(Hella sorry for the piece of crap post, but I'm off for a Superbowl party in a minute, and the sooner we start this the better. If you're not on the list then I might have forgotten you, but its more likely I didn't know which side to put you on)

The culmination of the efforts of the Geth has finally arrived as their fleet prepares to attack the Citadel and, if they are successful, bring back the Reapers, ending all life in the galaxy.

Geth Empire and Mercenaries
Yarik Streydus
Dygnitas
The Dignified Forces
Viral
Stark and Traxus(Both indoctrinated)
Asanagi

Citadel Defenders
Kaleb Sentrus
Ferren Olarius
Van Ferios
Henaris Gerovis
Raibert Adastre
Hal Jameson
xp194
Siros
Michael Carson
Leo XV
US Marines
New Dawn
Curtis Freeman
Crystal Lithum
Alex Thompson
Jason Crunch
Nero Scorpiones
Isaac Shock
The Liandri
Denny Colt

The Geth fleet, in its magnificent splendor, materialized in front of the Citadel, dwarfing the meager Council fleet, who's crewmen, starry-eyed and slack-jawed, had to shake themselves and scurry about here and there, trying to erect some impossible defense against the invaders.

"Bring us in as fast as possible." Yarik said, as the ship lurched forward, catching up with the rest of the fleet, which had already began to blast full-speed for the enemy fleet. "All ships engage at zero range."

It was a risky tactic, not at all conservative, but the faster his troops landed on the station itself, the better.

((OOC: first post on the forums. *crosses fingers*))

Olivia, an infiltrator who frequented Geth territory for the purposes of gathering intel on enemy movements, was one of the few who was not surprised by this sudden attack. She had managed to escape one last run from Geth space before returning to the Citadel. As her ship approached the Citadel, she watched in awe as the darkness of space lit up with battle. It was like the whole universe had gone super nova. Still, Olivia thought it was impossible for the Geth to defeat the Citadel. They had grown too bold. This battle would turn the tide against the Geth. That's what she believed.

With the aide of her co-pilot, Olivia managed to fly her way safely into the Citadel. She needed to be here. After all, her father was here. He was a scientist working on nano-bot technology, technology that was meant to create a machine-specific plague, one that would hopefully wipe out the stain that was the Geth.

The battle gave Olivia a grand opportunity. With the might of the Geth fleet preoccupied with the Citadel, Olivia could slip back into Geth territory, right into the heart of its lifeless core, and plant her father's plague. Perhaps the release of such a disease would cause the forces now surrounding the Citadel to flee. Or perhaps the Council, which has been holding back its forces for 3 years, would finally unleash its unbridled fury upon the Geth. Either way, fortune seemed to greatly favor the Alliance.

With the sound of alarms going off and the flashing of red lights filling the docking bay, Olivia stepped out of her ship and made her way to the research wing of the Citadel. She needed to see if father's nano-bot technology was ready.

She walked with an air of calculated confidence to the research wing. In her mind, this battle was already won. All she needed to do was finish what her and her father had started. Many people were running around her, moving this way and that, but Olivia kept her cool. She expected her father was doing the same.

The radar operator aboard the Lucifer, a Kali Frigate, was surprised as he saw hundreds of contacts appear. He used his telekinesis to push down on the intercom button.

"We have a lot of new contacts, what are we supposed to do?" He asked the Kali currently in charge of the Lucifer.

His question was answered as the ships opened up on the fleet around the Kali. Alarms started ringing as the ship sprung to life. The Kali had never actually been in a major battle, but the military trained night and day for it, preparing every Kali aboard the ship to brace for the fight.

---------------------------------------------------

Arthirius and Karath had basically sprinted back to the Alliance vessel, Caleb shooting out of the Destiny Ascension bay towards the Palegros. The Humans aboard followed the Kali to the bridge of the Palegros, telling the two of the dangers of the Geth.

The Kali Fleet immediantly began to create a battle formation. Caleb took over the seat of a 'younger' Kali to reach Alliance Control and coordinate the Kalis ships alongside the Citadel Fleets. The ship rocked as the massive Accelerator Cannon fired, sending a 30 ton round into the heart of one of the Geth Vessels, breaking the ship apart.

"God, that was awsome" Caleb blurted out, looking at the explosion.

He got back to work, trying to find out the commander of the fleet around the citadel.

