All for one and one for all

Deviss checked again. Bly had send him a message. While his units delivered the important assets they retrieved from invaded planets he went up to the Embassies. He found Ambassador Osoba.

"Ambassador?" Deviss asked.

"Yes?" Deviss took his helmet off and looked at the man apologetically. "Commander Bly was on Benning. They found your son. He was fighting Cerberus. A turret nearly killed them. He is on board of one of our medical transports. His condition is critical. I won't lie. He might not make it. Go to Dock D26. A shuttle is there. It will take you and your family to him."

The ambassador began to cry. "Thank you. Thank you. To know that we can at least see him, settles my mind."

Deviss nodded. He replaced his helmet again. He had already talked to the unit. The marines regretted leaving their man behind and were returning to training so it would never happen again.

When he left he looked on his mission log. Units K6 and K7 were still in the Attican Traverse but K8 had already begun to scan the outer council space. K9 was currently stuck on the Citadel as they took a break while K5 moved out to the Asari system.

When he entered the Purgatory he had met Aria T'Loak. The Asari had shown interest in the new force in the Galaxy. John had received a message from her and had forwarded it to the Cobras.

Deviss shook his head. Working with mercs wasn't always a pleasure but it was necessary. Especially with Aria who could be considered as the queen of the outlaws and the Terminus system.

John had managed to deal with most of the merc problem when he arrived here from Grissom Academy. But when he left for the Rachni problem he still had to deal with the "General Onaka problem".

Deviss went down to the Presidium. He found the reactivated General sitting and coordinating his attacks. "General Onaka?"

"Ah, a clone trooper. I heard a lot about your lot. Dreaded soldiers. You don't hide from your enemies."

"Commander Deviss. K9. You could say the white armor proves our skill in stealth. I have another reason to come here. Commander Shepard is trying to get mercs on his side and you are the key to one of them."

"The Blue Suns I guess? They attack the weapon delivery for C-SEC. I may not be able to stop the reaper but I am certainly able to ensure C-SECs' active status."

Deviss thought about offering the Cobras' spare weapons but decided against it. "There must be other sources for weapons. In times of war smuggling isn't really, let's say as immoral as it was before."

Onaka nodded. He liked how this trooper thought. "There is a black market dealer here but he won't sell to me."

Deviss hated those dealers. "I'll see what I can get out of him." The clone stood up and went to the weapon store. Leaning against the counter he waited for the salarian to finish his business. Finally the vendor came to him. "Hello. I'm Kannik. See anything you like?" Deviss patted his rifle. "Already got what I like. I', here because of something my friends like." Kannik panicked. "Look. I have a permit for these." Deviss looked at the pistols and SMGs displayed. "That are the light weapons. Where's the artillery?" he asked. Kannik sighed. "Okay. I indeed have better weapons but I only exchange them for hard goods." Deviss didn't reply but indicated the vendor to continue. "When this war is over you can be sure that the currencies have collapsed. Everything will be handled by barter. I'm merely preparing for that." It took Deviss complete diplomatic training not to sjoot this asshole. He exhaled before answering. "IF there are survivors after this war. If we loose you can be sure that the Reapers will wipe all advanced races out. The races left alone wouldn't be advanced enough to barter with you. Or do you plan on making business with a yahg? Better give C-SEC some weaponry and I might consider not blowing your business." Deviss threatened.

John arrived on the planet after a complicated introduction of Grunt to Javik he met the rest of Aralakh Company. General Secura, Commander Bly, his squad and a squad of flame troopers from K1 joined them.

Investigating the camp they found a gigantic sinkhole. Using the remaining structure to cross the gap it suddenly crashed down.

Checking on themselves they had no losses. Bly waved his team forward. Galle pulled a trooper up and together they moved towards the tunnel entrance. Their bright headlights cut through the darkness. "This place gives me the creeps." a trooper said.

