MASS EFFECT DOES NOT BELONG TO ME. MY CHARACTERS ARE MINE, AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE, UNTIL THEY FIND OUT WHERE I KEEP THE BLACKMAIL MATERIAL. SO FAR, SO GOOD.

This story has proven to be too much fun to take a break.

Mass Effect: Legacy

IV

Fortunately for Base Theta, there were no further attacks before Grunt arrived with his convoy. Eighty Phalanx tanks, the most advanced battle tanks to roll off the Alliance fabricators, led the way for twice as many Thresher APCs. To the relief of everyone in the base, half of the transports were loaded with food, medicine, and other supplies for the civilians.

"Good work, Captain," Grunt said as he dismounted from a tank. "I heard about the attack. You kicked those bastards in the teeth."

Nala'Moy saluted. "Thank you, sir, but credit goes to Lieutenant Shepard and her team. They got the comms working again, and they were the ones who went outside the base to deal with the enemy armor."

Grunt nodded. "Yeah, but you and your men not only held this base, but helped all these civilians. We all do our part, Captain."

"Of course, sir."

"Anyway, I'll take over command for now." Grunt gestured in the direction of the base's garrison. "Take some time to rest, Captain; that's an order. This place will still be standing when you wake up."

Nala'Moy saluted again. "Yes, sir."

"As for you, Lieutenant." Grunt loomed over Alanna, who remained at attention; after a moment, Grunt smiled. "Heh, heh, heh. I should have known you'd do something crazy like hijack an enemy tank."

Alanna grinned. "Well, I thought to myself, 'What would Grunt do?', and decided the best defense was a good offense."

"And that's why we're not going to stay here for too long," Grunt said, and patted her shoulder—it was gentle, by Krogan standards, but it nearly sent Alanna sprawling. "Rest up, we're pushing into enemy-held territory in six hours. I'm gonna need your squad to hit vital targets along the way."

"With pleasure, sir." After waiting for Grunt to dismiss her, Alanna spun on her heel and rejoined her team at the barracks.

Grunt couldn't help but smile fondly at the young Asari. She had grown up so fast—to him, anyway—and could still remember when he had taught her how to headbutt like a proper Krogan. She was more than the daughter of his dead Battlemaster, she was like the niece he never had. Shepard had taught Grunt camaraderie, but it was his daughter that had taught him about family. When Alanna had stepped off that shuttle in Illyria, he had felt a twinge of ice-cold fear that he would find her dead on the battlefield, and had hidden it behind his gruff bluster. Now, he could see that Alanna was a true warrior; it took courage to charge an armored unit with only two other soldiers by your side, and even greater skill to come out victorious.

This is your first trial by fire, Alanna, he thought. Let's see how you do in the next one.

…

Despite her fatigue, Alanna's curiosity was piqued when she saw Nala'Moy speaking to someone on her omni-tool. She could tell from the captain's body language that she was agitated about something, so she inched close enough to eavesdrop.

"Sam, I promise you that I'm safe!"

"Nala, I may be a civilian, but I know how to translate military jargon," a male voice said, sounding as agitated as the Quarian. "You were holding out with half a garrison! That is not 'safe'."

"And you should know that I don't have a choice," Nala'Moy hissed. "I have a duty to follow orders, and my orders are to protect this base!" She sighed. "Look, I should be rotated out of here in a few days. I'll see you then, okay?"

"Fine. Maybe we can talk about you getting a post somewhere safe."

Nala'Moy scowled and hung up, then noticed Alanna. "Something I can help you with, Lieutenant?"

Alanna smiled. "Permission to join you, Captain?"

"Granted." Nala'Moy tiredly scooted over to make room, and Alanna sat down. "I'm guessing you heard that?"

"Yeah, sorry." Alanna shrugged. "You weren't exactly being subtle."

Nala'Moy nodded. "That was my husband. Sam is convinced that any soldier who fights is destined to die. I can understand where he's coming from—his grandparents died during the Reaper War, and so did mine, and he grew up on stories about how bad the war was." She chuckled. "You could have heard our argument when I enlisted from the other side of the planet. The only reason he didn't have a complete breakdown is because I was stationed here, as part of the garrison."

"Why did you enlist?" Alanna asked.

"Well, it was a few things. I was actually hoping to get stationed on a ship; we might have Rannoch back, but flying through space is in every Quarian's blood, and I wanted to do something other than haul cargo. But Sam is terrified of space travel, and I couldn't do that to him."

"Sam is a human name, right?"

"Yeah, I married a human; it's not that common, since my people are still rebuilding our population, so when I told my parents I was in love with someone else, they gave me a choice. Either break it off with Sam, or stay as far away from them as possible. As you can see, I'm not on Rannoch anymore."

Alanna winced. "That really sucks, ma'am."

"Eh, it's not so bad. Sam's parents are great, even though it took them way too long to realize they'd traumatized him with stories about the war." Nala'Moy clenched her fists. "That's why I need to survive this war. I want to see Sam look at the stars and not be afraid—either for himself, or for me. I can't do that if I die, but I'm not going to let fear keep me from doing my job."

Alanna smiled. "Well, now that General Grunt is here to lead the counterattack, you can do that a lot easier."

Nala'Moy nodded. "And there's a good chance you're the reason I got to have that argument earlier, so thanks. I'll be sure my report shows that."

"I appreciate it, Captain, but that's unnecessary."

"Too bad, I'm still writing it that way." She grinned behind her dirty helmet. "Now, if you're done wringing my life's story out of me, you should get some rest, Lieutenant."

Alanna glanced over to the barracks, and saw Haley wave tiredly. "Good idea, ma'am."

Haley had her helmet off, so Alanna could see her raise one eyebrow. "What were you talking to the captain about?"

Alanna shrugged. "Just learning a few things that make winning this war just a little more important."

