…

"Everyone has a plan until they've been hit."

(Joe Lewis)

…

UCV Saint Luke, November 9th, 2:59 PM, 2186

…

As the Reapers breached the mid-range sensor net, they crossed into the maximum firing range of the orbital defense platforms, right into the kill zone. All ODPs in range began charging their coils as the enemy launched swarms of those "Oculus" superiority fighters, so many that it looked like a greyish cloud was forming. The ODPs, firing their guns at hostile targets for the first time, were clearly having an effect as several of the smaller Destroyer-class Reapers immediately went up in massive fireballs, the first salvo immediately killing seven of them. The Reapers, quickly realizing the power of our guns, immediately dispersed, spacing themselves farther from each other in an attempt to make targeting them more difficult. As the Oculus fighters began closing the gap, we all began launching our own Python and Viper wings to intercept. The Caprica in particular was spitting out every single ship it had in its pods.

"Sir, twelve Destroyers, one Sovereign, and numerous husk transports are approaching our sector." Morgan announced as I watched another salvo go out, several more Reapers exploding into chunks. "Group leaders want updated orders."

"Tell them to focus on engaging the smaller craft, keep them away from the Cairo, Tabanca, and our shipyards." I spoke without breaking my gaze, managing to stay strangely calm. "Now that they know what those MACs can do, they're going to make them their first priority. Once the smaller craft are gone, they are clear to engage all targets of opportunity."

"Understood, sir." She immediately acknowledged, parroting my orders as the Saint Luke's main gun fired, managing to blow a nice chunk off one of one of the Destroyers.

The 406mm dual mass accelerator turrets positioned all over my hull began lobbing flak rounds at the Oculi swarms, blowing dozens away at a time. It was a target rich environment, that much was certain. The Cairo and Tabanca both fired again, killing two more of the Destroyers as they moved into their firing range, taking shots at the Saint Luke and our escorts.

"Tell the Galleons to focus fire on those projectors with their lasers. Do the same with ours." I continued to order, feeling the vibrations of those guns through my feet as they shook the ship like a rattle.

"At this rate those Oculi will be through our line in less than six minutes." Dixon shook his head as a loud bang could be heard from debris impacting the hull. "We need more ships out there to shoot'em down."

I quickly thought about the situation, realizing there was something we weren't using.

"Launch the Cobras armed with Dimitri's "Hunter" system, have them deploy around the stations." I replied, getting raised eyebrows from him, knowing what he was about to say. "Yes, I know they're not fucking tested yet, just do it."

"Right." He nodded without a single word of protest, ordering the crews to their ships for an immediate launch as I watched the Sovereign-class push to the front of their formation.

As the ship slithered forward, I watched it tank a single 3,000 ton round from the Tabanca, knocking out its kinetic barriers and blasting a round hole straight through its heavily-armored body. It "crumpled" and seemingly curled itself in simulated pain before trying to right itself to directly face the platform. Before it could bring its cannons to bear on the Tabanca, the Cairo fired a second round into it, this time going lengthwise through its whole body and blowing it into dozens of pieces. Its element zero core exploded with enough force that chunks could be seen flying past us, burning up in the atmosphere.

"I never thought I'd see the day." I remarked with a smile, watching the fireball cave back in on itself as several transports and Oculi were taken out in the shockwave. It was the perfect little reprieve.

The Cobras finally launched, carrying the large deployment systems for Dimitri's "Hunter" system. As soon as they reached a safe distance from us, they all began spewing out hundreds of dozens of tiny, silver projectiles, each no bigger than a soda can. As soon as the Oculus' were in range, several would shoot towards it at incredible speed, immediately penetrating its barriers and exploding violently. The system worked even better than he had intended as every few seconds, an Oculus would explode the moment it neared the stations.

So far, the battle seemed to be going well. Before I could even finish my thought, another loud bang could be heard against the ship, followed seconds later by an intrusion alarm.

