Stories from the Citadel (MEU ONLY)

[The Citadel Council]

STORIES FROM THE CITADEL

A Collection of short stories based within the Mass Effect Universe

[The Systems Alliance of Earth]

Alliance Shuttle Delta Three
En-route to the Interplanetary Combatives Academy, or "the Villa"
Vila Militar, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
February 2, 2187
0400 Hours

---

The eight shuttles formed a triangle pattern, flying over the dingy remains of Rio de Janeiro, a city already treated as a dirty favela even before the Reaper War. Now, what little infrastructure stood was hollowed, home to the homeless, starving millions that once lived in the city. A little more than a year after the end of the War, the Alliance couldn't handle the overwhelming number of refugees that struggled after the Reapers fell, choosing rather to rebuild major cities that would then be used as refugee centers for the hundreds of millions that surrounded them. Flying over the ruins, the only sign of some kind of habitable presence was the few barrel fires that burned, dotting the crumbled landscape.

Staff Commander Isaías Chagas Madruga, leader of this reclamation mission and native to Rio de Janeiro, looked through the screens that relayed the exterior cameras, looking down on the charred remains of a city of formerly twenty three million people.

"Porra..." fell out of his mouth as his shuttle flew over what was formerly Rua Antônio Tibúrcio de Sousa, one of the more run down streets in Rio. What was once a bustling area, home to cluttered buildings and crummy apartments were wiped down to their foundations, what remained was little more than mounds of brick, burned skycars, and the obvious football field sized trenches made by magnetohydrodynamic cannon fire as Reaper capital ships descended down onto the city in the initial invasion.

"Comin' up on the Villa, Commander." Said the shuttle pilot, Lieutenant Michael Dorma. He remembered every bit of his training at the Villa. Months before the reaper invasion, Commander Madruga made N6, devoting six years of his life to busting his ass to make N7. Before N7 annual training started, every N-designated trainee was evacuated from the city, minutes before the first Reaper capital ships landed. Madruga watched from his evac shuttle as the sleek white buildings similar to most Alliance architecture of Vila Militar were cut down in an instant, a Reaper capital landing right in the middle of it. Being an N6, he was designated a valuable military asset due to his training. The Alliance made sure to get him off planet before they lost complete control. Riding out on the frigate SSV Pearl Harbor, he and a few other N6s were all that remained of Class 76 of the Villa's N7 Training Course. Through the war, Commander Madruga served on Benning, Tuchanka, Palaven, Sur'Kesh, and the Citadel during the Cerberus coup. It tested Isaias resolve on every front, and he miraculously made it through. Now, he was placed in charge of digging up what remained of Vila Militar and temporarily re-purpose it as a refugee center before returning it to the Alliance Military's ICT Command.

"Alright grunts, let's see what we can dig up." He said over his Omni-tool's radio. The eight shuttles activated their two searchlights and flooded Vila Militar with substantially bright white light, scanning around, looking for any familiar marks.

"We should be over the Barracks right now." What once was rows upon rows of identical long houses was now an empty field of burnt soil.

"Or what the Barracks once were." Said Staff Commander Madruga quietly.

"Coming up on the Central Headquarters, land here!" Ordered Madruga. Slowly, Shuttle Delta Three descended upon the flat ground in front of a crumbled, tangled mess of faded white infrastructure, the only thing identifiable were the three sets of stairs that led up to the entrance lobby. The shuttle softly landed upon the ground, it's thrusters and engines cutting out as it landed, one spotlight pointed at the ruined remains of the ICT's Central HQ while another was pointed off towards the Mess Hall, or what little of it remained. The portside door slid open, revealing Staff Commander Madruga, 1st Lieutenant James Matthews, and Operations Chief Kozar Savelievich. They walked out of the shuttle, the smell of burnt grass, fiberglass and steel still lingering in the air thickly.

"Черт...reminds me of Yekaterinburg. Smells like it too." Said OC Savelievich, veering off from the other two to investigate what looked like the charred skeleton of a Mako tank.

"Pretty sure everywhere looks like this. Tactics of extermination didn't change by continent, Kozar. At least there's something left here. When I went back to Edmonton, you'd be lucky to see a piece of steel rebar in the middle of a Reaper beam trench." Said 1LT. Matthews.

"How many people did we leave behind here? We had, what, 28 in our class? I don't remember the staff ever leaving, nor the Marine Defense battalion stationed here. A lot of people died here. Doesn't feel right bringing this place back from the dead, Deixe o morto descansar." Said Madruga.

"I know. Best thing we can do is honor those who died here by getting these people back on their feet." Said Matthews.

Staff Commander Madruga walked up the painted concrete stairs, looking up to the rubble as he ascended.

"We're gonna need fab units in every empty space we can find. Even still, it may not be enough to accommodate everyone. The first month will be chaos, trying to get everyone admitted in a nice orderly fashion, trying to get doctors down here, transport clothing and other goods will be a logistical nightmare. I get that the Alliance wants be the hero, but Brazil still has a government. I say leave it to the governments to take care of their people. We still aren't done counting our dead. What was it, one million or two unaccounted for still?" Said Kozar, fumbling around the scarred remains of what was once a recruit admissions center.

"I don't know how they expect us to build a refugee center in all this mess."

"We'll do what we have to. Come morning, our work begins. Let's go ahead and get some hauling shuttles and fab units out here."

[The Systems Alliance of Earth]

Kithoi Ward
Warehouse District 27
3:36 am
2191

---

Detective Tarus Narillis sat in his dark C-Sec skycar, looking up at the orange swirls of light that dotted Earth's dark landscape. He hated the circumstances of how it came to be, but in his twenty-five years of service, he actually grew tired of seeing the Widow Nebula out of his patrol car's windows every night. Despite what all his turian co-workers said, Earth was actually not bad to look at. In the dark, it reminded him of Palaven, the big beautiful streaks of orange and white light jumping out of the darkness that was the Palavenian nightside. Tarus took another puff of his cigarette before tossing it out of the window, blowing the smoke out from his lungs slowly, crashing against the steering wheel and funneling out into the open air of his cockpit. In his right hand, he picked up the datapad revealing an assortment of information pertaining to a "Kithoi Killer", the name given to an nameless individual who had been slaying his way across Kithoi Ward since 2190, his death count to 19, all Turians and Asari. If trying to reestablish itself as the premier Citadel-bound security force under the spotless command of the Citadel Defense Force wasn't hard enough, he was the only Detective on Kithoi Ward the CDF thought could handle it after seeing a spotless twenty-five year tenure with Citadel Security. Before the CDF took over, C-Sec allowed Detectives from one Ward to investigate crimes in another ward, just as they let patrol officers from one ward patrol streets on another ward. Now, it was all heavily regulated. You had C-Sec Kithoi Division, Zakera Division, so on and so forth and each acted independently from each other, a sort of "you keep your ward in check, we will keep ours in check." It made everyone's job difficult, all in the name of "enhanced security measures". He knew alot of good Detectives over in Zakera that wouldn't blink twice at investigating this Kithoi Killer, alot of them were killed in the Reaper invasion, others survived and retired. Five years after the War's end and C-Sec enlistment is at an all time low. Tarus thought of how many desks were empty at Central Station, twenty? Thirty? Barely enough to keep the Ward safe. Just this week alone, C-Sec Kithoi had more than twenty-seven robberies, and only thirteen were investigated, the rest got sweeped under the rug, forever to be placed on the waiting list. It was bullshit, and it made Tarus want to quit a few times. He'd rather go back into Law enforcement on Taetrus, or work as a private eye on Palaven. What ifs and could bes would only satisfy Tarus for so long and eventually it wore out. He returned to the datapad, reading on the methods of the Killer's work.

The Kithoi Killer preferred bleeding his targets, making a slice from the belly button to the solarplex, just deep enough to allow the blood to flow without releasing the innards of his targets. He liked to remove the mandibles of Turians and make deep incisions where the fringe begins. He liked to split the appendages of his Asari victims, dividing them up before cutting them off. It was disgusting, but not something he hadn't seen before. He remembered back in 2179, he saw a case where an Ardat-Yakshi slipped in through Customs and went on a killing spree through the lower ward, targeting the homeless and poor. She used her biotics to rip her targets open from the inside, forcing their organs to explode before the skin broke. He and fellow Detective Jeremy Decker, who died in the Reapers' assault, found her in the middle of her entertainment with a young human male. Tarus got thrown around pretty good and Jeremy suffered a broken leg, but they eventually took her down, a well placed shot from Tarus's carnifex hand cannon aimed right at her temple just as she was about to tear Jeremy in half. That Ardat-Yakshi killed thirty people before they managed to take her down. Compared to her, this Kithoi Killer was easy money for two Detectives, a pain in the ass for just one. Whoever this Killer was, he was good at masking himself, keeping away from security cameras, avoiding C-Sec patrols, covering his ass. The Killer wasn't stupid by any means and it just made Tarus's job a whole lot harder. He had been searching hollow leads for two months before he got a tip that the Killer was going to use Warehouse District 27 as his killing ground from an anonymous source. They typically didn't trust anonymous sources as they were a good way to lure unsuspecting cops into a trap, but Tarus didn't care. He believed the spirits of Palaven would watch over him and embrace him should he fall in the line of duty.

