Update, at last. I'm trying to get it to the point of convergence as soon as possible, but it may take some time. I need to get my maddening life under some semblance of control. Anyway, thanks for all the reviews.


Battle Plans

Shepard awoke. For a moment he looked around the room, his eyes quickly taking in the desk, the door and the various cupboards that held all his stuff. He noticed the ceiling. It was an odd thing for him to dwell on, but he thought that after seeing something for the last, was it eleven months, should be sufficient to get it into his brain. But no, it was something he had rarely noticed. It was always just there, nothing important or interesting about it, but there it was, always over his head. Something to consider, that he had spent all his life onboard a ship and he had never fully realised the significance of a ceiling. It was always there, keeping you safe from the void outside that wanted to suck you out and freeze you, then burst you so that your loved ones could never ever find any remains. He wondered for a brief moment what it was like to live under the stars. Possibly it was similar to this, but instead of a ceiling you saw a sky every morning. For a brief moment Dan considered that sleeping might be both easier and harder under stars. First you were woken up by a chorus of birds singing, then the light of a new day would slowly creep across you, letting its heat start to enliven your limbs. On the downside, you would be colder by nights and wet by the dew every morning. Well, it was nothing compared to the knowledge that just there, beyond that ceiling was the infinite void of space. The final frontier, as he had heard it called before, the last great expanse of nothingness that awaited man. All of it right before him, so to speak, nothing could hold him back if he wanted to go from one end to the other in one big swoop! He chuckled to himself, softly however, silence was so fragile it could be broken by naming it. Joker would certainly love the challenge of taking the ship from one end of the galaxy to the other, just to get a big run up at the Citadel for one of those crazy dive bomb shots he was so fond of. But the pilot was not allowed to do something that crazy under pain of being made to dance. Pilots and their egos, Dan had thought Joker bad, until he'd met some of the other pilots in the Systems Alliance. They loved themselves so much they didn't need the adoration they received. Joker, despite being the most carefree on the ship, was the most mellow pilot Dan had met yet. Riddles and poetry, all of it floating within his mind, never spoken, never heard, just thought. Dan chuckled again to himself. If Ash could hear him now. But softly, softly, he thought as he turned to look at the woman beside him.

--

Ashley Williams was curled up against his side, her entire posture saying that she was enjoying the heat of two entwined bodies. Dan lay there in silence, keeping his breath measured and content, slow so that she wouldn't react to the sudden change. With his left hand he reached out and gently stoked her raven black hair. She was another oddity, this warrior woman. The first time they had met she had blasted a Geth Trooper with her Assault Rifle so fast the thing had buckled under the tension. After that crazy Eden Prime mission she had been the first on hand to see him after his encounter with the Beacon. Dan knew why, she held it her fault that he had been injured in the encounter, although she knew that if he hadn't been on hand to drag her back from the brink, it would have been her, not him, that carried the images, images he had just been strong enough to withstand. A tide of sorrow and pain, a warning of the genocide that was to come. But life had worked out the way it did, and it was he, not her, that carried that burden. For all her self sacrifice Dan knew, that mind altering thing would have destroyed her, much less all the problems that having to do so many mind melding with asari would have brought. Having said that, she had been one of the few to truly help to carry his burden. Even among the crew of his ship, few had truly helped. Garrus and Wrex had been two, but those two spent so much time with Shepard anyway it was no surprise. Dan knew that it was Garrus' being almost a pupil to him, and Wrex being the battle hardened veteran that he was that made them such a great team. The rookie, the confident officer and the old hand that had taken down the greatest threat to civilization the galaxy had ever seen. But when all was said and done, it was Ash he came back to. She who could quote Heaney, Wordsworth and Frost right before she put a projectile into the nearest enemy. An oddity, just like himself. His three humans had always been a mixed bag. Him, the spacer, her, the colonist and Kaidan, the Earthborn. Again Dan remembered Kaidan and the promise he had made to the doomed lieutenant. Again he silently renewed that vow. After that he was distracted by a bright pair of brown eyes looking up at him.

"Hi."

"Hi. I didn't want to wake you."

"Your breathing changed just a little bit."

"And you caught it, yet again." This time Shepard did laugh. "Will I ever be able to catch you off guard?"

Ash shrugged. "Only if I let you." Her voice carried that mischievous melodic sound to it that told him she wasn't finished with last nights, activities.

"Oh well." He kissed her again, this time with a lot more ferocity. "Did you know, apparently scientists believe sex is supposed to make men more charged for a fight?"

