Okay, so its been along time since I've uploaded anything, especially an update to this story. But, looking back over my previous work and re-reading reviews inspired me again. I don't know what'll be updated next, or when. Hopefully soon.

In the mean time, read this and review it. I can't improve without feed back.

Deep Space, Unidentified Star System, 2169 (Alliance Calendar)

There were many factions of humanity, the largest and most politically powerful was the Alliance, funded by the most powerful and wealthiest nations on Earth before First Contact, an event which stripped all Earth Governments of their power. The Alliance strove for peace with the galaxy, looking to be equals with the other races, looking to have a say in how things are done. The Alliance had ships, a strong military and the political advantage, as far as the rest of the galaxy was concerned the Alliance was the only human faction that mattered. Any other was a threat to their power.

Cerberus, the enigmatic, dark, shadowy organisation that sought to reform the Alliance into a stronger, more independent faction, one that didn't need the Citadel Council and the underhanded ploys to keep the three main races in power. One where Humanity ruled, not aliens. It was considered a racist, bigoted view and Cerberus was branded as terrorists and if an operative was discovered, they were treated as such. Cerberus was a survivalist organisation, as far its leader, the mysterious Illusive Man, humanity needed power on the galactic stage if it was to survive and the Systems Alliance was too weak willed, too caught up in public opinion and law to be effective.

Jack Harper, a name forgotten by the galaxy as a mere foot note in highly classified reports, created Cerberus, to help humanity, not overthrow it as the Systems Alliance so claimed. His main base of operations, his home was a station orbiting a dying star whose light cast a grim shadow into his private sanctum at the heart of the station.

"You took a risk," he said, looking at the myriad of holographic displays in front of him, studying each one in absolute detail. Almost but not quite ignoring the holographic communication with the person behind him. "You sacrificed your cover and everything we worked for. Everything you worked for."

He was calm, despite his barely contained anger at the perceived failure. He wasn't one to shout, instead he remained calm, in control.

"It was necessary, the Everest was highly advanced, more so than anything the Alliance has to offer. They would have gutted her and sold everything they found to the Council," The woman said with a frown. "That ship, its crew, it deserved more than what the Alliance would have done to them. That ship is a power house we need to return to its full potential. It would be the most powerful vessel in the known galaxy and it would be ours. Is that a failure?"

The Illusive man, as he was known by now, sighed and turned to face the woman. He took a long drag on the cigarette in his hand, a decent and human made, real Tabaco cigarette. Not one of the many, alien made healthier alternatives.

"No, it isn't. Not in that sense anyway. But all the work we invested in infiltrating Alliance Intelligence has now been wasted. It took years to get you where you were and now after that stunt you pulled they'll be putting the entire division under investigation. Chances are we won't be able to get another operative in that position for quite some time. If ever."

"It was a necessary action worth the sacrifice. The technology aboard the Everest will benefit us all in the long run."

"Only if you can convince its captain to aid our cause. Something he's unwilling to do at the moment."

"Don't worry. I know just the person to get through to him." The woman said before her hologram disappeared from sight. The Illusive Man sat down again, resisting the urge to verbally vent his frustration. Yes, the Everest was decades more advanced than the Bellicose and would benefit the movement but there was a plan, a grand scheme, one that transcended here and now, that would last decades and it was all in jeopardy now. That's what happened when you trusted outside sources. Even those that backed your organisation with more than just money but man power and materials as well. Even highly advanced sciences that was decades, if not centuries ahead of the council.

He just hoped this setback was a minor inconvenience in the long run. A mere foot note on galactic history a century from now.

XX

Deep in the Traverse, away from prying eyes was a human colony. Highly industrialised, towering cities that linked to space with massive orbital elevators that provided a quick, cheap way to get into orbit, and vast rolling grasslands used for agriculture to feed the millions of people on the planet. Massive orbital stations, docks, defence platforms and ship yards filled the void above the world.

Having recently been moved there the Everest rested at one of the many docks, engineers and workers went about refitting the ship, replacing the massive chunks of armour and rearming the empty guns and missile tubes. Aboard the largest station Preston Cole looked down at the planet below, surprised at how industrialised these people were. How many people had his actions at Psi Serpentis effected? How many lives did he ruin with that action?

"Beautiful, isn't it?" She wasn't wrong. The view was beautiful. Castilla moved stand next him. This wasn't the same woman that had rescued him from the Alliance. Although part of him wondered if he really did need rescuing. He had yet to see if the Alliance was as bad as the young lady had claimed back on the dreadnought. "It's been a while Preston, hasn't it?"