"Three pods managed to blast through the starboard hangar doors… we've got husks on the deck!" Dixon reported as the console sent out an alert tone, shaking his head as he quickly picked up the phone. "Attention all personnel, we have a breach in the starboard hangar. Marines, move in and secure the deck before they can spread."

"Largos, go join them. They need all the help they can get." I urged as I turned to look at him. He gave me a quick nod, bolting out of the CIC as quickly as he could with his staff held at the ready.

We continued to hold our ground as they kept hitting our lines, managing to knock out the last of the Destroyers in our sector as bangs could be felt from additional flak rounds. A damaged Oculus slammed into the hull, exploding into dozens of pieces against our titanium armor.

"Sir, Reaper forces have breached Admiral Mal's defense perimeter, and he's requesting immediate assistance." Morgan announced, another boom vibrating through the ship as more debris impacted the hull. "He says they're going for the surface."

"Maneuver us away from the sector to plug up that hole!" I shouted to the helmsman, turning back to her. "Recall our fighter and interceptor wings for redeployment. Order the Vivvius, Wyvern, Discovery, and Iquitos to break formation and follow us, then tell the rest of the fleet to take our place."

"Yes'sir." She confirmed as the engines fired up to full power, shooting us forwards as the ships behind us moved to plug the gap. Luckily for us, our sector was nearly secure thanks to Dimitri's "Hunter" system.

I knew he'd be thrilled to know it worked perfectly.

The breach in Mal's fleet was over one of the equatorial regions of the planet, Reach's version of Earth's Tropic of Cancer, It was mostly farm domes and forests. Aside from a few Confederation garrisons, the region had no major defenses and consisted mostly of a civilian population. Whatever was happening down there couldn't have been good.

"If they're already on the ground with full loads of husks, it's not gonna be pretty." Dixon shook his head, thinking the same thoughts as me.

"Do we have any idea where they landed?" I asked as we cut our burn, shooting towards Mal's forces through inertia. I knew that if Mal's ships were in disarray, it wasn't likely that they'd sent any support to the surface yet.

"Looks like… Keuceh, Lesaseova, and Frisson are under attack." Dixon listed off as he looked at the topographical map on the console, jogging my memory as I remembered my visit to Frisson to help them with their farming issues two years ago. They weren't equipped to handle a Reaper incursion down there. Terrible thoughts began running through my mind as I thought of a response.

"Prepare the atmospheric Cobras, eight Marine squads, and two lances of Dragoons for immediate deployment to the surface." I ordered, getting a nod from Dixon as I looked back to Morgan. "Tell one of the Viper wings to escort them and provide security."

"Understood sir." She nodded as I held the edges of the center console and fought my inner impulses.

As badly as I wanted to go down there myself and help Meera'Bols and her people, I knew doing so was stupid and that I had a job to do up here. I could only hope what we were sending down would be enough to push them back and save them from what would otherwise be certain death. Looking back to the bow's camera feeds, it was clear Mal's forces had been hit far worse than us. Several of the spackdocks in his sector were badly damaged or destroyed, and a clear path of destruction could be seen between his lines as he fought to move back in and secure it. Another wave of debris slammed into us as we passed through the wreckage of one of his ships, sounding like hailstones against our hull.

The Cobras and Desant dropships quickly deployed, followed by our Vipers. Luckily, we were in a good position to cover their descent with our guns, blowing away another swarm of Oculi with flak rounds as they attempted to intercept our ships. We moved into Mal's sector, immediately setting off the radiation alarm again as a badly burned and heavily irradiated Destroyer-class barreled towards us, almost as if it recognized the Saint Luke. I knew it was an immediate threat, picking up the phone and dialing the other ships following us.

"All ships, focus fire on that Destroyer until it's dust!" I yelled, motioning to Dixon to shut off the alarm. I put my hand over the bottom of the phone and turned to fire control. "Hit that bastard with everything we've got! Main gun, turrets, lasers, everything!"

"You got it, Admiral!" He confirmed with a quick salute against his helmeted head as I focused back on the enemy ship.

