MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY CHARACTERS ARE MINE, UNLESS BIOWARE WANTS THEM… AND TO HIRE ME, BECAUSE THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.

So, Alanna's secret heritage is out, which should be a shock for many people. The Council's secret invasion has been not-so-secret for a while, and thus shocks nobody.

Mass Effect: Legacy

III

Alanna closed her eyes and counted backwards from ten. She had been preparing for this day for most of her life, but there was a massive difference between a hypothetical scenario created by Miranda and the real thing.

"So… Commander Shepard is your father."

Nope, the counting thing isn't helping, Alanna thought.

"Yes, Haley, he was."

After James' announcement, the whispers had started among the other new N7s. It wasn't exactly a secret that John Shepard and Liara T'Soni had been a couple—they had been the subject of romance vids for decades—but there had never been any indication that they'd conceived a child. The idea of a direct descendent of the most important person in the galaxy's known history had sent shockwaves through the other soldiers, and if the not-so-subtle omni-tools were any indication, they were sharing that news with friends and family.

"By next week, the whole galaxy is gonna know." Alanna sighed at James' words, and saluted far slower than she should have. Haley and Korim, on the other hand, nearly jumped out of their skins at his sudden appearance.

"Sir!" both N7s saluted.

James gave them a glance, then raised an eyebrow at Alanna.

"I trust them," she said.

"All right, at ease." James turned to Haley. "You have something to say, Sergeant?"

Haley seemed to struggle with herself for a moment. "Alanna, why didn't you tell us?"

Alanna gave her a look. "What, tell you my biggest secret in a cramped barracks with people who would act, I don't know, exactly like this?"

Korim considered that. "Actually, that's a good point."

Haley made a face. "Okay, so how much of what you've told us about yourself was a lie?"

Alanna shrugged. "Eh, just my last name. If you recall, I never gave specifics about anything, except where I was born, and that my mom always confuses Florence with Venice."

"Suddenly, a lot of things make sense about you." Haley crossed her arms and looked down; if Alanna had to guess, Haley was reviewing all she knew about her. "I'm guessing you know all of Commander Shepard's old teammates."

Alanna smiled weakly. "Yeah, they all figured this might happen at some point, and if it didn't happen on their terms, they wanted me to be prepared."

Korim tilted his head. "What about what you wanted?"

"Hey, I'm proud of who my father was," Alanna said. "I couldn't wait to follow in his footsteps, or for people to use my real name."

"And now that the little demonio is as prepped as she can be, we don't need to watch over her." James grinned. "Not that you needed us during that raid you led against those pirates. Man, Sparks was so proud of that when she heard."

"Yeah, I remember." Alanna tried to smile, but even after a year, Tali's unexpected death still hurt.

James saw the pain on her face, and put his hand on her shoulder for a moment. "Okay, people, you have another hour to get it all out of your systems. Then you're grabbing your kit and shipping out."

His words made the recent revelation take a backseat. "We're getting deployed already?" Alanna asked.

"You'll find out more during your briefing," James said. "For now… enjoy the moment while you can."

The three N7s saluted, and James returned it before walking off. Alanna drifted in the direction of the ruins of the old academy before Haley or Korim could pester her with more questions; when she got close enough, her omni-tool was messaged by the memorial VI.

"You stand in front of the former N7 Academy. After the formation of the Systems Alliance, but before the Reaper War, it was the site where the best and brightest of the Alliance military were trained. They were the soldiers humanity needed, to make decisions and carry out missions no one else could be entrusted with. Counted as the greatest N7 was Commander John Shepard, known throughout the galaxy as the greatest hero of the Reaper War. After his death, it was decided that this academy would not be rebuilt, and would stand as a reminder of what Commander Shepard died for, and how far the Alliance has come since."

Alanna had heard that message a hundred times before. Once she had been old enough, she had pestered her mother to give her any and all information about her father. When Liara had been too busy running the galaxy's information network as the Shadow Broker—or, as had been the case in the early years, too grief-stricken to revisit those memories—it had been Miranda, Kaidan, Jacob, or EDI and Joker who had brought her to places like this.

"You okay, Alanna?" Korim asked quietly.

"Not really." Alanna sighed. "All my life, I've wanted to live up to my dad, but I grew up with what history says he did, and the stories his friends have of him. Everything he did seems… I don't know. Larger than life, I guess. Now that I'm an N7, it kind of feels like I'm closer to him, but at the same time, I feel like I have to be even better."

Korim considered that for a moment, then lightly punched her shoulder. "Hey, don't stress too much. It's not like the Reapers are attacking us again. I don't think we need another galactic savior."

Alanna smiled at his words, though she neglected to mention that the Shadow Broker had an entire division of agents constantly searching for threats like the Reapers.

"Hey, Alanna?" Haley gently nudged her. "Sorry about annoying you earlier. It was just a bit of a shock, you know? It's not every day you find out your best friend is the daughter of Commander Shepard."

"I guess that's true." Alanna grinned. "Does that mean you're gonna go from staring at my ass to propositioning me?"

"Oh my god, you are never going to let that go, are you?"

The three of them laughed; just because the truth about Alanna's heritage was out didn't change the fact that they were still friends. They just hoped that whatever their upcoming mission was didn't separate them for good.

…

General Illa Ky'Goss carefully went over each report her officers gave her. The Rannoch Liberation Army wasn't a finely-honed war machine, but it had two things going for it that would, in theory, break through any defense the Alliance might put in their way. The first was Batarian aggression; for over a decade, the reborn Batarian Hegemony had drilled the idea of 'constant attack' into the minds of its officers and soldiers. They fought with the tenacity of rabid varren—at least, so the Batarian propaganda machine liked to say.

The second advantage, one that Ky'Goss was personally proud of, was the huge number of Asari going to war. For centuries, the Asari had relied on diplomacy and alliances to end wars before they started, but that attitude had changed after the Reaper War. Millions of Asari had been scarred by an enemy that could not be reasoned with, could not be outthought, and could not be stopped. Most Asari barely knew how to hold a gun during the war, much less how to be proper soldiers, and many had paid the price. Ky'Goss herself had watched her sisters die on Thessia, torn apart by a swarm of Husks; their screams still haunted her nightmares.

After the war, the Asari were faced with the terrible truth that they were not the superior species of the galaxy. If they were going to ensure their safety, they couldn't rely on the Turians to do all the fighting, nor could they rely on the Salarians to have all the answers.

It took a hundred years, but the new Asari military was a sight to behold. It wasn't as numerous as the Turians, or even the resurgent Batarians, but what the Asari forces lacked in numbers, they made up for in power. Every single one of their soldiers was a biotic, and it was common knowledge that a single well-trained biotic was worth an entire squad of regular soldiers.

Their navy had also grown in power. Rather than waste money and resources on big, slow dreadnoughts, the Asari had focused almost exclusively on frigates, cruisers, destroyers, and most importantly, carriers. The latter weren't the enormous command centers of the Alliance navy; by most species' classifications, the Asari only had light carriers. They were small, but there were a lot of them, and the pilots of the fighters that were based on those carriers were some of the best in Council space.

