Notes:

RCS - Reaction Control Systems

Shaari - Asari fruit, unlike any known Human ones, relatively sweet with a single central seed; grows in multiple temperate locations across Thessia and contains enough eezo to make it inedible except by persons with biotics

Siame - "one who is all", a loved one cherished above all others (Thessian/Source: CDN)

XO - Executive Officer

An End to Rebellion

Moreh, Phoenix Massing, At Large – 3 Jan 2189

Their progress had been quiet and quick for the first fifteen or so minutes after they boarded, right up until Blackwatch squad caused their first major melee… by blowing up the ship's small armory. Shepard had laughed at the message she received only a couple of seconds before she heard the big boom; Vidinos had sent five words. 'Get ready. Here it comes.' The multiple explosions following the text message explained what he meant better than any words could have.

Shepard realized the import of the Blackwatch commander's words; with the entirety of the Moreh's defenses coming online, including the ship's Marine sweep patrols, the progress of Shepard's team would slow considerably. She steeled herself for what would come and muttered a line from a sixteenth century play. "Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war."

Harley heard her and snickered, "Really? Quoting Shakespeare? Now?"

The levity of Creath's tone helped her relax and the Spectre smirked. "Well, it is appropriate, don't you think?"

Bek had also heard the comment and, in response, he let out a laugh and flashed a grin. "I don't know who this is you speak of… but, I think I like this… Shakespeare… whoever he is."

"I imagine you just might, Bek." Shepard's grin faltered. "Every Quarian Marine aboard is going to be gunning for us now. Not much sense in trying to sneak around anymore… we're bound to get discovered, no matter what we do… so, full assault configuration." She glanced at Bek and Grunt as she added, "You two, take point and keep us moving forward. It's going to be harder to make ground, but we can't let them slow us down."

Jatok, as team captain and a Krogan, curled his lip at not being selected to take point and growled, "Then what the Hell am I doing, Spectre?"

"I'm trusting you to cover our six… solo. I know with you as my rear guard, nobody is gonna surprise us from behind." Shepard grinned as she saw him begin to smile. "I don't give a shit about how much better they may know the back passages, because they'll still need to get by you, and I know that won't happen."

"You got that right, Shepard." Jat's chuckle was full of venom. "Nobody's getting by me. Never have and never will… certainly not today."

Jat made good on his promise as Bek and Grunt moved them continuously forward, sometimes at a dead run. Only one time did they get truly pinned down – at the top of a ladder leading into a long passage with hardly any alcoves along its sides, much less any rooms in which to hide. The Quarians had set the trap well, sitting in established positions behind barricades – with a secondary squad moving into the passage below, making retreat impossible.

Jatok had simply growled, "Move forward… I guarantee no one's coming up this ladder to follow you." After only a brief hesitation, Shepard nodded in agreement and the entire rest of the team focused forward. The only thing in their favor was that the passage was wide enough for them to move around and establish defensive positions behind the biotic barriers of Iryna Velros and Sella Temi.

Knowing they couldn't hold very long under such intense fire, Shepard commanded, "Bek! I wanna see some of those inferno grenades you've been hauling around! As soon as they blow, I want you, Grunt and Harley running forward and drawing any remaining fire. Sella, Iryna and I will follow close behind, using the three of you as shields while we launch biotic attacks… and don't be surprised when you see me slip to crash and blast to finish the fight once we dwindle 'em down a bit. Got it?"

Bek simply pulled and activated two of his grenades in answer, chucking the first down the right side of the passage and ricocheting the second off the left wall, rather close to the barrier. He let out a whoop of satisfaction with the shot as it rolled behind the Quarians' protective wall. With weapons fire pinging off their shields, the front trio ran at full speed toward the enemy, their biotic artillery on their heels as Bek lobbed his last grenade over the wall.

Behind them, they could just barely hear Jat's laugh over the roar of his semi-automatic Batarian AT-12 Raider. "Come on, you Pyjaks! Afraid of a little ol' shotgun?" His weapon of choice was extremely heavy, which didn't affect Jat in the least, and extremely deadly, as long as he didn't run out of ammo. Fat chance of that, he thought, having picked up every spare thermal clip he could from the dead Quarians they had left in their wake. He topped off his weapon attack with Carnage as rapidly as he his energy rejuvenation allowed and, if the shotgun happened to overheat, he tossed warps down the hole to keep it clear. If anyone managed to get too close, he'd simply drag them up the ladder with a Pull and crush them against the wall… dropping them back below as a reminder of what awaited anyone who got within his grasp.