Galle nicked him. "That's why we call you Creeps." John led them through the tunnels. "Keep watch of Rachni." the marine said. "In my times we used the Rachni as weapons. They weren't intelligent at that time." Javik commented. "I can sense a major turmoil. A gigantic mental being. It cries for help." Aayla said with closed eyes. Bly looked at her. They jumped down into a bigger cave. He spotted something through his macrobinocular. "I guess that walking alien tank over there is a Rachni?" John paled. "Ravagers! Shoot them!"

Hell was unleashed as they opened fire.

The sun burned on them hot as hell. Ahsoka had completely ditched her armor. She had returned to her more revealing attire of a tube top and her hot pants. Even Ventress had to change from her long dress to a shorter attire. They cut through the Cerberus soldiers. For the force-users it was child's play to reach the control room. When the power went down Ahsoka left it to Ventress to work her magic on the controls while she would repair the power lines. A sniper tried to shoot her and thought herself in security on top of the cannon. Ahsoka aimed her shoto and threw it high in the sky. Using her remaining sword she cut through the remaining turrets and Engineers. Behind her she heard the satisfying thud as the incapacitated sniper fell down.

Erik fired another burst to gain the Harvesters attention. So far they had collected all the turians and were now leading an assault to evacuate the remaining unit. Next to him Rex fired his twin blasters into the reaper. He had taken two CS-6 main bodies without the stock and the barrel. Fives fired a rocket launcher which was rigged to exploded after the penetration. It worked as the rocked drilled into the reaper and destroyed it from within. He have Echo a high five.

Finding Lieutenant Victus Erik began the interrogation. "What is your mission?"

Kix fired at the husk storming the stairs. He and Coric had taken positions on top of it, leaving Jane, Liara and Edi to fight below them.

With this strike they hoped to beat the odds. The jedi at the cannon would draw Cerberus forces while the clones evacuating the turians would get the reaper.

As the room was cleared the krogans assembled.

"Shepard. Patient stable but we should hurry. Each second longer the reaper could infect air. Infected air means infected krogans. No krogans, no win." Mordin urged.

"Who invited the salarian?"

Wrex groaned. "Meet Wreav. The biggest dumbass on this radioactive junk."

"This one belongs to me. He can cure the genophage."

The two krogans got into an argument and Wreav was about to begin a firefight when Eve broke it. "Enough! You can stay here and butt heads over nothing like you have always done." She walked past them and looked back. "Or you can show what krogans are made off and save our species. Who's with me?"

Jane stepped up. "I am." "And me." Coric hefted his blaster. "You're not alone, vode." Kix added.

"And I will come, too." Mordin said as he stepped out of Wrex shadow.

"I will go. And now heads up! We have a reaper to kill" Wrex declared.

Soon the transports traveled along a road towards the Shroud. Jane looked contacted their air support. "This is Lightning flight. We are in bound. Note: we can deliver a heavy payload to the reaper before we fall back onto mounted weapons. Artimec flight is still out as their fighters do not have stealth capabilities."

In the meantime the clone troopers broke through the Cerberus barricade towards the bomb and meet up with Lieutenant Victus. Suddenly they were targeted by snipers. While Rex secured the turians Fives searched the area. "A sniper duel. It is on." He ran out, making clear that he was the sniper's enemy. Dust covered him as the sniper missed him. Echo analyzed the shots with his rangefinder. Quickly calculating in his mind he triangulated the position. "Fives! 5 o'clock. Between 40 and 50 degrees up!"

"Thanks!" Adjusting his scope for the distance he allowed himself to smile. "Say goodbye." His laser bolt left the barrel and flew across the ruins. It tore through the Nemesis' scope and drilled through her eye and head, killing her instantly.

Rex called in Support. "We have mechs incoming. A tank would be nice."

The waves of enemies didn't stop. Just as they got rid of the third wave two mechs dropped from the sky. "Great. Just great." Erik complained.

Just as the first mech was about to fire another thing fell out of the sky.