Let the Batarians fight in the center, Ky'Goss thought. We will dance through the enemy lines, shred their flanks, and make them regret siding against us.

One of her subordinates saluted as she entered Ky'Goss' office. "General, we'll be crossing into Alliance space in twenty hours."

"Excellent." Ky'Goss frowned as a thought occurred to her. "The secrecy mandate is still in effect, yes?"

"Yes, General; only the senior officers are aware of our objectives. As far as the rest of the troops are aware, this is just a large-scale war game with the Batarians. Speaking of which, I just got off the comms with my counterpart for the Batarians, and they're maintaining the same discipline."

That was the biggest fear for this whole operation; it was common knowledge that the Geth were the best intelligence agents in the galaxy, so everything was kept on a need-to-know basis. As far as the commanding officers were concerned, the regular troops didn't need to know until it was time to attack.

"We shouldn't need to even stop at Elysium," Ky'Goss said. "According to our most recent reports, the Alliance patrols will have little to no presence between us and the Mass Relay. From then, it's a straight shot to Rannoch."

"That shouldn't be a hard fight," the officer commented. "I mean, every soldier has an overload function in their omni-tool for the Geth, and the Quarians should be more than happy to help us."

"Don't expect it to go completely our way," Ky'Goss warned. "It's been a hundred years since the Geth enslaved the Quarians; more than a few might be brainwashed."

"Right, of course." The officer paused. "Do we have rules of engagement for civilians?"

Ky'Goss sneered. "If they don't get out of the way, refuse to house and supply our forces, or prevent our advance, they are to be considered hostile. We're not here to be light; we're here to show the galaxy why the Council, the Asari, are meant to guide the future of the galaxy."

…

Alanna sat down in the temporary N7 barracks on Earth; she would only have a few minutes of privacy, but it was worth it to make this call. She waited patiently as her omni-tool set up a connection with a frequency that less than a dozen people had access to.

A moment later, a hologram of Liara's face appeared, hovering over the back of Alanna's hand. "Alanna! I heard about your graduation. Congratulations, dear."

"Thanks, Mom." Alanna smiled. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. Just another day of making shadowy deals, blackmail and other impolite things." Liara smirked, and it was mirrored by her daughter. "And how are you?"

"Well, it's been a little tense," Alanna admitted. "People know who I really am now. A few of them asked the questions you expected—'Are you really Commander Shepard's daughter?', 'What was he like?'" Alanna rolled her eyes. "That kind of stuff."

"It's not easy for them to be confronted with anyone related to your father," Liara pointed out. "Especially the humans. Most of the ones who were alive at the same time as John are dead now."

Alanna tried not to wince at the reminder. She had spent her entire life in the Alliance, and had known so few other Asari that she sometimes slipped into the mindset that she was human. The reminder only hit home when she learned that people that had been born at the same time as her were now old, while she was barely old enough to join the military—by Asari standards, anyway.

"Anyway, Haley and Korim were cool with it. I mean, they were shocked, but I think it helped that I didn't actually lie about anything."

"Yes, the two N7 graduates whose scores came closest to yours. Their profiles suggested they would complement you well."

Alanna frowned. "How do you know their scores? That information is classified."

Liara's grin had a dangerous edge. "Remember what I do for a living. It shouldn't surprise you that I know. Incidentally, I know about that pig, Rollins; if you ever want to utterly destroy his career, all you have to do is ask."

Alanna's first instinct was to balk, but then she remembered all the times she and every other woman on the base had felt his wandering eyes on them. "I'll… keep that in mind, Mom. Anyway, I should go; we're getting deployed soon."

"I see." Liara's expression suggested that she knew exactly what Alanna was getting into. "If we're lucky, everything will have a peaceful resolution. If not… stay safe, dear. I don't think I could bear losing you."

"I'll do my best, Mom, but if you wanted me to have a safe job, you shouldn't have let me become a soldier." Still, Alanna gave her mother her best smile. "I'll be fine, Mom. I remember everything you and the rest of the family taught me, and I'll stay with my squad. I love you."

"And I love you as well." Liara smiled back, and then hung up.

Alanna took a long, steadying breath, and then rose to her feet. She checked the contents of her footlocker one last time, and then handed it to a waiting mech that would take it to wherever she was to be stationed.

She jogged over to Haley and Korim, who were waiting outside the briefing room.

"You're almost late, Lieutenant," Korim joked. "Not a good look, nearly missing your first briefing as an N7."

"You know I can kill you with a sneeze, right?" Alanna said, and elbowed him in the ribs.

Korim rolled his eyes. "Please, the Geth boosted our immune systems decades ago. The worst you'll do is knock me out for a few days."

The N7s quickly took their seats and waited for the briefing; to their surprise, it was James who entered the room. They stood and saluted, but he quickly waved them off.

"At ease, all of you," he said. "We don't have time for formalities, and the situation is volatile, so listen up.

"A little over a year ago, our intelligence revealed that the Council was planning on an invasion to split the Alliance in half. They're preparing a major military strike through the Vetus system—specifically, the world of Elysium—and from there, through the Mass Relay to Rannoch. Their reasoning is that the Quarians have been enslaved by the Geth, and are using that garbage as an excuse to invade."

Murmurs spread through the seated officers, and more than a few soldiers were angry. That was especially true for the Quarians and the Geth, who had spent the last century in peace. Korim was trembling in outrage, and when Alanna saw biotic energy coiling around his hands, she grabbed his shoulder to make sure he didn't break something.

"As I said, we've been aware of this for a long time," James continued. "We have no intention of letting the Council just walk on through to Rannoch, and have established a defensive network around Elysium. You'll be joining the ground forces, but be prepared to be transferred to space for possible boarding actions. You're N7s; you're prepared for anything. Take care of your gear, remember your training, watch your buddies' backs, and you'll come home alive. You ship out on the transports in twenty minutes. Dismissed!"

Alanna and Haley shared a wordless agreement to keep an eye on Korim, who was fuming as he stormed towards their shuttle. "It's a bunch of bullshit! 'Enslaved by the Geth', what a complete load!"

"I can't believe they still think synthetics are evil," Haley commented. "Sure, there were the Reapers, but the Geth only ever attacked out of self-defense!"

"There were also the heretic Geth that sided with the Reapers," Alanna reminded her. "Sure, most of them rejoined the rest of the Consensus, but those Geth did attack the Citadel."

"It was more than a hundred years ago!"

Alanna shrugged. "To be fair, most Asari alive today still remember those days."

Korim sighed. "Right, thousand-year lifespans. Why do I keep forgetting?"

"Because our only resident Asari acts like a human?" Haley grinned to take the sting out of her words.

Alanna shrugged again. "Hey, I was born on Earth. Sometimes I need to look in a mirror to remind myself I'm not human."

"Actually, that brings up a question," Korim said. "Are you going to be okay fighting other Asari?"

"I don't know. Would you be okay if you had to fight another Quarian?"

"I did, once." Korim didn't meet the shocked gazes of his friends. "It was five years ago. I was part of a crackdown on a Xenite cell."

Haley blinked. "What's a Xenite?"

