Chapter 73: End Game

"I hate this mask."

Whitaker was whispering over the radio as he knelt on one knee while looking down the scope of his rifle. They were on the roof top of the Citadel New's Tower. He was facing west, while Vega faced east, Barnes faced north, and West faces south. They were providing perimeter watch while Ezno's team fast roped down from the shuttle.

"What's wrong," Vega asked jokingly. "Worried it's not fashionable?"

"Of course not," replied Whitaker. "It's just not comfortable."

"But this mask is what's keeping you from becoming an Adjutant," said West. "You know Cerberus has spread the virus through the ventilation. It's at high enough concentration that one breath will get you infected."

"Well, well," said Barnes. "Look who's been studying to impress the ladies."

"You're to talk," shot back West. "What happened with Lawson?"

"Hey no one told me she was taken," object Barnes. "And besides, I was drunk and one of you clowns should have stopped me!"

"Why," said Whitaker over the comm unit, "you were doing fine making an ass of yourself."

"Ouch," added Vega.

"Cut the chatter!" Coats scolded over the radio.

For the next few minutes it was quiet. Finally, Coats broke the silence.

"Everyone, on me," Coats ordered.

Soon Charlie and Delta squad was gathered around Coats.

"Alright, Charlie squad secure the rooftop. Delta on me. Barnes, you take point. Vega, you bring up the rear."

Barnes complied and started to make his way towards the rooftop elevator door. He had his rifle pointed towards the door as he approached. He was followed by West, Whitaker, Coats, Riley, and Vega.

When everyone arrived, Barnes looked at Coats.

"Do it," Coats ordered.

Barnes gave him a quick nod and pressed the elevator button.

Ding. The doors opened,

Barnes looked in.

"Going down."

"We are less than a klick away," said Ashley as she and Miranda looked through their binoculars. At the moment, they were both kneeling behind an overturned sky car.

Miranda briefly put down her binoculars and looked over her left shoulder. Chakwas, Liara, and Oriana were hiding in an nearby doorway about ten meters away. Oriana gave Miranda a quick smile. Miranda returned a smile as she turned back to face Huerta Memorial again. She looked through her binoculars. "I think going through the rear ambulance bay is probably the best route."

Ashley scanned the ground floor again. In the front of the hospital, she could see at least fifty or so Cerberus troops. In the rear ambulance bay, there were only four soldiers standing guard just outside the entrance.

"I agree," replied Ashley. "Now we just have to make it over there without being seen."

"This is as close as I can get without being detected," reported Cortez over the shuttle intercom. At the moment, the Kodiak carrying Kirrahe, Vidinos and their men were hovering about three hundred meters above the C-Sec HQ rooftop.

"Very well," replied Kirrahe from the passenger compartment. "Hold this position."

He then turned to Vidinos, "We will need to deploy quickly when Shepard gives us the word."

"Agreed," replied Vidinos as both men turned to the monitor in front of them. It was displaying a three dimensional schematic view of the C-Sec HQ.

"The Command center is here," said Vidinos as he pointed to the tenth floor. The command center occupied the entire floor. This floor, like the rest of the building, had floor to ceiling glass windows on all four walls. The north side of the floor was the front of the command center and had a solid wall behind the glass for the large bank of monitor screens. There was also a corridor on the west side of the floor that separated the glass windows from the command center room. There were elevator shafts in the north and south side of the corridor. In addition, there were two doors access to the command center from this corridor. One door was close to the northern elevator, while the other was close to the southern side elevator. The eastern and southern side of the command center were completely made of the glass windows.

Vidinos continued, "The fastest way to get down there is to rappel down from the roof."

Kirrahe studied the schematic with his arm folded, "Thats five floors down, set up explosives to break the glass, and then make entry-"

"You don't think Blackwatch can do this," Vidinos asked in a slightly offended tone. "This is basic maneuver that we can do in our sleep."

Kirrahe put his right hand on Vidinos' left shoulder to calm him down, "My Turian friend, I have no doubt this is easy for your team to do, I was just thinking about all the Cerberus troops inside that will be watching you and ready to attack as soon as you make entry."

He then leaned in slightly toward the monitor and pointed to the corridor on the west side of the command center room, "What you need is a diversion."

Vidinos looked at Kirrahe, "What are you suggesting?"

"Why are we crawling like a couple of rats back on Omega," complained Aria as she and Shepard crawled towards the Council chambers.

Shepard paused briefly and looked behind toward Aria, "Because this is the fastest way to get to Garrus' location without being seen. And for the record, I didn't complain at all when I helped you take back Omega."

Aria smirked, "I told you I'd help you with Petrovsky, but you owe me big after this."

Shepard turned around and began crawling again, "No way, we are even after this."

This annoyed Aria, "No. You helped me with Omega, and I helped you with the Reapers. That made us even. I am now helping you with Petrovsky. This makes you in my debt."

"Aria," said Shepard as he continued to crawl, "You were not helping me with the Reapers. You were saving your own hide. You knew if you didn't join us, and we lost, the Reapers would have taken you out. So the Reaper war was about self preservation. Now this time, it does make us even."

Aria was starting to fume but then let out a laugh, "You know Shepard, this is what I like about you. No one dares to stand up to me. They are always trying to appease me. But you are different. You speak straight forward and you are not afraid. I like that. Now tell me the truth, did you enjoy our kiss as much as I felt you did."

Shepard scowled at the thought but kept crawling, "I only did that so you'd come along. There was nothing else."

Aria had a fiendish smile on her face. It gave her pleasure to know this clearly bothered Shepard, "You know I can understand your wife's response to my request for a kiss. But what I don't understand is why Lawson had such a strong response. Are you having an affair with Lawson like the tabloids suggests?"

Shepard was becoming increasingly annoyed, "No, I am not having an affair. You should not believe in everything you read in the tabloids. And I am done talking about my private life."

Aria ignored Shepard's attempt to shut down the conversation, "So is Lawson in love with you?"

Shepard kept crawling without answering.

Aria continued, "You know, whenever you are ready for some real pleasure, you should leave Williams and Lawson and come to me. "

Shepard rolled his eyes and kept on crawling.

Whoosh. The elevator door opened.

There was a bright flash from a flash grenade followed by a thud and another thud a second later. Two Cerberus soldiers were down.

In front of the elevator was a corridor that was approximately twenty meters. Cubicles lined both sides. At the opposite end of the corridor was a locked door.

Vega was the first to exit the elevator walking rapidly down the corridor with his rifle raised and looking down the aiming reticle.

"Poor bastards," said Vega as he passed by the dead bodies of the news staff in the cubicles.

Coats and Riley were right behind Vega. Whitaker, Barnes and West brought up the rear. They passed the two Cerberus soldiers in the middle of the corridor. Soon, they arrived at the locked door. Riley quickly accessed the control panel on the right. Coats was standing to the left of the door while Vega stood to the right. Coats gave Riley a nod.

Riley looked down at her datapad that was attached to the control panel through a data cable. She keyed in several commands and then whispered, "It's open."

Whoosh. The door opened.

Everyone looked away for a brief second as Coats tossed in another flash grenade.

After the flash, Vega entered with his rifle aimed in front of him, "Clear!"

The other team members quickly filed into the room. The room was about ten meters by eight meters in size. The walls were lined with racks of computer servers. There was another door on the opposite side wall. Vega quickly went to the door and slowly opened it and peeked in.

