HOLOCAUST:

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE:

COLD LIBERTIES PART THREE

July 5, 2186

1144 hours.

Bulkhead 15, GDS-659 Class Super-Dreadnought, Geth Fleet, In Orbit over Rannoch, Tikkun System, Perseus Veil Cluster.

Second Morning War, First Battle of Rannoch.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, General Kal'Reegar oso Machina, Major Madi'Reegar oso Machina, Military Advisor Garrus Vakarian, Second Lieutenant James Vega, Second Lieutenant Imogen Keeling, Soldier Javik, EDI, Master Thief Kasumi Goto, Major Kaidan Alenko, Shadow Broker Liara T'Soni.

The door ahead had no haptic interface. However, that problem solved itself when the door opened and a squad of hoppers tried to crawl through. They were met with a beam of particle energy, the beam slicing through the optics of one and causing it to instantly slam into the ground, followed by the beam melting through the arm of another, melted circuitry and sparking machinery clumping to the ground as its white mix spurted from its wound. A hail of fire from the rest of the squad quickly dispatched the squad, mowing them down quickly and efficiently, leaving only charred wrecks and chewed up mechanical corpses.

His squad moved over them like a train, rifles screening the corridor ahead with cold effiency and no nonsense attitudes. A geth hunter attempted to surprise them from around one corner, but like a flash, Tali had spun and fired her plasma shotgun, having seen the outline of its cloaked form. The blast took it fully in the gut, causing its cloak to falter for a few moments as it righted itself and the invisibility device tried to compensate for the impact. But it was too late. Following up her attack, Tali fired again, and this time the shot blew its optics apart, sending the platform hurling back, its own plasma shotgun falling from its hands to the ground.

They continued up the next corridor, this time encountering a trio of destroyers reinforced by two geth snipers, both of them aligned on the sides of the room with their sniper rifles at the ready. Kal didn't even wait for Marcus' go, falling into a crouch and letting it rip with his grenade launcher, sending a hurl of fire into the enemy ranks.

The lead destroyer was torn asunder, the plasma tearing its upper torso into shards of metal and circuitry. The barrage continued to land a similiar fate upon the other two destroyers. One of the geth snipers, during the infinite amount of time it took for this to happen, found a target and fired, sending a round clean through Javik's shields through, right through his shoulder. Javik did not scream in pain, but rather in irritation as he brought his other arm up, and released a burst of green energy from his fingertips into the sniper, causing it to stumble. The squad then charged, while Kaidan took care of the injured Javik, blood spurting from his wound and dripping down his ornate armor.

Liara encased the stumbling sniper within a biotic stasis, holding it in position until she was able to reach it. Closing the distance quickly, she shoved her SMG under its chin and let loose a string of rounds, all of which ate up its optics and burst out the top of its head, leaving it a totalled ruin. When the stasis field ended, its body slumped to the ground, the glow of its optics now absent.

The second sniper was quickly overwhelmed, his team taking it out with brutal ease, leaving it a chewed up derelict. Just as they contemplated their victory however, Marcus saw something out of his peripheral vision, and he turned around extremely slowly...

...to watch a geth prime round the corner, pulse cannon bared. Oh, for fuck sake...

The geth prime's reign of terror was over before it started however, and Marcus watched with shock and glee as James immediately brought his spitfire to bear, his own grin creasing his features. "Take this, you pedazo de mierda! Kiss my ASS!" And with a gradual spin up, he opened fire. High speed rounds made short work of the prime's usually powerful kinetic barriers, and the plasma made short work of its heavy armor. Such was the force of the geth minigun that pieces of armor actually flew off as they were decimated, and some punched cleanly through the prime itself, spitting it out the other end and denting the wall behind it. The prime just jerked and shuddered as the onslaught crippled it.

Eventually, James tilted the weapon upwards, and the rounds began to chew up the geth's optics. The velocity was too much, and the optics literally blew inwards, like a tornado knocking down the walls of a house, sending metal flying outwards behind it, showering the area behind it. Finally, James ceased his attack as the weapon overheated, allowing him time to reload. The prime just fell backwards, its long dead corpse hitting the ground with a tremendous tremor.

"Holy shit, loco," James exclaimed, sighing happily as the weapon's heat finally dispersed from the weapon, allowing him to reach the slot so he can eject the spent clip, "This monstrosity is my monstrosity. It's mine, no argument needed."

"It's all yours, James. Secure a perimeter, prepare to move. According to the schematics, the elevator should be down the next corridor." With that stated, he quickly moved back to where Kaidan and Javik were situated.

The prothean was standing up, green blood steadily trickling down his chest from the wound in his shoulder, which was now coated firmly in medi-gel. The prothean looked like he wasn't even in a tiny bit of pain, although knowing the ancient soldier's personality, he was probably deliberately hiding it.

"I've added medi-gel to his wound, Shepard, but his shoulder's messed up pretty bad. At least a few broken bones," Kaidan announced, holding his rifle in both hands steadily and firmly, ready for combat. His armor was potmarked with damage, but none of the rounds looked to have punched through, thankfully, "I seriously don't recommend combat. I think Chakwas needs to take a look at him."

"I will fight," Javik growled, "The battle is almost concluded. I will hold for a while longer."

"I'll be the decider of that, Javik, and right now, that doesn't look to be happening," he stated firmly, fixing the prothean with a firm gaze. The soldier didn't back down, glaring back as his superior even as Marcus turned back to Kaidan. The sentinel hesitated for a moment before giving a hesitant nod. His fate decided, Marcus turned back, sighing, "You'll be waiting this one out, Javik. Then you're going to let Chakwas and Michel look at that injury when we get back to the ship. I'm not having a liability on the team."

Javik bore his teeth, looking to be ready to burst with anger, "I will not sit down while you're fighting the battle!"

"You will stand down, Javik," he hissed.

"I will not," Javik hissed, stepping into a space less than inch from the captain, but Marcus did not back down, "I will not."

Marcus moved to say something when Tali was at his right, her shotgun at the ready, glaring daggers at the prothean. Liara joined him on his left, equally glaring, and Garrus' fingers, although he didn't know it, tensed on his trigger finger.

"Back off, Javik," Tali hissed, "If he gives you an order, you follow it. Being from a species of military subjugators, I thought you'd understand authority."

The prothean crossed his arms, shaking his head, "In my cycle, a commanding officer didn't have his soldiers sit on the sidelines because of a flesh wound. If a warrior was hit, he kept fighting until he was killed. That was the way of the Empire. No weakness was permitted, such as you would."

He gritted his teeth, trying his best not to punch the prothean, "We'll talk about your opinion of my command when we get back to the ship. I don't care how things were done in your cycle because that cycle is done and gone. The Reapers wiped your people out, and your bloody martyrdom didn't stop them anymore than it did for the races before you. Now you're going to get over your fucking pride and let us handle this. Because, unlike your Empire, I value the lives of those under my command. And that's exactly what this is; my command. You want to get vengeance against the Reapers? Then learn to follow my orders. And know when you're beaten."

Javik remained persistent for the next few moments and for a second, he believed Tali would genuinely have to beat him onto the ground. But the prothean's posture slouched after a moment, becoming less stiff as he sighed, stepping back.

"Very well," the prothean stated, "You are correct, captain. I will let your medical professional look at me. But once this is completed, I will insist on joining the next combat mission."

He nodded, turning to Kaidan, "He's your responsibility. Keep him safe. EDI, with Kaidan. Keep Javik safe. Keep to the middle." Turning away, he nodded to Tali and Liara to thank them for their support, to which Tali playfully winked, lowering her shotgun, to which he only just realized she had aimed at Javik. Glad she didn't fire it.