Korim sighed, and hopped into their shuttle. Once it took off, he spoke again. "There was an admiral, Daro'Xen; she was part of the Admiralty, before and during the Reaper War. She was brilliant, but it's no secret she was unhinged; she wanted to enslave the Geth, make them our tools again. She never got her way, but she had enough followers that they became a political party, but their views were seen as radical, and they were outlawed. They basically became pirates, hacking Geth platforms and trying to take control of their programs. I was part of a taskforce that drove them out of Alliance space—what was left of them, anyway. After we got through with them, there can't be more than a hundred left."

"That sounds like it should have been big news," Alanna said. "How come I've never heard of this?"

Korim sighed again. "My people are ashamed of how we treated the Geth, and we're proud of how we've changed since then. The Xenites are a stain on our recent history."

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to advertise that I had a sect in my species that wanted to bring back slavery," Haley said. "Wait, Alanna, are you the only one who hasn't fought someone from their own species? Because I had to shoot a couple of smugglers a couple years back."

Alanna grimaced. "Honestly, I've only ever met maybe a dozen other Asari, and the only one who wasn't an Alliance citizen is a Justicar, and she wouldn't fight an unjust war."

"Huh. You're right, you are practically human."

"Well, as far as I'm concerned, the Council are about to attack my true people." Alanna's eyes darkened. "I don't care if I share their DNA or not, I'm not letting anyone push us around."

…

Fleet Admiral Royce watched as the first squadrons of Batarian ships inched closer to the border. According to sensors, they would be illegally entering Alliance space in less than an hour. From there, they would take the Mass Relay to the Vetus system, and into the jaws of the Alliance fleet.

Truthfully, Royce could have set up his ships right in front of the gathering armada, but he understood the reasoning for this strategy. If the Council saw the Alliance waiting for them right away, they would know that their security had been compromised. The longer they thought otherwise, the easier it would be for the Geth to grab as much intelligence as possible before the STG started closing up holes in their cyberwarfare defenses.

Besides, it would be easier to win the battle with the orbital defenses in the Alliance's corner.

Royce's omni-tool beeped, informing him of yet another update. Just like the last fifty updates, the diplomatic front was proving to be a bust. The Council had all but cut contact with the Alliance, blocking all diplomatic channels with red tape and false claims of 'technical malfunctions'. If it hadn't been obvious before that they were planning something, it was now.

At least the defenses were prepared, and reinforcements for the surface-based forces were still coming in. The Council could send whatever they wanted, but the Alliance was ready.

"Sir, new reports from the border," the Unity's comms-officer called out. "The Council ships just went to FTL. According to their trajectory, they'll be in-system in fifteen minutes."

"So it begins," Royce muttered, and then rose to his feet. "All ships, this is Royce; hostile forces have crossed our border, and are on their way. Red alert! Prep all weapons, raise barriers, and deploy fighters for immediate counterattack!"

The next fifteen minutes were some of the tensest of Royce's life. Unlike before, he couldn't distract himself with reports; if something was urgent, one of his officers would get his attention, but he had to keep his eyes glued to the tactical display, a three-dimensional hologram of the system. It showed his fleet, with battlegroups marked by green triangles; he could select any individual triangle to get accurate data on each ship, down to the readiness of its crew via reports on their vitals.

When the Council ships arrived, Royce's first reaction was to be unimpressed. The enemy fleet's formation was exactly how Alliance Intelligence had predicted—defensive screens of lighter ships, followed by the bigger vessels. It was standard procedure to use the smaller, faster ships to keep their counterparts busy, and hold the larger ships in place to line up a perfect kill-shot with the dreadnoughts.

Unfortunately for the Council, the Alliance had their number; each of their own ships' guns were controlled by a Geth processor, which meant they could lock on and fire at a faster rate.

Still, Royce would not go down in history as the man who ordered the deaths of thousands without one last attempt for peace.

"Attention, Council fleet," he said, broadcasting his words on an open channel. "This is Fleet Admiral Mark Royce. You have illegally entered Systems Alliance space; leave now, or you will be fired upon."

For a moment, the Council ships remained motionless, and Royce allowed himself to hope.

"Sir, the enemy fleet is advancing," an officer reported.

Damn it all, Royce thought. We're committed now.

"All ships, defensive pattern Epsilon-Three. Target the flanking vessels first, and fire when in range."

Hundreds of acknowledgements replied; a moment later, the Alliance guns began to sing. Humanity had fewer dreadnoughts than was expected, but they made up for it with their carrier battlegroups and long-range destroyers; the latter fired hundreds of missiles, which were quickly overtaken by the mass-accelerator rounds from the cruisers and frigates.

Ordinarily, a ship could swat dozens of missiles out of the sky with their GARDIAN weapons, but the Alliance had prepared for that. Geth specialists were able to partially disrupt the GARDIAN targeting VIs, just enough to give the missiles a better chance to connect. Many of their targets were already reeling from mass-accelerator impacts, and with their shields weakened, the Council fleet suddenly lost a dozen ships, either destroyed or crippled.

And that was just the first volley.

It became clear to Royce's counterpart in the Council fleet that the Alliance held all the advantages. The Alliance had superior range, firepower, technical know-how, and numbers; Royce hadn't even deployed his full fleet, but he had four hundred ships to the Council's three hundred.

Royce could almost read his counterpart's mind. In this situation, the wisest move would be to retreat, since it was clear the Alliance was ready. The only other move would be to close up their formation and punch straight through the Alliance line in an attempt to reach the Mass Relay. To do that would bring them close to Elysium, and its orbital defenses—and to counter that, they would have to deploy ground forces that would be needed to fight at Rannoch.

"Turn around, idiot," Royce muttered. "The odds against you are too much. Leave, before more people die."

Unfortunately, Royce's opponent was either stubborn, or had received orders from their superiors to press the attack. The Council fleet tightened their formation, covering for their weakened GARDIAN systems by overlapping their fields of fire, and advanced. Royce sighed, and the signaled for the second stage of the defense. It was time for the Council to see what a Krogan ship could do.

The Krogan navy had started out as something of a joke, even among the Alliance. By their own admission, the Krogan were best on the ground; if they had to fight in space, they preferred boarding actions. That was still true today, but when the Quarians and humans had offered to teach the Krogan naval tactics, they had been swamped with volunteers.

Krogan warships fought a lot like the Krogan themselves. They were big, heavily armed, and very hard to kill. More than a few people thought that the Krogan had just built a bunch of fortresses in space, and then slapped engines on them. By dint of their size, the Krogan navy was composed almost entirely of heavy cruisers and dreadnoughts; though they had the smallest numbers, just one of their ships had the firepower of five normal vessels.

The largest, and most famous, Krogan warship had been personally seconded to Royce's command by Urdnot Wrex himself. The Urdnot's Hand was almost fifteen hundred meters long, and had the mass of two human dreadnoughts; it had thirty standard mass-accelerator cannons, and twelve that were dreadnought-class, and enough missiles to turn a city into a crater. When it fired, seven Council ships abruptly vanished from Royce's tactical display, and another—a Batarian dreadnought, much to Royce's joy—was marked as disabled.

"Sir, the enemy fleet is still advancing," Royce heard. "They're projected to slingshot around Elysium and hit the Relay."

