(For those of you who missed my note on Ch1 and have made it this far. I plan to go back through my old chapters for thorough proof reading and spell checks as soon as I have free time from college work. Want to make it as enjoyable to read as possible for everyone. Continued criticism is appreciated. Help me make it better! Thanks!)

The two Quarian Admirals raced the bridge with incredible speed; Shepard and Normandy's crew following suite. The deafening alert siren continued to blare throughout the ship, seeming louder within the tight confines of the corridors. Many Quarian civilians scrambled to their quarters and had the group almost battling their way past them. The final blast door that obstructed their way into the bridge took longer to open than usual provoking Han'Gerrel to inaudibly curse to himself.

Skidding to a stop, they entered the Neema's bridge. It was setup over 2 floors with the Captain's chair, navigation, and pilot controls all established on an elevated platform that overlooked the lower level where fire control and other various systems lay. A large glass shield covered the front end and allowed the occupants a clear line of sight over a 180 degree view. The tip of a twin cannon mass accelerator turret could be seen outside just under the ships chin.

Han rushed over to Captain Yin'Vassa, breathing heavily from the exhaustion of the hasty journey to bridge. "Report!" Han commanded.

Captain Vassa began tapping the controls on his chair as he spoke. On the forward viewer a square shaped grid appeared, highlighting the Geth ship in the distance that orbited the closest star to the planet. "It came out of no where sir. Ladar identifies as Geth; dreadnaught judging by its size."

"Magnify!" Commanded Han. Using the same controls, the grid lines converged. Magnifying the image of the backwards arrowhead shaped ship that was nearly 2 kilometers in length alone.

"That's an Ares class dreadnaught. Heaviest battle ship the Geth possess. Captain, open a channel to the fleet."

"Keelah..." Muttered Shala.

"This is Admiral Han'Gerrel to all warships, engage and destroy Geth dreadnaught!" Turning to Captain Yin he added, "Captain, take us into firing range!"

"Keelah Se'lai Admiral." Replied Captain Vassa with his fist held against his chest. He then opened a channel throughout the ship "All pilots to fighters! Assume attack vectors!"

Pivoting his authoritative form to Shepard, Han stated. "Prepare yourself, commander. You're about to witness the strength of the galaxies most formidable fleet."

The pilots scrolled through their haptic interfaces and engaged the Neema's sub-light engines to full power. From the forward viewer they could see the distance between them and the hostile vessel close quickly. Tali looked both sides of the viewer and saw that several more warships of similar design to the Neema had formed up around them.

A muffled buzzing sound caught their eyes seconds later. From all sides dozens of Quarian fighters zoomed past them with blinding speed. It was a truly magnificent sight to behold. The glory and power of the Migrant Fleet rushing head on to destroy their mortal enemy. The most expensive action vids pale in comparison to such a show of force.

Coming back to reality, Shepard knew that with the help of the Normandy's Thanixx cannon, destroying them dreadnaught would be far more simple and save many Quarian pilots from certain death. He activated his comm link calling the Normandy. "Joker! Prep the Normandy for immediate departure! We got Geth to kill!"

"I'm coming with you." Shepard nearly ran into Kal as he turned to attempt a sprint. "No way I'm going to miss out on killing some of those synthetic bastards."

Shepard responded with a nod and said, "Lets go." And the group rushed off to the docking bay where the Normandy awaited to be taken into battle once again. Time seemed non-existent; the adrenaline making the run to Normandy feel instantaneous. They were surprised when they turned the corner down the next corridor and found themselves only a couple of meters from the only hatch that separated them from the Normandy's airlock.

The hatch slid open upon detection of their movement and allowed them clear access to the ship. They quickly proceeded inside, skipping the decontamination cycle and heading straight into the helm where Joker was already disengaging the docking clamps.

"Let's make it happen, Joker!" Turning to his crew and the new addition of Kal he commanded, "Everyone to your stations!" Garrus, Tali, and Kal all boarded the elevator and headed for their assigned stations; Tali having thrown her robe onto the CIC floor as she ran. Garrus to fire control, and Kal joining Tali down in engineering. Though a soldier, he still had extensive knowledge on starship mechanics. All Quarians do.

The rest of the crew took positions in the CIC as the Normandy's thrusters ignited and sped them on their way into the battle. Joker had instinctively patched them in to the Migrant Fleet's communications allowing them to overhear the transmissions between the Quarian warships and the small attack fighters.

"This is Vindicator one, we are engaging the enemy. All bombers weapons free. Target their engines!" Came the voice of a female Quarian pilot. Most likely the lead squadron. Looking ahead through the forward viewer Shepard could see explosions ring out all around space as well as torpedoes struck the dreadnaught causing its shields to flicker erratically. Immediately following the first series of explosions, cyan colored lasers lit up the area around the dreadnaught as they were fired from its turrets. Tiny oval shaped Geth drones the size of one man fighters began emerging from its hangers and fired their own array of laser weaponry into the swarm of Quarian attack fighters.

As they grew closer he could make out several fighters being blasted out of the sky. One colliding with dreadnaught's shield as it span out of control. On the left hand side of the viewer he could see a Quarian war frigate nearly twice the size of the Normandy pass them by; overhearing a transmission from the ship as they observed its course.

