A/N: So, remember how in Dragon Age, the troops you ran around collecting through the entire game appear in the end and have a damn purpose in the final battle? Yeah, I think I'll include that. Because, you know, I spent like 40 hours getting the galactic readiness to 100 fucking percent. GRRRR.

Chapter 4

Shepard looked out the view port of the Normandy, watching as the fleet she'd amassed dropped out of FTL. The Migrant Fleet dominated the armada, but Shepard didn't miss all the small additions she'd spent months slaving over. The geth, the turians, the hannar, the elcor the volus, a few Batarians, the krogan, the salarians, the Eclipse, the Blue Suns, and the Blood Pack had all shown up for the fight. And a hell of a fight it was going to be. It all came down to this. The point of no return and no surrender.

"Commander," Joker said from the pilot seat in front of her. "Anderson's on the line."

"Patch him through."

"Shepard, I think we've found what you were looking for," Anderson's voice came over the comm. "We found a Reaper ship that is giving off energy readings similar to that of Sovereign. I'm sending you the location now."

"Commander, Admiral Hackett is on the line," Joker said.

"Admiral, is the Crucible ready?" Shepard asked.

"Ready and on its way, Commander," Hackett replied. "We still need the Catalyst, though. Did you figure out what it is?"

"I have a pretty damn good idea. I've assembled a team to extract it."

"Good. What do you need us to do?" Hackett asked.

"I need you to buy me time. As much time as you possibly can. Joker, open all comm channels."

"Aye, aye Commander," he said. His fingers flew over some buttons. "Ready."

"Earth Fleet, this is Commander Shepard," she said. "This is it. Our final run, our last stand. We have arrived at the gates of hell, and we've come a long way to get here. I know we've all had some differences over the centuries, but I think we can all agree on one thing: we want to live. And there's no other way I'd have this go down than having an united galaxy to put an end to the Reapers. So let's give the Reapers hell! Who's with me?"

A resounding shout from every last ship in the fleet came over the intercom. Shepard couldn't help but smile. With a single shout, all her hard work had paid off. All the months of running around the damn galaxy, political ass-kissing, and uniting a galaxy determined to thwart her at every goddamn turn, had all finally paid off. Here they all stood, together, at the end of all things.

"I want this line kept open at all times," Shepard continued. "Keep communication tight, show no mercy for you will receive none, never back down, never surrender, and give them hell!"

Shepard slipped her N7 helmet over head. "Edi, stay here with Joker. He's going to need you in this fight. And I'm going to need the two best pilots in the galaxy working together to get me through that," she nodded toward the reaper fleet looming closer and closer by the second.

"Very well, Commander Shepard," she replied in her smooth voice. "And Commander?"

"Yeah?"

"It has been an honor to work with you."

"Thanks, Edi. You too."

She made her way back to the command center where her team awaited. It was quite a team that greeted her. How many times had she fought along side these people and nearly died along side them? She saw no fear in their eyes. Only determination and an unwavering faith in the woman about to lead them into battle.

"Well look who it is," Wrex said, his voice dripping his usual, genial sarcasm. "The craziest person in the whole damn galaxy."

Grunt added to the statement with his signature, "Heh heh heh."

"Glad to see you've survived all those girls on Tuchanka," Shepard retorted. The rest of the team chuckled, even the always dour Samara and Miranda.

"Hey," Wrex barked, "I bet you couldn't survive a platoon of fertile female krogan. They may not kiss as well as certain asari, but they sure as hell make up for it in stamina."

"Don't be too sure, Wrex," Liara said from next to Shepard.

Shepard stared in disbelief at Liara. In all three years of knowing Liara, she had never heard her so openly insinuate something about their love life. Not to say she was disappointed or embarrassed, just surprised.

"Well I'll be damned, Shepard," Garrus said. "You've finally done the impossible and broke T'Soni out of her cold blue shell. How'd you do it? Not that I should be surprised, mind you. You do seem to have a knack for accomplishing the impossible."

Shepard opened her mouth to say "no comment," but Liara beat her to the punch. "With a whole lot of stamina tests."

"Who are you and what have you done with T'Soni?" Ashley asked incredulously. "Are you the same asari who was afraid to sleep with Shepard all those years ago?"

"You told her about that?" Liara turned on Shepard.

"I . . . may have vented a little sexual frustration, but I didn't say anything bad about you! I just mentioned how much I wanted to peel you out of that sexy little outfit you used to wear."

"So I hear there's a Reaper invasion outside?" Tali said, adding an embarrassed cough.

"What the fuck did I miss while I was out?" Jack asked. "I mean I heard you helped T'Soni take out the Shadow Broker, but shit, Shepard. You've moved up in the world. I thought for sure Kelli would be the one to get in your pants for as hard as she tried."

Shepard was suddenly glad she had her helmet on because she could feel herself turn about six-hundred shades of red.

