Husks, the blast making the pillar sway even more uncertainly. Shepard was thrown to the floor, grunting as more bones cracked in protest of the rough treatment. Behind him, the floor around the hole lifted, bowing upwards like a massive lung inflating, before dropping with a shriek of tearing metal. This proved to be too much for the tortured structure, causing most of that side of the store to peel away, tumbling away in a shower of metal and glass. The tearing, groaning racket continued for several seconds before ending in a final thump.

Getting back to his feet, Shepard chanced a look over the precarious edge. For no fewer than eight floors below them, the side of the pillar had fallen away, either dislodged by the explosion of the Husk corpse or ripped away by plummeting debris, raining masses of rubble across the ground beside the pillar. The pillar now bowed to one side in a pronounced fashion, the weight of the remaining side pulling it outwards. The structure creaked dangerously. It would not hold for long.

"What the hell was that?" Shepard asked.

"Unsure." Mordin answered. "Maybe Reaper-designed power core within Husk? Damaged in fall, overloads, explosion."

"We need to get out of here." Shepard said, stating the obvious. He looked for a way out. The rope they had used to scale the pillar in the first place was long gone, lost during the Husk siege. It was too far to jump, and even if it hadn't been they couldn't try that with Sha'ira's injuries. His eyes settled upon the elevator shaft. It had no power, but he had a pretty resourceful team.

"Mordin, can you get that elevator up here?"

"Can try."

The Salarian set to work, kneeling next to the control panel. He lifted his omnitool, activating its Overload function. A massive jolt of energy flowed into the system, giving a quick boost that soon had the elevator racing up to their floor. In that second, the pillar began to shiver even more, a growing rumble.

"What's going on?" Shepard demanded urgently.

"Elevator motion has destabilised pillar!" Mordin explained. "Collapse imminent!"

"Zaeed! Help me get these doors open!" Shepard began tugging at one half of the elevator doors. The grizzled bounty hunter did the same for the other side, helped by Deridan and Thane. In a second, the four of them pried the doors open wide enough for everyone to pass through. As the elevator finished its ascent, allowing them to clamber aboard, Septimus scooped up Sha'ira, carrying her through the door. Samara walked in leaning wearily on an elevator wall, while the rest of the squad filed in quickly Anderson and Shepard were the last to enter, the latter looking back just in time to see the ceiling of the floor they had been standing on collapsing, metal tearing metal on its way down.

"Time to go, Mordin!" He urged. The Salarian nodded and activated the elevator, sending it down.

They moved maybe half a floor before the elevator jerked, catching on the buckling elevator shaft as the pillar deformed. There was a loud twanging from above, and then the elevator dropped sickeningly fast, gaining speed.

"Mordin?" Shepard shouted over the rush of the plummeting elevator.

"Support cables severed!" The Salarian shouted. "Brakes non-functional. Cannot stop descent."

Shepard glanced about anxiously. If they continued to fall at this rate, they'd smash into the bottom of the shaft with enough force to reduce their bones to so much jelly inside their skins. Even worse, they could risk punching through the decks below until they hit the exterior pressure hull, ripping their way out of the station into the unforgiving vacuum of space. An idea sprang into his mind.

"Samara! Thane!" He yelled, the scream of rushing air deafening in his ears. "I need you to catch this thing!"

The pair looked at him with surprise. Thane in particular looked doubtful.

"I do not possess the power for such a feat, Commander."

"I am too fatigued, Shepard." The Asari protested.

"Its that or die!" Shepard shouted back. "You don't need to stop us, just slow us down enough that we don't die on impact!"

"I can do it."

Shepard turned at the confident statement, looking with surprise at Deridan. The Salarian readied himself to summon the biotic fields necessary, eyes creasing around the edges with concentration. His determined expression quelled any doubtful query Shepard may have had.

The Salarian grunted as the elevator was swallowed up by pulsating blue light, a slight hitch shivering through its frame as the dark energy took a hold of it. The decrease in speed was infinitesimal, but when Thane and Samara added their efforts to the mix, the elevator began slowing at an increasing rate.

Shepard watched the floor counter tensely as it counted off the distance to the bottom of the shaft, willing the trio of biotics to succeed. They were still travelling too fast when they passed the tenth floor, but the decrease in speed was tangible now, the rising feeling in their stomachs vanishing.

He closed his eyes as they passed the third floor at far too high a speed, much faster than any elevator he had ever been in before, clenching his fists in preparation for their sudden, high-speed demise.

The elevator struck the bottom of the shaft with a crash, throwing the group off their feet was the metal continued to vibrate noisily from the impact. As Shepard rose into a kneeling position, clutching at his head to silence the ringing that echoed through his skull, he was comforted to hear everyone around him groaning in pain. Pain was good. It meant they were still alive to acknowledge it. A brief check revealed only a broken wrist for Mordin, a bad sprain to Zaeed's ankle and a bleeding nose for Deridan, the price he paid for putting his biotics to the test.

"Just like N7 training, right Shepard?" Anderson grinned, rubbing a jarred shoulder. Shepard smiled back.

A cautioning rumble overhead reminded them that they were still in danger. Instantly, Shepard was on his feet and prying the elevator doors open. Beyond, he saw an entrance foyer leading out of the pillar. The windows dotted around the walls had all shattered and chunks of the ceiling had fallen as the pillar continued to shake itself apart, but it was holding together, at least for a little while.

"Quickly!" Shepard urged, breaking into a run.

The squad and the group of survivors dashed headlong towards the inviting light of the double doors leading out. Thane, Anderson and Deridan were closest behind the Commander, with Septimus, weighed down by Sha'ira, and Zaeed struggling along behind them. Samara and Mordin brought up the rear, both struggling with injuries from the fight and the fall in the elevator. They wove around collapsing segments of the room, making swift progress across the room towards the door. Finally, the Commander reached the door, shooting out the glass panels instead of pausing to open the doors. He ducked his head as he rushed out, enjoying the thin breeze in his face that told him he had made it out. Behind him, the rest of the group burst out into the open air, keeping up their hectic pace as they endeavoured to get away from the pillar. Shepard finally reached the safety of the nearby buildings, turning to look back as his companions dashed into cover.

The pillar had bellied out to one side, stretching and flexing while emitting a loud groan. It finally reached its limit before a terrible shriek escaped from deep within. The last intact part of the support strut, the elevator shaft at its heart, snapped in half, causing the remainder of the pillar to disintegrate into thousands of chunks of metal, plunging down into the artificial countryside all around in a chaotic hail.

The deadly collapse continued for several long moments, echoing throughout the habitation ring. Once it had ended, silence descended, the occasional rumble of an echo the only noise for a good few moments. Smoke drifted across the group's location, obscuring what remained of the pillar. When it cleared, all that was left of the support pillar were a few pieces of metal and glass protruding upwards from the ground and dangling down from the transparent roof of the ring. The rest was now spread out across the grasslands and forests in burning craters. A few pieces had struck the nearby settlements, starting some fires that glowed ominously in the distance.

The squad sagged with weariness, breathing deeply as the realisation of just what they had lived through sank in. After a moment, energetic back-slapping and congratulations passed between them, the warmth of the feeling that, no matter what the universe had thrown at them, they had thrown it back in the universe's face flowing through their veins. Shepard allowed them to bask in the adrenaline of the last few moments for just a little while, opening a channel to the Normandy.

"Joker, this is Shepard. Do you read me?" He waited a few moments before his call was answered, but the reply was full of static.

"-mmander? Yo-… -s breaking u-."

"Joker? Joker, if you can hear me, then listen very carefully. The survivors aboard those escape pods sent your way are indoctrinated. Do not let them onto the ship. Destroy the pods. It's a trap, I repeat, it's a trap! Do not let them aboard the Normandy."

"-hear you, Sh-… -ods now. Wi-… -up."

"Damn it!" Shepard cursed. "I don't know if the message got through." He looked back at their most recent mark on the station's scenery. "We'd best get moving. I want to get back to the ship as quickly as possible, before anything can happen. Besides which, I'd bet a hefty sum that noise was heard in the next system. We won't be alone here for long."

"Shepard, before we set off, you should know that there were more crew members than just Saion, the Salarian and the Quarian." Anderson informed him.

"How many?"

"Two that we encountered, a Krogan called Garatt and a Human, Nats. Of course, there's no guarantee that's all."

"So at least two more of those advanced Husks, maybe more." Shepard reasoned.

"Different biology makes assessment of potential abilities difficult." Mordin piped up. "Each species could be adapted in different ways to suit different natural proficiencies. Example being Turians, adapted to take advantage of reach and flexibility, natural agility and claws to make them agile melee combat units."

"Well, hopefully we won't have to fight them." Shepard said. "If we make a straight run for the shuttle, we can get back to the Normandy and scuttle this station. That should finish them off for us."

"When has any of our missions ever worked out like that?" Zaeed asked cynically.

~o~0~o~

The group hurried through the streets of one final settlement, nearing the point where they had entered the habitation ring. They had made good progress, encountering no resistance on their way. Shepard held no illusions that that would continue. As they paused to orient themselves at one crossroads, Shepard realised they were close to the way down to the corridors and, ultimately, the docking bay where the shuttle waited.

"Not far now." He encouraged. "Just a few decks down and we're there."

They found the doors leading down into the lower decks, still ajar from Thane's hack on their way up, an event that felt like it had occurred days ago after the strain of the past couple of hours. Shepard in the lead, the group of nine made a beeline across the square towards the way out of the habitation ring.

They froze as a figure stepped out from the doorframe, standing in their way. A small Human woman, no more than twenty years of age, with a slight build and reddish-brown hair. Her piercing green eyes examined the group closely, conveying no emotion beyond slightly bored interest. The most unsettling fact of her appearance was the fact that she carried no weapon of any kind. Presumably this was the 'Nats' Anderson had mentioned.

"Shepard. You killed Saion."

"How do you know?" The Commander asked cautiously.

"What one of us sees, we all see." She pointed to her temple. "What we become aware of, our masters process and respond to."

"You don't have to do this." Shepard tried to reason. "You can fight it. Saren did."

"Saren was incomplete. We are the true examples of what organics can become if they would just submit."