"This is the Varanoi. We are closing to weapons range. All batteries prepare to fi-" A barrage of rail gun fire from the Geth dreadnaught tore through the frigate like tissue paper, cutting the transmission short. From inside, the Normandy's crew felt the tremendous quaking of the shock wave from the Varanoi's explosion.

"Careful Jeff! We are being targeted!" Warned EDI.

"Everyone hold on to your seats! And your lunch..." said Joker through the ships intercom. Joker banked the Normandy hard to right just in time to avoid a mass accelerator beam from fired from dreadnaught. Shepard was nearly thrown against the wall from the sudden shift in the G-force but managed to hold on by the tight grip he had on the headrest of the pilot's chair.

"Might be better if you sit down, comman-" Joker was interrupted.

"Incoming!" warned EDI.

"Weapons range in 30 seconds Admiral." said Captain Vassa while looking at Han. Turning back to the pilots he said, "Charge forward batteries. Target the dreadnaught."

The Neema's anti-ship turrets all extended forward and locked on to the center point of the Geth battleship's hull as the half minute passed. "Fire!"

The inside of the ship rocked as the twin cannon turrets fired massive armor piercing slugs at the dreadnaught. The other Quarian warships joined the fight with their own weaponry. Though powerful it would take many more rounds to deplete the dreadnaught's shields. The rounds exploded as they impacted it's shields. In an unexpected move, small pyramid shaped drones emerged from its hangers and sped off toward the Neema as well as the cruisers aiding it.

"Sir!" one of the pilots exclaimed. "Geth kamikaze drones inbound!"

"Damn!" Yin cursed. "Activate GUARDIAN systems!" On the lower deck of the bridge, two Quarian gunners climbed into chairs elevated slightly above the ground. A holographic interface instantly appeared and surrounded them completely showing the targeting system of the anti-missile batteries. The two gunners opened fire once the drones came within range, watching them explode like fire crackers in the instance with each one that was destroyed. Two however, had managed to escape the overlapping fields of laser fire.

Han was nearly thrown off his feet as the two drones exploded upon contact with the kinetic barrier that protected the bridge. Were it not for simple shielding, they would surely have all been killed in the collision.

"Don't let any of them through!" exclaimed Han. Looking out the side viewer he saw the ally warship alongside them being bombarded with Geth drones. Thankfully their GUARDIAN systems were able to destroy most of them before their shields dropped to critical levels. Turning back to the battle ahead, he noted the small shape of the Normandy and hoped that this battle would not cost them the life of a hero.

"Geth drones are breaking off and moving to intercept us!" warned EDI. Five drones pursued the Normandy from behind firing their lasers relentlessly at the frigate. Joker tilted the ship left managing to avoid most of the first wave of fire but several shots still managed to hit their shields.

"Kinetic barriers at 82% and holding!" exclaimed Tali over the ships intercom. The comment was enough to motivate Joker to try something radical. He used the pitch controls to drastically pull up while at the same time cutting thrust to zero. The drones fly past them from underneath allowing Joker to quickly correct their course and target the drones.

"See how you like taking it from behind!" Joker fired a cluster of disruptor torpedoes which destroyed two of the pursuing drones. "Yeah!" He cheered. Though uplifting, it was short lived. The drone's Geth AI's quickly picked up on this tactic and mimicked it with ease.

"Shit!" Joker cursed as he watched the drones re-establish their pursuit; closing rapidly like birds of prey ready to shred their victim to pieces. Torpedoes launched from the drone's missile pods and struck the rear plating of the Normandy. Tali noted the quick drop in shield efficiency and quickly rerouted non-essential power to compensate.

"Shields at 18%! Another hit will deplete them!" Tali exclaimed from engineering.

"We can't dodge them forever!" exclaimed Shepard. A squadron of Quarian fighters sped toward the drones and decimated them in seconds. Joker watched as the blips instantly disappeared from the ladar.

"This is Bulwark one." Came the voice of a male Quarian pilot over the communication channel. "We have your back, Normandy."

Relieved to hear the pilot's voice, Shepard said over the comm, "Roger that Bulwark one. Thanks for the assist." With the drones off their tail the Normandy now had a clear path to the gargantuan dreadnaught. Its size alone struck a nameless fear in their hearts. The only thing more that could be more intimidating was a full sized Reaper. It felt as if this battle was but a trial of fire to test their resolve. But could they pass it?

The juggernaut in sight, now was the time to strike. Speaking through the intercom Garrus said, "Thanixx primed and ready!"

"Then lets show Sovereign how it feels to be blasted by your own gun!" said Shepard. Joker aimed the nose of the Normandy at the center of the dreadnaught and slammed his fist down on the fire display. The twin cannons recoiled as the intense blue beam of concentrated energy shot forward and pierced through the armor of the dreadnaught like an arrow through flesh. A large explosion, small compared the to size of ship, emanated from the ruptured hull along with the tiny shapes of Geth platforms being sucked out into space.

