Chapter 8: Arrae

Commander Shepard rubbed his eyes and looked around. He was standing in the middle of a forest.

"Hmm…" he thought. "This looks familiar."

As his eyes scanned the area, the commander spied a flash of white among the trees. Could it be?

"Hey, wait!" Shepard called, chasing after the boy. Normally, the athletic commander would have had no trouble catching up to a small child, but something was wrong here. The commander's legs were moving sluggishly, as though running through syrup, or James's protein shakes.

Dodging around burning trees and brushing falling leaves aside, Shepard was slowly but surely catching up to the boy. Suddenly a voice invaded his head. It was the voice of Harbinger…or Sovereign. Ghostly hands reached out to him, dragging around the pauldrons of his N7 armor. Shepard cursed and slapped at them.

"Shepard…"

"Nuts." Thought Shepard anxiously. If a Reaper decided to attack him here, he was toast. Urging his legs to go faster, he kept running after the boy. Rounding a corner and dodging more shadow people, the commander finally saw the boy. He was crouching on the forest floor, mindless of the shades and burning trees around him. Smiling, Shepard reached out an arm to the boy, offering him safety and security, but just before he could rescue the child, flames sprang up all around and engulfed him. Shepard gasped and recoiled in shock, throwing up an arm to protect his face.

The commander sat up with a start, flailing his arms and legs. While his mind adjusted to the idea that it was yet another nightmare, the lights in the captain's quarters brightened as the sensors read Shepard's awake status. Shepard looked down at his sweat drenched body and shook his head, then reached for the intercom button to call James.

After s shower and a fresh change of clothes, the commander almost felt like himself again. Writing himself a memo on his omni-tool to get some sleeping drugs the next time he hit the Citadel, Shepard walked over to the mess hall and fixed himself some breakfast before the rest of the crew awoke. This morning he poured himself a bowl of cereal and held it under the milk dispenser and pushed the button. However, instead of milk filling the bowl, an odd smelling sludgy paste oozed out into his bowl of cornflakes.

"What the…" Shepard said as he pushed the button for it to stop. But instead of stopping, the goo only started dispensing at double speed, overflowing the bowl. Shepard frowned and pushed the button again. Nothing changed. He slapped the dispenser, hoping it was a hardware problem. It wasn't. The commander, now watching in dismay as the sludge started to drip onto the floor, thought quickly and grabbed a pan from the cabinet to catch the rest of the mess.

Shepard stood up and tried to find the off switch, only to discover it needed a Normandy crew card to open the control panel, which he had left in his quarters in the pocket of his commander uniform. As the pan started to get dangerously full, Shepard kicked the machine in desperation, his foot connecting with the metal surface three times before it felt like he had broken a toe.

"Oh, come on!" exclaimed the bewildered commander.

At that moment, his omni-tool began beeping. A glance at it told Shepard that Joker was calling him, but he was in no mood to listen to the pilot. He sent the message to voicemail but Joker just called again. Hoping the machine would run out of stuff to dispense soon, Shepard picked up the call.

"Yes, Joker, kind of busy right now," barked the commander as he emptied the pan into the sink and hurriedly replaced it under the dispenser.

"But it's so early," said Joker on the other end.

"Breakfast," Shepard grunted as he wiped up more sludge with a dishcloth. While he went to clean the cloth, his foot bumped up against the machine and even more paste began to flow.

"That's it," declared the commander. It was way too early for this kind of nonsense. He drew the Predator pistol that he kept on his belt for emergencies and fired three rounds into the breakfast machine, each shot echoing around the mess hall and startling the few members of the crew that were arriving in the elevator.

The dispenser gave one final gurgle, and stopped working.

"What was that?" asked Joker. "Are we under attack?"

Shepard didn't answer, instead walking cautiously over to the wrecked machine to examine the damage. Two steps away, a spout opened and sprayed milk into his face.

"Commander? Are you all right?"

Shepard slowly wiped the milk off his head. "We're fine, Joker. Now what's up?"

"Well, we've got a message from Admiral Hackett telling us about some Ex-Cerberus guys, hiding out on the planet Arrae, who could be a big help to us, and a small malfunction in the Normandy's systems. The engines just lost power."

Straightening up, Shepard looked down at his omni-tool. "I'll go check it out, in the meantime, check out that facility, and ask them if they've got anything to eat."

Then the sprinklers turned on, soaking him and the crew members who had crowded around to look.

