Like I said, the timeline is different. Also I realized I misread Chellick's first name.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette and exhaled calmly. "Shepard is no longer an issue. We have the forces now. This is the perfect chance. He's the only one who ever posed a serious threat and he's incapacitated. It took us too much time to find him for you to back out now, they did a good job of keeping his location off the books. You will carry out the operation and you will make sure Shepard is dead. Am I understood?"

The transparent assassin in front of him slowly nodded, "I'll need more forces. I need him."

"Done."

He nodded once again and a vicious smile permeated his face, "I'll handle it. Kai Leng Out."

Liara walked around the Presidium, taking in the beauty of it all. Between Shepard and dealing with the politics of securing reinforcements for Earth or the Crucible-which had been largely unsuccessful-she barely had time to walk around the gem of the galaxy.

As she looked over a small garden a large convoy of ships darkened the artificla skies above. Confusion swept over her for the briefest of seconds before she noticed the logo on the side of the ship. Her eyes widened, her heart began to beat out of her chest. They were on the Citadel. And all hell was about to break loose.

She began yelling out for people to take cover in the nearest building and drew her pistol-the only weapon she was allowed to carry on the Citadel. Cerberus had made a grave mistake. One that would topple their entire regime. One that would cripple the whole attack. A fatal miscalculation. A glimmer of anger flashed in her eyes.

The Normandy had docked an hour ago.

The staff of Huerta Memorial Hospital was in hiding behind the reception desk, turned over tables, walls, anything that would conceal them from the attacking forces. The main power was cut, the patients were being kept alive on emergency reserves. Thane cloaked himself-he knew it would be a bad idea to leave it behind when Shepard was incapacitated-and next to the elevator exit. He clasped his hands together and began to pray, "Amonkira, Lord of Hunters, grant that my hands be steady, my aim be true, and my feet swift. And should the worst come to pass, grant me forgiveness."

The elevator doors opened and a dozen troopers stormed out, aiming their assault rifles at the visible civilians.

A few went into the back room, where they would surely find Shepard. Thane took the opportunity to initiate his omni-blade and stab one in the back, using the dying man as a shield for the fire he drew. When their clips were exhausted Thane dropped the corpse and blasted one of them out of the window with his biotics, sprinting towards another and sliding beneath him, standing up to grip the base of his skull and his chin, snapping his neck effortlessly. His barriers shimmered as bullets hit him. Finally one of them yelled, "ENOUGH!"

Thane stopped in his tracks upon seeing the young asari woman whose neck he had his arm around, with his pistol aimed to her head, "Try that shit again and we'll kill everyone in here. On your knees."

Upon seeing Thane's hesitation he shot her in the head and grabbed another hostage, "On. Your. Knees.

Begrudgingly, Thane slowly lifted his hands and fell to his knees. Before any of the troopers could move to grab him, a shot rang out in the back rooms. Then another. And screaming.

The leader-the one with the hostage-began murmuring into his comms. Thane could barely hear, "...need reinforcements..." All of the remaining Cerberus personnel aimed their guns at the only door to the patient rooms.

The door burst outwards, crushing one of them against the wall. With the lights out it was impossible to see the face of the attacker, but it was clear who it was. Glowing red scars and eyes shone through his helmet in the darkness, and neon red lines along his armor further proved it.

In a terrifyingly deep voice it began to speak, uttering four words. "You made a mistake."

The leader grabbed his hostage and hauled her in front of him as a shield. "Surrender Shepard, we came prepared." In his free hand he pulled out a device no bigger than a grenade out, "One more step and we detonate this. Everybody here will die."

Shepard closed his eyes and looked around the room, his vision seemingly not impaired by the dark. "You killed her." He stared at the asari on the floor.

"And we'll do the same to everyone else! Surrender!"

A deep grating laugh filled the room. "And to think. I was going to kill you quickly."

