A/N: Sorry no chapter last week. I had hand surgery and was unable to use it for a few days, then some things came up on the weekend. From now on I'm aiming to have a chapter up every Saturday.

On we go!

"What are you proposing?"

Shepard's face didn't change, not even so much as the twitch of an eyebrow. "You want our terms? I believe General Rasler made those clear. Surrender, or we will destroy you."

"Yes, I understood those terms," Sam said, then turned her head slightly as Liara touched her arm. She gave her a nod, then took a step to the side, to allow the asari up on the promontory.

"Commander Shepard-"

"Supreme Commander Shepard." There was a remarkable chill in her voice, her eyes remaining on Sam. "Captain Feris, do you allow aliens to serve and speak aboard your ship?"

"My crew is entirely human," Sam said carefully. "However, humanity is allied with many alien races. This is a fellow Captain and member of the Special Tactics and Recon division of our Galactic Council. Her name is-"

"Unimportant, but known. As my name is known to you."

"Your name is indeed known to us, Supreme Commander," Liara said. "You are an intelligent, capable soldier and commander, that much is clear. I hope you share a bit of the wisdom found in your counterparts as well. By entering this system and this universe uninvited you flirt with a dangerous line, one that invites open warfare. It is true that this vessel cannot stand against yours. Even were the other ships in this system now to join in the battle, it is clear that you and your vessel will be the likely victor. However, with the first shot fired you will no longer be inviting open warfare, but declaring it, against every species and military in our galaxy. Against those collective forces I promise you, you will not win."

"You sing an old, old song, asari." The very corner of Shepard's mouth curled ever so slightly, little more than a subtle shift of shadow, and she finally looked at Liara. "When the turians conquered Earth, I was promised that the humans could not win. That mere street gangs and rabble-rousers were no match for such a highly militarized, advanced, and well-trained species. Then we took Earth back. I was told that we could not win back the Sol system; now it is ours again. Then the krogan were unstoppable, Palaven itself unconquerable. The list went on and on. Now here I stand on the bones of Tuchanka, Palaven, and Sur'kesh, listening to noise pouring from yet another alien face, warning me about the cost of war, promising me that mankind will not win yet again. Your 'Council' can blow their smoke, stomp their feet, rattle their sabers. You can 'promise' me all you like. But when that smoke clears, humanity will still be standing; and they will not be. You are right in one thing, asari. I flirt with a very dangerous line, but the danger is not to me and mine. In respect for the human CO of that ship and the other humans who serve aboard her as well, I will ask one last time."

Here her eyes shifted back to Sam. "Do you surrender?"

"I need to discuss this with the Council," Sam said, trying for more time. "I need-"

"Are they representatives of humanity?"

"The Council? There is a human council member, but they represent several sentient species."

"You referred to yourself as a member of Special Tactics and Recon. That is commanded by this 'Council' and not humanity itself?"

"The Alliance are Earth forces," Sam said. "I am still considered Alliance but my standing and rank have been suspended in light of my Spectre status. I still do work for the Alliance and I am answerable to Alliance Command to an extent, however-"

"However, it is this 'Council' you are truly beholden to. Very well. I have your answer. Your refusal to surrender is an act of hostility and you will be destroyed. Die well, Captain Feris. I do not like taking human life and I regret that you have made this necessary. You and your ship, however, are representatives of this Council first and foremost, so let the record show that I am not firing upon the Alliance or Earth forces. However, the asari has one thing quite correct- I am declaring war against every non-human species and military in your galaxy. As of right now. Goodbye."

The transmission cut out in that instant, Sam already giving orders.

"Activate defensive systems, put some distance between us and that cruiser! Prepare for evasive maneuvers! Have the geth finished their evacuation?"

"Almost, Captain. Ten ships more remain to get through the relay!"

"We need to keep that cruiser off of them until they can clear, then get our ass through that relay as well! Vash, do we have any way to disable the relay and delay them until-"

"Oh, my God!"

Liara wasn't sure who it was that interrupted Sam, but it didn't matter. They were clearly seeing what she was seeing.

When the communication had cut off, it had replaced itself with the image of the Juggernaut hanging in space again, but now the vessel was moving. Not advancing or even lighting weapons but…shifting.

Nose lowering, the rear of the strange cruiser began to lift along its Y axis. The strangely shaped five-lobed 'nose cone' parted and began to spread out into appendages, almost tentacles.