"I'd sooner die than become a mindless slave!" Shepard said defiantly.

"And so you shall. We have no use for you, and your mind is not worth subjugating."

"We beat the Turian easily enough." Zaeed said confidently. "You think you're any better? Think you got a shot?"

"We are all created equal." The woman replied flatly. "We all have our advantages and disadvantages. Where one fails, others may not. Nevertheless, we deemed it wise to make certain of our victory this time."

Shepard turned at the sound of throaty howls echoing from the streets around them. This was all much quieter, though, than the loud thumping noise that reverberated between the buildings, steady as a heartbeat. Shepard was reminded of the heavy steps of a gigantic animal, trudging across a vast plain. An instant later, the source of the noise hove into view. Tumbling through the air, dropping from the last rooftop onto the concrete street behind the squad with enough force to send cracks snaking through the street all around it, a huge Krogan, at least a match for Grunt in size, flexed his arms expectantly. His plates were a vivid green, while his eyes were blood red. This must have been the 'Garatt' from the Rogue Endeavour crew. The armour he wore was light, for a Krogan, but still almost as thick as a shuttle's pressure hull. From gaps in the armour, Shepard could see that the alien filled it to capacity with bulging muscles. He could only imagine what the Reapers might have done to upgrade the already impressive creature. Behind the alien, more Husks filed into the square, moving out to surround them.

"You got a plan, Shepard?" Anderson asked out of the corner of his mouth.

"For now, pick someone you don't like and let them know about it."

"Human ingenuity at its finest."

"What can I say? I'm a man of simple tastes."

The Krogan was the first to commit to the battle, racing forward with a hungry roar. His maw stretched just a little farther than was natural, revealing an array of glinting steel teeth. His eyes flashed brightly with a sinister scarlet hue as his feet struck the street surface hard enough to fracture the already damaged concrete. He made a beeline for the Commander.

Shepard easily side-stepped the charge, lashing out with a powerful punch to the alien's gut as he raced by. His arm jolted painfully, an agonising shiver running through his bones. He stumbled back in surprise, holding a numb hand as he looked at this latest foe with renewed surprise. Thanks to Cerberus, Shepard's bones, muscles and skin were all greatly enhanced. A punch like that would have staved in the front end of a skycar and was well capable of stopping a normal Krogan in his tracks. This indoctrinated specimen didn't even appear to feel the impact, simply grinning maliciously. He leaned forwards, stretching out with arms like the limbs of a mighty tree, scooping the Commander up in a massive bear hug.

A warning popped up on Shepard's HUD, cautioning him that the suit was enduring incredible pressure, rapidly approaching the limits of its ability to maintain structural integrity. He could hear metallic groans as panels folded inwards, pressing down on his ribcage powerfully. In but a moment, the armour would give way and the Commander would be crushed within.

The Krogan stumbled for a moment at two biotic blasts struck it in the back, followed quickly by the sharp retort of an assault rifle and the chatter of an SMG. Shepard's squad rushed the creature, giving him the momentary distraction he needed. The Commander lunged forward, his skull connecting with the armoured plate on the Krogan's brow. Stars wheeled in his vision as nausea gripped his throat, but the surprising manoeuvre, combined with the attack on its back, made the Krogan drop him, allowing him to slither away.

"Keep back!" The Commander yelled as he stood somewhat unsteadily. "Don't let it get a hold of you!"

The Krogan roared as it charged again, but Shepard had the good sense to avoid trying to engage it one-on-one, strafing sideways as he brought his rifle up to rip into it.

His focus was short-lived, however, as a sudden sickening feeling overwhelmed him. Gravity around him made a sudden U-turn, lifting him into the air in a spinning vortex of unstable energy. He looked about for the source of the attack to see the woman glowing as she manipulated the dark energy into a usable form. Her arms glowed with biotic power, but something was wrong with it. The light had red-shifted, suggesting an amp operating on an as yet undiscovered frequency or something else entirely. Either way, it warned of increased potency, something that was proved when, still holding the Commander aloft, she hurled a Warp blast at him. The twisting nether-energy ripped into the Commander, making him cry out in surprise as his shields simply disintegrated, allowing the attack to tear into his armour and body. He struggled to maintain coherent thought as every atom of his body attempted to move in a different direction to its neighbours.

The woman landed a couple more blasts before Anderson, roaring in rage, charged at her. The butt of his rifle connected with her chin, snapping her head back at an unnatural angle. Distracted, her biotic field dropped, casting the writhing Commander to the floor. She turned and, her head snapping back to its original orientation with no apparent side effects, glared at the old Admiral. Anderson was not cowed, flipping his rifle around to send half a clip tearing into her belly. The indoctrinated Human howled at the damage, retaliating with a Shockwave that hurled the Admiral away with ease.

Septimus and Deridan, meanwhile, focused on holding back the normal Husks. Their guns barked out, mowing down the pasty creatures with ease. The pair stood guard over Sha'ira's prone form, keeping the Asari safe at all costs. The Husks swarmed in, approaching in ever increasing numbers, drawing closer even with the large number of them gunned down with every passing moment. Eventually, their paltry defence was overwhelmed, forcing Deridan to summon up a biotic Shockwave to throw the approaching mass back, fatigued as he was. As the Salarian sagged to one knee, a Husk raced in behind him, unseen by either the former STG operative or the Turian general. While Deridan struggled to regain his breath, the Asari he was standing over opened her eyes. Catching sight of the danger, a pale blue hand shot out, lifting the Husk into the air and sending it wheeling away to crash into the wall of a nearby building. The Salarian looked down at the injured, exhausted Sha'ira, nodding his thanks before turning back to fighting the pale enemies.

Shepard was occupied with fighting the Krogan, aware as he was of the other dangers all around. The burly creature hounded him persistently, continually forcing him to dance backwards as it lunged with a powerful fist or a devastating kick. The indoctrinated alien was showing signs of damage, blood and conductive fluids running from many bullet holes across its chest, back and arms, but none of this seemed to slow it down. It howled whenever Mordin or Zaeed attacked it with fire, but would soon pound out of the blaze, patting out smouldering flesh and once again targeting Shepard. It seemed to especially dislike the Commander, possibly recognising him as the most potent threat on the battlefield.

Desperately thinking of a way to fight the juggernaut, the Commander looked for any weakness the creature may have had, seeing little to work with. Instead, he lifted his rifle, storing it back on the holster plate on his armour. He then reached further across his back, to the compact device stored across his spine. He unfolded Jacob's armour piercing weapon, the device the Normandy crew had taken to affectionately calling the 'Shredder Cannon'. He loaded one of the four shots he carried, still running to keep ahead of the Krogan, then spun and pulled the trigger.

The weapon jumped in his hands, sending the bright bolt darting towards the Krogan Husk. It punched through his left chest, easily piercing the armoured torso and burying itself deep beneath the ribcage. There was a brief pause as the Krogan looked at the damage uncertainly before looking up at Shepard with a leer on its face. It took another step forward before the detonation of the round threw it off its feet. A spout of flame washed out of its chest, spraying gore across the square. Half of the chest-plate of the armour was incinerated by the blast. The creature groaned as it struck the ground, rolling away several metres before coming to a sudden, still stop. Zaeed stepped over cautiously, emptying a clip from his assault rifle at point blank range into the face and chest. He then dropped an Incendiary Grenade, detonating it as he walked away. The Krogan's corpse burned merrily behind him, sending up a column of foul-smelling smoke.

Thane and Samara had moved their attention onto the Human woman attacking Anderson, peppering her with Warp Blasts. She had thrown up a biotic barrier to protect herself, the shimmering red shield holding strong even against the power of a former Justicar. She retaliated by using a Pull field to cause the pair to lift into the air, the duo letting out yelps of surprise as they drifted closer to her. Once they had drifted closer, she lifted her arm into the air, sending them arrowing upwards swiftly. She then slammed her hand down, bringing them crashing back to the ground powerfully. Samara went limp as a series of loud snaps warned of several broken bones. Thane was dazed, but clung to consciousness.

Seeing the threat, Shepard drew his shotgun, charging in while the Human Husk gathered some more energy to itself. His shotgun coughed twice, ripping more flesh from the now visible metal skeleton underneath. The Human, Nats, shrieked loudly, drawing the attention of the remaining normal Husks. They all turned at the sound, seeing the Commander attacking her. As one, they left the Council reps, rushing straight at Shepard.

Mere feet away from the Commander, a wall of flames burst into being. He turned to see Mordin and Zaeed approaching, using their talents to protect him. The Husks, undeterred, ran on through the flames, although many were consumed in their passage. Those that hurried through the flames and remained intact on the other side quickly succumbed to the attacks of the old mercenary and the scientist.

Knowing the situation was well in hand, Shepard turned back to face Nats. He fired again with his shotgun, but the attack was deflected by her renewed biotic Barrier. She smirked at him from beyond the defence, knowing that it would hold back his attacks. She summoned a new biotic field, readying to fling it at him.

Shepard tensed for the attack, ready when it was launched. He dove to the side, rolling to get out of the way. Even so, he still felt the mild burning caused by the near miss of the Warp blast. His shields, attempting to recharge, once more found themselves drained. As he rolled, he came up into a kneeling position, firing his gun. Nats flinched back from the unexpected attack, her barrier shivering uncertainly as he landed three more shots. She spun away, flinging another Warp at him. This one struck, eliciting another grunt of pain before the Commander shook it off. They worked at each other in this way, exchanging brief bursts of fire and biotics in a deadly back and forth rally.

Finally, the creature danced too close to the Commander, allowing him to land a powerful blast to her chest. Nats flew back, her barrier in tatters, her body bloody and broken from the harsh fight. Shepard stepped over to her, shotgun in hand. He looked down into the bruised face, the features of some woman who had died some time ago during the invasion of the Earth. There was no trace of the individual she had been, only the memories the Reapers had kept within her mind to help sell the deception. Now those eyes burned with malice for everything organic. He didn't hesitate. Lifting his gun, he fired it directly into her face, more or less causing her entire head to evaporate into a fine red mist.