We fired everything at the Destroyer, creating a dazzling display of light as every weapon we had impacted against its hull, taking chunks off its exterior as it fired a beam at us, cutting a hole straight through the Iquitos' hull as we finally hit something vital, causing its lights to go dark and shut down.

"Iquitos, are you still with us?!" I asked in a barely contained panic, knowing how hard of a hit they had just taken.

"Barely… that blast just took out one of our port engines and sliced a hole through our hangar." Kira replied, her end filled with static as the Iquitos' power grid fluctuated. People could be heard yelling at each other in the background, and I could also hear a fire extinguisher being discharged. "We can't keep going like this, I'm sorry."

"It's alright, pull back to our sector and get that damage under wraps as best you can." I ordered as another explosion rocked the Saint Luke, this time from inside. It sounded much closer than any of the other ones I'd heard.

"That was close… too close." Dixon shook his head, opening another comm line. "Marines, what's our status, over?"

"We've got hostiles moving towards the CIC! There's too many-" I heard a Marine shout as his line went dead, immediately followed by another explosion that managed to knock out the power grid on this deck for a split second.

"Well, that's enough to convince me. Grab your weapons!" I ordered, walking over to Dixon as everyone else moved to the lockers in the back. "Prepare the program, just in case. I'm not gonna let these bastards take this ship in one piece."

"Understood." He sighed, quickly tapping in the commands on the center console as Tony tossed two of the Pulse rifles to me, which I caught mid-air. "We're sure in the middle of it now…"

"It's our lot in life these days." I lamented, pushing one of the rifles across the console towards him. I quickly checked to make sure mine was loaded as he did the same, looking at each face in my CIC. "Tony, Larac, Query, you're with me. The rest of you, keep the ship going."

The four of us walked into the hallway, deploying several pieces of thick cover that I had installed after the Cerberus attack months ago. Tony looked understandably worried as we took position behind the barriers, droplets of sweat pouring down his head.

"Hey, keep it together. We'll get through this." I reassured, giving him a pat on the shoulder as gunfire could be heard getting closer. "You hear me?"

"Yeah… yeah, I hear you." He nodded, forcing himself to square up as he held his rifle tighter. "It's just… it's only been drills until now. I didn't think we'd ever be in this situation again."

"You'd be surprised how often something like this can happen." I remarked, my rifle braced against the barrier as I stayed crouched behind it, ready for anything.

Moments later, several Marines turned the corner and ran towards us as Largos could be seen swinging his staff, blowing several husks back down the hallway. He pulled the rifle out from under his cape and fired a quick burst, following the Marines as they all vaulted over the barriers. We all began firing at the horde, cutting down many in the first volley as Largos continued firing biotic blasts to keep them at bay.

"This is not a favorable situation, Admiral." Largos remarked calmly, panting heavily as his body fought to dump excess heat without sweat glands. Gunfire from the turian husks forced his head down as he tried to get himself back to full strength. "There are more on the way."

"I know!" I yelled over the gunfire, blowing apart one of their skulls as the pulse rounds left glowing hot holes in the bulkheads. "One of you, go find another squad!"

"Sir!" One of the Marines confirmed, running down the opposite end of the hallway as we continued to cut down the seemingly endless waves of husks.

Before I knew it, a much larger husk I hadn't seen before rushed through the corridor, crushing several of the smaller human, batarian, and turian husks as it turned to us. It looked like a big crab or tick of some kind, and had massive guns mounted on its back.

"Get down!" I yelled as I saw said guns aim for us, firing heavy rounds from its cannons. One of the rounds pierced the barrier inches from my head, giving me a moment of pause.

One of the Marines, a Corporal, wasn't so lucky. As the rest of us dove for cover, the other shot hit her directly in the head, blowing it and her mask to pieces. She hit the deck with a sickening thud as the creature began moving closer, filling me with a sense of rage I hadn't felt in a long time.

"Oh Jesus, oh Jesus…" Tony repeated to himself, on the verge of breaking down into a panic as he focused on her limp body.