"Nearly forty years since we last saw each other face to face. Psi Serpentis doesn't really count now does it?" He turned to face her, despite the age that showed on her face he could still see the young bar maid and brilliant nuclear engineer he had met on Roost decades ago. Long before the Covenant.

"So it has," Lyrenne said with a slight laugh. Her once dark hair was now streaked with grey, much like his own. "Nice move, by the way, with Viperidae. Although more than a few ships were caught in the resulting shockwave. Most of us ended up here about a decade ago. I guess there are things about slip space we will never understand."

Cole snorted in response. This had never been his intention. It had, sort of. Yes he planned on retreating somewhere out of the way with Lyrenne but in his universe. If such a thing could be believed. And now he was an escapee that had meet his own great grandfather and in a particular twist of fate was now, technically, his enemy.

"How many?" he asked.

"In total? Around four and half thousand. That population increased exponentially once we settled on the planet and combined with some of our more recent allies, I use that term lightly- we've had a serious influx of people and native technology. Now it's just shy of a hundred million. Most of them came from this universe."

"What about these allies of yours?"

"They're a bit extreme, even for me. But they're good at helping us. We help them in return. In fact that's what Lyra was doing when she came across the Everest."

"She was spying for them?" he questioned.

"Yes and no. She was spying for us. We needed to know what the Alliance knew but didn't want us to know. We merely kept our friends in the loop."

"And just who are these people?" Cole asked.

"They call themselves Cerberus. A renegade faction looking to make humanity a super power on the galactic stage. If not the only one. According to the Systems Alliance, the primary human power in the galaxy, Cerberus is nothing more than a bunch of xenophobic terrorists. They are so much more than that, I don't trust them to be honest, but we need their help if we're to survive as an independent world for the moment."

"Lyra, she said something about aliens controlling humans, what about that?" Cole asked, unsure.

"She's a bit enthralled with Cerberus propaganda, the Council, from what I've observed doesn't so much as control the Alliance, merely throws its weight around to make sure the Alliance conforms to its way of thinking. It's nothing more than a political game. Not some racist power play. When we get to the Citadel I'll show you what I mean. It'll be easier for you to understand." Lyrenne said, pushing herself away from the window and motioning Preston, her one time lover and father of her only child, to follow her.

They walked through the station, heading towards a re-converted passenger ship. The class of ship had originally been used to transport people between colonies before the Insurrectionists had gotten a hold of it and converted it into an improvised warship. Sometime after they arrived here in this twisted reality they had reconverted it into a cruise ship. It looked better that way, Preston thought, not that he'd seen many civilian ships up close. Only as retreating dots on tactical displays during intense engagements with the Covenant.

"What do you mean we're going to the Citadel? What in bloody Elisa is the Citadel?"

"The Citadel is incredible. A massive space station where all the civilisations trade and talk politics. Where they mingle and live side by side. Humans walk with and talk with aliens. Some even live with aliens. And plus, I thought you might like to see what you managed to escape from."

Entering the cruise ship she led him to a private quarters, away from the rest of the people aboard. An hour later he felt the ship lurch as the magnetic clamps holding it in place disengaged and released the ship. Moments later they were away. Preston intended to use this time to talk to Lyrenne, get to know as much as possible. She, had other ideas.

XX

Arcturus Station, Alliance High Command, 2169 (Alliance Calendar)

Admiral Jones stood straight and tall, his hands rested behind his back, his right hand gripped his left wrist and a grip so tight his knuckles turned white, the only sign of his frustration. Before him stood the Admiralty, the highest members of Parliament and dozens of other officials.

"Horatio Jones, you served as the Commanding Officer of the Fourth Fleet, is that correct?" one of the politicians asked.

"Yes, that is correct." Jones replied.

"And during your last deployment your fleet discovered something, did it not?" another person asked. The other Admirals just looked on, their faces devoid of emotions.

"Yes."

"What did you find?"

"A ship, of human origin that was greater in size and fire power than any other known vessel. Its markings weren't that of a Cerberus ship or those of a lost sleeper ship sent out decades ago." Jones replied. He knew what was happening. He'd let something the Alliance wanted slip through his grasp and now he was being blamed as the reason for the failure.

"If it wasn't Alliance or Cerberus how do you know it was human?" An Admiral spoke up.

"The nameplate was written in English and its crew was human. In fact, all the displays accessed by the marines were also in English." Jones said tersely. This was quickly getting very tiring.

"And the ship was disabled, correct? That is after all why it was out there." Someone else said. There were a lot of names and faces he didn't know.