The source of the problem came from the AI core in the medical center. Shepard had gone down to investigate. Smoke poured out from the cracks in the door. It must be the sprinkler systems. Shepard felt a little guilty. Maybe it was his earlier stunt at breakfast that caused all this. He kept quiet about it, accessing the control panel on the door. Engineer Adams accompanied him, fire extinguisher ready. The smoke and water was everywhere, as Shepard stepped inside. Adams went forward, and did a quick sweep motion, spraying out foam from his extinguisher as he turned. Shepard didn't wait for Adams to finish spraying the foam into the room, taking a few steps forward, accidentally walking into the foam.

"Oops," Adams said, ceasing his spray.

Shepard spluttered. "Doesn't matter, Adams. But it was your fault, just so you know."

"Um…" Adams said. "Yes sir."

Shepard took a good look around the room. Everything was offline. The AI core was down. He tried calling out to EDI, but there was no answer. Something had happened in here. Shepard was sure it was sabotage, but as he thought, the power came back on. The sprinklers stopped and the blue glow of the core could be seen through the smoke, as well as a bright orange visor. Shepard pulled out his predator, ready for any enemy that would face him. He recognized the synthetic that came out to meet him. It was Dr. Eva Core. She was the one that put Kaidan in the hospital, and now she was up and running again. Ready to fire his pistol, Shepard took aim, but before he could shoot, a familiar voice came out from the robot.

"Shepard," EDI said, through Dr. Core's body. "It's me. I have taken control of this body."

Shepard was befuddled. The robot that had once tried to kill him was now an ally against a common foe. EDI had been trying to transfer a part of her into the robot to control it. That explained all the malfunctions the Normandy has been having. Shepard was disappointed that she didn't tell him, but at least he now had a new ally to bring on missions. Joker was also delighted, having a new companion such as EDI in the cockpit. Shepard didn't care. As long as he had people to fight the reapers with, he was good. After having a chat with all his crewmates, Shepard decided to head to the comms room to have that talk with Admiral Hackett. On the way there, he turned on the news channel from the Citadel on his omni-tool to take a look at what was going on in the world. One of the most hated people in Shepard's opinion came on.

"We have a report from our journalist, Frank West, that the famous restaurant, Cucina Donacci, has closed down," Khalisah al-Jilani said, her voice coming out of the omni-tool as Shepard walked down the hallway. "The chef and manager of the restaurant, Antoine Thomas, had thought Frank a critic. He cooked up his famous dish for West, but as West was there to write about his restaurant, he didn't want to have anything to eat. This is what our journalist has to say: "Well, Khalisah, Antoine there, had demanded I try his famous dish. I might have, but I just came from the Stand earlier, after having two bowls of Ramen. I couldn't really eat anymore. Now I was just there to interview him, so I just told him that I really didn't want to eat that. No offense to him. But after I said that, Antoine just went berserk, wanting to cook ME instead! Well, I -" "

Shepard turned off his omni-tool before he could hear the whole story. It was a pity. He had liked the Cucina Donacci. They had great Italian food. Especially now, with Earth taken, Italian food was a little harder to find. Every bite of Italian grub made him feel like he was in his own little world.

Shepard stepped into the comms room, messing around with the console to get Admiral Hackett on the line. He hoped that there wouldn't be much more problems to deal with today, especially after his morning milk incident. Tapping the 'call' button, Shepard waited, as Admiral Hackett appeared on the vidcom.

Hackett spoke first. "Commander, we've had a SOS transmitted from a facility on the planet Arrae. Apparently, there are some ex-Cerberus operatives there, trying to get away from Cerberus. The Illusive Man had found them, and they sent out a distress call for help. We need you to head there and rescue the ex-Cerberus operatives. They might be able to tell us what the Illusive Man has been after."

Shepard didn't like to be ordered around, but this might be a good chance to spit in the Illusive Man's face. "I'll do it. Send me the coordinates, and I'll make my way there."

"Good, commander," Hackett answered. "Get there ASAP. It is important that they get out of there, alive. Hackett out."

Shepard cringed as the words, 'Hackett out', came out from Hackett's mouth. The admiral turned and walked away, as the vidcom call ended. Shepard headed over to the intercom.

"James," he said, pressing the button. "I'm going down to the armory. Prep my gear for me. We've got people to save."

Shepard had decided to take Garrus and EDI down to the planet's surface to meet up with the ex-Cerberus operatives. Apparently, most of them were scientists, defecting because of the Illusive Man's new ways and ideas. They also probably didn't want to turn into indoctrinated workers too. Shepard stood silently, as the Kodiak shuttle brought them lower. If these scientists could help him foil some of the Illusive Man's plans, he was more than happy to save them. There were also a few soldiers guarding the scientists, who were all trapped by Cerberus right now. Shepard had to get down there and get them out before more Cerberus forces overrun the area. This wasn't going to be too easy, but Shepard had no doubt that he would succeed in this mission. The commander took a look at his companions. Garrus was checking out his Mantis sniper rifle, seeing if it was good to go. EDI stood there, unmoving, but Shepard guessed she was running calculations in her 'head', or whatever you call it.