The forward group closed quickly on the Quarian defensive line, the fight… fast and furious. Shepard was forced to charge forward much sooner than she had liked because the front line had closed the gap and became involved in hand-to-hand, close-quarter combat. Once she charged in, she lost sight of the rest of the battle, concentrating on her own fight to best any enemy that stepped up to take her on. She slammed her fist to the ground one final time, releasing a powerful Nova wave that sent her current opponent crashing into a wall, breaking his back and crushing the rear of his skull. Not stopping to watch as he slumped, dead, to the deck, her eyes immediate hunted for her next foe… whom she would immediately Charge in order to fully restore her barrier… but she found none.

Shepard, very cautiously, stood upright from her battle crouch and looked around. Dead Quarians were scattered through the passageway, but she hardly saw them as she studied her team. Bek had a pretty nasty looking gouge across his face, as did Grunt. She hadn't even noticed until now that Jat had joined them, the Quarians from the lower deck either all dead or having retreated from the Krogan Battlemaster; he appeared unscathed. Harley and Sella were both administering medi-gel to their relatively minor wounds, but Iryna…

"Shit." Shepard hustled to the huntress and knelt at her side, immediately realizing no medical treatment in the world was going to help her. Reaching up to gently close the vacant, staring eyes, Samantha quietly whispered, "I'm going to miss your cooking, Irie… especially your homemade Shaari pudding." Her shoulders slumped as she rose. "Damn it," she whispered quietly to herself. Sensing a presence at her side, she turned to see who approached.

Shepard had expected Sella Temi, but it was Grunt who had quietly shuffled over, obviously affected by Iryna's loss. "She was supposed to stay close to me with my fortified armor, Shepard! I saw her slip out and I yelled at her… but she ignored me… and now she's dead. It's my fault… should've moved to protect her instead of just shouting!"

"Not your fault, big guy. She was no less a warrior than you and that was her choice… to fight! Would you have stayed behind me, if I had ordered it during combat?"

"Yes… but only because you are a great warrior… and my Battlemaster…" He scowled and added, "But to her, I am neither… just a Krogan you asked to join your team."

{By the Goddess! Shepard!}

Without answering Grunt, Shepard called an unexpected halt, and her team quickly dropped into defensive positions. She hated stopping right at that moment, because they were within striking distance of the Bridge, with only a single squad of five Marines between them and the hatchway.

Seeing her signal, Grunt squatted down at Shepard's side as he grumbled in protest. "This is a bad time to stop, Shepard. If they call reinforcements, we'll be fighting on two fronts again and we're a small team… and now, one less than we were. So, why stop here, instead of charging forward before they can prepare a welcome for us?"

"Liara." Shepard only said the one word in reply, and Grunt's eyes narrowed; because he knew of the link, he immediately understood the implications. Shepard turned her attention inward. {I'm sorry, Li.}

{They must have discovered the infiltration teams and decided to strike first, Shepard.}

{Yes. Vidinos was discovered, so he blew up the Moreh's armory to prevent them from taking it back and arming everyone on the ship. But…}

{That's not what I'm talking about… It's the Normandy, Shepard! All three of the Quarian's recently acquired stealth ships dropped into visual, with each launching a pair of missiles before disappearing again…}

Shepard knew things hadn't worked as planned and her tone was angry. {What about the new disruptive interference defenses?}

{Only fifty percent effective. Two of four struck the Destiny Ascension… killing eight in two separate sections… but one also hit the Normandy. Goddess! It hit the Engineering Section, Shepard! The ship has a sizeable hole in the belly, amidships, and is in an uncontrolled tumble… No one is responding to our hails. I fear an eezo and H3 fuel breech has… has…}

{Stop, Liara. Don't say it. They may just be comm out with the loss of power…} Shepard said those words but didn't truly believe what she had said; even Liara could feel it was a weak attempt at a comforting lie. Sighing heavily, she concluded with, {Contact Legion, see if they can divert any assets to assist.}

{That's… that's an excellent idea, Siame. Thank you.} Liara didn't mean for Shepard to hear her next thought but couldn't keep it from passing through the link along with the rest of the communication. {Goddess, please come back safe!} She cursed her lack of control when she realized her bondmate had felt the fear for her wellbeing.