After a second, Vega closed the door and reported, "its another corridor, but it's clear."

"There," said Riley as she pointed to the one meter circular titanium conduit that projected from the middle of the left wall and then made a ninety degree turn towards the floor.

Riley walked up to the conduit and knelt on her left knee as she began to cut the outer casing near the floor. "This is where we wait for fourteen minutes."

"Barnes, West," said Coats to the two men, "go to the elevator. I don't want any Cerberus troops sneaking up on us."

Barnes and West both gave a quick nod and ran back towards the elevator.

"You two," said Coats to Vega and Whitaker pointing to the door Vega had opened a moment ago, "go secure that corridor."

The two men complied and soon disappeared behind the door.

Coats then said over the comm unit as he watched Riley's laser cutter at work, "Charlie team, this is Delta. Be advised, we are on the clock."

"Acknowledged," replied Enzo. "Everything is clear from here. See you soon."

"Argh. I think I chipped a nail," said Oriana.

Miranda looked back at Oriana with a disapproving look and put her right index finger over her mouth gesturing for her to be quiet. The group had been crawling in the prone position for what seemed like an eternity. And now they were just about fifteen meters from the ambulance bay.

At the moment, the group was hiding behind a shot up C-sec hover troop carrier. Ashley peeked around the wreckage, "those four troopers are still there."

"There's only four. We can take them," whispered Oriana eagerly.

"Nothing is ever as easy as it seems," said Miranda in a low voice trying to curtail her sister's misplaced enthusiasm. "The challenge here is to do it without them getting a shot off or have a chance to warn the others."

"Taylor, can you hear me," Ashley asked over her comm as she watched the exchange between Miranda and Oriana.

"Taylor?" Ashley asked several more times. Then she sighed, "I can't raise Taylor. We will have to do this on our own."

"You want us to jump three hundred meters down?" Vidinos exclaimed at Kirrahe's suggestion of dropping onto the C-Sec rooftop.

Kirrahe turned and lift up a backpack like device, "Don't worry, we'll have these."

"What is that?" Vidinos asked with skepticism.

"You wear this pack on your back," explained Kirrahe. "Our R&D division tells me it generates a very small mass effect field around the user allowing a temporary reduction in mass. So when you land on the roof, instead having the mass of a rock, you will be more like a feather."

"And you have tried this?" Vidinos asked raising an eyebrow.

Kirrahe smiled, "No. But I've been told the theory is sound."

Vidinos shook his head. "Great."

"It's about time you joined the party," said Garrus as Shepard and Aria walked over to his position.

Shepard and Garrus shook hands. This was followed by a warm hug from Tali.

Garrus then gave Aria a nod, "Aria."

Aria smirked, "Archangel."

Shepard looked down st the courtyard, "Hey, where are the council members?"

"They were moved a little while ago to one of the conference rooms," replied Tali.

Garrus then nudged Shepard and whispered, "I heard about the kiss."

Shepard face palmed, "Please don't mention it, especially in front of Ash and Miranda."

"Hey something is happening down there," said Tali breaking up the banter. She was looking through her binoculars and noted a Cerberus technician walking briskly towards Petrovsky.

"Let's take a listen," said Garrus as he took out a pen sized microphone and pointed towards Petrovsky. He then inserted an ear piece in his right ear and began to listen. "Oh, this is not good."

"That data pad Petrovsky is holding has a timer count down on it," said Tali as she continued to look through her binoculars. "It says-"

"Six minutes," said Garrus finishing Tali's sentence. "They have six minutes before they have complete access to the Council servers and activate the Citadel relay."

"Damn!" Shepard cursed under his breath. "I thought we'd have more time."

"Let me take Petrovsky out," said Garrus reaching for his sniper rifle.

"No, we can't," said Shepard as he reached out his arm to stop Garrus. "If you kill him before we cut the transmission tower cable, the Adjutant virus will be activated."

Shepard then spoke to his comm unit, "Delta team, how long before the cable is cut?"

"Eleven minutes," replied Coats. "Why, what's going?"

"Petrovsky will be able to activate the relay in less than six minutes," exclaimed Shepard.

"We could blow this room," said Coats.

"No!" Shepard could hear Riley's voice coming through the comm. "The explosion will only bury the conduit but not destroy it. The Adjutant virus can still be activated."

"Dammit!" Shepard cursed again.

Shepard looked down and thought for a few seconds. Then he looked up at Garrus and Tali.

"Oh no. I know that look," said Garrus knowing what his friend is about to do. "There's got to be another way."

"There's no time, Garrus," replied Shepard. "I have to go. Just make sure Aria does not go after Petrovsky until the cable is cut. Promise me."

Garrus nodded. He knew he could not talk Shepard out of this.

Shepard began to run towards the elevator. He did not look back. But he heard Garrus mutter, "I will always have your back."

As Shepard entered the elevator and headed towards the ground floor, he thought about Ashley and Miranda. But he quickly pushed that thought out of his head as he readied himself for what was to come.

Wisp. The elevator door opened.

"Lee, can't you cut any faster," Coats asked impatiently. "Shepard is going to go stall Petrovsky. He may just get himself killed."

Riley continued to focus on the laser cutter and replied without looking up, "Will, Shepard is my friend too. I am going as fast as I can."

Just then, the comm unit from one of the dead Cerberus troopers crackled, "Bravo team, check in."

Coats walked over to the fallen trooper. The comm unit sounded again. " Bravo team, are you there?"

At this point, West and Barnes also walked over to Coats and looked at the fallen soldier.

"We gotta say something," said Barnes. "Or they'll send troops down here to look for them."

"Bravo team, check in now. This is an order," exclaimed the voice on the comm unit.

Coats picked up the trooper's helmet and spoke into the comm unit, "This is Bravo team. All clear."

"What took you so long, Bravo team," asked the voice on the comm unit.

Coats looked at Barnes and West as if searching for a response. Then he spoke into the comm unit, "The signal is spotty down here. Sorry."

"Alright, don't miss your check in next time," said the voice on the other end.

"Will do," replied Coats as he turned off the comm unit.

He put down the helmet and muttered to himself, "I hope they bought it."

Ashley and Miranda were still in shock after receiving Coats' transmission about Shepard. They tried calling him but he was not answering.

Trying to take their minds off Shepard and to redirect their attention to the mission, Liara spoke up, "Should we wait for the cable to be cut before we take on the soldiers."

At the moment, the group was still huddled behind the hover truck.

"I think the sooner we can get in there, the sooner we can start making the antidote and vaccine, " said Ashley snapping out of her thoughts about Shepard.

"I agree with Captain Williams," Chakwas added. "Normally I would take the watchful waiting route. But these are extraordinary circumstances and I need time to set up the machines."

Miranda was quietly thinking about Shepard when Oriana began to rip the sleeve on her shirt with a pocket knife.

"What are you doing?" Miranda said in horror as Oriana cut away at the shirt fabric.

"I'm going to get us in there," replied Oriana.

"You are not going anywhere," said Miranda in an irrate tone.

"You all said we have to take them down without the others noticing, right?" Oriana said as she continued to rip her shirt sleeves.

"Yes, but-" Miranda didn't get to finish her sentence.

"Well, I'm going to get them into the ambulance bay," said Oriana. "That way they will be out of view from the other soldiers. Then you and Liara can use your biotics on them, and voila! All done."

"Well, that theoretically could work..." said Liara slowly.