"Bullseye!" Kano shouted. Boomer aimed the cannon and fired at the second mech while Slice used multiple blaster cannons at the same time to target the footsoldiers. The appearance of the UT-AT changed the tide.

Erik and Liara were holding their own against the brute. Despite its strength Jane decided to go for a biotic charge. Her nova ripped the brute open for the clones to finish it off. After loosing the krogan infantry they had to go in commando style. It didn't help at all that the treshermaw Kalros was after them.

Crossing an ancient shrine they quickly disposed of a set of marauders before entering the tank. As Wrex sped away the second tank containing Wreav got sucked into the ground. However Wrex didn't seem too sad about loosing his brother. "Was a pain in the ass, anyway."

Skidding to a stop at Kalros home they looked at the reaper. "So what was the idea you talked about?"

Eve nodded. "It was mine. We lure Kalros here. Her territorial instinct will urge her to attack the reaper."

Victus climbed onto the bomb to separate the payload from the trigger. However the last one jammed. He hung from the last hold and took out the bolts that attached it to the bomb. Then the Bomb was released. Victus fell with it. He was prepared to die when suddenly an armored hand closed around his hand. "Got you, soldier." Rex hold onto him while the other pulled the two up.

"Someone go tell the krogans we disabled the bomb." Victus ordered his men.

Captain Nik looked out of his cockpit. It was the first time he went against a reaper and this one was huge. His flight had circled the Shroud in a safe distance. Artimec flight had made an unpleasent contact with the reaper. Probably a hot shot who tried to be a hero. He had ordered the turians to pull out and stay on stand-by. Just now he saw the reaper firing at the ground. "Lightning flight: weapons hot and speed high. We're going in."

He pulled his F-35B into an approach that would take him deep through the ruins.

Breaking through the sound barrier he reached Mach 1,6.

"Closing in on target. Opening weapons bay. Readying all bombs."

Ventress laughed maniacally. It has been a long time since she created this much chaos. The cannons tore the Cerberus-cruiser apart. She and Ahsoka were really on best friends term now.

"Now that will teach them to mess with the wrong women!" she shouted. "Actually there is no one left alive who could tell them." Ahsoka remarked.

Ventress looked though the controls of there was something salvagable. She found something interesting and copied it.

Deviss checked his com-link. After intimidating the black-market dealer he had to take care of something else. Commander Ventress had send him a plan of a power grid with the note: Give this to the Purgatory. About fucking time they got a reliable system.

Bly kept the area secure with the krogans. He and his troopers blasted the Rachni on sight. Aayla had gone with Shepard. The jedi was shocked to see the Rachni Queen enslaved. She reached through the force to calm her down and assure her of their friendly intentions. Together with John she negotiated an alliance. "She's weak. She will need time to get out of here. "Bly! Pull back. Regroup on my position." The commander didn't reply but pressed the speak button two times. He had understood. He send the Aralakh Company towards the entrance with Creeps' team while Barr, Inc and Galle moved with Bly and Grunt towards the Rachni Queen.

Coric ran to the base of the Shroud while Kix escorted Eve out. Mordin tried to bypass the firewall the STG had set. He couldn't remotely repair the sabotage.

"Have to go. Am the only one who could get that right."

Coric looked up. "I'm coming with you."

Mordin looked at them. "No need. I can do it alone." Coric placed his hand on the doctor's shoulder. "You can cure them alone but you need help to get down from that thing." he pointed at his jetpack.

Deviss checked his communications again. The C-SEC line he used was jammed. "Strange." he thought. None of the C-SEC lines worked. He switched to the short-ranged private comm.

"K9, come in. I am experiencing static on C-SEC."

"Commander, this is Sergeant Green. Talon Squad is at the docks. We met up with Kelly Chambers. She tells us that Cerberus is attacking. I don't know where all the others are. My squad just regrouped."

"This is Tatty. We femtroopers are at the Purgatory. Just spotted a Cerberus shuttle. Evading and Evaluating now."

