Shepard walked up to the bridge of the Normandy, right as the Alliance vessel went through the relay. They were greeted with a sight of devastation. If they had have visited this place a month, maybe a couple of weeks ago, they would have seen Palaven and it's neighbouring planets. The home of the turians, the peacekeepers of the Council, who boasted the strongest and most mighty fleet in the galaxy.

Only now that fleet was being torn apart.

Shepard watched as yet another turian ship was brought down as the Reapers continued their assault. He guessed that the Reapers had deduced who had the highest military strength in the galaxy and had come here to destroy it at it's source. The turians didn't give up, continuing to fire at the superior foe with everything they had. Meanwhile, as the battle raged, Palaven was burning.

"EDI, tell Vega and Liara to meet me in the war room. Don't delay," he said, as he briskly walked down to their meeting place. He had already suited up, and had hoped Specialist Traynor had passed the order down to Liara and James. Walking into the war room, he patiently waited for his teammates' arrival.

"EDI, what can you tell us about Menae?" he said, as James and Liara both came in, armed to the teeth. James was in his heavy armour he had used when they were going to Mars, and he was carrying enough weaponry to take on a platoon. Liara had to make do with the armour Vega had found for her, which was blue and white and bore the Alliance logo. She was lesser equipped to an extent, opting for her pistol and submachine gun. At the very least her arnaments were better than what she'd had, with the goods Shepard had acquired while on the Citadel.

"Commander, Palaven's largest moon has been shrouded in secrecy since the dawn of the turian age. However, I have found images of turian bases where personnel walk without enviro-suits, indicating advanced infrastructure. Reaper forces have attacked, but their plans for bombarding the bases have been met with fierce resistance by the turian fleet and the moon's antiaerospace defences. To combat this, the Reapers have been sending in a variety of ground forces to take the bases out one at a time. If I were to speculate, the turians were probably hoping to use the moon to flank the enemy," EDI explained.

"That would work nearly any other time, but now…" James trailed off.

"The sheer force of the Reapers makes them immune to that type of tactic," Shepard finished.

"Shepard, the Reapers have not attacked without taking casualties. The turian fleets have inflicted multiple successful strikes against Reaper forces, and they have sustained losses," EDI intervened. "However, the strength of the Reapers will outlast the turians. It is only a matter of time."

"All right. Vega, T'soni, you ready?"

"Yes Commander"-"Let's do this"

####

The mood in the shuttle was decidedly quiet. The trio looked out as they approached the moon. The presence of the Reapers was evident. Everywhere one went, it left a path of destruction and devastation. It was one thing to look down at the scene from orbit, but it was quite different to see groundside. It reminded Shepard of Earth, and it was hard to push the painful thought away. As he looked over, it was clear James was having the same problem.

Liara seemed to pick up on this. "Was it this bad in Earth?" she asked.

"Yeah," Shepard replied mournfully. He didn't elaborate further, but she accepted his answer. He spoke his words with barely disguised pain.

"They're getting decimated," James muttered. "Strongest fleet in the galaxy and it's getting torn apart."

"You think Garrus is down there?" Liara remarked. She tried hard to keep her voice normal, but it was filled with worry.

"You kidding? He was on Omega and my mission risking his life for people he didn't have a clue about. The fight for his homeworld? You bet your life he's down there," Shepard said.

"Think he's… you know…"

"Dead? Not a chance. If he can survive being shot at, being damn near blown up by rockets and being hurled off a Collector platform at who knows what height, then a few Reapers won't drop him. Not Garrus."

He said it with such conviction that Liara found herself believing him. Meanwhile James was asking about Garrus.

"Him an old friend of yours?"

"Damn right. Been with me since the very beginning. If I have anything to say about it he'll be with me at the very end too."

"Commander, we are approaching the drop zone" Steve Cortez, their shuttle pilot, who'd had an awkward first greeting with Shepard. He had acted just like Traynor, like he had practised his lines. Shepard didn't really have time for that.