"But how are you going to get them into the ambulance bay?" Miranda demanded.

"By being the damsel in distress," replied Oriana.

"I will go," said Ashley.

"No offense," replied Oriana looking up at Ashley. "I'm the only one that's not wearing a mask. I think I look less suspicious."

"Okay, okay," said Miranda giving in. "Just becareful. If you get into trouble, just let us know."

"I will sis," said Oriana giving Miranda a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."

Oriana slowly walked out from behind the hover truck and began to limp towards the Cerberus soldiers. Her shirt and pants were torn, and she held her left upper arm with her right hand as if compressing a wound.

Chakwas peeked from behind the truck and whispered to Miranda, "She's feisty."

Miranda shook her head, "You have no idea."

"We have to go now," said Kirrahe to Vidinos as they received the update from Coats.

Vidinos nodded. Both men then walked to the shuttle door and opened it. Kirrahe jumped first followed by Vidinos. Then one by one, the rest of the STG and Blackwatch men jumped.

After a brief moment, all the men landed on the C-Sec roof top.

Kirrahe unstrapped the pack and smiled as Vidinos walked towards him, "See, nothing to it."

Vidinos didn't bother to reply to the comment. He was focused on the mission now. "My men and I will set up on the eastern wall to get ready to rappel. You get down to the western corridor. Once they tell us the cable has been cut, you breach from the west side. Once Cerberus engage you, we will breach from the east."

"You got it," Kirrahe replied as he shook Vidinos hand.

"I will buy you and your men a drink after all this is over," said Vidinos.

Kirrahe smiled and gave a quick nod. He then gathered his men and headed towards the roof top elevator door.

"Petrovsky!"

General Petrovsky was looking at the data pad and listening to the technician's report when he heard his name being called from behind him. He immediately recognized Shepard's voice.

Petrovsky grinned and slowly turned around while still holding the data pad that was counting down in his right hand.

"Welcome Admiral Shepard."

There was something in Petrovsky's tone that unnerve Shepard a bit. Petrovsky was calm and collected. It was almost as if he was expecting Shepard.

Shepard shook the thought from his head and yelled, "This has gone far enough! This is between you and me. You wanted me? Well here I am!"

"Yes," said Petrovsky with a smug tone. "This chess game wwill end here one way or another. Here you are. The great John Shepard. The first human Spectre. Savior of the Galaxy. Supreme Commander of all Citadel Forces. Am I leaving anything out?"

Petrovsky let that sentence linger a bit as Shepard walked towards him. Now Shepard just stood about couple of meters from him. A platoon of Cerberus soldiers had encircled Shepard and Petrovsky, their rifles all aimed at Shepard.

Shepard could see the countdown timer on the data pad showed "0:16".

"Oh, I left out a few things from your title," said Petrovsky. "How about murderer of the Batarian people, and traitor to his own race. Yes, you are a traitor to humanity! You ingratiate yourself to these aliens. You've become their puppet in doing their bidding. You've turned your back on your oath to uphold and protect humanity's welfare above all others. You are a traitor! And you deserve a traitor's death. What do you have to say in your defense?"

Shepard noticed the camera drone hovering behind Petrovsky broadcasting this moment.

"What I did, I did for humanity and for all races in this Galaxy. Each race has a right to exist and to live in peace. History will judge me. I will not be judged by the likes of you," replied Shepard in a defiant tone.

"That is where you are wrong, John Shepard," said Petrovsky as he he reached for a pistol with his left hand. "You are being judged right now, right here. I went to great length to bring you here. Everything that's happened in the last few months was for this moment. To bring you here. To be judged in front of the galactic audience."

At that moment, all the events of the last few months raced through Shepard's mind. Reflecting upon all the deaths and destruction angered Shepard, "Petrovsky, all those people you've killed. All the destruction. You will pay for that."

"Perhaps," replied Petrovsky in a matter of fact tone. "But you will pay first. If you have nothing else to say in your defense, then it's time for your sentence to be carried out. Now get on your knees!"

Shepard glanced at the data pad in Petrovsky's hand. It showed "0:00".

But how much time has passed? Has the cable been cut?

"If you are going to kill me, I will stand on my two feet," replied Shepard.

At that comment, one of the Cerberus trooper came up from behind Shepard and struck him behind his right knee with the stock of his rifle. This caused Shepard to collapse to his knees.

Petrovsky put the data pad down on the ground and took the pistol in his right hand. He pointed the pistol at Shepard's forehead.

"I want you to confess that you are a traitor. Confess that you betrayed humanity," said Petrovsky angrily.

"I will not confess!" Shepard exclaimed.

Thud! Petrovsky pistol whipped Shepard across the side of his head. Shepard fell to his side. But after a brief moment, he slowly got back up to his knees with blood oozing down his right temple.

"No! I am not a traitor," said Shepard as blood and sweat dripped down from his face.

Thud! Petrovsky pistol whipped him again.

Shepard fell again. This time, he was down a little longer. But he still managed to slowly get up. Now there was blood and sweat over his entire face. It was getting harder for Shepard to see as each drop of blood and sweat stung his eyes.

Petrovsky was livid. He pointed at the data pad he was holding. "If you do not confess, I will press this button to activate the relay. You choose."

Shepard knelt there with blood dripping down his face. He thought about about Ashley and Miranda. He wished he could hold them one last time.

Shepard looked at Petrovsky and then looked directly at the camera drone, "I am John Shepard. A soldier of the Systems Alliance and a N7 officer. This is my oath. In times of war or uncertainty there is a special breed of warrior to answer the call. A common man with uncommon desire to succeed. Forged by trial and adversity, he stands alongside System Alliance's finest special operation forces to serve his people and protect their way of life. I am that man. My N7 emblem is a symbol of honor and heritage. Bestowed upon me by the heroes that have gone before. It embodies the trust of those I have sworn to protect. By wearing the N7 emblem I accept the responsibility of my chosen profession and way of life. It is a privilege that I must earn every day. My loyalty to the System Alliance and to my team is beyond reproach. I humbly serve as a guardian to my fellow man always ready to defend those who are unable to defend themselves. I do not advertise the nature of my work, nor seek recognition for my actions. I voluntarily accept the inherent hazards of my profession, placing the welfare and security of others before my own. I-" **

Thud! Petrovsky pistol whipped Shepard one more time in the face. Shepard fell down hard.

"So you do remember your N7 oath," said Petrovsky. "Yet you willingly went against everything you swore to uphold. You have signed your own death warrant. Prepare to meet your ma-"

Crack!

Petrovsky's right hand shattered as he fell to the ground along with the pistol.

Shepard instantly recognized the sound of the Widow Maker.

"Wait! Have we cut the cable?" Shepard yelled into the comm unit.

"Yes!" Garrus exclaimed.

The Cerberus troops all aimed their rifles towards Garrus' general direction and began to fire when a sudden force knocked four troopers across the court yard. In another second, three more was lifted high into the air and then slammed to the ground. The rest of the Cerberus troops began randomly firing in all directions.

Shepard was still on the ground when he noticed the pistol and the data pad that Petrovsky had dropped. The data pad showed it was ready to be activated. Shepard quickly lunged for the pistol and squeezed off a round shattering the data pad.

Meanwhile, Petrovsky was busy wrapping a belt around his right arm to stop the bleeding. He began looking around for the source of the biotic attacks.