{Doing my best, Liara, but… you need to know… Iryna Velros.} Shepard didn't have to explain; even though Liara had been previously unaware, the Asari could now see, via the link, exactly what had happened.

{I've gotta go, Li.} As she felt Liara shudder and fight the urge to weep, Shepard backed out of the link. She knew Liara could use her comforting presence… but she needed to focus and keep moving. "Gods be damned!" Glancing back at her squad, she explained with only four words. "Normandy's been hit… hard."

Behind her, Jatok growled, "Then let's get off our asses and get this finished, Spectre… before anyone else dies!"

"Roger that, Jat." Shepard checked her weapon and started moving, the rest of the team just as eager and tight on her heels.

Normandy SR2, Phoenix Massing, At Large – 4 Jan 2189

It was just after midnight when Bigbee reached the level within the elevator shaft that would allow him to access the override shaft to mechanically open the outer doors – finally allowing the damage control team access to the Deck Four transverse passageway. He carefully secured his safety harness and began hauling the heavy motor – currently weighing no more than a sack of feathers thanks to the microgravity within the ship – up from the bottom of the elevator shaft. Once he had the motor in his hands, he leaned away from the access ladder, carefully brought the motor around and lined it up with the end of the axle shaft. Awkwardly hanging on to the handles on either side of the casing, the sergeant activated the motor; he was happy to see the outer doors react by sluggishly retracting into their recesses as the motor – groaning just a bit under the load – slowly turned the shaft.

Bigbee could feel the metal handles under his gloved fingers getting warm as the doors bumped against their stops; he secured the motor and clamped the shaft in order to ensure the doors remained open. Activating his comm, he called down to Cortez. "Deck Four is accessible, Sir." He carefully moved from the ladder to the opening, levering himself around the bulkhead until he was standing in the passage. Looking down the shaft, he could see Cortez and the other four members of his team floating up towards him; as each man drew level with the door, Bigbee reached a hand in to provide an anchor as they left the ladder to stand with him in the passage.

Cortez inspected both the port and starboard access hatches to the engineering sub-deck stairs and inner hatches. "Just like down below," he said. "Port side doors took some damage. Let's get the starboard side opened up."

Bigbee had two of his team members begin work on the hatch after sending each of the other two Marines to inspect the hatches for the freight compartments. While the starboard engineering access hatch gave way a lot easier than Cortez expected, the view on the other side was much more discouraging… thin, wispy tendrils of smoke were drifting up through the open-stairwell from the sub-deck, and segments of the access hatch to main engineering were peeled outward like sections of skin from a partially-peeled orange.

Steve shouted past the door. "Donnelly! Manos! Are you in there!?" His reply was total silence; there wasn't even any of the normal sounds of machinery that one took for granted, and with the exception of the dim, bluish glow from the core containment sphere, the area Cortez could see was pitch black. He shouted out his engineer's names twice more, then spoke to Bigbee. "Sergeant, this hatch is bent to hell anyway. Get it out of the damned way so we can retrieve our crewmates."

A subdued damage control team huddled around Cortez as their sergeant said, "Aye, Sir. We'll get them out."

A noise from the port side freight compartment drew their attention; it was Greg Adams, accompanied by Edi. "Steve… glad we found you. We came through the transfer tube out of the computer compartment, since Engineering is so damned screwed up. Have you heard anything from Manos or Donnelly?"

"Only response to my hails was silence, Greg." Looking at Edi, he offered an opinion. "You've arrived just in time, Edi. That access hatch is really twisted and bent. I need you peel that door segment…" he pointed to one of the five panels that was twisted and bent towards them, "… out of the way… see if it'll be enough to allow one of us to get into engineering."

Edi nodded her understanding; she had just moved to stand in front of the twisted hatch when she stopped and raised a hand for quiet; head cocked slightly towards the opening, she said, "I can hear sounds of… metal… being torn and ripped. I fear there's about to be a structural failure where the hull was breached, Mr Adams. We must make haste."