"They'll drop off ground forces to tie down our orbital defenses, then try to hit us with a second wave when we go to assist." Royce scowled. "Initiate Plan Delta; we can't afford to try knife-fighting them."

Rather than try to halt the enemy fleet with that much concentrated firepower and momentum, the Alliance ships parted, allowing them to pass through. That didn't mean they stopped firing, though, and by the time the Council ships closed on the Mass Relay, nearly a third of the fleet was disabled or destroyed, and almost all of the surviving ships were damaged in some capacity.

"The enemy is deploying shuttles and heavy landers to the surface," the tactical officer reported. "It looks like about fifty thousand infantry, maybe a thousand armored units."

Royce scowled. "Then the rest are headed to Rannoch."

"Yes, sir." Another alarm blared. "Alert! More Council ships inbound! We're detecting one hundred and eighteen signatures, mostly cruiser-tonnage and below."

Royce nodded; Alliance Intelligence had already known about the waves of ships the Council would use. Each fleet after the first would contain reinforcements and supplies for the initial invasion force; while Royce had known that he wouldn't have been able to completely stop the first attack on its way to Rannoch, he was more than capable of destroying these smaller fleets piecemeal.

"Reform the fleet, prepare to catch the enemy in a double-enfilade." Royce watched the tactical display, and noted in approval how quickly and efficiently his fleet went back into formation. They didn't need his command to open fire as soon as the next wave of ships entered the system, and void was lit up with the explosions of pressurized vessels.

At this point, Royce's only immediate remaining concern was the war on the ground. Even with so many advantages, the Alliance had always worried how their ground forces would face in the first true war in over a century. At the very least, Royce just hoped the Elysium garrison could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

…

Alanna's only sign of anxiety was how little emotion she showed. Normally, she was energetic and smiling, but as she read the incoming data, the sole indication that she wasn't a statue was her breathing.

The Vetus system was holding, with only small battlegroups punching through the Alliance fleet to the Relay to Rannoch, but the news from Elysium was grim. The Council forces had managed to establish several beachheads before the Alliance could muster a counterattack, and parts of the garrison were slowly being forced back. The casualties had already reached nearly eight thousand.

In contrast to Alanna, Haley was venting her pent-up energy by throwing punch after punch at a holographic target, set up by Korim. He, in turn, was reviewing the situation from the Tikkun system, reading aloud every time he got a new update.

"Bastards," he swore. "They just use destroyed a convoy of evacuating civilian shuttles!" He slammed his hand into his locker. "They're claiming they were hitting a military supply convoy!"

"How bad was it?" Alanna asked.

"At least four hundred dead, including children." Korim hit his locker again. "I wish I was there, with the Marines."

"I wouldn't be surprised if we get sent there after we clean up on Elysium," Haley grunted, and finally stepped away from her target. "Speaking of which, how much longer 'til we're there?"

"Six hours," Alanna said tersely. "Get cleaned up, check your gear, grab some food and sleep if you can."

Haley sighed. "Copy that, Lieutenant. Come on, Korim, let's go. And stop looking at the news feed, you'll just stress yourself out more."

"You're not my mom," Korim muttered petulantly, but allowed Haley to drag him to his feet. "Alanna, you coming with?"

"Not yet." She waved them off. "Give me a few minutes."

Once Alanna was alone in the transport's locker room, she made a call on her omni-tool; normally, she wouldn't have made an unauthorized transmission to someone who was technically a civilian, but only an AI who was actively looking would have detected her encrypted message.

"Hello, Alanna," Liara said, her voice tired. "Should you really be calling me right now?"

"Probably not, but I have to know." Alanna glared at her mother through the omni-tool. "Did you know about this attack?"

"Of course I did; I found out the same time as the Alliance. If you're asking if I had any idea this would happen before the Alliance knew… I suspected, and forwarded what little information I had to Miranda as soon as it crossed my desk."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Alanna, there are many things I don't tell you, but that's because none of them would help you. The Council—excluding the Turians, it seems—considers the Alliance an existential threat. Less than two centuries ago, humans went from a backwater species to a major galactic player. No other species in this cycle's history has moved that quickly. Then, humans went and created an alliance with the Krogan, the Quarians, and the Geth; three species that have historically been treated poorly by the rest of the galaxy. If everyone hadn't been recovering from the Reaper War, this attack would have happened decades ago."

Alanna grimaced. "And since the Alliance never really did anything to change people's perspective, the Council has had a hundred years to let all that fear fester."

"It was probably a misguided attempt to let the next generation move forward without bias," Liara said. "However, most Asari alive today can still remember when the Geth turned the Quarians into refugees, and the Salarians spent almost fifteen centuries worrying about a Krogan revival. Even though the Turians are much better, more than a few can remember the days when they treated Quarians like vagrants. And let's not forget that the Batarians suffered quite a few humiliations at human hands."

"You'd think everything Dad did would have made things better."

Liara chuckled. "In many ways, things are better, but in the eyes of many in Council space, your father didn't just stop the Reapers. He also brought together four races that have kept more than a few people awake at night."

Alanna sighed. "Yeah, but I wish people would stop being stupid."

"It took the arrival of the Reapers to get the galaxy to pull its collective head out of the sand. Compared to that, convincing the Council races to stop this madness is like hitting your head against a wall."

"Hey, if I strengthen my skull with a biotic field, that wall would break before I would."

Liara smiled at her daughter. "Maybe that's what the galaxy needs."

Alanna grinned. "Thanks, Mom. I should go; I told Haley and Korim I'd be right behind them."

"Good luck, dear; stay safe."

After the call ended, Alanna opened her locker and began inspecting her gear. She'd vented enough; now it was time to finally do her part.

…

Colonel Harrik bit back a curse as he received another casualty report. The initial strategy had never called for a landing on Elysium, but the appearance of the orbital defenses—and how STG had missed those, he couldn't fathom—had necessitated a redeployment. The plan had been for a multi-pronged strike to disable the orbital stations from the ground, and then quickly get back to the fleet. That plan had been discarded almost as soon as the Council troops landed; the Alliance defenses were too strong to break through, and the transports would be torn apart by the Alliance fleet if they stayed in orbit.

Harrik had held a council of war with the dozen or so other commanding officers; their general had been shot out of the sky during the landing, and after a brief panic, Harrik had been chosen as the new commander of the Elysium theater. Weighing his options, he had decided to dig in his forces, and disable whatever Alliance defenses as he could; hopefully, that would allow another wave of Council ships to break through and pick him and his forces up.

What really bothered him—and most of his soldiers—was that they'd had almost no preparation. They'd been told that they'd be conducting a large-scale war game, until it was suddenly announced that the Council was actually planning to 'liberate' Rannoch from the Geth. That had nearly set off a panic for the Salarian colonel, because he'd thought the Council and the Alliance were on at least polite terms. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why they were suddenly at war.

No, wait, it's a 'special military operation', he thought sourly. When someone had used the word 'war' with General Ky'Goss, the unstable Asari had thrown the junior officer in the brig. As if calling it something else changed anything.