"Oh really?" Liara said, setting her hands on her hips. "We're going to discuss this after this battle. Don't think you're getting out of it just because we're about to fight the battle of the millenia."

"Oh come on! Kelly wanted everyone on our team, even Garrus! She had no standards for who she set her eyes on!"

"Thanks, Shepard," Garrus said sarcastically.

"So how many ships are in the Reaper fleet again?" Tali said.

"Everyone hold on, we're going in!" Joker shouted over the intercom, successfully breaking up the team's banter.

The Normandy lurched left to avoid Reaper crossfire, knocking everyone off balance for a moment. Shepard ran back to the cockpit and looked out the view port. The sight that met her eyes took her breath away, though not in a way she usually preferred. The battle had begun and it was already in full swing. The ten thousand-plus ships of the Earth Fleet collided with the Reaper fleet in a violent crescendo of explosions and gunfire. Joker and Edi navigated the chaos of battle with nothing less than perfection. The Normandy zipped past Reaper ship after Reaper ship, dodging the terrifying red plasma guns with one target in their sights: Earth.

Reports began flooding in on the comm from the fleet of casualties and victories, but overall the energy seemed fairly positive. Shepard could feel it in the air - people had hope. After several more close calls - a little too close for Shepard's comfort - they broke through the Reaper fleet and raced toward Earth like a bat out of hell. Joker bee-lined for the coordinates sent by Anderson. They entered Earth's atmosphere, passing over the Atlantic ocean and soon came upon the British Isles.

"Coming up on Harbinger's loca . . . tion . . ." Joker trailed off when he saw what loomed on the horizon. A Reaper ship loomed in front of them, at least ten times bigger than any other ship in the entire fleet. It even looked more twisted and evil than Sovereign or the Leviathan Shepard had encountered earlier in her travels. According to the scans coming in, it was much more advanced than any other ship in the fleet as well. It looked like a twisted compilation of Reaper tech and every other type of technology in the galaxy. Which, coincidentally, it probably was. It lumbered slowly through the rubble of what used to be London. The once grand, elegant city was reduced to ashes. Though, oddly, Big Ben was still standing like a memorial among the ashes of the dead. Harbinger seemed completely unconcerned with the Normandy's presence, though Shepard knew it was aware of them. It'd be concerned soon enough.

"Migrant Fleet, do you copy?" Shepard asked over the com.

"We read you, Commander. Are you in position?" Admiral Han'Gerrel vas Neema replied.

"We're here. Give me everyone you can spare. Here are the coordinates." Shepard put a hand on Joker's shoulder and squeezed it. "You ready old friend?"

"Ready or not, let's fuck that bastard up!" Joker replied.

"Good man." She gave him a quick last pat on the back then headed for a gun turret. "Garrus, Williams, Vega! Let's light 'em up!"

She received three sharp salutes and they headed for the other three gun turrets. Shepard had taken it upon herself to special order three more Thanix Cannons after their success with them at the Collector Base. She didn't want to think about the power usage or overclocking repercussions of what they were about to do, but they hardly had a choice. She climbed the ladder to the gun turret and settled into the control chair that had been rather hastily installed. She put the targeting visor attachment on her helmet then grabbed the gun control handles and blasted off the first shot as soon as Harbinger was in range.

"Woo hoo!" Vega's voice came over the com. "Merry fucking Christmas, Harbinger!"

"Hey Shepard, learn how to control your dogs," Jack's sarcastic drawl came over the com.

"You're just jealous you're not the one blowing this bastard sky-high, baldy!" Vega shot back.

"Call me that again and I swear to fucking god I'll cut your dick off, asshole!"

Vega laughed. "Can't wait!"

"Save it for Harbinger, you two," Shepard said, rolling her eyes. She heard Grunt bellow "Hell yeah!" from the Command Center.

"Shepard, how do you find these people?" Wrex voiced what Shepard was thinking.

"You got me," she replied.

"Hey, how about you fuckers shoot Harbinger instead of flapping your damn gums?" Jack shot back.

The Normandy flew through the air above and around Harbinger like a well-choreographed air show, the four on the cannons providing a non-stop barrage of fireworks. At first Harbinger ignored them, but when a fleet of geth and quarian ships entered the battle, it began firing at everything in sight. The Normandy groaned in protestation as Joker and Edi pushed her to her limits avoiding fire from the deadly Reaper plasma cannon.

"Edi! Find me a weak point! We need to get past that armor so we can get inside!"

"I just did, Commander," she shouted over the din from the gunfire. "It's the gun!"

"Shit, are you kidding me?" Vega said.

"The shielding around the gun drops when it is firing so as not to overheat the ship. A carefully timed series of shots on the gun should overload it and open an access point to the inside of the ship," Edi replied.

"Shit!" Ashley shouted. "That's crazy!"

"Welcome to the Normandy, the freak-show circus ship full of crazies," Shepard retorted. "Let's do it people. Did you catch that Admiral Han'Garrel?"