While it was true that Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau was no longer sealed inside the Normandy's cockpit, he had been content to remain seated in his pilot's chair after Edi left to accompany Commander Adams to meet up with the damage control teams – led by Commander Cortez – in working their way into the main engineering compartment on Deck Four. Having heard nothing over any of the emergency channels since the Quarian missile had exploded in Normandy's equipment laden sub-level astern the elevator, he was getting ready to cut power to the receivers when a crackle of static caught his full attention. Opening a reply channel, he sent a recorded response, on the off chance someone had actually found them; this was rewarded with a mechanical voice.

"Normandy. Normandy. This is SILC heavy cruiser Xi-rho-tau. We have been dispatched to provide damage mitigation assistance."

An increasingly queasy stomach – caused by viewing the erratic motion of the stars outside his viewports – had forced him to close the blast shutters. As a result, Joker had not seen the approaching rescue ship, so hearing the mechanical voice nearly had him jumping out of his chair. "Xi-rho-tau. You guys sure know when to make an entrance! We came really close to being nothing but space dust… the core is in emergency shut-down, so engines and helm control are offline. We have damage control teams attempting repairs, but are having trouble accessing the space from within, due to severe structural damage. We could seriously use your help!"

"Understood. Normandy's erratic movements make docking impossible, so we will send platforms to aid in reestablishing directional control. Minimal stabilization repairs will then be performed so Xi-rho-tau may safely escort Normandy to a repair facility."

I just want control of my fucking ship back! Could really give a damn about any repair facility right now! Maintaining his self-control, Joker replied, "Thanks, Xi-rho-tau. Just make us stop this god-awful spinning!"

After Liara had contacted Legion, the Consensus quickly agreed that reassigning a ship which was being held in reserve because it might be needed in the fight with the creators to, instead, provide immediate and necessary aid to the Normandy was the correct decision – organic lives were at stake. SILC repair platform Technikus – 'Nik' to the many Turians he had assisted on Palaven after the Reaper War – had been assigned the task. The SILC cruiser had arrived to find Normandy adrift with engines and outer hull as cold as the airless void through which it tumbled, out of control. After repeated attempts were made to speak with the ship's crew, they had finally made contact and a plan to board the ship and make repairs sufficient to regain directional control had been implemented.

As soon as the SILC pilots had guided their ship into a matching rotation with the Spectre vessel, a six-platform repair team led by Nik utilized jetpacks to fly across the 225 meters separating the ships. Rather than enter through the port side airlock or the hanger bay, Nik opted for the more direct approach; he simply flew up to the hole in the ship's ventral surface. Spreading his limbs wide, he slowed his velocity to a near halt as he gently touched down on the outer hull just forward of the ragged breach. Once all of his accompanying platforms were mag-locked to the hull, Technikus called the cruiser. "Assigned rescue and repair platforms have all arrived at the Normandy. This platform will enter to access damage."

Nik pushed through the sparkling kinetic barrier to find himself inside a devastated machinery compartment. Being connected with the Consensus, he energized several high-intensity lights on his chassis and slowly turned a full circle in order to share his view of the damaged area.

Upon receiving authorization from the Consensus, he had two of his companions enter through the hull breach; directing them to assist, the three platforms utilized their mechanical strength to remove torn and broken piping, tanks, electrical conduits and fiber-optic cabling. All of the recovered debris was then passed through the hull breach to their waiting companions outside, who surrounded the entire mass with an energized kinetic bubble and anchored it to the ship's hull. Once they had made a bit of progress forward, Nik directed the remaining three platforms to enter and begin working their way aft. It was tedious work – they had to utilize a great deal of caution in order to keep from causing any more damage than had already occurred.

Neema, Phoenix Massing, At Large – 4 Jan 2189

As the battle dragged into its second day, Spectre Williams had to deal with the unpleasant reality that the strength of her squad was down to only four of six Humans and four of eight Krogan… and they were tired. She knew they would need help before the final assault on Gerrel's command center, so decided to contact Aralakh C-Squad. "Hey Rogue? You guys staying busy down there?"