The Alliance certainly treated it like a war; their snipers killed any officers that entered their crosshairs, and their artillery pounded anything that crept from their fortifications into paste. Though the humans and Quarians didn't have the kind of experience as the Asari, the Salarians and Batarians were outmatched by the experience of the Krogan and the Geth. Both sides had veterans of the Reaper War to keep their morale in check, and both sides had discipline.

What the Alliance had in spades, however, were supplies. Elysium had been fortified for just this sort of attack, and Harrik knew it; his own forces were running low on food and equipment, and were already scavenging off the dead Alliance soldiers. Worse, despite Harrik's attempt to prevent otherwise, his soldiers were also attacking the civilians trying to escape the fighting—not because they were mistaken for enemy combatants, but because the Council troops wanted to rob them.

This is an immoral war, Harrik thought to himself, but he couldn't say it out loud. Instead, all he could do was try to keep his forces focused on fighting the actual soldiers. The best he could hope for, as long as this battle didn't go any further sideways, was that he would evacuate his troops as soon as possible, and that the idiots in the rear echelon didn't make things even worse.

…

A living legend was waiting for the N7 reinforcements as they arrived in Illyria, Elysium's capital city. Aralakh Grunt, formerly Urdnot Grunt, leaned against a stack of power cells with his arms crossed. His glare alone was enough to scare even the veteran soldiers as they got off their shuttles; his silver armor was similar to the suit he'd used during the Reaper War, but with thicker plating that gave him an even more hulking appearance. The ridged plates on his head had finally smoothed out, turning into a brown so dark it was almost black.

"It's about time you runts got here," Grunt growled, and sniffed the air. "Great, I can smell the pride on you guys. Lemme tell you, you aren't real N7s, not until you've torn an entire squad apart by yourselves! You want my respect? You want the respect of the Alliance? Then you better prove you deserve those N7 tags!"

The fifty N7s who had arrived at the base stood at attention. "Sir! Yes, sir!"

Grunt wasn't just a legendary soldier; after the Reaper War, he and Aralakh Company had accrued so many commendations that Wrex decided to make them their own clan. True, they were basically a branch of Urdnot, and they were one of the smaller clans, but their soldiers had the best training and gear of all Krogan clans. Almost every Krogan N7 came from Clan Aralakh, which Grunt never stopped reminding anyone who tried to take him down a peg. Grunt had also proven himself as not just a clan leader, but also a general in the Alliance, renowned for aggressive tactics and combined-arms strategies that did the most damage to the enemy, and sustained as few casualties as possible.

"You'll be getting your assignments soon," Grunt said, and tapped at his omni-tool. "Lieutenant Alanna!"

Alanna saluted. "Sir!"

"After you get your gear squared away, grab two others and meet me at the vehicle depot. I've got a mission for you."

"Yes, sir!"

Grunt didn't actually dismiss them, but just stomped away; after a moment, the N7s warily grabbed their gear and followed their NavPoints to their assigned barracks. As she moved, Alanna tapped both Haley and Korim.

"If I'm getting sent on a mission, I'd like to go with people I trust. You want in?"

Haley grinned. "You have to ask? Of course we're in!"

Korim chuckled nervously. "I don't know, Haley; if Alanna is anything like her father, we'll get pulled into at least two suicide missions every week."

"I've got four words for that," Haley said. "The first two are 'hazard pay', and the last two are 'rapid promotion'."

"Good point, I'm in."

"Nice to know you guys are in it for something other than me," Alanna grumbled.

"I don't think hanging out with you is going to pay our bills," Haley said, and gently elbowed her. "Come on, we shouldn't keep a general waiting."

"Good idea; he gets grumpy when he's impatient, and then he starts headbutting people."

Korim hesitated. "Wouldn't that crush most people?"

Haley nodded sagely. "Hence why we shouldn't keep him waiting."

The three were suited up and armed in record time. When they found Grunt, he was barking orders at another Alliance squad, who seemed to be on the verge of cowering behind the tactical display.

"No excuses!" Grunt roared. "Those foothills are a sniper's dream, and if we don't kick those squads out of there, we're gonna find pillboxes and artillery right in the middle of our evacuation corridors!" He glanced at Alanna's squad, then back at the men he'd been yelling at. "Get patched up and back out there; call in an airstrike if you have to, but those hills cannot be lost."

After the chastised squad was gone, Grunt fully turned to Alanna. "Nice paint, kid. Anyone call you out on it?"

Alanna grinned. "Half the N7 program has Dad's stripes somewhere on their armor. I figured I had more claim to it than anyone."

After graduating, the N7s were allowed to customize their armor—within reason, of course; no one was going to be let out into the field wearing bright pink. Korim's armor was a grey-and-white digital camouflage, while Haley's was matte-black with red highlights on the elbows, knees and shoulders, as well as a thick red stripe on the middle of her torso. Alanna's armor was fairly basic in terms of color—a darker grey, save for a thick blue stripe going down from her right shoulder to the back of her gauntlet, with a thin white stripe on either side.

Commander Shepard had had the same stripe, but with red instead of blue. Alanna had kept the pattern for her father, but changed the color for her mother.

"It's a good look," Grunt said. "Get ready for some chipped paint, though; I'm sending you into the deep end for this one."

"Ready and willing, sir," Alanna said, all-business now. "What's the op?"

Grunt tapped the tactical display, showing a map of the continent; he zoomed in on the northern third, which was suddenly covered in red dots. "Council forces landed yesterday, and they've been digging in ever since. We've kept them contained, but they keep pushing for Base Theta; that seems to be their primary objective, but we lost contact with the base six hours ago."

"What's so important about that base?" Alanna asked.

"Aside from the fact that it's just behind their lines, which means we can't reinforce the troops inside? It coordinates with one of our primary orbital defense stations, which has been doing a damn good job of bloodying any Council ship that tries to get close." Grunt snarled. "Your job is to get to Base Theta; if it's still standing, reinforce the garrison there, and keep the enemy out until I can fight through with an armored column. The Salarians in the area are going to pick up my tanks as soon as they get close to the front, so I want you to get to the base before I make my move."

Alanna looked down at the map, which showed a small blue square, surrounded by pulsing red dots. "Just tell us where to go, sir; they won't take that base from us."

"Good to know, Lieutenant." Grunt grinned. "You have ten minutes to prep; then, you're moving out."

…

Elysium was a nice place, Alanna reflected. Most of the time, as long as it wasn't raining, or when the planet wasn't under attack by the Council. Unfortunately, both of those things were happening at the moment, so she couldn't even enjoy the scenery.

At least the rain would help cover their approach to Base Theta. Her squad's shuttle flew low and fast, and the pilot had mentioned that he would only slow down enough so that they wouldn't break their necks when they jumped out. Council patrols were heavy in this area, and they weren't afraid to do as much damage as possible if it meant killing Alliance soldiers. The best chance the squad had of reaching the base alive would be to cover the last few kilometers on foot.

"Approaching LZ," the pilot announced tersely. "I'm opening the doors in thirty seconds."

"Remember, the rain is going to work against us as much as the enemy," Alanna said to her squad. "Double-check your HUD for any hostiles, and stick to cover as much as possible. According to the maps, there are a lot of trees between the LZ and the base, so don't worry not having cover."

