A/N: Thank you DenaraLaKant for the review.

They ran towards the airfield, guns gripped tightly in their hands. Kacey knew that whatever that Harvester dropped at the airfield wasn't going to be good; the question was exactly what it had left there. Kacey glanced at the turian behind her; a face that once looked eager to take down the enemy now weary and defeated. His determination was still there, it just wasn't as prevalent as it used to be.

Garrus is her best friend; something that felt a bit weird the more she thought about it. The turian had her back from the start, the moment she had arrived on the Citadel after the attack on Eden Prime. Back then, he was reckless, idealistic, determined and perhaps a little overconfident. Over the course of that adventure, the pair became close friends. They had each other's back and, alongside Kaidan, they were one hell of a chaotic trio. Even after her two-year absence, the turian still had her back and went through the Omega 4 Relay with her on a suicide mission without so much as a backward glance. Even though he was a lot less uptight and more cynical, he still had a good sense of humour and was still the same old Garrus underneath.

He was still her best friend, after everything.

Once they had arrived, Kacey could see husks swarming the airfield; figures. The Reapers are relentless enemies and their foot soldiers are no different. The husks ran towards the trio like rabid dogs, and all Kacey could hear over the screeches was the sound of heavy breathing.

"James, is that you breathing so hard?" Kacey asked as she fired a concussive shot at the husks.

"*sigh* Atmosphere's a little thinner than I'm used to, is all." James huffed, "Adrenaline's better than oxygen any day."

She wished she still had some of that optimism; such a thing was considered a luxury in her mind. But instead, as she pointed her rifle and shot each and every husk that swarmed towards her, each knockback from the recoil of the assault rifle, she tuned out of reality, focused solely on killing the walking synthetic corpses that wandered into her line of sight. Each concussive shot, each bullet found their mark on a rotting skull or three. What she didn't expect was one to fire back.

She wheeled around as her shields started to crack, and saw her attacker on the far side of the airfield. It was neither a cannibal nor a husk; rather a tall, slim cybernetic creature that looked vaguely like a turian. The head was nothing more than metal, with the only organic part being at the back of the rotten skull. Eyes were replaced with synthetic ones that looked like small, beady lights. The body was mostly metal, as opposed to the cannibals and husks which was almost a fifty-fifty split.

In response, Kacey threw a grenade at the abomination then shooting it just before it landed at the thing's feet. More of them began to open fire on the trio as they shot back.

"Just me, or do those Reapers look like turians?" James asked through deep breaths.

"You're right…they do." Kacey replied through gritted teeth.

"Palaven Command calls them Marauders." Garrus said as he blew the head off a husk, "We need to get rid of them; they can strengthen those husks."

"Wonderful." Kacey replied, sarcastic.

The marauders were coated with shields, making them more resilient than the cannibals or husks. They fought with some sense of strategy, but it became irrelevant as Kacey and James showered them with grenades. Kacey fired off more concussive shots to ensure the demise of her target, even though it was overkill.

"Are we done?" James asked as Garrus shot the final husk.

"Yeah, I'd say so." Kacey mused, "Let's go."

"Commander Shepard, come in." Corinthus said via the comms.

"Go ahead."

"Still trying to raise the Primarch, but we've got trouble back here at the main barricade." Corinthus explained, "If the Reapers breach it, we're done."

"On my way!" Kacey said, "Let's move!"

…

Kacey bolted through the camp, running desperately towards the barricade. She scrambled up the ladder as Reaper troops landed on the opposite side of the barricade. She ran towards the mounted turret and started to mow down the swarms of husks, cannibals and marauders that came towards them. Garrus sniped at the husks climbing on the nearby cliff edge while James took the other mounted turret.

"Just picking 'em off. Maybe I can do three at a time. Wahoo!" James mused excitedly.

"In your dreams, Lieutenant." Garrus quipped.

James' optimism and enthusiasm was refreshing yet something that Kacey was envious of. But what she also knew was that it would fade out as this war continued. James was still new, still very much a rookie when dealing with the Reapers especially, like much of the galaxy. She wondered how long it would be before she saw his optimism fade.

