The Yaska, of The Quarian Migrant Fleet, 2186 CE

After surgery to repair the damage to his leg he was ordered strict bed rest to aid in his recovery for two weeks, at least, but just over a week in he received a priority message from the fleet, calling all ships back to their home system. The message told him little and he feared the worst, had the Reapers finally come for Rannoch? He had immediately set course for the Perseus Veil and told his crew to be ready for anything.

His crew were just as worried by their lack of information as he was, except the Geth, it seemed. When he questioned 2033, it had told him that the Geth had received a similar message from the consensus, it assured him that Rannoch was safe but said little else on the matter.

As they entered the system, he received yet another cryptic message from the Fleet, ordering the captain of each ship to board the Rayya, the largest liveship in the Fleet, he wondered why they were being so secretive but knew not to question orders.

The Rayya had seen better days but was still as beautiful as it was when he was growing up, though it was more crowded now as many ships Captains gathered here, as ordered. An hour passed before the Admirals finally stepped onto their platforms to address the large group, many more hours went by before he was finally back on his ship to update his crew. He had ordered every member of his crew to the mess for a debrief before he departed the Rayya and as he neared the mess he could hear them chatting amongst themselves.

"It's just not right, is it?" Niya spoke, sounding more than a little annoyed.

"What do you mean?" The pilot, Saali, replied.

"The secrecy. The galaxy's going to hell and they think now's the best time to get all cryptic?"

"They have their reasons, Niya." Aela, always trying to be the voice of reason.

"Yeah," Rei agreed, "besides, the Captain wouldn't leave us in the dark."

"How do you know? He could be in on it."

"In on what, Chief?" He spoke as he entered the room and Niya just about jumped out of her suit, a scene which the rest of the crew seemed to enjoy. It wasn't long before their laughter died down and all eyes turned to him.

"I know you're all wondering what's going on."

"No shi- ow!" Niya rubbed the back of her head where Aela had smacked her and glared daggers at the soldier, "what was that for?"

"Pay attention." She reprimanded the engineer and nodded for him to continue, for which he was grateful.

"As part of the agreement with the Alliance, every ship within the fleet has been pledged to the war effort."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"It means that when we get the signal, the fleet will be expected to join the fight for the final push. That is why we are here now." A hush descended on the room as they all though about what this meant. His pilot was the first to speak.

"You mean it's time to end this?"

"Not quite, I don't know the details but there is still something missing from the Alliance's plan. Still, the Admirals expect the call will come any day now and they want everyone prepared."

"So why all the secrecy?"

"They couldn't discuss this, even over a secure channel, if just a small amount of information was to make it to the Reapers it would ruin months of planning and the Crucible is the only plan they have. They couldn't risk that."

Niya nodded, as if all her questions had been answered before she turned to him once more, "So, what's our part in this?"

"Most of you will be joining me with Hammer, the ground forces."

"What is our assignment?"

"We wont know until we get there, but be prepared for anything."

"I assume I wont be on the ground team." Saali said.

"No, you and our engineers will be staying on the ship, get us close enough to deploy in the shuttle then join Shield, the team responsible for defending Crucible."

"No," Rei stood up and spoke, "we should be on the ground with you!"

"Yeah!" Niya joined her, "We proved ourselves in that last fight, let us help."

"Someone needs to keep this ship flying should it take damage." He sighed, he should have known these two would argue this, they were both awfully stubborn.

"And? It wont take three of us, you know"

"They're right." The third engineer, Yaen, spoke up, he was always quiet and reserved so when he spoke, all eyes were on him. "I can handle whatever damage we may take and Saali knows enough about ships to help out should I need it."

He looked to his pilot, "You okay with that?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right then, I guess you will be coming with us after all." The two shared a triumphant look, he imagined they were grinning behind the masks. "Right, with that settled I want you all prepared. We don't know when the call will come and we wont have much time after it does. Engineers, I need you to make sure the ship and shuttle are in top form. Ground team, double check all your combat equipment, now and before we depart. Other than that, I expect everyone to get as much rest as you can, you need to be at your best."

After a few more questions they all shuffled out of the mess and went to work with preparations, all except the Geth, who had been passive through that entire meeting. He had been wondering something since he found out they had been in contact with the rest of the Geth and figured now was as good a time as any to ask. "Will you be joining us?"

"Of course," 2033 approached him, "where else would we be?"

"I don't know. I half expected you would be called to fight with the rest of your kind."

"The Geth will also be providing ground support, perhaps we will have a chance to work with them but they have not requested we return." the prime unit spoke. 0402 stayed silent, it hadn't really spoke to him since they were on Menae and he hadn't a clue why.

"Right, it will be good to have you with us."

"We feel the same." It seemed as if it was speaking for the both of them if the glances it exchanged with the other unit were to judge. It was curious behaviour but he had no time to worry about it now, with a quick farewell he made his way to the armoury to follow his own advice and check his combat gear. He spent a few hours repairing his suit and thanking the ancestors none of his other equipment was damaged before he was finally able to get some rest. Soon it would all be over, for better or worse.

Author's notes: First up, I apologize for how long it's been taking me to update this story lately, but the next chapter should be where I was up to on the kink meme so updates should be faster, though I will be re-writing them a little (or a lot). Secondly, I used a Quarian name generator for this chapter because I was running out of names to use.