"Copy that," Haley and Korim said at once.

"We're here!" the pilot shouted. "Go, go, go!"

The door on the shuttle hissed open, and Alanna was the first out; she swept the small clearing for hostiles, and upon seeing none, led the others to a fallen tree.

"Scans are clear," Alanna said quietly, even over the closed comms. "Nothing in range."

"Unless they're cloaked," Korim muttered.

Alanna smirked, and tapped her helmet. "Who do you think you're talking to? I haven't met a stealth package my tech can't crack." She peeked out over the tree, and sighed. "Okay, there's another bit of cover fifty meters ahead, but it's small. I'll go first; we'll daisy-chain our way to the next log."

At first, things went well; the rain was loud enough to muffle their footsteps, and the clouds blocked out any moonlight that would have given them away. Minutes passed without incident, but Alanna didn't let herself relax; her discipline was vindicated when a gunshot rang out, followed by a scream. Alanna thought for a moment that one of her squad had been hit, but according to her HUD, their barriers were undamaged.

"Came from up ahead," Haley muttered, and peered through her sniper rifle's scope. "Can't see too far. Switching to thermal imaging. Shit!"

Alanna and Korim stuck close to their cover, and watched Haley slowly pan right.

"I count four hostiles," Haley reported. "Three Batarians, one Salarian; they just shot someone, looks like a civvie."

"Are they still alive?" Korim asked.

Another gunshot rang out, and Haley gripped her rifle tighter. "Negative. They shot him through the head. Execution-style."

Alanna scowled, but kept her anger in check. "Okay, I'm going to get in closer. Haley, give me sniper cover; Korim, watch her back for any surprises."

"Got it." Haley's finger hovered over the trigger. "I've got a bead on one Batarian; I can get him and maybe one more before they drop out of sight."

"Good enough for me." Alanna slowly crept forward, her SMG gripped tightly in one hand. "Fire on my mark."

Alanna liked to think that one Batarian actually locked eyes with her when she got close enough. He certainly opened his mouth to shout, but Haley's first shot blew his brains out. The other three soldiers started moving, but another staggered when Haley's second shot caught him in the shoulder. The third Batarian had a fist-sized hole punched through his chest by Alanna's biotics, and she shot the Salarian through the eyes. The surviving Batarian tried to run for it, but Alanna caught him in a Singularity; she didn't even bother to detonate it, and simply shot him twice and let his corpse fly through the air.

"All clear," Alanna reported. "Form up on me."

There was no satisfaction from the N7s; yes, they'd eliminated an enemy patrol with little effort, but they hadn't stopped them from killing an old man. Alanna knelt by his body; he had to be in his eighties, at least, and the state of his clothes suggested he'd been outside for a while. He didn't have any food or supplies on him; he might have been desperate enough to approach the Council troops for aid, and got a bullet for his trouble.

"Mark his body for retrieval," Alanna said quietly. "We can't do anything for him now."

"Why was this guy even here?" Korim asked. "If the Alliance knew this attack was coming, we should have had the civilians evacuated weeks in advance."

"I checked on that, actually." Alanna grimaced. "All indications were that the Council forces would hit the southern continent, and try touse the supplies stashed there before moving north to take the critical locations. Looks like our defenses were a little too effective; their landers were forced down on the north side instead, where we were moving the civilians to the bunkers. I wouldn't be surprised if these bastards managed to unearth a few of them."

Korim was silent for a moment. "Shit."

"Agreed."

"Hey, what about these guys?" Haley asked, gesturing to the dead enemies.

Alanna sighed. "Give me a second to search the bodies for anything useful."

The Alliance held a grey view of battlefield looting. There were strict laws against robbing civilians, but if enemies were relieved of valuable technology—or credits, if they were stupid enough to leave their accounts unencrypted—and such gains were handed over to the Alliance, it was permitted. This was mostly because of Commander Shepard; it was well-documented that his squads were at the top of their game because he would steal anything not nailed down if it meant he could get his hands on the best weapons, armor, and other gear. According to Garrus, Shepard had even ripped valuable salvage off the Collector vessel when they'd infiltrated it.

Following her father's example, Alanna scanned the bodies with her omni-tool, and was rewarded for her trouble. The Salarian had an upgrade to his omni-tool that allowed for more efficient recharge times for plasma, EMPs, and cryo blasts. It was only a three percent increase, but it was better than nothing, and Alanna made a copy of the upgrade for later use. She also found a few hundred credits on a Batarian, and transferred that to her field account as well.

A hundred years ago, Alliance soldiers would have searched the bodies for thermal clips, but the heat sink problem had been solved a decade after the Reaper War. The only way their weapons would overheat was if they fired nonstop for over an hour.

"What kinda guns do these assholes have?" Haley asked.

Alanna took a cursory glance at the enemy weapons, and shrugged. "Standard Batarian and Salarian gear; no more effective than what we've got, and scans of their guns are on file."

"Damn, I was hoping one of 'em had those new Turian rifles; I saw some of the specs, and that thing has practically no recoil."

"If the news was anything to go by, I don't think the Turians are gonna share anything with the Council for a while," Alanna said.

"And I'm fine with that," Korim chimed in. "We're going to have enough trouble with the Asari and Salarians."

Alanna raised an eyebrow. "What about the Batarians?"

"Their whole culture revolves around beating up people weaker than them," Korim said dismissively. "They should have learned their lesson after the Reapers kicked their teeth in."

"They see their recovery as their divine right to be the top dog," Alanna said. "According to people who knew them pre-Reapers, they're even worse now."

"That sucks." Haley froze, then brought up her sniper rifle. "Possible contact, one hundred meters at our two."

The team darted back into cover, but Haley kept her eye on her scope.

"Confirm if they're hostile," Alanna ordered.

"Wait one." Haley kept her breath slow and shallow. "Not hostile; repeat, they're Alliance."

Alanna sighed. "Okay, cover me while I make contact."

"You sure you want to do that?" Korim asked. "A lot of Asari soldiers are here. We don't want to risk friendly fire."

"I won't let fear keep me from doing my job." Alanna stepped out into the open. "Alliance friendlies! Hold your fire!"

One of the soldiers waved in response. "Copy that! Great to see some backup!"

Despite her earlier words, Alanna hesitated for a moment. "Fair warning, I'm an Asari. Permission to approach?"

Even from a distance, Alanna could see the handful of soldiers tense up. "Permission granted," the first one replied. "But we will scan you for ID."

Haley tapped Alanna's shoulder. "If these guys get trigger-happy, I've got your back."

"Same," Korim said tersely.

"Thanks, guys." Alanna led the way to the other squad. "You guys okay? Any wounded?"

"How about you let us scan your ID first," one man, a human with an assault rifle, snapped. "We haven't had any Asari try infiltrating, but we have to be sure."

Another human waved his omni-tool over Alanna. "ID confirms, N7 Lieutenant Alanna… Shepard?"

The first man tilted his head; his helmet hid his features, but it wasn't hard to believe he was skeptical. "Okay, you either changed your name, or you're the dumbest infiltrator I've ever heard of."

Alanna shook her head. "Actually, Commander John Shepard was my father."

