A/N: Hello!

For those who have been following Citadel, fear not. I've been concentrating on DE5 this week due to…well, exciting events happening in DE5. However I have not forgotten about Citadel. After this week I will do my best to make sure the first chapter of next week I post is on the Citadel.

So, expect to see that possibly Tuesday or likely Wednesday.

Until then…more 'splosions! Woohoooooo!

"That's a goddamn bloody frigate!"

Red's eyes were fixed to the large gray ship that had appeared out of seeming nowhere. Unlike the smaller, darker ships, this one was of a different design- it actually looked like a regular vessel, with shielding and plate, and less like a semi-organic chunk of obsidian.

"The Lily Fire is way too goddamn close!" Athena said, turning the Hopeful to intervene even as the much smaller merchanter collided with the oblivious new vessel. She watched with a grim expression as the merchanter was struck and tossed aside, spinning with part of its hull spreading in a cloud of debris.

The frigate itself didn't seem so much as scratched. If it had even noticed the merchanter, it gave no sign, continuing on its slow course toward the badly wounded Normandy, Edgewood, and William Young.

For a brief moment, Red had the fleeting hope the frigate was not a hostile. Its design and material was so drastically different than the black fighters, she could almost imagine that it had been pursuing them-intent, perhaps, on halting them.

Then, its main gun lit up and carved the Edgewood all but in half.

Athena grit her teeth and sent the Hopeful in closer to the hostile frigate. Fire licked out of their small indi-trans, slashing along the side of it, but there was little to no damage they could see. A moment later, another shot fired from the vessel, this time heading for them.

"Evading!"

The indie-trans danced in a loop, narrowly missing the lance of fire and sailing past under the belly of the beast.

"Red, find me a weak point on that damned thing!" Athena barked. Red's fingers were already flying over her scans, trying to seek out weapons' systems, environmental controls, engine core…anything that they could possibly take out. As the Hopeful turned back around toward the frigate, her eye caught on a flashing light on her board.

"The William Young is about to go!"

A breath later, the bright blue flash of an explosion filled their screens, their instruments going wild. Athena blindly lashed another pair of shots out toward the slow moving alien frigate, before pulling away again.

"The William Young is gone," Red reported. "The Edgewood is mortally wounded, all systems down, crew are evacuating. It's caught in Kallini's gravity well. The Normandy is critically damaged- life support failing. They…their engine stabilizers have been damaged, I'd guess they have about six minutes before their own core goes critical."

"They're abandoning ship," Athena said, looking up as the pods started rocketing away from the Normandy.

"She's turning course, heading into Kallini as well," Red said.

"We need to take this damned frigate out!" Athena said, her voice stone as she looped the Hopeful back around. "Get me those goddamn weak spots!"

Red returned to her instruments, then glanced up with wide eyes. "It's not a frigate," she said. "It's at least a cruiser."

"What?"

"Look at the instruments! The ship is moving so slow because it's only half here. Look, there!"

She highlighted the ship's aft, which was remarkably and rather oddly squared off. Slowly, more of it seemed to appear, sliding forward out of nothing.

"It's coming through a goddamn Fold!" Athena said. "What will happen if we take out the anchor while the ship is still coming through?"

"I can't say for certain. It's possible the collapsing Fold will just cut the ship in half. Presuming their engine is in the rear they'll lose all power and propulsion. It's possible there will be a rebound explosion that'll take the damn ship out, but it could also theoretically wipe out this entire system!"

"That ship gets through, it's going to wipe out the entire system all on its own," she said, grimacing as the 'frigate' fired again, taking out no less than four escape pods heading toward Kallini. "We can't-"

"Shit!" Red suddenly gasped. "The Lily Fire is on a collision course with that anchor! She's moving slow and sluggish but she's going to hit, and she's counting down self-destruct! Athena, pull us away! Hurry!"

Athena saw it a moment later, cursed, and yanked the Hopeful over hard, darting away from the frigate and the Fold it was emerging through.

There was a bright flash that sent all their systems to red for a moment. Red gasped in a sharp breath before she realized it wasn't the Lily Fire, but rather the Edgewood. The broken ship had entered Kallini's atmosphere and in its wounded freefall, it was further battered and ripped by the friction. It's already delicate core had just compromised.

Almost on the heels of that explosion, came another.

The Lily Fire struck the still emerging hull of the frigate almost the moment its self-destruct went off. Being a far smaller ship, its end was a lot less dramatic- the little vessel merely broke apart in what amounted to a burp of dark energy. In the wake of the blast, however, the frigate suddenly canted forward, metal debris fanning out from its square end and sailing into space. Then fire bloomed along its hull, tearing through its sides from the inside. Athena turned the Hopeful once again, putting distance between them and the alien vessel.

There was no massive core explosion. The thing just broke apart, transforming into a slowly scattering debris cloud and faint puffs of fire riding on what was left of the interior atmosphere.

Athena, heart racing a little, regarded her instruments. "The Lily Fire must have broken the anchor, or damaged it just enough to shut the Fold," she said. "It looks like what I predicted…the ship just cut in half, and its various systems overloaded. I'm…not picking up anything that looks like pods or escape vessels from the frigate."