Tarus let the datapad fall into the empty passenger seat and stared out at the empty corridor between two warehouses, pitch black aside from the occasional skycar passing by. He didn't know how he was gonna catch this killer, as he was only allowed to utilize two patrol officers to service the Warehouse area. He was more than expecting this guy to slip through their fingers.

"Car 87, got a possible contact. Human, white male, just entered Warehouse 56." Said Officer Kelyra K'teni, an Asari officer assigned to investigate this lead with Detective Narillis.

"Copy, hold and watch for activity." Said Tarus over his Omni-tool's C-Sec communications app.

"Car 136, nothing to report, sir. Nothin' but empty streets." Said Officer Veltus Varrinias, young hotshot turian uni just out of the latest batch of empty heads straight from the CDF's all-new C-Sec Academy.

"Holy shit. Car 87, just saw some turian limp out of 56 before being pulled back in. He looked pretty fucked up, sir." Said Officer K'teni.

"Copy, I'm makin' my way over, Kelyra. Wait till I get there." He said while starting up his skycar's element zero drive, slowly raising up from his landed position.

"I'm going in, sir." She said before cutting contact.

"Whoa, hold up there hotshot! Do not enter that building 'till I get there! Officer? Kelyra! Fuck." He said, slamming his hand forward onto the thruster lever, causing the skycar to jolt forward, Tarus stiffening his neck to compensate for the force. He rose above the warehouses, speeding down the rows of identical long buildings, dimly lit by low-tech street lamps.

"Detective, what should I do?" Asked Officer Varrinias.

"Don't move, alright, wait until I give you the word." He said back as he approached Warehouse 56. He came in hot, landing roughly behind Officer Kelyra's empty patrol skycar, the driver-side door still agap, no sign of the Asari officer.

"Kelyra, turn your fucking radio on, now." He said quietly as he turned to see the Warehouse 56 sign adorned over a large closed bay door. He approached the door, pulling out his carnifex and activating the flashlight app on his omni-tool. He slowly pushed on the door, exposing small details of the warehouse while opening. His flashlight illuminated the massive room, filled with hundreds of crates, some stacked ten high. He entered the room fully, shining his light around, trying to find any sign of Kelyra.

"Citadel Security! If anybody's here, come out now! I am armed!" He yelled out at the warehouse, his voice echoing dimly across the wide storage facility. He walked forward, approaching the first stack of crates, his carnifex held close against his chest, his finger placed in the neutral position against the triggerguard. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to illuminate every area of the warehouse as fast as he could.

"Come die with me, Turian, little priest. Witness my journey." The low, dark voice filled the warehouse, seemingly coming from every direction. It didn't shake Tarus's resolve.

"Citadel Security! Come out now!" the Detective cried out once more.

"Look at you. Shouting your little commands. You're nothing more than a creature with a gun. Witness my journey, little priest." The voice spoke out once more. As he walked through another column of crates, he saw a foot poke out from behind a set of crates. Tarus's gun immediately pointed in that direction, watching it intensively. As he grew closer, he saw the full body, the body of Officer Kelyra, her blood draining from her, her stomach sliced open, her innards poured out.

"Fuck. Varrinius, call for backup, Warehouse 56. Get your ass over here." he said quietly into his Omni-tool before shutting it off before gaining a response. He looked up from Kelyra's body to see a shadow move behind a door leading to multiple offices.

"Hold there!' He yelled out, making his way over there slowly.

As he entered the doorway, he saw multiple bodies pinned to the walls, two of them Turians, one of the Asari, another Human. At the end of the carnage, he saw the figure of a human, wearing dark clothing, his head hooded, turned away from him. His gun turned to face the man, his flashlight illuminating the silhouette.

"Turn around." Tarus ordered. The man gave no response, standing deathly still.

"I said turn the fuck around!" He yelled out, still no answer. He approached him close enough to put his left hand on his shoulder and sling around, revealing nothing but a manniquin, tumbling from his thin holdings by the force of the Turian's pull. Before he could react, he felt a smash on the back of his head, causing his body to shift forward, causing him to fall. Reacting as fast as he could, he rolled over after he fell to aim his carnifex at the offending figure. Before he could fire off a shot, a boot impacted the side of his hand, forcing the gun away and towards a wall. Tarus scrambled to get on his feet, engaging in a grapple with the masked man. In a single motion, he felt a deep blade stick far within his stomach, drawing a bloody groan from Tarus. He felt the blade raise upwards into him, cutting his stomach. He grabbed the blade and the hand, causing his body to raise up with it.

"Die with me, Turian." The man whispered to him. Tarus could only groan. He could feel the life fall from him with every drop of blood that left his body. He grabbed the man's head with his right hand and sent his forehead forward into the human's face. He could still feel the blade moving slowly upwards and so sent his head once more onto the Killer's. And again and again until the man dropped the knife and him unto the floor. Tarus collapsed down, gasping and writhing. As the man closed in to finish his job, bearing another knife retrieved from his belt, the loud ring of a Predator pistol filled the air, the human jumping with the impact of the round as more came into him, Officer Varrinius arriving just in time. Before he could land another bullet, the Killer threw the knife towards Varrinius, landing square in his chest, causing the rookie to slam back with the force of the throw. The Human limped towards the rookie, pulled the knife from his chest, garnering a shriek from Varrinius. While the Killer focused on Varrinius, Tarus crawled his way over to his carnifex, leaving a trail of blood behind him, willing himself forward. He could hear the stabbing of Varrinius, the wet pounding sound as Varrinius's growls grew quieter, turning into a light whimper as the Killer added another C-Sec officer to his kill list.

"Oh no you don't, Turian." The Killer said as he made his way over to the Detective. Just as he was about to reach for the carnifex, he felt a sharp kick to his stomach, causing his body to writhe in unbearable pain. The Killer bent down to get a good look at the Turian's face just before he would end him. Tarus lunge with his right arm, sending a hook into the man's face, causing him to jump back, giving him enough time to reach once more for the carnifex, aim and fire a single shot just as the Killer raised the knife, causing his body to collapse down. The barrel of the Carnifex smoked ever so as the altercation had ended. Tarus fell back to the floor just as he began hearing the faint sound of sirens slowly closing in.

[The Turian Hierarchy of Palaven]

October 17, 2186
Turian Colony World Epyrus, Syrion System

---

Epyrus. A prosperous world, home to three hundred and eighty-six million turians spread across twelve cities with countless farming, mining, and fishing towns dotting the lush garden landscape in-between these metropolises. Once a peaceful paragon of turian colonization, now a ruined battlefield. The billions of acres of forests were now burning uncontrollably as the initial Reaper invasion began. Beginning with a vanguard of fifty Capital Reapers, the cities of Alinnus and Fier were first to be subjected, it's towering skyscrapers now crumbled and falling. The Epyrus Security Flotilla, composed of thirty-five cruisers, was easily swept aside by the brutal attack and moved so fast, Commander Haklus of the Epyrusian Home Guard was barely given enough time to alert his Battalions to the incoming attack. As the Capitals butchered across the cities, Destroyers moved in to the Epyrusian Home Guard headquarters and surrounding barracks' hoping to cut off any local resistance at it's source. Commander Haklus and much of the Home Guard chain of command were quickly slaughtered by Reaper ground forces at Fortress Atanus, the Home Guard's primary headquarters and vehicle depot. With Fortress Atanus destroyed, Home Guard coordination collapsed and fell to individual Battalion commanders to regroup and counter-attack. This proved to be just as ineffective as any attacks on Reaper forces by Home Guard battalions were quickly routed, surrounded and destroyed. Planetary communications and power were the third targets, using their magnetohydrodynamic cannons to obliterate satellite stations, extranet connection stations, and energy substations, leaving entire continents without power and the ability to get word out of Epyrus. The Epyrusian Resistance lived on, despite it's formal defense forces gone. Any remaining Battalions, police forces and militia withdrew to areas with light Reaper presences, most deep in the forests, and centered their guerrilla-style warfare out of there. For weeks, the Resistance targeted processing ships, strapping each other with bombs and marching into Processing Centers, knowing that they and hundreds of other turians would die. But dying was preferable to becoming a Reaper thrall. Just as Reaper forces were closing in on destroying the last of turian resistance in the forests, Hierarchy forces arrived with the entire Seventy-Fourth Corps in-tow. The orbital battle for Epyrus was won, At the cost of the carrier Vigilance, sixteen cruisers, and thirty-five frigates, the Hierarchy regained orbital superiority and began a ruthless bombing campaign on all heavy Reaper centers, including four cities being wiped virtually off the map, drawing most of the Reaper capital ships to meet with the waiting Turian fleet. As the turian ground invasion force arrived from orbit, what was left of the 6th and 12th Battalions of the Epyrus Home Guard launched everything it had, directed towards Processing Centers, hoping to liberate a few hundred more turians to assist in the Liberation of Epyrus.