"James, front and center. I need that big gun of yours covering the vanguard. Everybody else, let's move! Straight to the elevator, not much further!"

That wasn't a lie. They continued down the corridor, albeit at a slower pace due to Javik's injury, and at the end was the service elevator. Marcus moved up first, screening the area to make sure no geth were waiting for them. The elevator was already waiting for them, quiet conveniently, its sleek, smooth surface sitting still and unmoving. The shaft stretched above them and likely below. As he looked up, he saw numerous other decks with platforms similiar to the one they were standing on. The shaft above only stretched up twelve more decks, until it reached a dead end in the ceiling, where a circled light sat, glowing bright blue.

The console for the elevator lay ahead, shaped in the usual geth fashion. Positive the area was clear, he lowered his pulse rifle and waved his squad aboard, watching the entrance as EDI hacked into the console. Her fingers flicked across the console rapidly, code flashing across the screen at unfathomable speeds. Eventually, when she was finished, the elevator began to descend towards the bottom, where the engine room awaited for them, four decks below. As it descended, the elevator made a subtle hum, rotating on the gears holding it up and allowing its descent.

He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked up. One soldier is shot up and Gerrel's firing on the geth in a suicidal charge. This mission has gone to shit faster than I could fathom.

His eyes landed on the platform just above the one they had been on. And as they passed the third deck, two forms emerged.

It didn't take him long to make out their forms to be that of rocket troopers. Their optics tilted downwards, and he watched in horror as they took aim with their missile launchers. He quickly turned to his squad, watching the elevator arrive at the fourth deck. As the elevator ceased movement with a click, he roared into their comms, "RUN!"

His squad began to move as the rocket troopers fired. Two, blue streaks of light burst from their weapons and arched down towards them, plumes of smoke following them like harbingers. They slammed into their intended targets with earnest, the supports torn asunder as the explosion sheared through the metal and sent shards flying in multiple directions. With two supports destroyed, the elevator immediately shuddered, and tilted diagonally.

Most of his squad were on the platform by the time it tilted the way it did, except for himself, Kasumi and Keeling. Kasumi was near the top, and with a leap reached the platform and climbed into it. Keeling was a little worse for wear, but with startling precision, she managed to use the ridges and creases of the elevator's floor to climb up and reach the top, pulling herself up and over. Now there was just him.

He kept his footing steady, looking up as he saw the duo of rocket troopers reloading. One more salvo, and the elevator would plummet, taking him with it. He doubted he would survive the hundred of decks fall. He considered the terrain before him, where he could place his feet, and eventually came to one conclusion in his analysis; he would have to run.

As if to beckon him and complete his decision, Tali appeared, landing on her knees as she reached out her hand, "Marcus, run! Grab my hand!" She reached out further, placing her shotgun down on the deck as she used it to stop herself from falling off, steadying herself.

It's now or never. Do or die. He looked up once more, and watched the rocket troopers taking aim once more. His eyes widened, and he decided in that second. Fuck it! His eyes locked with Tali's, holstered his rifle, and took off with a sprint.

He reached the edge and wrapped his hand in Tali's just as the rockets impacted again, destroying the remains of the elevator's supports. With a screech, a churn and a horrible bending of metal, the elevator yanked loose of whatever was left holding it up, and shot downwards, slamming into the shaft's wall with a huge clang as it spun and fell to the many decks below.

He dangled from the air, watching as Tali was joined by Garrus, EDI and James as they hefted him up and over onto the platform, allowing him to crawl up. Once up, he rolled off, seeing Garrus and James holding onto their sore arms as they recovered from having to heft off the tonnage of a man. EDI looked no worse for wear, and Tali...

A three-fingered hand hovered above him as he sucked in breath, and he grinned as he looked into the person's eyes. He grabbed her hand, allowing her to help him up, standing up and unholstering his rifle. Tali smiled at him behind the mask, before he found himself suddenly encased in her arms.

"I almost thought I lost you," Tali whispered into their private link.

He smiled warmly, hugging her back, placing his face in the crook of her neck, "You were worried?"

She gave a disheartened laugh, "Me? Of course! Losing my husband because I got sloppy and let the geth get through my door hacks? Think of my reputation!"

He pulled back, and held her at visual range, looking into her eyes. She simply looked back, but he could see the smile behind her mask.

"Yeah," he decided, letting go as he turned around, moving through the door, where the rest of the squad had already set up a defensive position, "You were worried." With that, he switched back to the squad comms, cutting off Tali's response. He just grinned.

They moved through a few more corridors before finally arriving at the engine room. EDI and Tali, as per usual, hacked into the door and it opened with a hiss, Marcus passing through first, as he always did.

The geth super-dreadnought's engine room certainly wasn't something he had seen in engine room's before. It was multi-storied, taking up at least eight decks. Along these eight decks were numerous, intermixing catwalks, maintenance causeways, vents, ladders, elevators, consoles and bright lights. Wiring hung loosely from some corners, showing just how hurried the construction of the super-dread's creation was. Guess the Reapers hurried its creation along. Doors lined the perimeter of the circular room, at least seventeen to be seen, all likely leading to different areas of the vessel or further into the back. As he looked up, he had to crane his neck just to see the ceiling, easily stretching up over sixy meters. Christ...

In the middle, hovering just above them; not close enough to touch, but close enough to be large, was the drive core. It was mostly just a large, grey sphere, segmented into tiny sections that could slide apart independently if ordered to...or at least he gathered so. They all slotted into each other like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, and from the cracks he could see pulsing red energy, which instantly gave him the same forboding feeling he felt whenever around Reaper technology. The whole drive core isn't even geth. Its purely Reaper tech.

And so you've come, Shepard. But your efforts will be in vain, as they always have.

He rolled his eyes, pushing the angry voice to the back of his head. This one sounded different to the usual, however. It sounded like Sovereign, but lighter. It wasn't Harbinger, that much was obvious. But just the presence of a Reaper voice in the back of his head proved that this drive core was the source of their troubles.

He turned to Tali and EDI, giving a quick nod as he motioned to the central engineering console infront of the drive core, "You two, shut that damn signal down. The rest of you, secure a perimeter. If the geth aren't here yet, they will be soon. We need to be ready to repel them. James, cover the door we came through. Elevator might be down, but that won't stop assault drones."

Tali and EDI approached the central console, the AI immediately accessing it and bringing it to life. A holographic frame appeared infront of the pedestal, orange light illuminating a large hologram representing data streams, string commands and geth runtimes. It was all there, and they were about to bring it down. With his squad splitting to set up their position, Marcus moved over to Tali and EDI, who were already hard at work.

"How's it coming?" he quiered, holding his rifle in a tight grip.

"Surprisingly well," Tali replied, a frown in her voice, "It's...odd. The security here is atrocious. Almost like the geth didn't expect us to get this far. So far, every firewall we're coming across doesn't possess any of the Reaper code."

"However, it is likely Reaper code did exist at some point," EDI stated firmly, gathering Tali and Marcus' attentions.

"What do you mean?" Tali asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the console.

"There are gaps of code missing," the AI replied, highlighting the offending pieces and enlarging them with her deft fingers, showing lines of code that are just absent, "This is largely prominent in the firewalls closer to the core drive core programming."

Tali just got more confused, which could be found in the odd stutter in her voice, "But that makes sense. Even if he someone had begun hacking this before we did, the first firewalls we come across would be weaker on the outside, not closer to the inside. That would suggest..."