"Looking for me?" Aria said in a mocking voice. She walked slowly out of the shadows from the direction of the elevator that Shepard came from earlier.

"It can't be!" Petrovsky exclaimed. "Get her!"

At his command, two platoon of Cerberus troops rushed to stand in front of Petrovsky and began firing at her.

Petrovsky then ran and got into the nearest Atlas and powered it up. The other Atlas had already powered up and began engaging Aria.

Aria quickly threw up a biotic shield around her and Shepard. She looked down at Shepard, "You owe me big!"

By this time, Tali and Garrus reached Shepard.

"You look like hell," said Garrus as he helped Shepard up. They then began retreating towards the elevator.

"All forces, converge on the Council Chambers," ordered Petrovsky over his comm unit. "Kill Shepard and Aria! Activate the Adjutant virus!"

At the same time, Shepard began yelling orders into his comm unit, "All teams engage. Phase two is a go! All teams engage!"

"Great job, Lee," Coats exclaimed as he extended his right hand to help Riley up. "That was too close."

Riley let out a sigh of relief, "Thanks. That cable-"

"We got company!" Whitaker yelled running down the corridor. There was gun fire behind him and it was getting closer.

"Where's Vega?" Coats asked as Whitaker came through the door.

"He's coming," said Whitaker sucking in deep breath. "And there's a whole lot of Cerberus right behind."

Just then, there were loud foot steps running toward the door. Coats opened the door to find Vega diving through the door.

"They're coming!" Vega yelled as he raised his rifle and aimed towards the door.

"Alright, we have to hold this position," Coats ordered. He looked at Riley, Vega and Whitaker. "You guys ready?"

"Hoorah!" Whitaker exclaimed.

"On three, I'm going to open the door," said Coats. "Get ready!"

Vega was prone on the ground with his rifle aimed at the door while Whitaker was kneeling on his right knee with the rifled trained. Riley took up position to the left of the door with her rifle.

Coats then barked out, "Three, two, one-"

"I can't believe they are actually trying to give her first aid," said Miranda. Oriana had walked up to the Cerberus troopers requesting help for her injuries. They briefly debated whether to shoot her or not. One trooper decided to help patch her up. During this time, Oriana slowly moved into the front of the ambulance bay. The soldiers followed. They were in far enough just to shield them from the other Cerberus troops in the front of the hospital. Oriana was sitting down while the soldiers stood around her.

"Are you two ready?" Ashley asked Liara and Miranda. They both nodded.

"Alright, on my mark," said Ashley. "Three, two, one."

Miranda sent a biotic slam into two of the soldiers that lifted them high and then slammed down hard to the ground. They did not move after that.

At the same time, Liara sent a biotic throw towards the other two troopers. This sent them both flying towards a concrete barricade. One of the troopers hit the barricade first with a loud thud. He did not move anymore after that. The second soldier fell directly on top of the first solider. He fell to the ground. But after about a minute, he came to his senses and stood up. He began to walk towards Oriana. At the same time, he reached for his pistol. Oriana immediately stood up and began to run towards the trooper.

"Dammit!" Miranda muttered. She could not yell in fear of drawing attention from the troops in front of the hospital. At the ssame time, Oriana was in the way and she could not send her biotic slam.

Seeing Oriana was running towards him, the trooper aimed his pistol.

Oriana did a hurricane kick that struck the trooper's right hand sending the pistol flying. Enraged, the trooper tackled Oriana. Oriana fell backwards onto the ground. The soldier was now on top of Oriana and began to choke her.

"Oh no!" Miranda yelled. She came out of cover and sprinted towards Oriana.

"Hey! Stop!" One of the Cerberus troopers from the front of the hospital noticed Miranda was running towards the ambulance bay. This drew the attention of the other troopers and they began to run towards Miranda.

"Not good!" Ashley muttered as she aimed her rifle and began firing on the approaching troopers.

She yelled without taking her eye off her aim, "Liara, take Dr. Chakwas into the hospital. Get the antidote and vaccine started!"

"What about you," Chakwas asked.

"I'll be fine," replied Ashley. "Just go!"

Chakwas complied as she and Liara began running towards the ambulance bay.

Inside the ambulance bay, Oriana was still struggling with the Cerberus trooper. She could feel his entire weight choking the life out of her.

Just then, a loud thud hit the trooper and he felt towards the right releasing his grip on Oriana.

Oriana looked over at the trooper. He was dead.

She then looked in the opposite direction and saw a Drell standing to her right.

"Are you alright?" Kolyat asked as he extended his hand to help Oriana up.

Oriana had never seen a Drell up close and was slightly startled. But then she gathered herself and took Kolyat's hand.

"Thank you for your help," said Oriana.

"Glad to be of help," replied Kolyat. "I am K-"

"Kolyat!" Miranda shouted as she ran up to Oriana. "Thank you!"

Kolyat was standing calmly, "It was my pleasure. I was glad to be of assistance."

"This is my sister, Oriana," said Miranda as she put a hand on Oriana's shoulder. She then turned to look at Oriana, "Are you alright?"

"I'm alright sis," replied Oriana. "Kolyat saved me."

"Get back!" Liara yelled as she and Chakwas ran into the ambulance bay. "Cerberus troops are coming!"

"Where's Ash?" Miranda asked.

Liara made a quick head gesture over to the hover truck. Miranda could see rifle fire coming from behind the truck.

"Get Dr. Chakwas and Oriana to the lab," Miranda said to Liara. "We will have to hold them off here."

"Alright. Let's go," said Liara as she grabbed Oriana's hand and began running towards the make shift barricade that Taylor had put up the day before.

"You ready for this?" Miranda asked Kolyat.

Kolyat nodded as he reached for his pistol.

The two of them looked out from the ambulance bay and saw a swarm of Cerberus troops rushing this way.

"Let's give Ashley some suppressing fire!" Said Miranda as she and Kolyat began firing at the Cerberus soldiers.

"Ash! Get inside. We'll cover you," shouted Miranda.

"Coming!" Ashley replied as she began to run towards the ambulance bay.

Miranda sent a biotic overload towards the first few soldiers, "Focus on the first few soldiers. Their shields are down!"

Kolyat complied and dropped the first three soldiers.

"Ooph!" Ashley muttered as she dove into the ambulance bay next to Miranda. "Thanks for saving my ass!"

"Just returning the favor," replied Miranda as she continued to fire her M-25 Hornet.

Ashley looked around the ambulance bay and quickly saw the barricade.

"Let's get behind that barricade," shouted Ashley. Miranda and Kolyat agreed. The trio quickly ran towards the barricade and ducked behind. Miranda was on the far left of the barricade. Ashely in the center, and Kolyat was holding down the right side.

"Here they come!" Miranda shouted. "Make every shot count!"

The ambulance bay was quickly filling up with Cerberus troops.

"We're going to get overrun!" Ashley shouted. "Miranda, you and Kolyat get inside and take defensive position. I will hold them off as long as I can."

"Nope, not going to happen!" Miranda shouted.

"That's an order!" Ashley yelled.

"You can court martial me afterwards," Miranda yelled back. "And by the way, I'm not even in the Alliance military."

"You-" Ashley was angry and glad at the same time. She wanted to protect Miranda. But she was glad to have her at her side.

"You guys need help?" Taylor shouted as he, Morrison, and Chiang ran to Ashley. "I thought you guys were supposed to be rescuing us."

"Funny Taylor," laughed Ashley. "Good to see you too!"