Shepard turned just in time to see Zaeed and Mordin close in on the last few Husks. Septimus and Deridan, still watching over Sha'ira, attacked the rear of the small force, quickly helping to whittle their numbers away. It wasn't long before the last pale creature fell and the squad was able to relax. Shepard moved over to where Thane and Samara still lay, helping the Drell get to his feet weakly. He then checked on the former Justicar, relaxing when he verified she was still alive. She had a couple of broken ribs and a nasty break in her arm, but one he applied a quick dose of Medi-Gel she seemed in much better shape, quickly coming to. He waved over Zaeed to help the groggy Asari stand, waiting while the group gathered.

A rumbling sound drew their attention, a number of weary groans escaping from tired throats as they turned to see what was turning up now. What they saw made them all pause, an unexpected sight even considering the kind of day they were having.

"By the goddess…" Shepard heard Sha'ira mutter.

Rising from the smoking ring that Zaeed's grenade had left, the body of Garatt shambled to its feet, glaring at the squad. It leaned down, scooping up a severed arm it had lost when the Shredder Cannon had done its work. It held the limb over the stump, pausing for a moment. Shepard stifled a gasp of surprise as he saw muscles and sinews twitch and stretch, knitting back together. In seconds, the limb was reattached and fully functional. As the Krogan's face turned back to the squad, Shepard saw just how badly burnt the creature had been, but all of this was being undone as its skin crawled across its features, rapidly repairing itself. In moments, the only sign of any recent battle damage was the scarring to its armour.

"Appears Reapers have enhanced Krogan regeneration. Process is much more rapid." Mordin observed. "Krogan stubbornness and durability also upgraded."

"You don't say." Anderson drawled. "This is going to be one tough son of a bitch to take out."

"Maybe, maybe not." Shepard replied cryptically. An idea had leapt into his mind. "Anderson, stick with me. We're going to draw its attention and get it close to one of these buildings. Mordin, Zaeed, slow it down as much as you can from a distance. Samara, Thane, think you've got one last Warp blast in you?"

"We can help, too." Deridan offered, nodding to himself and Sha'ira, held in Septimus' arms. The Asari wore a brave face, although her skin was still far too pale.

"Alright." Shepard nodded. "Wait for my signal."

With that, the Commander burst into a run, his old mentor and friend close behind him. The duo raced towards the Krogan, splitting off in two different directions and firing at it furiously with their assault rifles. The creature roared as it broke into a run, closing the distance between itself and Anderson incredibly fast. The admiral only just managed to dodge out of the way before the Krogan lunged forward, swinging with its two meaty fists. Anderson retaliated with a burst of fire from his Mattock that ripped into the alien, destroying one eye and punching a few holes in its chest. The Krogan roared, trying to catch the nimble little Human in its grasp.

Shepard hurried up behind the monster, leaping onto its back. He managed to find purchase on the armour, holding on with one hand as the other aimed his assault rifle at the back of the creature's head, just behind the brow plate. He only managed a couple of shots, sending bullets tearing through the alien's brain, before it writhed under him, racing backwards. In a moment, it had crossed the distance towards one of the buildings and rocked backwards, slamming Shepard into the wall. The Commander gasped as his lungs were crushed, but managed to remain in control. He tensed before leaping from the creature's back, rolling away as it swiped at him with a huge fist. He stood up and started backing away, reaching onto his back for the Shredder Cannon once more. The Krogan, seeing what he was doing, growled angrily, determined not to have a repeat of the last time the weapon had been fired.

Shepard leapt back, finally finishing unfolding the gun and bringing it to bear on the creature. With a triumphant smirk, he pulled the trigger.

The gun whined in his hands before jolting, and then nothing happened. No projectile left the barrel, no damage was dealt to the Krogan, nothing. Shepard looked down at the weapon in consternation, frowning when an error message popped up informing him that it had jammed.

The only thing that stopped him from turning the air blue with his extremely varied vocabulary was the sudden lunge from the Krogan Husk, forcing him to jump back out of reach. It attacked again, but he dodged again. Although he was managing to keep ahead of it, Shepard could feel himself tiring, while the creature showed no signs of fatigue. He stumbled as he took another step back, catching a foot on a broken piece of concrete. The Krogan saw his chance and rushed in, a massive foot connecting with the Commander's gut to send him rolling away. Shepard groaned as he struggled to get back to his feet, feeling the sharp pains of a cracked rib. He looked up to see the Krogan lumbering towards him.

"Shepard!"

Anderson dashed up to the creature, his rifle chattering. The Krogan turned to face him, a look of surprise in its expression, before taking a wild swing at the Admiral. Anderson dropped into a roll, displaying the speed and agility that had caught the attention of the N7 programme all of those years ago, sliding between the alien's legs and spinning to shoot it in the back. The Krogan howled in indignation before turning to its new antagonist, the Commander forgotten. Flames burst against its back as Mordin and Zaeed used the fact that it was far enough away from both the Commander and the Admiral to safely attack it, but this moment soon passed as it drew close to Anderson, making any incendiary attack a threat to the Admiral. Anderson kept ahead of the creature's advance, constantly ducking and weaving while peppering it with bullets from his rifle. The Krogan roared as it finally closed the distance, surging forward with its toothy maw bared. Sharp teeth tore into the Admiral's shoulder, drawing up a cry of pain. The alien's head jerked to one side, throwing Anderson against a wall as though he were a ragdoll. Anderson looked up from where he had landed next to the wall, looking over to Shepard.

"Do it!" He yelled.

"Get out of the way, Sir!" Shepard urged.

"Now, Shepard!" Anderson's voice grew urgent as he lifted his rifle, firing at the Krogan from where he had slumped. The creature began moving towards him, ready to finish the job. "That's an order!"

With the Commander torn, his military training took over. Realising the greatest need, he lifted the Shredder cannon, reloading the jammed round. He lifted it, taking aim at the exposed back of the Krogan. Then he lifted the gun a few degrees, pulling the trigger.

The round shot out, striking the wall above the fighting duo. The building shook for a moment before the round detonated, showering Anderson and the Krogan with dust and debris. The building groaned, cracks spreading through its walls.

"Now!" Shepard yelled to his allies.

As one, all four biotics lifted a hand, blue fire flickering along to the fingertips. Four bolts of varying intensity shot out, striking the weakened wall. Even Mordin, Septimus and Zaeed helped, lifting their weapons and firing at weak points in the wall. The combined attack was enough to rip the wall apart, sending it cascading down in a chaos of rubble on top of the combatants. The Krogan, seeing the threat, turned to run, but was swiftly overcome, buried under the avalanche of metal and glass.

Shepard stepped forward cautiously as the dust cleared. Half of the building had simply spilled onto the square, creating a small hill of debris. There was no sign of either combatant.

"Anderson!" The Commander shouted with a hoarse voice.

There was no response.

"Sir!"

"Shepard! Over here!"

The Commander turned at Zaeed's shout, rushing over to help the mercenary dig through the rubble. He finally saw what Zaeed had spotted, a Human hand protruding from the rubble, blood-stained and broken. The pair dug through the rubble in a frenzy, quickly excavating the body of David Anderson. Shepard's stomach dropped when he saw the Alliance Admiral's silent features, covered in the grime of the day and completely motionless. He sagged, completely lost for a moment.

"Prof! Get your arse over here!" Shepard dimly heard Zaeed's shout, but paid it no heed. Instead, he felt hollowness within, and for just a moment he found himself back in orbit over Virmire, lamenting the loss of another close friend. He was barely aware of Mordin's presence as the Salarian activated his omnitool.

"Have pulse." Shepard's head snapped up at the news. "Weak, but there. Cannot treat here. Need to get him back to Normandy."

"I'll take him, Commander." Zaeed offered, showing surprising care as he scooped the Admiral up. Together, the trio and the unconscious Admiral climbed down off the pile of rubble.

Shepard froze as he saw another slab of metal shift, something underneath it struggling to be free. It slid aside to reveal the furious features of what had once been Garatt, struggling as the rubble pinned everything below the waist.

"There's no goddamn way!" Zaeed cursed. "The fucking thing still ain't dead!"

"Station will be destroyed soon regardless." Mordin dismissed. "Leave him to die."

"I'm not taking that chance." Shepard said resolutely. "Zaeed, I need your grenades. Then take everyone and head for the shuttle. I'll deal with this."

"Be quick, Shepard." The former bounty hunter warned as Shepard took the last two canisters off his belt. "I want out of this shit-hole ASAP."

"I'll be right behind you."

The Commander turned back to the Krogan Husk as the rest of the group headed off down into the lower decks, making their way to the shuttle. Shepard stalked over to the creature, kneeling just out of reach so he could look the creature in the eye.

"Your Human friend- Nats, was it? - she told me that you see and hear what each other experiences, and that all of that information goes back to your masters. That's good. Because I want your masters to hear what I'm about to say." As he spoke, he laid out the Shredder Cannon and the Incendiary grenades beside himself, in easy reach. "I want them to know exactly what awaits them if they do not cease all hostilities and leave us in peace."

"The Reapers are fearless." The Krogan snorted, half chuckling. "They are beyond anything you can comprehend."

"Oh, I've heard that plenty of times before. But I don't believe it. You see, I'm pretty good at reading people. Little tells can show you whether a stranger means you harm, what an enemy is about to do next, whether an ally can be trusted. A good soldier considers more than just the enemy's weapons. He also learns to look for things that can reveal what isn't being shown. People who try to pass themselves off as fearless, they often overcompensate with other emotions, usually rage, arrogance, overconfidence. But deep at the heart of it all, they're so scared they fear even to entertain the thought, because the second they do, all of their resolve will flee. And when I look at your masters, I see a lot of arrogance, a lot of rage, and a lot of overconfidence. Deep down, they're very afraid. They're afraid of failing. Afraid that their vanguard will burn here in the galaxy while the rest of their fleet suffers for all eternity out in the far reaches of Dark Space, cold, hungry, running out of power over millions upon millions of years. But most of all, they're afraid of me. They know I'm strong and determined enough to beat them. They know that, of all the enemies they have faced across the entire life of the universe, nobody's presented as big a threat to their continued existence as I have. They're afraid of me. And they're right to be."

The Krogan squirmed under the rubble, struggling to escape, but even his incredible strength was not enough.

"We cannot be defeated!"

