The Quarian collapsed onto the floor out cold, Operative stood over her looking down in disgust, she lowered her assault rifle and slung it back over her shoulder and onto her back. "Quarian suit rat" She spat out down at her, with her were three Cerberus soldiers.

"This is disgusting." One of them said, "Putting alien scum in quarters like this when most the city lies in ruins. Fucking Alliance."

Another one approached Tali and knelt down by her head. "I've never seen a Quarian up close before, I wonder what she looks like under the mask" The Cerberus soldier proceeded to remove her mask then paused, he slumped forward dead with a bullet hole in the back of his head.

Operative holstered her pistol, "No one is to touch her unless I say, shes very.. valuable" She said in a disgusted tone, no alien could ever be valuable she thought. She beckoned the two remaining soldiers to pick her up, they moved forward and picked her up by her arms between them and moved towards the door, Talis feet dragging across the floor.

Not far outside was a Alliance guard patrolling the halls. "Man.. I wish I was at the ceremony, really wanted to see the new Blasto" he thought to himself, "Still.. maybe I'll bump into Commander Shepard." The guard was a new recruit, just turned eighteen and had been part of the ground resistance against the Reapers. He'd been tasked to the light security detail around the VIP hotels, he knew that Shepard's room was along one of these halls and kept walking back and forth between them hoping to catch a chance to meet the legend himself. He rested against the wall and heard a group of people, "Wonder who that is." He thought excitedly. He looked down the hall to see a group leaving one of the rooms, they had someone being held up between them. "Too much to drink I take it?" He called out down to them.

They looked back at him then turned away and carried on walking. "Rude." He thought to himself, he then notiched that the person wasn't being helped along, they were being dragged. He then saw the arms around thier waists. "Hey, wait right there a minute." He called out to them and started walking towards them.

The two dragging the person kept on walking, but the third turned on the spot fast, her hand moved to her waist in a blink of an eye and pulled out her pistol. Before the guard could react, she fired and he fell back, dead.

Operative smiled and reached for her ear piece. "Target has been acquired, proceed to stage two."

. . . . .

"You wouldn't guess that 3 weeks ago this area was in ruins." Joker commented as they walked along.

"I know what you mean." Shepard replied, reflecting on the Plaza. Clean up crews had been working around the clock, just days after the fight had ended when it was decided that the Vegas Plaza would host the ceremonys. Compared to most areas, this area hadn't been hit too hard by the Reapers, it wasn't home to any sort of major population or manufacturing facilities so it was never a threat to them. The same couldn't be said for Old Vegas, the nearby city. It had been annihilated by Reaper forces, and despite all the effort and coverup that was done to tidy up the Plaza, the ruins of the Old Vegas skyline stood clearly for anyone to see.

Before they headed for the hotel Joker and EDI were staying at, which was on the other end of the Plaza, they ended up taking a detour through the merchant district. Both Shepard and Joker got distracted by a merchant selling new ship models, they admired a model of a Geth dreadnought, "Atleast this one won't blow up while you're on it Commander" Joker said. They also spotted what they were told to be a Rachni frigate.

"Think i'll have to come back and buy these when its quiet." Shepard said.

"You mean when Talis asleep, she'll kill you if she knows you bought more." Joker laughed.

They also checked out a few more stores before heading back, but not before Hackett had caught them both and had them address a crowd before unveiling a new memorial wall. They took a few minutes to respect those that had given thier lives in the battle for earth, some of them Shepard knew including David Anderson and Hannah Shepard, Shepards mum.

"I'm sorry Commander.. I didn't know." Joker said quietly "Do you know what happened?"

Shepard already got the news while in medbay, "Yeah, she was commanding officer on the SSV Einstein. The ship had taken heavy damage and it wasn't salvageable. She gave the order for everyone to escape on the escape pods, when everyone was clear she set the ship on a collision course with a "Sovereign" class Reaper. She went down with the ship but took the Reaper with her."

"She'll be honored Shepard." Hackett said before going of to talk to some others.

Shepard, Joker and EDI had only just got to the hotel, it should of only taken a few minutes after Tali left them but thanks to the detour nearly half an hour had passed.

"You should get going Commander, you got a hot date waiting" Joker teased.

Shepard smiled. "Yeah I should, but I'll give..." Shepards words were drowned out by a loud screech, the sound cut through Shepards head with a sharp pain. It had came from EDI.

She collapsed on the floor, Joker cradled her in his arms. "EDI! EDI whats wrong girl?" Joker exclaimed.

She could barely get a word out, she was jittery and couldn't form a word properly. "N... n... Nor..." Was all she could muster. Joker held her tight.

Before Shepard could ask her anything, a loud explosion then rocked the Plaza, followed by screams and gunfire in the air. "What the hell is going on!" Shepard demanded, the explosion seemed to have come from the entertainment district. "That's where the rest of the team had gone" he thought, he reached for his comm's device.

"This is Commander Shepard, does anyone copy?" He yelled

"Garrus here sir" His voice came over the comm's device, he could hear firing over the line. "Cerberus forces just blew up half the plaza! And are shooting at anything that moves!"