Sector 7, Hierarchy Landing Zone, two miles outside of the city of Katanus outskirts
Day One of the Invasion

"We're going down! Brace for impact!" Screamed Lieutenant Ganus, pilot of the Hierax-Class Shuttle tasked with dropping Lieutenant Caerius Acamus and eight others of the Third Platoon of his Fifth Company he commanded. Lieutenant Acamus watched in horror as the bay door of his shuttle was ripped from it's hinges, revealing fire and smoke and beyond, the sight of thousands of other shuttles dodging through Anti-Air defenses established by the Reapers based in the city of Katanus, the target of the 345th Battalion.

"Hold onto something!" He ordered to his other soldiers as the flaming shuttle ripped through the dense layer of tree branches to the soft soil underneath. The shuttle smashed down into the loose soil, sending waves of dirt hundreds of feet beyond.

The sounds of rapid gunfire and explosions awoke Lieutenant Acamus to the fiery horrors within his shuttle. He had been smashed up against the front door leading to the cockpit, the pains in his back evident that his back armor was most likely smashed to a pulp upon impact. He looked around the holding bay to see all of his troop deceased, some very nasty injuries on some, others killed by the force of the impact. He heard a rapid knocking on the entrance where the door had been thrown off. "Anybody alive in there!?" Yelled a turian voice outside.

"I'm alive!" Caerius managed to utter out, the pain of his torso shooting up into his spinal cord. At the response, a turian dressed in the standard Epyrusian Home Guard uniform peeked in, his Phaeston leading the way.

"Spirits! That was a nasty crash. I'm surprised somebody made it. Come on." The turian said as he wrapped his arms around the Lieutenant and gently dragged him out. The sunlight blinded him as he was exposed to it's full shine through the hole in the dense tree cover made by the shuttle.

"Visius, Gatis, check inside to see if anybody else is alive!" Yelled the turian dragging him. The two turians, dressed in similar fashion moved into the shuttle. "You'll be alright." Said the turian rescuer as he leaned the Lieutenant against a large tree. Three more turians approached from his left side and established a perimeter around the shuttle, their Phaestons aimed out, scanning for any Reaper targets hoping to make minced meat out of the Shuttle's survivors.

"Who are you?" Asked Caerius, letting out a gnarly cough after the question.

"Sergeant Arbius, Sixth Home Guard." He said as the two other turians exited the Shuttle. "Sergeant, no other survivors." Said one of the turians as he shook his head. Caerius sighed and lowered his head, paying respect to the fallen.

"We gotta get you out of here, Lieutenant." Said the turian, noticing the sigil of command on the collar plate of his armor. "Sergeant, picking up a Reaper patrol at my twelve o'clock!" Said a turian female, squeezing the trigger a few times to down a husk at extreme range.

"No time to talk. Let's go." Said Arbius as he threw Caerius' arm over his shoulder and picked him up, forcing a guttural yelp from the Lieutenant. "Covering fire!" Yelled Visius as he joined the other three turians in laying down a sheet of fire on the incoming Husk group. As he was hobbled along, the pain in his spin and torso became a white hot sensation, causing him to grit his teeth and groan. In the distance, he could make out salvation: a Vantrox-Type Heavy Tank, unleashing a massive volley from it's three-barrel turret at the husk group. The heat and light from the explosion was fierce, so much so that it took the breath from his lungs. His vision began to fade as another group of turians, these dressed in the standard Army uniform moved in front of him, one wrapping his arms around the Lieutenant just as he faded away from consciousness. The sounds of battle growing closer.

Sector 9, Hierarchy Forward Operating Base Epolus-Alpha.
Nine miles outside of Katanus
Day Three of the Invasion

"Caerius.....Caerius" He could hear it in his dreams, his dark dreams. It disturbed him, made him lose what little control over his dreams he had. "Caerius.....wake up!" The Lieutenant shook awake, revealing him laying on a stretcher bed in a line of dozens of stretchers in a dimly lit hallway, red and yellow accents across the walls, the constant activity of turian soldiers running through the hall alerting him to the presence of a turian standing above him. "First Lieutenant Syldas..." He muttered. He was staring at his Battalion Commander, who looked like he had been through hell six times. His green armor coated in dirt, grime, and some blood. His face was dirty, cuts across his right mandible.

"Wh...where am I?" Caerius said, sitting up in his bed, his body aching.

"Forward Operating Base Epolus-Alpha. You've missed alot, Lieutenant. The medic recommends more rest, but I need all the personnel I can get for this push." Said the Battalion Commander.

"Wha-..What's happened, sir?" Asked Caerius, stretching his neck and soothing some of his bruises on his arms.

"We've lost alot, Caerius. Command thought landing so close to Katanus would allow us a better chance of deploying and pushing right in while the Capitals ate our fleet in Orbit, but like any plan our illustrious leadership comes up with, it never survives contact with the enemy. The troops that made it to the Landing Site encountered Brutes and Marauders and were pushed back to Sector Eight's Landing Zone. When we pushed them back, regrouped and began our attack to take Katanus we were caught in a pincer by Harvesters and Ravagers, took out our armor then moved in Brutes and Banshees to finish us off. Out of two thousand turians, only a few dozen made it out, me included. Our Battalion lost so much that we've now been folded into First Lieutenant Potius' 366th Battalion." First Lieutenant Syldas said, lowering his head in defeat.

"What about our fleet in orbit, sir? What about the orbital bombardments?"

"We lost that capability on the first day, Lieutenant. The Capitals on the ground met our fleet in orbit and tore their ass a new one. The fleet was forced to flee the system after the command ship Vengeance was destroyed. Lieutenant-General Arrunius was aboard the Vengeance when her reactor went supernova." Said the First Lieutenant. Caerius muttered expletives under his breath, gently balling up his fist in anger.

"There's no front that's doing very well right now. Up north, Colonel Tremotus's division was completely wiped out. One-hundred percent killed in action. Apparently, once the Capitals got done with our fleet, they made their example at the city of Edomus. Landed there just as they were about to capture the city and slaughtered the entire Division. The other two Divisions are bogged down in fierce fighting, gaining a few miles at a time, but losing hundreds of turians to do it. Colonel Allius has ordered every available soldier to prepare for the assault on Katanus. Tomorrow, FOBs Alpha through Hotel are to launch on Katanus with everything. If we succeed, we use Katanus as a base of operations and move to liberate Edomus. If we fail, we fight to the last man. No surrender, no capture. Suicide is preferable. Now, I need you, Caerius. Are you operational?" Asked the Battalion Commander.

"I'm ready, First Lieutenant. Whatever you need. I didn't come here to sit in a hospital bed." Caerius said as he slowly stood up from his sitting position, straightening his back, which didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did.

"Good to hear. 0300. That's when this happens. To Victory, Lieutenant Acamus." The First Lieutenant said proudly as he walked down the hall, most likely to the FOB's command and control station to further plan the attack.

"Or death..." Said Caerius grimly. He was like every Turian here. He realized the possibility that none of them would ever see their families again or love again. Many would die tomorrow, and they accepted that. Life training to die for the cause made every Turian unafraid of death. Dying for the Hierarchy, dying for the freedom of every turian male, female and child was something anyone could be willing to do.

Sector 9, FOB Epolus-Alpha's Muster Point
Nine miles outside of Katanus
Day Four of the Invasion
0236

"Glad you could join us, Lieutenant Acamus." Said First Lieutenant Syldas, looking over a holo-screen mapping out the entire city of Katanus and to the south, FOB Epolus-Alpha and the other FOBs, dotting around the city. Caerius nodded and stood next to the First Lieutenant, his eyes scouring the battlefield, turian scout units marked with blue arrows, the invasion forces marked with green and Reaper units marked with the traditional red. Caerius noticed something off, though, counting only seven FOBs instead of eight.

"Sir, where's Epolus-Hotel? I don't see it on the map." Asked Caerius, his eyes darting across the map before looking to Syldas for answers. "It's gone." Answered Syldas coldly.