Before a shot could be fired Shepard biotically charged the Cerberus squad's leader, grabbing his neck and slamming him into the wall, the hostage freed. He barely choked out, "Urgh... Fire you idiots!" before Shepard smashed an armored gauntlet into his chest, breaking several ribs. Bullets impacted Shepard's shields, providing nothing more than an annoyance. He turned to see the men firing upon him and slowly raised a hand bathed in a biotic glow. The gunfire continued, but his shields returned to their natural invisible state.

When their weapons had overheated they slowly began to back away from the glowing monstrosity in front of them. It was only now that they could see exactly how much they had underestimated him. The bullets they had fired were levitating with that same biotic glow about them, their velocity removed by Shepard's powers. Harmlessly, they clattered to the floor. In what could only be described as glee a whisper emerged from the darkness, "My turn."

Shepard charged one of them, effortlessly wielding a monomolecular blade to decapitate him. The gunfire returned, interrupted by a command, "Retreat!"

The troopers dove out of the windows, jetpacks decelerating their fall. Shepard turned his eyes to the beeping device in the center of the room. The explosive. Instantaneously his arms shot out to his sides and a shield appeared around the device, leaving it to detonate in a biotic bubble. Shepard turned his attention out the window and, seeing the armored men below boarding a shuttle he flicked his wrist-the already damaged shuttle had no shields. He lifted it up and began to increase its ascent before bringing it crashing back down with an impossible speed, leaving it and everybody inside nothing but charred remains.

He turned his attention to Thane, who was now kneeling over the corpse of the asari girl. Shepard waited for him to finish his prayer and then helped him up, "What's happening Thane?"

"You've been unconscious for a five weeks and Cerberus is attacking the Citadel."

"Five weeks is certainly better than two years. Where do we go?"

"There was an emergency broadcast coming from C-Sec headquarters a few minutes ago, it's gone now. We might as well go-"

They were interrupted by the ding of the elevator arriving at that floor. Shepard aimed his arm at the elevator doors, preparing to unleash a blast from his wrist-mounted flamer. He immediately lowered his arm upon seeing his favorite asari standing there with her pistol out.

"John! You're-you're awake?" She looked behind him to see the massacre that had occurred, "And you haven't lost your touch." She noticed the dead asari, "Did they...?"

"They did. They're merciless. We're headed to C-Sec HQ, let's go."

Liara saw Thane tending to the cowering civilians and nodded, "We can take a car from the garage."

Ashley took point, grabbing her rifle and scanning the room they were entering. "All clear." The three councilors-Valern was absent for some reason-quickly followed her. They were out of the tight hallways and out on an open platform again. Ashley ran up to the terminal and locked the door as it closed behind them.

She exhaled deeply and ran a hand through her hair. Shepard. If Cerberus was here they would be after him. She could only pray that the drell or Liara was protecting him.

She sighed and leaned back against the railing for a second, then exhaled and nodded, "Let's go."

Shepard, Liara and Thane all piled out of the civilian vehicle. Liara angrily exclaimed, "Because it's a CIVILIAN vehicle John, THAT is why it doesn't have missiles!"

"I don't understand civilian life."

"No you do not."

They examined the scene before them. C-Sec headquarters were completely ransacked. Corpses lay everywhere, most of them with stab wounds or their throats slit. Shepard knelt down by a body sprawled across the floor, "The hell happened here?"

Thane examined one of them, "Highly trained assassins-not the average Cerberus grunt."

Liara grimaced, "This is barbaric."

Shepard scoffed, "This is nothing. Remember when my eyes used to be green? The wounds are abnormal though."

Thane nodded, "It's as if assassins managed to enter undetected and-"

His head rose, "Oh."

Shepard closed his eyes for a minute, "They were indoctrinated. And Cerberus shot them after they slit the throats of their peers. Let's check Chellick's office and see what we can find."

Miranda took a deep breath, preparing for the gravity of the conflict she was about to enter. She checked her pistol, her omni-tool, and her biotics. She was in the refugee camp set up inthe lower levels of the Citadel. It allowed her to pass through undetected as she avoided Cerberus forces. That ship had sailed however, and there were a couple dozen Cerberus troopers rounding people up for executions. No one had died yet, but any minute now... If she had learned only one thing from Shepard it was that she had an obligation to help them.