EDI finished her sentence, "...that someone from the interior network is currently working themselves outward. There is someone actively trying to disable the firewalls from inside."

Marcus frowned, shaking his head, "I'm no expert in engineering, but doesn't that mean the person hacking would have to be inside the drive core?" That makes no sense! The signal can't possibly be destroying its own firewalls! Besides, Tali said it herself! Nothing can beat this software except Reaper tech; its simply too advanced! Too sophisticated! How the hell could they possibly-

"You're correct," EDI replied, finishing her touches, "It is more than likely we will discover soon just what is causing this. I have finished breaching the firewalls. I can disable the signal whenever you're ready; however, this will cause the drive core to shutdown, which will disengage the super-dread's engines and primary propulsion."

He shrugged, "It's not the Normandy, so I don't see why not. Shut it down, EDI. People, get ready. We're going to have alot of company after this." With that, he nodded to the two of them, and they immediately made their finishing touches. Within moments, the console deactivated, and he watched the drive core's red light grow in strength before suddenly bursting, driving its way back to a dim light before simply ceasing. For a few seconds, nothing happened, all was silent. The drive core just sat there.

Then one of the metal pieces slided downwards, making a hole in the carapace. And just like that, pieces began sliding apart, making more and more holes as they all unfolded like origami. By the time it was finished, the slots had piled up at the top, revealing nothing but a large mess of wiring, cabling and a pulsing light in the middle, which flashed on and off at erratic intervals.

And standing in the middle, hanging like a crucified traitor, connected to the piles of wiring and cabling in the center of the core, was a geth of trooper size and designation.

As the drive core went offline, he noticed alot of the lights in the engine room dimmed significantly, and that the pulsating tubes had simply died out. The ship was now officially stationary; unable to move to FTL or even use its basic thrusters. Dead in the water, for all intents and purposes. But Marcus knew it didn't mean much; the super-dread still had full access to its powerful arsenal, and was able to tear the quarians apart, even in its vulnerable position.

And its shields still up, the quarians will have a hard time destroying this goliath. Hell, the ship was likely being hit by numerous impacts, but from where he was standing, nothing might as well be happening; the ship didn't so much as quake.

The geth itself was pretty ordinary. Standard grey armor, bright optics, and cabling and circuitry running through its body-

There was a gaping hole straight through its chest. And its right shoulderpad was...was...

Black and red stripes. The black and red stripes of the N7 Program. That and a gaping hole in its chest? There's only one geth like that...

Before Tali, EDI or Marcus could even speak, the geth tilted its head up, and its optics immediately landed on Marcus, speaking as it sounded...pleased, "Shepard-Commander."

He couldn't believe his luck. "Legion?" he shook his head, hardly believing it to be true, "Holy shit, Legion! What the fuck!? This is the last place I expected to find you, especially hooked up to Reaper tech."

"This was not our decision," Legion defended, and he believed it instantly. Not just because he had fought alongside the geth infiltrator, but because of the way it was strapped up; he wasn't kidding when he said it looked crucified. Its arms were held horizontally across, and its feet were just dangling from all the cabling and wires it was hooked up to. The insides of its chest flashed brightly, showing all the information running through it. Reaper information, likely intermixed with geth information.

Tali shook her head, tilting her head at the geth as she kept her arms firmly crossed across her chest, "While I trust you, Legion, I don't trust the geth. The Reapers filled them with Reaper code and now they are controlling them. How do we know you're not programmed with it?"

Legion's response was measured and calm, just as it always had been, resonating with that deep, synthetic tone, "We denied the upload process. The geth accepted the code out of fear, but we did not. We refused to ally with the Old Machines. As a result, this platform was used as a signal amplifier. We believe organics see this concept as 'ironic.' We believe this is suitable, given our predicament."

He nodded, frowning, "The geth were afraid of the Reapers?"

Legion lightly shook its head, "We do not fear the Reapers," its optics tilted to Tali, and remained silent. Marcus understood and nodded. He understood what the geth meant without it finishing, and so did Tali. The quarian, ashamed, lowered her head, sighing heavily as she landed a hand on her faceplate.

"We understand your caution," the infiltrator continued, taking their silence as a source of hesitation among them, "Once freed, we will submit to any restraints you deem necessary."

Marcus shook his head, bracing against the railing, "Are you saying you don't have any part of the Reaper code inside you? Not a single strand?"

"That is correct," Legion replied, "The Old Machines extended their offer, and the geth accepted. We did not. However, they did not force it upon us as we expected. Instead, we were captured and used as the signal amplifier. We were in the process of eliminating the firewalls to release ourselves as soon as possible. Your release was a well-calculated, timely move."

"Keelah," Tali laughed, shaking her head as she too leaned against the railing, but he noticed her eyes shift slightly beneath the mask; she was smiling, "My ancestors would hate me for saying this but...its good to see you again, Legion."

"We accept this reply of thanks and relay it in kind, Creator Tali'Shepard," the geth's headflaps creased downwards, almost as if the geth were smiling. However, as quickly as the greetings were established, the geth infiltrator was back to business, Legion's headflaps returning to their usual position and turning to face Marcus, "We must warn you. The drive core was not the source of the signal, but this unit itself. To disable the signal, you must release us from our shackles. It uses our networking architecture to broadcast the Old Machine command signal to the fleet and ground forces. Once disabled, the signal will cease transmission."

He nodded, holstering his rifle as he began to move around the railing and towards Legion, "Well, I can help with-"

"You cannot physically remove me from these shackles without inducing severe damage to this platform," Legion hurriedly stated, as if terrified Marcus would hurt it in some way, "The process must be done from the release console. It is located on the first story of catwalks."

"I'll deal with it," Tali announced, brushing past him as she ran to the nearest set of ladders. Once there she immediately grabbed the highest rung she could reach, and began climbing as fast as she can. He turned back to Legion, sighing heavily. At least this day has some brightness in it, although I don't why I consider a friend being used as a glorified signal booster and us having to rescue him is bright, but hey! Such is the fucked up thoughts of Marcus Shepard!

"Shepard!" Kaidan cried out, and he turned back to see his squad lined in a perfect circle around their position, "We've got contacts on the motion tracker! Coming in fast and in numbers! Coming through the elevator shaft, most likely to be drones!"

"Additional contacts!" Garrus announced from his left, "Coming from one of those doors. At least a squad sized unit."

"You know what to do people, let's set the table! Engage the enemy on sight! Hold them back as long as you can!" he barked, turning back to Legion with a solemn expression. The geth did not so much as twitch in his direction, simply looking at EDI. Whatever the two of them were exchanging data about, he didn't want to know.

"Tali, you're going to need to step it u-"

He needn't have bothered, because as soon as he opened his mouth, one of the pipes burst free, then another, followed by another, and another, until eventually all of them popped loose. With nothing else holding it up, Legion fell from its position and landed on the ground with a massive thud, landing in a crouched position and leaving a slight dent in the deck plating.

Legion, he noticed was unarmed, without its usual Widow sniper rifle, or its pulse rifle. Instead the geth stood up, totally defenseless, as it turned towards him, giving a slight nod; an organic gesture it had learnt during its time on the Normandy, optics flashing more brightly for a moment to indicate it was fine. It quickly made a beeline towards them.

Arriving little less than a few meters, it came to a stop, speaking once more, "Your facial features indicate curiosity at why we chose to ally with the Old Machines."

"Wait, you choose?" came Tali's shocked tone, both of them turning to see her sliding down the ladder and immediately begin rushing towards him, "Why would you do something so completely insane?"