"Not really. They've given up on trying to attack us… must have decided it was simpler to vent atmosphere and blow us out into space." Rogant Grack growled angrily, "That has happened several times, enough so we've had to use up a lot of our reserve air. We won't be doing any emergency evacs… we're here 'til we either win or die trying."

"Then I have a solution for you." Ashley blew out a heavy breath. "We came up the port side but ended up having to move to the mid-ship passageway for better maneuverability and less chance of getting blown into space by an intentional hull breach. Because of that, we're meeting a hell of a lot more resistance. We could really use some fresh warriors, so I'm transmitting our current coordinates. Wanna get out of that hanger and come join the fight?"

Rogue laughed aloud and punched his weapon-free fist into the closest bulkhead. "Now you're speaking my language, Spectre. I know protecting our exit is important… but only if we lose, which I don't plan on doing, so… we'll be there as soon as we can!" After relaying the news to his team, Charlie squad jogged nearly the entire way, quite literally running over… and through… a couple of Quarian patrols who had the bad luck of finding themselves in the Krogan's chosen route to the rendezvous point.

With the arrival of the reinforcements, a hopeful smile found its way onto Spectre Williams' face. "Good to have you join us… Time to get this show back on the road!"

Having been monitoring the chatter, Bau had been continuously discussing multiple options with Tali, who had an intimate knowledge of how Quarian ship systems worked. After a somewhat lengthy conversation and an unknown, large number of unsuccessful exploratory hacks, Tali finally beamed with success. "I got in!"

"Job well done, Tali!" Bau grinned ear-to-ear. "I imagine Spectre Williams will be thrilled with this!" Tapping a few icons on the haptic interface on his omnitool, he placed the call.

"What have you got, Jon? Something wrong?" Ashley sounded winded, jogging along in the middle of her mostly-Krogan pack.

"Definitely not, Spectre Williams." Ash could hear the excitement in Bau's voice as he continued, "Quite the opposite, matter of fact! Tali found a 'back door' to interior ship controls… an electronic path which will enable us to open and close doors, disable or activate lifts… all sorts of useful things to aid your progress through the ship, while interfering with that of those attempting to slow or stop you."

"Whoa!" Ashley nearly stopped in her surprise and was almost run over by Strax Jrugas in the process. "Hold on everyone… take a quick break." When everyone was crouched around her, she resumed speaking with Bau. "That sounds promising. Talk to me."

Ashley's expression turned from skeptical to pure joy as Bau explained how Tali would be able to shut down all the hatchways and elevators... opening only those needed as Ashley's team progressed through the ship.

"She can also seal rooms and selectively limit oxygen to certain areas..." Bau paused for a second, then shrugged and continued, "Either cut off the supply of air completely and kill them, or divert just enough halothane from the surgery center to mix it in and ensure everyone takes a nap… or, at the very least, can't put up a fight while you pass through the area."

"That could save a lot of relatively innocent Quarian lives." Williams questioned, "And what's halothane? I'm assuming some type of sleeping gas?"

"Precisely… one that is extremely effective on Quarians."

"Well, shit." Ashley suddenly sounded exasperated and a bit angry. "Why didn't we do this at the start of this op? Before we lost six of our teammates?"

"Apologies, Williams." Bau said the words, but sounded not the least bit contrite as he continued, "But, we did not know the option existed until we got here and, even then, were unsure it could even be done… at least, without detection… so they didn't simply wrest the controls back from us. We did not want to give you false hope, and it has taken us this long to determine the necessary steps to accomplish this feat."

Somewhat appeased, Ashley answered, "I suppose better late than never. Do it… and then talk us through the correct path so we don't miss any gates and walk into the wrong place at the wrong time."

Tali cut in, "Ashley. You'll have to be careful when you finally do arrive at the Bridge. It has its own self-contained systems, so it's impossible to mix any halothane into the air supply. I also very much doubt I can hack into the controls to shut down that air supply without someone noticing and locking me out… unless, maybe, I join you and try an on-site, hardwire patch into the system."

"Absolutely not, Tali. Shepard would kill me if anything happened to you, and we can't afford the time or the risk to come and get you." Ashley willingly accepted the bad with the good and continued, "Don't worry about it. Just get us there and we'll take care of the rest!"