Cortez called out from the front. "Commander, we're landing in three. Looks like there's heavy resistance for the ex-Cerberus people."

"We'll take them out, easy."

Shepard swung out his Phaeston rifle, and got ready for some shooting.

Jacob Taylor leaned out of cover, blasting a Cerberus soldier in the face. After getting back to cover, he took a good look around. Most of his people were still safe. One scientist got hit, trying to get away. Jacob couldn't help him, but he could still try to save the rest of the people. He would do that, or die trying. The rest of the ex-Cerberus soldiers regrouped around him, firing back against Cerberus.

"Salem! Rios!" Jacob shouted to two of them. "I need you guys to get around and flank them."

He pointed to the left. The big, burly, bald man nodded back. He tapped the shoulder of his smaller, but tough companion, and with a silent signal, they both went off to the left, ready to flank the enemy. Jacob turned back to his other two fellow soldiers.

"Ghost, Redford!" Jacob ordered. "You're with me! We'll generate enough agro for Salem and Rios to get around without any trouble!"

"Got it," Ghost replied. "We'll make sure we take out a few of 'em as well."

Ghost and Redford stood, unleashing a swarm of bullets in the direction of the Cerberus soldiers. Redford managed to kill one, drawing the attention of the soldiers. The Cerberus troopers in front fired back, forcing Ghost and Redford back behind cover. It was all going well, until and Atlas air-dropped down.

Jacob radioed over to Salem and Rios. "Guys! How's the flank? We've got an Atlas here!"

The Atlas started firing, not allowing any of the ex-Cerberus soldiers to stand up or fire back. Cerberus troops started pushing forward, the guardians leading the front.

Suddenly, his earpiece buzzed. "We're right behind them. Ready on your mark."

Jacob signaled them to begin. Suddenly, the Cerberus troops started falling. Bullets from the rear felled many of them. Some turned to combat Salem and Rios, but Jacob's group stood up and fired back. Most of them were already dead before the leftovers started retreating. The only one left standing and not backing down, was the Metal Gear Atlas. It turned back to Jacob's group firing back against them, ignoring Salem and Rios. Without warning, a Kodiak shuttle flew in, attracting the attention of the Atlas, giving Jacob, Ghost, and Redford time to get to a better location. Jacob saw a flash of blue as the shuttle zoomed by. It had to be the Alliance. Finally. Help has arrived. Using a bomb run method, the Kodiak flew down in a straight line, dropping bombs along the way. The bomb run depleted the Metal Gear Atlas's shields, enabling an attack from Salem and Rios. The Atlas was distracted for a while, allowing Jacob and his team to move in and join in on the shooting. With bullets pelting the Atlas from both sides, the machine eventually started smoking, and powered down. The pilot thought he'd make a run for it, opening the cockpit and jumping out, but in mid-jump, Jacob used pull. Floating, Ghost shot him through an eye hole, ending the battle.

Jacob stood at the landing zone, signaling the Kodiak that it was safe to land. Ghost, Reford, Salem, and Rios stood by the scientists as they waited for the alliance shuttle to land.

"So," Salem asked. "Who do you think's on that shuttle? Some big shot Alliance hero? Lieutenant Lee Everett perhaps?"

"No, man," Rios answered. "He went to jail, remember?"

Salem took a while to think. "Oh yeah. I heard about that."

"Ya didn't hear?" Ghost spoke out. All eyes turned to him. "Reaper forces attacked when they were transporting a bunch of the convicts. Lieutenant Everett is now MIA."

"Pity," Redford sighed.

"Don't worry yourself, Sarge," Salem told the soldier. "Maybe you'll meet him one day. He was a big hero to a lot of people. MIA doesn't mean dead. Most of the time."

More talk was silenced when the Kodiak began it's descend. The sound was deafening, but was finally quenched when it rested nicely on the landing platform.

Able to be heard, Jacob signaled to Salem and Rios. "Get back in the base. Let our head of security know that help's arrived."

"Right on it," Rios bellowed.

The army of two moved off towards the base as the Kodiak doors began to open. With all the talk of Lieutenant Everett, most of them were hoping it was him. The man who stood there was a renowned hero, but not the one they were hoping for.

Jacob recognized the man. "Shepard!"

The hero took slow steps down the Kodiak to make it more dramatic. Jacob smiled to himself. The commander will never change. He was still as proud as ever. Quick movement behind the commander knocked him off, nearly forcing his face to the floor.