"Hey, let's talk later," Miranda shouted from the left flank. "Shoot first!"

"Boy, you're getting bossy!" Taylor shouted as he took up position to the left of Ashley. Chiang and Morrison took up position to the right of Ashley.

Taylor took off his safety, "Here we go!"

"How many targets do you see?" Kirrahe asked Vidinos over the comm unit.

Vidinos and his men had just rappeled down four floors. The command center was just one floor below. He took out a small container and opened it. A micro-drone the size of a fly became active and flew towards the tenth floor.

When it finally reached the floor below, Vidinos looked at the small display on his left wrist.

"There are thirty six heat signatures," Vidinos reported.

"Alright, we will have to be quick," said Kirrahe. He and his men were in the north elevator shaft standing on the roof of the elevator that had stopped on the tenth floor.

"We are going to gain access into the elevator now," said Kirrahe as he began to turn the handle on the ceiling hatch.

"Wait!" Vidinos said in a forceful whisper. "There's a lot of movement in the room. There's a tall Salarian in there. He seems to be giving orders and he's leading some of the men out out of the room."

Kirrahe stopped turning the handle, "Okay, where are they going?"

After another minute, Vidinos reported again, "About half of the troops are leaving. Some of them are headed to you!"

Kirrahe quickly signaled his men to grab onto the ropes they used to rappel down the elevator shaft.

"I hope they are going down," said Kirrahe.

After a few seconds, he heard voices coming towards the elevator. Then the door opened. This was followed by footsteps. Then the door closed. Finally, the elevator began to move downward.

Kirrahe let out a sigh of relief, "Alright, we will gain access to the corridor now. Be sure to use your friend or foe identiers. I don't want any friendly fire."

"Acknowledged," replied Vidinos.

Outside the building on the eleventh floor, the six Blackwatch soldiers waited for the word. After a couple more minutes, it was finally time. Kirrahe had three of his men at the southern entrance, while he and two others were at the northern entrance.

Kirrahe's voice came online again, "Breaching in three, two, one."

Vidinos saw several flashes on the floor below followed by the eruption of gunfire. He and his men simultaneously descended to the tenth floor, placed micro explosive charges and detonated them. Then in one coordinated motion, they swung inward against the glass windows creating a loud crashing noise. Once inside, Vidinos and his men joined the firefight catching the Cerberus troops in a crossfire. It was all over in less than a minute.

Kirrahe sent two of his men to guard the elevators while the rest of them began working to bringing the security feeds back online.

Vidinos walked over to the communication station. He dialed in the Alliance frequency and spoke into the microphone, "This is Echo and Foxtrot team. We have secured C-Sec Command Center. I repeat, Command Center is secured!"

"We need to break the Cerberus line!" Corinthus exclaimed over the comm to Hackett.

Hackett was standing calmly on the bridge of SSV Everest. Overhead were three video screens that displayed Corinthus, Lindanya, and Hannah Shepard. Moments ago, the fleet received word that the C-Sec command center had been captured. The only thing that stands between Corinthus' troops and the Citadel is the Cerberus fleet that was blocking their path.

Even before the latest update, Hackett had already positioned the combined fleets. He had his Fifth Fleet line up in the center. Hannah's Sixth Fleet was to his right. Shepard's Seventh Fleet was to his left. To the left of The Seventh Fleet was Lindanya's Asari Fleet. Corinthus' Turian fleet held the left most flank.

Hackett had given order to have the Fifth and Sixth Fleets engage. They had been in battle already for about thirty minutes with neither side budging. This is what led to Corinthus' frustration as he felt they were at an impasse.

Hackett looked up at Corinthus and Lindanya, "The Fifth and Six Fleet are going to slowly pull back."

"You're withdrawing?" Corinthus asked in a confused tone.

"No," replied Hackett. "We are going to do a rope-a-dope."

"I am not familiar with this military tactic," replied Lindanya.

"This is a tactic used in boxing famously many many years ago," explained Hackett. "The goal is to take a defensive position and let your opponent wear himself out. Then you make a strong counter offensive mmove and defeat him. Anyhow, in this case, as we fall back, Cerberus will think our battle line is breaking apart. They should advance to drive a wedge between our forces and try to finish us off. Knowing Petrovsky, he will think he is Nelson at Trafalgar."

"I don't understand this reference," said Corinthus.

"I apologize, General," replied Hackett. "I will explain some other time. But for now, as the Cerberus fleet advance, I want you and Matriach Lindanya's fleet to advance and open fire on them. Once their fleet is between our two flanks' you should launch the troop shuttles."

"That is a sound plan," said Corinthus. I will give the orders right away. Good luck."

"There's too many of them!"

Whitaker was squeezing off rounds from his rifle as fast as his finger would allow.

"Just keep firing!" Coats shouted over the loud gunfire noise.

Suddenly, everything went dark.

"Crap! They shut off the power," yelled Vega as he continued to fire. The muzzle fire of all the weapons produced a surreal light in the dark corridor.

"Barnes, is the elevator still working?" Coats yelled over the comm as he and his men switched their scopes to infared mode.

"No, sir," replied Barnes. "There's no power"

"We're trapped," said Riley. "And they are about to over run us."

She then looked at Coats, "Will, we need to blow this. If we bring enough rubble down, then that should prevent them from repairing the connection."

"You know, this might cause a complete cave in," said Coats to Riley.

"I will be careful to use the least amount of charge necessary," replied Riley. "But yes, it may cause a cave in."

Coats looked at the situation. He knew Riley was right. But he also knew this might spell certain doom for his team.

"Dammit! Alright, Lee set the charges!"

The three men continued to fire while Riley set up small charges in the room and in the doorway. She had to be precise so as not to cause the entire floor to collapse on them. When she finished, she gave Coats a nod.

"Alright, everyone back," Coats ordered as the team retreated into the rear corridor with Barnes and West.

"Here we go," said Riley as she took out the remote detonator.

"Fire in the hole!"

"I'm out!" Taylor shouted as he squeezed off his last round.

"Here," Miranda yelled as she tossed Taylor a thermo clip. "Don't ever say I don't share."

Taylor laughed as he inserted the clip, "Just like old times."

"They just keep coming," said Morrison as she continued to fire on the right flank.

"Just keep shooting," said Ashley. "We will get through this."

Even before Ashley finished her sentence, a Cerberus shuttle landed at the entrance of the ambulance bay. Eight more Cerberus troopers filed out and began marching toward the barricade.

Just then a black singularity opened up behind the advancing soldiers. They were suddenly lifted up off the ground and began to float towards the singularity. Seeing the opportunity, Miranda sent a biotic warp towards the troopers that were dangling like rag dolls. They screamed out in pain and then went silent. The singularity finally dissipated and the bodies dropped to the ground. The remainder Cerberus troopers ceased their advance and took up defensive positions at the entrance.

Ashley looked over her shoulder and saw Liara walking towards them, "Thank you!"

Liara smiled, "I thought you could use some help."

"Glad you're on our side," said Taylor.

Miranda walked over, "Is my sister okay?"

"She's fine," replied Liara. Dr. Michel and Dr. Chakwas has extracted her blood sample and have started to produce the antidote and vaccines.

"That's great!" Ashley said to Liara. "We could use some good news."

"Well, I got more good news," said Liara. "We received a transmission that C-Sec Command center has been captured by Echo and Foxtrot team, and General Corinthus is on his way."

