My thanks for all reviews. As I said, updates will be slow. If you think this was fast, check how fast my other ones go. Anyway, replies at bottom.
Prepare for War
A haze of purple nebulae surrounded the Citadel. This gigantic space station was the capital of the galaxy, the hub of all the Mass Relay travels systems and most recently, the scene of one of the most catastrophic battles known in Galactic history. Here the Reaper, Sovereign, had sent his puppet Saren into the Citadel, via the Conduit, and had attempted to summon the Reapers back from dark space, the void beyond the rim. And it was here that hero of that battle, Commander Shepard, had defeated both Saren and Sovereign. The devastation wrought by the attack was still evident, especially here, near the Conduits entrance in the Citadel Plaza. For a reason Shepard couldn't understand, someone had convinced the workers to leave the wrecked Mako where it had fallen. The attack vehicle had been slammed against one of the doors after Shepard had crashed it whilst driving headlong into the Relay. As Dan stood looking at it he remembered for a brief moment how long ago that had been, almost a full year.
"Commander."
Shepard turned his head slightly to see Garrus Vakarian striding towards him. The newly promoted Executor of Citadel Security was dressed in his usual clothes, black and blue with his eyepiece on. Garrus had been one of the two to accompany him into the fight against Saren.
"Garrus. How's life for the new Executor."
Garrus shook his head slightly. "Difficult Shepard. C-Sec's a mess after the attack. The majority of the officers here were involved in the fighting in some way. Means I have to try to train the new ones. In the midst of all of this upheaval."
Shepard smiled. "Well you wanted to have a more exciting life. Always be careful what you wish for."
Garrus groaned at the statement. "I wanted excitement Shepard, not responsibility!"
"Hate to break it to you Garrus, but life isn't exciting."
"Yours is."
"It's not. My life right now involves dodging reporters, dealing with the other Spectres, most of whom are dead, dealing with the Council, and Captain Anderson. Add to that the planned campaign against the Reapers and you have major difficulties. Yes my life is very boring right now."
Garrus was silent for a few moments. "Isn't Anderson a Lord Admiral now?" he asked finally.
"He is, but I still consider him my CO. Part of me is so used to calling him captain that I never call him anything else."
Although Shepard had nominated Captain Anderson as the new human councillor, the Alliance government had decided to appoint Udina instead. However that didn't mean that Anderson was out of it yet. General Septimus, one of the few surviving turian commanders, who had been placed in command of the army, had suggested resurrecting the old rank of Lord Admiral and placing Anderson in command of the joint fleet. Councillor Udina had proposed the appointment to the other councillors, who had unanimously agreed. Admiral Hackett had endorsed him publicly, as had Septimus and Wrex. As a result Lord Admiral David Anderson had been given the command of the largest Fleet ever seen in the galaxy. Numbering some fifteen thousand ships, every single species had donated some war craft to it, and all species were represented on board. The actual rank Lord Admiral was a turian rank that came from their old Empire. When the turians were building it for the first time they had one huge fleet. The post of Lord Admiral was created to centralise that fleet and bring it into line. However it had died out by the time of the First Contact war, the turians having brought all their military under council rule. Now it was back again. The fleet needed someone in a central command, someone who could make a decision there and then someone who could make the right decision. Septimus had felt that Anderson was best suited of the job, given his record. Now a human was the commanding officer of the largest combined fleet ever.
Garrus and Shepard walked as fast as they could towards the nearest Citadel Rapid Transport. Here they got into the little aircraft and whizzed off at high speed to the C-Sec academy.
"I'm a bit surprised not to see Ashley with you Commander."
"You can address me by my first name Garrus."
"Thanks Dan."
"Anyway, if I ever go out with Ash, it doesn't bode well. I go anywhere, I get mauled over by reporters. The last thing I need is for Ash to get attacked by those vultures as well."
"You seem to get on well enough with Emily Wong."
"She never digs into my personal life, always strictly business. The most she ever asks for is my opinion."
"I noticed you wear your helmet for nearly every interview. I have to ask why?"
Shepard's smile widened. That was a devious trick. "Well that has two functions."
Garrus grinned. "I think I know what you mean."
Dan nodded. "The first is it reminds people of the seriousness of the situation, and that I'm a soldier. The second is a trick I read in an old book. Wear something enough and people will associate you with it. Take it off, and no one will give you a second glance!"
"Smart."
"I know."
Citadel Security Academy was bustling with people. What with the repairs to the station going on, the numbers of military personnel on the station needing tagging and last, but not least, Prothean artefact cataloguing that was going on, the place was a whirlpool of people. The Executor and the Spectre crossed the room relatively unnoticed, thanks to the attention everyone was paying to their work. Heading for a small room just off the main access corridor the two managed to squeeze in. Sitting at the desk in front of them, eyes focused like daggers on a Prothean artefact, was a blue skinned asari maiden. Dr. Liara T'Soni, was the expert on Prothean technology and was currently seeking to find if the Protheans had any weapons that worked against the Reapers. She was so engrossed in her work that she never noticed the two males stop in front of her. Dan leaned over and knocked on the desktop.