One after another the troopers managed to check in. Deviss opened the map. His platoon was spread thin over the main diplomatic area. "All squads defend the closest key position. We have to hold this station until reinforcements arrive."

"Four NightOwls are with the council. The others have orders to engage at will." Bo-Katan radioed in.

Deviss gave the one and only order before the line collapsed: "Search and Destroy!"

Mordin reprogrammed the Shroud while Coric stood next to him. "It is done. Krogans will be safe."

"No time to celebrate, doctor. We have to get out." the medic shouted. He grabbed Mordin. Running towards the lift he fired his blaster to shatter the glass. Jumping out he free-felled towards the ground. With a jerk he straighten himself and activated his jetpack. The pack was design for one trooper in full armor and in his case medical equipment. The jetpack struggled with the load. Coric tapped on the controls and set it on full throttle. One might think off it strange after all the wolfpack had managed to have two people on one jetpack but Coric was sure that none of them had dropped from a high building like the Shroud.

One after another the teams came to the holy ground. The krogans were angry but also impressed by the turian and salarian dedication to save another race they considered histile. Lieutenant Victus bashed heads with a few of them while Mordin was celebrated as the hero who cured the genophage.

Jane was about to call the party off. A war was waiting for them.

Wrex and the female approached her. "Thank you for doing this. The krogans will survive. Maybe we will demand a seat in the council and permission to colonize."

Jane nodded. "Time to recognize the krogans as a part of our alliance."

The female nodded. "Remember Commander. Urdnot Bakara is forever thankful for your actions. The krogans will return to the old glory they had."

Deviss shot the Cerberus operative in the head. Taking cover behind the door he continued to fire.

He could see the nests his men and women had set up all over the Citadel. A grenade bumped against he foot. With wide eyes he flung himself through the window and let the sharrtered glass rain on him. He heard footsteps. His rifle was too far away. Grabbing his sidearm he aimed it at the newcomer.

Thane immediately hold his hands in front of him to show that he was unarmed.

"I am a friend of Shepard's. Thane Krios." he introduced himself.

"Commander Deviss, K9." the clone retrieved his rifle and fired it at Cerberus.

Then his com-link beeped. "Talon Squad has reclaimed fight control. The distress beacon has been destroyed. Wait. Normandy is here. They don't know what is up."

Thane activated his omni-tool. "Can you patch me through, trooper?" Green didn't answer directly but the green light on Thane's communicator was enough for an answer.

"Commander Shepard?"

"Thane?"

"Do not land at the docks. I repeat: Do not land at the docks. Cerberus has taken control." Thane shouted over the noise.

"Where are you?"

The drell knew the human by heart. "Don't come and get me. Go to C-SECHQ. I'll meet you there."

Deviss got rid of the last Cerberus in his view. "Lead the way."

John made it out of the cave alive along with Grunt and the clones. Aayla had separated from them to help the Rachni Queen. A group of Ravangers had attacked them but Creeps and his team of flame troopers had hold them at bay with their flamethrowers. When they finally walked out backwards a trooper fired a rocket launcher at the wall above the entrance. The falling rocks sealed the opening and crushed the reaper below it.

As he reentered the star fighter he got a message from Hackett.

"Commander. Specialist Traynor has reported that the Citadel is under attack. Your sister and the clone units have already engaged them. There is nothing you could do at this point. However the quarians have offered to help with the crucible. Go with the 327th and talk to them."

Jane sat in the kodiak towards C-SECHQ. At the same time the gunship deployed to secure the docks. Kano's recon squad would deploy the UT-AT at the refugee camp and defend the people there. The AT-TE wasn't deployed due to its size. However two ARF-soldiers, Scout and Track took the AT-RTs out and used them for the area around the Presidium. Scout manned her walker. "Hey Track, let's see who gets the most kills. Track only laughed. "Girl, I dismantled droids before you were even born." he said.