"Oh, really? Maybe you should double check with Sovereign, or with the Collectors. Twice I've defeated your plans to return to the Galaxy, and I'm doing a damn good job screwing up this attempt. I've beaten you before and you can bet on me finding a way to beat you this time."

With that, the Commander lifted the two Incendiary grenades, lobbing them down to roll to a halt next to the Krogan.

"You hurt someone very important to me, so now you're going to die. Painfully. But before you finally die, think about this; This is how I react to you hurting one person that matters to me. How do you think I'm going to treat the ones who took away my entire planet? Let you masters know I'm coming for them, and be sure to warn them that I am pissed off."

With that, the Commander stood, taking a few steps back as he lifted the Shredder cannon to his shoulder, sighting up on the prostrated Krogan. The creature managed to raise its head one last time, making eye contact with the Commander. Even in death, it remained defiant.

"We were the first to be born in this Galaxy. We soared between the stars when your pitiful planet had yet to form from the cosmic dust! You are the interlopers, the invaders. We belong here!"

"No, you belong dead." Shepard replied flatly, before firing.

The last two projectiles smashed into the Krogan, the first piercing his shoulder and digging deep into his chest. The second punched through his brow plate, settling in his brain. As the creature howled in rage and pain, Shepard turned and broke into a run. Behind him, the two Incendiary devices burst open, sending up twin pillars of flame that incinerated the Krogan. A moment later, the twin thumps of the two Shredder rounds exploding silenced the Krogan forever, sending pieces of flesh and metal soaring into the sky to tumble to the ground in a wide circle around the now empty square. Behind the Commander, the doors to the habitation ring slid shut, closing out the gory scene.

~o~0~o~

~NORMANDY~

Joker's brow furrowed as he manoeuvred the Normandy through the battlefield. The nimble freighter had long since abandoned its stealth system, needing to utilise every once of power it could muster to help the Arcturus Defence Initiative fleets.

"EDI, I'm getting a little resistance from the secondary port drive thruster. Can you check it out?"

"The system reports full functionality, Jeff. There may be a physical fault my sensors have not picked up on. I can have crewmen Rolston and Davias check it out, but would need to power the thruster down for their safety."

"Forget about it. Divert some power to the primaries. Any sign of those escape pods the Commander mentioned yet?"

"I have detected a number of life forms, including the Quarian and one of the Salarians, moving towards the escape pods. They should be launching momentarily. I have yet to receive the signal, though."

"Alright. Give it a minute. What's our best angle of approach?"

"An approach from a ventral angle of seventeen degrees on a planar angle of thirty five degrees from stellar north would provide us with the least amount of resistance. Only three Reapers would be within firing distance."

EDI was, of course, referring to the standard way of navigating in space, a task made difficult by the lack of any significant gravity. This method of positioning oneself involved determining the plane of the Milky Way, treating the massive swirling disc as the central point that items could be considered above or below. In this way, ventral approach angles could be positive or negative in relation to the 'altitude' of the target. Stellar North was determined by one's position within a system. The direct line between a target and the system's primary sun was considered their 'north', and so to approach a target from its 'north' would involve flying directly between it and the sun.

"I can dodge three of 'em." Joker said confidently. "Get ready to divert more power to the forward shields and the primary thrusters. I want in and out quick."

"Ready." The AI responded crisply.

"Joker, I'm picking up a smaller Reaper attacking the Krakatoa." Kaidan's professional tone sounded through the ship's intercom. "We should give Hackett a hand. Set a course to intercept."

"Yes sir." Joker answered, brow rising as the young soldier's controlled manner. The former Alliance Lieutenant had certainly grown in command capability since the pair had first met. Back on the first Normandy, Kaidan had seemed so meek, unassertive, but now he was barking out orders with authority, as competently as any drill sergeant.

"Hold on." Down in Gunnery control, next to his prized cannons, Garrus was also watching a visual feed of the battle. "Look to those larger ones holding back. They're poised to attack Drescher on the Cambodia. Make sure that we don't fall into the trap."

"You're right." Kaidan admitted. "Suggestions?"

Another thing that made Kaidan stand out from the cookie-cutter soldier. He listened to his subordinates, willing to take advice even from those not belonging to his own species. He reminded Joker of the Commander in that way.

"Admiral Ponias Farren once used a tactic to overwhelm an enemy force that proved to be most unexpected. He had the Turian vessels form up in three ranks, five deep, almost touching one another. They then expanded their barriers to their limits, creating a combined field around the entire group that was stronger than anything any one ship could create." The Turian paused. "I believe Humans used to do something similar, during your Roman Age. A tactic called a 'Testudo', or tortoise?"

"Combining defences to make something much more potent." Kaidan surmised. "Transmit instructions to the fleets. Make sure the Cambodia is at its centre. I want to make sure Drescher and the Senate are kept safe."

"Aye-aye."

Moments later, the Alliance vessels were falling into formation, the Normandy at the front of the small fleet. Joker expertly kept the frigate close to his allies, sometimes flying within a few metres of his fellow Alliance vessels.

The block of ships darted through space, angling towards the Krakatoa. As they drew close, the Reaper antagonising Hackett's vessel turned to face the oncoming attack, but its attacks were cast aside by the combined shields. The ADI ships opened up, using Grav-Cannons, variations of the Thanix weapon emplacement, and normal GARDIAN systems. Under the brutal assault, the smaller Reaper, no more than a kilometre in length, soon lost its defensive barriers, and was quickly destroyed. A cheer rebounded through the comm channels at this small victory, but their relief was short lived as more reapers closed in on the formation. With the Krakatoa in their midst, the cluster of ships was forced to fall back, losing two frigates and a cruiser during the withdrawal.

"Jeff, I am detecting the signal." EDI spoke up.

"Alright. Inform the ADI that we're peeling off briefly to pick up those pods. We'll be back as soon as we can be."

"Joker, we're breaking formation." Kaidan spoke up from the CIC. "Have we heard from those survivors Shepard mentioned?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Good. I know you'll get us through in one piece."

"Just hang on to your ass, Sir. This is going to be an interesting ride."

He pilot quickly sent the Normandy arrowing towards Arcturus Station. The trio of Reapers EDI had mentioned tried to attack, but missed by wide margins, the Human's talented piloting easily outmatching their ability to track him. After only a few moments, he caught sight of the tiny metal capsules bursting out of the side of the station, like the eggs of a fish being scattered into the sea.

"EDI, get the cargo bay doors open. This'll be tricky, but I can handle it."

"Jeff, you should not attempt this manoeuvre at these velocities." The AI warned.

"I can do it." Joker replied firmly. "Just do as I say."

"…Very well. Opening bay doors."

Joker's brow furrowed as he tried to focus on multiple things at once. Firstly he had to control the ship, making sure he would intercept the rapidly moving escape pods. Secondly he had to be aware of the Reapers on his tail, firing vivid red beams after the frigate. Thirdly, he had to bear in mind his proximity to the station, making sure the ship would not plough into the massive wall of metal that drifted through space so close by.

"Time to intercept- five seconds." EDI informed him flatly.

Joker's hands were perfectly steady over the controls, not a flicker of hesitation in his posture.

"Four, three, two, one-"

His eyes were unblinking, his gaze not shifting from the pods before him. They were approaching too fast, as any of his instructors would have told him, as any other pilot in Council space would have protested, calling him a madman to even try. But Joker knew better. He'd dropped the Mako down onto Ilos, threading the needle between towering spires at incredible speeds, having to endure a margin for error barely any larger than the missile he had been launching, and still almost managing to throw the vehicle on top of Saren, missing by mere metres. Three times he had saved the Commander from an erupting volcano, twice in a ship that was supposedly too big to enter any kind of atmosphere. He could handle this.

The ship raced past where the escape pods hung in space, engines blasting them along at incredible speed. The ship spun, angling away from the station. The Normandy whipped past the pursuing Reapers, darting away to rejoin the fleet. The crew inhabiting the CIC and the corridor leading up to the bridge waited tensely for EDI to speak.

"All three escape pods have been safely collected within the cargo bay. No significant damage to the pods, or to the Normandy."

The cheers were even louder than those that had heralded the destruction of the Reaper earlier. Killing one's enemy was one thing, but saving an ally from their clutches was far better.

"Kaidan? Miranda here." The former Cerberus operative's crisp voice sounded over the comms. "I'll take Jacob with me to meet the new arrivals."

"I thought she was in the comm room, Commander's orders." Joker muttered.

"I was, Joker. But I've done all I can. Either help is coming, or it isn't. This is a better use of my time."

"EDI, you left the mike on again!" Joker chided.

"My apologies, Jeff." EDI's tone was one of mild amusement, something unusual to hear from a computer interface.

"Miranda, you go ahead and meet the survivors." Kaidan spoke over them. "Joker, get us back to the frontline."

"Yes, Sir."

~o~0~o~

Miranda's foot tapped impatiently on the floor of the elevator as it slowly descended to the cargo bay. Beside her, Jacob raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

"Something the matter, Miri?" He asked.

"Just tense, is all. We should be on that station, helping the Commander."

"Don't worry about it. Shepard knows what he's doing. If he thinks he only needs a small strike team, then that's all he'll need."

"It's not him I'm worried about. What sort of contribution are we making if we just sit here on this ship all the time?"

"That's hardly what we've been doing, Miranda. Each one of us has seen more combat in the past few weeks than all of our years before joining this crew combined."

"I just… don't like feeling useless."

"You're not. I don't even get how you could think that. Don't get me wrong, I like nothing better than being out there, doing what needs to be done, but we've also got to learn to trust the Commander, even when he makes decisions we struggle to agree with."

"Damn it, Jacob. I'd forgotten how annoying you are when you make sense."

The pair smiled at one another, their old friendship obvious. They turned to face front again as the elevator reached its destination. The doors parted with a grinding whirr.

Beyond, the escape pods sat in the centre of the cargo bay expectantly, thrusters ticking as they cooled. Miranda strode up to them, waiting patiently for them to open. Jacob waited behind and to the side, watching with a strange feeling of unease.

The first of the pods opened with a hiss, allowing a Quarian to clamber out, followed by two Humans. The second of the pods contained a Salarian and another pair of Humans, while the third one contained only two Humans. Of these, the Quarian seemed to be the leader. He stepped over to the two members of the Normandy crew.