"That is good news," said Ashley as she sat down on the ground. She tried several times to raise Shepard on her comm unit but only got static.

Ashley sighed as Miranda walked over to her, "Ash, he will find a way. I'm certain of it. It's Shepard."

Ashley let out a nervous laugh, "He'd better."

"You recapture the command center at all cost!" Petrovsky shouted over the comm unit.

Tazzik was standing in the lobby of the C-Sec HQ and had just reported the situation to Petrovsky.

"Sir, let my men and I come and help you," pleaded Tazzik.

"I will be fine," replied Petrovsky as continuous gun fire sound filled the background. "I am going to kill Shepard once and for all. You recapture that HQ!"

"Yes, sir!" Tazzik replied. But Petrovsky had already disconnected.

A dozen Cerberus soldiers packed into each of the elevators and headed up. At the same time, Tazzik boarded a Cerberus shuttle and shouted to the pilot.

"Let's go!"

The elevator door opened and Shepard, Aria, Tali, and Garrus ran out.

"What's the plan, Shepard," asked Aria. "I came to get Petrovsky, not to play hide and seek."

Shepard looked at Aria, "You will get your chance. But first we secure the Council Members, and stay alive until reinforcement arrives. Then you can have Petrovsky."

As Shepard ran, he began wiping the blood from his face with his sleeves.

"Just make sure you don't get in my way this time," replied Aria.

"I won't," replied Shepard. He then looked at Garrus, "Let's go save the Council."

"Alright. But you need to heal yourself first," said Garrus handing Shepard a medi-gel pack.

Shepard quickly began applying the medi-gel to his wounds.

Even as they talked, they could hear footsteps running after them.

"Let's slow them down," said Tali as she began to set up a sentry gun.

After a brief moment, the minigun powered up.

"Let's see how they like that," declared Tali.

"Good job, Tali," said Shepard. "Now let's get going."

As they ran down the corridor, they could hear the whirling noise of the minigun followed by its rapid fire.

"We have to hurry, that's not going to hold them," said Shepard as they made several quick turns in the corridor.

Finally, before the final corner, Garrus stopped them. He slowly peaked around the right corner, and quickly came back.

"There are two Cerberus guards in front-"

Before Garrus could finish, Aria walked around the corner, "I don't have time for this."

Shepard, Garrus, and Tali quickly ran around the corner. The two guards were lying motionless on the ground.

Shepard shook his head as he walked up, "Do you even understand the idea of teamplay?"

"I don't need a team," replied Aria as she watched Shepard open the door.

"Shepard!" Tevos exclaimed as Shepard walked in with Garrus, Tali, and Aria following close behind.

Tevos, Ford, and Valern were all sitting on the ground with their ankles and wrists tied. Shepard, Tali, and Garrus began to untie them.

Tevos saw Aria and was confused, "What is she-"

"I'm sorry I don't have time to explain," said Shepard. "She's on our side. And we have a platoon of Cerberus troops that will be here soon. We have to keep moving until reinforcements arrive. Can you walk?"

Tevos nodded, and they soon got underway.

But just before they set out, Tevos put a hand on Shepard's hand, "Thank you."

The fighting between the fleets was ferocious. Both sides exchanged withering salvos from their main batteries. But after about an hour, General Corinthus finally broke through. Shuttles began to stream toward the Citadel.

"This is General Corinthus to all ground teams, we are on all way. Just hold on a little longer."

The air was thick with smoke and dust. It was pitch black. Coats could not see anything, and the explosion had left his ears ringing. He could hear Riley coughing. He crawled towards her.

"Lee, are you alright?" There was a frantic tone in Coats voice. He reached for his flashlight and turned it on. He could finally see Riley.

"I'm okay," replied Riley. "Check on the others."

After a quick scan of Riley to see she was not injured, Coats went to check on his men. He found all his men in front of the elevator. Fortunately, besides some scrapes and bruises, there were no major injuries.

"Charlie team, this is Delta team. Do you copy?" Coats hoped Enzo was still receiving him. But after several attempts, there was no reply. By this time, Riley had walked over.

"No luck?" Riley asked Coats.

"No," replied Coats.

"Well, at least we buried the cable so Cerberus can't repair the transmission line," said Riley.

"But now we are trapped here," said Barnes.

"And not to be a pessimist, but aren't we running out of air," asked West.

"Just try to conserve your energy," replied Coats not answering West directly, though everyone knew the answer.

As they were still talking, they all heard a metal clanging noise coming from the elevator. Whitaker and Vega stood up and each got a grip of one side of the elevator door and began to pull back the doors. The rest of the group aimeded their rifles at the elevator door.

Finally, they got the door opened. The elevator was empty. But the metal clanging noise persisted.

"It's coming from the elevator ceiling," said Riley.

Everyone pointed their rifle towards the direction of the sound. This went on for another minute or so until finally a hatch from the elevator ceiling openened,

Coats instinctively shut off his flashlight. They all collectively held their breath.

Soon, a beam of light came through the hatch. It searched the elevator for a little bit. This was followed by a loud thud. It sounded like a man had jumped down. But no one dared to say anything, Finally the beam of light began to shine in Coats direction.

"Coats? Riley?" It was Ezno's voice.

"We are here!" Coats exclaimed as he walked up towards Enzo.

Ezno shined the light directly at Coats and looked him up and down.

"You look like crap!" Ezno finally said to Coats.

Coats let out a laugh, "Am I glad to see you!"

"Cereberus is breaching from the top floor!"

Dr. Michel's voice was frantic over the comm unit.

"I can see them from the security feed from the lab."

"Doc, we will be right there," replied Ashley as she is already running towards the rear elevator. Miranda, Liara, and Kolyat also followed.

Taylor got up to go as well. He looked at Morrison and Chiang, "Can you two hold the fort down here? If they attack, call."

"We got it. Go!" Morrison said to Taylor as she changed out her thermal clip.

The elevator reached the top floor and the group exited with their weapons drawn. They were at the rear of the hospital making their way towards the waiting room. The corridor was lit with the orange glow of the emergency lights. In the side rooms, they can hear people groaning and sobbing. They continued on a little further.

Suddenly, Ashley stopped and made a fist for everyone else to stop. She motioned for the group to take cover in one of the side corridors to the left. As they leaned against the walls, they can hear boots marching their way with flashlights that casted shadows of soldiers carrying rifles. From the silhouette, Ashley count about six or seven soldiers.

Ashley motioned for Liara and Miranda to begin the attack. They both nodded in affirmation. She then motioned for Taylor and Kolyat to follow up with their attacks. They both nodded in acknowledgment.

Liara was first, throwing up a singularity above the soldiers. They instantly lifted off. Miranda followed with a warp biotic attack. Taylor, Kolyat and Ashley ran out to the middle of the corridor and began firing on the soldiers. Finally, the singularity ended and the lifeless bodies fell to the floor.

"You two really like that singularity and warp combination," Taylor said to Miranda.

"Hey, it works," replied Miranda with a smile.

Ashley then led the group into Huerta Memorial's large waiting room. The once tranquil space for healing has been turned into a war zone. There were debris everywhere. But at the moment, there were no other movement in the room.

The group began sweeping through the area to be sure no other Cerberus troops. As they approached the front main elevator, it suddenly made a whirling noise.

"Someone is coming up," Taylor shouted.

"Take cover!" Ashley ordered as they all took cover.

They aimed their weapons towards the elevator.