She didn't reply instantly. "I don't know, I think sex just makes men ready for anything!"

--

"Officer on deck!" the crew present snapped to attention.

"At ease." Dan passed by at a brisk pace. He headed down to the helm where he knew that Joker would be at his post like he always was. At times Dan wondered if Joker slept there too, but the sight of the pilot making his way to a sleeping pod using both crutches and weak legs had assuaged his doubts. Yes Joker was on duty, watching out of the windows at the myriad ships that darted around the entire Citadel.

"Nervous Joker?"

Joker half turned, but he knew the voice too well to not know who it was. "Nope Commander, right as rain here and ready to go."

"Glad to hear it." Dan slumped down in the chair next to him. "Any word from the Lord Admiral?"

"Are you kidding? He's in the captain's cabin right now!" Joker grinned.

"Dammit!" Dan was up and striding down the walkway at full speed. "How long has he been there?"

"About five minutes." Came the voice that called after him.

Dan marched like he had in boot camp, as fast as he could, down into the cabin that rested behind the raised platform from which he could command. Inside waiting patiently was Lord Admiral Anderson. Also in attendance were Garrus, Liara and Tali.

"Wrex would have been here, but I believe he is also assigned to this ship anyway." Anderson said, correctly deducing what Shepard had been thinking about.

"Yes sir."

Anderson laughed shortly. "You don't need to call me sir, Spectre, you are above my rank."

"Nevertheless, it kind of seems proper that I address you as sir. After all, you are the Lord Admiral in charge of this operation."

"An operation which was your idea Shepard. Besides which, you are the officer who will be leading the charge."

Dan shrugged. "I didn't ask for that. But what has you coming down here anyway sir?"

Anderson paced across the floor, a movement Shepard had long since seen him do when he was musing over what to say. "We are preparing for the battle which we estimate to start later today. Even as we speak I have ordered the ships into their preliminary positions and we are beginning a pre battle systems check."

Dan cut him off. "Why was I not informed of all this?"

Anderson smiled. "I thought I could command this ship well enough. Joker said you were doing some mental preparation for the battle so I thought I might as well let you get yourself properly charged up."

The other three quickly looked away from Dan's rapidly reddening face. "He said that, did he?"

Everyone knew that Anderson had a fairly good idea of what the Commander had been doing. The explanation was quickly accepted by all present.

The door opened and the huge bulk of Urdnot Wrex appeared. "I hope you didn't order food without me." He rumbled in his characteristic gruff voice.

"We weren't sure whether or not you'd prefer the fish grilled or raw?" Tali quickly quipped

--

Wrex had been the most amazed when Shepard had put forward his second part of the crazy scheme, one that had even the diplomatic salarian councillor spitting in rage.

"Lift the genophage?" Tiberius Crognik roared.

"Do you have any idea what you are suggesting Shepard?" Ledra the salarian councillor added.

"Yes, as a matter of fact I do. I am suggesting that you alter the genophage allowing the krogan to reproduce for a certain number of years of their lives, much like humans do."

"The fallout from this could be catastrophic Spectre!" warned Matriarch Avaria.

"This is going to far Shepard!" Udina exclaimed, "In spite of all you have done, you cannot have this request denied."

"We need skilled soldiers, warriors who can handle themselves in combat. Krogan fit all those parameters. Besides, they will easily be able to bolster the forces we already have."

"Absolutely not!" Crognik stated in a level tone, "I am beginning to wonder if it was a good idea on my predecessors part to promote you so fast."

"It's not just my idea Councillor. It is born of necessity. We need better soldiers. Human marines, asari commandoes, salarian STG's, turian troops, none of them hold a candle to the martial prowess of krogan warriors. An added bonus is the way they reproduce so quickly they will be able to keep up the number of warriors available. Look at what they did in the Rachni Wars!"

The debate raged so fiercely, especially when the council had opened out, that it eventually came to a vote. Eventually, it was decide that a certain number of krogan would have an altered form of the genophage implanted. Shepard still couldn't figure out how this was better, but Wrex had bought him, and everyone else in the bar, drinks all night long.

--

"Shepard?"

Dan jerked out of his memories.

"Try not to do that in the heat of battle, will you?" Anderson activated the council message.

"Commander Shepard. We trust you are aware of the impending battle that is upon us. Lord Admiral Anderson is confident that you will be able to lead the fleet in the charge. We hope that you also look upon this idea with favour?"

