…

"The greater the power, the more dangerous the abuse."

(Edmund Burke)

...

UCV Saint Luke, May 16th, 11:50 AM, 2185

…

I stood on the CIC, sipping a cup of coffee as I read the latest reports coming in from the Alliance. According to their movements, they believe the Reapers are actually slowing down now that they've captured Earth and the rest of the core worlds around it. No doubt they're trying to harvest the populations, a thought that made me sick to the stomach. I read the reports about Shepard's attack on the Collector Base and watched the footage they recorded, even the stuff Alliance Intelligence had tried to censor. I couldn't imagine having my body… melted into paste like those poor colonists, it was too horrifying to fathom. The Reapers were quickly giving H.P. Lovecraft a run for his money, and that was saying something.

We were approaching the planet Kosh in the Attican Traverse, where the Alliance had a reasonably-sized garrison alongside several other races. It was a fairly normal planet, if a bit arid, and was actually developed unlike most planets I had seen. A lot of newer Earth corporations had based themselves here alongside several owned by the Asari and Turians, making it very posh and elitist by my standards, almost as bad as the ones owned by those cutthroats on Noveria. Unlike Noveria, though, they didn't outsource their security to private firms due to obligations outlined in colonial contracts they had signed, meaning they still relied on their governments to protect them. Because Humans, Asari, and Turians all had garrisons here, pirates had mostly avoided it for fear of provoking the Council.

Hackett's intelligence teams believed, based on the pattern of Cerberus attacks, that Kosh might be their next target. In addition to supporting the Alliance ships already here in orbit, we'd be providing ground assistance to deal with civil unrest that had broken out in human-owned sections of Kowini, the "capital" of Kosh. Many of the businesses had died overnight due to plummeting stocks and the market crashing in response to the Reaper invasion, leaving many with nothing. While there were no full-scale riots yet, there had been plenty of looting and damage to people's property, and even with Alliance support, the local police were overwhelmed.

"Admiral, we'll be arriving at Kosh in ten minutes." Dixon said, standing on the other side of the holographic projector. "The T'rchun and Hoero are reporting full readiness."

"Good, we're right on time." I smiled, downing the last of my Joe. "Tell the sensor stations to be on full alert, especially for any anomalies with the TLs. If something tries to sneak up on us, I want them turned to Swiss cheese."

"Yes'sir." He nodded, walking off as I smirked, unable to help but admire how well he had handled his job so far. Sure, Tony and Morgan were good at their respective positions in the CIC, but he was, and always would be, a leader to them.

I opened up my omni-tool, looking at the final schematic of what the Salarians discovered was apparently once called the "Crucible". They had their own theories, but the most prevalent one was that it was some kind of massive energy-collecting device. How that connected to the Reapers and their quantum networks, I had no idea, but the Council had agreed to begin construction, though on a basic support level. They were all still busy preparing their own worlds for invasion, and after seeing how quickly Earth fell I couldn't really argue with them.

Right now, the United Confederation and the remains of the Alliance were the only ones putting any serious time or money into it, laying down the keel just yesterday around the Quarian world Kaddi in the Tikkun system. While we originally planned to build it in the Klenot system, we decided that it needed to be more accessible for the future. The Geth had mined the system's planets and asteroid belts sparingly, meaning there were still plenty of resources to go into its construction, along with more ships.

"So, how long do you think it'll take to build?" Dixon asked, snapping me back to the outside world.

"Hm, that all depends on the support we can get." I mumbled, zooming back to the full view. "Right now, mining all the resources, handling all the manpower, and figuring out how it works ourselves? A year and a half, probably more."

"And what if we got everyone to work together?" He theorized, sounding far more hopeful than I could ever hope to be. "All the resources, build crews, and scientific minds you could want."

"If we had Asari, Turian, and Salarian support alone, it would be closer to eight or nine months." I answered, turning to face him completely. "If we got everyone else, including whatever's left of the Batarians, we could cut it down to as little as four or five months."

"Whatever happened to them, anyway?" He inquired further, leaning against the center console.