The shuttle doors opened to reveal Menae. The fight was desperate. Every patch of ground, every plain on the moon was filled with husks. They could see the main camp in the distance, and it didn't look good. Husks were converging on all sides, with the turians ferociously fighting them off. It was clear they would soon be overwhelmed though.

"Cortez, drop us off!" Shepard shouted. "They need help, and fast!"

The skilful pilot expertly dropped the squad on the edge of the battle. The husks turned around to contend with the new threat as Shepard and his squad went to work. Liara used Throw to push most of the Reaper forces back while James and Shepard shot at them while they were on the ground. With the pressure a little bit eased the turians attacked with new vigour, which was just as well as Shepard's squad was soon feeling the heat. They had no cover and husks were attacking them from all sides. They were relieved, to say the least, when it was over.

"Ok, I know we are like, massive badasses, but can we try not to, you know, drop into the middle of a husk fest again?" James asked sarcastically.

"No promises," Shepard replied wearily.

"Hey, I'm just saying, we ain't invincible… well maybe you are but some of us have got make a living, you know?"

Liara shook her head at their banter while Shepard and James laughed. They came to the turians' barricade as the ramp came down to allow them entrance. As their humorous rapport died down they took a proper look around. In all honesty, things looked grim. The soldiers looked battle-hardened, as if they had seen enough death, enough suffering, and they were tired of it. There was an underlying determination though, as the turians seemed content to stay here, to keep fighting for their home, no matter what horrors or hardships they had or would have to experience. The trio approached a turian who appeared to be the leader, as he was giving orders to various men who scampered off as soon as he was finished speaking.

"Tobestik, rally the men around the north barricade. We need to be ready for when they make their next push."

"Yes, sir!"

"Sergeant Bartus, try and get the comm tower online. We need to get back in contact with Palaven."

"Yes, sir!"

The man watched as the two soldiers under his command left to go to their attended duties. He saw a human commander stalk up to him, accompanied by an asari and a fellow human, presumably under his command.

"Commander Shepard, Alliance Navy and Spectre," he introduced himself.

"General Corinthus," he replied. "I heard you were coming but I didn't really believe it. What brings a human spectre to Menae?"

"I'm here to extract Primarch Fedorian," Shepard said, deciding to get straight down to the point. "I need him to attend a political summit, which is vital if the Council races are to unite."

The general put his head down and turned back to the projection on the battle simulator. "Primarch Fedorian is dead. His shuttle was brought down as he tried to leave the moon."

"I'm sorry. I heard he was a good man. Just another one taken by the damn Reapers," Shepard said, with disdain evident in his tone.

"Yeah. He would have been an outstanding diplomat."

"So what do we do now?" James asked.

"The Turian Hierarchy is very clear when someone dies or retires," Liara explained. "Fedorian will have a successor lined up."

"High Command would know. Only problem is that our communications tower is down. I sent some of my men to get it working but no luck. Either they got pushed back or…"

"Right. That's where we're going then. How are things here?" he asked.

The turian faced him. With the disgust in his tone clear he said "We just lost over four hundred men in half an hour. We set up here to use the moon as an advanced attack base, to flank the enemy. A sound strategy, just…"

"Irrelevant."

"Exactly. The sheer size and force of the Reapers make them immune to that sort of tactic."

"Right, we better get that tower up. James, Liara, move out!"

####

As they ran through the outpost and approached the comm tower they came across General Corinthus' men.

"Sergeant Bartus, sir. We tried to get the tower up and running again, but… we were overwhelmed."

"Right. Think you can help us?" Shepard asked.

"Anything to make these bastards pay," was the reply.

The team, now consisting of eight instead of three, fought their way to the tower. The husks were strong in numbers but lacked any tactics. The squad were thankful for the open ground, as it allowed them to run and gun any husk down as they traversed through the moon's rocky plains. The team eventually managed to eliminate all hostiles, with the worst moment being when two husks simultaneously jumped on James. He already thought they were weird, unnatural. That experience probably reinforced those feelings tenfold.