"This is KLN Palegros, Kali Exploratory Fleet, is anyone out there?" Caleb yelled into the mic, desperate to find command.

The ships turrets started to open up, the smaller rounds firing upon some of the smaller ships. The 10 frigates had formed a 'wall' firing their Accelerator Cannons at intervals to provide continuous fire. The Destroyers and Dreadnought started to maneuver into clearer space, firing their heavier cannons.

-Continued from Liandri Headquarters-

The Liandri fleet ship Deadly Serenity crashed down in the middle of a section of the Citadel. The Citadel wasn't damaged from the crash... but the Deadly Serenity sure was. That's what happens when you let a possibly unstable marine drive the ship.

Isaac got out of the rubble that was left of Deadly Serenity and looked towards Cortez in anger. "You had a freakin' license to steer this piece of shit, what went wrong?!" Isaac asked, fuming.

"I'm sorry... sir... It won't happen again," was all Cortez managed to say.

Isaac pinched his forehead, trying to stop the headache that had popped up due to Cortez's carelessness. Luckily, nobody had gotten hurt, but returning to the headquarters will be that much harder with a crashed ship.

"Oh my God, geth!" Coal yelled, pointing over Isaac's shoulder.

Isaac turned around and saw one of the strange robotic creatures looking over at them with a shotgun. "Oh Hell..." Isaac asked. Did Kane set us up? He thought to himself, but quickly shook his head and drew out his own Shotgun.

"Lock and load, guys," Isaac told his squad.

-Continued from New Arrival-

Lt.Colt was lost now that was for sure, as he wandered around the Citadel thinking about how he'll probably get demoted for being late he noticed a sudden commotion happening everywhere. He also saw several people gathered around a large glass window and decided to investigate.

At that moment he was speechless, as he peered out that window with several onlookers a huge fight between Geth Ships and multiple other ships had broken out in space. It's only a matter of time before the Geth penetrate the Citadel Colt thought to himself.

He had to get a weapon and he had to get it fast, from what he could tell he was somewhere in the Wards near the Market. Where's there are buyers, there are guns Colt thought out loud.

He knew that if the Geth did reach the Citadel he would need weapons and lots of them. At that moment a violent jolt struck through the Citadel knocking Colt off his feet. Something had just hit the Citadel... and chances were, it wasn't good.

Olivia felt a jolt, as well. There was a rumble. Instinctively, she bent her knees and let them absorb the ripple that had suddenly shook everything up. The people around her really started to panic now. Getting to the research wing was going to be like swiming up stream. Still, it was manageable. With one hand held out in front of her she moved around the people, pushing whoever she needed out of the way, until she reached the research wing. She found her father there. He was working diligently on something at a terminal. She didn't have to say anything. It was like they were one mind.

"The beta version of the plague will do some damage to the Geth if you can upload it to one of the mainframes in Judecca," he said. "It's not very adaptable at this point. It won't take them long to override the nanobots. But, it'll spread fast and hard. Maybe it'll distract them from their plans here. Give'm a nice scare. Cause them to panic."

Olivia nodded her head. Reaching out, she took a data disk from her father. It was all she needed from him. By now, the sounds of war were getting louder. Olivia parted ways with her father after a quick hug and a brief exchange. They wished each other good luck. After that, they were on their way to seperate destinations.

Stepping outside the research wing, Olivia set out for the market. She needed a fresh stack of grenades. It was there she saw Lt. Colt. Everyone was huddled around one of the arms dealers. They were buying everything up. Before long, all the weapons were gone. That's when Olivia decided to barter. Reaching out with her hand, she tapped Lt. Colt on the shoulder. "Hey, I'll give you some guns if you can give me some grenades," she said.

The Midway had finished it's search of the system it had blind jumped too. Finding no suitable planet for a base, Hal ordered the Midway to return to the Citadel. When the ship got back, Hal did a double take.

"Geth? HERE? No... it can't be..."

Regaining control somewhat, Hal made a tactical appraisal.

The Midway was a ship designed to work as part of a fleet. Everytime Hal had tried to use it on it's own, It had failed miserably...

"So maybe I'm thinking wrong..."

however, that didn't change the fact that the Midway was seperated from it's own fleet by hundreds of geth ships...

"Simon! take us in to the fleet. Fast. Try to hide us with the jammers. All Hands to battlestations! this is not a drill, repeat, not a drill."