"We were left with no choice," Legion insisted, "When the creators attacked, we were unable to repel their attacks; they had developed technology better than ours; more advanced. More efficient. We were unable to defend ourselves, and as a result we were...afraid."

"Your people were scared?" Marcus asked.

"No. This is an organic concept geth are not capable of feeling. We apologize for the incorrect declaration," the geth remedied, "We were simply unsure of what to do. After exhausting every other strategic option, we retreated to Rannoch to make a final stand with the remnants of our fleet. It is then that the Old Machines extended their offer. They offered to save us."

"By uploading the Reaper code to all geth?" Marcus queried. He already knew the answer, as much as he didn't like it.

"Correct. The Old Machines promised it would save us, that it would make us more effective in combat and allow us to evolve past our limited runtime fundamentals," he answered in kind, sounding just as a robot should with its monotone, mechanical voice, "We accepted the offer out of uncertainty. The code did as they promised, and now the geth have successfully saved themselves from extinction. The geth wished to live. We survived. And now we are here."

"Wait, so if you're released, the signal should be deactivated now," Marcus stated. After a moment, and Legion's quick nod, he turned back to his squad, "Squad, check your motion trackers. Any movement?"

"Uh...no, Shepard," Kaidan and Garrus replied almost in sync with each other, which would make him laugh in any other situation, "Actually, the geth seem to have just retreated. They're gone."

Holy shit, it worked. It fucking worked!

"As a further gesture of cooperation, I have entered a consensus with the geth programs operating this vessel," Legion declared, and all attention turned to the geth, hanging on his words, "They have agreed that for peace with the creators to ensue, they must provide a peace offering. As a result, all ships within the fleet have ceased fire, and this vessel's weapons and barriers will remain offline."

Marcus widened his eyes, "Wait, you disabled the ship's weapons and shields? You mean...this ship is defenseless?"

"This would appear so," Legion elaborated.

He nodded, comming the Normandy instantly, "Normandy, this is Shepard. Joker, do you read me? Come in?"

Joker's response was immediate, if a bit annoyed, "This is Joker, I'm reading you clear as sky, Shepard. What do you need?"

"Have you got me a line with Gerrel?"

"Yep. EDI hacked his communications not too long ago, but wanted to wait until you needed them so as to not 'spoil the surprise.'" Some words were exchanged off the comm, and Joker returned, snorting, "Whatever, EDI. Always got to be so damn literal..."

He chuckled inwardly. Those two never stop. They really are like an old married couple. "Patch me in, Joker."

A few seconds later, and Joker replied, "You're on."

"Admiral Gerrel, this is Shepard," he announced, "The signal is offline, and the geth are free of the Reaper code. They are going to cease fire as a gesture of cooperation. Hold position and do not open fire. Do you copy?"

There was silence over the line. He frowned. Did he hear a word I said?

When the silence perputuated, he continued, "Gerrel, do you read? Do not open fire. The geth are willing to engage in peaceful interaction, but you must-"

Suddenly a response from a familiar gruff voice, this one filled with irritation and, above all, lust, "No Shepard. Now we do this my way." And then the line was cut.

He growled like a feral wolf, completely unbelieving of what just occurred, "What the fuck!? Fuck, he better not do what I think he's about to-"

As if in answer, the ship shook. Marcus was knocked to the ground by the impact, as were the rest of his squad. Legion was barely fazed, being a geth, but had flinched slightly from the impact. As Marcus looked on, three of the decks above were obliterated as a heavy round scythed through armor and decking, destroying an entire section of ship as flames roared to life in the air, sheared steel and circuitry send flying up into the air in a tornado of flame and desolation.

That fucking profligate!

Like lightning, he got to his feet instantly, holding his ground even as another barrage rocked the ship. This time, the impact shook the folded drive core free from its cradle, causing it to slam into the ground and explode, bits of shrapnel and sparks fighting a melee to see who could fly the highest in the air. Marcus, ignoring the destruction all around them, reached down and held out his hand, picking Tali up. The rest of his squad were already getting up. They were likely all confused at this sudden change of events, inside Marcus' helmet, he was fuming.

Piece of shit!

"We need to get to the escape pods!" Marcus barked, "This ship will not hold on much longer, especially with its barriers gone!"

"This vessel does not contain escape pods," Legion replied, "When geth die, we simply upload to a new platform. As a result, escape pods were not considered in the design of the vessel, as platforms can be replaced." As it finished, another explosion, and this time a console burst into flames, one of the catwalks above collapsed and slammed into the ground with a resounding clang, and one of the doors burst open, torn off their hinges and sent sliding across the floor.

He gritted his teeth, trying his best not to snap at the geth, "Is there any way off the ship that doesn't involve us dying?"

Legion stood still for a moment, obviously scanning the ship for his query. After about a moment, it came back in response, "The nearest hangar bay is exactly three hundred and twenty-four point two meters. It will contain fighters, interceptors and dropships. It is recommended we commandeer a dropship for escape purposes, as fighters and interceptors are built for up to two platforms each at maximum."

A trio of explosions rocked the walls, sending sheets of metal slamming into the ground in smoking heaps. Fires erupted, spreading through the engine room as sprinklers tried to compensate. Even one of the engines exploded, the massive fireball consuming half of the bay before extinguishing itself.

He nodded, quickly nodding to the geth, "Get us there, now! People, hussle up! We are leaving!" He motioned for Legion to move up ahead, with his squad following it. He noted that Javik gave no objection to having to follow a geth, so he guessed the prothean just gave up. That, or he's keeping his opinion to himself. Either way, he didn't particularly care at the moment. With the ship falling apart around them, he didn't really have the gift of time.

He turned back, seeing Tali waiting for him, "Why are you still here!? Get moving!"

"Waiting for you," she replied simply.

"Well I'm here!" he barked back, grabbing her hand as he began to run. The ship shuddered again, and he would have lost his footing and collapsed if it wasn't for Tali still holding his hand. A massive thud could be heard, followed by more explosions, and he didn't stick around to find out just what happened to cause it. He just kept running.

His squad followed Legion down the maze of corridors towards the hangar at full sprint. The ship exploded all around them; lights burst, flames licked the walls, beams fell from the ceiling to slam into the ground, blocking off entire passagways. One beam collapsed and crushed a fleeing rocket trooper beneath it, metal grinding and screaming as it was suddenly smashed by its heavier cousin. Behind it, an explosion tore open a door, bending the metal and rendering it inoperable, flames reaching through the door as it tried to grasp the people desperately escaping it.

As Marcus held Tali's hand and ran, thoughts of what he was going to do to Gerrel raced through his head. He ducked left, an explosion tearing through the corridor's right side, then right; an explosion blew apart a door on his left.

That piece of shit knew we were still onboard, and he fired anyway!

A beam threatened to cut them off from the rest of the squad, but after drawing on his cybernetic strength, he simply knocked it aside, and continued. The blow stung his arm, and he had probably made a few bruises for himself, but he didn't care; as long as they got out of here.

All these explosions...one of us could die...and that delinquent wouldn't care. He would see us die for his petty victory! I gave them a chance for peace, and he opened fire! The man is a warmonger, and he has to be stopped!

They all quickly ducked through a jarred doorway, the doors jammed open due to their circuits being fried by a nearby explosion. They continued along the corridor, where numerous destroyed geth platforms rested, including a prime whose head had been split open by a piece of debris. They just jumped over its gigantic form and pressed on, his waypoint showing only a hundred meters to go. And the explosions only intensified.