…

Miranda watched as data flowed across her console. Some of it came from battlefield reports, some came from the Geth, but most of it came from Liara. The current Shadow Broker had once boasted that the information at her hands could start a war, but it seemed that she was doing everything in her power to make sure that one side won that war.

While the initial push from the Council had made it to the Tikkun system, the offensive was effectively contained. Few ships from each successive Council fleet made it past the Vetus system, and losses among the Alliance were light. Still, the Council was committed to their invasion, and seemed focused on getting past the Vetus blockade.

That tunnel vision was going to cost them.

Miranda had been preparing a dozen different operations, parallel to the rest of the Alliance military. With the Council effectively distracted, Miranda had snuck hundreds of operatives into Council space, and within the week, they would be hitting communications relays, supply depots, and industrial sites that might impact the war.

Some of her detractors might have said that Miranda was using tactics not unlike those of Cerberus. She would have countered that, unlike her former associates, she was using those methods to protect the Alliance.

Satisfied that her operations were proceeding as planned, Miranda rose from her chair. She took a moment to look herself in the mirror before heading to a briefing; despite her age, she looked almost the same as she did when she'd served with Shepard. The only difference was some grey in her hair, and a hardness in her eyes that came from years of running Alliance Intelligence.

In hindsight, that mirror saved her life; without it, she would never have seen the shadow move behind her, and her enhanced reflexes screamed at her to move. Miranda dove to the side, and what should have pierced her heart instead tore a huge gash in her left arm. Despite the pain, Miranda mustered the strength to wrap her assailant in a biotic field and slam them into the ceiling. By the time they fell to the floor, she had pulled one of several pistols from a hidden compartment and opened fire. The bullets seemed to be absorbed into the attacker's wraithlike form, but they still drove it back.

"Miranda, down!"

Miranda threw herself to the floor, giving EDI a clear line of fire. The AI had always preferred lighter weaponry, but for a situation like this, she had armed her body with a heavy shotgun that blasted the assassin back with a roar. The shadow hissed and seemed to dissolve in a cloud of black ash, but Miranda wasn't having any of that.

"EDI, lockdown procedure three!"

Activating at the speed of an AI's thought, a barrier was generated from an emitter in the ceiling, trapping the half-dissolved assassin in a form of stasis.

Twenty-four seconds after the first shot was fired, six elite Alliance soldiers burst in. "Ma'am, are you all right?"

Miranda looked down at her arm. "No. Severe lacerations, at least one artery nicked, and I'm going into shock. I need a trauma kit. Lock down the building, nothing gets in or out without a top-level security inspection. EDI, you're in charge of examining that… thing."

"Understood, Miranda." EDI glared at the trapped assassin with a very human display of hatred. "However, you require immediate medical attention. I am already distributing orders and implementing security enhancements. You can rest."

Miranda nodded, even as one of the soldiers began applying medi-gel to her arm. "EDI."

"Yes, Miranda?"

"Tell the family…" Miranda shook her head in an effort to remain conscious. "Tell them that the storm is here."

…

Six hours after Grunt's arrival, Alanna was back on her feet. She'd managed almost five hours of uninterrupted sleep, plus some field-maintenance of her weapons. It had been difficult to find a dry place for the latter, considering the rain had yet to let up, but she had managed once half of Grunt's transports began evacuating the civilians and freeing up space.

It had more to do with her position as the highest-ranking N7 present than anything else that Alanna was brought in for Grunt's briefing with the other officers. Still, she suspected that her father's name was the reason she'd been given more than a little space.

"Okay, now that long-range comms are back online, we've been coordinating with other strongpoints across the north," Grunt said, pointing at a holographic map. "We were able to triangulate the location of the main Council base; they're using an abandoned town called Hera's Reach."

"Why is it abandoned?" a Quarian officer asked.

"Because we pulled out all the civilians before the enemy landed," Grunt said patiently, but his glare dared anyone to interrupt him again. "Anyway, we're going to do to them what they tried to do to us. We take out their command center in the area, and they won't be able to coordinate their forces." Someone opened their mouth, and Grunt held up one hand. "Of course, an armored assault like ours is gonna get seen miles away, thanks to these."

Grunt tapped at his omni-tool, and the map zoomed in on a thin, triangular tower, mounted on top of a bunker. "The Council forces deployed sensor-towers all over the place, along with prefabricated bunkers. We can't just destroy them, since that's as good as telling the enemy where we're going. Instead, we'll send teams to infiltrate the area and hack the sensors, disguising our movements. Once a big enough window is opened up, we'll punch through and deliver the knockout blow. Any questions?"

Alanna raised her hand. "What if the guards around the towers send out a distress signal?"

"They won't," Grunt said. "I got word from orbit; once we begin this op, the Geth are gonna bombard the area with low-grade interference. It won't last long, and it'll hit us just as much, so timing will be key. Lieutenant Shepard, your team will hit the target designated 'Outpost Three'; I'll inform the other teams about their targets."

"What about air support?" another officer asked.

"Limited," Grunt admitted. "The interference will affect gunships and shuttles even worse than ground forces, but we'll have a few to help with the main assault." He looked around. "Anything else? If not, we roll out as soon as the second wave of transports comes in, and the civvies get evacuated. Dismissed."

Alanna received a brief nod from Grunt, and then headed over to her squad. Haley was gesturing between her shotgun and Korim's, and the two seemed to be having a debate.

"I'm telling you, the incendiary mods are a better all-round choice," Haley argued.

"And I'm telling you, warp mods help me cover more bases, since I've got so much stuff that does the same thing as the incendiary mods." Korim noticed Alanna's approach. "Hey, Alanna, what ammo mods do you use again?"

"Cryo and shredder," Alanna replied immediately. "Whichever I use depends on what the terrain is like, or if I'm facing enemies with extra defenses."

Haley gestured to her, as if to say 'there you go'. "See? Between the three of us, we've got pretty much all our bases covered."

"I don't even know why you started this stupid argument!"