"To be entirely honest, no one's really sure why they nuked themselves, or who's left for that matter." I shook my head, knowing that no sane, reasonable government would ever burn their own people in nuclear fire. "Either way, we need to focus on those that are left."

"By "those that are left", do you mean the Batarians themselves, or the other species in the galaxy?" Dixon quickly asked, actually giving me a moment of pause as I thought about it.

"Both." I smirked, knowing it was the diplomatic thing to say as he tilted his head and shot both eyebrows up.

I was fully aware of the long-standing resentment the Batarians held towards the Alliance, a resentment I can only imagine growing after the destruction of the Bakak system, but I was holding onto hope that there were those still capable of being allies against the Reapers, no matter how small they were.

Now that I was thinking about it again, part of me wanted to travel to their colonies and investigate myself, see if there were any left and, if there were, convince them to join our cause and fight. But, in the end, I knew that wasn't the smart thing to do. Too many of the systems that led to Batarian space were now occupied by Reaper forces, and I wasn't sure if we were in a position where we could fight them yet, at least not without a Fleet of our own ships.

I felt the gentle deceleration of the Saint Luke as we exited FTL with our escorts in tow, the shining, tan-ish ball clearly seen off our bow cameras. While it had some small oceans and a few sparse forests, deserts dominated most of the planet. Despite this, the planet had apparently started cooling down recently due to irregular solar activity, making the surface temperature similar to a hot, summer day in Baltimore, though lacking the disgusting humidity the city and surrounding areas suffered that time of year.

"Attention vessels, this is Captain Serina Marrick of the SSV Osaka, please state your business here." A radio message came in seconds later, surprising me slightly as I picked up the phone to reply.

"Captain, this is Admiral Michaels of the UCV Saint Luke. We're here at the request of Admiral Hackett to provide you and the ground garrison with support." I announced, looking back at Dixon as I awaited her response. "If need be, we can transmit our orders for verification."

"That won't be necessary, we received confirmation with your IFF signatures attached and hour ago, just wanted to double check them first." She refused, sounding a little tired. "I wasn't aware a dreadnought would be providing us with support."

"The Saint Luke isn't technically a dreadnought, but I understand the confusion given her size." I remarked in a humorous tone. "What's the situation currently?"

"There's widespread crime occurring in and around Kowini, mainly in the Metara and Aukino districts, and the police are too busy trying to secure the rest of the city and its property to really stop them." She explained, pepping up her voice slightly as she spoke. "I've got boots on the ground trying to support the garrison, but it's still not going well. The Asari and Turian garrisons are refusing to get involved unless the crime breaks into their districts."

"I'll deploy Confederation teams with armored vics and walkers to pacify the situation before it gets any worse." I reassured, rubbing my chin as I nodded to Dixon, who grabbed the other phone in preparation. "Can you tell your men to watch out for them? I don't want them to think they're being invaded down there."

"Sure, I'll tell our Asari and Turian friends to keep their fingers off the triggers as well." She agreed, sounding rather pleased. "I'm interested to see what your people have to bring to the table."

"Hope we don't disappoint. Michaels, out." I finished with a smirk, hanging up the phone as I faced Dixon, ready to give out orders. "Ready 1st and 2nd Platoon for deployment, along with Beta Lance for support. I want Viper Squadrons Alpha and Bravo to escort the dropships and provide air cover, I don't want to take any chances."

"Yes'sir." He nodded, punching in the intercom for the whole ship. "1st and 2nd Platoon, prepare for deployment, this is not a drill, I repeat, this is not a drill. Beta Lance, report to your Dragoons and prepare to drop. Viper Squadrons Alpha and Bravo, prep interceptors for escort duty."

"Let's hope these drills have done their job." I sighed, pursing my lips for a moment as I tapped my left boot against the deck before walking away from the center console. "Take over here, I'm going to brief those marines myself."

"Sir?" Dixon questioned, quite confused as to why I'd do that when it was supposed to be his job.

"It's my first time sending these people into possible danger, Dixon." I reasoned, turning back to face him. "I want to see them off in person, at least this once."