Without many options left, I pulled her body towards me and yanked the grenade pouch off her side, arming one and throwing it back in with the rest.

"Eat this!" I yelled in pure fury, tossing the bundle at the creature with little time to spare. It exploded as the pouch hit the monster, setting off the other two a split second later. It wracked the thing, blowing half of it to pieces. It sputtered and twitched for a few moments before it hit the ground, beginning to break down into a puddle of goo.

I didn't stop there, however. I walked out of cover, firing my pulse rifle from the hip at the incoming husks as my anger took over, clouding my mind. Surprisingly, I was managing to gain ground on them as I slowly walked down the hall, over the piles of husk corpses. I fired wildly at them, cutting down their unarmored forms with little care given to my own safety.

"You like that, huh?! You motherfuckers!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, feeling the gun grow hotter in my hands as I continued to fire it nonstop. As the rifle ran out of ammunition and the barrel melted to slag, I threw it to the floor and pulled out my 1911, using it instead. "Get the fuck off my ship!"

"Has he gone nuts?" I could vaguely hear Tony asking out loud as I continued to walk and shoot. I fired the gun until all 10 rounds were expended, able to feel the cold air against my red-hot face.

As I pulled another magazine out of my holster to reload my gun, Largos quickly leaped past me, sending out another biotic burst as he swung his staff, cutting two of them in half. Several more Marines arrived, having finally gotten here to help push back against the invaders.

"Admiral, please return to the CIC. We will finish the task at hand!" He reassured, pushing across the small wall of bodies back towards the elevators as the Marines followed closely behind.

As they pushed back down the hall and cut off their advance, running out of numbers, I sauntered back towards the barriers, only just now realizing how fast my heart was beating. My throat was coarse from the yelling, and I was fighting to slow my breathing. Tony stared at me in stunned silence, locking eyes with me for a few moments as I unlocked the CIC door.

"Return to your stations." I ordered in a monotone, putting my 1911 back in my shoulder holster as they quickly obeyed, walking past me single file. As I closed the door with a loud *thunk*, I turned back around to face the body of the Marine that had died, shaking my head as I knelt down next to her.

For some reason, I decided to do the Sign of the Cross. It was only when I performed the gesture I noticed the burn marks I had sustained on my hands from overheating the rifle. Strangely enough, there was still so much adrenaline running through my body that I barely felt them. I sighed deeply, knowing this would be difficult to heal from in the coming days.

As I returned to the CIC, they erupted in applause much to my sudden surprise. According to Dixon, we had managed to defeat the last of the Reaper invasion force in the time we were out there defending the CIC, and we had effectively won. Even though he claimed as much, I knew it was more of an embellishment. It may have looked like we had won, but the extent of that victory wouldn't truly be known for a few hours.

I knew there was a catch. There always was one.

…

Frisson, November 9th, 5:31 PM, 2186

…

As I stood on the edge of the settlement, I watched as ash fell from the once pristine sky, blocking the sun. Columns of smoke rose into the air as our people fought to put out the fires all over the place and search the wreckage for survivors. Over half of Frisson had been flattened in the initial attack, the domes destroyed and the farmers murdered. There were only a few dozen survivors against the few hundred that used to live and work here, and most of them were in bad shape, not even expected to survive.

Part of me was trying to figure out why the Reapers had decided to attack here in particular. Was it simply the closest location to the breach in Mal's forces, or were they just trying to cause as much damage as possible? Either way, it didn't matter. The senseless slaughter of Captain Meera and her people was a sobering reality I had to come to terms with, as I tried to rationalize some cheery, PR bullshit about "rebuilding and recovering from this tragedy". I knelt and rubbed some dirt between my burnt fingers, feeling the pain against the blisters as I smelled the air.

All I could do was shake my head, knowing there was no recovering from something like this.