"What about the Lily Fire," Athena asked, glancing at her. "Were they able to get off ship before it went up?"

Red paused, eyes narrowing at columns of data, then shook her head. "I have no verified pod launch from the merchant ship, but it's possible in the two eezo core explosions and all the weapons' discharge our instruments simply didn't pick it up."

"Well, there's only two ways that was a suicide run," Athena said. "Either Irie or Gerty died and the other drove the ship into the anchor on purpose, or they lost their escape pod in the collision and knew there was no way out, and decided to try and take the Fold with them. Otherwise, they aimed that ship where they wanted it to go and got the hell out there."

Red sifted through her readouts. "We won't know until we can regroup. I've got several distress calls raising from the planet's surface. Looks like the monastery noticed the fight and started calling for help."

"We have communications?" Athena asked.

"Looks like whatever was interfering with them is gone," Red said with a nod. "I'm not seeing any active hostiles in the area- what was left of them may have gone up in the eezo blasts."

"What about the Normandy?"

"I've lost all track. She launched her pods then turned toward the planet…that's all I know. All surviving pods from all three ships are either on the surface or about to be, scattered over about a six hundred kilometer radius."

"We have some damage to our aft shielding and a coolant leak near the engine," Athena said, then glanced at her companion. "See if you can't lock that leak down. I'm going to scan through the debris field then head down to the surface. There might be pods still in orbit that were disabled in the fight."

"We're not big enough to pick up any pods," Red said.

"I know, but we can at least paint them so when High Command's ships get here they can pick them up quickly. We may even be able to nudge one or two if they're in good enough shape, hard enough at least to get caught in Kallini's gravity and make a landing. Go on."

Red unbuckled herself and headed down to see about the coolant leak, as Athena started her scans, moving the Hopeful carefully through the debris field. Her thoughts kept going over and over the fight.

The hostiles had taken a few shots at the Lily Fire and the Hopeful, but their real focus had remained on the three frigates and launched fighters, apparently considering the two much smaller ships as a non-threat. Even the larger alien vessel had only fired at the Hopeful once, and only after she had fired on them first.

That Fold didn't come out of nowhere. There was an anchor there…a big one. Question is, where the hell did that anchor come from? It didn't just appear out of nothing.

The monastery was attacked by a single jabberwocky, not a squad of them like on Oasis, or even a flood of them a full scale invasion would have demanded.

Why send just one? Is it possible that one is responsible for this anchor? If so, how?

She was halfway through the debris field when her scanners lit on a body. Unfortunately, with the hull breeches and sheer devastation the frigates had been subjected to, there were quite a few bodies scattered throughout the battlefield. Her scanners normally skimmed over them without pause, but this one was displaying weak life signs.

Tossing the blinking light up to her display, she located the body on her view screen and magnified a dozen times. A figure in a full hard-suit appeared, drifting limp. The hard-suit itself was black, but painted along one arm in a distinctive and unmistakable red and white N7 stripe.

It's Melara, Athena thought. She was the only N7 on any of the vessels.

The limp way the body was floating, and the weak registration of life signs told Athena the asari was very badly injured and clearly unconscious.

She input coordinates to head the Lily Fire that way. They could not pick up an escape pod but the barrier system on the indi-trans was still functional. They could open the doors on the tiny cargo back, and one of them could space walk out easily enough and bring her in.

Then her finger paused, just before pressing the command that would change their course. Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully on the lone, dying figure hovering among the debris.

It was a battle, a bad one. Things happen. All sorts of tragic things happen.

Her finger edged away from the button, the very corners of her mouth twitching almost invisibly up into a smile.

All sorts of tragic things…

The door opened, and Red strode back up into the helm. "That coolant leak is locked down. We're a bit battered but nothing immediately threatening…Keelah, is that Mel?"

Athena blinked abruptly when Red entered, as if waking up, and turned to look at her just as Red caught sight of the view screen. She turned back.

"Yes, and her vitals are not good. I'm getting closer-get your helmet on and get down to the bay. I'll put the barrier in place and open the doors."

"I'll put my jump belt on," Red said. "I can maneuver her in easily enough without getting tangled with those."

"Do it."

The quarian grabbed her helmet and vanished again, Athena guiding the Hopeful very carefully, moving as close to the limp form as she safely could, then pulling up her cargo bay and exterior monitors.

"Red, I'm as close as I dare get. You see her?"

{Copy. Piece of cake. Lighting my jump belt now.}

The small thrusters on the jump belt gave a small, short hiss as Red stepped through the barrier and into space, toward the limp form. In only a few moments, she grabbed on to her, shifted her grip and position, then lit the thrusters again.

{Got her. Heading in. Hold her steady beautiful.}

"No, I'm going to move and splat you both on my pretty hull," Athena said bitterly.

{It'd only make this piece of tin you call a ship lovelier.}

"Now I really am going to splat you on my hull, for insulting my ship."

{Too late,} Red said, as her boots touched down and maglocked, and she pulled her charge through the barrier. {We're back.}

"Closing the doors. I'm changing course for the monastery. We need to get her to medical treatment. How is she?"