Alanna rolled her eyes fondly, then lightly smacked her friends upside their heads. "Knock it off, you idiots. We've got a mission, so get your heads in the game."

"Easy for you to say," Haley complained. "Your squad leader didn't just give you a concussion."

"Haley, if I was going to give you a concussion, you'd feel it."

Korim tilted his head. "Okay, are you two flirting again? Because I can't tell sometimes."

"We're not flirting at all, stupid," Haley snapped. "You really need to pick up on human social cues."

"One of you isn't human, so who's stupid now?"

"Both of you are stupid," Alanna said, and then grinned evilly. "Besides, Haley doesn't flirt; she just stares longingly at asses."

Haley started twisting her shotgun in her hands, and it took the others a moment to realize that she was strangling her gun.

"Okay, I think we've done enough damage," Alanna said, relenting. "Grab whatever you need, and then meet me at our transport."

Luckily, Grunt's reinforcements arrived only a few minutes later. It was mostly made up of transports for the civilians, but there were another twenty tanks, and ten more APCs full of soldiers ready to fight.

Alanna took a seat inside one of the transports; had it just been her squad, they would have had plenty of room, but they were soon joined by a five-man squad of Krogan, which significantly reduced the amount of legroom.

The Krogan squad leader, a giant even by his race's standards, nodded at Alanna. "N7, right? Never seen you guys in action before; maybe I'll get a chance today."

"I wish I could say I've never seen an all-Krogan squad in action, but I trained on Tuchanka for six months," Alanna said, and held out her hand. "Lieutenant Alanna Shepard."

The Krogan wore black armor with orange highlights on his chest and shoulders that had clearly seen action; his crest was a deep red, and it reminded Alanna of dried blood. He carried three massive weapons on his back, all designed by the finest Krogan weaponsmiths—a heavy-caliber Crusher machine gun, a Mawbreaker missile launcher, and a shotgun that had Alanna extremely jealous. The Extinction-pattern shotgun was deemed illegal by the Council, but the Alliance didn't really care about that. It was two feet long even when it was collapsed, and had two horizontal barrels; a revolver-style dual heat sink allowed the weapon to fire in twelve-shot bursts that could destroy even light vehicles at close range. It was so heavy, and the recoil so massive, that only Krogan and larger Geth platforms could safely use it.

When Alanna had first seen the weapon, she had seen those restrictions as a challenge.

"Corporal Aralakh Nok," the Krogan said proudly. "First Krogan Armored Battalion."

That got Alanna's attention. Any Krogan from Clan Aralakh was already a cut above most warriors, but the only way to join the First KAB was to defeat a soldier already in the unit, and last a full hour in a fight against four others. When they weren't deployed against entrenched pirates in the Terminus, they were put through brutal training missions by Aralakh N7s—or worse, Grunt himself.

"You guys hitting one of the sensor towers?" Korim asked.

"Yeah," Nok said, and gestured to his squad. "We're taking down Outpost Two."

"Well, we're hitting Outpost Three," Alanna said. "Maybe we'll see each other in action sooner than we thought."

The APC abruptly started moving, and Nok grinned. "I can't wait."

…

Royce leaned back in his chair and relaxed for the first time in almost ten hours. Council reinforcements had been streaming in until an hour ago, and a recent report from the Geth confirmed that they weren't going to send more for a while. That gave the Alliance time to rest their troops and repair their ships. Royce was already preparing to send battlegroups to the Tikkun system to aid in its defense as soon as they were ready.

Losses had been mercifully light for the Alliance so far; twenty-one capital ships had been destroyed, along with just over four hundred fighters. Just over five thousand confirmed dead, which was the largest number of casualties the Alliance had suffered in a hundred years. The Council, in contrast, had suffered far worse; after two days of sustained combat, two hundred and nineteen capital ships had been destroyed or disabled, with almost two thousand fighters lost as well. It was almost impossible to tally their dead, but the lowest estimates placed the butcher's bill at just shy of eighty thousand.

It was a different story on the ground, especially since the fighting was still going on. The Council forces had performed better than expected thus far, and almost ten thousand Alliance soldiers had paid the price. They hadn't died easily, though; for every Alliance soldier killed, they'd taken two Council fighters with them. Civilian losses were still piling up, but at least a thousand had been killed; there were reports of rampant looting, torture, and other atrocities committed by desperate and confused Council soldiers.

"Deploy our marines to reinforce the Elysium garrison," he ordered wearily. "Tell their CO that they're to follow Elysium Command's orders. I don't want there to be a pissing-contest when there's a war to fight."

"Yes, sir," one of his officers said, and began transmitting orders.

"Comms, what's the update from Rannoch?"

"The enemy is continuing to push into the system, but they're being slowed by the Geth and Home Flotilla. If the Council keeps going for Rannoch itself, they'll reach it no later than four days from now."

"Good, that gives us time to divert reinforcements there, instead of here." Royce paused. "Any word on the diplomatic front? I don't want to keep the fighting going if we've signed a peace treaty."

"Nothing yet, sir; we're just being told to keep up the defensive strategy for now."

Royce considered that, and mostly agreed. If they kept to a defensive strategy, the Alliance could easily maintain its supply routes, but if the Council got its act together, they could use the initiative to shape the flow of the campaign. And, if the Alliance took the offensive, there was every possibility that the Turians would finally act, and the last thing Royce wanted was for the Hierarchy to start throwing its weight around.

"All right, everyone, you've carried out your duties admirably," he said, rising to his feet. "According to our Geth friends, we've got at least a day before we see action again. Consider your shifts over; get some rest, and come back to work with fresh eyes. The Council has graciously given us time to recover before giving us another opportunity to kick their teeth in, and I don't plan to waste it."

One of his officers grinned. "Somehow, sir, I don't think they see it that way."

…

It took all of Tevos' carefully honed abilities as a diplomat not to wither under the glares of the other three Councilors. Well, two of them were glaring; the other looked at her with a mix of smugness and disappointment, a rather impressive display for a Turian.