"Woah there!" Shepard shouted as he began standing up. He turned to Jacob. "Jacob! Nice to see you! Sorry about that. I was pushed."

The commander turned his attention back to the shuttle, frowning. Garrus and EDI stood at the entrance, but faced in, clearly looking at someone else.

"Strange," Shepard said. "I only remember you two in there, besides Cortez."

Shepard took a closer look and realized it was none other than James Vega, the ISA soldier, smiling from ear to ear. Stepping out, his wide smile faded, as he saw Shepard's stern look.

"Uhhh," he stammered. "Sorry, commander. Couldn't resist. I just wanted to get into some action."

Shepard rolled his eyes. Twice. "Sure you did James."

Letting this event slide, Shepard returned his attention to the Ex-Cerberus operatives. Jacob Taylor stood there, along with the other soldiers.

"So," the commander asked. "Who are these guys? They look like hardened soldiers."

Jacob took a look at his two allies. "The one with the mask is Ghost, and the other one is Samuel Redford. They were both with me in the Cerberus military before leaving. The Illusive Man was just getting too crazy ever since he recruited the new guys."

Shepard looked at Jacob's comrades. "So I've heard." He took a closer look at the two. "You guys look like good soldiers. I hope so."

As Jacob had a little chat with the commander, Salem and Rios returned from their objective.

"He happy with all this?" Ghost asked Rios.

"Somewhat," the bald man answered. "At least there's reinforcements, but he doesn't like the one that came. Commander Shepard he said."

"Yeah," Salem added. "He says the commander has a really huge metaphoric head."

"Uhhh, ok," Ghost replied, wondering about their amusing metaphor.

Salem and Rios joined the two and stood, staring at the commander and Jacob as they spoke. Shepard turned towards them when he finished his little talk.

"By the way," he asked them. "Jacob didn't give me your names."

They looked at the commander. "Salem."

"Rios."

Shepard's eyes grew wider. "No Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-," Shepard's last word was cut off as an explosion blew in the back, flying up in a ball of flame. It was the remains of the Atlas. Shepard ignored it and continued. "I've heard of you guys! I spent a couple of weeks working for the Illusive Man myself."

Salem crossed his arms. "Small galaxy."

"Yeah," Shepard said. "Small galaxy."

Redford came up towards the duo. "Chief of Security wants us back in the base."

Shepard stopped them from adding on. "Well, time to save you guys. I think it's about beer o'clock."

Salem and Rios just looked at each other and shrugged. They didn't say anything to the commander and continued in. "Let's not keep him waiting."

Shepard walked into the facility. Scientists crowded the area in front of him, along with machinery and large square boxes. One soldier stood in the center, surveying the dozens of screens in front of him.

"That's our Chief of security here," Jacob told the commander as he stepped next to him. "He doesn't talk much, so don't expect him to say anything to you."

Shepard eyed the chief. He wore some sort of power armor, maybe like the Master Chief, but blue in colour. His stance made him look like someone who was good at cracking down on security breaches.

"So, how's things, Garrus?" Jacob asked the turian as he walked up to join Shepard, along with their robot companion.

"You know," he joked. "Trying to save the world and all that."

Jacob chuckled. "Yeah. I get you."

"So," the commander continued. "What've you been up to before all this?"

The man thought for a bit. "Well, we've mostly been planning our escape for the last few months, but-"

The sentence remained unfinished as alarms blared all around the commander.

"What's going on?" James asked.

"We've got intruders," a doctor replied, busily tapping away at a console. "Cerberus. They're trying to disable our satellite dish! Without it, help will never arrive!"

"Hey!" Shepard put his hand on the doctor's shoulder. "I'm all the help you'll need."

The doctor looked at the commander with a puzzled look.

Jacob interrupted. "Don't mind the commander, he's like that. Anyways, Shepard. We need your help to clear Cerberus out."

"Sure."

James prepared to move off, but Shepard turned and put an arm in front of him.

"You're staying, Lieutenant," he ordered the soldier.

"Man," he groaned. "Can't I come with you, loco?"

Shepard hated it when he called him 'loco'. "Stay."

Without wasting more time talking, Shepard sprinted off, with Garrus and EDI loosely following after him, trying to keep up.

Shepard climbed out of the roof hatch. A blast of wind smashed into his face, causing him to flinch. He stood in awe as he stared at the gigantic satellite dish that stood before him. Garrus and EDI arrived up to join the commander a few seconds later.

"Let's go Shepard," the turian said. "Time's a-wasting."