"Someone is going to have to repair the tower," Shepard said. He was trying to choose between James and Liara and settled on the soldier. None of the others were biotics.

"James, repair it. The rest of you better be ready."

As James climbed up the tower they heard more ominous moaning coming from behind them. Shepard realised that now they had to dig in, not give ground, otherwise James would be pounced on by numerous and almost endless husks. Shepard figured James would hate that. Probably.

Liara threw up a Singularity to dispose of the bulk of the force while Shepard brought out his shotgun, using it to take out any who would try to flank them.

Unfortunately the husks seemed infinite. One of Bartus' men went down as they converged on his position. Bartus himself was soon surrounded, desperately fighting for his life as husk after husk jumped onto him.

Shepard ran the length of the battlefield and blasted one in the back before using his Tactical Cloak, completely fooling the creatures who had turned around, while he managed to drag the sergeant out of harm's way. They were fortunate as James hopped down to assist them, meaning they were able to move around again. The last Reaper creature soon fell as the team made their way back towards the outpost.

####

The husks were overwhelming them. The general had ordered him to rally the men, be ready for anything, and he had failed. To add salt to the wound, weird turian looking things were popping up everywhere, organising the Reaper forces and making them an even deadlier threat. Tobestik was in the middle of saying his final words as the Reaper 'marauders' made their way to finish him. He closed his eyes.

Spirits, I'm sorry.

He was then shocked when he didn't feel bullets tearing into his flesh or claws dragging him away. He slowly opened one of his eyes, then another. There were three creatures standing in front of him, except the fact that one of them had its head blown off. The marauders didn't have facial expressions or their own thought, but if they had Tobestik was sure he knew what they would be thinking, as his mind came up to the same conclusion.

What the hell?

Then another went down, his head also cleanly taken off. Coming to his senses, he brought his pistol up and shot several rounds into the last monster, before it could do the same to him. As it died, he saw another turian firing from the barricade. Without their leaders the husks quickly became disorganised again, giving him enough time to run back to the camp. Before he could report back to the general though, he was approached by a fellow soldier. He recognised him immediately.

"Vakarian, sir!"

"At ease. Who ordered you here?" Garrus inquired.

"General Corinthus, sir."

Tobestik looked at him. There was a fire in his eyes, as if he had been expecting this battle for a long time, but he also seemed to be enjoying it, just a bit, as if this reminded him of past times. He idly wondered which memory he could be thinking of, as he had heard about Garrus, the 'pretender spectre'. Some of the younger and a few of the older soldiers had taken to calling him that, though never to his face. The reason they gave for the nickname was that they thought Garrus tried to do the right things in the wrong manner, though how you argue against helping a spectre save the galaxy twice was a mystery to Tobestik.

"Right. Any other things I should know about?"

"Uh… no sir. Wait… actually there is something. Before I left I saw a human approach the general. Said he was a spectre."

Garrus smiled, as if someone told him the Reapers were about to be defeated. He looked like he thought it was going to happen when Tobestik mentioned it to him. Realization dawned on him.

"Wait, sir. Do you think-"

He was cut off as Garrus said "I'll report to the general on your behalf. Things are about to get interesting."

####

"Have you identified who the new primarch is?" Shepard, deciding not to waste time.

"Yes, now that the tower is back up," Corinthus said, with a hint of gratitude in his voice. "The next primarch is General Victus."

"Where is he?"

"Don't know. We can ask around, check if any of the soldiers have seen him."

"No need, I think I can find him, Shepard. What would you do without me?"

Rolling his eyes, Shepard knew there was only one turian here that would approach him like that. Foregoing a witty response, he simply turned around and grinned.

"Garrus, always there when I need you" Shepard replied. "See, Liara? No matter how hard he tries to get himself killed, fate always delivers him back safe and sound."

Garrus snorted. "You're describing someone here Shepard, but we all know it isn't me."

"Ain't that the truth," James smirked.