But he...he could have...he still could...kill her...

In that moment, he let go of Tali's hand, allowing the quarian to run faster. He had been practically dragging her along, and her sudden freedom allowed her to race her ahead, her superior quarian speed allowing her to catch up momentarily. Marcus, putting all the strength he could into his cybernetics in one last push, sprinted. Fires danced around him, explosions sparked, and geth flew around him as the ship went into its death throes.

Gerrel had opened fire on a ship with one of his fellow admirals. He had deliberately opened fire on a ship with his own damn niece aboard. But most of all, and most important to Marcus, was that he fired upon a ship with...Tali onboard. Gerrel's fellow admiral and his niece, but to Marcus, she was everything.

And Gerrel was threatening her life.

And then who would be Junior's mother? Could the kid go through that kind of trauma?

The thought only sparked furtherr rage inside. A cold pit forming in his gut.

Oh, how I will rip that cunt a new asshole...

Suddenly, there was bright light.

He had erupted into the hangar bay, which was enormous, just like the rest of the ship. Hangar doors were wide open, anti-gravity fields keeping them sealed from the outside vacuum. They were safe...for now. Alot of the fighters and interceptors were missing; obviously out battling the Heavy Fleet. But there were enough for them to choose from; including a dropship that Legion had just leapt onto, and was beginning to board.

A carpet bomb like series of explosions tore through the ceiling, sending a fighter plumetting from its cradle, crashing into an interceptor below it and sending both of them collapsing into the deck below, smashing with a bellow. A similiar explosion destroyed a nearby fighter, sending its debris slamming into a nearby platform, where it proceeded to slice a juggernaut in half, and completely crush two snipers under the debris.

"We need to move!" Marcus roared, "Legion, is the dropship ready!?" Another blast was too close he could feel the heat of it in his suit, pricking at his skin. The blast itself sent a hopper and a trooper toppling off the edge to their doom, and a drone spun out of control until it smashed into the docking bridge ahead of them, bits of circuitry and metal pieces spreading along the platform as it exploded upon impact.

The dropship Legion was in bobbed slightly as it detached from its cradle, quickly swiping to the side to avoid a piece of exploding rubble. Legion, moving the vessel with adequate grace, then moved back, the dropship's hull tapping against the end of the bridge platform. Outside, Marcus noted, he could see the smaller, but still gigantic, form of a geth dreadnought sliding past outside, plasma cannons brimming with harsh, boiling light as they pulsed through the stars, likely impacting upon the hull of a nearby quarian destroyer and reducing it to dust. Its sounds were silent, and the odd MAC round or missile glanced off its shields, which flared brilliantly at the impacts; all done in total silence. Not so much as a whipser was heard from the battle outside.

There situation was totally different. As if to remind them once, another explosion sounded to their left, and a platform collapsed, taking several more geth with it, crashing below.

When Legion spoke again, it was with dire urgency in its voice, despite its synthetic, mechanical monotone, "Shepard-Commander, you must board immediately. This vessel has already suffered major damage to primary systems. The drive core is now permanently offline. Port defenses are 89 percent destroyed. Main gun severely damaged. Critical shot to central core will cause critical reactor meltdown in approximately 18.2 seconds. When this occurs, an explosion will be released that will consume half of-"

"Yeah, we get it, Legion!" Marcus roared back, "We're fucked if we stay! Understood that just fine without the details!" he turned to his squad, and nodded, "Run for the damn dropship!" He waved them, his squad deciding to throw professionalism out the window as they ran full pelt to the awaiting geth aircraft, holstering their weapons and focusing everything on their sprint. Nothing else mattered but getting to that dropship...alive.

Marcus lagged behind, making sure everyone in the squad was safe, as was his duty. Tali lagged behind with him, but when she saw him give a nod, she turned, holstered her shotgun, and sprinted, each one of her leg movements carrying her closer to escape. He quickly followed her, his movements much slower due to his armor, even with his cybernetics aiding him. Still, he managed to keep a reasonable pace, making it halfway across the bridge in seconds, flames materializing in every direction as explosions permeated the bay.

Almost there...keep going...almost-

And then suddenly all his forward momentum halted, and he began to fall.

One of the beams on the ceiling had been shaken loose one particular blast above him, raining shrapnel down ontop of him. He watched the beam hit the bridge with such force that it shattered the platform like glass. It continued its downward, unstoppable plummet, taking a large section of the bridge with it, all of it imploding inwards as it took him with it.

He cried out as he reached out his arms, his survival instinct kicking in. He felt his armoured chest collide with the edge of the shattered bridge, and he quickly found a grip for him to latch onto. He fell no further, not even bothering to look down as he pulled himself up, climbing as he heard the rubble slam into the ground.

He looked up and saw Tali rushing towards him, but he shook his head erratically, "No! Get to the damn dropship! I'll be there in a second!"

"I can't just-"

"Just fucking go!" he roared, yanking himself up until he was firmly ontop of the decking, "See? I'll be fine! Now get the hell on that dropship!"

Tali seemed to hesitate for a moment longer before nodding, rushing back to the ship. She jumped and landed firmly ontop of its hull, crawling inside through the exposed entry shaft. All that was left was him.

Another explosion, followed by another. They continued their cacophony, a never ending symphony, and he just listened on and on as he finally pulled himself free of the abyss. Standing up, he was just going into full pelt when Legion spoke once again.

"Shepard-Commander," the geth spoke, "The main reactor is going into-"

Then, the loudest bang he ever heard rocked the ship, and this time, he fled. He just sprinted completely, flailing his arms as he managed massive pyres of heat swarming through the super-dread, consuming all in their fiery claws. Plasma was likely leaking into every compartment of the vessel from the ruptured reactor plant, vaporizing everything it touched.

With a final grunt, he landed ontop of the dropship feet first. He quickly climbed into the ship through the entry shaft and, with all crew accounted for, quickly locked it with his omni-tool. Moving inside, he could see his crew standing about the open, non-descript compartment, who's only feature were the recharge stations on each section of the walls; about seventeen on each side. Legion stood at the front, back facing them, its optics dimmed as it was likely interfaced with the aircraft.

He turned to Tali, who had her hands on her hips, trying her best to look angry through her mask, "You need to stop doing that."

He raised an eyebrow at her, "Doing what?"

"Scaring me like that," she complained, "You've almost died twice now."

He snorted, "'Almost died?' I think you're being a little melodramatic."

"And you're being a huge lunatic! Stop almost dying!" she shot back, hugging him tightly.

Breaking up the moment came Legion, still speaking through his comms, "We have fully interfaced with the dropship's systems. We have cleared the bay and recommend moving to safe distance."

"Easily solved," he replied, turning to their number one AI companion, "EDI, tell Joker to give us the Normandy's coordinates and that we're on our way. Tell him not to open fire when he sees a dropship heading his way. Just to be sure, tag us with a waypoint so he knows who's who."

"Relaying it now, captain," EDI replied.

Marcus nodded, and turned back to Tali, her eyes closed as she kept close to his chest. He saw that the rest of his squad were calming down now, the mission and hecticness now over. With that in mind, he sighed heavily as he squeezed gently around Tali's chest, pressing her close to him before pressing his helmet against the top of her own, closing his own eyes. All around them, the battle likely continued, and all because one moron wouldn't let his ridiculous grudge go.

Time to put a stop to that.

{Loading...}

July 6, 2186

1318 hours.

War Room, Normandy-Class Stealth Frigate SSV Normandy SR-2, In Orbit over Haestrom, Dholen System, Far Rim Cluster.