"Gone, how so?" Asked Caerius, not quite realizing the magnitude of his commanding officer's answer.

"At 0130, the Reapers launched an attack on Hotel, hammering it with Ravager artillery before moving in a fuckton of husks. Whatever survivors made it out are now at Gamma and Foxtrot, lost ten heavy tanks and thirteen fighters. Peace to the Fallen." Said Syldas, lowering his head as customary.

"Peace to the Fallen. What's the plan for the rest of the attack?"

"The Sixth Home Guard Battalion is running scouting operations while the rest of our force musters, marking enemy artillery locations and husk build-up areas. Look at this." Said Syldas as he moved his hand to the holo-table, zooming in on the entrance to the metropolitan center of the city, large, artistic arches marking the beginning of the business district. Once zoomed in, it showed live drone footage of entire seas worth of marauders and husks, standing completely still.

"What the hell are they doing?" Asked Caerius.

"Nothing. They aren't receiving orders, so they're just waiting. Intelligence reports indicate that once we get to a certain distance from them, they're gonna take up defensive positions, probably send the husks in first to give their Marauders time to set up kill zones and chokepoints. That's why we're gonna send our artillery and air support right up the middle, target any and all defensive positions and try to make it easier on us. The 73rd Armored is taking point, followed by your company and the rest of the attack force. Marksman positions will target any and all sniper nests and visible artillery positions. If you're pinned and can't get access to artillery, call on them and they'll do what they can for you. There's nothing about this attack that is going to be easy. Gonna be a lot of improvising and alot of fighting dirty. Rules of warfare go out the window with these bastards so do whatever you have to do to take this city. Fight dirty, fight nasty, and take the objective. No matter the cost. Once you engage, there's not gonna be alot of command and control as I've ordered all non-critical personnel to the muster point, including me. Logistics will deal with medevac and a few squads from the Sixth Guard will act as FOB security, but other than that, we're throwing all in. I was able to receive a transmission from a turian scout ship that jumped in and out a few hours ago. The Twenty-First Fleet and the Eight-Thirty-Third Division will arrive in forty-eight hours to reinforce us. They're either gonna back up a liberated city or a graveyard, that's on us."

Caerius nodded as the holo-table played a simulation of the battle. "How much armor and air support do we have?"

"Not enough. The 73rd's only got six Heavies and nine lights left and BattInt says most of the air support's gonna get dusted on the opening strikes. This is gonna be a ground game for us. Harvesters are gonna try to tear us up from the air, but I've got enough 560 Hydra's to say that shit isn't gonna fly. If Destroyers show up, well, I've got some Cains and a mint Blackstar to show 'em. If Capitals come to dance....take cover, because there's nothing we have to effectively put one of those down. Building-hop and try to not get stepped on. Other than that, that's all I have for you. Get to your company and get ready." Ordered the First Lieutenant. Caerius saluted and turned to march out.

"And Caerius..." Lieutenant Acamus turned to face his commanding officer.

"That scout dropped a data-packet on the rest of the war effort, too, most notably on Palaven. Cipritine has fallen, Caerius." The words sent fear and shivers down Caerius' spine as he pondered on the fact that the Hierarchy's capital, the beautiful jewel of Palaven and the center of political, military, and cultural power was now in Reaper hands. Caerius nodded slowly to Syldas.

"Let's make 'em pay for it." Said Caerius. "To Victory."

"To Victory, Lieutenant."

Losing Cipritine was by far the most frightening news he had received during this whole war. Cipritine was, essentially, a giant fortress-city. Walls that had stood for thousands of years and were home to entire Divisions, were heavily equipped with Anti-Orbital, Anti-Air, and Anti-Infantry guns, dotting around the entire city. When he was on vacation, his passenger liner had to give an entirely new set of security codes just to enter it's airspace. Cipritine was the pride of the turian military, the pride of his people. It was always told that Cipritine could defend against any attack, no matter how large. It saddened him to realize that the Reapers were larger than anything they could dream of and losing Cipritine just hammered it home. He wouldn't relay this information to his troops, morale was something they couldn't afford to lose at this time. As he left the command tent, he saw hundreds of Turian troops moving about, others lined up in their formations, waiting to move out. Caerius would make it to his Company and at 0300, they would begin the march to Katanus.

1 mile outside of Katanus
0530

During the march, all that could be heard was the steady, rhythmic footfalls of thousands of turian soldiers and the slow motor sounds of the heavy and light tanks leading the way. Overhead, the constant zooming sounds of fighters whizzing past gave them hope as they began hammering Reaper frontlines before the main force arrived. The 6th Battalion scouts had pulled back and were now hammering at heavy Reaper centers with sustained Artillery attacks, warding off Harvester strikes with anti-air missiles. In the time it took the force to march, two Reaper destroyers took up within the business center, waiting in anticipation for the coming battle. There was no doubt that the Capitals could have easily descended on the FOBs and wrecked havoc, snuffing out the entire invasion force and declaring victory on Epyrus. But they didn't. They stayed back, sending in their Destroyers, watching from afar. They were seemingly going to meet the turians on the field of battle and play their games with them. It gave Caerius an uneasy feeling and as the force laid eyes on Katanus, they would be further filled with dread. The towering skyscrapers of Katanus were set ablaze, from top to bottom. Explosions rang out across the city as turian fighters fell one by one to Reaper anti-air and the signature smoke trail left by artillery shots gave an eerie fog appearance. Through binoculars, Caerius could see turian ground forces already engaging with Reaper forces on other sides of the city, thick fields of tracer rounds and fire were seen darting across bridges, in alleyways, and on residential streets.

"Shit...we're late." Caerius thought the attack would be all at once. The fact that the other forces were already fighting didn't give Caerius any comfort. They had arrived late to the battle.

"All company commanders, this is First Lieutenant Syldas. Launch attack. I repeat, launch attack." And with that, the tanks of the 73rd Armored accelerated forward at full speed, allowing a dozens of Turians to pile on and take them with them while the rest began a sustained sprint to the frontlines.

***

Taking the outskirts and residential districts were the easiest portion of the attack. Faced with limited husk hordes and cannibal blockades, the assault force took few casualties and lost no armor, even picking up a few turians who sought refuge in their basements and had laid in silence since. But as they approached the business district, the Reaper stronghold of the city, they would realize that taking the city would be next to impossible.

Even with heavy artillery and air strikes, the Reaper defenses were easily replaced as smaller buildings filled with Cannibals and husks were obliterated by turian artillery. Ravager fire support was heavy, Marauders laid down a steady stream of fire and hundreds of husks would rush their lines. A few shuttles reserved for Medical Evac were now strapped with heavy auto cannons and missiles, hoping to turn the tide of the battle. The turians gave no ground and would continue to push forward.

"Reloading!" Yelled Caerius as he ducked down behind the burnt out husk of a skycar on the highway leading to the business district. The constant sounds of gunfire made hearing any voices near impossible and volleys from the Heavy Tanks would surely kill his hearing altogether.

"Push forward!" Screamed a female soldier, unleashing constant flurries of biotic warps and singularities at the enemy lines. She would take cover next to Caerius, who stared at her in disbelief. It was his first time seeing a Cabal in action and it was frightening. He noted the ranking sigil on her collar and realized that she was a Praetorian, a skilled special forces operator whose power was centered around biotics. But, as heroic as the reputation they had was, it was all brought down after the initial fighting on Palaven. A squad of Praetorians were assigned to Primarch Fedorian during his evacuation. The Praetorians failed and the Primarch was killed.

"You a Praetorian?" Asked Caerius as he reloaded his weapon.

"Yes, but just call me Commander. The name's Curinia. Curinia Antalon."

"Whoa. Antalon? That's a legendary name. Your father, grandfather, great-grandfather-"

"Yeah, I get it. Big shoes to fill. How about we talk after this battle is over." Caerius nodded as they both rose from cover and fired off at a group of Cannibals who were brave enough to leave their lines and attempt a push on the left flank. The cannibals were massacred and the two soldiers jumped over their cover and moved forward.

"Two o'clock!" Yelled Caerius as he darted to Curinia's right side and filled a Marauder with metal. It took him a moment before he realized that he and this Cabal were leading the charge into the Business district, Reaper fire whizzing past their ears and eyes the entire time. Above, a turian heavy fighter unloaded it's magazines and missile storage into the main Reaper lines before succumbing to a lucky Ravager's flak, sending him crashing into the Arch above them, raining debris down upon Caerius and the force. The efforts done by the pilot ensured that a hole in the Reaper defensive lines was formed. Caerius ran next to a heavy tank, sighting targets and sending rounds down range. As they approached the line, Caerius' jaw dropped at the sight of a Brute rushing in to fill the gap left by the pilot's firepower.