"This is a complete disaster, Tevos!" Lirno snapped, his voice just shy of a shout. "Most of the ships we sent into Alliance space are destroyed, or so badly damaged that it will be a miracle if they can make it home under their own power!"

"And we've lost tens of thousands of good soldiers." Borak spoke with a dangerously soft edge. "Everything you said we would accomplish has failed to materialize. The Alliance knew exactly what we were doing, and in the eyes of the galaxy, they are the wounded party! As far as the public is concerned, we are waging an illegal war."

"We are conducting a special military operation," Tevos corrected.

Atremus scoffed. "Call it what you will, Tevos, but the public knows it for what it is. Even if your reasoning was sound, and I sincerely doubt that, it is obvious that this attack has cost the Council far more than it has gained."

"It hasn't cost the Turian Hierarchy a thing," Tevos snapped. "And perhaps this operation might have succeeded if your people had stood with us!"

"That's a good point." Lirno pointed at the Turian. "If your people had struck at Tuchanka, it would have diverted Krogan support from the Vetus system, and allowed our fleet a clearer shot at Rannoch!"

Atremus gave him a dry stare. "First of all, our intelligence shows that Tuchanka is nearly as fortified as Palaven. Any attack on that world would have to be carefully considered, unlike this slapdash assault on Rannoch. Second of all, even if we had attacked Tuchanka and successfully drawn off the Krogan, the Alliance has yet to mobilize over forty percent of its standing military, not to mention the fleets of individual species. In short, you should consider yourselves fortunate that there were any ships that made it to the Tikkun system at all."

Borak rose to his feet, but before he could say something he might regret, all four Councilors received an alert on their omni-tools.

"A supply depot was just destroyed on Khar'shan," Borak announced shakily. "None of the security stationed there survived."

"A similar situation on Sur'Kesh," Lirno said. "STG headquarters was temporarily disabled by a computer virus, and then attacked. Critical data was stolen, and almost half the personnel were killed."

"I'm getting a report that five separate communications facilities on Thessia were raided." Tevos stared blankly at her omni-tool. "Recordings of war crimes committed by our soldiers on Elysium were just transmitted across Asari space."

When Atremus didn't immediately speak, the other Councilors worried that something even worse was occurring on Palaven. Instead, he only looked mildly annoyed.

"There are protests forming on fifteen Hierarchy worlds," he finally said. "The civilians are demanding sanctions against the Salarian Union, Asari Republics, and Batarian Hegemony in response to this unprovoked war of aggression. Primarch Vakarian is holding a meeting to decide our stance on the matter."

Tevos swallowed. "Is the Turian Hierarchy planning to withdraw from the Council?"

"I don't know yet," Atremus admitted. "But I will be sure to let you know if that happens. For now, my instructions are to formally protest this war, and refuse any military aid. We will only mobilize if Hierarchy space is directly attacked." He abruptly rose to his feet. "In addition, I will only be contacting you from Palaven now; I have no intention of being here when the mobs come for you."

With that, Atremus strode from the chamber, leaving the stunned Councilors behind him.

Tevos recovered first, and was already forming plans in her head. There had to be a way to turn this around—either to win the war, or at least let her keep her position. Perhaps, if she moved swiftly, she could shift the blame to Lirno and Borak—after all, the Council needed the guiding hand of a wise and experienced Asari like herself.

…

Alanna ducked under a tree branch as her squad quickly made its way to their target. The APC had dropped off Nok's squad a few minutes earlier, and there was little time to waste. The only good thing was that the rain had finally stopped, but after so much, it felt like walking through a swamp.

"Contact front," Alanna announced tersely. "Two hundred meters, dead ahead."

Haley and Korim tensed; there, waiting around the bunker, were at least fifteen Council soldiers. Unlike every other enemy unit they'd faced, the majority were Asari, with only a handful of Batarians and a single Salarian technician.

"Ten minutes until the interference wears off," Korim said quietly.

Alanna nodded. "Okay, I've got an idea. Haley, take out the techie first, while Korim and I hit them from the front. Use everything you've got—tech attacks, biotics, explosives, whatever does a lot of damage as quickly as possible."

Korim nodded, and activated his tech armor, while Haley pulled out her sniper rifle. "Just give the word, and I'll be right behind you once I'm done here."

"Great." Alanna deployed a drone, this one armed with a flamethrower; the fuel it required meant that it only lasted for sixty seconds before falling apart, but in the close confines of the bunker, one minute was plenty of time. "We'll go after your shot, Haley."

Alanna had just enough time to draw her Tsunami and activate her cryo-ammo; her plan was to overwhelm her targets' barriers with firepower, and then freeze them as soon as their shield were gone. Then, Haley fired, and the Salarian fell over without most of his head.

"Go, go!" Alanna charged out of cover, sprinting the twenty meters between her and the defenses. An Asari darted out of her own cover, but Alanna gunned her down with a sustained burst.

Korim shot a Batarian in the chest with his shotgun; it wasn't enough to kill him, but he was finished off with a burst of plasma. Alanna followed up with another burst that froze an Asari's legs and then blew them off an instant later, and depleted the barriers of another; that second Asari was frozen by Alanna's cryo-blast, and then shattered into pieces by a stray shot.

Now that Alanna and Korim were inside the perimeter, Haley followed after them. She saw a Batarian try to flank her squad, armed with a flamethrower, so she quickly fabricated a grenade from her omni-tool and launched it.

"Hey, asshole!"

The Batarian had just enough time to be surprised before the grenade exploded at his feet. Even if the first explosion hadn't killed him, the ruptured fuel on his flamethrower created an even bigger blast that definitely finished the job.