Moreh, Phoenix Massing, At Large – 4 Jan 2189

"Shepard." Spectre T'Dura's voice came over the comm. "Engineer Telas has completed his task and all weapons and defenses, external and internal, are temporarily down. I do not know how long we will be able to hold this position, so I suggest you do not hesitate in the completion of our mission."

"We're already in position, Moises, just waiting on your go, with nothing but a few Marines between us and the Bridge… No matter how this turns out, you have my thanks for your help."

T'Dura's response was short and sweet. "Save it for the victory party, Shepard."

"Roger that!" Shepard gave an 'at the ready' gesture to her team and they all prepared for the charge as their team leader terminated the call. Turning her head to scan her squad, Shepard grinned. "Alright. It's now or never… stun grenades first, then move fast, people." She pulled a grenade off her own belt and pulled the release, keeping the activator switch compressed. "Toss on two."

With the grenades in the air, Shepard pulled on her biotics and growled, "Try to keep up, kids!" Entering into her trademark 'crash and blast,' Shepard bolted forward in a flash of blue. Jatok, Bek and Grunt immediately formed a charge line, with Harley Creath and Sella Temi providing supporting cover fire and biotic assists. The five Marines at the end of the passage never truly stood a chance but bravely fought to the last man.

"Such a waste of life," grumped Shepard, before turning to her squad. "Don't get sloppy… quick energy drink, and rev all shields, barriers and jammers to full…" She made eye contact with each one. "… and be sure to keep them that way until this is over. I don't trust Xen in the slightest; there's no telling what she'll have prepared for a close-combat situation… including that damned signal they used against the Turian outposts. Okay?" She paused, then grinned. "Let's do this."

When the hatch opened, the remaining six went through, spread quickly into a tight-formation arc and went down on one knee; their barriers and shields provided overlapping coverage. The armored heavy fighters laid down a barrage of weapons fire as Shepard and Sella Temi rained a biotic-combo attack against the bridge crew.

Finally, after watching and waiting as every single one of her guards and Bridge crew gave their lives in an attempt to protect her, Xen screamed in frustration from her hiding place behind one of the Bridge control panels. "I surrender, Spectre! There is no need for this! You've won. Isn't that enough?"

With no one left to shoot back at them, Shepard signaled a cease-fire; speaking into the amazingly abrupt silence, she asked, "Enough? I gave you one pass already… and this is where we ended up. Do you honestly expect me to give you another?"

"Yes, actually; I do. Because no matter what has ever happened to you, you have always been an honorable leader." Confident in her words, Xen slowly stood from her place of concealment so they could see her. "I have faith you would never kill an unarmed enemy who has surrendered… no matter how much you may hate them. As evidence, your altercations with Ka'hairal Balak come to mind. I know you will simply turn me over to the Council… which will then likely hand me off to my own people, for Quarian justice." As she stopped speaking, she raised two closed fists out before her. "Come. Arrest me, Shepard… turn me over to the Council, as I know you will."

A growl sounded off Shepard's right shoulder and she turned to look at its source. Grunt stared at the Admiral, a vicious gleam in his eyes. "I want to say don't do it, Shepard. Just kill her and be done… but I know she's right. You are… honorable. Sometimes, to your own detriment, I think."

Shepard actually chuckled, knowing their fight was done. "Maybe so, Grunt, but I don't know any other way to live my life." She approached Xen, pulling a pair of biotic-suppression cuffs out of her supply pack as she walked, simply because that was what she always carried.

As the Spectre stepped close enough to slap the cuffs onto the Quarian's wrists and grab hold of the connecting cable, Xen smiled. "Thank you, Shepard. I do hope you understand I plan to never spend even a single moment in any type of prison; Council, Quarian, or otherwise."

Xen's thumb slid down and Shepard immediately recognized the end of a small, concealed detonator, popping out from the Admiral's closed fist, the thumb no longer keeping it compressed. Before she could move or even shout a warning, Shepard was blown back by an immensely powerful explosion – Daro'Xen having fitted herself with an explosive vest, easily hidden beneath her ever-present enviro-suit.

Reminiscent of the Reaper attack on the Defense Committee on Earth, Shepard flew backwards, smashing into the wall along with her team, as they were all tossed like ragdolls against the aft bulkhead near the Flight Deck entrance. Fortunately, everyone still had their shields powered up and barriers activated at full strength; their lack of trust in Xen was the only thing that kept any of them from suffering serious injuries… or dying.