Second Morning War.

Captain Marcus Lee Shepard, Admiral Tali'Shepard vas Normandy, Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tonbay, Admiral Daro'Xen vas Moreh, Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema.

It had been a day since the clusterfuck above Rannoch. Since Gerrel's suicide run put his team in jeopardy. Since the Reaper signal had been deactivated. Since they had been reunited with Legion. Since Gerrel had almost destroyed the super-dreadnought with his squad still onboard. It had taken a half a day to get back to the Dholen System, but Marcus had to wait until the Heavy Fleet returned before he demanded Gerrel return to the Normandy for a 'talk.'

Truth be told, Marcus' fury hadn't died down in a day. It was still brimming, and he noted that even Tali seemed to be more than a little frightened by it. That saddened him, the fact that his own wife had to be afraid of him, but he needed to take his anger out on something; and there was only one perfect candidate. Rational decision making be damned.

The First Battle of Rannoch, overall, had been a phyrric victory for the quarians, if it could be even called that. The Reaper signal had been taken out, and the super-dreadnought destroyed; Marcus had watched from the Normandy's cockpit has the super-dread's reactor finally went critical, the ship being practically 'snapped' in half from the tremendous blast, breaking the spine of the leviathan vessel. Before long, the ship had splintered into smaller sections until there was nothing left of it but debris. The two dreadnoughts escorting it were left alone after that, protecting nothing but wreckage. The geth flagship had been neutralized, the quarians having taken away the geth's most powerful ship.

But he meant what he meant by phyrric victory. The quarians had lost two thousand ships in their initial charge, and at least thirty more in Gerrel's raid on the super-dread. Compared to the first numbers, thirty was pretty small, but overall, the quarians had lost a substantial amount of ships and manpower, making any possibility of launching a frontal attack impossible. There would be no second battle for the quarians.

And now it was time to address the lunacy of one particular quarian admiral, one of which he wasn't on particulary good terms with. He was about to get read the riot act. Gerrel's actions had been reckless, self-destructive and full of warmongering ambition. All he could see was the destruction of the geth, and seemed to be too blind to see a peaceful resolution. Xen was right, for once. He really is a bloody warhorse.

He stomped through the conference room, moving towards the War Room with furious purpose. Tali was already inside, also furious at Gerrel, scolding him with the rest of the admirals. Shala, Koris, even Xen would be chiding him. Gerrel had few friends in this situation, it seemed, least of all himself.

"Ah, Shepard," Joker came over the PA, "Please calm down. Like, seriously. Before you...punch a bulkhead or something."

"Quiet Joker," Marcus hissed, "I'll deal with this."

"Fine," the pilot huffed. After a moment, he added cheerily, "Take pictures!" before disconnecting the comm, leaving Marcus to tap the haptic interface and rush inside.

Down below, Shala, Tali and Xen stood side by side. Xen had her arms crossed in her usual 'careless position,' but in this case, she was anything but. Tali was bracing against the holotable, an angry glare in her eyes. Shala was waving her arms about, and from the yelling he could hear leaving her vocalizer, she was just as pissed as the rest of them. Every other Alliance crewman in the War Room remained silent, trying to distance themselves from the argument as much as possible, judging that their own involvement would only get them in trouble.

As Marcus got closer, he began to make out the argument over the yelling.

"-dangered the Fleet! Your recklessness could have lost us the entire Heavy Fleet, and then what would we do? That, and twelve thousand ships would have been lost! Do you realize how many of our people that is? We could have lost everything! Everyone! Without the Heavy Fleet, we have lost this war! Being our chief war admiral, I thought you'd understand the necessity of maintaining our forces, not throwing them at the enemy as if they're expendable!"

Gerrel snorted, hands clasped behind his back as he shook his head. Marcus came to land behind Tali, his wife noting his presence by reaching out and quickly squeezing his hand, likely giving him a one second smile to reassure him. He did not see it or feel her reassurances however; all he saw was red, and all he saw was Gerrel.

"What I did was take advantage of a tactical situation!" he growled back, "The geth flagship was vulnerable. The signal was down. The super-dreadnought's weapons and shields were offline. I saw an opportunity to take out their flagship, and I took it! You think we're going to win this by playing it safe? That's not war is! And as chief war admiral, I know how war is! We, as commanders, must make heavy gambles that take lives! I understand that! But in this case, the gamble paid off! The signal is gone, the geth have lost their upgrades; and now we've taken their greatest weapon from them!"

"The signal is gone because of Marcus and his squad!" Shala shot back, motioning to Tali, "Did you forget that one of our admirals was onboard? And not just any admiral, the chief admiral? Your superior? And if that's not enough, she's your niece. Rael entrusted you to look after her! As his friend, you should have understood that! Instead, you try and not only get her killed, but Shepard? The man is our one chance of seeing our homeworld again, and you're trying to get him killed?"

"Sacrifices have to be made," Gerrel stated firmly. He turned to Tali, shrugging as he looked into her eyes, "You understand how it is, kiddo," he was adopting a soft tone, as if Tali was some child who didn't understand their 'adult' matters, "There was an advantage. The hole was closing. I had to jump through before it closed. Neutralizing that flagship may have just won us the war."

"The war is not over, Gerrel," Xen added dryly, "One flagship blowing up does not make the other thirty thousand vanish."

"You may have wooed us with your sob story last time, but it will not work this time, Gerrel," Tali growled, "And do not lecture me on war. I fought during the Eden Prime War, you'll remember. I helped take down the Collectors. I know how war is better than you do. I also understand that war is hell, and that soldiers grow weary of it very quickly. I also know that they will eventually desire peace, especially when its fully possible!"

"Bah!" he waved a dismissive hand, "If you still think a peaceful solution for the geth is possible, you're just as delusional as Shepard is. I can't believe you'd just piss on everything your father worked for, Tali. How did he brainwash you? Was it before or after he took you to bed?"

A low growl left Marcus' lips, and it was almost primal. But it was quickly overshadowed by Tali's, who was now standing fully erect, her glare deepening to a dangerous degree.

"What did you just say?" she stuttered, "How dare you speak to me like that-"

"Because its true?" he snapped back, waving his hand dismissively, "Shepard has made you his pet. I see it now, it should have been obvious from the moment I met the man. He's deceitful, treacherous and a fake. He never cared for our people; otherwise, he would help us destroy the geth, not fill our heads with promises of peace! There can be no peace! The geth drove us from our homeworld, and now we are here to take it back!"

"You're a fool!" Tali roared back, "And you can't even see it, you bosh'tet! We attacked the geth first! We forced their hand! They want us back! They need peace, just as much as we do! They are fully willing to let us return to Rannoch if we just give them a chance!"

Even Xen was scoffing at this point, "As much as Gerrel's actions were reckless, peace with the geth is an absurdity. They are no more intelligent than varren. We are their masters, their creators, and the only life they can be allowed to understand is the one we build for them. The one we give them. There can be no other solution."

"The peace talks with the geth is not up for debate here," Shala arbitrated, "What we are talking about his Gerrel's recklessness. It cannot be allowed to go on, or we will lose the rest of the Fleet before this war has even begun."

"You cannot seriously be considering this!" Gerrel shouted, "The geth turned us into what we are now! They are synthetic monsters. They butchered children during the war! They blew transports from the sky as they tried to flee!" he turned to Tali, eyes glaring, "And for someone who fought in the Eden Prime War, you seem to have forgotten just what the geth did to Feros, and the Citadel!"