She burst out of cover and began a multi-faceted assault, biotics whipping a few of them about, incineration bolts from her omni-tool flying into a few others, and her bullets putting one or two down. Most of them were down but only three were dead, and the remaining ones were getting back up. Miranda dove for cover, barely making it as a bullet pierced her shields and flew through her leg.

"Bloody hell..." She took a deep breath. She probably wouldn't make it this time, but the refugees had scattered when she attacked, so at least that was something.

She inhaled and exhaled a few times. She had a few seconds before they would be able to flank her. She took her last medi-gel and used the foam to spray over the wound. It bound to the flesh and filled the injury, uncomfortable but now she could stand. One last deep breath. She burst out of cover and began firing, unleashing everything she could.

As the returning fire ripped through her shields she closed her eyes and waited for one of the stray bullets to deliver the killing blow. Oriana would have to get along without her. She never got to apologize to Shepard-

A shot emanated from one of the weapons in front of her, but she was still standing. Her eyes shot open to see one of them on all fours, one hand gripping his chest. "Oh jeez-I'm sorry, I'm not a good shot I just-er..." A bullet ripped through his head and the trooper collapsed to the floor. Kelly Chambers grimaced, "Ew..."

Miranda's face contorted in confusion and shock, "Kelly? How did you just... what the bloody hell just happened!?"

Kelly shrugged and reloaded her pistol, "I did work for Cerberus you know. There was some basic weapons training. When Shepard dropped me off here I died my hair blonde, changed my name to Felicia Hannigan, and... well here I am helping the refugees."

"You survived the assault all by yourself?"

"Well not by myself. Guys, it's clear!"

A blonde man and a dark haired girl stepped out from behind a few crates, both of them using simple pistols. It was all civilians could have here-but those exact civilians...

"Hi! I'm Conrad Verner, we've met before actually. I'm a friend of Shepard's?" The woman rolled her eyes, "Hi. I'm Jenna. I've kind of also met the Commander. I just don't brag about it constantly..."

Conrad laughed slightly and kissed Jenna quickly, "Anyway, we're securing the refugee camp. Most of the people here have weapons and we jury-rigged a few shield generators."

Kelly nodded, "Miranda, you're better at this than us, tell me you have a plan."

"Yeah... Yeah I might have something."

Shepard warily approached the door to Chellick's office and opened it, immediately aiming his shotgun inside, Liara and Thane imitating him.

Very few things could've made him happier than what was in the office. Cynthia, EDI, and James were all searching the office.

Cynthia glanced up from the terminal she was checking, her eyes widening, "Holy shit. You're awake."

He grinned, "Who are you talking to? Damn right I'm awake. We need to disable the jamming signals and activate Citadel-wide communications and I assume there's a damn good reason for why that thing is standing next to you."

Cynthia glanced at EDI, "Long story, funny story, but it's EDI."

The android awkwardly smiled, "Hello, Shepard."

He raised an eyebrow, "So many questions, but now is not the time. Is Chellick-"

James glanced at the corpse in the corner, blue blood staining his chest, gunshot wounds apparant. Shepard walked over and knelt next to the turian executor. "Jesus... Declan was-"

Liara interrupted, "Declan? His name was Decian."

Shepard and Cynthia glanced at each other. Cynthia murmured, "That's why he hated being called Declan..."

Shepard sucked his teeth, "Wow. That is... Still he did damn good work. This is unforgivable."

Cynthia finished typing at the terminal, "Jamming systems are down. Communications are up. Care to say something John?"

Shepard left Chellick's corpse and walked over to the terminal, tapping at it a few times and contemplating his words. He opened the channel and took a deep breath.

Miranda, Kelly, Conrad and Jenna all stood, their hands above their heads as the nearly four dozen Cerberus troops before them aimed their weapons at them. One of them muttered, "Do we take them alive? That's Operative Lawson."