The Midway fired it's engines, beyond usual safety limits. Going faster than most frigates had gone before, due in part to the larger than usual engine. It cruised above the Geth fleet, rolling and weaving to avoid fire.

"Engine core over heating! we'll be toast if we keep this speed up!"

"Vent primary coolent! pump in seconday! That'll buy us a few more minutes."

The Midway skimmed along the top of a geth dreadnaught. A few seconds later, It exited at the head of the geth fleet, being trailed by a couple of geth frigates.

"Cut engines! Rotate through 180, and get a firing soloution on one of those frigates!"

"Aye sir!"

The Midway spun 180, going backwards now.

"Firing soloution aquired!"

"FIRE!"

The left boom fired, and a metal slug roared out, taking out the frigates shields. It veered away, and due to heavy sensor jamming, veered into the other frigate. They both exploded in a largeish fire ball. The bridge crew cheered. The Midway's first kill, and a double kill at that.

"keep us going towards the fleet. We were lucky that time."

The Midway turned back in the direction of it's travel, and continued flying towards the Citadel fleet.

The time was here, the geth were now to invade the citadel itself, what had this come to? Siros was even on the geth's side from time to time, it was all business, but now that they were attempting to destroy all life, Siros had to step in--it was bad for business. Siros sat fully-armoured in a chair in his office, the entire syndicate army was positioned in defensive positions throughout the wards, the syndicate fleet of a variety of criminal ships was also soon to arrive--Siros was going to dish out everything he possibly could. Speaking into his comm-link a message would be sent throughout the entire wards, "This is Siros, I'm offering protection in the wards, we are also taking any help we can get, we will not lose to the geth!"

-Short post, so what. >_>-

Denny felt a tap on his shoulder and quickly spun around. He saw a rather attractive girl with standard System Alliance armor but some very unique weapons. At that moment Olivia Rei asked him, "Hey, I'll give you some guns if you can give me some grenades,"

Denny was almost too eager to take her up on that offer but he stopped and thought for a moment. It's obvious she's not a civilian, but why would she want to trade superior guns for grenades? She wasn't her to make new friends on the Citadel in a time of crisis. He thought for a moment Then again I'm much better with guns than I am with grenades, I didn't get top marks at the academy for nothing

Lt.Denny Colt offered his grenades and said, "deal" as Olivia was about to grasp the grenades Denny grabbed her hand and asked her, "But, I have to come with you as part of the deal." As she stood there stunned Denny thought to himself If I can go with this lady she may be able to lead me to the captain, and in the very least I'll survive longer

Olivia raised her thin brown eyebrows in surprise. Where she was going, few would have the courage to endure. In any case, she didn't have time to explain in the midst of all this chaos. This place was about to go on lock-down. With grenades in hand, Olivia pulled Lt. Colt away from the crowd. "I'm heading back to the docking bay," she said, "and then I'm going to Judecca. Since you're military, you're welcome to come along. What we do in Judecca might just put an end to this siege. I'll let you choose." Olivia let go of Lt. Colt when the crowd around them began to thin. Fewer people were heading toward the docking bay, now. Whoever had a ship was either out fighting in the battle or running away to the next system.

With gun in hand Denny thought about his situation long and hard. On the one hand the captain would need him now more than ever, on the other if what was going down on the Judecca was really going to lift the siege then it was his duty to go.

Denny looked up at Olivia and said , "Well what are we waiting around for? Let's get to that docking bay!"

Besides Denny thought to himself, The Captain is probably dead for all I know.

-continued from Emergency Medical Clinic-

A jolt wracked the Citadel and Naomi clutched at the desk where she had been standing.

"What the hell was that?" she asked the receptionist of the Emergency Clinic, who was seated behind the desk.

"The attacks are starting. I have a feeling we'll see worse before this is over." The receptionist paused as a call rang in her ear piece. "Mhmm. Alright. Wait- Doctor Naomi Chance showed up a few minutes ago. Do you want me to send her down with the team? Mhmm. I'll let her know."

"Let me know what?"

"They want us to send a team of medics to the wards. People are starting to panic and they think geth may have infiltrated somehow. The clinics down there are already getting flooded, and they need some extra hands. I'll grab a few doctors to go down and help you."