Korim's shotgun, with some assistance from his warp-ammo, stripped the barriers off another Asari, but before he could deal the killing blow, Alanna's drone set his target on fire. The Asari screamed and rolled around on the ground, but the plasma-based fire melted her flesh before she could put out the flame. Rather than let that sight slow him down, Korim got in close to the last Batarian and manually detonated his tech armor; the shockwave broke the Batarian's shield and knocked him down long enough for Korim to plunge an omni-blade into his skull.

"Is that everything?" Haley asked, once the sound of gunfire faded.

"I think so." Alanna looked around. "Scanners aren't picking up anything, but the Geth interference might be messing with that. Stay alert while I hack the sensor tower."

"Copy that," Haley and Korim said, and set up in a defensive formation—after nudging aside a few bodies that were in the way, that is.

Alanna tapped into the sensor tower with her omni-tool and started looking for a way past its security. She was unsurprised to find that it was heavily encrypted; her mother had shown her some STG coding, and this bore all their hallmarks.

Still, Alanna had been taught all about hacking by the Shadow Broker and the current head of Alliance Intelligence. STG coding was good, but she was better.

"Duplicate runtimes, redundant files, junk code, and some overloads to the hardware, and… I'm in!" Alanna took a moment to be pleased with herself, and then saw an access point to another network, one underlying the sensors. "Ooh, looks like they were piggybacking their own sensors to triangulate where the Alliance would use artillery and airstrikes. Clever. Well, I'll just redirect that, and now they'll head to where those attacks will be."

"Anything else useful in there?" Haley called out.

"Not in the computers," Alanna said, and then started scanning the bodies. "Let's see… some credits, a message from this Asari's bondmate asking her when her training mission is going to be over—"

"Ouch," Korim commented.

"—and a mod for ultralight materials I've never seen before." Alanna studied the design more closely. "Okay, that's smart; it uses cast-off energy from biotic barriers to strengthen a weapon's integrity. It doesn't sacrifice durability for mobility. Useful for heavy weapons, as long as a biotic is holding them."

Haley, the only non-biotic in the squad, looked disappointed. "Damn."

Alanna suddenly received an alert from her omni-tool, and saw that it was from Grunt. "Go ahead, General; our objective is complete."

"Good, but we've got a problem." Alanna couldn't see him, but could picture Grunt's scowl from his voice. "Someone, probably a Salarian, figured out how to get around the interference, at least for short-range stuff. Looks like they were able to send a warning to the other sensor towers, but all but one target is still down. I've lost contact with the squad attacking Outpost Two; Lieutenant, your team is closest, so get over there. No matter what the condition of the squad I sent, you have to complete their mission."

"Understood, sir." Alanna looked at her map. "We can be there in three mikes."

"Good luck, and fight well. Once you're done, see if you can catch up with us when we hit our target. Grunt out."

Alanna was already moving. "Come on, guys, we've got people who need our help! Double-time it!"

…

There was still fighting around Outpost Two when Alanna's squad arrived, but there wasn't much gunfire coming from either side. Alanna grimaced when she saw two dead Krogan near the bunker, and another without his head a short distance away.

"Keelah, it takes a lot of firepower to kill a Krogan, much less three," Korim breathed.

"And I'm betting they took out more than a few guys with them," Haley said. "Let's make sure the survivors don't join them."

"Agreed." Alanna noticed that the bunker had better defenses than the one she'd taken down, including a pair of patrolling mechs; they had all the hallmarks of Asari design, with flowing curved plates and Asari-made assault rifles. "Haley, go left and keep the enemy pinned; grenades, gunfire, whatever works. Korim, you're with me; we take down the mechs, then go help the survivors."

Rather than simply shoot the mechs, Alanna hacked one of them with a premade code; it wasn't her most elegant hack, meant to brute-force its way through the mech's programming, but it created a temporary ally for a few minutes. Aided by a drone she quickly made, the enemy mech was blasted apart in a few seconds. Alanna then blew the head off the 'friendly' mech with her shotgun. She could hear Haley firing her assault rifle at something, and was rewarded by a cry of pain.

"Ha!" A familiar voice shouted out. "Told you I'd last long enough to see you all die! Now I've got backup!"

"Was that Nok?" Alanna asked, but ran into an Asari before she got her answer. The Asari raised a shotgun, but Alanna and Korim were faster; the latter's warp-ammo blasted apart her barrier with ease, and the former killed her with a single shot.

It was at that point that Alanna saw the bodies—at least a dozen Asari, and maybe twice as many Batarian corpses. It was difficult to tell the exact number, since few of the bodies were intact; Alanna remembered from her training on Tuchanka the mess an Extinction shotgun left behind.

"Why does this guy need backup again?" Korim half-joked.

Rather than answer with a quip of her own, Alanna spotted another Asari; this one was spattered with blood, and was spitting out curses in between shots from her sniper rifle.

"Shitter!" Gunshot. "Die already, you ugly bastard!" Gunshot. "Should've died out from the genophage, miserable piece of shit."

Alanna scowled; Wrex had told her stories of how badly the genophage had hurt the Krogan, how it had sent them on a slow spiral to extinction. He had once admitted that, until the Reaper War, he wasn't sure how he was going to keep his species alive. Only the actions of Mordin and Shepard had prevented the end of his people. It had been the only time Alanna had seen him so close to breaking, and when she'd heard that many in the Council races wished to bring the genophage back, it got her angry.

She started with a Warp that detonated the Asari's barrier; then, she hit her sniper rifle with a cryo-blast, rendering it useless. When the Asari scrambled for her pistol, Alanna kicked it out of her hands, and shot her point-blank with her shotgun.

"That was the last one," Korim said mildly.

"Good." Alanna ducked when another burst of gunfire rang out and impacted near her. "Hey! Check fire, we're Alliance!"

"Sorry!" Nok limped out of cover and headed towards them. His armor was covered in his own blood, but by the time he reached their position, his regeneration had fully healed his injuries. "Whoa, it's you guys? Thanks for the assist."