A moment of silence passed before an answer came from one in the front. "No, Operative Leng wants her terminated. Open fire."

Miranda was no Shepard, she hadn't exactly led them to victory.

The leader suddenly collapsed and bullets began flying-none of them originating from the Cerberus team. Miranda and her associates took the opportunity to run for cover. The former Cerberus operative glanced out from cover to see the entirety of their opposition lying dead on the floor. A familiar guttural growl came out, "Get out here you goddamn cheerleader."

She practically leapt out of cover, "Zaeed? Okay this really is my lucky day."

The mercenary grinned, at least two dozen people in various uniforms-Blue Suns, Eclipse, Blood Pack, even a few Talons-stood behind him, all heavily armed. Zaeed nodded at Kelly and Conrad, "Chambers, it's good to see you again. And aren't you that whiney little bitch from Illium?"

Miranda motioned for Conrad to still his tongue, "Who are the mercs? Friends of yours?"

Zaeed put his assault rifle on his back and popped his knuckles, "We're under attack. I rounded up a few people who I had influence with. And I may have sprung open the Citadel's jails and prisons. We need all the help we can get. Aria is leading the fight from Purgatory, C-Sec is kicking ass in the Presidium."

Miranda nodded slowly, "We need to get to-"

Suddenly the channels opened up-Cerberus had blocked all communications but their own. The welcome face of their leader appeared on everyone's omni-tool followed by his voice. He looked awful, but in his own way still... strong. A powerful voice began to echo on every screen, omni-tool, and intercom in the Citadel.

"This is Commander-" Shepard glanced off screen and corrected himself, "Spectre John Shepard. We're under attack. Every able-bodied person, get your hands on a weapon and fight back. Cerberus thinks they've won today. They think we're weak. Prove them wrong. Planets are falling one by one, but I promise you one thing. The Citadel is not falling today."

They lost the feed and glanced at each other. Miranda nodded, "You heard the man. Let's do this."

Shepard and his five compatriots walked back to the heart of C-Sec headquarters. They needed to find the Council. As they walked into the room, they saw the salarian Councilor-Valern, decloaking and glancing around the room. As he and Shepard locked eyes he breathed a sigh of relief and began walking towards the Spectre, "Commander Shepard I am so glad to see you. I-"

A man dropped in between the Councilor and Shepard, his palm glowing as he prepared to strike down the Councilor with some kind of projectile. The entirety of Shepard's forces aimed their weapons and Shepard called out, "Try it and I'll turn you into a fine red mist."

Valern's hastened breathing slowed slightly, "Shepard it's Udina. He's staging a coup-he's with the other councilors and he's going to hand them over to Cerberus."

The man tensed up, circling around the Councilor to face Shepard. Metallic visors either replaced or were over his eyes, a Cerberus logo emblazoned on his armor. "Hello, Commander."

Recognition flared in Shepard's eyes, "You... you son of a bitch!"

A grin spread across the man's face, "You remember me. I was the one who captured you. You can thank me for the imrpovements they gave you later, once we've killed all of your little friends."

"We?"

A second figure materialized, shimmering as his cloak deactivated. This one was in a recolored version of N7 Paladin armor, the N7 logos replaced with those of Cerberus, brandishing an omni-shield. A voice came from the man before them, "Hey Shepard. Long time no see."

Shepard raised an eyebrow, the voice was so familiar but he couldn't place it... "Sorry, you I don't remember. But I've got enough bullets for the both of you."

Shepard's and his five allies stood firm against the two Cerberus operatives, "Do the math. Six to two, and that's not counting the fact that after what you fuckers did to me I might just be able to level the whole damn floor."