"Understood, I'll coordinate the mechs and fighters once you've issued orders to the platoons." He agreed, giving me a smirk as I walked out of the CIC, Largos following me moment I walked out.

I wanted nothing more than for everyone to come back safe and sound, but if Cerberus ended up getting involved… I knew that thought was a luxury I couldn't afford. Those bastards only cared about themselves, and had apparently changed drastically since the last time we encountered them. I didn't know what their plans were, but I was determined to stop them.

Walking into the portside hangar, I looked above at the Vipers being prepped for launch, the crews on the gantries disconnecting the lines as the pilots hopped in and warmed their reactors up. Even though we didn't have launch tubes or numbers of the Caprica, this was still a pretty smart way of storing and deploying them. Far to the left, a Desant-class dropship was securing its four Dragoons for transport, their operators already inside their cockpits, pressurized for the trip to the surface.

Down on the main deck, 1st and 2nd platoons were all assembled, waiting to receive their orders as the Cobra gunships prepared for them, Hammerheads hooked up under each one. 1st and 2nd were made up of forty individuals, a little smaller than a standard platoon, but better balanced due to the species difference. Our original Cobra gunships had been modified for troop transport, and each would hold half of a platoon. It was quite something, seeing all of this in action.

"Admiral on deck!" One of my platoon leaders yelled, all eighty of them standing at full attention.

"At ease… alright everyone, here's the situation." I began, opening up my omni-tool and blowing up a map of the city. "This is the city of Kowini. The areas highlighted in red are undergoing severe civil unrest, and neither the Alliance or local police have been able to restore order. Your objective is to link up with the Alliance garrison and pacify these two districts before the violence spills out into the rest of the city. Any questions?"

One of the Corporals raised his hand, a younger-looking Quarian.

"Sir, what are the rules of engagement?" He asked, impressing me slightly.

"Rules are simple. Check your targets, don't use unnecessary force, and no not fire unless fired upon." I spoke clearly, doing my best to give everyone eye contact. "We're not here to make life hard for these folks, but if they threaten you or one of your squadmate's lives, don't hesitate to use lethal force. Stay in constant communication with your squadmates and our allies in the field."

Another marine raised his hand, this time a Raloi sargeant from 2nd Platoon.

"Admiral, are we still expecting the Cerberus organization to make an appearance?" He asked, another good question I was thankful to hear.

"Unknown. Alliance Intelligence believes they'll be coming here soon, but we have no idea when or at what specific location." I answered, pacing back and forth with my hands held tightly behind my back. "If the do arrive, they'll likely launch a wave of shuttles and support craft before engaging ships in orbit, so all of you could possibly be the first to encounter them. If that happens and you require assistance, hail us and we'll send additional reinforcements. Any more questions?"

All the men stayed still, getting me to nod and focus my eyes.

"Alright then, good luck on your mission, and godspeed!" I finished, all of them running single-file up the ramps of their Cobras. The doors sealed tight as they all began taking off, each transport flanked by a Viper interceptor the whole way. Once the transports were away, the Desant-class dropship shot out of hangar with its full lance of Dragoons, ready for their first real mission together.

Hell, for most of them, this was ALL their first mission together. I worried for each and every one of them, but I was confident they'd get the job done as the heavy, titanium doors slid back into place, hissing loudly as the space between them and the forcefield pressurized.

Either way, now we have our own job to do, and if we don't succeed, they'd stand little chance down there on their own.

…

UCV Saint Luke, May 16th, 3:52 PM, 2185

…

Pacing back and forth in the CIC, I began wondering if Hackett's teams really knew what they were talking about. We had been here for hours, and still no signs of anomalies on or around Kosh. I trusted Hackett and the men working under him implicitly, but hours of waiting like this wasn't something I was terribly good at.

1st and 2nd platoons had at least made progress. They landed without trouble in the affected districts, linking up with the Alliance garrison and providing their needed support. If my platoon leaders were to be believed, the Dragoons seemed to have had a large demoralizing effect on any potential rioters, scaring most off from sight alone. They were now in the process of moving firefighters and other emergency crews in to deal with the damage while the marines provided cover.