Before Naomi could say a word otherwise, the receptionist had pulled away from the desk and was heading up some stairs. A few minutes later, she returned with a small team of doctors and nurses. "Everybody, this is Doctor Naomi Chance. You've probably heard of her. She's going to take you down to the wards."

"If you've all got your supplies, let's go," Naomi greeted.

"Wait-" the secretary stopped her. She moved to the desk and opened a bottom drawer, pulling out a Kessler. "It isn't much, but things are going to get bad down there. I hope you don't need it, but... just in case." She handed the weapon to Naomi, who held it with unease.

"Thanks. Alright, people, let's go."

With that, the medical team headed through the floods of panic down to the wards.

Olivia nodded her head confidentally at Lt. Colt. She even smirked a little. She had expected to lose her guns, but here they were going to Judecca all the same, just in the hands of someone else. Without saying much else, Olivia continued her trek to the docking bay. When they reached her ship, a frigate fittingly named the Plague, her crew of 6 was ready to go. The crew was trained in infiltration-just like her. Whenever she landed somewhere, they went with her. Hurrying into the co-pilot's seat, she began punching buttons. But the pilot quickly stopped her. "We can't make it through the line, this thing has gotten too big," he told her. "Unless we can get someone to punch a whole through the Geth we're stuck here for now." Olivia's mouth fell open in shock. As much as her ship was a Normandy wanna-be, she knew her jammers wouldn't be enough to get them through the fighting unscathed. Looking over her shoulder at Denny, she hiked a dubious eyebrow into the air and asked, "you know anyone that can punch a hole for us to fit through?"

Denny looked back at Olivia and replied, "it's a bit of a long shot but try giving a general distress signal on the Systems Alliance channel with the code 321, that's the request code for Captain Stern. If I know him he's out there fighting if he hadn't gotten himself killed already."

It felt like a long shot. Olivia sighed, hit another button, and began the distress call with the recommended code. "This is Service Chief Olivia Rei," she said, "requesting Captain Stern to make a hole for us so we can get through enemy lines. Captain Stern if you're out there please respond. We're on assignment and can tip the scales in this fight. We just need to get through the Geth lines. Please, if anyone's out there listening and wouldn't mind making a hole for us, let us know." Olivia stopped for a moment. She took a second to listen for a response while the battle raged outside. The fighting was in the distance, but it was easy to see how fierce it was. The stars looked like they were exploding. Huge bursts of light raged in the dark. "I really hope someone hears us," Olivia said, mainly to herself. "I just can't risk ruining my father's work." As she spoke, she absently turned the data disk over and over in her right hand.

As they reached the upper markets in the wards, Naomi and her team were shocked at the massive crowds mobbing the merchants. Everyone was trying to get a hold of anything they could, and it looked like useful supplies of any kind were either sold out or being held for the highest bidder. The team stood surveying the scene for a moment, and that was all it took for people to notice them.

It started with one man. He shook his friend on the shoulder and pointed out the group of medics. They started running at them, and before the team knew what was happening, they were being swarmed with people who were desperate for medical supplies. Naomi felt herself being pulled away from her team as the crowd surged around them.

She did the only thing she could think to do. Aiming the Kessler up at the ceiling above, she fired a single shot. That shot rang out in the markets and suddenly everyone was quiet, holding still.

"Listen to me! If you need help, we're here to give it to you. But these are our supplies. We can't risk giving them out to everyone. Now keep your hands off! The next person who tries to take our medi-gel is going to get a shot in the chest!"

Naomi pushed her way through the crowd to the other end of the market, where she could gain access to a nearby clinic. She tried to keep calm as she and her team passed through the silent people. She could only hope that no one noticed how violently she was shaking, and what a terrible state her nerves were in. That had been the first time in her entire life she had ever fired a gun.

The brazen, rag-tag mix of Citadel ships managed to push back the Geth ships just a bit, and if the Geth fleet remained spread out, blocking the Relay, then they would surely be routed when reinforcements arrived.

"Widen that hole." Yarik said, designating a small, uncovered area in the Citadel fleet. A spray of fire illuminated the ships around it, and they eventually ceased to be replaced. "Fire some drop ships, see how they handle it."

A few small pods floated delicately through the whole, most being shot down en route by the Citadel fleet.

"Keep moving port. Give them a route of escape, and see if we can't push them out of the arms."