Kai Leng chuckled, "You're amusing Shepard, I'll give you that. But it's time." As Kai Leng fired his weapon he convulsed, causing his bullet to miss the Councilor as he keeled over. Shepard immediately used his biotics to charge in front of the Councilor, absorbing the other Cerberus agent's rifle fire. Standing behind Kai Leng stood Shepard's favorite thief, her omni-tool still coursing with electricity after she shocked Kai Leng. She grinned and managed to say, "You're welcome Shep" before all hell broke loose. As gunfire began to fill the room she grabbed the salarian Councilor and guided him, both of them running from the room as everyone else dove for cover.

The remaining eight fighters sporadically fired off volleys of bullets. Once Kasumi was out of the room however, Shepard charged Kai-Leng, tackling him to the floor. The other five of Shepard's comrades leapt out of cover to open fire on the mystery man-unable to properly target Kai Leng as he and Shepard rolled around on the floor in a brutal melee. The 'paladin' raised his kinetic barriers and shields, opening fire on them with bullets, biotics, and barrages of technological force-incinerations and cryo blasts streaming through the air. As the collective gunfire of five people forced their way through his defenses he ducked back behind cover.

Finally Shepard disengaged from Kai Leng, being thrown back against a wall and defending himself from decapitation with his own sword. Thane took the opportunity, charging Kai Leng as he fired off his pistol. The Cerberus and drell assassins dueled, each dancing around the other while Kai Leng still managed to fend off an assault from Shepard.

As the fight played out both sides took damage, culminating as both Kai Leng and Thane crumbled to the ground. The paladin grumbled and lifted his arm, dragging Kai Leng up and forcing them to run, both of their shields depleted-taking bullets that pierced their armor and ripped their skin.

Shepard and his crew gathered around Thane briefly, Shepard rolled the drell over and examined him. The drell hoarsely croaked, "I've time still. Do not let him escape."

"I've got him, go!" Armando Bailey strode in and ran next to the drell with a few C-Sec officers besides him.

Shepard and his crew glanced at Bailey and nodded before charging off after the Cerberus assassins.

Miranda stood before the gathered forces of the Citadel. Mercenaries, criminals, C-Sec and refugees of every race. "They've invaded our home, but they haven't captured it. No matter how many people we lose, we will keep fighting. We will fight them in the wards, we will fight them in the presidium, we will fight them to the last man and the last bullet! Cerberus will not take the Citadel!"

Cheers of approval rang out from the crowd as they dispersed, storming off to different parts of the station. She wasn't as good at these speeches as her former Commander, but they were rallied and the Citadel was hours away from being retaken. She could only hope Shepard was faring alright.

Shepard and his remaining four followers chased Kai Leng and the paladin into an elevator. As they ripped open the doors and escaped down the elevator shaft Shepard followed them, the others being forced to wait-taking the adjacent elevator instead. Shepard and the two Cerberus assassins went into a free fall, biotically slowing their descent as they crashed onto a rising elevator.

The elevator filled with his allies plummeted down next to them, righting its velocity as it caught up. The top blew off and EDI climbed out, firing on Kai Leng. The Asian assassin fell backwards, taking the opportunity to leap into a keeper tunnel as they fell past it. Only the paladin remained, following Kai Leng's lead and jumping into a keeper tunnel-out of reach as Shepard and his crew barreled down the elevator shaft.

Shepard took a sigh of relief-immediately interrupted as a bullet lodged itself in him. He reached a hand to his chest. Both elevators stopped and he endured a few more shots. Realizing the origin of the attacks, he ripped open the elevator top to see Ashley sprinting away. Shepard jumped down the elevator hatch, meeting up with the rest of his squad as they exited the neighboring elevator.

They walked towards the door Ashley had run through, Liara closing it as they walked through. Ashley aimed her pistol at Shepard and his approaching squad, defending the Councilors behind her. "Shepard what the hell is going on here?"

Shepard's squad unholstered their weapons and held them by their sides, each one prepared for a conflict. Shepard, however, clutched his side and deeply intoned, "You... shot... me..."