"We believed so however after we brought aboard the Captain of the ship and during the interrogation by an Alliance Intelligence Officer, it was quickly brought back into action. At which point the training subroutines in the fleets VI network activated, as it was not scheduled I assumed, incorrectly, that we were under attack. It was only when our fighters failed to spot any ships visually and reported back that I realised what happened, by which point the Captain, Intelligence Officer had escaped back to the ship which was already moving away."

There was a moment of silent disbelief before there was an uproar from nearly everyone in the room. Only the Admiralty and Prime Minister remained silent. And it was the Prime Minister that brought everyone else back into line.

"Admirals," he said. "I think you know what has to be done here. I've heard enough. I want the report on my desk as soon as possible. I'll leave you to it." With that he left, followed by everyone except the Admirals who had barely spoken throughout the ordeal.

"What happened was a gross failure in leadership, your actions caused not only the escape of an extremely dangerous warship as well as a Cerberus spy who had access to highly classified reports. And it is for this reason you are to be relieved of duty, effective immediately." Admiral Tharib, Commander of the Alliance Military now that Jon Grissom had retired, said. Tharib had been a friend to Jones during their early careers but times had changed. Jones realised, although he was sure if hadn't been for their friendship the punishment would have been a lot worse.

His old friend had done him a favour. One he would probably not be able to repay.

XX

The Citadel, Presidium, 2169 (Alliance Calendar)

The Citadel was massive, larger than any station Preston had seen before and watching from the small café that rested on a balcony overlooking the massive lake and shopping district, Cole noticed how different everything was. Humans walked side by side with aliens, talking, laughing, and acting like there had never been conflict between them. Which there had been, he'd read about the conflict and he couldn't decide if he was disgusted at how quickly the Alliance forgave the turian aggressors or if he was impressed by how it was all being treated as the past. He saw turian shopkeepers serve human customers without any contempt and vice-versa.

"It's impressive, isn't it?" Lyrenne said, sitting down next to him. He felt strange outside of his uniform. Wearing the clothes of an everyday man. He was, after all trying to blend in.

"Yes, very. But why exactly are we here?" he said, shifting his gaze from the crowd around him to the former rebel leader.

"Looks peaceful doesn't it? Man side by side with aliens. We have an embassy, we have some say in how things are done in the galaxy," she said, taking a sip from her drink. "But look closely, and you'll see things aren't as good as they'd have you believe." She finished by pointing at two turian C-SEC officers harassing a man over what seemed to be nothing.

"Then there's our embassy. It's not even ours. We have to share it with the Elcor and Volas. An embassy is meant to be a sovereign nation's land, not something to be shared by three different by species." He looked on as the turians moved on from the man, having done nothing more than verbally harass and perform an unnecessary pat down and search.

He could see what she was saying, sure, but was it really that bad? If given enough time could things change without any extreme movements? Could they really risk it not changing? Even if he decided to help with what he knew Lyrenne was about to propose, could he really do anything? One battle scarred ship, tired and weary crew was hardly enough to change an entire political agenda.

"We need to fight to bring equality to the galaxy, Preston." She said softly. "Not just for humans, I don't support that idea, but for everyone. Why should Humans, Volas, Elcor, Hanar and Drell. Why should we all be considered second class citizens, relying on the Asari, Salarians and Turians for everything and letting them make all the decisions? Hmm?"

"Even if I agreed, you really think you can do something? Change the galaxy?" he asked. He was old, seventy two years old and he was tired of fighting.

"Yes, we can. We have a plan. It'll take a while to implement in its entirety but we're confident it'll work. Cerberus is just a means to the end. For now we need them, when we don't we'll cut them loose. You have no idea how many people, humans or not, are ready to fight and die for equality. And I hate the UNSC as much as the next colonist but at least it was independent, had some fight in it. We're going to replace the Alliance, replace the council and create a galactic civilisation like no other."

"And what about those who refuse to accept the changes you have planned? And why should I care about some alien species I don't know anything about? What about the Covenant? You remember that? If we start something like what you're planning we could very well create the next Covenant."

"We'll deal with them, when the time comes. And why should you care? Because, Preston, just because they didn't evolve on Earth doesn't mean they don't have the same rights as we do, it doesn't mean they don't deserve equality, a say in how their lives are run. They're more human than you think." She finished. It was a hard choice. He really didn't know what to say. What to do. The type of war she was planning wasn't going to be fought with ships and weapons, but political manoeuvring and putting the right people in the right place at the right time. It was shadow war.

"And how do you think I could help? I'm just one man Lyrenne." She smiled, knowing she had him hooked.

"First, we need to remove a few trouble makers from the galaxy." She said with a ferocious grin. "To do that, we'll need a ship, a brilliant Commander and troops the galaxy has never seen before."