"James Vega, meet Garrus Vakarian. Helped me defeat Saren and the geth, and the Collectors. He's one hell of a soldier," Shepard introduced.

"Heard a lot about you," the human marine remarked, as he shook the turian's hand.

"All of it good, I hope. And Liara! Good to see you too. Glad you're finally off those computers and back in the real world."

"You do realise all those computers hold near everything about you? Bt the time I finish reading them I'll probably know you better than you know yourself," Liara 'innocently' replied.

"Anyway, what are you doing here? I thought you'd be on Palaven," Shepard said.

"If we lose this moon we lose Palaven. I'm the closest thing we have to a Reaper expert, so I'm… advising."

" You know where Victus is?" Shepard asked, getting back on track.

"I was fighting with him this morning."

"What is he like?"

"He's a good man, popular with his troops, get's results. Known for playing loose with strategy."

"What do you mean?"

"He doesn't always go by the book," Liara explained. "I remember one time, when his name crossed my desk. On Taetrus, during the uprisings, his squad discovered a salarian spy ring about the same time the turian separatists did. Rather than neutralize the ring, he fell back. He even gave up valuable fortifications, which the rebels took."

"Then the rebels attacked the salarians. And when both groups had slugged it out and worn each other down, that's when Victus moved back in. Didn't lose a man," Garrus finished.

"That's all very well and good when it works, but what about when it doesn't?" Corinthus asked. Shepard was guessing he had issues with risky tactics like that.

"Primarch Victus. That should be something to see," Garrus remarked.

"Unconventional thinking may be the only way to save Palaven, and Earth. He sounds like a good general," Shepard said.

"He'll do whatever it takes, but he isn't stupid. He won't send any of his troops into something he wouldn't do himself. Reminds of an old human spectre I know."

"Old? I'm only 32," Shepard replied.

"And I'm only 109. It's a crazy world we live in," Liara intervened. James' eyes visibly widened at her declaration, before realising those ages were the norm for the asari.

"Right. All we have to is get him on the shuttle and get out of here," Shepard said, right before Joker's startled voice crackled to life in Shepard's ear.

"Commander? Shepard, come in!"

"Joker, we're in the middle of a warzone! What is it?"

"You may be stuck there then. The Normandy… it's like she's possessed. Shutting down systems, powering up weapons. I can't find the source."

"Well then ask EDI."

"That's another problem, Commander! I can't get into any contact! It's like she's shut down!" Joker sounded really concerned now.

"That's not good. Any minute we may have to get out of here. Liara, you know your stuff when it comes down to things like this. Think you can figure it out?" Shepard asked.

"It would be better if we had Tali, but I'll do my best," she replied. She ran off, requesting a pickup from Cortez.

Shepard turned back to Garrus. "You know where he'll be?"

"I've got an idea, but in all honesty he could be anywhere."

"I'll try and raise him on the comms, Commander," Corinthus told him.

He looked as if he was about to say more when a big, ugly flying creature flew overhead. As it swooped down it was easily recognisable. A harvester. It landed right outside the camp, depositing numerous amounts of husks and other turian shaped… things. It flew away, leaving no proof that it had been there other than the creatures wailing and firing at the men on the barricade.

"Tell General Victus that we'll rendezvous here. We'll take care of the things that monster dropped off," Shepard said, his words directed at the general. "Coming, Garrus?"

"You kidding? I'm right behind you!"

#####

Turian fought Reaper as the two collided, the turians fighting to hold their own as the almost endless amount of husks piled onto the barricade. They were blown back as James grabbed a grenade launcher off a fallen soldier and put it to good use, allowing the allied forces a moment to breath. Without any delay though, they brought the barricade down as Shepard, Garrus and James charged out, determined to defeat the incoming forces. They were greeted by wave and wave of husks, but there was something about their attacks. Instead of simply charging and screaming at their foes like usual, they were more conservative, more organised and they fought like a proper squad. Garrus found out the reason for their new approach as he sighted down one the new foes he had been dealing with for the past day.