Pulling out his phaeston rifle without saying a word, the commander moved forward, followed closely by his two allies. The first Cerberus forces they encountered were just right around the corner. Shepard put a bullet between the eyes of a trooper before the others realized they had contact. An engineer tried to get a turret up, but EDI finished him with an incinerate, burning him to crisps. Helghast troopers with weird markings arrived to assist their Cerberus allies from a nearby staircase, forcing Shepard and his team to hide behind objects. The soldiers wore red sashes and had some kind of 'S' logo on their helmets.

"You think those are elite?" Garrus whispered.

"Nah," Shepard blurted out, louder for the enemy to hear. "No one is more elite than I."

With that said, Shepard stood and fired off a few rounds, knocking a few soldiers down, and with a throw of a frag grenade, he blew a huge hole in the floor, sending the rest of the enemies plummeting down.

"See?" he said again. "I'm the best."

With the battle over, the team stored their weapons and moved on. They had to walk carefully over the huge hole that Shepard created, but they made it safely to the other side, just as more Helghast dropships swooped in.

"Get to cover!" the commander shouted, ordering his teammates behind the nearby chest-high machinery. From cover, Garrus took well-aimed shots at the Helghast as they opened the doors, taking down three of them before the rest took cover in the dropships. Without warning, a heavy Helghast soldier with a gatling gun walked out and unleashed a hail fire of bullets down to Shepard's team.

"Heavy with a gatling gun!" Shepard shouted out.

Garrus shot a few rounds to the head of the heavy, but his helmet deflected the sniper rounds.

"Head's not his weakpoint!" he shouted as he ducked back behind cover, ejecting a thermal clip.

EDI scanned their new enemy. "There is an ammo bag near his back. Enough concentrated firepower towards the bag will cause a potent combustion, likely killing him and everyone on the ship.

Shepard took a while to digest the information before making a decision.

"Works for me!" he yelled.

The commander tried to stand to fire back, but the heavy kept him pinned down, forcing him to duck once more.

"Ok, we're going to need some kind of distraction!" he shouted to his teammates.

Nodding, EDI activated a decoy, sending it to the far side of the platform, diverting the attention of the dropship and the heavy to the other side. Turning around, the heavy left his ammo pack open for Shepard to shoot, standing and blasting a whole clip into the pack. Turning back, the heavy attempted to shoot the commander again, but stopped as his pack caught on fire, which spread around him, engulfing him in a ball of fire. As the fire reached the inner most sanctum of the entire pack, an explosion erupted, sending the dropship and the heavy crashing down, and exploding as the ship hit the ground, creating yet another hole for Shepard and his team to navigate across.

"Good!" Shepard applauded. "One obstacle clear."

He stared at the new hole. "And another one created…"

James walked around the base, wondering what he might do to pass time.

"Man!" he shouted, attracting the attention of Ghost. "I wish the commander let me go with him. I've got nothing to do! I just want to shoot something!"

Ghost laughed. "No worries mate. Jacob's got a plan to take the landing pad and to secure it. You can join us if you like."

James's face lit up like a light bulb. "Of course! Count me in!"

Jacob's team and James visited the armory first. Jacob's team grabbed more thermal clips, and some trip mines to set up some traps. James restocked on his thermal clips as well, but something in the corner caught his eye. He took a look at the weapon in the corner, and his mouth hung open in excitement. Lying against the wall was a huge gun, with a small barrel in the front. It was big and it looked powerful.

James walked up to the huge gun. "Woah! What's this one?"

Redford looked up. "Oh that? That's what we call a Spartan laser. It's too big, so we don't use it."

"Can I have it?" James questioned.

Redford shrugged. "Sure. Be my guest."

James picked it up. It was worn and used, but still functional. The word 'JOHNSON' was inscribed on its side. The energy was fully charged as well, making James all the more happy.

"Alright," he sounded. "I'm ready. How bout you?"

Shepard launched himself over a generator, and straight into the face of a Helghast Marksman. The marksman was too surprised to fire off any shots, and went down right after Shepard smashed his face with the butt of his rifle.

"Eat that!" the commander shouted at the fallen soldier.

He stood and went back against the generator to take a look at his surroundings. EDI and Garrus were holed up near the entrance, taking out troops steadily, while he himself was nearer to the consoles for the satellites. He crouched over to the consoles to have a better look. It seemed all he needed to do was to press the big red button.

"Meh," Shepard shrugged, and hit it.

The satellites beeped to life and tilted upward. Suddenly, the nearby AA turrets started coming to life too.

"Now that would be something," Shepard said, smiling to himself.