The feeling Liara had before of the design of the vessel being familiar now intensified, cold wrapping her stomach. Though she had not experienced the horrific war in the other universe - the one where Ashley had been lost for several weeks - she had heard the tales, had seen footage of the malevolent force that had scrubbed their version of the Milky Way free of all advanced life every fifty thousand years.

This vessel was not black, nor as advanced as those pictures, but there was no mistaking it.

The ship was a Reaper.

"Its weapons are powering up!"

"Get us out of here! Fall back to the relay now!"

"Feris-Commander, should we order our people on the remaining ships to abandon their vessels and transmit-"

"No, Legion, there's too great a risk of bringing hostile Pio through with them. We'll keep you covered, but-"

"Captain!" Ankah was busy at the security terminal, sounding almost eager at the prospect of battle with such a foe. "We have more ships incoming!"

Liara turned from where she was issuing orders to Shrive over her omni-tool, and looked at the screens again. The cold, horrified knot in her stomach only tightened as more ships began to pour in through the Fold, forming up at the Juggernaut's flanks. Many of them looked typically human, but several were of the same Reaper design, though none so large as the dreadnaught.

"She has brought an entire armada with her. A Fleet!"

"Maybe more than one," Sam looked set, but pale. "How is she doing this? How is she even here? I thought no one could come to another volume if they existed in it already; were we that wrong?"

"I do not know, but we have no time to figure it out now. Shrive, do not wait. Get the Aswa through the relay and head toward the Citadel! We'll join you as soon as we can!"

"Full retreat! I want a full retreat!" Tali's voice could be heard as she spoke to her own people. "Tell Admiral Raan not to wait! Make for Citadel space!"

"Incoming fire!"

Though the inertial dampeners took care of most of it, Liara could feel the deck shift under her feet as the Athena dodged the shots heading her way.

"Return fire! Continue the retreat, but keep us between that fleet and the evacuating ships!" Sam was filing through screens and feeds as the Athena sent several shots dancing toward the Juggernaut.

{Captain, Shrive!} The pilot's voice came through overhead, ringing through the CIC rather than Liara's private communication. {The last ships are clearing through the relay now but we have…we have a geth station heading our way from orbit around Rannoch!}

"Legion?" Liara looked over at the geth.

"Some of our people transferred back to the station," he said. "They will drive it into the relay after our retreat."

"That's brilliant!" Sam said. "Station that big will do a great deal of damage on impact to the relay, put it out of commission for a while, if not destroy it outright. It buys us time."

"If the relay is destroyed it will take out this entire system!" Tali said. "The energy release will be on par with a supernova. In fact, it will cause a supernova the moment the blast wave impacts the sun! Rannoch will be obliterated!"

"So will the invading fleet," Sam told her. "The fleet, the anchor, that Juggernaut, and the Supreme Commander, all in one."

Tali looked horrified. "Would you sacrifice Earth to take out a single enemy fleet? Are you insane?"

"Tali, Sam isn't insane," Liara said. "This is not just a single enemy fleet. This is a force that has taken over the entirety of one Milky Way already, lead by a woman whose alternate wiped out an impossible enemy force that had already defeated millions of advanced civilizations over millenia. If that were not bad enough, she has somehow reproduced the technology of that impossible enemy force, as well as acquired exo-alien tech in the form of the Pio. We have no intelligence as to what other tech she may have gotten her hands on. You were there for Osco. One of our own, with a single ship of that technology, nearly destroyed this galaxy. Your people suffered the worst from it, I know. Losing Rannoch on top of that…I cannot imagine."

Tears painted down Tali's cheeks, her lower lip trembling before she managed to still it, the muscle in her jaw turning to rock. When she said nothing, Liara turned back to Legion.

"Your people know this is a suicide mission?"

"They understand, T'soni-Captain. They have…volunteered."

The Athena dodged to the side, shaking hard a moment as alarms started to blare. "Captain, we have taken damage along the port flank! It was a glancing blow but we have a hull breech in the observation deck! Barriers are in place and I've locked the room down!"

"Understood! Keep on them! Legion, how long until the last ship is clear?"

"Thirty seconds more."

"Shrive, get the Aswa out of there! Get through the relay!" Liara was watching the small blip that was the Aswa on the nearest display screen. The ship had turned away from the relay and toward the advancing geth station. Several of the red enemy blips had turned toward the station, and were converging.