"No problem." Alanna leaned around him. "Were there any other survivors?"

Nok shook his head. "No, I'm all that's left."

"Damn."

"Yeah, and my squad's techie was the first to die, so I wasn't sure how I was gonna complete the mission. Please tell me one of you can take over."

Alanna smiled. "Don't worry, I've got it. Just keep me covered with the rest of my squad while I work."

Thankfully for Alanna, the hack went by without incident, though Nok made a sound of disappointment that just seemed disturbingly wrong coming from a Krogan. At least Alanna's comms rang before she could dwell on it for too long, and she quickly answered.

"Alanna, do you read me? What's the status of Outpost Two?"

"General, good to hear your voice!" Alanna grinned. "Both our targets are disabled. You're free to launch your attack."

"Best news I've heard all day." Grunt paused. "What about the squad I sent to take Outpost Two?"

"I'm sorry, sir, but there was only one survivor—Aralakh Nok."

"Damn. Those were good men. All right, Lieutenant, I'm sending you a NavPoiint; take Nok and head there. The interference will be down in a few minutes, and when it goes, I'll send a shuttle to pick you up and bring you to my position. You ready to finish this?"

Alanna looked back at her squad; Korim gave her thumbs-up, Haley nodded, and Nok bashed his fists together.

"Absolutely, sir."

…

Grunt had matured a great deal since Shepard had released him from his tank over a century ago, but he was as aggressive in a fight as ever. When he gave the order to begin the attack, he led from the front, and he laughed as his tank blew apart a cluster of Asari. They had been trying to fuse their barriers together, but it took a lot more than a few biotics to stop a mass-accelerator cannon that was just shy of warship-grade.

"All right, men, this is our stop!" he bellowed as he charged outside. "If it ain't Alliance, feel free to tear it apart!"

All around him, Alliance squads were putting the hurt on the enemy. The Council forces had hundreds of Asari, which meant hundreds of biotics, but the Alliance countered that with a huge number of explosives, warp-mods, and concussive rounds. It was hard to keep up a defense when you were knocked on your ass, after all.

Grunt's charge carried him right towards a team of Salarians that had been setting up a turret. One of them saw the near-berserk Krogan and screamed; he tried to raise his pistol in time, but Grunt crossed the final distance between them with a quick boost from his thrusters. He didn't even need to waste a bullet on the Salarian, and simply stomped over him. The other Salarians he did gun down with his shotgun; the Extinction did its job well, turning the Salarians into so many chunks of meat and armor.

He would be the first to admit that he missed this kind of battle. Before the Council's attack, the most fighting Grunt had done after the Reaper War had been putting down a few pirate bands. Those weren't satisfying at all, but this was exciting. Fighting Salarians had brought up imprinted memories of the Krogan Rebellions, which had always created an itch he could not scratch, until now. In a way, it felt like he was fulfilling his original purpose, even if Shepard had helped him move past it. Still, part of him wished the Turians had gotten involved, just so he could kill a few of them as well.

"General!" a human soldier called out to him. "We've got two Council gunships on approach!"

"Damn it." Grunt scanned the sky, and saw the gunships in question as dots in the distance. "I want heavy weapons brought up! Knock those birds out of the sky!"

"Trying, sir, but the nearest squads are pinned down in heavy combat! We could use some backup!"

As if summoned, Grunt heard the whine of a shuttle, and turned; he grinned when he saw that shuttle land and deposit Alanna's squad. He was particularly happy to see Nok; he didn't interact with the young Krogan very much, but he was Aralakh, just like Grunt, and it pleased him whenever someone from his clan survived a battle.

Unfortunately, there was no time to talk. "Alanna! Take your squad and do something about one of those gunships! I'll have that shuttle see about the other one!"

"Copy that, General!" Alanna surged forward, followed by the other three. "Come on, guys!"

Grunt wanted to keep an eye on Alanna's progress, but there was still fighting to be done, and the best way to help Alanna was to kill anyone who tried to stop her. He charged again, gathering up squads that had overextended into a second assault force. An Asari tried to stop him with a Charge; Grunt got a few bruises, but the Asari ended up breaking most of her bones from the impact.

"Ha! Weaklings." Grunt exchanged his shotgun for his machine gun, and sprayed a distant squad with bullets. "Come on! I'm getting bored!"

…

Alanna ducked under a hail of gunfire, and blindly hurled a Singularity in the shooter's direction. She wasn't sure if she got them, but there wasn't anyone else shooting at her from that direction.

"Any ideas on how we're taking down a gunship?" Haley asked.

"I've studied the specs on what the Council uses," Alanna said as they took cover.

"Of course you did."

Alanna ignored her. "If we can strip the armor off that thing, we'll just need a few good hits to bring it down. Haley, you, Nok and I will take out the armor; Korim, if you can mess with that thing's targeting or engines, go for it."

Haley quickly activated her incendiary ammo, while Nok hefted his missile launcher; like all Krogan-made weapons, it was huge, ugly, and far too heavy for any other species to use effectively. If Nok could land a hit on the gunship, it would inflict heavy damage.

"Gunships incoming," Alanna said tersely. "We're only gonna be able to hit one."

"Where's the shuttle?" Korim asked. "They were supposed to draw off one of them."

Thankfully, just before the gracefully-curved Asari gunships opened fire, one had to bank sharply to avoid a rocket. The UT-58 flew past that gunship, strafing it with its lighter weapons, before peeling off with the gunship in hot pursuit.

"Here's hoping that pilot gets away," Korim muttered.

"Light 'em up!" Alanna shouted.

With her shredder ammo active, Alanna's Tsunami rapidly chipped away at the gunship's armor, as did Haley's incendiary rounds. The latter fired in quick bursts, aiming for the cockpit; they didn't penetrate, but it was enough to get the pilot's attention. The gunship hovered in place, trying to get a lock on its attackers, but it stayed still long enough for Nok to get a lock with his missile launcher. The explosion that followed rocked the gunship, and it spun wildly before stabilizing. According to Alanna's HUD, it only had a little armor left.