"Welcome aboard the Normandy." Miranda greeted formally. "I am Miranda Lawson, Executive Officer to the Commander, second-in-command aboard the Normandy."

"Nishto. Nishto'Vara vas Tinoay."

~o~0~o~

Joker manipulated the four main drives of the Normandy, sending her into a spin as he fired at the back of one of the gargantuan creatures in the fray. He looked up from his controls at a sudden ping on the comm unit.

"Normandy, this is Admiral Hackett. Do you read me?"

"Normandy here, Sir. What can we do for you?"

"We're taking too much of a beating here. We have to pull back. I'm calling in a full retreat."

"But Sir! Arcturus-"

"Is already lost. I won't risk what remains of the ADI fleets, along with the Senate aboard the Cambodia. The cost of continuing this battle is too great."

"Help is on the way, sir!" Joker protested.

"Look at the force we're facing, Moreau! Unless you have the entirety of the Council fleets coming to save the day its unlikely we'll make a dent in them."

"Shepard's still on the station."

"I'm aware, but the Normandy has the capability to remain in the station a little longer to allow him the chance to escape. We've already seen how the advanced stealth drive can give you an edge." Hackett paused, clearly unhappy with having to back down like this. "Just help cover our retreat, then go back for Shepard."

"Aye-aye, Sir." Joker finally said reluctantly. "Where do you need us?"

"We need to create a defensive screen around the Cambodia. Move to-"

Hackett's voice dissolved into static, a sudden loud squeal deafening the pilot. Joker clutched at his ears.

"EDI! What's going on?"

"Our comm signal is being jammed, Jeff. I am detecting a hack occurring from within the ship. Attempting to-"

EDI's voice vanished in the same squeal of static, causing Joker's expression of worry to deepen.

"EDI? EDI! What's happening?"

"Jo- …pard. Do y-… e?" Shepard's voice could be heard faintly over the comms.

"Commander? Your signal's breaking up."

"-ker? Jok-… an hear me, - liste- … carefully. The survivor-… esca- -ods sent your-… et them onto the ship. Destroy - …peat, it's a t-… let them ab-… andy."

"I can't hear you, Shepard. We've just finished picking up the escape pods now. The comms are going all screwy. Hope you're nearly done in there, Commander. The ADI fleet's making a dash for it. There's something strange happening to EDI, not sure if it'll affect whether we can make a pick-up or not."

The comms remained silent after that, not a blip of signal getting through. Joker sighed.

"Damn it." He turned in his chair. "Somebody get down to the AI Core and check on EDI!"

A moment later, the ship went dark, all power vanishing in an instant. As the ship's engines cut out, sending the Normandy into a lazy spin through space, joker leaned over his controls again.

"What the hell?"

Back in the CIC, Kaidan began barking out orders.

"What's going on? Somebody get down to engineering, find out what happened to the power. Where's the emergency lighting?"

As the Lieutenant tried to get a handle on the situation, an air vent close to his position rattled. An instant later, the cover to the vent dropped off, clanging loudly in the darkness, and then all hell broke loose.

~o~0~o~

~EN ROUTE TO THE NORMANDY~

"Come on, come on!"

Shepard urged the shuttle on, both with his words and with his posture, leaning over the controls tensely. Ahead of them, the Normandy grew steadily larger. The closer the shuttle got to the much larger ship, the more obvious it became that the frigate was dead in the water.

"Joker! Kaidan, Garrus, anybody!" He almost pleaded with his commlink. No answer was forthcoming. In anger, he slammed the control console of the craft. "God damn it!"

"Shepard, you must calm yourself." Thane's placid voice came from over his shoulder as a green hand clasped his upper arm. "We will stop these creatures. Of that I am certain."

"I can't believe I was deceived like this!" Shepard spat. "I should have known."

"How?" The Drell asked pointedly. "Was their disguise not convincing? Did they not appear just like any other being in the Galaxy? They are unlike anything we have yet encountered, Commander, and they are designed to deceive. Nobody could have guessed their true intent."

"But I should have been more cautious! If I'd been more careful, I'd have kept them on the station until I could be sure of their allegiance."

"On what grounds? That you had never met them before? You would never have forced an innocent being to endure Arcturus needlessly. Such an act would have been cruel, unbefitting of your character."

"But I should have-"

"My people have a saying. It was written in one of the holy texts of Kalahira. 'The turbulence of the tides of yesterday are not created by the beauty of the Moons of tonight'. Its meaning is simple; you must not dwell on what has passed, but appreciate the opportunities given to you in the moment. You were deceived, but you must see past that. You now bear the responsibility to ensure your ship, your crew, your loved ones are safe. You should not undertake such a task with your mind clouded by doubt and regret."

Shepard looked back to the assassin, his eyes meeting the eternally deep black-green hues of the alien. As he did so, he felt the tension pour from his mind, a sigh escaping from his lips.

"Thanks, Thane."

"It is a lesson I learned off a very close friend of mine." Thane smiled. "If he had not taken the time to help me, I would have lost the chance to speak with my son before the end. I am merely glad to return the favour."

Shepard turned back to the controls.

"We're almost there." He muttered. "Still no response. Must be a jamming field in effect, stopping even the personal commlinks. We won't be able to get into the cargo bay with the ship unresponsive like this. Luckily, I think we've got another way in."

He brought the shuttle around, coasting along the top of the Normandy. He spotted the place he wished to go, bringing the black vessel in to lightly kiss the hull. Once he had placed the craft over the window belonging to the Loft, his cabin, he powered up the docking mechanism, a powerful magnet that attached the craft to the hull of the Normandy, making an airtight seal over the window.

This done, Shepard got up from the pilot's chair, clambering back into the main passenger compartment. The interior of the craft was more akin to a refugee hospital than a covert insertion craft. Mordin tended to two patients at once, stretched to the limits of his abilities with so little supplies. Anderson was still unconscious, although he remained more or less stable, if barely alive. Sha'ira, though, had taken a turn for the worse. Her exertion of her biotic abilities during the fight against the Krogan had caused a number of her dressings to give way, re-opening some of the internal injuries. She now lay gasping on the floor of the craft, clutching at Septimus' clawed hand weakly. Shepard sized up the rest of his squad, from noble Samara to weary Zaeed to stoic Thane.

"Mordin, you stay here and look after the patients. I'll send someone up to help you get your patients to the Med Bay once we've secured the ship. Thane, Samara and Zaeed will come with me."

"Good fortune, Shepard." The Salarian said over his shoulder. "Will be here if needed."

Nodding, Shepard turned from the doctor. He kneeled down, reaching for a hatch built into the floor of the shuttle, popping it open. Beneath, he was confronted with the window of his bedroom. Below that he could clearly see his bed. He drew his pistol, taking aim and pulling the trigger.

It took all six shots of the thermal clip, but finally he managed to crack the toughened transparent material. Another clip sent a large web of cracks through the window, finally allowing the Commander to use his combat boots to shatter it. This done, he dropped through, landing on his bed unsteadily. He jumped off the bed to allow Samara and Thane to descend gracefully. Finally, Zaeed dropped through, striking the bed harshly in his descent. This final impact proved to be too much, the spine of the bed breaking in two to dump the old mercenary on the floor. Zaeed looked up in surprise as the Commander gave him an exasperated look.

"Sorry 'bout that, Shepard." He apologised, although the apology lacked real sincerity.

"No time for that." Shepard dismissed. "Come on. We've got a ship to save."

The squad quickly moved from the Commander's sleeping area to the little space that led from his door to the elevator. The Commander pressed the button to summon the elevator, but nothing happened. Brow creasing, he tried again.

"They've taken out the elevators. Probably a good few other systems, too."

"How did they manage to overcome EDI?" Thane asked, a little pensively.

"These are Reaper creations." Samara reminded. "More advanced than anything we have yet encountered."

"We can't rely on EDI helping us." Shepard said firmly. "We've got to find our own way around. Zaeed, come help me with this door. There's a service tunnels that connects to the elevator shaft that'll take us down to the CIC."

The duo strained against the sealed door, opening it in moments. The squad clambered through, glancing down for a moment to see the roof of the elevator far below. The tunnel Shepard had mentioned was a little above them, on the opposite side of the shaft. A quick climb using all available handholds allowed them to get to it.

Shepard led the way through the tunnel, followed by Samara, then Thane, with Zaeed bringing up the rear. The tunnel was narrow, forcing them to move through on all fours. The moment Shepard scrambled into it, he felt a brief twinge of claustrophobia. Should anything go wrong, there was little he could do. He could not turn, and putting four heavily armed soldiers into reverse was difficult, if not impossible. They could only press onwards, no matter what they faced.

After a few metres, the tunnel took a sharp turn downwards, the rungs of a ladder allowing Shepard purchase as he made the dizzying descent, headfirst. As he reached the half-way point between the Loft and the Command Deck, he reached a crossroads, one path leading back towards the stern of the ship, two angling to either side and downwards towards the Crew Deck, and the final one heading straight for the prow of the ship, running through the floor under the Commander's cabin to terminate above and behind the cockpit. Shepard chose this final path. As he laid a cautious hand on the first rung of this new tunnel, a clattering noise from one of the downward-facing tunnels made him pause. He looked for the source of the noise, but saw nothing. He continued on his way towards the Command Deck.

Finally, he found the hatch he needed. He carefully opened it, moving to drop through into the CIC.

A sudden shot made him flinch back from the hatch, shielding his face.

"Hold your fire!" He yelled. "It's me!"

There was a long pause.

"Commander?" It was Kaidan's voice. "Is that you?"

"You were expecting someone else?"

"Well… yeah, actually. What the hell are you doing here?" Kaidan asked as the Commander slipped through the hatch, followed by the rest of his squad.

Below, the crew of the Command Deck had gathered around the Galaxy Map, armed with pretty much the entire contents of the Armoury. Even Joker and Kelly clutched at guns, looking anxious as they stayed close to the more combat-capable members of the crew. There were a couple of members of the squad present, too, namely Etarn, Elanie, Feron and Kasumi. They must have been on the Command Deck during the incident, stranding them there. Shepard could see the low level of morale among the crew, realising they needed him to seem confident.