"We got Marauders, incoming!" he yelled, with Shepard and James presuming he was talking about the new monsters that had just shown up. James was soon able to properly identify the new enemy as they came closer.

"They look like turians!" he shouted across the battlefield.

"Their equivalent of a husk!" Shepard yelled back. "These are the real Reaper fighters!"

"I'm fucking flattered!" Garrus roared, as he sighted a target and took it down a moment later. The battle seemed to go on forever, but each time an imitation of a turian sank to the ground, the husks reverted even more into their old battle state. After becoming increasingly more disorganised, they eventually went back to their old tactics, giving the trio time to slowly back up to the barricade and take them down. The firepower from the barricade plus the contributions from Garrus, James and Shepard were too much for them, as the last one fell.

"I hate those things," Garrus said, as they made their way back to the camp.

"So do I," James said. "They give me the creeps."

"We can work on your phobia later, Lieutenant," Shepard grimly intervened. "Look at that!"

The main barricade was breaking. It wasn't like the other times when a few men had been left behind to deal with a vast amount of the enemy, there was literally no one to fight them off. Sprinting to the ladder, Shepard quickly climbed up it to get to the upper level of the fort. Stabbing a husk in the back with his omniblade, he grabbed hold of the turret and swivelled it round to face the Reaper troops coming his way. James and Garrus clambered up and defended Shepard's flanks, making sure to take care of any creatures that evaded the firepower from Shepard's turret.

"Take that, you sons of bitches!" Shepard yelled, as his weapon tore into the enemy. The battle was starting to even out, with more and more husks dropping dead to the superior firepower of Shepard's team, when a massive creature dropped down onto the battlefield. It was enormous, it's shape unlike any of the other ground troops the Reapers had sent out. On one arm it had a massive spear-like blade, while the other was a massive meaty claw. It had armour all over its body. There was nothing finesse about this thing, it was all about brute force. Then it charged.

"Holy hell! What the fuck is that thing?!" James exclaimed, as the monster slammed into the barricade. Where its claw had been were marks all over the ramp, denting it seriously. Worst of all, Shepard had fallen outside friendly territory with the impact of it's push.

"Fuck. Me." was all Shepard could say, before it proceeded to turn and charge him. He barely made it over some cover before the beast slammed into the spot he had just ran from. If he was a second slower, he would have been a bloody mess on the floor. That said, Shepard didn't have a lot of options.

"How'd you like this, asshole!" James snarled at the creature, as he unleashed Carnage at the brute. Shepard chanced a look over his cover and saw that James had dropped down to give Shepard some precious breathing room, with Garrus firing from the barricade. Suddenly, he had an idea.

"Keep it distracted, just for a bit longer!" Shepard yelled to James, who was still firing from his shotgun with all he had. The man dodged the beast's first attempt to smash him, but he was too slow the second time round. Shepard heard a crack as James was hurled to the floor, the beast standing over him, poised to finish it.

Seeing that his only chance was now, Shepard sprinted the length of the battlefield and plunged his omniblade into the monster's back, in an exposed area that had shown itself when it leaned in to kill James. It fell to its knees.

"Garrus, now!" Shepard screamed, as he put his hand on the back of the brute's neck and pulled for all his worth. Taking the hint, Garrus brought out his sniper rifle and shot right into the monster's skull, narrowly missing Shepard's fingers.

"Damn it Garrus, finish it!" he said with clenched teeth, as he used his omniblade as leverage to keep the beast in place, as it struggled to overcome Shepard. Its job was made harder by James, who fired at it from the ground, still able to fight.

The orange glow of Shepard's omnitool faded as the monster managed to reach round and grab him. The Reaper creature threw him back against the barricade. Flesh was leaking out of its face, presumably from the damage Garrus had done with his precision shot. It charged once more, but stopped dead in it's tracks as the sound of a sniper rifle was heard. It sank to the ground, as Shepard and his squad tore into the creature, finally ending it's existence.