"Does Dr. T'Soni live here?"
Liara looked up and her face split into a wide grin of joy. "Shepard!" her face took on a confused look, "What do you mean, do I live here. I don't. I live in a house out on the third arm."
"Sorry, human idiom."
"Ah." Her face softened somewhat, "I will never understand them as long as I live."
Garrus laughed. "You and Tali both. She still asks me what "a grease and oil change" means in regards to a fusion turbine engine. I keep telling her to ask a human, but they all just make innuendos."
Dan grunted. "Typical. Anyway Liara, I just dropped by to see how you were doing, that's all."
"I do as well as I can Shepard. I'm working at what I like best, I'm a member of C-Sec, thanks to the Executor here, and I will hopefully be joining you aboard the Normandy when we go forth to do battle."
"I'm glad to hear that you intend on coming back Liara, I've done my best to keep a spot open for you and Dr. Chakwas says that the room is always there if you want it."
Liara smiled at the memory of the kindly old doctor. "My thanks for her kind thoughts. I will keep it in mind Shepard."
"I have to go." Shepard turned and headed for the door. "Garrus, I have to go and report to the Council. You want to come, or are you going to stay here?"
"I'll come as far as the forecourt, but after that you're on your own."
Shoes had once been the predominant type of footwear here. Shoes belonging to asari, salarians, turians, elcor, humans, and volus. They had, at one stage, thoroughly walked this area of the Citadel. It had been the domain of all those who served the Citadel council, the place of the politician, the administrator, the diplomat, the powerful and the elite of society. Now that had all changed. The predominant type of footwear here was the boot. Boots that were tougher than the shoe, more rugged and most of them armoured. Now this part of the Citadel was home to the warriors. Soldiers, Adepts, Infiltrators, Engineers, Sentinels, Vanguards, Commando's, Shock Troopers, Medics, Nemeses, Operatives, Warriors, Battle masters, Machinists, Scientists, Agents, they were the ones who colonised this area most. All of them were hard at work, even this area of the Citadel. This was the home of the warrior now. War was coming and they needed to be prepared! Gone was the time of diplomacy, all species must throw aside their differences and prepare to do battle.
When Shepard reached the end of the elevator and stepped out, there was a cheer. He walked through the assembled crowds of people, shaking hands with the asari, nodding to the turians, even giving a krogan a punch on the shoulder. Wrex gave him a quick grin in return, before turning to his squad of krogan Warriors. Dan even spotted Conrad Verner in the crowd. The man had wisely stayed out of the battle with Sovereign, although he did help with the evacuation. Now he had signed up as a crewman on a large cruiser. Dan smiled to himself as he remembered the maddening enthusiasm the man possessed. For a while he'd been a little worried that the man would do something stupid, but he had apparently gotten through to him. He finally stopped before the Council audience platform. After he had approached it the crowd fell silent and returned to their duties. Shepard was, for them, outside the room now, time to get back to work. Garrus halted as well and with a cheerful wave left to go back to his post. Dan ascended the stairs and walked out onto the platform.
This area was one of the most badly damaged in the fight with Sovereign. Not only had this been the scene of an intense firefight between Dan, Wrex, Garrus and the Geth, but Saren had killed himself here and his fall had destroyed the glass covering the small garden below them. After the fight with Sovereigns Avatar, the entire area had been smashed by a falling piece of rubble. But it had been cleared, although the Council had opted to let repair work go on elsewhere so that they were reminded of what their tasks were now and the failure of their predecessors. So it was that Shepard stood on the end of a platform which was above a burned garden, smashed glass and a huge lump of metal embedded in the ground. The council were standing in front of him, the turian and krogan councillors in full armour, with Udina wearing dress armour. They were busy at the moment listening to a report from Lord Admiral Anderson, which was in conjunction with a report from General Septimus.
"…furthermore, the heavy guns we've installed along the sides of the Citadel will enable us to cripple them when they first start to come through. In essence what I have envisaged is a dome of fire coming in from all sides and slowly crushing them. If it could be achieved then it could be a great help for us to cripple one of them in the middle of the relay so that they will, hopefully, crash into each other as they come through."
"It's an ambitious plan Lord Admiral," said the asari councillor, Matriarch Avaria, "But if they do not collide?"
"Then they will be forced to come head to head with our massed forces which will have the upper hand in being able to counter with space and range on our side. The asari dreadnaughts will be the flankers, capable of taking the fight to the Reapers should they start to show signs of breaking out of our trap. If necessary we can shut down the Relay to deal with the ones who are in our trap." Anderson finished with a smile.