Ashley recoiled slightly, "You were on top of-Shepard I'm trying to understand here, but there's a Cerberus android on your left and you were chasing us down. Help me understand. Everybody put down your weapons and we can figure out what the hell is going on." Noticing his pained stance, she added "Someone get him some damn medi-gel. "

Shepard held out his hand, accepting the medi-gel Liara placed into it. He stuck the canister's nozzle in the small holes in his armor and dispensed the fluid to alleviate the intensity of his wounds. "Ash, Cerberus assassins went after Councilor Valern. We got him to safety, but they retreated, escaped down an elevator shaft, and we chased them here. Valern said that Udina is behind this, he's working with Cerberus!"

There were exchanged glances between the Councilors. The asari-Tevos, looked at Sparatus and they both moved away from Udina. Tevos looked at Ashley, "Our lack of faith in Shepard before has hurt us badly before. Stand down Lieutenant Commander."

Ashley flexed her grip on her pistol. Tevos was right. She had been wrong about Shepard before. She turned around to see Udina backed up against a wall, raising her pistol at him. "Councilor I need you to put your hands up."

Udina's stare switched from his fellow Councilors to Ashley, to Shepard, and back again, "No, you can't... You..."

Shepard bore down on Udina and grabbed him by his collar, "Why!? So many people have died here, and for what!? Tell me!"

Ashley frowned at seeing Shepard's anger play out before her, but held her tongue.

"I..." Udina's demeanor broke and his despair became apparent, "Because they'll let us all die before they send help! If I was the only Councilor I could-I could-the Citadel fleet would be able to retake Earth! We'll be extinct before they lift a finger!"

The luminescence of Shepard's crimson eyes dimmed slightly, his rage fading, only to rapidly return. "This is how you help? THIS!? I swear to god I will-"

A gunship rose from behind Udina and the paladin's voice rang out, "Hey, it's better than him being an obstructive bureaucrat. Too bad you're all gonna die."

The gunship began a barrage on them. Shepard shot out a massive kinetic barrier, shielding them all from the gunfire. Ashley and Liara grabbed Councilors Tevos and Sparatus and pulled them to cover as Shepard's barriers faded. As Shepard's powers began to wane at the immense quantity of firepower being leveled at him, the barriers fell. Udina tackled him to the ground, taking half a dozen bullets until the gunship finally ran out.

Udina rolled off Shepard and coughed a small amount of blood. "Don't... don't let them forget Earth. I'm sorry..." Udina's eyes dimmed and his chest ceased its natural rise and fall. Shepard stood up, gaining a second wind. He and the rest of his squad opened fire on the gunship, ripping through its armor with their high-tech weaponry.

The gunship began to malfunction, and the cockpit opened. The paladin unstrapped himself from the cockpit and ran out on to the nose of the gunship, leaping onto the platform, meeting the aim of six veteran killers. Shepard snarled at him, "Before I leave your body an unidentifiable mess, tell me who you are."

The paladin began a menacing snicker, "You're so fucking dense. Enough implants in your head to put your IQ north of 160 and you can't figure it out. Maybe you should fucking think! A bit of contemplation. God knows if you did more of that then I might not be here."

"Get to the damn point before I use an explosive to vaporize you."

The paladin put both hands on his head and lifted his helmet off. "Wouldn't be the first time."

Everyone but EDI, whose nerves couldn't be rattled, let their weapons fall to their sides. Ashley whispered one word. "Kaidan."

"No! I am Kaidan's evil twin, Nadiak!... I'm fucking with you, I'm a clone. Like your friend over there, only I'm a superior version instead of a pale imitation. And with four minutes and thirty-two seconds, my ride is here. Oh and Shepard?" All pretense of affability vanished from his face, "Next time I'll kill you."

Kaidan turned and jumped off the ledge, catching several dozen bullets from Shepard's crew in the process. A few seconds later a X3M car rose up with Kai Leng and Kaidan inside. Kai Leng yelled out, "He's got maybe four months before he's indoctrinated. Food for thought." Then they jetted off, with Shepard too weak to biotically damage the car.

Shepard fell to the ground and coughed up a few milliliters of blood, chuckling all the while "Hell of a day..."

Took me long enough, but there it is.