"Nok, ready another shot, but hold fire until I give the order! Haley, plasma!"

Haley launched a ball of plasma that splashed against the gunship's hull, burning away the last of the armor. Alanna switched to her cryo ammo and fired a long burst at the canopy; it held, but it created a thick layer of frost, temporarily blinding the pilot.

"Nok, fire!"

Nok grinned. "Boom!"

The missile flew straight and true; it must have struck something important, because the entire gunship briefly became a second sun in the sky as it exploded. Shrapnel rained down, but Alanna quickly raised a wide barrier overhead to keep her squad from being shredded.

"Well, that was fun," Korim commented.

"You didn't do anything!" Nok accused.

"Did you notice how that gunship didn't shoot back? I spent that entire time hacking its firing controls. Damn near overloaded my own omni-tool, but it was worth it."

Nok looked taken aback. "Oh. Nice."

Korim brushed some dirt off his shoulder. "Yeah, I know."

"All Alliance forces, this is General Grunt." Alanna realized that it wasn't just her omni-tool broadcasting Grunt's voice, but everyone's. "We've retaken the town, and I'm in contact with the Council CO on the planet. They're ready to negotiate terms for surrender. We did it, people; Elysium is ours again!"

Alanna nearly stumbled; with the Council forces offering to surrender, that meant that there wasn't any more fighting, and she needed to abruptly change her mindset.

"Okay," she said, "let's find out what we need to do next."

…

Sergeant Praius froze as he read the latest news reports. Technically, it was against regulations to monitor enemy news outlets—even if the Hierarchy was neutral in the war—but it had quickly become apparent that the Alliance news was more truthful, and he wanted to know what was happening. The Council media just went on and on about how their troops were 'fighting valiantly, despite logistical setbacks' against 'vicious and combative enemies'.

Yeah, people tend to get 'combative' when you invade their homes, Praius thought.

What had him freeze was the newest reports about the fighting on Elysium. The Alliance had just announced that all Council forces on the planet had surrendered, and over forty thousand soldiers had just been taken prisoner. With the Vetus system still firmly in Alliance hands, that meant that whatever forces that had made it to the Tikkun system were cut off and without any chance of reinforcing their ground invasion.

If Praius' calculations were correct, then the Council's total casualties were approaching a hundred thousand. The Council wasn't admitting to any of that, only reporting that casualties were higher than expected.

"Praius."

The Turian snapped to attention as his commanding officer aboard the joint Council scout vessel Observation, an Asari captain named Jylla, strode up to him. With his mind still distracted by the news, he didn't pay attention to the two other Asari flanking Jylla.

"Captain! What is it?"

"I'm sorry, but I need you and Corporal Meklos to stand down. Hand over your weapons and omni-tool, and report to the brig until further notice."

For a moment, Praius wasn't sure he'd heard her right. Then, he realized that he and Meklos were the only Turians aboard the ship.

"Ma'am, what is this about?"

Jylla's face was completely blank. "With the lack of support from the Turian Hierarchy during the special military operation, all Turian soldiers serving in joint Council units are to be relieved of duty."

"What!?" Praius lost his composure and took a step forward—he wasn't sure what he was about to do, but when the other two Asari pointed shotguns at his face, he froze. "Captain, my government's refusal to fight in this war has no bearing on my loyalty to this ship or this crew!"

"Don't take it personally," Jylla said with a barely-disguised sneer. "I doubt your superiors in the Hierarchy will punish you. After all, they're even bigger cowards."

Praius was so stunned that he didn't even notice one of the other Asari move until she grabbed his arm. His reaction was pure reflex, and he shoved her back. Then there was the sound of gunfire, and he fell to the ground with a bullet in his leg.

"Get him off my bridge," Jylla said, lowering her pistol. "As soon as we get home, we'll stuff him and his friend in a shuttle and sent them back to Turian space. Just make sure he doesn't bleed to death on my ship. It might make us look bad."

…

Alanna—who, along with a handful of other officers, acted as Grunt's security—hadn't met many Salarians, but she had never seen one look so exhausted before. Colonel Harrik had been wounded in an airstrike an hour before Grunt's attack on his headquarters, and was missing his left foot. He couldn't stand, and needed to be pushed into the meeting in a wheelchair. Still, he kept his back straight, and refused to be intimidated when Grunt loomed over him.

The surrender went well, all things considered. The terms the Alliance gave were simple. Grunt promised that all Council soldiers would be treated well while they were investigated for war crimes. The investigation would use omni-tool data and recordings taken by Geth drones for verification. If and when a war criminal was discovered, they would be tried under Alliance law, and placed in an Alliance prison. Anyone else would be released to their respective governments when the war officially ended.

"That might be difficult," Harrik said bluntly. "After all, the Council refuses to call this a war, but a 'special military operation'."

"The Council might," Grunt replied with a huff, "but we could talk to your peoples' individual governments. I wouldn't be surprised if they want you back home."

"I'd appreciate that, General." Harrik sighed. "What about any of my soldiers who refuse to surrender? I know there are a few diehard Asari squads who won't stand down."

Grunt's response was no-nonsense. "Then we'll kill them. Problem?"

Harrik sighed again. "I'll have to tell the rest of my soldiers they'll have to accept that, but I know that some Asari who did surrender will be upset. Some of those diehards probably knew them for decades."

"Tough shit," Grunt rumbled. "If they're gonna go around murdering civilians, they die, simple as that."

Harrik accepted that with a nod. "I tried to stop the looting and murder, General. My men were scared, confused, and angry; they were lashing out at anyone they could see. It's no excuse, and they deserve to be punished, but there are those of us who know this war was wrong. I ask that you don't see all of us the same way."

Grunt nodded back. "Sure. Is there anything else?"

