(Authors Notes: I am very sorry for the lateness of this chapter but with the damn virus and serious issues with my health and my families health plus the craziness of work keep changing my shifts had little time for writing, but thankfully I have now hopefully left that behind and can refocus on my writing)

+TOS+

(SSV Normandy)

Shepard awoke sluggishly and quickly turned to his desk side table to hit the switch that would turn on the lights, blinking rapidly he sat up and rubbed his face as he tried to discern what had woken him.

"Shepard did you hear me?" EDI Repeated having been trying to quietly wake him for the last few minutes.

"I'm up EDI, what's wrong?" he inquire as he finished rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"You have a priority call coming in over the communications relay, it is admiral Hackett" EDI answered calmly. "He sounded very agitated" she added.

"Shit, what else has gone wrong now" Shepard cursed as he jumped to his feet and pulled on a t-shirt and some pants before heading for the lift, he really needed a full night's sleep after been in constant action since all this began but clearly he wasn't going to get it now.

He got off on the bridge and quickly headed for the communications room passing through the security screen, it was still guarded by the two marines who had been keeping watch on Joker before the war had broken out. Both saluted him as he passed and he gave them a nod back before he passed the meeting area and then straight into the extensive war room where the communications area was located. He quickly hit the relay switch and watched as the hologram of Hackett appeared, as EDI had mentioned he did look agitated.

"Shepard I'm sorry to wake you but this is an emergency I am going to have to order you to change course straight for Eden Prime" Hackett stated without even a real hello although he did at least realise he had been asleep and apologised for waking him. He suspected EDI had told him he was asleep as a way of ensuring waking him up was for an important reason, he was thankful for that as he would have not had enjoyed been woken up for a simple issue.

"Eden Prime but that is where the beacon was found back when all this started" Shepard recalled as flashes of memory hit him from the mission that began all of this including the images that the beacon had downloaded into his mind.

"I remember Shepard believe me, what you probably did not know is that after the beacon was found and even after it exploded once you interfaced with it the decision was made to continue digging in case there was anything else buried in the ruins of the Prothean city that once dominated the land" Hackett responded with a short nod. "Many small artefacts have indeed been found but nothing like the beacon, at least that was until now" he continued. "Something major was located in what looked like a huge bunker complex, what it was the research team refused to say over the comm system but they stated it could change everything we know about the Protheans and within five hours of that report Eden Prime managed to get out a short distress signal indicating they were under heavy assault" he finished.

"Reapers?" Shepard inquired wondering just what the research team had found now that could change what they knew about the Protheans.

"Negative Shepard it is bloody Cerberus again" Hackett shot back sounding very angry over this fact and Shepard could understand the feeling.

Cerberus instead of fighting the Reapers as they should be were instead spending all their time attacking the own people, just like they had back on Mars and Grissom Academy.

"If this find whatever it may be is related to the weapon Doctor T'Soni found in the Mars archives then we cannot afford to allow Cerberus to get their hands on it" Hackett stated gruffly. "Eden Prime however is not without protection, a small platoon was stationed there to protect the researchers and from what little we got out of the distress call a resistance movement joined them in keeping Cerberus at bay" he informed him. "However they will not be able to hold for long so I am sending what forces I can spare to help destroy the Cerberus assault force and I want you to lead it, secure the dig site and destroy the Cerberus attackers" he ordered. "You will head to the far side of Eden Prime's third moon to meet up with the forces I am sending to help, once you have a plan in hand you are to strike" he finished.

"Sir no offence but I have never actually led a full scale assault, my missions have always been small teams" Shepard found himself admitting. "I have no experience planning such an assault" he stated.

"I realise you are more used to leading small teams into dangerous situations but this time you will need a bigger force so I am sending a small fleet as well as a landing force composed of elements of the 1st and 5th regiments along with tank and air support" Hackett responded understanding Shepard's caution but it did nothing to change his stance on him leading this mission.

"Sir I request permission to bring the Primarch into this to help plan it as he has had plenty of experience leading large scale assaults" Shepard replied feeling no shame at requesting help. "Also perhaps the students we rescued from Grissom can aide us in shielding our troops especially during landing on the ground" he added.

He would do whatever it took to secure his objectives and if that meant asking a more experienced commander for help in a certain mission, then that is exactly what he would do. As for the students from Grissom, he didn't want to put them in harm's way but he knew that sooner or later that was exactly where they would be so best they get some experience now where they could be monitored and hopefully head off any kind of idea of been a hero from their minds and getting themselves or others killed.