The Battle of Reach had ended in a "resounding victory", with all Reaper ships destroyed in the fighting and "minimal casualties" sustained during the fighting. We knew now that out of the 58 Reapers that had been confirmed destroyed after the Ares detonation, only 33 had survived the subsequent coronal ejection and made it here. All things considered, it was quite the victory for us when you looked at the numbers, but after seeing all this death down here and aboard my own ship… every death hurt my soul to the very core.

Our casualties in orbit had been "surprisingly low" considering it was a full Reaper invasion force. 9,872 dead, and over 23,000 injured or in critical condition. The medbays aboard all our vessels were brimming with people as we struggled to keep up with all the cases. On the surface though, the reports from Keuceh and Lesaseova were no different. None of the men I had deployed to the surface had been killed, but the local garrison had been under-armed and stood little chance. They were all dead.

I remembered standing in the exact same spot years ago when I visited Frisson to help them with their farming issues. Seeing all that progress reduced to this was incredibly difficult. Sure, I could have remained cold and detached, staying in orbit and patting myself on the back, but I cared about these people, even in the short amount of time I interacted with them long ago.

As I took a deep breath and stood back up, I could only hope their sacrifices wouldn't be in vain. We had done the seemingly impossible today, repelling an invading Reaper force. Despite my personal reservations regarding its overall outcome, I knew this would be a massive win for us and the morale of those supporting our war effort. The ODPs we had initially lied about to get built had finally proven their worth, and construction orders had already gone out for even more platforms to be built around Confederation worlds.

I still remembered that day when I had alluded to a Geth invasion of all things after the Battle of the Citadel. Giant guns and fusion weapons obviously wouldn't be the winning factors in this war, but both had saved us from what would have otherwise been a complete slaughter. Remembering Rael and Gerrel though… I almost missed how simple things used to be.

My omni-tool beeped, getting me to sigh as I mentally prepared myself.

"Michaels here." I answered, watching one of our mechs pull up one of the collapsed buildings in their search for survivors.

"Sir, the Admiralty is requesting our presence at HIGHCOM. They say there's a new situation developing in Citadel space that needs to be discussed in-person with Alliance brass." Dixon explained, getting my eyebrows to shoot up in surprise as a gust of wind blew in my face.

"Very well… stay in orbit and continue to coordinate recovery and repair efforts. I'll commandeer the Discovery and bum a ride with Captain Lenlo for this meeting." I replied, rubbing my forehead as I prepared myself for a headache that wouldn't come.

We had only just finished dealing with one crisis, and now it seemed we had another on our hands. All I wanted to do at the moment was curl up into a ball in bed with my wife and have a moment of peace, but I couldn't even get an hour to think about what happened today.

I walked back to the shuttle, calling Lenlo on the priority line. At least I'd be able to ride with a familiar "face" today.

…

UCV Discovery, November 9th, 6:14 PM, 2186

…

Standing in the decon chamber of the Discovery once more, I rolled my shoulder as I did my best to ignore the pain coming from my hands. It felt kind of weird being back on this ship again after so many months had passed, but I knew how circular the nature of this world could be. It would be nice seeing Lenlo again. As the cycle ended and the doors slid open, we immediately met face to face. I couldn't keep myself from smiling, even in times as uncertain as this.

"Permission to come aboard, Captain?" I asked in a sly tone, hands now held behind my back.

"Permission granted. Welcome aboard, Admiral." He nodded, sounding just as thrilled as me as I stepped forward into the pit. "I'm sorry we didn't have more time to prepare for your arrival, sir. We've been busy with the recovery efforts up here, and haven't had time to-"

"You're good, Lenlo. Don't worry about my creature comforts." I halted, not wanting to be coddled in any way. "I'm just happy you agreed to ferry me to HIGHCOM on such short notice."

"It's really nothing, sir. It's not like we have the capacity to assist with the injured in our current configuration." He shrugged, amusing me with his enthusiasm as I looked up, seeing his mostly-new crew standing above us at the edge of the bridge railing. "These are my crewmates. You already know Kirva of course. These three lovely Geth are Epoch, Aeon, and Periapsis."