He turned back to the direction of his teammates, just as two Metal Gear Atlas's dropped in. He quickly got back behind the generator as cover as he took a few bursts at the newcomers. The Metal Gears were tough, but Shepard didn't know defeat, so he kept shooting, hoping to break the glass for the cockpit. EDI activated a decoy, distracting the Atlas's towards the other direction. Shepard took the chance to get nearer, running and jumping towards the Atlas's feet. He managed to get under one as the decoy vanished. One turned back to his direction, while the other turned to his teammates. Shepard quickly took out three frag grenades and stuffed them in the left leg of the Atlas he was under, and ran for cover. When he decided he was far enough, he took out his predator pistol, and fired off one precise shot, hitting one grenade, sending the Atlas flying up in a fiery explosion. It survived, but one leg was blown to bits all over the floor. Garrus shot two rounds at the cockpit. One shattered the glass, and the other got the pilot in the face. The second one had lost some shields to the explosion, which made Shepard happy. He signaled to his teammates and together, they fired continuously at the last Atlas, bringing down its shields so that Shepard could take it out. He leaped onto a container and did a somersault jump to the Atlas's cockpit. While in mid-air, he activated his omni-blade, and knifed a hole in the glass right as he landed on it. The blade couldn't reach the pilot, but he was surprised long enough for Shepard to deactivate it and shoot him in the face with his predator pistol. The Atlas went down, but still remained intact.

"We can use this," the commander told his team as they walked out.

"Covering fire!"

Salem and Rios rose up behind a group of Cerberus soldiers, and fired away, taking down every single one of them.

"Nice flank!" Ghost shouted, firing a burst out of his rifle, taking down another Cerberus trooper.

Jacob and Redford stood in front, taking down Cerberus forces as they ran out from nowhere. The Chief and other soldiers took positions around the back, ready for any attack that might get too far in. They were getting closer to taking the landing zone, but more and more Cerberus forces kept coming like a never ending flow. An Atlas dropped in, but a great red laser took it out in one hit. Jacob turned to see the ISA lieutenant, carrying the old Spartan Laser over his shoulders.

He looked to Redford. "You told him about that?"

"Yeah," the sergeant said. "Why not? He seems fine with it."

An explosion stopped more conversation as Cerberus mantis gunships flew in. The lead gunship had a unique design on it, probably to display the leader. There were teeth near the glass of the cockpit, and had a few logos of an ouroboros around a crown. The worlds ' ', were printed on the left side.

"Makarov!" Ghost shouted.

Jacob remembered now. Ghost was always challenging Makarov when they were still with Cerberus. Now on different teams, they could end that dispute at last.

"Ghost!" Makarov's voice boomed on the speakers of his mantis. "Surrender now, and die easy, or fight, and die painfully!"

Ghost responded by picking up a rocket launcher and firing it at Makarov. He swerved away, but the rocket hit another gunship, sending it down in flames.

"You'll pay for that, Ghost!" the Cerberus leader shouted.

He strafed the mantis, firing the gatling gun as he moved. The ex-cerberus team got behind cover as the bullets pelted the area around them. One soldier didn't get down fast enough, and got a chest full of bullets before he fell off the edge.

"YOU'LL pay for that, Makarov!" Redford shouted as he ran towards the front covers. He slammed himself against a piece of metal just as a rocket sailed over his head, exploding out of his radius. He leaned out and fired a few bursts from his rifle before ducking back. Another red laser from James's new Spartan laser tore through a mantis, blowing it up mid-air. One mantis peeled off from the gunship group and flew over towards the base. Some soldiers took some shots at it, but they weren't able to penetrate its shields. The chief whipped out a huge rocket launcher and fired at it. The rocket homed in on the mantis, chasing after it as it flew away. All the ex-cerberus soldiers saw was an explosion in the distance as the rocket found its mark.

"Now we're talkin'!" James shouted over to the chief.

The mantis rubble fell two feet in front of Shepard as he headed towards the hatch.

"Wah!" he shouted as he stopped. "Too close for comfort!"

They had cleared out all the enemy forces on the roof, and Shepard just so happened to come across the consoles to the AA turrets that cover the base and its surroundings, so he activated all of them.

"This area should be secure," EDI speculated. "The turrets should keep all forces away from the satellite relay."

"Good to know," Garrus said, sheathing his rifle.

"Alright, let's keep moving," Shepard added, ready to get back into more action.

James had radioed in earlier. The plan to take the landing pad wasn't going too well. Shepard felt very powerful when people needed him, so he happily accepted, and told James he would be there as fast as his legs could run. After all, he could run like a leopard. After sliding down the ladder, Shepard took off, leaving Garrus and EDI standing still, unsure of what was going on. Garrus tried to keep up, but he couldn't run as fast as the commander. EDI could have easily overtaken the commander by reprogramming her movement speed, but she held back as to not damage the commander's ego before a fight. Shepard was the first out the door, and the first thing he saw was a missile flying towards him.