"What the hell was that thing?" Shepard asked as he hauled himself up.

"I've been fighting here all day and I haven't seen one of those," Garrus replied. "I'll be a happy man if I never see one of them again. They are seriously bad news. Don't think I'm going to be that lucky though."

"Yeah, I agree," Shepard remarked. He moved over to the downed lieutenant. "How bad is the damage?"

"Not as bad as I thought" he said, albeit with gritted teeth. "Think I've just dislocated my shoulder."

"Think you can pop it back in?"

"Well, the job's gonna be made harder with my armour, but I should be able to do it."

"Let me then," Shepard said, as he positioned James' shoulder blade. James grunted as Shepard pushed it down. He administered some medigel as James shakily stood up.

"Ready for more, Commander. Let's go get the primarch."

######

Liara made her way to the Normandy's bridge. Surprisingly, the elevator worked fine. Liara was afraid it would plummet at an improper moment, but she managed it to make it without incident.

It would be a real shame if I survive fighting Sovereign, the Shadow Broker and Cerberus, and I get defeated by an elevator.

"Jeff, what exactly is the situation?" she inquired as she made her way to the pilot.

"It's like poking a stick at a varren in a cage. She gets angry and starts doing some random crap, and then she settles down. It just goes over and over," he explained.

"What about EDI?"

"As I said, we got nothing. No contact, nothing that suggests she's here. Well, nothing apart from the fact that she's still plugged in."

She settled into one of the consoles on the bridge to try and find anything that would suggest the abnormal behaviour. "Can she still fly?"

He looked insulted. "Of course she can. EDI can pilot the Normandy, but it can be done without her."

"Right, be ready. It didn't look good down there. They will need to evacuate at some point."

"Yeah, well they better hurry up. Stealth systems are engaged for the time being, but I don't know how much longer they'll stay that way."

Liara didn't like the sound of that. "What do you mean?"

"I have control over the Normandy. That's not the problem. The problem is that this ship can do anything now and I'll be powerless to stop it. That includes turning off the artificial gravity, firing the Thanix cannon, hell she might even shut off the oxygen."

Liara looked decidedly horrified. She seemed to be waiting for him to admit that this was a joke, that he was just playing with her, but he looked deadly serious. Joker suspected that if the situation weren't so terrifying, he probably would have laughed at her facial expression.

"So, you're basically saying that the Normandy is a flying death trap until we figure out what's going on," she summed up.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

"Well then… we better find out what's happening."

#####

The three soldiers followed Garrus as they tried to find the new turian primarch. After they had returned, General Corinthus had told them that they couldn't raise him on the comms, leaving the group no choice but to follow Garrus to where he'd last seen him.

"This is devastating," Garrus remarked, as they made their way across the rocky plains of the moon.

"How bad is it?" Shepard asked.

"Three million lost the first day. Five million lost the second." Resentment, hatred, was clear in his voice. "If only they'd listened to your warnings! This could have been prevented!"

"Hard to say. I wonder how you prepare for something like this," James remarked. Every so often he would hiss in pain and rotate his shoulder a bit. He wasn't having any more medication though, the one time when Shepard had asked him he had stood straight and just walked on ahead of them.

"Yeah, well, I guess we'll never know," Shepard said. He knew that the death toll would be high but it still hit him hard when Garrus answered. Eight million in two days? The "what ifs" and "maybes" were swirling around in his head now, wondering what would have happened if people had've listened to him, instead of calling his warnings "misguided" and "delusional".

"This isn't right. It shouldn't just be us. Where's the meat? Where's the krogan, or the batarians?" James asked.

"I think the batarians were the first species hit. Most of them are gone now, turned into those cannibal things we've seen everywhere. For those that remain? They are either refugees on the Citadel or the rest are wandering space. Too small to be an effective fighting force. They don't have many allies, so I'd say they are probably done for," Shepard explained.

"Okay…. What about the krogan?"

"They've never forgiven us for the genophage," Garrus told him.

"Right, the turians sterilised them," he said, a creep of accusation in his voice.