"If you think the Primarch can help you plan a way to do what I've ordered then by all means bring him into this but Commander you are not to put him in harm's way" Hackett responded somewhat surprised by the request but unlike some of his fellow admirals he saw no problem in asking a Turian for help as long as he could indeed help them secure their objective. "As for the students if Miss Saunders believes they can help you may use their aide but again do not put them in needless danger as their abilities may be needed as this war progresses" he went on only after a short pause as he thought over Shepard's second request. "Do whatever it takes to stop Cerberus and secure whatever it is the researchers have found" he ordered before cutting the contact.

"I understand admiral" Shepard said with a nod of his head even as the hologram cut out. "EDI tell whoever is at the controls to drop out of the closest relay and then change course and head straight for Eden Prime" he ordered as he leaned against the console for a few minutes.

"Ensign Parker is currently at the helm with Ensign Crocker at navigation whilst Jeff sleeps" EDI informed him.

"Then give them my orders and lets head straight for Eden Prime third moon to meet up with the forces Hackett has managed to put together, then once you've done that wake Saunders, Jack, the Primarch and the rest of the team and have them meet me here in ten minutes" Shepard told her. "Leave Joker asleep, he needs it" he added as he knew Joker like himself had a habit of pushing himself recklessly.

He headed back to his cabin intending to have a quick shower before meeting the others to inform of their new orders and to request Primarch Victus's help, he hoped the Turian would be agreeable to help or more people may die carrying out their orders due to his experience planning large scale assaults.

+TOS+

(Cerberus Headquarters)

The Illusive Man sat quietly in his chair reviewing the report that had just come in from his field commander on Eden Prime, whilst his forces had achieved some surprise in their assault on the planet. They had not managed to completely overwhelm whatever resistance had risen to combat them, clearly he had underestimated the people living on Eden Prime as they had quickly joined whatever was left of the defence force to fight off his people. It was aggravating to him that even with their new enhancements, his people had not been able to quickly capture the objective. What annoyed him the most was the fact he knew the colonists had managed to get out a distress call, hence he had to assume Alliance command would send whatever forces it could to help combat this attack. He would not be surprised if Shepard and the Normandy were reported in the response to come, but he doubted even the skilful Commander would be able to prevent Cerberus from achieving its aims here.

Commander Shepard was skilled in many areas involving combat but having had complete access to his record, he knew the man had no skill in overall planning of large scale battles which Eden Prime was turning into. He would not be able to just land his usual small squad and somehow pull a victory out of his hat, this time he had sent tanks and mechs as well as a small army to ensure they took what it was they wanted. He also had a small fleet in orbit of the planet, that should slow whatever counterattack the alliance had in mind perhaps enough for his forces to secure their objective and withdraw. Lighting up a cigarette he began to slowly smoke it, he wondered if his guess about Normandy showing up would turn out correct.

Considering according to their spies the Normandy now contained not only the students from Grissom Academy which had also been targets of theirs especially subject Zero, but also the Turian Primarch and a small bodyguard. Sadly EDI had been the wild card in their goals of taking the Grissom students, she had recognised their fake signal for what it was and Shepard had responded and managed to rescue the students, subject Zero and Kahlee Saunders. Would Shepard or Alliance command risk those on-board by having them join whatever counter strike was coming, they had not bothered to send any forces to stop Shepard getting the Turian Primarch as they still needed to keep the Reapers distracted long enough for them to find the key to controlling them. That meant Shepard been able to build some kind of alliance against them, still enough musing he told himself he had other projects in the works to focus on.

+TOS+

(SSV Normandy)

Shepard re-entered the war room to find nearly the entire team bar Joker assembled along with the Primarch and Kahlee Saunders waiting for him, he hoped they'd managed to get some sleep before he had been forced to wake them as they were going to need to be very focused for what they had to do.

"I am sorry for waking you all but an emergency has just come up and I need all your help to deal with it especially yours Primarch if you are willing" he stated as he came to a stop at the head of the map station which everyone was grouped around.

"What's up Shepard?" Jack inquired letting out a brief yawn before continuing. "I doubt you'd wake us from a good sleep without good reason" she added.

"Eden Prime is under attack from Cerberus and we have been ordered to head to the third moon to meet up with whatever forces Hackett has pulled together, and then we are to stop the assault and wipe the Cerberus forces out" Shepard answered darkly. "However I have no experience with leading such a large force, my skill is more in leading small strike teams thus I am hoping Primarch Victus will agree to plan the mission for us" he continued actually surprising the Turian leader who had not expected to be asked to plan what was clearly a human operation.