"Spirits!" was all Caerius could muster out before he could hear the gears shift inside the tank and the Vantrox sped past him, hammering right into the Brute and over the line.

"Go, go, go!" Caerius yelled as dozens of troops rushed over the line as well, some engaging into hand-to-hand combat with Marauders and Cannibals. The Vantrox responsible for ramming the brute continued driving forward, the Brute planting it's legs into the dirt and trying to keep the hunking vehicle was running it over. It did little as the tankk swerved to the side and smashed into a storefront, taking the tank out of sight. Two more Brutes appeared from the left side alleyways between the three story buildings that lined the streets leading to the skyscrapers. At some point in this, he had lost sight of Curinia and understood that she may have been dead. He had no time to weep. He turned to right to see a Marauder on top of one of his men, hammering into his face with his fist. Caerius sprinted over and speared the Marauder, sending them both tumbling down into a makeshift foxhole. Caerius lost his Phaeston and activate his omni-blade as he rose up to meet the Marauder.

"Come on, you bastard." He said as the Marauder rushed at him, deploying a small synthetic like blade from his fist. The Marauder thrusted the blade forward, forcing Caerius to dodge right and attempt to swing his omni-blade at the Marauders head, which forced the Reaper soldier to duck. The two stared each other down for a moment, Caerius taking a moment to analyze the Reaper's combat techniques.

"Those feet, those hands, his stance. That's Hierarchy training." Caerius thought to himself. He began to ponder if the Reapers kept knowledge of fighting and combat intact when they converted turians. The Marauder rushed at the Lieutenant, his blade raised to neck height, ready to thrust. Caerius ducked down and exploded forward, hoping to spear the Marauder to the ground. Caerius felt an elbow smash into his back and the pains of before shot up his body. Caerius let out an intense yelp, forcing him to break the spear and send his right knee into the Marauder's side, feeling metal and synthetic tissue as the two fell back to the ground. Exhausted and gasping for air, Caerius slowly rose as the Marauder quickly recovered, walking to the turian and kicking him back down. The Marauder got on top of the Lieutenant, preparing to bring the knife down into a heavy thrust.

"This is it..." thought Caerius to himself as he no longer had the energy to continue the melee with the Reaper. A round from a Phaeston split the Marauder's head in two, causing his body to limp and fall to the side, revealing Commander Antalon aiming the rifle at where the Marauder would have been.

"Gotta do better than that." She said, climbing down into the foxhole, grabbing Caerius' arm and pulling him up. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it. You know, you never told me your name." She said, reloading her Phaeston.

"Ha." He muttered with a slight growl of pain from his back.

"Caerius Acamus."

"Well, Caerius. You better get up and out. Your troops are moving in without you." She said as she climbed out, reaching out to grab his hand. His mandibles flared as he grabbed her hand and pulled him out of the hole. He looked out over the battlefield, seeing dozens of Reaper bodies lying around and ahead, the tanks continuing their push forward with troops on both sides gunning down Reaper troops as they pulled back.

"Reports are saying the Destroyers pulled out of the city and Reaper troops are falling back to the city center. As long as a Capital doesn't shit on us, we may actually win this battle." She said to him.

"There's a whole lot of battle left to go, Commander."

"Hm. Noted. Let's say we join in on the fun?" Said Curinia.

"Heh. After you, ma'am."

---

The Battle of Katanus would continue for two days at the cost of 8,000 Turian lives, including First Lieutenant Zater Syldas. The turians would liberate Katanus and with the arrival of the Twenty-First Fleet and accompanying reinforcement troops, the Seventy-Fourth Corps would move to liberate the entire planet. With the deaths of so many commanding officers of the Seventy-Forth, Lieutenant Caerius Acamus was field promoted to Captain of the 201st Legion after his leadership abilities shined at Katanus. In the months leading up to the Final Battle of Earth, Captain Acamus would lead the 201st to the most victories made by a single Legion in the field of battle. Despite his victories, 82,000 troops of the Corps' 100,000 would die on Epyrus. Captain Acamus would remain on Epyrus after the Reaper War and assist with rebuilding efforts. For his bravery in the Battle for Epyrus, Caerius Acamus would receive the Nova Cluster medal and another promotion to the rank of Colonel. A monument to the fallen of Epyrus now stands in the Katanus City Center, renamed Syldas Square.

Epilogue
2195

Councilor Curinia relaxed at the back of her chair, letting out a gentle sigh after hours of sifting through paperwork regarding relief aid to a turian rebel world outside of the Hierarchy's influence that was heavily damaged during the Reaper War.

"Councilor, you have an incoming call from your husband. Would you like to take it?" Said her assistant over her desk's comm system. Curinia smiled.

"Yes, Yeneza. Thank you." The comm channel ended and a familiar face appeared on her terminal.

"Yes, my love?" She said affectionately to the scarred turian's face on her terminal.

"Thought you'd want to see this." He said joyfully, panning the camera down to see a small turian child, resting on her legs and hands, attempting to stand up.

"Oh, Spirits! Is she really gonna do it?!" Said Curinia, clasping her hands together, her jaw slack with anticipation. They watched as the infant moved to stand on her own two feet. With a gentle push of the tiny arms, the baby stood on two feet, rocking steadily back and forth before straightening up.

"Oh, Caevia! I'm so proud of you!" The Councilor said, nearly tearing up.

"Our little girl's growing up, Curinia." The voice said while panning the camera back.

"I know. I'm coming home this weeked. Gonna spend a few weeks there. I've been gone too long." She replied.

"I know. Zater started Junior Academy today. Since he's seven now, it's about time he learns what it's like to be a soldier." Curinia scoffed at his remark.

"A soldier. I wished we didn't have need for soldiers anymore. You'd think recovering from a galactic-wide apocalypse would help people see reason and help instead of fight."

"Nothing's changed, Curinia. Now that the Reapers are gone, everyone's going back to their regularly scheduled broadcast. The Terminus Systems are still wild, Rebels are still harassing outer colonies, and the Hierarchy still needs soldiers to defend her." Curinia nodded slowly at her husband's words.

"How's the defense projects coming along there? You get that giant hydromagnetic cannon you harassed Command for months about?"

"No, and I don't think I will. Successfully reverse-engineering Reaper technology is still going to take ten years. Apparently, that first cannon I prototyped imploded in on itself. Now that the Hierarchy's in charge of it, I'll see it on starships before I see it for Epyrus's defense. But the Home Guard's strong enough. We can repulse any attack."

"Good." She said just as soon as her Assistant entered the room, motioning that she needed to go by tapping on her wrist.

"Listen, I have to go now. I'll see you this weekend, alright?" She said.

"Alright. I love you, Curinia. Don't work too hard." He said affectionately.

"I'll try not to. I love you too, Caerius." The transmission ended and Councilor Curinia made her way out of the room.

[Asari Thessia]

Grand Memorial Docks, Yaina, Republic of Alcyria
November 28, 2486
7:31 P.M

"I remember everything. Looking around these docks, I can smell the smoke. I can see the way the sunlight glimmers off the shattered glass and burning towers. I was a Commando for a long time before this and I can't recall a time that was as....as...watching everything you love burn away as those monsters massacre your people by the tens of thousands. It's been three hundred years since I was here but a part of me never left, never left this city. I lost a piece of myself here...and I'll never get it back." - Former Commando Lieutenant Kassia K'velis

---

Atrauva Dock, Yaina, Republic of Alcyria
November 28, 2186
7:25 P.M.
6 hours after Commander Shepard's Departure from Thessia

Smoke ruined her vision, burned her eyes as her grip of the Deacon assault rifle loosened, sending it clattering to the ground. Kassia stumbled over two bodies laying next to each other, the bodies of her fellow Commandos who weren't as lucky to survive the blast from the massive Reaper looming above them. Lieutenant K'velis lifted her head, her mouth slacked, dirt caking onto her teeth. She couldn't care less...about anything. She wanted death. Death was better than this. Fighting for rubble, fighting for a dead species. Week after week, day after day, hour after hour she had been fighting, jumping from Commando squad to squad, continent to continent, country to country. Always the same story: reinforce this flank, assist in the counter-offensive, buy time for civilians to get off planet. But for all these missions given to her by Command, none of them succeeded. The flank was always overrun, the counter-offensive always failed, and the civilians were shot down before leaving the atmosphere. Now, there were no more Commando squads, no more organized assaults, no more Command to give orders that would lead her into a slaughterhouse. Nothing but shattered remnants of Asari architecture, their culture, their mark on the universe, unraveled. For all of her combat, all that time spent ripping Reapers apart, she never got a moment to rest. Now, on this broken dock, surrounded by dead soldiers and ruined ships, she would fall to her knees and breathe. Just breathe. Until her time would come. Her part in this story would be willed to close. She would go be with the rest of the universe, bask in the beloved nothingness. She found peace in knowing that this pain would not follow her.