Dan threw a look at his crew. "I have faith in my crew."

"Good. Then we leave the rest of the plans up to Lord Admiral Anderson. We, along with the remnants of the civilian populace are leaving the station now and will relocate to the Sparta system on the other side of the galaxy. Then the Citadel will be in military hands."

The system winked out and Shepard turned back to his guests. "I assume you will be staying on the ship?"

"If that's alright with you Commander," Liara stood up out of her chair. "We began this fight with you and the Normandy, it only seems right that we finish the fight with it."

"She's right Commander," Tali added, "We are with you all the way."

"But only with your permission." Garrus gestured for the two to sit down again. "You are, after all, a Spectre and a military officer. We are civilian officials, but we can hold our own in a fight."

Shepard grinned a little sheepishly. "You're right when it comes to this battle, I do want this to be a reckoning, between the Reapers and us, the ones who were involved in the fight from the beginning!"

Dan turned to Anderson. "What about you sir?"

The Lord Admiral put his hand on his protégé's shoulder. "I want to be aboard the first ship into the attack, right behind you as you lead the charge Shepard."

"Then we will need to alert the Fleet to your presence aboard sir." Dan turned to his crew, just as the door opened and Ashley came in. "Time to get this started then."

"I've already put the fleet on standby Shepard, they are ready to start moving into position for combat."

"Joker!"

"Yes Commander?"

"Put this on the comm. all over the ship will you?"

"Yes sir!"

Dan turned to everyone present. "Alright people, action stations!"

--

The Normandy's intercom system crackled into life at the Commanders voice. Everyone aboard stopped briefly out of respect to listen to their young CO and the instructions he gave them. They all knew Shepard, and they all knew what he had done to get all this going. He had sacrificed his time, his energy, lost friends, almost alienated the council, endured ridicule and distrust and finally, it was paying off.

"You all know of our mission. We are to completely destroy the Reapers invaders in the forthcoming battle. Time is short, so I'll be brief. It's up to us to do our duty here and now, to stop them in their tracks. You all know that we lost a member of this crew to this war already, Lt. Kaidan Alenko, a good officer and a friend. I made him a promise, that I would fight with all I had in me to make sure that the Reapers never touched this galaxy ever again! Today I'm going to fulfil that promise! What I have now is a question for you all, are you going to do you utmost?" he paused. "I know you are, because I've seen you do it before. I want you all to know, the people at home are counting on us and we will succeed. I have the utmost faith in you all! Now let's go kick some metal ass!" Dan smiled broadly at the whoops and cheers that rang through the ship. Leaving the com open, he added as an afterthought. "Move us into position Joker!"

--

With a burst of speed and power, the Normandy sprang into action. As if on cue, the rest of the fleet began to move as well. Dozens of cruisers, battleships, destroyers, frigates, all moving with their own solid purpose. The huge carriers hung back, their flight decks spilling out thousands of fighters, small nimble craft that would be able to overwhelm any opponent, using pure numbers and agility. Out in front of all of the fleet moves a swift single frigate, the SSV Normandy, the lead ship of the vanguard. Directly on front of them is the huge Citadel Station, the relay to dark space and the entry point for the Reapers. Only it is no longer a peaceful place, it is the death trap of all ships! Along the sides of the station thousands of heavy weapons emplacements come to life, manned by various species they all swivel to point directly at the space where they assumed the Reapers would spill out. All around the Citadel, the ships began to take up station and point their most powerful cannons at the point of entry. The hazy nebula around the Citadel made it a perfect spot for an ambush. Manoeuvring here was next to impossible so they would have to duke it out a point blank range. The larger Reapers would be completely incapacitated in such confined spaces, while the smaller Alliance Fleet could pound them into muck. The nimble frigates darted around, most following Jokers lead as he was the one who had landed the killing blow on Sovereign, the Reaper who had tried to take the Citadel. Battle was ready to be joined as the twenty thousand strong fleet halted. A literal dome of fire surrounded the citadel, the smaller ships out front, ready to rush in and start firing, the bigger ships ascending in ranks all the way back to the dreadnaughts, huge behemoths that could rip apart shields and were positioned as the back line to prevent any possible escape. On the actual station, a single salarian officer marched up to the Citadel activation post. He reached out a hand and hit the activation button.


Not one of my more favored chapters, but anyway. More Halo/Predator/Aliens to follow, then we will begin to introduce a little Star Wars