Ding.

The whirling stopped and the door opened. Soldiers began filing out. There were eight of them in total.

Ashley recognized the Alliance uniform and shouted to her group, "Hold your fire! Friendlies!"

Ashley stood up and lowered her rifle.

The officer in charge motioned for his soldiers to lower their rifles.

"Alliance First Infantry Division," said the lead soldier. "Identify yourself!"

Ashley and Miranda walked up first followed by Taylor, Liara, and Kolyat.

Taylor glanced at the soldier's uniform and rank, "Lieutenant, you better show some respect to who you are talking to."

Ashley turned to Taylor, "Jacob, it's alright."

The lieutenant took another look at Ashley and became suddenly flustered, "Captain Williams, ma'am. I'm sorry I didnt recognize you."

He saluted her, "I am Lieutenant Gibbons. 1st ID."

Ashley returned the salute, "At ease. You came just in time. Are there more of you?"

"Yes, ma'am," replied Gibbons as he looked out the glass enclosures. A fleet of Alliance shuttles were landing all over the Citadel. "We are all here."

"Take the command center now!" Tazzik shouted over his comm unit. His shuttle was hovering around the nineth floor. He wanted to wait for his teams to breach the doors so he could catch Kirrahe and Vidinos in a cross fire.

"Sir. They took out both elevator shafts with explosives," replied the Cerberus solider on the other end. "We will have to get there by shuttle or rappel down from roof."

"Do both," ordered Tazzik. "Rappel down east wall, and bring shuttles to my location from the south side!"

Even as Tazzik was barking out orders, he tapped the shuttle pilot on the shoulder and made a gesture with his thumb for him to take the shuttle upward.

"Sir. Shouldn't we wait for reinforcements?" The reluctant pilot asked Tazzik.

"I'm giving you an order," insisted Tazzik.

"Sir," the pilot was still hesitant.

"This is an order," said an irrate Tazzik as he drew his pistol and pointed it at the pilot. "I am not going to say it again."

"Yes, sir," replied the pilot as he pushed forward on the thruster controls.

"Open the door, and get ready to fire," said Tazzik as he turned around and walked over to the four troopers in the passenger compartment.

The soldiers complied and raised their rifles.

As the shuttle slowly ascended to the tenth floor, two other Cerberus shuttles joined them. One positioned on their right, the other on the left.

The three shuttles were all positioned side ways with their side passenger doors opened.

From his position, Tazzik could see inside the command center where the STG and Blackwatch operatives were busy bringing equipment online and restoring security feeds.

"Fire!" Tazzik shouted as he raised his M-76 Revenant rifle and began spraying rounds into the glass windows.

The hail of rounds shattered the glass windows and began peppering the troops inside.

Kirrahe, Vidinos and their men immediately dove for cover behind the work stations. The gun fire was unrelenting. One STG soldier was struck in the leg, while a Blackwatch operative was hit in the arm.

"We have to do something," said Kirrahe to Vidinos.

Vidinos nodded as he swung his rifle over the desk top and began to blindfire towards the shuttles. The other men also followed his lead. But the shots kept coming.

Kirrahe took out a smoke grenade.

Vidinos looked at the grenade, "Do it!"

Kirrahe pulled the pin and lobbed it towards the broken windows. Vidinos grabbed another smoke grenade and did the same.

Soon, the room began filling up with smoke.

"Glad we have these masks," remarked Vidinos referring to the masks their team was already wearing to protect them against the Adjutant virus.

Outside, aboard the shuttle, the Cerberus troops were having trouble acquiring targets.

"Sir, this smoke is too thick. We can't see the targets," reported one of the soldiers.

"Just keep shooting," ordered Tazzik.

But before he could finish his words, a loud explosion to the right of his shuttle caused his shuttle to shudder violently.

Tazzik looked out the shuttle's passenger door towards the direction of the explosion. The shuttle was gone. He looked down and saw the smoking debris of the downed shuttle.

But as Tazzik was still surveying the debris down below, he saw a fast moving smoke trail headed their way.

"Missile!" Tazzik shouted to his pilot. But his pilot had already seen it and pushed on the thruster control banking sharply to the right. This caused Tazzik to fall to the floor and nearly knocked him out of the shuttle.

Just then, there was another explosion. This time, it was the other Cerberus shuttle to the left that was hit. It too crashed to the ground in a ball of flames.

"Get us out of here!" Tazzik ordered.

The shuttle pilot didn't need any other reason and quickly took off.

"Who hit us?" Tazzik asked as he slowly stood up and made his way to the cockpit.

The pilot looked out of his cockpit window at the swarm of shuttles landing in the city.

"The Alliance, sir."

"Shh," whispered Tali to Tevos, Valern, and Ford.

They were hiding in a utility closet. Moments earlier, Shepard, Garrus, and Aria took off to go after Petrovsky. They left Tali to protect the Council members.

Everyone in the dark closet held their breath as the foot steps of the soldiers got louder and louder. .

Then the foot steps stopped.

"Search every room!" The Cerberus trooper said. "The general want them found dead or alive."

Soon, they began hearing doors opening and closing. The sound was getting closer and closer to their location.

"Get behind me," whispered Tali as she took the safety off of her shotgun.

"No matter what happens, thank you for trying to rescue us," said Tevos resigning herself to the inevitable.

"Don't give up hope," whispered Tali. "As long as Shepard is out there, there is always hope."

"But Shepard is just one man," whispered Valern.

"No, Shepard is a symbol," replied Tali. "He symbolizes everything that is good and right in this world. He inspires us to go on and believe in ourselves even when we don't."

"Everyone quiet!" Ford whispered loudly. The footsteps were getting closer.

There was a noise at the door lock.

"Hey, this door is locked!" The Cerberus trooper yelled. "Get the saw."

After a brief moment, there were more footsteps running toward the door. This was followed by a loud metal grinding noise coming from behind the door lock.

Tali slowly raised her shotgun and pushed the stock against her right shoulder.

"Keelah se'lai," Tali whispered to herself.

Suddenly, gun fire erupted. Tali was at first confused. She thought she had fired. But she had not. The sound was coming from outside the door. This went on for couple of minutes. Then it was quiet again.

There were footsteps again coming to the door.

Tali pointed the shotgun at the door.

Then came a familiar voice, "Councilors, you are safe."

Tali still pointed the shotgun with her right hand while using her left hand unlocked the door.

The door slid open.

It was General Corinthus and six Turian commandos.

Tali finally breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her shotgun.

"General, it's good to see you!" Tali said to Corinthus as his men helped her up.

"You as well, Admiral Zora," replied Corinthus. "We came as soon as we could after receiving your location from Shepard."

"Shepard," said Tevos as she and the others were helped up by the Turian soldiers. "Where is he? Is he alright?"

"I don't know, yet," replied Corinthus as several platoons of Turian soldiers marched by. "He said he was going after Petrovsky."

"I am almost out of ammo," Garrus shouted from the cover of an overturned table.

"Same here," replied Shepard who was being shielded by a large vending machine about ten meters to the left of Garrus.

"Oh, stop complaining," yelled Aria who was a few meters in front of Shepard.

The three of them were in the Presidium fighting off wave after wave of Cerberus troops over the past half hour. During this time, Petrovsky had been in the back in his Atlas lobbing shots at them.

"We have to take out that Atlas!" Shepard shouted to Garrus. "Do you have any more overload rounds?"