"I'm on my way!" Shepard turned to Joker, "Take care of EDI, i'll find out what the hell is going on."

Shepard pulled out his M-3 Predator heavy pistol that he had hidden by his wasitline and ran into the crowds towards the entertainment district. As he got closer and entered the courtyard he could see the extent of the explosion, most of the shops and clubs on the right hand side had there fronts ripped of. Some area were think with smoke, he could make out Cerberus and Alliance troops exchanging fire from behind cover. He raised his pistol as he got closer and took a couple of shots at two Cerberus troops whos cover was exposed from the angle Shepard had come in it. One dropped to the floor dead while the other dived to the side, and fired back. Shepard moved behind a pillar to avoid the shots, he could see Garrus, Ashley and Liara across the courtyard. They were shooting at troops from behind a half wall, Liara was using her biotics to flush out Cereberus troops for Ashley and Garrus to pick of.

Shepard leaned out from behind cover just intime to catch the second troop with his head exposed, he took the shot to take him down. More Alliance troops entered the courtyard, they had the Cereberus forces outnumbered and outgunned but they had dug in deep and had abit of a defensive position and rained down suppressing fire. But they made no move to advance or gain a foothold, they seemed to be holding thier ground. "But why?" Shepard thought to himself as he took aim and shot a few rounds before moving behind cover again.

. . . . .

The explosion had worked as intended, Alliance forces were pouring away from thier post's towards the Plaza. Leaving Operative's path clear for the best part, any Alliance troops that crossed thier paths were swiftly dispatched before they could alert others to her presence. She took point as the soldiers dragged Tali behind her and made thier way towards the Alliance hanger, which by now should of been cleared of any resistance.

Two Alliance soldiers hurried along not far inhead of her, heading the other way. They never even saw her as she dropped them with a flurry of her hand and pistol. As they approached one of the hangers side entrances she raised her pistol as the door opened, just incase. They stepped inside to see bodies of Alliance troops scattered along the corridor, she lowered her weapon. "The infiltration team had done thier job." She thought as they stepped over the bodies. Cerberus troops were setting up defences and digging in for the inevitable fight that would soon be apon them.

A officer stepped out of a room to greet her, looking down at thier target. "Operative. Everything has gone as planned. We disabled the alarm but left the video feed operational as you requested. Also the EM pulse successful shutdown the A.I Core aboard the Normandy, and we've rebooted and restored the systems, there is no sign of "EDI" left in the systems. But we are unsure if it would of killed her inside her "platform." The officer was slightly worried when he told Operative the last part, he had no idea if that would put thier plans at risk.

"You have done well, alert the crew to prepear her for take off, we leave as soon as she's ready." She replied coldly and walked into the room with Tali in tow. It was one of the security feed rooms, "Good, this will do nicely" She thought. She stood under one of the security camera's so it had a clear view of her, then she beckoned over the soldiers carrying Tali so the feed had a clear image of her also.

"Commander Shepard." She spoke up to the camera, "The Illusive Man... sends his.. regards." She then drew her pistol and shot out the feed. "Ok, take her aboard the Normandy and up to the captains quarters, I'll attend to our guest personally after we've gotten clear.

Gunfire then filled the air not to far from her, Alliance troops had found them. It didn't matter she thought, they'd be long gone with thier cargo before they could muster enough people together to stop them. She then headed to the main hanger to board the Normandy.

. . . . .

Shepard primed a grenade and threw it behind where the last of the Cerberus troops had holed up, the blast sent them flying. He quickly sweeped the area with his pistol untill he was sure the last of them had been taking care of then holstered his weapon. He ran over to where the rest of his squad had taken cover.

"Is everyone ok?" He asked.

They paused and looked at each other, it was Ashley who spoke up. "I'm sorry Commander.. James is dead."

"Dammit!" He said angrily, "What happened?"

"A bomb went off across the courtyard, James was over there getting tickets for the show... Then Cerberus troops bursted out of some of the buildings and opened fire while everyone was in shock." Garrus sighed.

"Wheres the others?" Liara asked.

"Jokers back at the hotel with EDI, something happened to her, but before I could find out, we heard the explosion.. and Tali was meant to be back at our room... shit I best check up on her." Shepard replied and activated his comms device, "Tali come in! Are you ok? Where are you?" He spoke, but got no reply. "Come in Tali!"

Then a voice came from all thier comm's. "This is a open broadcast to all nearby Alliance forces, Cerberus forces have seized control of the Hanger! We require immediate assistance!"

"Fuck! The Normandy!" Said Shepard

"Shepard, I'll go find Tali, you and the others go kick some Cerberus ass!" Ashley said then ran off in the direction of Tali and Shepards room.

"Right ok guys let's go!" Shepard told the others and headed off towards the hangers.

. . . . .

They arrived on the scene to find a fierce gunfight on the way, shots rained down from both sides. YMIR Mechs had been called onto the scene to deal with the Cerberus Atlas's, rockets bombarded both sides forcing everyone to bunker down behind cover.