"..Kassia!"

Kassia opened her eyes, squinting as the thick smoke continued to burn her eyes. The voice grew louder with every scream. The voice began to sound familiar. Bari?

The Commando rushed to her through the smoke, dropping her Acolyte pistol to the ground and wrapping her arms around her. "Kassia....you're alive." She whispered into her ear.

"Bari....you're alive?" Kassia said weakly.

"Yeah...my cockpit ejected me at the last second! Threw me right into that boat shop! Listen, we gotta get outta here, c'mon!" Bari yelled as she dragged Kassia to her feet, forcing her back into reality and into the hell she stood beneath. She focused on the light from the setting sun glimmering off the broken and twisted remains of skyscrapers over the lake channel as she and Bari ran for cover, away from the docks. They ran towards a row of storefronts overlooking the once beautiful Lake An'aia, clambering inside of a little human coffee shop to the kitchen area behind swinging double doors, hoping it would provide them solace for a few hours. Bari helped Kassia to the white marble floor where she would sit, staring at a chrome oven unit. The lighting above flickered constantly, seemingly in rows of three with two second pauses in-between. Bari sat down across from her, her back leaned against the oven, letting out a deep sigh. They sat in silence for what seemed like eternity before the pilot asked her pressing question.

"What were you doing? Back there?"

Kassia flinched at the question. "Ah...n-nothing."

"It sure didn't look like nothing."

"I was tired, alright? Everyone around me was dead, everyone I knew I thought were dead, I-I just wanted it to end. Does that answer your question?" Kassia snapped back, receiving startled eyes from Bari, who lowered her head and remained quiet.

"...I'm sorry, Bari, I just...."

"It's okay, Kassia. Just..you're gonna be alright, okay? You're gonna survive this. Shepard will find a way to undo all of this." Her words rang true, but they weren't what Kassia wanted to hear. Not in this moment.

"Heh...Shepard. A human is gonna save the galaxy. By Eternity, Bari, they're gonna own half the Galaxy when this is all over." Kassia said with a chuckle, coughing in pain.

"Probably. I would say I wouldn't mind it. I had a fling with a human once. They certainly are good for one thing." Bari said, eliciting another heavy smile from Kassia's lips.

The ground shook as a Reaper flew overhead, causing the power to go out completely. Gunfire erupted nearby, the feminine screams of Asari ringing out for a few seconds before dying down, taking the gunfire with it. Another group of Asari dead.

"Y'know, I found a QEC communicator after I crashed. Connected me to Syri, who lives on the complete opposite side of Thessia. Apparently, she was a big government official in Tevona, had alot of credits invested in a centralized military for the Asari. She told me that Shepard left Thessia six hours ago."

"Wait, you mean, he was here?"

"Yep. Landed right in Serrice, then took off a half hour before Command went offline." The room shook once more, clattering the pots and pans hanging along the walls. The two Asari looked up, wondering if this would be it. Maybe just gum on the bottom of a Reaper's boot. The shaking subsided a few moments later.

"What else did she tell you?"

"Before Command went offline, she heard that what Asari ships remained were joining some Joint-Species Fleet and abandoning our systems. What ships we had in orbit are probably long gone, which explains why everything went to oblivion so fast. Areas we considered safe zones were overrun in a matter of minutes and underground bunkers were reduced to smolder. Last I heard was screaming and gunfire then nothing. No more Syri."

"It's gonna be alright. Shepard will...Shepard will save us."

"And if he doesn't?"

"We lose everything."

[The Second Krogan Empire]

Virits, Within the Asteroid Belt of the Thal System, Shrike Abyssal, Terminus Systems
Stonehouse, Headquarters of CAT6 Private Military Corporation
2193

Since CAT6's involvement with the Shepard clone, the Alliance Military has deemed the mercenary corporation to be Tier 1 Blacklisted and has been conducting raids on all CAT6 warehouses and stations within Inner and Outer Council territory and Alliance space. Because of the Alliance's actions, CAT6 has been forced to settle their operations solely within the Terminus Systems.

---

The raid began without warning, dozens of Krogan breaching the front entrance to the sprawling underground complex, formerly belonging to a Blood Pack group that had been wiped out during the Reaper War after heading to Menae. The base had been occupied by CAT6 for the past six months. The ensuing massacre took the human mercenaries by surprise, allowing the Krogan to take level after level with minimal resistance. What seemed to be the most unusual part was that the Krogan were taking more prisoners than usual. For every three Mercenaries killed, they would take one alive. As they made their way deeper into the base, the CAT6 Leader, simply known as Hannibal, moved to confront them on the very last level of the six-level structure.

"Hey! What the fuck are you doing?!" He said, coming off the elevator with three Heavies moving in behind him. The lead krogan moved forward to engage him.

"I'm gonna say you're the leader of this pathetic pack of human pyjaks?" He said calmly, lowering his Claymore to his side.

"Yeah, I'd say you're right." The human said back, the defiant tone prevalent in his voice. The krogan noticed three Specialists moving around them on both sides.

"Tell your men to calm down. I'm here to offer you a proposition."

"Oh. so this is normal treatment for you krogan. Just bust into somebody's home, fuck shit up just to tell them you have something you want to offer them. Sure, sounds rational. Whatever you're offering, here's your answer: Fuck you."

"Figured you'd say that....here's this to let you know I'm serious." The krogan said as he interacted with his Omni-tool.

"There. I just transferred 300,000 credits to your account. There's more where that came from. I need an answer, first."

Hannibal laughed while looking around at the other mercenaries.

"In case you haven't noticed, we don't take orders or money from aliens. We're a human only company."

"So that's still a no?" He said, disappointingly.

"A resounding one, yeah. Now I suggest you get the fuck out of here before my men make minced meat out of yo-" The merc's sentence was cut short by the sound of a shotgun burst into his stomach, ripping his armor and flesh from his mid-section, exploding into a mist of crimson. Hannibal's body fell to the ground and the mercs aimed their weapons.

"Anyone else feeling a little more negotiable? Who's the second-in-command?"

"I am." A voice emerged from the group of mercs. "The name's Zeke."

"Ah, Zeke. You feelin' a little more open to negotiations?"

"Depends on what we're negotiating?"

"Well, at this current moment, I would say the survival of this PMC. But later, you're loyalty to the Krogan Empire."

Zeke's eyes opened wide at this.

"We...we aren't for hire like that. We do jobs and that's it. What are you asking from us?"

"I'm asking you to be our eyes in the Terminus Systems. You do what I tell you and I'll make you very rich. Might even get you un-blacklisted and allow you to work in Krogan space. What do you say?"

Zeke gave it more than a few moments to think.

"Rich, you say? We're in."

[The Systems Alliance of Earth]

Sydney, Australia
Systems Alliance Capitol Building
Prime Minister's Office

Admiral Hackett marched through the hallowed halls of the Alliance's capitol, his dress blues starched and pressed. After his memory was restored in Hong Kong, Hackett left the Memorial Medical Center after hearing from who he believed to be the Illusive Man, destined for the Prime Minister's office, who he believed would grant him his position of Councilor and Admiral in the Alliance Navy once again. He approached the door at the end of the hall, the seal of the Prime Minister adorning the center of the door. He pressed a button on the panel to the right of the door, labeled "DOOR BELL".

"Come in." Said the feminine voice over the speaker on the same panel. Straightening his posture and clearing his throat, he entered the office, the door sliding apart, revealing Prime Minister Mikhailovna at her desk, her eyes glued to the terminal sitting on her desk. Behind her was a patio decorated with wind chimes and beyond, the Ocean. The sun illuminated every part of the room, it's warmth feeling quite nice on Hackett's face.

"Prime Minister, it's good to see you again." Said Hackett, standing at attention and saluting as he said it. She didn't reply or even acknowledge his presence. His eye brows squinted from a mix of confusion and offense. He lowered his hand but remained at attention, allowing a few moments to pass before speaking again.

"I trust you've recovered well, Steven?" She asked plainly, confusing Hackett even more. In their long history together as Prime Minister and Fleet Admiral, never once has she ever referred to him as simply "Steven".

"Uh, Yes ma'am. I had some things I wanted to discuss with you, pertaining to Cerberus, ma'am." Said Hackett, hoping to move past the awkward silence and concerning phrases.

"Yes, there's things we need to discuss, too." She said in her slight Russian accent.

"Ma'am, I may have evidence that proves the Illusive Man is still alive." The Prime Minister's eyes shot up at the Admiral, her movements across the holo-keyboard halting.

