Chapter 52

Officer Chellick of C-Sec watched in silence, as the bridge of the ship around him burned. One of the yeoman was fighting the fires with an extinguisher, but he paid no heed.

"Situation report," said the turian, "I want all ships to report, who's acting commander?"

Another turian looked at the viewscreen, shaking his head, "all remaining ships reporting in…it looks like command has shifted to you…Admiral."

A chill went down Chellick's spine. Not five years ago, he'd been a simple detective. Now, in one decisive battle, he had become the admiral of the Citadel's security fleet!

An alarm claxon went off close by, "sir, we have another ship entering Citadel space!"

"On view screen!" spat Chellick.


The shuttle sped through the space surrounding the Citadel. Jacob Taylor looked out the viewport of the ship, noting the disarray outside. Whatever signal was coming from the Citadel had cut all communications, and wreaked havoc on the fleets' systems. The ships were drifting, lone islands desperately affecting repairs.

"Shuttle!" screamed the turian voice on the shortwave radio, "identify!"

Jacob shook his head, "Orthos strike team, led by Officers Taylor and Vega. What happened?"

"Damn salarians," cursed Chellick, "first, some signal blasted all Relay communications to shit, forcing us onto localized backup. Before we could regroup, the traitors blindsided us."

"Where's our counter-offensive?"

"You're talking to him," replied the Turian, "any further reinforcements?"

"We're it for now," answered Jacob, "Shepard is aware, and gathering who he can from Omega."

"Spirits!" shouted Chellick, "we'll never last!"

As the officers spoke on the intercom, two youths, David Archer and the young woman known simply as Talitha, huddled in a corner.

Talitha shook her head, "how could they take down C-Sec so easily?"

Seated in the cockpit, James Vega shrugged, "it's easy to miss them coming at you sideways. Considering all the firepower out here, who'd be looking for it?"

Jacob shook his head, amazed that they had somehow managed to break the blockade at Grissom Academy. Between the cadets, students, and soldiers stationed there, Oriana Lawson would have the base cleared and running in no time. However, the Citadel was still in trouble, and Jacob had needed able-bodied fighters.

So despite his better judgment, he'd allowed these two, little more than children, to join them. They were the most talented students in Grissom Academy. It galled him that he had to ask them to follow him into the grinder. He just had to hope that they'd be tough enough to survive.

The base grew closer, and now he could see one of the wards. Here was the Presidium of the Citadel, which housed the embassies and the Council. James brought the shuttle up, climbing to the top of the spire, the seat of the Galactic Council.

"We'll cover your approach," said Chellick over the intercom, "secure the Council, we've had no word since this attack started!"

"Affirmative," Jacob shook his head, "here goes nothing."

James smirked, "no here goes everything..."

Vega pointedly ignored the bright lights, indication of the blasts that were exploding far too closely. Both the traitors' attacks and the defenders' salvos shook the tiny vessel. James had been in his share of drops, and he had learned that nothing would come of worrying. If they were hit by a blast, he wouldn't be alive long enough to care anyway…

Soon enough, the scene outside cleared, giving way to the artificial atmosphere of the Citadel. Jacob cursed, as Vega maneuvered through wreckage and fire from below.

"Damn Remnant," spat Taylor, "when the hell did they get on the Citadel?"

Vega shook his head, "well, it just proves Shepard was right…again."

"Right…the Paladins," Jacob nodded, "heads up!"

Vega looked out the view port, as they saw several figures being chased by a battalion of shuffling assailants.

"Looks like we have remnant chasing the Council," cursed Taylor.

"Prepare for a rough landing," replied James, as he brought the shuttle hurdling down to the Citadel tower.

Jacob grunted as he strapped in, "is there any other kind with you?"


James said nothing as the shuttle crashed through the barriers, debris flying everywhere. Lights and claxons blared within the ship, Jacob's vision went black. It took a moment for him to regain his senses. Slowly, a voice broke him from his reverie, and he saw James' hand. He reached out to grab it, as the larger soldier hauled Jacob out of the shuttle.

His vision cleared, and Taylor could see several bodies of husks strewn about, motionless. The two young cadets had already secured the perimeter, shields up in case of attack.

Jacob gestured to the two cadets with this chin, and James nodded.

"They had the area secure almost before I got around to ordering them," he replied, "they may make it out of this."

"I just hope WE do," Jacob shook his head, "my last mission here, the Council almost died."

David Archer turned back, "let's make sure that doesn't happen this time either."

Talitha nodded, a forced expression of calm bravery on her face. Vega grinned, noting her shaking hands.

"We'll be fine, Shepard would get angry if anything happened, right?"

She smiled, her trembling subsided.