His experience with most humans had been rather negative although unlike most Turians he did not judge the whole species on those few he had interacted with. He especially did not harbour the deep hatred and suspicion those like Saren had for the younger race, he saw much promise in them if they could only temper their strong belief in their own right to so quickly become a guiding hand in the galaxy. Even though the Turians, the Asari, the Krogan, the Salarians and a host of other races were older and had been at the forefront of galactic events for longer than any human had been alive. The majority of the race still seemed to believe they would quickly gain the same respect and power to affect galactic events that it had taken the others many centuries to acquire. Cerberus were the worst of those kind of believers, they would do anything to put their species on top of galactic affairs. He doubted any human admiral would ever consider asking a Turian general for aide in one of their missions, yet here was one of their commanders doing just that and showing no disquiet or anger at asking.

Everything Garrus had told him about Shepard seemed to be completely true, the man had no ego and cared nothing of asking for help from anyone no matter their species. He did not seem to see the line most of his kind put between them and the other races, which impressed him. If the humans could have found a leader with that outlook and personality when they first entered the wider galaxy, it would have been a smoother ride perhaps without the need for the war between their respective races. If Shepard was to be the one who the humans chose to try and bring some kind of alliance together, then in his eyes they had chosen the right one.

In this war things like pride and arrogance would only get them all killed, even he could see that was the truth of the matter. Whatever plans Fedorian had had when he called for a summit were never going to work had he only been concerned in gaining aide for Palavin, the only way an alliance was going to get off the ground was by been willing to help the other races so they would be willing to help them. Shepard already seemed willing and able to help whoever asked, even if it only advanced his own goals of gaining an alliance in a small manner.

"I am indeed willing to help Commander but before I can help plan your counter attack I would need to know what kind of forces I have to work with and a map of the area where this battle would take place" he finally responded having realised he had been thinking a bit too long.

"EDI bring us up a map Eden Prime and using the data Hackett sent us about the attack, show us the general area around the dig site which is the focus on the Cerberus assault" Shepard ordered. "Then send a signal to Admiral Hackett requesting information on all forces been sent to help us" he added.

The holographic map instantly changed before them to show the area of Eden Prime where the dig site was located as well as where the Prothean beacon had been located years before, it also showed the surrounding area as well as indicating where the Alliance and Cerberus forces were located.

"Damn the defenders are encircled completely" Garrus noted as he looked over the new display. "Cerberus controls the outer area as well as the high ground" he added.

"That will be the first thing we will need to take from them when we strike, thus we can then get our own troops and better our snipers into a location where they can rain down hell on the enemy" Victus stated as he noted the same thing Garrus had. "The defenders are at least well dug in and have plenty of cover which is why they are holding their ground so well against a superior force, the colony huts however give the Cerberus troops plenty of places to hide and shoot from cover" he mused. "hmmm, Garrus please see if any of our own troops are not actively engaged in our own territory and those that are not have as many as possible rendezvous with the alliances forces" he suddenly ordered surprising everyone.

Garrus nodded and moved to use the communications system wondering if this was the beginning of the alliance they hopefully would build to fight and beat the reapers, as he had said before Victus was unconventional and did things that went against most Turian style arts of war. He got away with it because he almost always came out victorious. In that sense he was very much just like Shepard, he wondered though why he was going to call in some of their own troops for this mission.

"You are probably wondering why I am going to bring in some Turian troops correct Commander?" Victus inquired.

"I have to say I am surprised and curious" Shepard responded with a nod of his head.

"Surprise is the answer Commander, you worked closely with Cerberus and more to the point the Illusive Man during the Collector threat to humanity and it would be my guess he had access to all your records and how you like to command" Victus answered. "He knows your closest allies as well, he will be counting on that knowledge and will be ready to counter any counter attack led by you" he continued. "But the one thing he will not count on and will be taken by surprise by is you giving command over to someone else, especially someone who is not even human and he will not expect you to have help so soon from another race and that will give us a huge advantage" he explained. "Turian combat tactics are vastly different from how the Alliance trains their soldiers, I would not expect them to be able to so easily counter us as they will be so certain all they would face is other humans" he finished.

"I think the Primarch is correct about Cerberus and more to the point the Illusive Man's belief in how you would respond to such a threat, and it is my belief he would expect you to be possibly called in to help liberate Eden Prime" EDI stated.