"Let me even out the odd's abit" Garrus said and took aim with his Black Widow sniper rifle, he fired a shot that managed to pierce the thick canopy of one of the Atlas's and took out its controller.

They all then took what cover they could find, only moving out from cover when they had a clear shot. With the heavy mechs moving forward they drew the attention and fire of the Cerberus forces, enough to allow Shepard and his team to take advantage and dispatch a couple of groups. They pressed the attack and used the mechs as portable cover, but like before the Cerberus troops were holding the line despite heavy losses. "Then I'll just wipe every last one of them out" Shepard thought.

A loud rumble filled the air that drowned out the sound of the gunfire and rockets. The unmistakable sound of the Normandy roaring into life, "Fuck! Hurry!" Shepard shouted to everyone, they pressed the attack hard and cut down the remaining Cerberus troops, but it was too late. They watched as the Normandy rised up from the hanger rooftop and blasted up into the air and out of sight.

"Those bastards!" Shouted Shepard, he ran forward with his weapon at the ready, ready to engage any Cerberus forces left behind. They moved through the hanger fast, there was little resistence to be found but any they did see were quickly dispatched.

"I'll go access one of the security rooms, maybe we can learn something from there." Liara said and headed down the corridor with some Alliance personnel.

"Joker will go insane when he finds out" Garrus said turning to Shepard.

"How could this happen? Right under our noses" Shepard said angrily, he started pacing around the now empty hanger.

"We wasn't to know Cerberus were still at large.. I thought we saw the last of them at Cronos Station" Garrus sighed.

"We let our guard down! Too caught up in celebrations and politics!" Shepard kicked a nearby generator and cursed as his foot throbbed in pain.

"Hang on, what's that?" Garrus said, walked over to the generator and knelt down next to it and started inspecting it. "This is EM pulse emitter, there outlawed in just about every system.."

Shepard paused to think for a minute. "If Cerberus had come here to steal the Normandy, they would of known EDI would try to stop them... they would of had to take her offline to have any chance to steal the ship.."

"Right.. why would Cerberus go through all this trouble just to steal a ship, even if that ship is the Normandy?"

"Commander?" Ashleys voice came over Shepards comm device.

"Ashley! Did you find her?" Shepard replied

A paused came before Ashley replied, "She's gone sir.. Cerberus were here."

"No! I'll be right there." Shepard said starting to worry and headed off towards the exit, but stopped as Liara's voice called out to him.

"Shepard! Come here quick, you're going to want to see this!" Liara called out to him, she almost sounded tearful.

He looked over to Garrus and he was looking back at him, they both hurried down to the security room where Liara had been. Liara had the camera feed up on one of the view screens.

"I.. dont know what to say.. Im sorry.." Liara said, tears were crawling down her face as she started to play the video feed.

The video showed as Cerberus troops moved through the hanger killing everyone on the spot and leaving them dead where they hit the ground, the video then skipped to Cerberus troops carrying the EM pulse emitter onto the Normandy, there was pause and the feed went dead from where the emp had gone off. Then it had rebooted, a slim human female stood infront of one of the cameras, she called over two Cerberus troops. And inbetween them, was Tali.

"No! No Tali!" He slammed his fists on the desk, his eyes were watering up. Liaras face was in her hands and Garrus had his arm around her comforting her.

The women then spoke to the feed. "Commander Shepard. The Illusive Man... sends his.. regards." She said before shooting out the feed. The last clip then showed Cerberus troops dragging Tali aboard then Normandy before it had taken off.

"They got my Tali... no... Tali.. TALI!" Shepard shouted.

. . . . .

"Wake her." The Illusive Man said.

Tali woke with a scream as a strong electrical current passed through her body, Operative smiled as she used the console that administered it. Tali struggled only to find herself restrained to some sort of operating table.

"Good morning Tali'Zorah, glad to have you with us." He said to her, he took a draw from a cigarette and exhaled the smoke over Tali.

"Let me go!.. you Cerberus bosh'tets!" Tali yelled, she tried to wriggle out of the restraints, but it was no use, she was secured down tight, then she yelled out as another current passed through her body.

"Now now an attitude like that won't be very healthy for you" Smirked the Illusive Man.

"What do you want with me?" Tali said, trying to be intimidating.

"Well Miss Zorah, you are going to endure more pain then humanly possible, or in your case quarianly possible. Then you will come round to our way of thinking." He had a large grin on his face.

"Your way of thinking? I'll never join you! You may aswell kill me!" Tali shouted, she screamed again.

"I guessed you'd say something like that and I expected no less from one of Shepards.. trusted friends." He paused for asecond and stood up to dispose of his cigarette. "That is why my.. partner you could say. Will be giving you his undivided attention."

She looked at him, thinking that he meant the female human that was with them. Then her eyes went wide with terror as she heard a all to familiar voice.

"ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL!" Harbingers deep voice came booming from The Illusive Mans mouth.