"We would have come through the front door, but I lost my keys." Shepard joked. "What's the situation here?"

"I don't know what happened, but after we picked up those escape pods, everything went offline. There have been these… things, crawling through the vents. Every time I try to send a crewman to investigate, they come back wounded, or worse, don't come back at all. We've already lost two to their injuries, crewman Stesta and crewman Alvarez."

"It's the survivors. We found out that they're indoctrinated servants of the Reapers. I tried to warn you, but the signal had been jammed by that point. Their purpose is to infiltrate normal society to undermine it in preparation of the Reapers arriving on that world. Once they learned they could get aboard the Normandy, they leapt at the chance. They want her for her ability to get in and out of a system undetected."

"Damn. What do we do?"

"First we have to get EDI back in control of the ship." The Commander said decisively. "I'm not sure how, but if we get down to the AI Core we can ask her. Do you know who was on the Crew Deck?"

"Garrus was in Gunnery Control. Not sure who else was there. Miranda and Jacob were sent down to the Cargo Bay to meet the survivors."

Shepard paused at that thought. He hated to think of having two of his crew in such peril, but he had to think of the rest of the ship first. The many lives of the crew outweighed the former Cerberus duo.

"We can't worry about them right now." He concluded. "First, we get the ship back under our control."

"I'm coming with you." Kaidan said. Behind him, other members of the squad stepped forward with the intention to follow him.

"No. Stay here, with the crew. Keep them safe. If these things are in the vents, they could attack at any time."

Almost on cue, a scuttling rang above their heads, an eerie scratching that made the hairs on the back of the Commander's neck rise.

"We have to move." He said. Kaidan saluted in return.

"Sir. Good luck, Commander."

Shepard turned, heading back to the hatch. He was about to reach up to climb into it when a loud clang echoed through the CIC. Shepard spun in time to see one of the covers over the air vents drop down, allowing a blur of motion to spring forth into the midst of the crew. There were yelps of surprise as feet and fists flashed out in a devastating flurry. Numerous crewmen were knocked to the ground, clutching at serious injuries.

The Commander drew his rifle as the figure, one of the Human survivors, stood up straight, a biotic barrier flickering into life around him.

"Shepard. A shame you cut our last conversation so short. But now you have no ammunition for that big gun strapped to your back, no buildings to drop on top of us, yet you still fight? Why do you resist? You must see by now we do not relent."

Shepard did not deign to respond, simply lifting his rifle and firing. Beside him, Thane and Samara used their biotics to rip at the creature, dual Warp blasts tearing little strips of flesh from the creature. Zaeed added the fire of his rifle to that of the Commander's, laying down a devastating barrage.

The Human Husk, a smug expression on his face, simply leapt out of the way, bounding across the ceiling, the curved walls, occasionally the floor and sometimes the seats and other fixtures of the CIC. He moved almost too fast for the commander to track him, barely being touched by the attacks coming from the squad. These attacks were further supplemented by fire coming from the Command Deck's defenders, Kaidan ordering them to fall back to the elevator door, a position that they could defend some of the crew could not attack, having to drag their injured comrades away from the creature.

Shepard emptied a clip at the Husk, the bullets being deflected by the creature's barrier with ease. The Commander frowned.

"Samara, think you can put out a Singularity? I need you to sap its shields!"

The Asari nodded silently, straining as she focused to create the next attack. She flung a hand out, creating a miniature black hole at the heart of the Galaxy Map. The image of the Galaxy shimmered and twisted at the strange gravitational distortion, while all the seats twisted to lean towards the dark, lightless spot the blue-skinned alien's mind had formed. The Husk, caught leaping past it, was thrown to the deck, his barrier shimmering uncertainly. The spherical shield elongated as it was drained by the Singularity, tendrils of red energy flashing away into the maw of the biotic attack.

Seeing his chance, Shepard stepped forward, fighting the incredible pull of the Singularity. He took aim, unloading his rifle into the exposed back of the altered Human. The creature shrieked at the attack, flesh and machinery being torn to shreds in seconds. Finally, Shepard's rifle ran hot, its clip needing changed. The Husk, however, was not done. Still it squirmed, struggling to get to its feet. As Samara's Singularity faded, the former Justicar drained, the creature began to rise to its feet. Shepard made to reload his weapon.

This however, was not needed, as another source of gunfire quickly opened the Husk's skull, finishing it off. Kaidan lowered his rifle, the muzzle still smoking.

"You'd better get going, Commander. Don't worry. We'll be fine up here."

~o~0~o~

The service tunnels echoed hollowly as Shepard found himself once more crawling along like some sewer rat, swiftly approaching the Crew Deck. They'd passed the first crossroads and were quickly nearing a second junction, one that led either aft towards the Drive Core or forward towards the Med Bay. He shuffled along the second of these paths, finally reaching a hatch that fed into the Med bay. He once more carefully exited the service tunnels, finding himself confronted with the muzzles of several rifles, all of which dropped upon the crew recognising their Commander. Garrus, apparently their appointed leader, most visibly relaxed upon seeing his old friend.

"Shepard. Its good to see you."

"Garrus. You alright?"

"We're holding it together. Don't know what these damn things are that keep popping out of the vents, but they're a damn pain in the ass."

"They're indoctrinated. I'll explain later. For now, I need to get into the AI Core."

"Good luck with that." The Turian sighed. "The doors are sealed. I've got Jano and the Revenant working on it, but its been stumping them for over an hour now."

"Thane? You've got experience in getting into inaccessible places. See what you can do to help them."

"As I must." The Drell bowed before walking over to kneel next to the Quarian and the Collector. Shepard, meanwhile, stayed with his Turian comrade.

"How many are on this deck?" He asked, wanting to account for all of his crew.

"About a dozen crewmen, plus the doctors and other medical staff. We've also got Delexia down here. She's been a big help in keeping everyone safe when those things show up. We're holding, but there have already been a number of injuries. It's keeping track of the things that's the trouble. They keep turning up where we least expect 'em. We even had one turn up in the ladies' restroom. 'Lex was pissed about that."

"'Lex?"

"Oh, sorry. Its what we call Delexia."

"Commander, we require your assistance." Thane called from the door.

"What is it?"

"We've found a loophole in the lockout." The Drell explained. "The Husks neglected to deactivate the Commanding officer's overrides. I suppose they figured you wouldn't be getting back here. All code input methods have been deactivated, but the palm scanner's still functional."

"Good job." Shepard congratulated. "So all I need to do is put my palm here?"

The Commander placed his hand over the holographic interface, blinking at the sudden tickling sensation of having every contour of his hand scanned by the door's locking mechanism.

"Correct, now just wait a moment while we engage the appropriate code triggers… done."

Shepard backed off as the door slid open, revealing the dim interior of the AI Core. Thane, Jano and the Revenant backed away from the door, tensing as they waited for any sign of their enemy. Behind Shepard, Samara, Zaeed, Garrus and the other various crewmen gathered did the same.

The AI Core was its usual, gloomy self. Red lights at the back of the room gave it a sinister hue, while the blinking lights of the Normandy AI's blue box decorated the walls with a festive pattern. Legion's limp form lay to one side, a crucial power line pulled out of the back of its head.

In the centre of the room, Nishto turned to glare at them, red eyes glinting behind his mask. The Quarian stood before the primary memory module of EDI's blue box, one hand placed on either side of the device. His fingers had ripped free of the enviro-suit's gloves, stretching out to long points. These fingers sparked as they touched the blue box, creating a connection between the Husk and the AI.

There were no words this time. The collective consciousness of the Husks had said enough to the Commander. Nishto simply charged, arcs of energy leaping from his hands as they parted company with the blue box.

Shepard's rifle shot up, firing wildly at the approaching alien. He and the Crew Deck's defenders backed up at the sudden charge, stepping out into the Mess Hall so that the creature could not get close to them. The Quarian Husk kept on coming, lashing out at them with his long claws. One hand sparked as an electrical charge built up in his palm, an Overload burst that struck one of the Normandy crewmen, eliciting a cry of pain as he dropped to the ground, spasming from the electrical shock.

Samara quickly stepped forward, using a biotic Push to launch the Quarian back into the AI Core as the squad formed up as best they could. Shepard, Zaeed, Thane and Garrus blocked the door to the Med Bay, forming a rank of impenetrable fortitude to counter the creature.

As the Commander took aim at the Quarian once more, he became aware of another scuttling noise in the Crew Mess. With a crash, another of the Human Husks burst into view, laying into the crewmen. The Normandy crew backed away from the creature as Samara, the Revenant and Delexia formed up, the former pair using their biotics to harry the creature while the latter hefted a shotgun that she used to score some powerful hits on the Husk.

His concentration split between the two battlefronts, the Commander was caught off-guard as Nishto launched a renewed attack. A strange grey sphere of some unknown substance arced out from the AI Core to splat onto the deck at Shepard's feet. The instant it did, it erupted upwards into a vast, choking cloud of grey-green fumes that set the four defenders in the door spluttering. Shepard felt his strength sapped as the fumes worked their way into his lungs, inspiring weakness in his limbs. His allies needed no telling to get out of the cloud.

Nishto barrelled out of the now undefended doorway, launching himself at Garrus. The Turian let out a cry as the Husk kicked and punched him, bearing him to the ground.

"Garrus!" Shepard cried out as his rifle tore into the Quarian's flank. Nishto let out a yell of pain before scurrying away, leaping out of the Commander's line of fire. Shepard rushed over to his old friend to make sure he was alright. The Turian looked up at him blearily.

"Shepard, I don't feel so…" His voice drifted off lazily as his eyes slid shut. The Commander hurriedly checked his vital signs. The Quarian's claws must have been tipped with some kind of poison or sedative, a biological agent. He gave Garrus a shot of Medi-Gel to counteract it, but the Turian wasn't waking up any time soon.