The kodiak landed st C-SEC. They saw C-SEC-officers being killed. Jane was furious. "Attack!"

A biotic charge got her out of the shuttle and into the mob. A nova cleared it. The Cobras around Ahsoka went in more subtle. Taking cover they lied down a constant stream of fire to keep Cerberus at bay. Echo broke out on the left while Fives attacked the right. Rex stormed through the middle. The attack formation was impressive. In each unit a medic was present: Kix stayed with Fives, Coric covered Rex and Erik kept Echo alive.

Jane threw a shockwave through the smoke. Throwing one into the air she let him plump to his death. One tried to hide behind a shuttle. Ahsoka used the force to push the skycar against the wall, crushing the soldier. New soldiers jumped through the window above the door. The jedi threw her shoto which cut through the first wave before it returned to her. Next to her Jane flared a biotic shield to protect both of them. Shots bounced off her biotic barrier. Before she could attack blue laser bolts slotted the bastards. Running up the stairs she checked on Bailey. "Are you okay?"

"I am now. Please keep a bullet from stopping me opening this door." Bailey coughed. The Cobras stormed though the open door and shot the Cerberus-Guardians there.

Aayla didn't know what to think of the quarians. John had filled her in on the way but she was missing something. She and Bly entered behind Commander Shepard. After going through a quarantine process and cleaning they were allowed in. Bly had even to promise to keep his helmet on. Entering the conference room a quarioan greeted them.

"Commander Shepard vas Normandy. It's nice to see you again."

"Admiral Shala'Raan vas Tombay. Thank you again for considering my word back then."

Raan nodded. "You already know Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neela, Admiral Daro'Xen was Moreh and Admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwib Qwib."

John acknowledge the three before he looked around for another person.

"Oh and meet the newest addition to our board: Admiral Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." Raan continued. "And your two companions are?"

Aayla stepped up to them. Picking up the quarian customs she answered "Jedi Master Aayla Secura nar Ryloth. This is my adjutant Marshall Commander Bly nar Kamino."

"We were sent here because in our galaxy we already fought against droids so our experience could be applied to the Geth." Bly added.

Han'Gerrel nodded. "Than you can help us. Our fleet is pinned down near Rannoch by a Geth dreadnaught and its fleet. John looked at him. "Why are you near Rannoch?"

Gerrel stood proudly. "The Migrant Fleet has begun the reclaiming of out home planet. We pushed them back to Rannoch but then this signal went out to all Geth and since then they rivaled us."

"A clear violation of the act against provoking the Geth." Koris stated.

Aayla looked at the battleplan. "Nonetheless we should get the quarians out of there."

Tali opened a plan. "Our ship is equipped with the same cloaking technology the Normandy has. However we lack in speed and armor. The plan is that we attack the Geth fleet to distract them while a small strike team uses this frigate to dock and take out the dreadnought. Shields are to strong to be penetrated by shots however a slow moving strike team should be able to pass through it."

Bly looked at the ship. "Any specifics?"

"It is about 30% larger than an alliance dreadnought. That makes it about 1150 meters long."

Bly nodded. He uploaded the schematics of a Venator-cruiser next to it. "We can go against it in a one-on-one while the other two star-destroyers shield the fleet. Once we disrupt the signal you make a break for the mass portal."

"Couldn't you just destroy the dreadnought with your strong fleet?" Koris asked as he wanted to minimize the risks for the civilian fleet.

"Not if we have to shield your fleet at the same time." Aayla stated. The plan was final.

The RSS Defender would engage the dreadnought while the Renown and the Negotiator escorted the quarian fleet. The three ships had been chosen as this Task Force was kept secret. Officially these ships have been lost but the UST had recovered them to rebuild and upgrade them to the Venator-II-Class cruisers: Same size, simelar tech. Just installed a mark-3 fusion reactor and improved the shields. Different to the GAR standard the shield and the weaponry had separate mark2-reactors that could boost the main drive core.