James and Garrus kept firing off quips, almost like they were competing with each other. Kacey however, preferred to stay quiet, stay focused. She still had to come up with some type of plan or strategy for destroying the Reapers. And she still had no idea what to do; she had known and fought against them for three years and yet, she had little to show for it.

"Yeah!" James shouted, breaking Kacey out of her trance, "Like fish in a barrel!"

"What?!" Garrus questioned.

"Old human saying! Like fish in a barrel!"

"I don't get it! Why–?"

"Don't ask." Kacey finally spoke up.

"Holy hell!" James shouted suddenly as a singular combatant remained, "What is that thing?!"

It was huge; it had the head of a marauder attached to an elongated neck that looked like a pipe. The body was bulky, muscular and its sharp claws and hands were made of some strong metal. Kacey eyed the creature as it prepared to lunge at the barricade.

"Shit." Kacey mused, "Brace yourselves!"

It hit the barricade hard; it shook violently as Kacey tried to hold on in vain. She fell and landed next to the hulking creature. It slowly turned as Kacey, flooded with adrenaline, scrambled away from it, holding her rifle in her hands and firing a concussive shot to slow it down.

It was faster than it looked; it bolted towards her, attempting to strike her with one big swing. However, Kacey managed to roll backwards, out of the way by the skin of her teeth. Another concussive shot made contact with the brutish husk as Kacey tried to put some distance between her and the hulking mass in front of her.

"You okay, Shepard?" She heard Garrus call from afar.

"I'm fine, just in a tight spot right now!" She shouted back as she tried to aim her rifle at the fleshy parts of the brute, "Could really use some help down here!"

"On our way!" James shouted in response.

'I damn well hope so.' Kacey thought to herself as she ran towards the brute and, just as it was reeling its arm back to take a swing at her, rolled underneath it and fired another inferno concussive shot in its back. Another concussive shot hit the brute from the front as Garrus and James arrived and opened fire on the monstrosity. Once it finally hit the ground, dead, Kacey breathed a sigh of relief.

"Shepard, Corinthus here." Corinthus said through the comms.

"What's the word on the Primarch?" Kacey asked bluntly.

"Still can't get a stable comm link." Corinthus grumbled.

"Okay. I'm going on foot. Shepard out." Kacey mused as she turned her attention to Garrus, "Garrus, take me to the last place you saw Victus."

"Come on, follow me." Garrus mused as he led the way.

"How far?"

"Should be pretty quick, unless we find trouble."

It was like he was jinxing it; trouble typically followed Kacey. From the mundane to the extreme, trouble was Kacey's partner in destiny, no matter the kind.

"Things tend to explode around you, Shepard."

That they do. Intentionally or otherwise. The road was quiet, and Kacey was put on edge by the sound of the Reaper capital ships that lurked a little too close for her liking. The squad slid down a gravel slope as Garrus took a big sigh.

"Damn it! Look at Palaven." He mused, "That blaze of orange–the big one–that's where I was born."

There were hundreds of orange spots covering the darkened side of the planet. The place Garrus had pointed out must've been an area that spanned for miles—now reduced to nothing more than ash and dust. It made her feel sick.

"That's rough." James mused, "Still have family there?"

"My dad, a sister." Garrus responded bluntly.

"How bad is it?"

"Three million lost the first day, five the second." Garrus said somberly.

"How's your military holding up?" Kacey asked.

"Look around. That should give you some idea."

She didn't blame him for his callous response; she should've tried harder to convince the galaxy to prepare for this. She should've pushed harder. Paleven was burning because of her, and so was Earth. Reminders of her failure.

"You're putting up a good fight." Kacey said.

"For now." Garrus sighed, "But how long does it take before the fight's kicked out of you?"

Good question. She couldn't say; maybe the fight was already kicked the hell out of her. And yet, she was still stubborn enough to persist anyway. Resist. Fight. Just pointing and shooting. She wasn't going down without a fight; but whether or not she had the energy to was a different matter entirely.