"Sir, latest report from Engineering." Tony remarked, walking over and handing me the datapad in person. "According to the Chief, Ensign Farow's subroutines are still working as intended, and the reactor has shown no hiccups since its implementation."

"Good, the reactor is the last thing we need to worry about." I nodded, looking over the details on the datapad before turning to face him.

Tony had managed to lose a lot of weight in the last few months, and now fit his jumpsuit like a champ. He had shaved the sides of his head and pulled the top back into a sort of "lazy red-haired quiff", and started growing out his facial hair. It was certainly a little more organized than my hair, which was just a No.2 clipper for the sides, and a No.5 for when the top got a little too long for my comfort.

Looking back over at Morgan's station, I compared her changes to his, also noticing a shift. Her new thing was thick braids that kept all her hair to the left side of her head, "capped" off with little steel beads she had made herself. Though she had maintained her rather petite physique, she had become far more assertive after landing her job as Head Sensor Operator here.

Just as I turned to face Tony again, a warning tone played through the CIC, one that only sounded when an unknown object was in close proximity to the ship.

"What is that, Morgan?" I quickly asked, running over to her station to get a look.

"I'm not sure, sir. Whatever it is, it's very close." She answered, trying to get a clear reading on her monitor.

The exterior cameras moved to track the "object", revealing a slender, pitch black object had somehow managed to get within two-thousand meters of the Saint Luke, dangerously close. Just as we got a good look at it, it immediately fired its engines at full power, shooting towards us at incredible velocity.

"Activate the MES and kinetic barriers, I want our GUARDANs and turrets trained on that thing now!" I shouted as the cameras moved to reacquire the ship.

Just as the cameras caught up with the ship, a dozen small objects could be seen shooting off of it at high speed. Collision alarms began blaring as they sped closer, neither the MES or kinetic barriers up to full power yet. The GUARDANs attempted to shoot down the smaller objects as the turrets fully acquired the ship, firing several shots that ripped it to pieces. Unfortunately, out of the dozen objects the ship had launched, nine had managed to make it through, slipping through the MES field before it could fully form.

I expected to hear explosions shortly afterwards, but instead several dull thuds could be heard as the objects slammed into the ship, followed by several smaller bangs. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had just happened. Before I could fully react, a call came in which I immediately answered.

"Report!" I ordered loudly, wanting to know

"Admiral, we've got boarders! An unknown number of hostiles quickly moving from the impact sites!" One of the security team leaders yelled, sounding nearly as panicked as I suddenly felt. "They've got advanced weapons and armor, and have already killed three of my men! Requestin-"

The line suddenly went dead as an explosion could be heard in the background, followed by gunfire. Dixon and I gave each other grave looks before I redialed the line for the whole ship.

"Attention, we have boarders, I repeat, boarders in the lower decks! Marine fireteams, respond immediately! All non-combatants, report to safety zones!" I quickly rattled off, doing my best to control my own heartbeat as I dialed again, this time to Engineering.

"Sir, what just happened?" Tirus asked, sounding far more worried than I had expected him to.

"No time to explain, Chief. I want you to lock down all access points to and from Engineering. Keep these people away from the reactor and life support." I laid out, finally getting a handle on my breathing. "I'm sending teams to reinforce you, so just stay put."

"Understood sir." He quickly hung up, leaving just us and Largos, who had walked inside to see what all the commotion was.

"Lock down the CIC, seal all doors and hatches." I said to the entire crew, watching them all jump into action. As they shut the doors, Dixon and I unlocked the weapons rack in the back so we could properly arm ourselves and the rest of the CIC. "They're not going to take this ship, I can tell you that."

"Damn right." Dixon nodded as we loaded plasma cells into our guns, ready to fight as we felt the rumble of an explosion vibrate through the ship. "Lieutenant, get those hallway cameras up for the lower decks. We need to know where they're going."