"Yes, about five rounds," Garrus yelled back.

"Okay. When the troops in front of us clear out, you unload your overload rounds into the Atlas," shouted Shepard. "I will follow with my AP rounds. Then we charge."

"Alright, just tell me when," Garrus shouted.

"Aria, we need you to clear the troops in front of us," shouted Shepard. "We are going to try to take down the Atlas!"

"I know just the thing," Aria said to herself as she gave Shepard a nod. She then turned around to face the two platoon of Cerberus troopers in front of her.

Seeing there was a pause in the shooting from Aria, the Cerberus troops decided to charge her position. With the force of a hurricane, Aria unleashed her biotic flare attack. It instantly knocked all the troops on their backs. Half of them were instantly killed from the force of the attack. The other half began to slowly get up.

This got Petrovsky's attention. He began powering up the Atlas' main gun.

"Now!" Shepard shouted to Garrus.

Garrus aimed his rifle at the Atlas and fired all of his overload rounds.

This took down the shield and short circuited the weapons control. Petrovsky was trying frantically to bypass the short circuited area when Shepard unloaded his AP rounds into the left leg actuator region disabling the Atlas. One last round found its way into the cockpit shattering the cockpit glass.

"Kill them! Kill them!" Petrovsky yelled into his comm unit as he unbuckled his cockpit restraints and freed himself from the Atlas. He began running towards a nearby parking area that still had an intact blue X3M skycar.

Garrus and Shepard both dropped their empty rifles and began to run after Petrovsky. Aria also began running trailing just slightly behind Shepard and Garrus. Several Cerberus troopers found their rifles and was about to shoot. Aria unleashed her biotic Reave attack that dropped them to the ground.

They were gaining ground on Petrovsky when suddenly, there was a pistol fire sound. Garrus fell grabbing his right thigh.

Shepard turned around just in time to see Garrus hit the ground. Then out of the corner of his right eye, he saw the Cerberus trooper that was lying on the ground preparing to take a second shot. Shepard sprinted towards him and on the final step lunged at the trooper with the Omni-blade. The blade went through the soldier's chest killing him instantly.

Shepard went back to check on Garrus who was bleeding from his right thigh. Shepard quickly glanced towards Petrovsky. He was getting close to the X3M with Aria closing in on him.

"Go get him," said Garrus. "This is nothing. I will be fine."

"I don't know anything about Turian anatomy," said Shepard as he knelt down next to Garrus. "But If your anatomy is anything close to mine, I think you are bleeding out from the femoral artery. We have to stop the bleeding or you'll die right here."

"But Petrovsky is going to get away," objected Garrus. "Leave me!"

"No! Aria will get him," replied Shepard forcefully as he began to loosen his belt. "I am not going to lose you. Don't you die on me."

"You trust her?" Garrus asked Shepard in a skeptical tone.

"I trust her hatred for Petrovsky," replied Shepard as he wrapped the belt above the thigh wound.

"I'm sorry buddy," said Shepard as he began to pull on the loose end of the belt. "This is going to hurt."

"Urhh!" Garrus grunted loudly.

"Hey at least bleeding stopped," said Shepard as he took out a medi-gel pack.

"You did that on purpose," said Garrus. "And when did you turn into Chakwas?"

"Unfortunately, I've had to field dress myself a few times," replied Shepard. "You know, part of the occupational hazard."

"Petrovsky!"

Aria shouted as Petrovsky was about to open the car door.

"You open that door, you die!"

Petrovsky slowly turned around to see Aria walking towards him with both of her hands glowing blue.

"We can work this out," said Petrovsky. "Remember, I let you go on Omega."

"Yes, you reminded me that last time, " said Aria in a mocking tone. She was now standing just couple of meters from the General. She took a quick glance back at Shepard and Garrus. Garrus was on the ground and Shepard's back was towards her.

Aria turned back to face Petrovsky, "I should have killed you last time. I am here to fix that mistake."

"Wait, wait," said Petrovsky squeamishly. In his nervousness he took a step back, tripped, and fell backwards striking the back of his head against the car.

As he sat on the ground rubbing the back of his neck with his left hand, he pleaded for his life, "If you spare me, I can give you the latest Cerberus technology and research as a trade for my life."

Aria let out a laugh, "Look at you, the great General Oleg Petrovsky reduced to begging for his life. "

She then intensified her biotic charge, "Start the car!"

Petrovsky put his left arm over his head as if to block an incoming blow.

"No. No...no!"

Shepard ran up to Aria just in time to see the X3M take off.

"Wait, you let him go," asked a confused Shepard.

Aria did not answer, but raised both of her arms and sent a biotic carnage attack against the X3M. It instantly exploded into hundreds of thousands of little pieces that rained back down to the ground.

"No."

"Sir. We are enroute to your location. Just hang on."

Tazzik was speaking into the comm unit when the X3M took off and exploded.

"Sir," The pilot pointed to the wreckage as their shuttle circled overhead.

Tazzik was stunned for a brief moment.

"Sir. What are your orders," the pilot asked.

When Tazzik did not answer, he asked again, "Sir. What are your orders?"

Tazzik finally replied, "Take us out of here. Take us back to the Elberus."

Then he added, "If it's still there."

Tazzik then picked up the comm unit again, "All Cerberus forces. General Petrovsky has been killed in action. Cease fire. Retreat. I repeat, cease fire. Retreat."

As Shepard combed through the X3M wreckage, several Alliance shuttles descended on his location.

The first shuttle landed, and the door opened.

"Shepard!" Ashley was the first to run out followed closely by Miranda. The trio embraced.

After a long embrace, Miranda pulled back slightly and asked, "Petrovsky?"

Shepard looked at the debris field, "This is what's left of him."

"You did this?" Ashley asked Shepard.

"No," replied Shepard, "This is Aria's handiwork."

"Wow," replied Ashley as she looked at the pieces of X3M on the ground.

"Where is Aria," Miranda asked.

"Gone," said Shepard. "She didn't want to stick around."

"What happened to your face?" Ashley asked Shepard as she gently touched Shepard's right temple area. There was a scar and dried blood clot over the area.

"Nothing time won't heal," replied Shepard.

Then he suddenly remembered, "Garrus!"

Shepard, Ashley, and Miranda walked over to Garrus. He was already on a stretcher being carried into a shuttle. There was a medic escorting him holding a bag of IV fluid over him.

"Hey," said Garrus as he saw his friends walk up.

"You okay?" Ashley asked Garrus as she looked at his leg wound.

"I will be fine thanks to Shepard patching me up," replied Garrus.

"You did this," Miranda asked Shepard in a surprised tone.

"Yes I did," replied Shepard. "I do know how to do other things besides blowing things up."

This brought on a good laugh among the four friends.

"Sorry Admiral," said the medic apologetically. "We need to take him in for surgery."

"Of course. Carry on," replied Shepard. He then shook Garrus hand, "There is no Shepard withought Vakkarian. Thanks for having my back. I will see you when you get out of surgery."

After saying goodbye, Garrus was carried into the medical shuttle and the door closed.

Shepard stood there, holding Ashley in his left arm and Minrada in his right, watching the shuttle take off.

Ashley rested her head on Shepard's shoulder, "Is it finally over?"

Shepard turned his head and kissed Ashley gently on her head, "Yes. It's finally over."

** Adapted from the "SEAL Code." (source: navyseals website/nsw/seal-code-warrior-creed/)