"If they'd only listened to your warnings, Shepard." Garrus continued, "We might've been ready."

He was right, somewhat. They would have at least stood some semblance of a chance; and chances were, they probably would've found that device's blueprints sooner. He was right, and she knew it. She was already blaming herself for it.

"Maybe." James mused, "Hard to figure how you prepare for something like this."

And yet, she managed to pull it off; twice. It was possible, even if it was hard to believe. As she looked back on the last three years, and everything that took place, she knew it was hard to believe.

They came across a small group of husks; they were quickly dispatched with ease. Kacey marched off past their burning corpses, lost in thought as James and Garrus followed.

"Shit! I hate those things." James said, "And New York is crawling with the creepy bastards! Never should have left Earth."

"It's gonna be bad all over." Garrus mused.

"Leaving the fight pisses me off."

"But you're here asking Victus to do the same thing." Garrus countered, "Leave the fight to make nice in some boardroom."

Kacey rolled her eyes, "If Victus doesn't do that, we are fucked. You know none of us are beating the Reapers on our own, Garrus."

"I know." Garrus replied, "But not everyone understands that."

…

A while later, they came across some wounded soldiers. They were clearly out here for quite a while before their arrival. There were a few body bags on the ground as the trio moved through the area.

"Soldier! You okay?" Kacey asked one of the nearby soldiers.

"Yes, ma'am. We'll make it!" They replied.

"Have you seen General Victus?" Garrus asked.

"Half hour ago, headed south."

"Okay. Good luck." Garrus said as Kacey led the squad towards the general's location.

They headed down the path in silence, narrowly avoiding a crashed fighter jet as they moved across the rocky surface.

"So, Lola…" James said, breaking the ambient silence, "You really think this summit will work? I mean, asari? Salarians? Where's the krogan and batarians? Where's the meat?"

"It's not that simple, James." Kacey sighed, not particularly wanting to answer that question.

"The batarians took the first hit when the Reapers arrived." Garrus answered for her, "Not much left of them. And the krogan have never forgiven us for the genophage."

"Right." James mused, "Turians sterilised them."

"Salarians came up with it."

"And the krogan hate them both for it." Kacey mused.

"So, they won't be joining us." Garrus finished nonchalantly.

"Too bad." James added, "I fought with a krogan. They're tough sons of bitches."

The conversation stopped there, yet Kacey had to admit James had a point; the krogan should be there, they should be helping with the fight. But even if she was able to convince krogan to join them, there was still animosity between them and the turians and salarians. There was no guarantee that all three races were going to play ball with one another.

As Kacey led her two teammates through the rugged terrain, the sound of Reaper foot soldiers being dropped off caught her attention. The rapid rate at which those fiery balls were being dropped was worrying Kacey.

"That sounds bad!" James shouted.

"Double time it, people!" Kacey shouted back as she ran along the path, "No Reaper is taking this Primarch from me!"

The camp was a mess; husks and marauders flooded the area, proving to be quite the unrelenting force and a bit too much for the turians to handle. Kacey threw a grenade to try and disperse the crowd of husks and attract their attention. James had his shotgun out and was blasting the husks cleanly in half as he did so.

Garrus meanwhile was overloading the shields of the marauders as Kacey turned her attention to them; James should be fine with the husks as long as she kept an eye on him. She got into cover as she fired a concussive shot at the marauder closest to her. She took out the marauders and cannibals as the trio moved further into the compound.

The turian soldiers were opening fire on the two brutes that had blasted their way into the compound. Kacey caught the attention of one of the brutes and lured it right towards Garrus' proximity mines. She hopped over them as the brute tried to ram into her, only to be blown up by the mines and James' grenades.

"Looks grim, been a tough fight for these guys!" James shouted as he unloaded bullets into the other brute.

He was right; another brute had joined the fight, further proving James' point. As Kacey and Garrus unloaded their concussive shots into the brute as the rest of the turian soldiers shot the remaining husks.