Dan Shepard recalled the time he had been summoned before the Council to report on all his knowledge of the Reapers. The four races councillors had stood in one of the embassies to accommodate the damage done to the meeting chambers.
"Commander Shepard, welcome." Udina began the meeting "We would like to know what your opinion is on our decision to try and make sure the Reapers never return."
Shepard had seen the memo. Humans, turians, asari and salarians would combine their fleets and try to ambush the fleet when it came through the relay. He also knew what was wrong with it.
"It's not enough."
All the councillors who had been expecting a response of, "Oh I don't know, it could work." were rather shocked.
"What?" croaked out the turian councillor, Tiberius Crognik.
"This plan was thought out by all the leading experts on warfare in every single council species Commander!" stated the salarian councillor.
"I know." Dan replied, "But that is its problem." He leaned forward and placed his hands on the table. "We haven't enough ships."
Udina barked out, "Commander, are you suggesting that we should gather all our resources and go to build more ships? The cost alone would be inconceivable."
Dan shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying at all Councillor. I'm saying that, while building more ships would be a good idea, we can do more."
They all looked askance at him.
"Simply because we are the problem." Straightening up he started to outline this terribly risky plan of his. "We need to gather the entire galaxy to our side for when we go to war. The Reapers are a threat to all races, not just ours. Quarians, volus, elcor, hanar, krogan and, dare I say it, batarians. If we combine all our strength, then we will be able to take the fight to our enemy."
Behind him he heard an almost imperceptible intake of breath from Wrex and Garrus. The only other person who knew of this insane scheme of his was Ashley and he couldn't keep anything from her.
"Do you realise what you are suggesting?" asked Tiberius.
"I don't think you understand fully what I am suggesting Councillor." Dan continued. "I propose, to make this work, a temporary Council of War. Every single species a part of it, all of us gathered together, ready for battle, working together in a synchronized fashion, every species giving all it's got."
Silence was all that followed. Into the silence a new voice spoke. "Remember what happened the last time the council didn't take his advice?" Gunnery Chief Ashley Williams was standing at the back, a big cocky grin on her face. The sight of her supporting him was enough to strengthen his resolve.
They all nodded numbly. Udina spoke in the quiet voice of someone who has just been told that he is going to have his world rocked so hard he won't be able to stand the weight of it. "All in favour?"
Every hand went up, including Wrex who had an insane grin on his face.
"Commander Shepard?"
Dan jerked awake again. "Sorry?"
"We were about to ask you if you think that we're ready to go?" Tiberius asked him. The turian had a great respect for the human Spectre who had given so much for the fight against Sovereign.
"And can we kick ass!" stated the krogan councillor, Valkan Uver. He and the turian were standing on the opposite ends of the podium, whilst the salarian, who was in the middle was sweating a bit under the krogans gleaming gaze. The quarian councillor looked right across at Shepard.
"Can we be ready to fight shortly Shepard?" Abel'Idris nar Aharna asked in the slightly mechanical voice he had.
"We will be almost ready to move Councillor. What is necessary to gather our forces from their positions scattered across the galaxy."
The councillors all nodded in agreement and Dan could see the relief on their faces, except for Udina. Almost all the species in the galaxy had put forward candidates for the Council. Barla Von had been given the role for the volus, Calyn for the elcor. The only species who had not come forward, were the batarians, who were so insular they refused all outside contact, except for war, that and the fact that most of the council species had at one stage tried to kill them. The others were the odd groups who had conquered most of the Orion Arm of the galaxy. Attempts to communicate had only been met with harsh responses and the Turian Hierarchy was getting close to war with them. They called themselves the Coalition or something along those lines.
Anyway, Shepard could see that they were impatient to get this over with and return to a normal life.
"Yes, I think we are reaching our point of maximum preparation. The moment to strike is coming soon, that I can promise you."
Lord Admiral Anderson spoke up. "I agree with the Commander. The sooner we get this battle started, the better. Also," he warned the Council, and surreptitiously, the Commander, "If we don't do this soon, the Reapers will begin to suspect that there is something wrong. We need to make our move, while we still hold all the aces."
Aplogies for lack of spacing. My fool proof way of getting paragraph spacing failed me. If anyone does know a way of keeping spacing from Microsoft Word, send me a PM. Anyhoo,
Star Wars 2136; I know that most things in the Mass Effect Universe could be thrown at the Imperial Fleet and they would be mauled. Rest assured there will be Star Wars villains involved in this as well, so everything will not be too one sided. See my story Star Wars vs Halo for details on weaponry there.
Rtas; see my reply at the beginning of the latest SW vs H chapter.
Air Dragon 717; yes this is going to be mostly set in the middle of the Galactic Civil War. That means in the middle of the ESB! Meaning that all the cool characters are still alive!
Again I ask, please leave a review. Any guesses as to whom the "Coalition" are?