Even so, each of them was injured to some degree, with Shepard – having taken the brunt of the blast head-on – injured worse than any of the others on her team. After a quick scan, Jatok first called for assistance and then, while they waited for T'Dura to arrive, relayed the information on Xen's unexpectedly sudden demise to both the Destiny Ascension and the Knight Shade.

Neema, Phoenix Massing, At Large – 4 Jan 2189

With the addition of Tali's and Bau's assistance, the Normandy team's forward progress was amazingly fast and the group of sixteen soon found themselves outside the hatch of the Neema's Battle Command Bridge. "Tali. What should we expect in here?"

"I haven't seen any anomalies so far, so I would expect it to be no different than the original briefing, Ashley." Tali paused before issuing the reminder. "There will be six security Marines, six systems controllers, the ship's captain, Zaan'Shar, and his executive officer, Kael'Shiro… along with Admiral Gerrel and his personal guard, Ken'Fennas, for a total of sixteen."

Ashley smiled and recalled the rest of Tali's original briefing before they had left the Normandy. "All of whom are trained Marines with at least ten years of actual combat experience… not including any messengers who may happen to be there. Got it, Tali… and thank you."

"Just be careful, Commander," Tali responded quietly. "That's all the thanks I desire."

"Roger that." Ashley turned to her oversized squad, large in more ways than one, and grinned. "Alright… we're on the doorstep of our goal and I refuse to let pride get in my way, here." She focused on the Aralakh Bravo and Charlie Squad leads. "You guys are the battle tanks… the expert assault teams so, unless you object, I'm more than happy to let you lead the charge through the hatchway, with only one exception – Admiral Han'Gerrel. He's mine. Buzz? Grack?"

Both responses came back at once. "My pleasure, Ash!" "Thought you'd never ask, Williams!"

"Alright then." Shaking her head with a quiet chuckle, the Spectre queued her comm and continued, "We're standing by… whenever you're ready and able, Tali."

"Understood, Spectre. Door should be opening in 3… 2… 1…" The hatch split open at the center, the two halves vanishing quickly into their respective side pockets. Immediately, both Buzz and Grack stormed in and spread out in opposite directions from the doorway, followed quickly by the rest of their squads.

It took only a moment or two for the security Marines inside to realize they were in a fight for their lives. While the rest of the Quarians were hastily taking cover behind consoles and attempting to fire at their enormous opponents, the Marines first crouched then went prone wherever they had happened to be standing. The Krogan – happy they did not have to take any prisoners here – laid down a withering fire, killing all six of the Quarian Marines before they had the slightest chance to make any difference in the final outcome.

Ship's captain Zaan'Shar, perhaps hoping to prevent a slaughter, threw up his hands from behind a navigation console. "Cease fire! … Cease fire! We surrender! We…"

His words were chopped off mid-sentence by a pistol-shot; his arms fell, followed by his suddenly lifeless body collapsing to the deck, to lie motionless in a slowly spreading pool of his own blood.

"You miserably weak Bosh'tet, I will not allow you to steal my victory!"

Ashley recognized the voice as belonging to the Quarian she loathed more than anyone else in the galaxy. "Han'Gerrel vas Neema! Surrender… now, or you will die here, along with these other misguided souls!"

Han'Gerrel hid his surprise at hearing a Human female's voice, realizing immediately he was most likely facing the captain of the Normandy. "Ah, Captain Ashley Williams. Where will you go once you are done here today?" he asked, his tone mocking. "Your ship has been hit by a pair of Xen's cleverly engineered missiles; Normandy is dead, careening off into the void as we fight here."

Son of a bitch! The fucking bastard already caused Westie's death… How many more on my ship are dead!? Shoving those thoughts aside, she motioned to Rogant Grack, indicating he was to begin circling to his right as Strax Jrugas was to move left. Once the pair were in position, she held up a flashbang grenade. Using her fingers, she silently counted down three… two… one, then tossed the grenade as hard as she could. As soon as hers and the several others exploded nearly simultaneously among and behind the entrenched Quarians, she was up and moving, using her N7 Piranha to cut down each of the Quarians that staggered to their feet, including Kael'Shiro, the ship's XO, and Ken'Fennas, the admiral's personal guard.