"They were only a faction of the geth! They barely made up five percent of the geth as a whole!" Tali refuted, waving her hand, "They were indoctrinated by the Reapers, just as these geth were."

"More lies! The geth have been feeding you bullshit to cover up the real truth!" he turned back to Shala, shaking his head once more. Marcus noted the ignorance in his tone, the pure inability to understand. And then there was the matter at hand; he almost got her killed. His squad could have died. He felt his fist clench uncontrollably, skin blushing red as his muscles flexed.

"The geth deserve nothing more than complete destruction," the admiral concluded, sounding like his mind was made up, "They are not even fit to work for us anymore. They are rogue, deficient and uncontrollable! And like any animal, they must be put down!"

Marcus could control himself no longer, and a low growl left his lips, "Maybe I should throw you out an airlock."

Silence filled the room as all eyes turned to him in shock, aside from Tali's. Xen and Shala hadn't expected such a response from him, eyes widening as him as they blinked, trying to comprehend what just happened. Gerrel, posture usually relaxed, stiffened and turned to him with a glare, equally shocked, and more so, given that he was the target of Marcus' threat.

After a moment, he stuttered out a response, "You-yo-you...you can't...what?"

He pushed past Shala, almost shoving her out of the way, as he came within inches of the admiral's mask. He hissed, gritting his teeth as he fixed Gerrel with liquid fire in his eyes, "You heard me perfectly well. What you did was irresponsible. Unacceptable. It was out of line."

Gerrel did not back down, and straightened further, despite Marcus' warning glare, "As admiral of the Heavy Fleet, I have every right to command my Fleet to-"

"I TOLD YOU TO HOLD YOUR FUCKING POSITION!" Marcus roared, and he noticed Gerrel visibly flinch. He imagined Shala and Xen had to, and he could see from his peripheral vision Tali had flinched as well, having not expected the outburst. Quietening his voice, he spoke more softly, but he continued with cold steel in his tone, "All you had to do was wait, and the signal would be gone. We could be engaging in peace talks with the geth, and you would have Rannoch back as late as tomorrow. Then you'd be able to join the UGC, and we'd be one step closer to winning the real war, not this farce that you arrogantly started."

"I-"

"Instead, I must now clean up your mess! Now the geth will likely be too afraid to come to the negoitiation table, because they'll think you'll attack them without warning! Don't you get it!? Rannoch was in your grasp, and you LOST IT! Not the geth, not me, YOU! Your stupidity COST YOU RANNOCH!"

Gerrel made no move to respond, and Marcus concluded with a violent snarl, "And to make matters worse, you endangered the lives of my crew. You almost destroyed my ship, killed my squad and myself, as well as one of your own fucking admirals. Or did you forget we were on that ship? I risk my crew's lives to help you, and how do you thank me? By trying to get me, my crew, killed?"

He shrugged nonchatantly, "Sacrifices need to be-"

"YOU DO NOT get to play God!" he roared back, causing Gerrel to stumble back again, Marcus closing in to keep his distance close, "You do not get to decide who lives, and who dies! You are just a man. A pathetic little man who couldn't fucking wait. Who didn't have the patience. Who's afraid of peace."

"How dare you insinuate I don't want peace!" Gerrel snapped back, "You have no right to-"

"Then why did you open fire on a ship that had disabled its weapons and barriers? Ever heard of a 'white flag', you halfwit?"

He imagined Gerrel's cheeks were flaring bright red as he was defeated in this verbal contest. I am not Koris, he mused darkly, I will not be bullied into submission by this delinquent of an admiral.

"I will not stand here and take-"

"You will stay where you are UNTIL I SAY YOU CAN MOVE!" Marcus snapped, "You will stand here and take what I have to say because I own you. You may not like it, but the Migrant Fleet is already mine. Without me, that super-dreadnought would still be blowing your people out of the sky, your Fleet would be nothing but debris floating over your homeworld, and that signal would still be active. You would not be able to stand there like an overinflated balloon and brag about your 'victory.' You are just a pawn. You want to talk of sacrifices, Gerrel? Why don't I just sacrifice you right here and be done with it? Because I know more about sacrifice in war than you will ever know!"

Jacob.

Mordin.

Thane.

What the hell does he know of sacrifice?

"You are broken," Gerrel snarled, "You are an old, broken relic. You are not worthy to be my niece's husband, you-"

Not worthy.

To be Tali's husband.

What? What the fuck?

In that moment, any cool Marcus had left dissipated. He snapped, and he was moving before he and anyone else could stop him.

His right arm snapped up as quick as a flash, hand clasping around Gerrel's throat and lifting him bodily into the air. Using his enormous strength to lift Gerrel, he ignored the gasps and protests of the man's fellow admirals as he turned and slammed the quarian against the holotable, back hitting it with a dull thud. Gerrel cried out, hands batting at Marcus' in a desperate attempt to pry himself free, but Marcus barely felt them; they were like the bites of fleas. He was flooded too much by adrenaline, a red haze clouding his vision. Cold, unbridled fury consumed him, and he saw nothing but Gerrel. He wanted to do so many things; snap his neck, break his body, flush him out an airlock, fill him full of bullets, shatter his mask over the table and watch him die slowly of infection.

He would find great pleasure out of all those options.

Wheezing, Gerrel was unable to even speak as Marcus' fingers constricted, closing into their target slowly and grudgingly. He was literally squeezing the life out of the man. Leaning closer, his face inches from Gerrel's visor, he spoke, tone pure venom.

"The only reason I don't kill you now Gerrel is because you're my uncle," he breathed, almost a raspy snarl, "Anyone else, and I would bash their head against the bulkhead until their skull was but mush, especially for what you did yesterday. But I'm not going to do that. So this...this is what we're going to do. First of all, you're going to swear to your fellow admirals that any further actions you take are first run by them, so as to avoid such stupidities as what just happened. Am I clear?"

He loosened his grip slightly to let Gerrel speak, "You cannot-"

He growled behind his clenched teeth, and Gerrel stopped instantly, "Am I clear?"

Jacob.

Mordin.

Thane.

He dares to speak to me of sacrifice?

"Yes," the admiral wheezed, finally surrendering.

"Good," and as a final slap to the face, he lifted the admiral up and threw him back onto the ground, watching his body flop across the deck like a humiliated foe, Marcus turning and looking down at him almost condescendingly, "And finally, I want you to get the fuck off my ship."

Gerrel still wasn't done objecting, "You cannot be serious-"

He kicked him in the gut, and Gerrel cried out in pain. It was a pitiful sound, almost pathetic. Marcus just regarded him like one regards an insect; tiny and crushable, "I am completely serious. I want you to leave my ship, and never so much as set a foot on it again. Now get up and go, you piece of shit. You'll be lucky to even mouth a word to me again, Gerrel. Now go."

Gerrel wasted no time in standing up, straightening his suit as if to regain his dignity. Gaining no sympathy from his fellow admirals, he simply huffed and left at a fast walking pace, not so much as looking at Marcus on his way out. When the War Room doors closed behind him, Marcus let out a breath of air he hadn't been aware he was holding, turning back to the table as he braced against it.

He suddenly felt ashamed.

I lost control. I let that stupid fuck get to me. That cannot happen again. Not ever. These people look up to me; they cannot be allowed to see how broken I really am inside.

"Captain," Shala spoke, and he slowly looked up at her, the elderly admiral looking a bit hesitant at approaching him. I genuinely scared her. The admiral spoke regardless, crossing her arms, trying to be as arbitrary as possible, "I understand you are angry, but assaulting Gerrel was not necessary. And as much as I dislike it, he was acting in his full rights as admiral of the Heavy Fleet."