She watched through her monitor as the quarian lay the form down on the bay floor, then starting a scan.

{She's got a broken arm, some ribs, shoulder…internal bleeding. She also has a wicked concussion. Looks like she may have hit something hard, got knocked cold. The internal bleeding is not good- we don't get her in proper medical hands soon she's going to die.}

"There's an infirmary at the monastery. We'll just have to hope the geth can keep the residents in line enough to get her stable. If those distress calls we picked up are any indication, asari High Command should have reinforcements here soon."

{Let's just hope the asari doctors know how to treat humans,} Red said. Athena blinked.

"Come again?"

{I just hope they know how to treat humans, because unless Melara underwent a total species change in the last few hours…this isn't her.}

"That's not possible. She was the only N7 here!"

{I don't know what to tell you. Maybe someone borrowed her armor. All I know is, this is definitely a human being, and most emphatically not Melara Shepard. She…does look a bit familiar though.}

"I'm entering atmo. Can you do an ID scan? Run DNA analysis?"

{Already on it. Running results now. And you, my lovely sleeping unconscious weird beauty, are none other than…Keelah, what? Are you kidding me? Damned salarian piece of shit!}

On the monitor she visibly smacked her omni-tool.

"What is it?"

{Glitch of some kind. I'm going to rerun the ident again. Stand by.}

She scanned over the limp form once more, then looked at the results. {What the actual fuckity fuck fuck?}

"Red, what is it?" Athena asked, getting annoyed.

{Well, I'm glad you're sitting down, because according to my scan results- both of them-this is…}

"This is who?"

{This is FM Ashley Williams.}

"Come...again?"

{Yeah I know- but that's what they're returning. Fleet Master Ashley Madeline Williams, Hero of the Reaper War, eighteen times decorated, second Human Spectre, former Admiral of the Second Alliance Fleet. She looks good for having been dead for several centuries.}

"That's not possible."

{No shit. Well, whoever she really is, one thing I can tell you for sure-if we don't get her to a doctor soon she's going to be all sorts of dead…all over again.}

"Aleu? Aleu, are you hurt?"

Dae quickly unfastened her restraints as silence and stillness fell over the pod, her face painted in alternate shades of yellow and green as the door connection flashed. The rakir boy, clinging so hard to his restraints that his claws had sunk into the rubberized coating, looked up at her as she started to unfasten him.

"No," he said. "I-I'm ok, Tama."

"Thank the Goddess," she said, lifting the harness away and hugging him tightly, almost frantically. Nearby, Lily had also freed herself, unfastening Ashley and looking the terrified little girl over.

"It is all right, angel," she said, pulling the girl into her arms after making sure there were no injuries. "It is over, sweetheart. It is over now."

"Tama, where's-" Aleu began, but Dae interrupted him, taking his shoulders.

"My love, I need to see where we came down, make sure our positional beacon is working. There are medical kits locked under the seats. Help Lily retrieve them all. Other pods may have come down nearby and they may need our help-"

His hands gripped hold of her arms, and a look came into his eyes that she'd never seen before. For a breath, she could see the adult male rakir that he would one day soon grow into- the warrior, the predator.

"Tama," he said in a low, angry voice. "Where is Tatta?"

Her brows trembled, her expression nearly crumbling before she managed to steel it again, forcing herself to meet his eyes.

"Aleu…I cannot say for certain. Th-the last I knew she was in the cargo bay-"

"Joker said the cargo bay had been destroyed," Lily said in a soft hush. Dae nodded weakly, swallowing hard.

"Yes. She…some hostiles managed to get into the bay. She ordered it completely locked down to keep them from getting into the rest of the ship. I…she never left it."

"Tama…is Tatta dead?" Aleu asked.

"We don't…we can't know for certain, not yet, but…" Her eyes shifted as she struggled to keep her fear and grief under control, for the children's sake. "But I fear that she is, Aleu. I do not see how she could have escaped…"

He stared at her a moment, no doubt analyzing every hint of her scent to see if she was speaking the truth. As his shoulders started to slump, his entire body seeming to suddenly wither and age, she gripped him harder.

"No, Aleu. Look at me. Look at me, son. You cannot despair. We cannot know for certain. There is always hope, there has to be."

"You said-"

"I said it is my fear…and it is. My greatest, most painful fear. And it may turn out that…that my fear is true, but until we know for certain we cannot fall apart. We cannot fall apart even then. Your Tatta, she would want us to be strong- for each other, and for those counting on us. Can you do that for me, my love? Can you stay strong?"

Aleu looked at her miserably, then over at little Ashley, who was shuddering with the quiet aftermath of sobs as she clung to Lily. As visibly as he had started to sag, he steeled himself.

"I can stay strong," he said in a whisper. "I am not weak."

Dae nodded, then hugged him tightly, kissing his head roughly a moment before she loosed him.

"I know you are not. You are so far from weak, Aleu. Help Lily with the medkits, please. I need to look outside."

He nodded, almost mechanically starting to gather the kits. Wiping her eyes, trying her best not to despair herself, Dae quietly unlatched the door, and forced it open.