"Duck!" he shouted as he jumped away, narrowly avoiding death.

Rubble flew into his face, making him look battle-hardened. He took a look over a piece of metal. Ground troops had respawned over on the landing site, while at least four mantis's guarded the skies. Apparently, the AA turrets weren't at the landing site, which meant he had to take them out himself. Shepard got up and ran towards the nearest ally he could find, gunning down two Cerberus troopers as he ran. The chief of security.

"Hey!" Shepard asked as he stopped next to him. "What's the plan?"

The chief pointed to the mantis gunships and mimicked a gun with his fingers.

"Uhh… ok?" Shepard replied, clearly confused.

Shepard fired a concussive shot at the nearest enemy, which happened to be a Helghast soldier, and sent him flying off the ledge. He whipped out his predator pistol and fired some shots, taking out two more Helghast soldiers. He saw Redford up front, firing away at the ground forces as they approached his position. Suddenly, a red dot appeared out of nowhere, pointing straight at Redford. Shepard looked towards the source, and there stood a Helghast marksman, hiding in a little dark corner, partially behind some air vents. Shepard took out his phaeston and fired off three rounds. The marksman's head recoiled backwards as the shots hit him in each lens. Shepard was about to whoop when he saw a bullet blast out from the sniper as the marksman fell. Shepard was guessing it would miss, but just his luck, or Redford's luck, it hit the sergeant in the side.

"Agh!" Redford shouted as he went down on one knee.

"Hold up!" Shepard shouted. "I'm on my way to you!"

Cerberus forces moved forward as the firing from Redford stopped. He wasn't going to reach Redford in time to use the medi-gel. Redford put out one hand to stop the commander. He pulled out a grenade belt and waited as the ground forces walked towards his position. As six or seven Cerberus troopers neared his position, he pulled the pin on one grenade and ran towards the nearest soldier. The troopers opened fire, filling him with holes, but before he went down, the grenade belt blew up, taking out a chunk of the area along with Redford and most of the ground troops. Shepard had no choice but to fall back, heading towards Jacob's position.

"You alright, Jacob?" he asked the man. "Sorry about Redford. I couldn't get to him."

Jacob shook his head. "He was a good man, and at least he managed to die a purposeful death."

More conversation was cut off as the lead mantis fired a barrage of rockets towards their position. More ex-cerberus operatives in the back were blown up as they tried to get to better cover.

"Shepard, we need to take out Makarov," Jacob said. "He's the one in the lead mantis gunship."

"Alright, I'll see what I can do."

Shepard suddenly remembered his teammates. He turned to see EDI building up a wall of steel to protect some soldiers from the mantis missiles. Garrus was a master with the sniper. He ran along, sniping out troops from cover, one shot each. James fired a few shots from a newly acquired weapon that Shepard had never seen before. It would take a while to charge up, but when done, it launched a powerful red laser that shredded just about anything in its path. James took out a group of Cerberus ground troops and a mantis with the weapon. Salem and Rios were somewhere on the other side of the battlefield, slowly taking out the troops that Shepard and the others were distracting. Shepard continued firing his rifle at the ground troops, slowly, but effectively mowing them down. Without warning, lickers ran out among the Cerberus troops. They weaved in and out towards Shepard's position, forcing Jacob and himself back. He fired off a whole thermal clip at the lickers, but only managed to take down two of them. One lunged for Jacob, but out of nowhere, Ghost flung himself at the licker, tackling it down a small slope. They struggled and tried to hit each other for a while, but they were almost equal in power. The licker eventually got the upper hand, and slashed Ghost across the chest, tearing his armor into little metal pieces.

"Argh!" Ghost shouted as he rolled away.

The licker went after him, but stopped suddenly. Shepard looked at the strange sight. The licker didn't seem like it was going to move anymore. Then he realized why. In its side, there was a little black knife. It seemed Ghost had gotten it after all. The licker fell with a thud as Jacob ran towards the fallen soldier.

"Did my best, Jacob," Ghost wheezed as his life points started fading.

"We'll get you some medi-gel, Ghost," Jacob replied, activating his omni-tool.

"No need for that. Heroes go out with a bang. At least I didn't die some pointless death like… being betrayed for example. I'd hate it if I was doing well and suddenly getting killed by someone I trust."

"You're right about that," Shepard added in.

Ghost turned back to Jacob. "So, no thanks. I won't be needed that."

With a last gasp, Ghost's body went limp.

"Sorry about him Jacob," Shepard said. "But we've got to move. The lickers are still advancing. They only stood still to let us finish this dramatic moment."