The three, in near-perfect synchronization, narrowed their apertures and said "Hello Admiral" in one of the flattest tones possible. I'd normally find it kind of creepy, but part of my morbid mind actually found it more funny than anything else.

"That big, mean-looking Raloi up there is called Reitus. How are you doing, Reit?" Lenlo went on, getting him to cross his large, feathered arms.

"I'll be doing fine once we're on the move again, Captain." He replied in a deep, slightly annoyed tone, walking out of sight as Lenlo turned back around to face me.

"Don't mind him, he's just a little worried about the fluctuations those retrofits have been causing in the power grid." He reassured, turning back towards the crew quarters. "Please, make yourself at home, sir."

Walking into the old crew quarters, the first thing I noticed was a new Pollock tree had been planted in the center, and had clearly grown much larger than the old one over the last few months. The room was also a bit more tightly packed with supplies and other miscellaneous gear due to the Geth charging ports that had been installed on one side, and the Raloi-sized crew pod on the other. While I was aware of how modular this ship was, it was clear the Galleon-class was not meant for Raloi physiology in the traditional sense.

"The Captain can be a messy little bosh'tet sometimes, but I never feel like he'd put our lives in danger." Kirva suddenly spoke up, having managed to sneak up on me. "It's been a while, sir. How's the new ship treating you?"

"About as well as you've probably heard. Nothing against it, mind you, just a jab at the guy who's supposed to be running the place." I initially joked, slipping into a more serious tone as I took a seat at the Y-shaped table. "Every major engagement I seem to lose people… and those people on the surface… I always tell myself it could be worse, but the real question is now much worse can it get before we've passed the point of no return?"

"You and I already know the answer to that question, sir." She calmly replied, sitting down across from me as the whir from the Gravity Drive could be heard, charging up. "I reached my point in the Nemean Abyss, and you reached yours on Pragia. I assumed that would have been obvious by this point."

"Yeah… I do cross the line when it comes to people harming children." I agreed, feeling acceleration as we jumped away from Reach. "I was always taught growing up that there are lines you just do not cross. Murder is obviously a huge one, but the visceral reaction I felt in that morgue is too… primal to describe in words. Anyone who harms or is willing to harm an innocent, defenseless being like a child deserves no mercy in my eyes."

"I personally see nothing wrong with such a viewpoint, though I can understand why the law prohibits such immediate, punitive measures." She mused, leaning against the table as Reitus walked by, immediately entering his pod and closing the door without pause. "Do you feel what I did was right?"

"Well, of course what you did was right." I immediately replied, surprised by her question as I leaned against one of the support pillars. "You were perfectly in your right to defend yourself from bodily harm. Why would you ask that?"

"Because I didn't just defend myself, Admiral. I hunted each and every last one of those bosh'tets like they were wild animals. I relive those moments every single time I sleep, horrified. Not of what happened, but of the idea that I'd be capable of doing it again." She admitted, quickly tapping her fingers against the table as she pictured those moments in her head once more. "Sometimes I wonder if I'll just snap one day and hurt those around me. It haunts me."

I knew too well what she meant, considering the horrifying images that have often plagued my dreams.

"I'm just happy you and the Captain don't judge me based on what I did… I tried telling my parents when I came back a few months ago, and they looked at me as if I was a monster. It hurt me so badly, but Lenlo was there for me." She explained, filling me with apprehension.

"You two were made for one another." I reasoned, trying to steer the conversation away from how dark it had just become. "He acted like he was intimidated by you, but he always did fancy you."

"I know." She nodded, sounding more than a little relieved. "I just need to better myself before I aim for any… long-term plans with him."

I smiled, understanding what she was getting at as I leaned back in my chair, staring at the ceiling.

I missed having the old crew together.

…

A/N: Well, it finally happened. I hope you all like what I've done with the battle, I've been doing my absolute best to improve the way I write combat, and I think it's finally reached the point where I might be happy with it. I'll leave you guys to be the judge of that. We'll have to see what's going on at HIGHCOM next time, though.