After the last of the Reaper troops went down, the leader of the group of soldiers left the building on the farthest side of the compound. Kacey, still clutching her assault rifle, headed towards the turian.

"General Victus?" Kacey asked as the turian in black and red armour approached.

"Yes?" Victus replied bluntly.

"I'm Commander Shepard of the Normandy." Kacey replied.

"Ah, Commander." Victus said, putting his rifle away, "I know who you are. I can't wait to find out what brings you out here. Vakarian, where did you go?"

"Heavy Reaper unit on the right flank." Garrus responded nonchalantly, "I believe your exact words were, 'Get that thing the hell off my men.'"

Kacey could feel a smirk crawl across her face as Garrus said that. Victus eyed the sharpshooter carefully before replying.

"Appreciate it." He replied bluntly.

"General, you're needed off-world." Kacey explained, "I've come to get you."

"It will take something beyond important for me to leave my men, or my turian brothers and sisters, in their fight." Victus replied.

Kacey could understand the sentiment; she felt the same way leaving Earth. But the reality was they were not going to win by standing around and fighting alone.

"Fedorian was killed." Garrus said, "You're the new Primarch."

"You're needed immediately to chair a summit and represent your people in the fight against the Reapers." Kacey elaborated.

Victus walked past Kacey and Garrus, gazing out towards the burning planet of Palaven. He continued to gaze out towards the planet as he spoke.

"I am Primarch of Palaven?" He mused, "Negotiating for the Turian Hierarchy?"

"Yes."

Victus turned to face Kacey, a look of hesitancy on his face, "I've spent my whole life in the military. I'm no diplomat—I hate diplomats."

"Why the hesitancy?" Kacey asked.

"I'm not really a 'by the book' kind of guy…and I piss people off." Victus replied, "My family's been military since the Unification War. War is my life. It's in my bones. But that kind of passion is…deceptive. Can make you seem reckless when you're anything but."

"Look, war is your resume. And at a time like this, we need leaders who've been through that kind of hell." Kacey replied.

"I like that." Victus mused, "You're right."

"And honestly, uniting these races may take as much strength as facing the Reapers." Kacey said, "See this devastation, Primarch? This will be everywhere in the galaxy soon enough. And to stop them, I need an alliance. I need the turian fleet."

"Give me a moment to say goodbye to my men." Victus said.

Kacey nodded as Victus went to speak with his men. Garrus sighed as he looked over at Victus, a grim look on his face.

"Without him down here, there's a very good chance we lose this moon." Garrus said.

"Without him up there, we lose everything." Kacey mused, "I know you don't like it but I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't important."

"I know, Kacey." Garrus replied, "I know. But it's hard to justify it. We've known for years what the Reapers are capable of. The rest of the galaxy still have no idea." I mean, look at that! And they want my opinion on how to stop it? Failed C-Sec officer, vigilante…and I'm their expert advisor?"

"Oops." Kacey replied, "My bad for dragging your ass on some crazy missions, huh?"

"Definitely." Garrus mused, "Think you can win this thing, Kacey?"

It was Kacey's turn to sigh as she faced her best friend, "Yeah, I don't know Garrus. But I'm sure as hell gonna give it my best shot."

"I'm damn sure nobody else can do it." Garrus said, "For whatever it's worth, I'm with you."

"It's good to have you back, Garrus." Kacey said, "Are you ready, Primarch Victus?"

"One thing." Victus said as he approached Kacey, "Commander, I appreciate your need for our fleets but I can't spare them. Not while my world is burning. But if the pressure could be taken off Palaven…"

"That's a pretty tall order." Kacey mused.

"We need the krogan." Victus said, "I can't see us winning this without them. Get them to help us, and then we can help you."

"The krogan…"

"Looks like your summit just got a lot more interesting." Garrus scoffed.

…

"The asari have been down this road before, Commander Shepard."

"Seriously? Just let me–"

"I tried to smooth things over with the salarian dalatrass." Tevos said, calm but firm, "To say she's upset would be a monumental understatement."