"It's just crazy enough to work," he said. "Red Squad, Blue Squad, get in there! Make it open fire as much as you possibly can!"

"There's something you don't hear very often. And hopefully never again," Tali said.

"Line us up, Joker!" Shepard commanded.

"Aye, aye!"

The Normandy groaned louder as Joker and Edi veered her sharply toward Harbinger. Shepard, Garrus, Vega, and Williams held nothing back when Harbinger fired off shots at the attacking ships. Keeping a bead on the target proved difficult with so much movement, but not impossible. After what felt like hours of insane flying and and endless barrage of fire on Harbinger, Shepard lost patience.

"Engineer Adams! Transfer all available power from the aft shields, life support, and all non-critical systems to the Thanix Cannons!"

"Aye, aye Commander!" Adams replied.

"Life support isn't a critical system?!" Joker shouted over the comm.

"Put on an oxygen mask and stop bitching!" Shepard shot back. "We're going in!"

"I hope you know what you're doing!"

"She's the best Battlemaster in the damn galaxy, Joker," Grunt growled. "Show some respect! She's earned your damn trust."

Shepard bit back a smile. Joker's constant doubt in her decision-making abilities did get on her nerves on occasion. She hadn't brought them this far by being an idiot. She was glad Grunt was along for the ride.

"Here goes everything!" Joker said, then steered the Normandy straight into enemy fire.

They flew closer and closer until all Shepard could see out her window was Harbinger's giant ship.

"Commander . . .!" Joker said nervously.

"Not yet!"

They flew closer and closer and all comm channel paused as all eyes turned to the Normandy. Shepard could practically hear everyone suck in their breath.

"Come on!" Shepard said under her breath. "Come on you son of a bitch!"

She saw the weapon turn red and aimed right for them.

"NOW, NOW, NOW!" Shepard bellowed.

The deafening sound of gunfire filled the air, both from the Normandy and Harbinger. At the last possible second, Joker veered away from the plasma cannon, but not before they blew Harbinger's gun to smithereens, and not before Harbinger's gun clipped their wing.

"SHIT!" Joker shouted. "Everyone hold on, we're going in hot!"

Shepard gripped the two bars on either side of the small gun turret and held on for dear life as the Normandy headed ungracefully for Earth. When the Normandy hit the ground, Shepard's terminal overloaded and her window shattered. The force of the overload sent Shepard flying down the ladder and she crashed in an unceremonious heap on the floor of the command center. The display in her HUD was flashing red, letting her know loud and clear her shields had failed.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," she muttered under her breath to the alarm. Liara was at her side before she could even begin collecting herself off the floor.

"Shepard! Are you okay?" Liara asked, pulling Shepard's helmet off as gently as she could.

Shepard looked around trying to focus her eyes. She was still disoriented and her head felt like a krogan was beating it like a bongo drum. "Fine," she lied. As if on cue, her body betrayed her words as she coughed up blood. "How's the crew? Any casualties?"

"None of us had a console blow up in our face, so we're fine," Liara said with a somewhat stern look.

She helped Shepard slowly sit up. "I'm fine," Shepard repeated. "Give me a shot of medi-gel and I'll be right as rain."

Miranda tossed an emergency medi-gel pack across the room to Liara who began applying it to Shepard's wounds.

"Commander, are you all right?" Hackett's voice came over the intercom. "Scanners showed the Normandy heading for the ground pretty fast."

"We're fine, Admiral. But Harbinger's not. We have a way in. Are the ground troops ready?" Shepard asked. She gritted her teeth as Liara helped her to her feet.

"They're on their way. ETA twenty minutes," Hackett replied.

"Joker, how far did we crash from Harbinger?" Shepard asked.

"About two kilometers," he replied.

"Commander," Edi said, "based on the size of Harbinger's ship, it could easily hold seven to eight thousand Reaper ground troops. I highly recommend we move to a more defensible position."

"All right," Shepard said. "Adams, Donnely, Daniels, Traynor, and Edi, I need you to get the Normandy flying ASAP. You're sitting ducks out here and I can't spare anyone to leave behind to protect the ship."

"Understood, Commander," Traynor said with a sharp salute.

"Okay, team. This is what we all came here for. Let's go get Harbinger."

"And wade through seven thousand Reapers to get there?" Wrex said, slamming his fists together in excitement. "What are we waiting for?"

"Wrex, whereas I appreciate your enthusiasm, you were all recruited with the intention of being my infiltration team. We go in fast and silent. Kasumi has generously given me her cloaking tech. I'm uploading it to your Omni-tools now."

Shepard pushed some buttons on her Omni-tool and a moment later, all theirs lit up as they received the upload.

"You're just now telling us this?" Liara asked, placing her hands on her hips.

"It's nice to know that I can still surprise you," Shepard said with a grin. "Let's move out.