~Author's Note~ This one took a bit longer than the others to put together, trying to decide which way to take it, and having discussions with other people about Bioware's response to the RetakeME3 movement sidetracked me for a bit. But now we're back on schedule.

One other thing, in case you're wondering. I did not get the Day-1 DLC, so Javik is not in this game. I kinda think the idea of a Prothean surviving all that time is incredibly cliché, but regardless, it would be hard for me to write a character that I never spent any time with. And point number two: EDI remained on the Normandy during the final assault. She wanted to come groundside, but Shepard insisted she devote her full attention to keeping the Normandy flying.

Enjoy.

It took Tali all of five minutes to coax life out of the dormant machines. Shepard smiled at Tali's expression of pleasure. Ash was right. Shepard was one of the best engineers in the human fleet, but she didn't have half of Tali's technical skills. In combat, they may be roughly the same, but elsewhere Tali had her beat by a parsec.

Admiral Hackett's voice came in clearly through the comm. "-repeat, full retreat. Fall back through the Sol Relay, take as many civilians off the planet as you can. We have to get the Crucible out of here before it gets taken down, it's our only shot. Protect it at all costs!"

Shepard looked up, alarmed at the idea of being left here on Earth, but more alarmed at the fact that Hackett was already falling back. The fleet must have sustained heavy losses for him to be giving up on the plan.

She moved up behind the quarian. "Tali, can you patch me through to the Admiral?"

"I can't get you a private channel, but I can make sure he hears you. And anyone else on that frequency."

"Do it. Let's hope the Reapers haven't hacked our communications yet."

The quarian's fingers rapidly moved over the holographic keyboard. A few strokes and- "Done. You have an open channel."

She cleared her throat. "Hackett, this is Shepard. I'm groundside, the beam to the Citadel has been cut off-"

The admiral interrupted her with an exclamation of surprise. "Shepard? You're alive? Who else is down there with you?"

"As far I know, just Garrus and Tali, sir. What's going on?"

"We're pulling out. The Crucible is taking damage, the fleet is down to 70% strength, and we've only destroyed a dozen or so Reapers. We sent down some transport ships to try to evacuate the civilian population, but I doubt that most of them will make it past the Reapers. Still, it's your best shot at getting out of there, Commander." He paused for a minute, and Shepard heard someone talking to him in the background. "Sorry, Commander. It's the best I can do. We don't have the forces to punch through the Reapers and then have enough left to get back out. Not without heavy losses."

"I understand, sir. What about the Normandy?"

Hackett remained silent for a moment.

"Sir? What about my ship?"

"We lost contact with the Normandy a half-hour ago, Shepard. I'm sorry. Joker was insistent you had survived Hammer squad's destruction, and broke off from the fleet- against orders, I might add- to head down and look for you."

"And then what? He cut off comm channels to prevent you from ordering him back?"

"He did mention something about interference and something else about his signal being jammed." Shepard grinned. That was Joker. Hackett continued, "But then… Shepard, a trio of Dreadnaught-class Reapers cut him off from earth. There's no way he got through."

Yes there was. It was Joker. "He got through. He's the best damn pilot in the galaxy, Admiral. Get out of here, don't worry about me."

Hackett sighed. "This was our best shot, Shepard. I wouldn't be falling back if there was any way-"

"I know, sir. Just keep that thing intact. It's still our best shot at taking them down." She hoped. There was always the possibility the whole thing had been one giant trap.

"Good luck, Commander. Hackett out." Static replaced his voice.

A moment later, Tali said, quietly. "The fleet has left the Sol system, Shepard. Only stragglers remain, and some transport cruisers on the planet itself. None are in our immediate area. Keelah. This is it, isn't it?"

Shepard looked up, and then at her two comrades. "Joker got through," she said, as much to reassure herself as to reassure them. "We just need to let him know where we are."

Garrus looked worried at that. "Commander, letting him know where we are will also let every Reaper force in the vicinity know where we are."

"Then we'll just have to hold this position until he gets here. We're kinda out of options, Garrus."

A new voice cut into their conversation. "If the four of us can't hold this position, then we don't deserve to survive anyway."

Shepard's head jerked up, a wide smile crossing her face. "Vega!" The smile faltered a bit when she saw the wounds that pretty much covered his body. She resorted to sarcasm to cover her concern. "You're not as pretty as you used to be. How am I supposed to fight the Reapers without something nice to look at?"

Vega grinned. "I could say the same about you, Lola. I think I might fight better without you distracting me, though."

A low growl from Garrus cut into their playful banter, and James looked nervously over at the turian. "Woah, pendejo, I get it. Just a bit of jest between old amigos, eh?"

Garrus just gave the marine a turian glare. Vega cleared his throat and looked around at what was left of Alliance Headquarters. "So it's just us four, then?"

Shepard swallowed the lump in her throat at the thought of the rest of her friends in the assault. Were they all dead?

Garrus, who was watching her closely, spoke up. "When the Alliance fell back, they would have issued orders to leave. They could have gotten out of here alive, Shepard. I'm sure they did."

She nodded, grateful, even if she didn't quite believe him. "Sure. Of course. They're probably already waiting back at the rendezvous point."

Vega arched an eyebrow. "We have a fallback point?"

Shepard looked at him incredulously. "What, did you think Command was stupid? Of course we have a fallback point. Plan for the worst, hope for the best."

She took a deep breath. "All right, you three. We're gonna need to hold this position until Joker arrives with the Normandy. Garrus, I trust you've made a clean sweep of this place and gotten us all the ammo there is?" When the turian replied in the affirmative, she continued. "Good. Let's move all of our supplies and medical equipment over here, behind the pillar. Hopefully, it should give it enough cover from any stray shots. Vega, you and Tali take the west entrance. Conserve your ammunition. Don't take shots that won't drop an enemy."

She paused for a moment. "You didn't happen to find a working omni-tool while sweeping the building, did you Garrus?"

The turian smiled, though probably only Shepard realized that. "As a matter of fact, I found three."

Shepard's grin this time was genuine. "Good. Tali, see if you can't get one working omni-tool out of those three." The quarian immediately set to work, stripping the parts off of two of the omni-tools and adding them to the one that seemed the least damaged. If Tali could pull this off, their chances of survival went up drastically. Tali was as good with an omnitool as Shepard was, if not better.

"Vakarian, you and I have got the east entrance. You also need to keep an eye on the elevator shaft. It's not running, but they may try to climb down. If they do, they're your job. I'll handle anything coming in from outside while you're occupied with that."

The drone that flickered to life in front of Tali clearly indicated she had gotten the omni-tool at least functional again. "Ready, Shepard."

"Everyone clear?"

When she received an affirmative from her three comrades, she turned to Tali. "All right, Tali, I want you to send out an electronics pulse across all waves and frequencies. Just a ping, understand? A message won't be able to get as much distance. A simple ping, amplified as much as you can, as far as you can, for as long as you can."

The quarian nodded, and set to work.

Shepard looked around at what was left of her little squad. "If this doesn't work, first round is on me."

Garrus smiled again, and leaning in, he kissed her. She gave him a couple seconds, kissing him back, and then gently pushed him towards his position. "I'll hold you to that, Shepard," he said, as he got into cover.

Vega made a gagging noise from his position by the other doorway, but when Shepard fixed him with a glare, he just winked at her and gave her the thumbs-up sign. "Ready when you are, amigo."

Tali looked up at her from the console. "All set. Just give the order."

Shepard nodded at her. "Do it."

She looked out of the building, up at the smoke and the debris, and past it, to a couple stars shining dimly through the debris.

"Come on, Joker. Don't let me down now."