"The salarians came up with it," Garrus defended.

"And the krogan hate them both for it," Shepard intervened, defusing the argument before it started.

"So, yeah. The krogan won't be helping us," Garrus said, regaining his composure.

"Shame," James sighed. "I fought with a krogan before. They're tough sons of bitches."

"Me too," Shepard said." Too bad he was crazy."

"Sure could use him now though," Garrus said thoughtfully.

Their words were cut short as they turned a corner and found a two turian soldiers, one on the ground and the other firing a pistol at the husks charging towards them. Shepard, Garrus and James came to the rescue as a Concussive Shot took one down, Carnage took care of another and Shepard relied on good old fashioned gunfire to take out the remaining creatures.

"You gonna be okay?" James asked the downed turian. As they nodded in the positive, Shepard questioned them about General Victus' whereabouts.

"We saw him go to the east," the man said, as he tended to his injured compatriot.

"So, New York is full of these things?" James asked as they moved off. "Goddamn it I hate leaving Earth like this. It pisses me off, leaving the fight."

"You do realise you're asking Victus to do the same?" Garrus inquired.

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because I'm just a soldier. He's the primarch."

"Fair enough." Garrus looked like he accepted his answer.

"Enough talk. We're here," Shepard said. "And it looks like they're in trouble."

#####

While the other camp was in danger of being overwhelmed, they had fought them off and held their own. This outpost however, was very much the opposite. The turians had retreated into their elevated tents, desperately fighting them off. Shepard remembered when he was in Elysium, not knowing if he was ever going to see another day, knowing the horrors that would happen if he failed. He imagined these turians felt the same.

"Hang on!" he yelled, as he dropped a grenade into the ranks of the husks banging on the doors. Continuing their furious assault, any husk that failed to turn around was gunned down in a frenzy of death. Unfortunately, Shepard failed to judge the total strength of the Reaper forces, and they were pushed back as half of the attackers pulled away from the main force to deal with the new threat. The Reapers hadn't spared anything this time, as multiple husks, cannibals and marauders showed their ugly faces. What made matters worse was the fact that a pair of the creatures they'd encountered earlier, the "brutes", were also present, and one had peeled off to deal with Shepard and his squad.

"Oh good, the whole Reaper family's come out to play!" James shouted, as he was forced to retreat down the slope the team had just climbed to get to the camp.

"Options?" Garrus asked, as the Reaper forces pushed them back. Although they had taken a bit of the fire off the turians, the Reaper's numbers was more than enough to take them out, even if it would take them more time.

"Uh, wait… what's that?" Shepard asked, as he spotted a large weapon on the ground a few feet away from them.

"They call it the Blitz," Garrus said. "Rocket launcher. It's… It was a new weapon in development. Think you can make it?"

"Give me a distraction," he requested.

"One distraction, coming up," he answered, as he moved off to the turians. Most of the creatures fell for it, and missed him as he dived into cover. That was the good news. The bad news was that the brute noticed him too.

Activating his Tactical Cloak, Shepard dashed over to the prototype and quickly looked at it, up and down and noticing the firing procedure. Taking a gamble, he hoisted it up onto his shoulder and shot at the big group that had moved over to Garrus. If it's cool down or setting up was anything like the Cain, then he'd be exposed.

He was massively relieved as it's rocket swooped over to the group and detonated on impact, leaving the creatures in the state of a puddle. As he turned back to the battle, he aimed at the brute targeting Garrus and fired. The beast turned right as the rocket hit it square in the chest, toppling it over. He checked the weapon and saw he only had three rockets left.

Got to make these count.

He saw that Garrus had managed to make it back to James and that the two soldiers were slowly but surely fighting their way back to the camp. Turning back to the goliath he'd just fired at, he found that the monster had got back to his feet and before Shepard had the chance to fire again, it charged.

Jumping to the side, he could literally feel the rush of air next to him as it went by. Taking in the layout of the field, he came up with an idea. Sprinting to the edge of the plain, he looked down to see a slope going down a few metres. It wasn't that high, but high enough.