"I told him to wait," he hissed back, grasping the metal of the table more tightly as he regarded its holographic surface, "All he had to do was sit still and this would all be over. And now its all over. The geth won't accept any peace treaty knowing the quarians will open fire on them the minute they enter the system. In trying to get back Rannoch, Gerrel lost it. He's a loose cannon; an imbecile."

"I did tell you he was an old warhorse," Xen rasped, shrugging her shoulders, "He thinks with his guns, not his brains."

"Either way, he will not be setting foot on my ship again unless his presence is absolutely required," Marcus stated firmly, putting an end to that conversation. Suddenly however, he noticed something was off about the room. About its occupants. Almost as if someone was...missing.

Then it hit him.

"Where is Admiral Koris?" he asked, frowning as he turned to the three of them, including Tali, who was now beside him, arms still crossed.

Shala looked hesitant to answer, almost as if the question had taken her completely offguard and made her remember something horrible. Frowning, he waited, only for Xen to speak, her emotionless voice not-at-all carrying the weight of the news she carried, "When Gerrel took his fleet to Rannoch to destroy the super-dreadnought, Koris insisted on getting involved. He said that 'if we lose the Heavy Fleet due to your insanity, then we lose everything.' So the suit-wetter took the Qwib Qwib and left with Gerrel."

"Reports differ, but most of them seem to point to a orbital defense platform located on Rannoch's surface, the Sh'resh continent," Shala added.

"Reports? And why is this orbital gun involved?" Marcus asked, but he was pretty sure he had a good idea. There's been too many casualities already. We cannot afford anymore...

"Koris saw the cannon and must have realized it would destroy the Heavy Fleet if not stopped," Shala replied mournfully, "As I said, reports differ, but most seem to support the idea that Koris set the Qwib Qwib on a collision course with the cannon, and then ordered his crew to escape pods. The cannon was destroyed and the Qwib Qwib lost. As for the escape pods..."

"...likely destroyed by the geth," Xen filled in, "But there is also the slim chance that they managed to make orbit and crash land on the homeworld itself. Again, a very slim chance. The geth are murderously precise."

So...Koris is either dead, along with his entire crew, or marooned on Rannoch. Neither look particulary good.

Tali took the news worse than he did, "We...we have to get him back! If we lose Koris, the Civilian Fleet will be sent into disarray! It'll be chaos! Mass desertion, mutinies, suicidal revenge attacks! They need Koris!"

"Can't a new admiral just be put in his place?" Marcus asked. The idea sounded awful, almost as if he wanted them to forget Koris, but this was war, and admirals died all the time. They were simply replaced.

"No. Koris, even with reputation he has, was, is, the best representative the Civilian Fleet's ever had," Shala replied regretfully, "He represented their interests the most, and connected with them more deeply than any other admiral in the past. He has no military record, which just makes him even more popular. He's shown he's willing to forego any political reputation to represent the Civilian Fleet's interests, as you saw at Tali's trial. Our civilians love him, and if we lose him..."

"They will not follow anyone else, Marcus," Tali stated, "If we try to instate a new admiral of the Civilian Fleet, they'll reject them instantly. There will be anarchy; people will try making their own admirals, and civil war might even break out! Civil War! Our people haven't had a Civil War for tens of thousands of years! And the Civilian Fleet is the bulk of the Flotilla! It makes up almost half of our ships! If we lose them, its all over! This will have been all for nothing!"

Marcus nodded, seeing their point. Losing Koris could mean losing the Migrant Fleet entirely. He is literally the most important man in the Quarian Flotilla, and he could be either dead, or stranded behind enemy lines. Great.

"If he's alive, he must be rescued," Shala stated, "If not...then, may ancestors preserve us."

"I see," Marcus pondered, still silently thinking. I might have to risk it. Besides, I'm sure Legion could simply inform the geth that what Gerrel did was an isolated incident. Might even get the geth to retrieve him and his crew as a gesture of cooperation. Then we could-

Legion.

He had almost completely forgotten about his geth comrade. Stumbling upon him aboard the super-dreadnought had been a complete surprise, but not an unwelcome one. And with the geth's help, he could make peace between both sides alot easier. There's still hope...I can feel it. We just need to force the quarians to the negoitiating table. Then maybe, just maybe, they can put their differences aside and work together. Then we can move on to what's important. Like Cerberus and the Reapers.

He looked up, gulping, "EDI, have Joker prepare to plot a course for Rannoch. Then have Cortez prep a shuttle. We may have to go groundside."

"Yes captain," EDI replied, before disconnecting the comm once more.

He turned back to the admirals, running a hand through his beard as he squeezed Tali's hand, "Now, admirals, I want to introduce you to-"

The doors opened before he could finish, and the geth he was about to introduce stood there firmly, framed in the doorway. Its emotionless gaze blared down on them, and for a moment, Shala and Xen were utterly still, just looking up, as if in a total daze. And then Legion spoke.

"Creators, this platform wishes peaceful cooperation. Shepard-Commander calls us Legion. We have accepted this designation. We welcome you."

And then it all went to hell.

"Legion wasn't exactly a smooth-talker, was he?"

Tali'Shepard pav Rannoch.

"No, he certainly wasn't. But he would be the key to ending the Second Morning War."

- Marcus Shepard.

"Could you tell us how you managed to end 300 years of hostilities between my people and the geth? Its still studied in our universities today, but we'd like to hear it form you."

- Reia'Inas pav Earth.

"Well, it involved alot more explosions than I thought it would. It involved a blown-up super-dreadnought, a rescue, a trip through history and one hell of a legendary battle. I hope you're writing this down. And no, I exaggerate none of those three."

- Marcus Shepard.

A/N:

Legion is back, baby! Woo-hoo!

Yeah, Marcus won't be on good terms with Gerrel for the rest of this story. Basically, Gerrel's a stupid fuck, and he's getting what he deserves.

And as you guessed, the next mission on the agenda is the rescue of Koris. I'm still divided on whether it should be next chapter though; I think I might make the next one a conversation chapter. Some catch-up between Shepard and Tali, parently moments with Junior, Marcus' talk with Javik, and the admirals meeting Legion? Too much to pass up on. So the next chapter might be an interim, followed by the rescue of Koris.

Just started a fresh walkthrough of Mass Effect today, and I finally decided to redownload Pinnacle Station (never go to play it because I got the Platinum Hits Edition of the first Mass Effect, which comes with a bonus disk with awesome, exclusive content, including a free copy of Bring Down The Sky. But because I have that free copy, when I went and downloaded Pinnacle Station, I couldn't access it in-game. I could play BDTS as normal, but Pinnacle Station just wouldn't appear. So I finally got off my ass, and fixed the problem. And now I'll be playing Pinnacle Station for the first time. Yip-ee!)

For those who have a similiar problem, here's the fix (I play Xbox 360, so obviously, the fix will be limited to the 360 version only).

Delete BDTS and Pinnacle Station from your Hard Drive, located in Storage in your System section.

Insert the bonus disk, and you should get an update; that's the patch for the problem. Once you've downloaded the update, reinstall BDTS.

Now go back to the marketplace and redownload Pinnacle Station.

That should fix the problem. Hope it works for you! Remember, this problem only occurs for Platinum Hits users, because they got BDTS for free, and not from the Marketplace. This will not occur if you downloaded it from the marketplace, or at least not to my knowledge.

Keelah Se'lai, troopers!