"Yes'sir." He quickly replied, throwing up the camera feeds. Several had already been knocked out from the looks of it, leaving me worried.

A deck below us, several Marine fireteams were entrenching themselves, mostly around the elevators and stairway. We had the entire ship's complement moving out now, ready to defend the ship at all costs, with exos on the way.

As I watched the screens, the entrance to the stairwell exploded open, revealing bulky, heavily-armored Cerberus troopers armed with rifles I had never seen before. As the Marines opened fire on them with their plasma guns, they fired back with extreme precision, using smoke to cover their advance as they made use of what appeared to be thermal optics. Their weapons didn't appear to be simple mass accelerator weapons either, the rounds were bright, and appeared to cut through everything like a hot knife through butter. The Marines were forced to retreat back down the hallway as two of them were taken down by combined fire.

"Jesus, they're getting slaughtered down there." I exclaimed, remembering the attack on Aldrin Station years ago. "Where are those exos? They need support, or they're going to be overrun."

"They're almost there, sir. ETA one minute, forty seconds." Dixon answered, still focused on the phone as I observed the screens.

"That's not soon enough, they're moving up to our deck." I shook my head, grabbing my rifle as I felt another bang below us. "God damn it, ready your weapons! We may have to fight."

Right as I turned around to face the door, I watched Largos open it, walking through and closing it.

"Largos, what the hell are you doing?!" I yelled through the door panel's intercom, knowing it was just him out there while the Marines were bogged down on the lower deck.

"Please wait here." He replied, locking the door manually as he walked down the hallway.

Unable to really stop him, I ran back over to the center console, looking up at the camera view of the hallway, seeing him just standing there with his staff.

"Sir, should we go out there and help him?" Dixon asked, just as confused as I was.

"No… we do that, and there'll be no one left to control the ship." I denied, bracing for the worst as the stairwell doors on our deck exploded open, filling the hallway with debris.

Defiant, he stood there unflinching, even as smoke poured in. The moment the Cerberus troops came out into the open, he pulsed with a bright biotic field, the brightest I had ever seen. The troopers fired at him, but like something out of the Matrix, he managed to stop the incoming rounds with a sheer biotic field, sending the unknown projectiles falling back down to the deck as he remained still. One of the troopers pulled out a handgun and began firing with that instead, getting the same effect as before.

Largos must have decided enough was enough, and began dashing forward with his staff ready, head, neck and back completely straight the whole time. The trooper that had been firing with his handgun stumbled backwards in surprise as Largos reached him, swinging his staff and swiftly decapitating the trooper. In a single motion, he flipped back around and launched a biotic blast from his staff at the other three troopers, throwing them all against the bulkhead so hard that we could hear the impacts from inside the CIC.

I couldn't believe what I had just seen. I watched one individual wipe out a whole squad of heavily armed men with nothing but a staff and biotics. Nevermind the fact that a similarly-sized squad of these people had been holding back our Marines, this was something completely different. This was special.

As the exos finally arrived and began moving through the lower decks, Largos calmly walked back to the CIC, opening the door to much fanfare from the rest of the crew. He gave us his usual, slow head nod as I smiled, still unable to believe he was capable of doing something like this.

Sure, we still had to clear the lower decks, but in that brief moment, I knew we were going to win.

We had won. Largos had won.

…

Two Hours Later

…

Hours after the attempted Cerberus takeover of our ship, I still couldn't believe how lucky we had been. Best we could tell, Cerberus' plan had been to target the CIC the whole time, kill all of us, and turn the Saint Luke itself against the T'rchun, Hoero, and Osaka. We had no idea if this had been intended as part of a bigger plan of some sort, or if it was an attempt at a false flag, we just didn't know. We managed to take two of the thirty-six boarders prisoner, but they died minutes later when more of those "ocular flashbangs" implanted in their heads went off, killing them before we could get any concrete information out of them.