"Something pertaining to a Project Renaissance. I have the audiofile saved on my omni-tool. Ma'am, I'm anxious to get to work and track down the Dreadnoughts we gifted them. If you will reinstate my Councilor status, I can spearhead this operation, find out where those ships went and-" "Send me the audiofile and delete your copy from your Omni-tool." She said, interrupting his sentence.

"Ma'am?" Hackett asked confused as he interacted with his omni-tool, preparing to send a copy to the Prime Minister's terminal.

"Send me all of your evidence pertaining to Cerberus and delete your copies. For security concerns."

"Ma'am, Alliance Intelligence provides the best encryption algorithms to date. I don't see how information like this could get out." Hackett said as he sent the Prime Minister six separate files on Cerberus.

"It's not your place to question me, Admiral. Do as I say. Now." She said, standing up from her chair and giving Hackett a cold stare.

Hackett stared back, now visibly annoyed by the Prime Minister's rude behavior. He reached to his omni-tool, keeping his stare locked with hers, and purged his omni-tool of all Cerberus data.

"It's done. Ma'am." Hackett said, a snarl on his face.

"Good. Now." She said, moving from behind her desk and to Hackett.

"What in God's name were you thinking, Steven?"

"Wha-...what do you mean, ma'am?"

"You know what I mean! Challenging the Salarian Union and Asari Republics. Going behind their backs and conspiring with Councilor Antalon to get the Salarians off the table. You ruffled alot of feathers, Hackett. Feathers I cannot unruffle. The Salarians and Asari did alot of messed up shit during the War, but did you really think they would be punished for it?! Did you think we had enough power to contend with Dantalion? Yes, we spearheaded the operations to take back the Galaxy from the Reapers. Yes, we saved the entire Galaxy from extinction. But you need to understand something, Admiral. The Salarians and Asari are still more powerful than us. They hold more political power, more assets to use, more blackmail to throw in someone's face." That last statement perked up Admiral Hackett's ears.

"Prime Minister Mikhailovna....are you being blackmailed? Is it the Salarians? The Asari?"

"I am the Prime Minister of the Systems Alliance. The Citadel is now more accessible than the fucking Moon is. No, I'm not being blackmailed." She said as she stepped away and towards the windows looking out over the ocean.

"But there are many people who want your head, Steven. I cannot ignore them. You're retiring, Admiral."

Hackett's jaw dropped quite a bit as he heard the Prime Minister's order.

"Prime Minister, I'm not retiring." Hackett said sternly.

"You retire or you're charged with treason for giving terrorists Alliance warships and resources. Don't do this to your family, Steven. Don't do this to Robert and Kayla. You really want your grandchildren to grow up without a grandfather?"

Admiral Hackett lowered his head in shame as he considered what was brought against him. There was no convincing Mikhailovna. No telling her the truth of how his voice was replicated, no telling her that it wasn't even him who gave the order. This was how the Alliance would reward a hero of the Reaper War.

"I'll...I'll retire..." Said Hackett solemnly.

"Good choice. Now get out." She said coldly as she sat back at her terminal, deleting the Cerberus evidence sent by Steven Hackett from existence.

Hackett turned and left the room, removing his blue and black officer's cap. He entered the elevator at the end of the hall.

He interacted with his omni-tool, opening up the Message Sender app. He pressed on John Shepard's name as the receiver.

"We need to talk."

[The Salarian Union of Sur Kesh]

Linwon sealed the door behind her as she entered the room, sitting down on the desk. She opened her omni-tool to reveal a familiar face, Executor Padok Wils of the Special Tasks Group.

“Executor Wils, what is the purpose of this transmission?” inquired Linwon

“Dalatrass, I was glancing through our many bug reports and found a remarkable amount of information, Admiral Hackett has been contacted by a source that he believes may have originated from the Illusive Man” informed Wils.

“Nonsense, the Illusive Man killed himself on the Citadel during the Reaper War” dismissed Linwon.

“According to Alliance data, the recent attack on the Citadel was perpetrated by Cerberus; the money, the fuel, the ships to reforge themselves. Alliance documentation has revealed kidnappings all over human colonies all with the victims sharing the same characteristics; mid 40s, brown hair, blue eyes, well built. Characteristics that match the Illusive Man, his body went missing from the unmarked grave it was buried in on Earth as well. This ‘Project Renaissance’ was clearly designed to revive the Illusive Man, as the Lazarus Project did for Commander Shepard. We also managed to salvage 6 files almost deleted from Hackett’s omni-tool” informed Wils.

“Astonishing, what else?”

“Prime Minister Mikhailovna has told him to retire as well, as punishment for his meddling in affording punitive measures to us, the mighty Steven Hackett’s days are done.” stated Wils.

“Yes that is unfortunate, Hackett is in the scope; we are not the only ones with malice against him. He accosted us, when we did our duty. There is a lot to answer for, the Union will stand no insult, not anymore please relay your findings to my personal omnitool.”

“Thank you for your industry Executor, you will be justly rewarded for your loyalty and diligence, Linwon out” declared Linwon.

The connection severed, Linwon opened the door and returned to the room, sitting down glowing with self satistfiaction.

[The Systems Alliance of Earth]

Marshall, Texas, United North American States
3 Weeks after Reaper Occupation of Earth

Three days. For three long days, Gunnery Sergeant Dalton Kendrick had been fighting when he could and running when he couldn't. Formerly of the 374th Security Battalion based at Barksdale Air Force Base, he was assuredly the last surviving member of that unit as of five days ago. Now, he was guiding a group of six lost, starving civilians to any place that could be fortified, anywhere they could hole up and survive until help arrived, the hope of which diminished with each passing day of this hell on Earth. With his dirty M8 Avenger Mk. I raised, Kendrick kept a steady pace as he looked downrange at the Old Harrison County Courthouse, one of the few last remaining relics of ancient Human history, dating back to the year 1900. It's golden dome shone through the smoke that rose from a row of skycars and ground-based cars parked in front of it. Kendrick knelt on one knee and checked the condition of his rifle. For so long, he begged Captain Connors to keep up with Systems Alliance Marine regulations and equipment, making the switch from the 35 year old CZ-10 Combat Uniforms to the Mark I Alliance Armor with UNAS colors, kicking the Avenger Mk.1 aside for the new Mk. 2 with thermal clips instead of variable heat venting. Now, he was thankful for Captain Connors' "get bent, we're saving money" speech. While Alliance Marines were focusing on saving ammunition, UNAS Army forces only had to focus on switching out worn venting gears, which were more abundant than toilet paper.

"Mommy, I have to use the bathroom!" A little girl said in a sad tone of voice behind Kendrick. The soldier turned to the woman, who made eye-contact with him. "Sergeant...do you think we could go in here and find a bathroom?" Kendrick's attention moved to the storefront they had stopped in front of. The glass had been broken out, shards laying all across the ground. Inside, there were still racks of clothing and purses hanging there, seemingly untouched by the looters that once occupied this building. After clearing the building and finding a functional toilet, the group returned to the sidewalk of the storefront and moved on.

As they inched closer to the Old Courthouse, they saw how extensive the Reapers destroyed the city of 80,000. The 239 year old Marshall Grand, transformed from a Hotel into a Medical training facility for a local university was, effectively, sliced in half by a passing Reaper cannon, causing it to lean against itself, bricks continuing to fall and smoke emanating from inside. A majority of the storefronts surrounding the Old Courthouse were a crumbling ruin after Harvesters made bombing runs before moving on to larger cities such as Dallas or Tyler. Kendrick always moved up first, scouting for Husks, Cannibals, or raiders looking to take advantage of the chaos for their own selfish reasons.

"C'mon." The Gunnery Sergeant mouthed as he motioned them forward to the Courthouse. As they approached the front steps of the Courthouse, they were beset upon by flashlights from the upper windows and front doors.

"Don't move! Drop your weapon!" Called a male voice from the front doors. "Shit..." Kendrick thought. "Raiders..."

With no other options left but to comply, Kendrick slowly lowered his weapon to the ground and rose back up, his hands in the air. The little girl with them began to cry out of fear while the other five adults were completely frightened, their hands shaking in the air. The flashlights at the entrance moved closer, revealing an Alliance helmet staring right at him. They were Alliance Marines, but it wasn't very comforting either. Either they were marines that shirked their duties to become raiders, or they were indoctrinated, placed there to lure in civilians so Reapers could move in and capture them with ease.

Kendrick's SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training kicked in. "Kendrick, Dalton, Gunnery Sergeant, Service number 69-568-885, United North American States Army".

There was silence for a brief moment as the Marine in front of him turned his head a bit at the proper response to being captured. There was a chuckle from behind him, from one of the other Marines. The Soldier in front of him removed his helmet, revealing a bald man, mid-40s, with plenty of scars.