{The station needs cover, Captain! If it's destroyed before it can reach the relay-}

"No! Get the-"

Liara threw up her hand as brilliant light filled the ship from a hundred different displays. Someone cried out in surprise. The Athena's deck rumbled hard, a pop of fire and smoke filling the air that was only heard and felt, as seeing was impossible.

Then the light was gone. Blinking back afterimages, Liara straightened. She was a bit surprised they were still alive, and it took a moment for her to sort out the shouting voices. Crew rushed to put the fire at one of the flank stations out, gray-black smoke pooling at the ceiling already being sucked away by the air scrubbers.

"We have severe damage along the starboard flank. Environmental systems are damaged but holding, but we've lost half our weapons! Shielding down to 22 percent!"

"Captain! They're launching fighters! I have at least fifteen wings coming in hot, they'll be on us in six minutes!"

"We've lost the geth station!" Vash shouted above the din. "That damned Juggernaut hit the off-bleed regulation feeds and compromised the core! We have eezo radiation levels rising all over the ship, injury in five minutes, fatal levels in eight!"

"The Aswa?" Sam called back. Liara was already striding over to Ankah's side at the security station. The Aswa had been running toward the station, determined to cover it on its way into the relay. On the outside, the asari was the picture of her usual calm, but inside, that cold knot in her stomach had only intensified.

If she was caught in that explosion…

What she saw on the screens did little to assuage her. "Radiation levels are too high, I cannot confirm the Aswa's status or location."

"Without the station, we will not be able to destroy the relay," Tali had taken over help as well, filing madly through the Athena's ordinance inventories. "There are a number of 329-KLS mines still intact in the armory. If I can modify them, we can launch them as we got through the relay. If I can get them to adhere to the relay we may be able to cause just enough damage to it that they'll have to stay in this system for a few days before they can access it."

"It's not much but it's all we have. How long to do the modifications?"

"Not long! By the time we're hitting that relay I'll have us ready to launch the spread!"

"Do it! Dustan, get us to that relay! Alvarez, scan for any sign of the Aswa as we go, or any lifeboats that may have launched, we-"

{Captain, I have them!} Dustan replied from the helm. {The Aswa is running on the relay now. With this radiation most of our scans are useless but she's damaged and hurting.}

Only a tiny portion of that knot in Liara's stomach released to hear it. The rest remained. The Aswa hadn't been destroyed after all, but she would still have gotten a much higher dose of eezo radiation from the explosion. Levels that could ultimately prove fatal even if they weren't high enough to kill quickly.

"Good to hear it! How many geth ships remain to evacuate?"

{Last one has gone through, it's just us and the Aswa now.}

"Keep her covered then follow her through! Tali, the moment we're in range and connected you send those mines out!"

"I've got them all modified, ready to disperse!"

Liara still could not see the Aswa thanks to the blanket of radiation and confusion on the scans, but she could see the relay. The moment it sparked and flared, the knot in her gut eased just a hair more.

"Captain Feris, the Aswa is through the relay!" she said.

{Confirmed, Aswa is through! We are hitting the relay ourselves in five! Four! Three! Two!-}

"Mines are loaded! Dispersing now!"

Liara felt the deck underfoot hitch and shift as the relay caught hold of the Athena and hurled her through. The moment the hitch eased she took over the console from Ankah to pinpoint the Aswa.

"Dustan, keep us on course for Council space!" Sam said. "Tali, did it work?"

"I can't say. The mines detonated, but there is no way of knowing how much damage they caused to the relay, if any. My guess is, if that damned dreadnought doesn't pop out in the next ten seconds, right on our tail, it was enough to delay them."

{Captain, I have the Aswa on scope- ma'am, she's drifting, in a hard roll. Eezo levels are high enough I can't get an accurate read on the damage but it looks like her guidance and inertial controls have gone out, and she may have damage to her core.}

"Get us in next to her, see if we can't tractor her steady again. Any sign her core is going to go, get the Athena to distance. Tali?"

"No sign of the dreadnought, or any other hostile ships. Either we succeeded in damaging the relay, or they're holding in Tikkun for their own reasons."

{Captain, I have confirmed the Aswa's core is intact and undamaged, however radiation levels are extremely high on board. High enough to interfere with communications and cause injury.}

Liara had already turned for the lift, Sam snapping her fingers at Legion and indicating him to come along as well as she turned to follow.

"Get us latched on. We're getting into hardsuits and going over to evacuate now. Medical bay on standby!"