Han'Gerrel stood from behind a purpose-built blockade, elbows bent at nearly ninety degrees, hands open and palms facing toward Ashley. "I surrender, Spectre Williams!" At the look he received from Ashley, he rapidly continued. "I am unarmed, Spectre. Rules of war dictate you must take me into custody… I believe Council justice will be much more civilized than you and your barbarians will ever think of being."

Suspecting a trap, Ashley kept her distance from the treacherous bastard as she ejected the nearly spent clip from her Piranha and jacked a fresh one into its place. "Han'Gerrel, you are a grand-standing liar. I don't trust you to speak the truth, ever." With a look and a slight shake of her head, she stopped Grack and Jrugas from moving towards him.

"Your personal feelings don't really matter, do they?" He sneered at her and continued, "Unless, of course, you opt to simply murder me, claiming 'Spectre Authority'." The disgust on the pasty face behind the clear mask was plain to see as he droned on. "Legalized murder… assassins for hire. That's all the Spectre Corps really is… all those 'best-of-the-best' lies. You… all of you… are just a bunch of hypocritical cutthroats, the entire lot of you! You kill for convenience because you lack sufficient intelligence to come up with a more civil solution.

"Enough, Gerrel!" Ashley snapped angrily. "You're a fine one to be calling me names, when the only reason we're staring at each other with our guns ready is because you and Xen want to enslave an entire race of beings!"

Gerrel lost his cool, shouting back, "They are machines, Spectre! Soulless machines, that we created to use as tools! They are not our fucking children! They are property! Property of the Quarian people! They have always been our property!"

"You are really pathetic." Ashley actually laughed. "You'll say anything in your sad attempt to save your own life… but this is one crime you won't be walking away from, Admiral. We barbarians have a saying… 'You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility.' No matter what you do, that's coming back to rest squarely on your shoulders, you fucking Pyjak!"

Moving almost faster than the eye could follow, Gerrel leaped across the intervening space to grapple with this insufferable human female. Ashley had seen many Quarians, Tali included, with a handle protruding from one or the other of their boots. She had always assumed it was some little straight-blade… a ceremonial knife, at best… certainly not a serious weapon that could be used for assaulting someone. Han'Gerrel was attempting to prove her assumption incorrect, thrusting the dagger at her side in an attempt to stab her.

Ashley was suddenly extremely thankful for Shepard's recommendation that she acquire a new armor liner to go with her new job as a Spectre – a state-of-the-art, blade resistant, combat mesh. Feeling Gerrel's blade press unsuccessfully against the mesh between her front and back plates, she ground out, "You miserable bastard!"

She caught a flash of motion out of the corner of her eye; Grack was starting to move to intervene, but Ashley had already worked her left arm and hand up to the point she could grab the Quarian by his throat. Squeezing with all her strength, she managed to push him away just enough to bring her N7 Piranha into the gap between them.

Pulling the trigger, Ashley ground out through gritted teeth, "This is for Alliance Corporal Bethany Westmoreland!" She was surprised when the shotgun fired twice in quick succession before she could release the trigger. "Rot in Hell for your crimes!"

Gerrel staggered away from her, the look on his face morphing from insane anger to shocked realization. Nerveless fingers dropped the dagger as he looked down at the massive holes in the front of his enviro-suit. He looked back up at Ashley as his legs failed, and he slowly collapsed where he stood.

"Oh, fuck." Ashley stared at the corpse on the floor before her. Han'Gerrel vas Neema was now lying dead on the deck, along with the rest of his co-conspirators. "Probably shouldn't have done that."

"Hell with that, Spectre." Grack stood at her side and chuckled. "I always thought Quarians were tougher than Humans. I might have to rethink that."

A/N:

"You can delegate authority, but you cannot delegate responsibility."Byron Dorgan, Former US Senator and Congressman, North Dakota

"Cry 'Havoc!,' and let slip the dogs of war." Kudos to reader/reviewer Artman King for bringing this to mind. Originally from William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, it is a phrase spoken by Mark Antony in Act 3, Scene 1.

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