Perfect.

"C'mon!" he shouted at the brute, who had turned around and was barrelling towards him incredibly fast, too fast for a creature of such size.

Once again Shepard leaped to the side to avoid the beast charging at him. It seemed to learn its lesson, sweeping its claw to bring Shepard to the ground, but it was going too fast to stop its descent down the slope. As it fell, it didn't look that hurt, but that wasn't the important thing. Shepard had it right where he wanted it.

"Thanks for playing," he smiled triumphantly, as he fired again at the creature. It fell for the last time.

He turned back to the battle and saw that the battle had evened out. Seeing Shepard's efforts seemed to invigorate the turian soldiers, like they knew exactly what they had to do now. They fired with renewed determination.

"Yes! That's the way!" a turian from the barricades shouted out, presumably the leader, which meant he must have been General Victus.

If any of the Reaper creatures could feel disgusted, they would have. The remaining brute certainly looked that way as it charged at Shepard, even though it would have to sprint the length of the battlefield. Shepard idly thought if anger could dispose of any intelligence it had, if it had any at all. He fired his last two rockets at the behemoth, and it fell to the ground.

The remaining battle seemed like a cleanup. The ramps came down and several turians came out, firing to reclaim their base.

"Well done, men!" Victus applauded his men. "And thanks for the assist. We sure needed it," he said as he turned to their saviours. He recognised Vakarian, a fellow soldier and a friend. The other two men were human. One looked and acted like a normal marine, but the other radiated authority. He seemed to have this aura around him, like he'd seen things no one else had, and he looked like a reasonable man but one who wouldn't hesitate to draw a gun if the situation demanded it. As the marine and Garrus followed his lead, Victus began to suspect who the man was.

"General Adrian Victus. And you are?"

"Commander Shepard. Alliance Navy and Spectre," his words confirming his identity.

"Why are you here? I'm grateful for your help but a Spectre doesn't come here just to help turian generals. A human spectre, even less so."

"I'm here because Primarch Fedorian is dead. You are the new primarch."

His words seemed to shock Victus. He looked out over the moon, and then at Palaven.

"I'm the new primarch? Governing for the Turian Hierarchy?" he asked incredulously. He turned round to face them. "Why me? I'm not the politician type, and I piss people off with my methods."

"You sound perfect. We need leaders who actually have been on the front lines, who've been in the trenches with the rest of us."

He paused. Then he straightened. "If it is my duty, then I must answer. Just… give me a minute to say goodbye to my turian brothers and sisters."

Garrus approached Shepard as Victus walked off. "Without him down here, it's a good chance we lose this moon."

"Without him up there, there's a good chance we lose everything," Shepard reasoned.

Garrus looked out over the distance and pointed at a Reaper. "Look at that! They want my opinion on how to stop it? Failed C-Sec officer, wannabe Spectre, vigilante… and I'm their expert advisor?"

Shaking his head he turned back to Shepard. "You think you can win this?"

He decided to be truthful with his best friend. "To be honest… I don't know Garrus. But I promise you this, I'm going to give it my best shot."

"That's all I need. Care to include your old friend in your next adventure?"

"Welcome back, Garrus," was his immediate reply. "You do realise we're bugging out of a Reaper infested system with a ship that may or may not work? Joker reckons she's possessed."

"Definitely like old times."

Right. This took me a while. I'll try to get these up as soon as possible, but I think there's a kind of balance. Put them up too quickly and I'll probably make a load of mistakes, and leave them too late and people lose interest. Oh yes, I made up the Blitz. If you've played Halo Reach, it's like the human rocket launcher from the game. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next chapter. Hopefully, this next one will include someone who, in my opinion, should have had a far bigger role in ME3. Hope you enjoyed this( I put this up to M because I don't want my first fan-fic taken down because I wrote a bit too much. If there is any sex at all, I'll make sure to have a warning at the top of the chapter)