"I'm sure the politicians can hammer out the details." Harrik said 'politicians' with such venom that he got a quiet laugh out of everyone present. "The medics tell me I need to rest, but I want to make sure my soldiers understand that they are to cooperate with yours."

"Right." Grunt gestured to the Council soldiers escorting Harrik. "You'll be under constant guard. Deal with it."

Taking the dismissal for what it was, Harrik was wheeled out.

"The rest of you should take a break," Grunt said to the Alliance officers. "I need to talk to Royce and Alliance Command."

The soldiers filed out, but Grunt smiled when Alanna gave him a little wave as she left. Was it against protocol? Probably. Did Grunt care? Absolutely not.

He took a deep breath before making his call. He wasn't nervous—not even the Reapers had scared him—but something had been bothering him for almost an hour. It was this room; for some reason, the small, circular room smelled wrong. It smelled like electrical fumes and desert sand, and for the life of him, he couldn't figure out where it was coming from, or what it was. Still, it made him tense, and he wished he'd come to the surrender with his shotgun in hand.

Then he felt an agonizing pain as something punched through his back and out through his stomach. It looked like a limb, but it was hard to tell when it was covered in his blood and guts.

Grunt had no idea who or what was trying to kill him, but a Krogan didn't die easily. He roared and spun around, trying to smash his would-be killer with his fist. The shadowy figure ripped its arm free and ducked under the blow; it lashed out, fast and deadly, and left a dozen cuts on Grunt's face. Grunt suddenly couldn't see out of one eye, and realized that the assassin had cut it out of his skull.

He lunged again, shattering a chair in his way, but the assassin weaved around him; dark energy cut through his armor and gouged deeply into his hump. Grunt collapsed, but kicked back as he did, and he felt a bitter satisfaction as he felt his foot connect with something.

Grunt tried to rise, but his body had taken massive damage; he could either heal, or he could fight, but not both, and his body had decided on survival. The shadow-thing crawled over him and raised a pointed limb to finish him off. Grunt spat bloody phlegm in one last act of defiance.

As the blade came down, the doors were blasted inward by a massive biotic wave. Grunt was pushed out of the way, while his attacker was struck by a piece of the door. Alanna charged in, armed with only a pistol, and put three rounds right into the creature's head. The thing shrieked and broke apart into a cloud of black dust that swirled around Alanna, and reformed behind her.

The arm-blades lashed out again, but Alanna was faster than Grunt, and rolled out of the way. She then fired another six times into its leg, which staggered it long enough for her to punch its chest with a fist encased in a biotic field. The assassin's torso abruptly exploded, but its limbs and head continued to float, and started moving independently.

Then, the head began to speak.

"New light," it said, its voice like fire consuming dead leaves. "Burning bright in the defense of the old light. Your blood is known to us. We will not be cast back into shadows. The stars will be ours once again."

Alanna merely raised her omni-tool, and caught the pieces with a cryo-blast before they got too far apart. She then systematically shattered each piece with gunfire.

By then, the hole in Grunt's own torso had stopped bleeding; he could tell that one of his hearts was destroyed, along with a lung, but he wouldn't have been surprised if other organs had been damaged. Well, that was why Krogan had redundancies.

"Grunt, are you okay?" Alanna knelt in front of him and began applying medi-gel. "Can you stand?"

"Give me a few minutes," Grunt said. "How did you know I needed help?"

"I didn't," Alanna admitted, while a dozen Alliance soldiers came in with weapons drawn. "I was coming back because I wanted to talk to you about Nok, but then I heard the commotion."

"Nice work." Grunt pointed at the frozen remains of the assassin. "Get some scans of that thing. And some samples. Whatever it is, we need to know more."

"Yes, sir." Alanna scooped some of the frozen matter into a small container on her belt, which she completely sealed with a stasis field. "Any idea what that thing was?"

"Not a clue," Grunt said, until he remembered a message Miranda had sent him shortly after Tali's death. "But I think I know who might already be looking."

Sorry for taking so long to update. It's been a literal hell getting anything done. First I got covid, then I got thousands of bees in my chimney and I got stung, and then I got turned down for an apartment. Most of this happened over the course of a single week.

Anyway, moving on.

So, the battle for Elysium is over, but the war with the Council is still going on. The Turians have basically withdrawn all support for the Council's aggression, and the pushback isn't pretty. Grunt and Miranda barely survived encounters with the mysterious new enemy. This is when things are gonna get interesting.

I'll be honest, I considered killing off either Miranda or Grunt, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I already killed off a lot of characters during the century-long time-skip, and then I murdered Tali. Miranda turned into one of my favorite characters in ME2 (though she, like all crew unique to that game, were criminally underutilized in ME3), and Grunt is awesome.

TL;DR, they got hurt, but they didn't get dead.

Also, introducing Aralakh Nok! I like him, he's staying. He's a big Krogan with big guns.

As always, please consider buying my book, Alpha Sanction, by Josh Gottlieb. You can find it on my website (link in my profile), or on Amazon as an eBook or physical copy. I'm trying really hard to finish the sequel, but I have 3 jobs, and barely enough time to write my stories here.

If you want to support me in other ways, I have a P-atreon account (link in my profile). If every person who follows me donates at the absolute lowest tier, I'd be able to do nothing but write all day, every day. I'd put out more content a week than Hulu! Okay, maybe not, but you'd get a lot of stuff to read!

And now, I'd like to thank the following patrons:

Serious Muffins: Nimrod009, Anders Lyngbye, Matthias Matanovic, John Collins, Red Bard, Aaron Meek, killroy225, Lokthar, Hakuryuken

Incredible Muffins: RaptorusMaximus, michaelb958, Crazyman844, Ben Stueckle

Ultra Muffins: RangersRoll, Adam Costello

Next Chapter: The war rages on, but the Council feels the pressure, and Alanna gets a new mission…

I'm Commander Shepard, and this is my favorite Muffin on the Citadel.