Jacob nodded, and the two of them moved back, taking down lickers and Cerberus soldiers as they moved to a more defensible position. James's Spartan laser blast took out another mantis as Shepard and Jacob got behind a piece of metal debris. The wreckage of the mantis was brought down by gravity, taking out some of the lickers. The chief took out his rifle and shot the lickers one by one as they got nearer to Shepard's location. His rifle was special, able to lock on to each target before a bullet was launched, tracking down the targets and eliminating them.

"Man, that guy sure is cool," Shepard said. "And he has an arsenal of cool weapons too."

"Yeah," Jacob agreed. "He used to be an agent before he became our temporary chief of security. He got a hold of some top secret Cerberus weapons before we defected."

"Nice."

Another licker jumped over the cover, but Shepard took it out with a straight up uppercut with his omni-blade. James's shot another blast at the nearest mantis, ripping it to pieces. The pilot ejected out before the gunship exploded, but Garrus took him out with a headshot mid-fall. The battle lasted a little longer, but eventually, only one gunship remained. Makarov's.

"Darn!" he shouted over the loudspeaker. "I'll get you next time, Ghost!"

He turned the mantis around and started flying away. Shepard, Jacob and a few others started pointlessly shooting the gunship with their bullets, but they only took down a small portion of its shields. Before they could decide their next course of action, the chief ran forward, passing Shepard like a gust of wind. He ran up the side of a building like a pro, and jumped towards the mantis.

"Don't do that!" Jacob suddenly shouted. "Why didn't you use the rocket launcher!"

No response came from the chief, but as he flew, he headed straight for the engines of the mantis.

"No!" Rios shouted. "That's a bad idea!"

"It would be an honourable death, you have to admit," Salem voiced.

The chief landed near the engine, and was immediately sucked right into it. Suddenly, the mantis started sounding off a strange 'chugging' sound as it started smoking from more than one place. It started descending lower and lower as fire broke out at the engine. The mantis crashed down onto the landing pad, taking out a portion of the floor as it scrapped along it. Now a flaming wreck, Makarov popped out of the cockpit, coughing from the smoke. Garrus raised his sniper rifle, ready to end it, but James put out his hand in front of the barrel.

"Hey!" Garrus shouted. "I could have taken your hand off if I pulled the trigger! Careful!"

"Well, you didn't," James smiled. "Leave this guy to me. I've faced him a dozen times in my video game."

Shepard raised an eyebrow towards James. "Really, lieutenant?"

"Yeah, loco," he said. "This will be easy."

James walked towards the downed commander, dropping his huge laser along the way.

"Don't want that slowing me down," he said to himself as he approached Makarov.

Makarov saw him and started to stand, drawing a pistol and a knife, ready for another fight. James put up his fists, ready to engage. Makarov moved first, firing a shot out of his pistol. It deflected off the ISA lieutenant's shields as he lunged for Makarov. James swung a fist at Makarov, knocking him in the chest as he fired off more rounds, missing the soldier. He swung his knife at James, but James grabbed his elbow, stopping his arm's movement. With a quick action, James swung his own arm back at him, plunging the knife into Makarov's chest.

"Ah!" the Cerberus commander shouted, spitting out blood along with his saliva.

James stepped back as the commander gagged and breathed as he went down.

Shepard went up to James. "How'd you do that? I thought you were weak?"

James gave Shepard a questioning look. "Really, loco? I am a lieutenant. I have experience in combat and virtual training."

"I'll have to check with ISA command why James still hasn't been demoted," Shepard thought to himself.

With a final grasp for the sky, Makarov went down.

"Well, we've won!" James shouted in triumph.

Jacob came over and looked at the dead man. "That was for Redford, Ghost, and the chief."

With everything done and settled, EDI called for Cortez to come in for a pick up.

"Good job, people," Shepard told the survivors. "We sure could use men like you. Join us! We're building an awesome weapon that rivals me in power. Help us finish it, so that we can end the reaper threat forever!"

He turned to Jacob. "Want to join us again? We could use more help on the Normandy."

Jacob shook his head. "Nah, I'm good Shepard. Leading this people has given me a taste of… well, leadership. I'll do what I can to help out with the project."

"Alright, then," Shepard sighed. "I was hoping to get an ally on this mission."

"Well, if you really want one…" Jacob signaled to Salem and Rios. "You can take these guys. I'm sure they'll be a lot of help for your upcoming missions."

Shepard grew a big smile on his face. "Yes, thanks! I'll put them to good use in the kitch… I mean, fight against the reapers! Yeah!"

"Good to know," Jacob nodded. "And Shepard, good job. Thanks for coming to help us."

"Anytime, old friend. Anytime. Gotta show you my skills after all."

Project Eel - Arrae