The dreadnaught responded immediately by firing back with its many automated turrets. Noticing the human frigate in peril, Bulwark's squadron leader said over the comm, "Bulwarks two and five, hit those turrets. Give the Normandy some cover." The two fighter pilots flew in close and with the shields of the dreadnaught now depleted from the combined firepower of the Quarian warshipss and the Normandy's Thanixx, were able to decimate the attacking turrets withtorpedoes..

"That's two I owe you Bulwark." Shepard said to the squadron's leader over the comm. "I'll buy you a round when this is over." Returning attention to the fight, he braced himself in his chair as Joker circled around for another attack.

Han watched as the dreadnaught took overwhelming amounts of firepower yet still remained operational and able to defend itself. It seemed though that the dreadnaught was not moving towards the fleet, but the planet it orbited and at its current rate of impulse, it would breach their defense perimeter in minutes.

"We have got to take that monster down before it breaks through!" Han exclaimed.

"Structural integrity at 67% sir. We're just not causing enough damage!" Replied the female Quarian co-pilot pilot.

"Wait...somethings happening." The male Quarian pilot interjected. From the bridge viewer they watched fearfully as hatch probably 50 meters wide opened on the front of the dreadnaught and a massive cannon with exotic design features extended forward.

"What the hell is it doing?" mumbled Han.

"Sir, massive power spike in the dreadnaught's reactor." said the male pilot. "9000 terawatts and climbing."

"That's impossible." said Captain Yin. "No ship that size could generate that much-"

"Look!" shouted the female co-pilot.

"I am reading power fluctuations in the dreadnaught's reactor. All the energy is being re-directed to the ships bow." said EDI.

"You might wanna have a look a this, Shepard." said Joker. Looking out the Normandy's forward viewer they could see a bright green glow emitting from the tip of the dreadnaught's cannon. Their eyes watching in awe as it grew brighter with each passing second.

"The dreadnaught's power levels have reached an excess of 9981.2 terawatts. At this rate reactor overload is imminent." warned EDI.

"That doesn't sound good..." Joker commented.

Tapping into the Neema's comm, Shepard exclaimed, "Admiral, the dreadnaught's reactor is going critical! You have to move your ships out of range right now!"

"Already on it, Shepard." Gerrel replied. "All ships this is Admiral Han'Gerrel. Break off the attack and fall back to the fleet!" With the order transmitted, all the attacking Quarian vessels slowly changed heading and flew straight back towards the bulk of the Migrant Fleet; the fighters also returning to the hangers of their respective ships. Even the Geth drones seemed to retreat and ignore any fighters they were recently attacking. Something big was about to happen.

Using the holographic interface to bring up the Normandy's rear camera, Shepard watched as the dreadnaught aimed straight at the planet with its charging cannon. "Reactor level at 1.003 petawatts. Detonation in 3...2..."

A blinding flash of green light engulfed the space around them with a brightness that would have burned their retinas had the windows not been shielded, followed by dead silence. Slowly it faded to reveal a massive beam firing from the dreadnaught and toward the planet. The impact point on the planet became surrounded by an ensuing wave of fire leaving a trail of scorched earth. Everyone, the Normandy, and the Migrant Fleet, watched with horror as the blast wave consumed half of the small planet before dying out. Seconds later the beam stopped and the dreadnaught was enveloped in a massive explosion as its reactor finally gave way under the strain of power from the super weapon.

Space came alive once again with the humming of the Normandy's engines. Seeing the wave from the dreadnaught's explosion closing in Joker alerted over the comm, "Blast wave inbound! Everybody grab on to something!"

Zaeed was wide awake laying in his cot aboard the Quarian shuttle. It was dark, quiet, and all around a perfect time to sleep but his racing thoughts denied him any rest. He had learned from countless mercenary missions that letting your guard down for a second, even to blink, could be the difference between life and death. That was exactly what coerced him into staying awake. Being aboard a small shuttle with the ex-lover who betrayed him only meters away in the cockpit, separated only by a few inches of steel within the cabin, it was unsettling. Zaeed was never one to lend people his trust, especially when it came to enemies. At least in his point of view, that's what she still was and most likely would be even after this "job."

A feeling hit him in the pit of his stomach. A feeling he could only describe as a "bad vibe." He felt the urge to peer in on Aran to make sure she wasn't brandishing a knife meant for him behind his back. Sliding cabin door open, the blue glow of hyperspace outside the viewer met his gaze. He could see the tips of Aranya's head tentacles from behind the chair she sat in. He could tell by the orange glow she had her omni-tool out and it sounded like she was whispering to someone. He could only make out a few of the words.

"He's unaware... I'll do my part, just do yours... Yes, we'll be there in less than 12 hours... "

A vengeful glare made its way upon his face. She was hiding something, he knew it. Was she planning to betray him once again? Or was he being paranoid and simply overhearing her communicating with her contact. He slid the door shut and turned around to lean against the cold steel. He crossed his arms as he drifted in thought. Would Aranya really go through all this trouble and make up such a convincing story just to deliver him into the hands of his nemesis for a few million credits? Of course she would. The bitch was a black widow by nature. A preying arachnid. One that he would squash if it dared to bite him on the back...