"Young, Kevin, First Sergeant, Service number 223-88645, Systems Alliance Marine Corps. Feel better now?"

At the response, Dalton lowered his arms a bit, feeling more relaxed by hearing the proper military protocol.

"Relax, Gunny. You can put your arms down. Just wanted to make sure you weren't raiders or nothing. By the looks of it, one rifle makes for a shitty raider band." He said chuckling a bit.

"Come on in, we'll get you fed and looked after." The First Sergeant said as he motioned for the flashlights across the front of the building to turn off.

While inside, Kendrick was surprised at how many Marines were in the building. He counted thirty-six in total. He pondered at what a group of soldiers this large was doing in such a remote location. After his group got some food in their bellies and cots posted for them, he walked into the main office, where First Sergeant Young had turned into his makeshift command center.

"First Sergeant?" He said, knocking and peeking his head in.

"Oh, c'mon in, Gunnery Sergeant. Pull up a seat." Dalton Kendrick complied and sat in front of the desk Young was sitting at.

"Now, tell me something..." He said as he grabbed two whiskey glasses and a bottle of vintage 2055 Jack Daniels.

"What's an Uno army grunt doing out here? Thought the Army pulled everybody down south to Fort Hood? Getting ready for some major attack on San Antonio?" He asked, pouring a sizeable amount of whiskey into his glass.

"That was the plan. Devote all resources to capture San Antone, use it as a sanctuary for everyone else scattered across the South. Of course, a few hours later, Fort Hood was wiped off the map by one of those giant Reaper sons'uv'bitches. Took Command and about three Divisions with it. I was stationed at Barksdale and got the news right before we were about to mobilize. We stayed put, held out against waves of husks for days before we caught the attention of a passing Destroyer. Nothing we had could stop it from tearing that base down to it's foundations. Me and a few platoons made it out and agreed to move to the Kilgore Armory, where we heard Army forces were holding. We were going to reinforce and hold out there until help could come from somewhere. We heard there was a special Alliance officer that was rallying forces for a counter-attack on Earth. If we could just hold out, we could maybe get evacuated and taken somewhere safer." Kendrick took a strong swig of the golden liquid and placed the glass on the table, squinting at the burn.

"We got there, everybody was dead and we learned too late that it was a trap. We found a Kodiak shuttle, but it couldn't fit all eighty-three soldiers in it. The lower ranking boys pretty much threw me and a few others on the shuttle and told us "Give 'em hell." and that was it. The rest held off the Reapers while we got out. The shitty part of all that was that we got shot down a few miles away. I was the only survivor. Found that group of civilians walking alone on the interstate. Picked them up and headed here."

The First Sergeant just shook his head, a solemn look of despair on his face.

"Damn...I'm sorry. Fuckin' Reapers. They should've listened to Shepard...if only..."

"I didn't believe him, either. I mean, what are the odds that a group of sentient robot squids would descend on the Galaxy and kill us all? I mean, it just sounded like another far-fetched doomsday theory mixed with a conspiracy theory. You see them everywhere on the Extranet, they're a dime a dozen...anyway...how did a group of hardened space grunts make it to my neck of the woods?" The First Sergeant laughed while downing the contents of his glass.

"Have you noticed a giant plume of smoke outside of Marshall? A mile north of Highway 80?" The Gunnery Sergeant nodded.

"Well that was us. That smokestack was the SSV Kolyma, the heavy destroyer we were posted to. While the Fourth Fleet moved to the Charon Relay to reinforce the First Fleet, the Kolyma and maybe eight other Destroyers were deployed to Earth orbit to join the Earth Defense Fleet. When the Reapers arrived, the EDF tried a frontal attack. That frontal attack ruined the fleet and Captain Simpson ordered the Kolyma to Earth's surface. We assumed she had a plan we just became an easy target for Reaper orbital bombardment. The ship took maybe five hits before she finally quit and slammed into it's current location. Captain Simpson and six other officers survived but they didn't make it after we were attacked by Harvesters and Husks. We found this building to be the most fortifiable location and we've been here ever since."

"Do you know if anybody else survived? On Earth, I mean?" Kendrick asked.

"There's eleven billion people on this planet. I'm sure someone else is alive. Before communications went out, all we heard was flash traffic from FleetOps declaring threat condition saber one. Other than that, there's not much. We have a local radio, good for up to 1,000 miles. We've heard from a few civilians and some other Alliance troops. We've trained for survival ops like this, though. Despite how apocalyptic this may seem, our training includes conditions like this. Admiral Hackett will gather reinforcements and we'll have every Council fleet here in a few days. Until then, our jobs are to keep those Reapers on their toes. Simple as that."

Kendrick nodded his head. "Right. So we just stay here and keep quiet?"

"Exactly. Any Reapers come around, we try to avoid them. Any ground troops we kill alerts any nearby Destroyers or Capitals. We kill enough of them, we get to deal with a curious Reaper. So until that Joint Species Fleet arrives, we wait to start the fireworks."

"Sir." Said a voice from behind the UNAS soldier. It was the male voice of the team's radio operator.

"Sir, you asked me to update you on any major events in the UNAS? Chatter from an Alliance marine named Sergeant Mathers and a Miami Police officer named Lieutenant Devers confirm that both Seattle and Miami have fallen. Sergeant Mathers reports that he and the 233rd Platoon are all that remain of Alliance forces in Northwestern America and Officer Devers reports that he and a group of civilians are trapped in a gas station a few miles outside Miami. Other than that, no other comm traffic." Reported the radio operator.

"Hmm. Good work, Corporal Miles. Keep monitoring. Dismissed." Corporal Miles saluted and walked away.

"Let's hope Hackett gets here fast. We're running out of bodies to throw at the Reapers." The First Sergeant said coldly.

[The Systems Alliance of Earth]

The Shepard Family Apartment
Tiberius Towers, Silversun Strip
January 8, 2193
3:46 am

---

"Shepard...."

Eyes shut tight, neck flinching, mouth dry.

"You know it's the right call, Ash....

Dreamless sleep gives way to dark forests, ominous shadows. A place he was familiar with, a place he grew to tolerate. A place that never failed to remind him.

"Had to be me....someone else might have gotten it wrong..."

His face begins to twitch, a low groan coming from his throat. His left hand balls into a fist and begins to shake. He's sent to places he will never forget. Eden Prime, The Citadel, Rannoch, among many others. He's rushed into a battleground on Earth, the day of the Final Battle of Earth, his darling wife laying in a pool of blood, her torso ripped open and eyes painted black. His eyes adjust upwards to see his allies battling an endless flood of Reapers. Garrus, James, Ashley, Tali, EDI, Javik, Grunt, Wrex, Jack, Miranda, all working to turn the tide of death and destruction. To no avail. One by one, Shepard's eyes are glued to his friends as they fell, the name "Shepard" screamed over and over again within their death throes. A loud booming sound overhead snaps his head to it. The Normandy on fire. Her ion engines flaking off and erupting in a bright blue explosion as the main hull is ripped in half by Harbinger's cannons. Joker's voice screaming Shepard's name over and over again before crashing down in a flurry of light and heat.

"All forces, pull back! Shepard's failed! Run!" Hackett's voice seemed angry, scornful before screaming loudly over the comm device in his ear.

"No....no....no" repeating over and over upon his slumbering lips. His fists jerked and his legs shook.

"Shepard......why?" Admiral Anderson's voice projected over and over again in his head.

Sweat beaded upon his body as his fists flashed biotic blue.

The voices of all of his teammates screamed at him, surrounding him in various states of decay and death.

"Shepard! We will always be with you!" Shrieked the voices in unison.

Shepard....Shepard, wake up!

His body jolted up, both of his hands reaching up around the Asari's throat and squeezing with the help of his L3 biotic implant. Shepard panted heavily with hate in his eyes as he looked deep inside Liara's eyes as he squeezed tighter and tighter, her hands wrapping around his as she tried to counter-act his biotics, gasping sounds muffled, trapped in her throat.

His eyes cleared as his grip loosened, a look of horror upon his face as he scrambled out of bed and onto the floor. His hands shook as she fought to catch her breath.

"Li-....Liara, I...." Shepard couldn't find the words.

"Shepard..these dreams are getting worse!" She yelled out as she massaged her throat.

"I...Liara, I don't..."

"I can't keep doing this, Shepard. I just can't..." She said as tears welled up in her eyes. Shepard got up, slowly walking up to her. He reached out to touch her shoulder, causing her to jump in fear.

"Mommy? Is everything okay?" Benezia stood in the doorway. Liara jumped up, picked her up and took her down the hall past the couches.

Shepard stood there, frozen. He looked at his hands, unsure of what forced him to act in such a way. He cupped his hands on his face and sat down.