"And he would know from us working with them how we work and where our strengths and weaknesses are" Garrus agreed as he shut down the comm system and re-joined them. "We trusted him to a point when we worked together to stop the Collectors up to the point he showed his true colours in wanting the Collector base intact, this giving him all he needed through the cameras he had installed in the Normandy to watch and learn how we operated separately and together" he added to which Shepard had to agree silently. "But he didn't learn everything about us, and he will underestimate your willingness to reach out to others no matter their race or their creed for aide" he stated confidently.

"Did you find any of own units who can aide us Garrus?" Victus inquired seeing that everyone seemed to be following his reason for calling in Turian aide.

"I did Primarch, elements of the first and second core and they will meet whatever the Alliance is pulling together behind the third moon of Eden Prime" Garrus answered calmly. "They were on their way back to Palavin after dropping off their wounded and regrouping at the Citadel after been heavily mauled by the Reapers in one of our outer sectors when the invasion began" he informed him.

"Good, once we get the information on what forces your Admiral Hackett has sent we can get to planning the mission proper" Victus stated.

"Ok, Jack Miss Saunders we are also going to need the help of our students for this to help shield our landing, I am hoping by bringing them into this they can see just what awaits them once we reach the citadel and they are fully deployed in the field" Shepard said before turning to the wild biotic and Anderson's friend. "I am hoping to curtail any urge they may have to try and be a hero by showing them in a controlled environment just what war is like, but I will not force their aide if you truly think they are not ready" he explained.

"You only want them to shield the landing?" Kahlee inquired as she contemplated the commander's request and his explanation for it.

"Once the landing is complete, they will shield our troops main line from enemy fire" Shepard assured her. "I will not be taking them into the jaws of death, plus Jack and Liara will be leading them and teaching them how to act in a combat situation" he added.

Victus listened as the commander and the two women who had been rescued with the students talked, he could see the advantage of having a batch of biotic students covering their landing but he was concerned that these students had never seen active combat before. He'd been in enough battles before when rookies let their emotions got the better of them and they did something against orders, or tried to do something to make themselves the hero of the battle. The commander was hoping to use this situation to train out that sort of reckless urges in the students, he was placing two of his best people with them to ensure they kept their heads down and followed orders.

"As long as you don't try and use them in an assault we're okay with them helping here as it might at least settled their damn ego's thinking they can take on anything just cause they have biotics" Jack said finally. "They are not me and never will be, my biotics are stronger cause of what Cerberus did to me" she growled. "With T'soni's help we can keep them focused on their mission of keeping the landing site secure and the main line troops safe" she added.

"Shepard, I am receiving a transmission from Admiral Hackett detailing all troops, tanks, fighters and ships to take part in the operation" EDI announced interrupting them. "Relaying the information to the map now" she added.

Victus quickly turned his focus to the information that quickly took the place of the images of the Eden Prime battle site, the amount of troops and tanks was on a whole rather small but with the Reapers baring down on them all resources were in short supply for them all. Still it was enough of a force when added to the troops Garrus had relocated from their own forces to get the job done. Now all he had to do was put together plan that would succeed in their mission goals, Shepard and the others settled in to wait as the Primarch set to work on creating the plan of attack.

+OS+

(Space Station Megalith)

Steven Hackett stood staring out of the nearby window of the stations bridge as the frame work for the Prothean weapon were been put in place, once the frame work was up they could begin focusing on the weapon itself. Multiple ships worked as tugs to pull the various heavy frames to their assigned positions, it was a time consuming operation but hopefully if the weapon could be built and utilized as intended it would be well worth the effort as it might win them the war. Of course that meant finding the missing component the crucible, thankfully they still had time to locate it as for now their forces were holding their ground even if they were suffering for that fact. The problems Cerberus was causing however were now becoming truly annoying and distracting, twice now Shepard had diverted from returning the Turian Primarch to the Citadel so he could chair a summit to hopefully build an alliance against the Reapers due to Cerberus attacks on their own colonies. The reports Shepard had filed showed evidence that Cerberus was now using Reaper tech to alter their soldiers, that due to this it was possible the whole organisation was now indoctrinated.

Either way Cerberus was a problem that needed stopping, sending Shepard and his crew especially with the Primarch of the Turian Hierarchy on board was risky but the Shepard was a capable leader and a symbol to their people. Hopefully the man's incredible skill and more importantly his luck would help them stop their invasion of Eden Prime and secure whatever it was the research time had found, perhaps just perhaps it was the missing piece of the weapon they were currently building.