Leaving Garrus to sleep whatever it was off, The Commander stood to see Samara and the Revenant pursuing the Human Husk with their biotics, while Delexia struggled with her jammed weapon. The Human appeared quite ragged, one of her arms having been lost in the fight to leave a stump of sparking wires, leaking conductive fluid and stringy flesh. As Shepard watched, the Human strayed too close to the defenders, allowing a powerful Warp blast from the Revenant to knock her back into the far wall with a loud crack. As she slid to the floor, still struggling to get up, Thane rushed over, snapping her neck quickly and efficiently to finish her off. The Husk went limp, lifeless. Nevertheless, Delexia, ever the realist, unloaded another clip from her gun into it, making sure it was dead.

That only left the Quarian. Shepard turned in time to see Zaeed knock it to the ground with a Concussive blast. As the mercenary reloaded his weapon, Jano surged forward, his pistol scoring a few hits. The Quarian Wardancer dodged out of the way of another Overload blast from the Husk, colliding with it as it struggled to its feet. The pair of masks were inches apart, the laboured breathing of one countered by the harsh growl of the other. Their luminous eyes glared from behind the masks.

After a moment, they parted, stepping back just a pace before lunging at one another again. Jano's arms flexed as he deflected a number of blows, his hand-to-hand skills countering the abilities the reapers had granted to Nishto. Mechanical speed and power met organic grace and evasiveness, neither finding a foothold to gain the advantage over the other.

They continued on in this manner, back-and-forth, for a few tense moments. Shepard could not take a shot for fear of hitting his ally, so he instead chose to close the distance. Ducking below the flailing arms, the Commander launched himself at the husk, striking him in the side. Nishto howled as he was borne to the floor, mask cracking as it struck the deck. Jano stepped over as Shepard tried to keep the Husk pinned. With a practised move, he placed one three-toed foot on the back of the Quarian creature's neck and pushed. There was a loud click before the creature went still, all signs of a struggle escaping from it.

Shepard let out a long breath as he stood up, keeping his hand close to his gun in case the Husk so much as twitched. Once he was certain that the Quarian would not re-awaken, he turned to head back into the AI Core. He activated the primary terminal, tapping in the code to bring EDI back online. Moments later, there was a bright flash as the AI Core was filled with holographic light, then all went dark again. Shepard was relieved when, after a brief pause, EDI's interface appeared above one of the emitters in the room.

"Ah. Excellent. My functionality is restored. Thank you, Commander."

"I need a full status report." Shepard commanded. Straight to business.

"Of course. One moment." The blue box hummed as she processed incoming data. "All systems remain intact. Although the engines are off-line. I am detecting interference within the drive core. One life form, Salarian, is present within the drive core."

"Is there any way for you to deal with him?" Shepard asked.

"Negative. All options available to me would present a danger to other life forms on the Engineering and Cargo Decks."

"Are there any Husks in the vents?" Shepard asked, wanting to know where the last of the survivors were.

"Four Humans that are not a part of the Normandy crew are present in the service tunnels, moving fast. They are all heading down to the Cargo Deck."

"Getting ready for a last stand, or maybe an escape." Thane said, stepping through from the Med bay. "The Crew deck is secure, Commander. With the elevator online, we can head down to the drive core when you are ready."

"Good. Go find Samara and Zaeed. We'll head down in a minute."

"I shall commence regaining control over the ship." EDI informed him. "It should not take me long to purge the system of any remnants of the code the Husks used to send the ship into lockdown."

"Okay." Shepard said, stepping away to join his team. "You do that. We'll get the engines back online."

"Very well. Logging you out, Shepard."

~o~0~o~

The elevator hummed as it carried the squad down to the Engineering Deck. It only took a few moments before they arrived, stepping out cautiously. As he stepped out, Shepard looked ahead of himself, peering through the window that looked down over the cargo bay. Within, he could see the three escape pods sitting all too innocently on the deck. In front of them, the prone forms of Jacob and Miranda lay peacefully, eyes closed, hands bound. There was no sign of any of the Husks. An obvious trap, and one the Commander wasn't about to spring. He had to deal with whatever was stopping the engines first.

They stepped up to the doors to Main Engineering, only to jump back as a loud thump echoed through the corridor. They looked over to the source of the noise, the door leading to what the crew affectionately referred to as 'Grunt's Pit', the Port Cargo Hold. Stepping over, Shepard called out.

"EDI?"

"Yes, Shepard."

"Have you got control of the door locks on the Engineering deck?"

"One moment… Done. Do you wish me to open the doors?"

"Just the one to the Port Hold."

"Very well."

The door hissed open, allowing a shotgun to whip around to point at the Commander. Shepard barely flinched in the face of this threat, simply glaring until Grunt, with a small, embarrassed look on his face, lowered the weapon.

"Battlemaster." He bowed his head. "Sorry about that. Thought you were one of those things."

"Been getting that a lot since I got back." Shepard smirked. "Come with me. We've got a Salarian Husk to deal with."

"A Salarian?" The Krogan scoffed. "How bad can it be?"

"You'd be amazed, Tiny." Zaeed said cynically. "Tell you what, we'll lock you in Engineering with the thing. We'll ask you after five minutes how bad it is."

"Fine. I'm coming."

The squad moved back to the doors leading to the stairs above the sub-deck. They tensed as they made ready to open the doors, weapons aimed as the two halves slid apart. Beyond, Jack looked up in surprise from where she was kneeling by the prone form of Kenneth Donnelly. Behind her, Gabby jumped in fear, but relaxed upon recognising the new arrivals.

"Thank god! Shepard!" She breathed. "We thought help would never come!"

"I just thought that she was never going to stop bitching about help not coming." Jack grumbled, resuming her ministrations. "We need to get this idiot up to the Med Bay. He's taken a pretty bad knock to the head. Probably lost what few brain cells he had left."

"The elevators are back online." Shepard informed her. He turned back to the Krogan. "Grunt, help her get him to Doctor Chakwas. Gabby, you stick with them."

"No argument here!" The engineer said, quickly leaving Engineering. Grunt let out a sigh of irritation before helping Jack to get Ken to the elevator, leaving the squad to enter Main Engineering.

They passed through the final set of doors, finding themselves confronted with the workstations where Ken and Gabby normally worked. The stations were dark and silent, an eerie sight. Shepard disregarded this, instantly moving past to enter the area where the drive core was housed. He looked up at the massive silvery sphere, the device responsible for the ship's movement, its power and its shields.

Segs, the Salarian Shepard had met on Arcturus Station, was here. The Salarian had changed drastically since they had last met. Spines had sprouted from his back, running in a line down his spine and along his arms. These protrusions sparked wildly, arcs of electricity leaping from the Husk to the drive core. He clung to the side of the sphere, silently communicating with the machinery, keeping it from activating. As Shepard stepped into the room, the alien looked back with glowing blue eyes. It let out a shriek before lunging, leaping from the side of the drive core to land behind the Commander, in the midst of the squad. There was a bright flash before Shepard's HUD informed him that his shields were no longer functioning. Before his gun could be brought to bear, the Salarian was gone again, leaping up to cling to the side of the drive core's chamber. A quick glance to the Commander's companions revealed that they were in the same situation as himself, except for Samara, who relied upon her biotics to create her shield.

"Samara, bring him down from there so we can land a few good hits!" Shepard ordered.

The Asari nodded, lifting her hand to point at the Salarian. Narrowing her eyes, she took a breath before launching a biotic attack, catching the Husk with a blue field. She grunted as she pulled back her hand, mentally hauling the Husk from the side of the chamber.

In mid-air, the Salarian pulsed with its strange energies, the spines along its back conducting the power through its body. A single burst of power strobed out from it, releasing Samara's mental grip on it. The biotic field dissipated, allowing Segs to drop down to the deck. Shepard's brows rose at the sight. The Salarian was not displaying biotic abilities, but the power field he emitted seemed to counteract the gravitational and magnetic properties of the former Justicar's powers. This was something that the Commander had heard about, but only as a theory. Nobody had been able to create the technology.

Nevertheless, the Salarian was now within easy shooting distance. The Commander, accompanied by Zaeed and Thane, opened up on the creature, peppering it with bullets. The Salarian screeched as its flesh was torn apart, making it appear even more unnatural, if that were possible. It glared at the Commander before scuttling away, vanishing underneath the drive core.

"Come on!" He shouted. "We can't let it get away!"

They leapt over the railing of the platform that kept them out of the drive core chamber, gingerly entering the delicate part of the ship. They hurried to where they had seen the Salarian vanish, spotting an entrance to the service tunnels running through the belly of the ship. Shepard moved forward cautiously, readying to follow the creature into the confined place. He could not deny the anxiety he felt at entering the narrow tunnels.

A sudden impact in the small of his back brought a cry to the Commander's lips as he was sent tumbling forwards, falling into the tunnel. Behind him, Segs engaged the rest of the squad at close quarters. Another burst from the spines on his back sent arcs of electricity through the unprotected Thane and Zaeed, causing them immense pain, while Samara struggled to keep her biotic barrier strong under the assault.

Shepard tumbled down the tunnel, bouncing off the sides in a series of jarring impacts. He finally hit the bottom of the tunnel, directly under the hull, with a loud thump, the cracking of one of his arms sending bright flashes through his vision. He was dazed for a moment before shaking his head to clear it, struggling to untangle himself. He then dragged himself back up the tunnel, clambering out to see his three companions just about managing to keep the Salarian at a distance while keeping up a steady attack. The Husk had yet to spot the Commander ascending out of the tunnel, which Shepard took advantage of. He lifted his rifle, steadying it across his injured arm, and fired at the Husk's back.

The bullets tore into the Salarian, blasting off a couple of the spines. Segs shrieked in outrage, glancing over at the Commander before performing a tremendous leap up to land upon the platform that led to Main Engineering. Before Shepard could do anything, the Husk dashed out of the drive core chamber, disappearing into Main Engineering.

"Quickly! After it!" He ordered.

The squad didn't hesitate, running after the Husk. They clambered back out of the drive core chamber, quickly following the Husk out of Engineering and into the corridor that ran the width of the ship. They arrived just in time to see the Husk shatter one of the windows with a mighty punch. It then leapt through to the cargo bay, landing with a huge crash on the deck below.

Shepard barely hesitated, leaping through after it. He struck the deck powerfully, a shock running up his legs. He turned his downward momentum into a forward roll, coming to a sharp stop on his feet with his gun out. Behind him, the deck clanged as Zaeed imitated the manoeuvre. Samara and Thane used their biotics to make more graceful landings.