Their armor was a completely new configuration than those I had seen previously. It was very bulky and heavy, with an underlying, gel cooling layer that seemed to be there as a defense against our plasma guns. The helmets were just as well armored, but as Largo demonstrated, it lacked full neck protection. Their weapons were the most interesting items. In a lot of ways, they were like our plasma guns, but instead of a shaped, fist-sized projectile, they fired 4mm tungsten "bullets" that were sheathed in plasma. This offered two things, penetrating power AND the thermal damage usually caused by plasma weapons. It was actually quite scary.

We'd be testing them and making our own, improved version later, that was certain.

Now, we had most of the troopers stripped of their armor and in body bags, ready to be launched into space. We were keeping the ones in best condition for study, considering all of them had what looked to be the same cybernetic enhancements. They reminded me of the ones Randall Enzo had, but much more… invasive. They looked more like Reaper husks than anything else, giving many of us quite the scare seeing them for the first time. I'd be handing them over to Richard to study, considering we'd have to return home to repair the damage done to the ship, the lower decks especially.

Unfortunately, our "victory" had come at a price. Seventeen dead, twenty-nine injured, and nine in critical condition. Before the Marines in exos had arrived to fight back with their heavy armor, they were getting bulldozed. The gel layer in this new trooper armor was apparently enough to block most of the thermal damage from reaching the user, meaning they had to literally melt through layers of their armor to hurt them, almost like an ablative heat shield. If Cerberus had developed the armor and weapons just to fight us, then I knew there was more where this came from.

If they hadn't focused on us and instead targeted the crew quarters or engineering, things could have been a lot worse. I knew Mara knew how to handle herself now, but these guys were a whole new breed of pain in the ass murder machines.

The "boarding pods" were the most surprising, and worrying, things left over from the attack. I couldn't recall any instances of anyone, not even pirates, using dedicated boarding vehicles like this before, not in an age where getting within knife fight range was almost always considered a death sentence for smaller craft. Point defense was supposed to be our strong suit, but somehow they not only managed to get within 2000 meters without being detected, but landed nine out of the twelve pods they launched before the MES could fully deploy. It was insane, the fact that Cerberus was willing to risk the lives of their people like this.

As strange as it felt to think, it did give me some interesting ideas for the future.

"Here's the final damage report, sir." Dixon announced with a dullness to his voice, handing me another datapad which I accepted in a similar fashion.

"Great… nine holes in our hull, and loads of explosive and gunfire damage throughout seven decks." I shook my head, running my hand through my hair. "We just got this gal out of drydock, and now we're taking her back again. Ridiculous."

"Agreed." Dixon nodded, holding both hands behind his back. "I suppose getting them fixed now is better than having a weaker hull when the Reapers come swinging."

"Let me tell you, we'll need more than a strong hull to fight those monstrosities. Believe me." I countered, not feeling entirely optimistic at the moment. "Still, if we can at least learn something from this, its to not underestimate your enemy."

"As someone who used to be part of Cerberus, I can vouch for their tenacity, sir." He added, quickly letting out a sigh. "They're not the kinds of people that just give up… and they don't forgive, either."

"It's like a bunch of middle schoolers, unable to get along with one another no matter the situation." I mocked, feeling far more tired. "God, I wish the Illusive Man would just keel over and save us all the trouble of having to find and kick his scrawny ass."

Dixon let out a small, amused huff through his nose, finally cracking a smile as he turned back to his side of the center console.

While it had been a hard day, we made it through in one piece, and that's what really mattered. I knew as long as The Illusive Man drew breath, we'd never see the end of their decrepit organization.

The Reapers would be doing me a personal favor at this point if they killed him instead. If only I could be so lucky.

…

A/N: Well well well, it seems I'm on a bit of a writing kick again this month. Hopefully it doesn't read like im rushing any of this, because I'm really not. Writing action, especially physical action, is still one of my biggest weak points, and if its not reading well I'd love to hear any suggestions on ways to improve it. Either way, I'm having a blast now that I'm getting to show everything off, and it should begin heating up a lot from this point on. I hope you all enjoy.

As always, I'm always up for suggestions or constructive criticism. Please leave a review telling me what you think of the story so far, and stay tuned!