Jacob took point, summoning his strength. As he tried to raise his barriers, he was hit with a crippling pain; and he doubled over in agony. Blood trickled from his nose, his body shaking from a feeling of... wrongness.

James grasped his shoulder, "what is it?"

"My biotics," gasped Jacob.

"Yeah, Shepherd said whatever this damn field is, it knocks out most biotics as well."

Jacob shook his head, "I'll make do without it."

He wiped the blood from his face, grasping his gun tightly, gesturing for them to move out. Before long, the squad came across several figures, two salarians, a turian, and an asari.

Vega wasn't familiar with the faces, barring the asari, but the salarians seemed to recognize them. The younger of the two salarian females began to scream, as if in dismay, drawing out her omnitool, brandishing it like a weapon.

James raised his hands, backing away, "it's okay, we're here to rescue you…"

She shook her head, turning to the other salarian, "it's Shepard's crew…like you said."

The asari, Aethyta, got to her feet, groaning as she rubbed her temples, "so this is where you got that stupid idea. I keep telling you Escheel, Shepard and his crew are beyond reproach."

Aethyta grasped Escheel's arm, lowering it, and glared at the other salarian, "and no matter what Dalatrass Linron says, I won't be persuaded otherwise."

"Thank you, Councilor," Vega nodded, extending a hand to the salarians. They both ignored him, but the turian, Sparatus, grunted as he gripped the soldier's arm.

"Trust Linron to question the hand that saves her…"

As they helped the counselors to their feet, Jacob asked, "where's the rest of the Council?"

Asari Councilor Aethyta was first to reply, "on their way here when the signal hit...the bastards blindsided us."

"Let's get you out of here," offered Vega.

Everyone calmed down slightly as they entered the elevator, grateful for the momentary peace and quiet.

The turian, Sparatus, looked at Jacob, "you seem to make a habit of saving this Council every time you visit, Mr. Taylor."

Jacob shrugged, "about as often as Shepherd."

The Councilor grunted a chuckle and they finished the rest of the elevator ride in silence. Everyone was bone tired. Jacob's team had been fighting ever since Grissom, and the Citadel had been brutalized by the sudden attack. As the doors opened, Jacob's team secured the perimeter. Aethyta shook her head, leaning on Sparatus for support.

"I can barely think through this haze," she gasped.

"The Dampening Field," explained Vega, "we need to find the source of the signal."


No sooner had they started walking from the elevator entrance, than a series of shuttles flew overhead, blasting away at the ground around them. A battalion of armored humanoids dropped from the ships, clad in the colors of an all too familiar foe.

"Cerberus," spat Jacob.

"Paladins," corrected Vega.

"Whatever, just kill them!" Taylor screamed, as he fired into the troopers.

Talitha and David raised their arms, drawing a large shield around the Councilors with their omnitools. Vega rose to his feet, providing support fire for Jacob. He then caught sight of a dropship with an Atlas mech attached to its bottom. The walking tank would decimate them.

"Oh hell no!" cursed Vega, taking aim with his rifle. He bolstered the shot with his omnitool, as a Carnage round tore through the struts supporting the mech.

The shuttle seemed to falter from the sudden shift in weight, leaning to one side. The craft slammed to a halt against a pillar supporting the nearby elevator. The mech then fell from the shuttle, crashing into a flaming heap on the ground.

Vega pumped his fist in triumph, as the flaming wreckage rained down on the enemy at their flank. He turned to face the final battalion with Jacob. That was when all hell broke loose…

An arc of electricity tore through the air, transfixing the defenders, as well as the Councilors. Jacob turned to the source of the attack, his eyes widening as he caught sight of the sneering Dalatrass Linron.

Linron brought out a gun, training it on Councilor Escheel, "I told you to have our salarian STG kill Shepard, but you wanted the rest of the council on board."

Jacob snarled, lunging for the Dalatrass, who sidestepped, firing several rounds into Taylor. The biotic sputtered, crashing into Escheel, who fell under the weight.

Still unable to speak, Escheel glared at the traitor.

Linron shook her head, "don't look at me like that. For all your vaunted machinations, you still lacked the resolve to take what is rightfully ours…"

Vega turned to look at the two cadets, who seemed to be breathing. He growled in anger, turning over onto his stomach. Linron turned on him, taking aim.

"Tsk tsk…"

Before she got a chance to fire, Jacob screamed in a final act of defiance, lashing out with his arm, as a blast of biotic Warp crushed the gun, Linron's hand with it. She screamed in pain, using her good arm to send another electric Overload arcing from her omnitool, stunning the group yet again.

Linron turned to the remaining Paladin soldiers, gesturing to the fallen, "finish them off, and lets get out of here…"

Vega lay prone, helpless as the enemy closed in. He cursed that the last thing he'd see would be that damn white armor. He'd much rather have died in bed, with several asari around him…