They paused. Somehow, even with them pursuing him so closely, the Husk had managed to vanish. They scanned the bay carefully, searching for any sign of him.

"EDI, where is he?" Shepard shouted to the air.

"Behind you, on the ceiling." The AI responded quickly.

Shepard spun, gun at the ready. The moment he caught sight of the creature, clambering across the ceiling like a spider, he opened fire. The Salarian let out a loud howl as it lost its grip, dropping to the deck. But this was no sound of anger. Shepard paused as he recognised it. Saion had released the same noise upon calling the horde to the support pillar. Segs was not voicing his rage. He was calling for help.

"EDI?" Shepard called, an anxious feeling in his stomach. "Have any free members of the squad meet us down in the cargo bay. I think things are about to get rather hectic down here."

No sooner had he spoken than several hatches and vents clanged open, spilling out the four remaining Husks that had infiltrated the Normandy. They dropped to the deck with thunderous steps, hands already glowing with biotic power.

"Take cover!" Shepard managed before four biotic blasts ripped through the air towards them, scattering the squad.

The Commander found refuge behind the bank of consoles before the elevator door. Once there, he frantically typed commands into his omnitool, trying to restart his shields. Finally the capacitors whined as they began charging once again. With a proper kinetic barrier in place once more, Shepard felt better prepared to attack, standing up and unleashing the contents of one thermal clip at one of the Human Husks.

From one side of the bay, Zaeed leaned around one of the big assemblies that ran down the bay in two rows. He further harried the Husk Shepard was attacking, blasting away most of its barriers. The old mercenary was soon forced back into hiding, however, as the Husk's fellows smothered his cover with biotic energy.

Samara and Thane, meanwhile, focused on attacking the Salarian Husk. One would Lift it, then the other would strike it with a Warp blast before it could use its anti-biotic pulse to break free. In this way, at last, they wore it down to the point where a final Warp blast from Thane sent the creature tumbling to the deck. The Drell made sure of the kill by firing his SMG three times into its skull, spreading a pool of green blood and white fluid across the deck.

They had no time to celebrate the small victory, however, as one of the Human Husks moved in, one of its attacks striking Samara in the back. The Asari crumpled up, overwhelmed by the strength of the attack. Thane rushed to her side, trying to drag her out while hampering the Husk's advance with his SMG.

Shepard was forced to deal with the last two Husks, severely hampered by their twin attacks on his cover. His shields, so recently restored, were rapidly draining away under the assault, while his rifle sent bullet after bullet at the creatures, only to be deflected. He looked about, seeing his allies falling back from the servants of their enemies, and he felt a surge of desperation. After everything they had faced, all of their triumphs, to be defeated by four of his own species was just insulting.

Just as the two Husks he faced reached his cover, rounding either side of the bank of diagnostic and inventory computers, a quiet hiss from behind the Commander caught their attention. They hesitated one moment before a thunderous crack heralded a bright flash which caused one Husk to tumble backwards.

"Right on your ass!" Grunt's bloodthirsty howl caused Shepard's heart to soar. He turned to see the Krogan charge out, accompanied by Delexia, Etarn, the Revenant, Jano, Elanie, Kasumi, Jack, Feron and Kaidan come racing out of the elevator, all bearing weapons of a wide variety. The cargo bay was filled with the sound of gunfire as the squad poured out of the elevator, the Husks falling back under the brutal assault. Yelling proudly, Shepard joined the charge, as did Zaeed and Thane. Together, the squad quickly decimated the Husks, ripping them apart one by one. In moments, the battle was over, the four former Humans torn to shreds.

In the sudden silence that followed, Shepard bowed forwards, hands placed on his knees as he breathed deeply, thoroughly exhausted. He looked up as Kaidan walked up to him, still holding his rifle.

"Was that all of them?" He asked.

"One Quarian, one Salarian, six Humans. That's the full set." Shepard assured.

"Good." The soldier sagged with relief.

"We need to make sure all Husk materials are properly contained." Shepard instructed. "I don't doubt Mordin will want to take a look, but we don't know what tech the reapers used in these guys. Take every precaution."

"Will do, Commander."

"We'd also better get the injured up to the Med Bay, Miranda and Jacob included."

"I'll take care of it, Shepard." Kaidan assured him. "In the meantime, I think you'd better get back to the CIC. God knows what's happened while we've been out of action."

"I'll get right on it." The Commander assured, turning away. He nodded to the rest of his squad, expressing his thanks silently, then stepped into the elevator, heading back up to see what he'd missed.

~o~0~o~

Shepard stepped out onto the CIC, looking about with relief upon seeing his crew getting things back to normal. As he walked out, Kelly strode by. He reached out and caught her arm.

"Kelly, can you send a few crewmen up to my cabin to help Mordin? He's in a shuttle docked over my window, and he's got some patients that will need attention."

"Consider it done, Commander." The yeoman promised, quickly heading off to speak to some of the crew about her new task.

Shepard nodded, stepping up to his normal post above the Galaxy Map.

"Give me the situation, Joker." He called.

"Commander! Its good to have things back under control." The pilot's voice came through the comm from the cockpit.

"What's the status of the ADI fleet?" Shepard asked.

"Just before we lost the comm array, Hackett was calling for a full retreat. We're abandoning the system, Commander."

Shepard sighed, but he knew it was the only logical option.

"It was to be expected. They hit us too hard this time. Any word from Liara or Cerberus?"

"Not yet."

"Nothing? No reinforcements, not even a signal saying they're on their way/" The Commander was disappointed, but not surprised. Both fleets had taken a beating around Minuteman, and would have taken a long time to make ready for any confrontation with the Reapers. The hope that they would deliver any force to turn the tide of the battle was remote at best.

"Nope."

"Alright." Shepard leaned over the railing, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Open a channel to Admiral Hackett. I need to know what's going on right now."

"Just a sec."

"Shepard, is that you? Where the hell is the Normandy? We're getting torn apart over here!"

"Admiral, sorry for going off the grid. The Reapers managed to get some agents aboard the Normandy. How goes the retreat?"

"We're getting our asses handed to us down here, Shepard. The Reapers have us surrounded." The Admiral informed, his signal going scratchy for a moment, presumably as his ship took damage.

"What do you need us to do, Sir?"

"Our priority is to get the Cambodia out of here. Both Admiral Drescher and the Senate are aboard. Get her to the Relay, then get yourself out."

"Belay that, Hackett." Another voice, that of Admiral Drescher, came over the same channel. "We need to ensure that Arcturus Station does not fall into enemy hands. It needs to be destroyed."

"How can you expect the Normandy to destroy that station on its own?" Hackett asked incredulously.

"I don't." Drescher answered evenly. "You are to call off those ships you've committed to defending the Cambodia and attack Arcturus."

"That's ridiculous! You'll be destroyed!" Hackett protested.

"Perhaps, perhaps not. The Cambodia is a tough vessel. Regardless, it is more important that you make sure that the push to retake Earth is as easy as possible. Robbing the enemy of this resource is one such way."

"This is insane! Shepard, do not commit the Normandy to this plan."

Shepard realised what the wise Admiral was doing. As a Spectre, Shepard didn't have to take orders from either of them. They could only advise him of the best course of action. If he disobeyed Drescher, she could not hold it against him. As a Council representative, it was his job to ensure the health of the Alliance as a Council entity. In one sentence, Hackett had reminded Shepard of his responsibilities and his freedom to act as he saw fit. Once again, an impossible choice lay before him. His hands rubbed at his face wearily as he considered his options. If he committed to saving the Cambodia, Hackett would follow. If he chose to attack Arcturus, the Admiral would be compelled to back him up rather than risk every asset Humanity had in the system. Sighing wearily, Shepard opened his mouth to give his decision.

Author's Notes: Whew! This one fought me a little. Still not 100% happy with the pace of the second half, but could not find a way to improve it. I'd appreciate any suggestions.

I apologise for taking so long to update. A pretty crazy month, combined with minor illness and being away for a while all conspired to keep me away from this fic. Oh, and my computer broke, just to add insult to injury. Probably from me writing too much. ;)

So now there's a new vote to be completed. Please, head on over to my profile page and let your voice be heard.

This chapter deals with a concept I feel quite strongly about. namely, the husks. I don't feel that super advanced beings would really create armies of zombies to serve them. How does dead flesh and machinery help them in their harvest? It just makes creatures that they can't melt down into Reaper slurry. I feel that it makes more sense for the Husks to be creations of the Reapers' servants, actually turning out to be poor imitations of the real thing that Reapers can create. Think about Saren. For the most part, he looked normal. Then he was able to reveal extraordinary abilities that Sovereign had granted him. All myths and tales of Reaper invasion feature traitors and double agents planted among the unharvested. This makes more sense in a Galactic Invasion. I think its also more sinister, and would make a good mechanic in-game. You could never be sure the NPC you were talking to was free in his mind, or serving the Reapers. Normal mooks in the street could suddenly hulk out and cause chaos before changing back and fading into obscurity. You can't do that with the godawful left 4 dead wannabes Bioware are parading out now.

Sorry for the rant, I just really hate the idea of the Banshees and Cannibals revealed so far. If I wanted a zombie shooter, I'd buy one.

Thanks go to the usual suspects, BloodIronAngel, general-joseph-dickson, Inverness, Mastermind4892 and so on. I'd also like to thank Liege Lord, saaziel and everyone else who has reviewed, PM'd, and favourited this story.

I run on criticism, positive and negative, so please, let me know what you think! Whether you loved the story, hated it, want me to die a painfully spiky death or just appreciate the silky smooth taste of Guinness, let me know. Also, while I'm here, I'm still looking for any fanart about this story.

One final thing: There are a couple of fics I really think every Mass Effect fan should have a look at. The first is Fight For The Lost by LuxDragon. Also make sure to look up For Tomorrow We die by ElectricZ, and pretty much anything by JoeLaTurkey. These three are absolute geniuses (genii?) and, while they get waaay more reviews than me, they definitely deserve it and much more. So head on over and let them know what you think.

Okay, so now I'll sign off and let you guys get to reading this. Fainmaca away!