Another soldier, a Quarian woman, almost dropped her rifle. "Holy shit, you serious?"

"Deadly," Haley cut in. "General Vega himself told us."

"And as much as I'd like to talk about a man I've never met," Alanna said, "we just took down an enemy squad, and I need an update on Base Theta."

The squad leader, the man who had confronted her, snapped to attention. "Right, sorry, Lieutenant. We've been hit hard over the last few hours; we're almost completely cut off, but Captain Nala'Moy tries to send out patrols to bring back civilians."

"We found one," Alanna said, gesturing behind her. "Unfortunately, a Council squad got to him first."

"God dammit!" The last soldier of the squad, a young human man, kicked a rock. "Why would they do that? When they breached those shelters, the civvies ran with nothing but the clothes on their backs, so why shoot them?"

"They're scared and angry," Alanna guessed. "They're basically trapped on an enemy planet, and they're gonna take out their frustration on anyone they see."

"Exactly," the squad leader said. "The only good thing about all this is that the enemy isn't very coordinated. Their attacks are piecemeal, which is why we can slip in and out of the base. Speaking of which, we can get you there; I'm sure the captain will be happy to have N7s as reinforcements."

Alanna smiled. "Then let's get going."

…

From the outside, Base Theta didn't look too bad; the walls were reinforced by kinetic barrier generators, turrets—automated and manned—and two shuttles could deliver squads from one end of the base to the other in less than three minutes. At first glance, only the heaviest of assaults would crack the defenses.

Once Alanna was inside, she saw the main problem. Over a thousand civilians had been rescued, but there was nowhere for them to go. The soldiers had housed some of them in the barracks, but not all of them could fit, and hundreds were stuck in the rain. There wasn't enough food to keep them and the soldiers fed, and the civilians looked like they were one gunshot away from panicking.

"Now we know why General Grunt wanted to get that armored convoy here so quickly," Haley said quietly. "This is awful."

"The sooner we get these people out of here, the sooner we can kick the Council off this planet," Korim agreed. "Let's go find this Captain Nala'Moy."

As the squad passed by the armory, Alanna spotted a shotgun with a mod she'd never seen before. It wasn't uncommon for soldiers in the field to jury-rig a useful upgrade for themselves, and then other soldiers copy it. A quick scan revealed that it boosted the power of concussive rounds, at the cost of range; Alanna copied the mod to her omni-tool, and made a note to recreate it through a fabricator the first chance she got. She had a feeling Haley would appreciate it, and Haley's quick thumbs-up confirmed it.

Captain Nala'Moy was a Quarian in what had to be the dirtiest hardsuit Alanna had ever seen. Mud, blood, and heaven knew what else covered her armor, and even the rain barely revealed the green paint underneath.

"I want those men back in position," she was saying as Alanna approached. "Dip into our medi-gel reserves if you have to, but we can't afford a single soldier out of action."

Another officer saluted. "Understood, ma'am."

Once Nala'Moy dismissed the man, she turned to Alanna. "Well, well, looks like we got ourselves some N7s. No offense, but unless you've got a whole battalion in your pocket, I'm a little disappointed."

"Actually, Captain, we're just the advance party," Alanna assured her. "Illyria lost contact with you, so we were sent to assess the situation before General Grunt led a convoy out here."

Nala'Moy put her hands on her hips. "Well, I'll be damned. He said he'd get to us right before comms went down, but I wasn't sure I believed him. What's your name, soldier?"

Alanna saluted. "Lieutenant Alanna Shepard, ma'am."

Either Nala'Moy believed her, or was too tired to call her a liar; regardless, she nodded. "Shepard, eh? With a name like that, you're gonna have plenty of friends, but a whole lot more enemies."

"I wouldn't be surprised, ma'am." Alanna decided to change the subject. "I can signal General Grunt to begin his advance, but is there anything my team and I can do until he gets here?"

"There are a thousand little problems going on," Nala'Moy admitted. "It's mostly the civilians. If we didn't have to spend half our time taking care of them, this sector would be secure. The main thing is our comms; our long-range array got hit during the first assault, and our omni-tools are limited to short range. The array was strong enough to punch through the Council's jamming, but like I said, it's damaged."

"I could take a look," Alanna offered. "I'm an engineer."

At those words, Nala'Moy looked at Alanna with a bit more respect; even a century after returning to Rannoch, Quarians held engineers in great esteem.

"Much appreciated; if there's anything else we need help with, one of my men will point it out." She paused when she noticed Korim. "Good luck. Keelah se'lai."

"Keelah se'lai," Korim echoed.

Alanna decided to divide the work. "Haley, see what you can do to help security; Korim, you and I are gonna check out that comms array."

Haley nodded and jogged off, while Korim followed Alanna to just outside the command center. They could see the cluster of dishes and antennae that connected the base to not just the rest of Elysium, but also the defense stations in orbit. Unfortunately, Nala'Moy was right about the damage; half of the dishes were barely connected, and sparks rained down.

"Okay, let me do a scan, so I know how bad the damage actually is," Alanna said. She climbed a service ladder to the top of the command center, and ran her omni-tool over the machinery. "Score one for Alliance engineering; the damage isn't too bad."

"How come the guys here haven't fixed it?" Korim asked as he climbed after her.

Alanna sighed. "They've got all those civilians to look out for, and they're fighting off Council forces. Also, this happened less than eight hours ago; they probably haven't had time." She looked at the damaged equipment. "Okay, I'll start repairing and reinforcing the mounting, you work on the power regulators; if those blow, we might as well find a whole new array."

Between the two of them, the array was restored to functionality in less than twenty minutes. It should have taken longer, but Alanna was able to move the heavier pieces with her biotics, and send a support drone to the areas she couldn't reach.

As soon as her omni-tool confirmed the array was working, Alanna called Illyria. "General Grunt, this is Lieutenant Shepard. Can you read me?"

After a moment of static, Grunt's face appeared over her omni-tool. "Damn good to hear your voice, Alanna. What's the status of Base Theta?"

"Still holding out, but there's a complication; Council forces have breached several civilian shelters, and a lot of the civvies are here now. The garrison can't provide for them and protect the base, sir."

"Got it, Lieutenant. My convoy is rolling out now; ETA is one hour. We'll have to blast through some trees to get there faster, and that means the enemy is gonna know what we're doing. They'll probably try to take the base before we can get there."

"Then they're going to be sorely disappointed." Alanna heard a boom in the distance, and a shot whizzed by the repaired array. "We're going to need that backup soon, General! We're under attack!"

"Understood, Alanna! Tear 'em apart!"

Rather than slowly climb down the ladder, Alanna and Korim jumped off the roof; halfway to the ground, they activated the boosters in their armor. Jets of thrust pushed through their boots and their backs, letting them land safely. All around them, soldiers were hurrying to their positions, while the civilians huddled in fear.

"Alanna, get to the front gate!" Haley shouted over the comms. "There's a heavy assault inbound!"

Alanna and Korim sprinted for the fortified entrance; Haley was on the walls, already firing her sniper rifle, alongside a dozen other soldiers. Just behind the gate, four more teams of Alliance soldiers were operating drone-guided missile launchers.