"The Krogan Rebellions ended over a thousand years ago!" Kacey argued, "It is time to let this go!"

"Sad to say, but any efforts to ally these disparate groups is doomed to failure." Tevos replied flatly, "And I'm sure you understand that we cannot afford to waste time with the Reapers knocking at our door."

"We need the krogan if we are to stand a chance against the Reapers!"

"This must be my final word, Commander." Tevos replied, "I'm sorry, but the asari will not be at your summit."

"Our alliance would be stronger with the krogan" Kacey said, growing more frustrated by the second, "You need them, we all do."

"I wish you luck, Commander." Tevos said as she ended the transmission.

"I wish you luck, Commander!" Kacey said in a mocking tone, before seeing another incoming call coming through the QEC, "Arghh!"

She hit the button and Hackett appeared on the QEC and didn't hesitate to start talking.

"Commander, have you retrieved the Primarch for the summit?" Hackett asked.

"Yes, sir." Kacey confirmed, "But the asari are staying on the sidelines."

"They'll regret that." Hackett replied, "The time for unity is now."

"The salarians will be there though."

"You don't sound very optimistic."

"We expect the krogan will be joining us too." Kacey mused, "That's why the asari won't be there and why the salarian dalatrass is very pissed off with me."

"I see." Hackett mused, "Well, then you've got your hands full, Commander."

"Yeah. Looking forward to dealing with all that." Kacey sighed, "Did you find out how the Reapers hit Earth?"

"Yes, and it turns out it wasn't all that complicated, really." Hackett mused, "They surged past the relays and hit Arcturus Station before we knew what was happening. From there, it was a short jump to the Sol system. Earth didn't stand a chance."

"Wait. Arcturus Station was destroyed?" Kacey's eyes widened, "Is–?"

"She's fine, Kacey." Hackett reassured her, "She had left Arcturus about a month ago for a tour around the colony of Tiptree. Chances are, her ship is defending the colony from the Reaper invasion there."

"At least she's still fighting." Kacey mused, "Now, I'm just glad we went to Mars."

"Still doesn't change the fact that the Reapers had us nailed against the wall." Hackett replied, "I sacrificed the Second Fleet to provide cover for the Third and the Fifth to retreat. Hell, I've presided over the most devastating military defeat in human history."

"Makes you wonder how we're going to win this." Kacey mused.

"We are going to win this, Kacey."

"And how do you plan on doing that? Cause I've got nothing."

"By making you the tip of the spear."

"Excuse me?" Kacey said, "I'm flattered but the Normandy's just one ship."

"And a fast one." Hackett explained, "You can move quickly, hit a target and leave before the enemy has time to react."

"Sure, it's an advantage, but can it win a war?"

"It's the larger principle that matters." Hackett said, "We'll never defeat the Reapers with a full frontal assault, Kacey."

"I know, Admiral." Kacey said, "It took nearly the whole Alliance fleet to take Sovereign down three years ago."

"So, we'll find their soft spots, avoid them where they're strong and hit them when they're not." Hackett said.

"Well, when you say it like that, it sounds simple." Kacey replied.

"Keep me posted, Hackett out."

Hackett was quick to end the call, as Kacey took a deep breath. This was going to be a lot harder to pull off than she thought. As she headed towards the CIC, she could see Victus, busy typing away on the terminal in the centre of the room.

"Commander, thank you for allowing me the use of your ship." Victus said, "And for going along with this plan. Garrus said he had to attend to the Normandy's weapons systems. Something about calibrations."

"Sounds like Garrus." Kacey responded, "I'm sorry to say the asari councillor won't be joining us. She thinks there's too much bad blood with the krogan."

"She may be right but there'll be a lot more blood—real blood–if we don't try."

"When you put it that way…"

"The sooner we have this summit, the sooner we'll know." Victus replied.

"Thank you Primarch. My thoughts are with Palaven." Kacey said.

"And mine with Earth." Victus replied.

But Kacey knew that thoughts and prayers weren't going to be enough. It wasn't going to bring the dead back, no matter how much they prayed otherwise.