"Please tell me we have good news," Haley bit out between shots. "Because I count over five hundred infantry on their way, with armored support!"

"We contacted the general," Alanna said quickly. "He's on his way with backup. We just need to hold out until he gets here."

"Well, do you mind jumping on a turret and giving us some support?" Haley waved to her right. "One of the gunners got hit!"

"On it!" Alanna staggered when the gate was hit by a mass-accelerator round. "Korim, help the engineers keep the gate intact!"

"Sure thing, but we might have some trouble if it takes more hits like that!" Still, Korim and a handful of engineers began applying omni-gel to the buckled sections of the gate.

Alanna climbed up the wall and got behind the turret; it was a huge, triple-barreled monster of a gun that could rip through all but the strongest kinetic barriers in a single shot. As she opened fire on the advancing enemy squads, she discovered that they did not, in fact, possess the strongest kinetic barriers.

Most of the attackers were Batarians, armed with assault rifles and shotguns, but they were supported by Salarians that deployed combat drones, and a handful of Asari that raised barriers in an attempt to shield their squads.

Alanna's turret tore apart the first wave of infantry with little effort. A few of the Salarians and Asari had sniper rifles, but Haley shot each of them with her own before they could fire more than a few rounds. Alanna grunted in pain as one of those few shots struck her shoulder; it almost breached her barrier, but it wasn't enough to cause actual harm.

What really had the Alliance soldiers worried were the eight tanks that slewed to a stop. They were older Conquest-pattern models, a Batarian-made vehicle designed for long-range fire, in exchange for limited movement. For a siege like this, they were perfect, especially when the weapons the Alliance had on hand couldn't do much.

"Lieutenant!" Captain Nala'Moy shouted to be heard over the gunfire. "I can handle the base defenses, but those tanks are going to be a real problem! Can you do anything about that?"

Alanna quickly ran through her options. "If we could commandeer one of those tanks, we might be able to use it against the others."

"Do it!" Nala'Moy swore when a piece of the wall was blown off and whizzed by her helmet. "I'll buy you as much time as I can!"

Alanna only stopped using the turret when another soldier took her place and resumed firing. She gathered up Haley and Korim, and jumped off the wall. With the defenses driving back the infantry, their initial approach to the tanks was almost unopposed, barring a few wounded Batarians who tried to get in their way. It was only when they got within a hundred meters of the tanks that they met true resistance.

Haley was knocked off her feet by a biotic blast from an Asari, who was leading a team of Salarian engineers and Batarian guards. Korim covered Haley as she got to her feet, while Alanna went after the Asari. A Batarian got in her way, and she gunned him down with a burst from her SMG, then vaulted over a log and kicked a Salarian in the head; she didn't even pause as she put a bullet in his head.

The enemy Asari seemed to realize Alanna's species. "You traitorous bitch! You're working for the humans?"

Alanna didn't bother replying; instead, she used a Warp on the other Asari's biotic barrier, then shattered it with another burst of gunfire. She followed it up with a Shockwave that sent her opponent hurtling into the side of a tank at considerable velocity; she wasn't dead, but it took a powerful biotic out of the fight for now.

With the biggest threat temporarily neutralized, Alanna turned her attention to the rest of the enemy squad. By then, Korim had helped Haley back up, and the two were systematically destroying one soldier after another. Korim used himself as a shield, his tech armor deflecting the small-arms fire, while he and Haley gunned down anyone stupid enough to poke their heads out of cover. Distracted as they were, the Council squad was unprepared for Alanna to attack them from behind; one was frozen and shattered by her cryo blast, and another was nearly blown in half by her shotgun.

"We've got the rest!" Haley called out. "Take down that Asari!"

Alanna nodded, and jogged over to the tank; the enemy Asari was still getting to her feet when Alanna shoved her knife into her neck.

"Infantry cleared!" Korim shouted.

"What about those tanks?" Haley asked.

Alanna considered that. "Korim, hack the hatch controls on my mark." After a moment, Korim nodded, signaling his readiness. "Mark!"

The hatch popped open, and Alanna heard surprised voices from inside. She jumped onto the turret with some assistance from her boosters, and snagged the gunner with her biotics. With a jerking motion, she ripped him out of his seat and dropped him in front of Haley, who shot him without a second thought. Alanna then jumped into the tank, where the commander and driver were still trying to react; she killed the former with a biotic-infused punch, and the latter by snapping his neck with her bare hands.

After pulling the bodies out of tank, Korim and Haley took their place. It didn't take long for them to figure out the controls, and turned it in the direction of another tank.

"Captain Nala'Moy, this is Shepard," Alanna said into her comms. "We've captured an enemy tank and are engaging the armor now."

"Copy that, Lieutenant, and perfect timing; the gate is about to fall, and our sensors say the enemy is massing for another assault. You've got to take out those tanks before they kick in our door!"

"Acknowledged; engaging now." Alanna looked over at Haley. "Locked on?"

Haley was grinning under her helmet. "Just give the word, Lieutenant."

"Then fire when ready!"

The tank shuddered as it fired a mass-accelerator round; the shot struck right where the target's turret connected to the chassis, sending it flying into the air. The second tank withstood the first shot, and started to turn around, but a second shot killed its engine, and it fell to the ground. Using the disabled tanks as cover, Alanna directed her commandeered tank to fire, and then dart to safety. They took a few glancing hits, but they eventually destroyed all but the last tank; whoever commanded that one decided that survival was more important, and turned his tank around.

"Hell yeah!" Haley crowed.

"Suck on that, bosh'tets!" Korim shouted.

"Nice work, guys," Alanna said. "Let's bring our new ride back to the base. Maybe the captain will appreciate the present."

Korim laughed, but Haley was quiet for a moment. "Hey, Alanna?"

"Yeah?"

"Maybe it's not my place, but from everything I've read about him… I think you did your dad proud today."

Alanna blinked, and then smiled. "Thanks."

Okay, so Alanna has made it off Earth, and has gone to war. Unfortunately, being the child of the greatest hero in history will prove to have some disadvantages. With everything that's happened in this chapter, she just hasn't had time to experience them yet. Oh, and I decided that all suits would have boosters, like those used in Andromeda. About the only thing I liked from that game.

Also, Grunt is here, and is not only a general, but a clan leader in his own right. It's been a hundred years, he's had time to grow up.

You probably noticed that this chapter was a lot longer than the last few. Expect this to be the norm. The first three chapters were really all about setting the stage, but this chapter is the true opening act.

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or physical copy. Sales help maintain my drive to write the sequel, because it makes me think you all want more!

If you want other ways to support me, I have a P-atreon account (link in my profile). Donations are my best hope to letting me quit at least one of my three jobs, and if everyone who follows me donates at the lowest tier, I can quit all of them, and even make writing my full-time thing! Could you imagine me updating two or three times a week? Because that would be awesome.

Speaking of my patrons, I'd like to thank the following:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, killroy225, Lokthar, Hakuryuken

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Ben Stueckle, Elliott Kim

Ultra Muffins:

Next Chapter: War rages on Elysium and beyond, new problems arise for Alanna, and an offer is made that could shake the Council to its core.

I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite Muffin on the Citadel.