Suddenly, the pilot of the Plague jumped into action. He hit a few buttons and grabbed the controls. The ship lurched away from the dock and blasted its engines without a second thought. Olivia struggled to catch up. She put away her father's data disk and went to work from the co-pilot's chair. The explosions ahead grew larger as the Plague drew nearer. "Holy crap," Olivia exhaled as the ships in front of her exploded or were ripped in half. Turning her attention to the ship's pilot, she asked, "tell me we're heading toward a hole." The pilot curtly nodded his head. "Somehow some Citadel ships pushed back the Geth in this spot. You got the jammers up?" Olivia nodded her head. "Up and running." "Then let's do this," the pilot said. Olivia felt her hands curl into a pair of fists. By now the Plague, only a small ship compared to the massive capital ships around it, was starting to shake and shudder from all the explosions going on around it. So much was riding on this mission her mind couldn't fathom the consequences of a failure. But somehow, the lights stopped flickering and the ship stopped shaking. They had made it through. Olivia laughed with relief. And from there, the Plague jumped to Judecca.

The Kali fleet was holding up well, its tactics allowing them to send a constant stream of tungsten rounds at the enemy. The Frigates were pounding away, hidden near the citadel. They managed to place hit after hit, but the enemy seemed to never die, the ships seeming to gain in numbers instead of decrease.

"No you cannot communicate with these things, they are machines" Caleb yelled back from his control panel.

"There must be a way" Karath yelled to him, falling to the ground as a Citadel ship exploded near the Palegros, sending a shock wave through the bridge. The interceptors were withheld, Arthirius did not believe he should send his fighters and risk his mens lives for the Citadel, yet.

A Geth ship managed to hit a frigate, tearing a hole into the side of the Kali Frigate. The bulkheads started to seal, those that had survived ran to the nearest oxygen shelters. One of the destroyers pulled away from the Palegros and the Armal.

It escorted the smaller ship back to the citadel, the ships crew being evacuated and Kali Engineers scrambling to get the ship up and fighting condition. They needed an hour, mabey two to seal off enough of the damaged compartments for the warship to operate correctly.

The Destroyer made its way back to the Kali Fleet, rejoining the Palegros in using its heavier weapons to fire upon the Geth.

Isaac fired the shotgun directly at the seemingly nameless geth grunt's head, blowing it off, sparks flying where blood would on a human. Isaac smiled sinisterly, and rewarded himself with a hearty laugh.

"Nice shot," Coal said to Isaac. "But what are we going to do about this shitty situation?"

"Oh..." Isaac sighed, as if reality crashed down on him suddenly. "Well, splitting up might not be the best option. We might as well push through this crowd of..."

"Tin men!" Cortez shouted. "...this crowd of tin men."

"Very nice, Cortez," Isaac muttered, sarcastically. "Let's just push on and stop trying to make the imaginary laugh track go off."

"Wait... I'll go first." Those were Jarulek's first words. Everyone else looked at him in surprise, as if they didn't know he could speak. "I'm part of the Creed Stealth Unit. I'll go in there and secure the way, and you could press on in without a problem."

Isaac shrugged. "Okay. Worth a shot."

((Continued from Arcturus Station))





"Disembarking the Carrier in 5...4...3...2...1...MARK!

The transport was shot out into Citadel space. According to the briefing that the Captain gave him, the Franklin was sending a number of transports towards the Citadel. They were to follow multiple squads of interceptors, that were to punch a hole in the Geth fleet large enough for the transports to squeeze through. Inside the transport, Raibert was thinking of all of these things, as well as trying to hold in his lunch. He had been on multiple combat drops, none of them as shaky as this one. It felt like they were in the middle of a hurricane, and he knew that the pilot must be flying through a shitstorm of debris, missiles, and lasers. A huge explosion rocked the small transport. Another. And Another. He knew that the Geth were targeting their transport, and he prayed that they would make it through, God knows that he didn't want to die without even getting chance to fight back.

"Attention crew of Transport 23, we are through the first line of defense. However, we will be making a quick drop at the Citadel station, this means that this transport will not be docking. We will open the rear door in the direction of the docks, and you will jump down to the walkway, Transport 23 out."

"You heard her men, stand up!" Unstrapping himself from his seat, he stood up and took hold of the overhead strap. He knew that they must not be far from the docks at this point, and he concentrated on not falling over from the shaking. At the same time he was somewhat relieved. They had made it through the Geth armada, and he felt much more comfortable on his own two feet with a gun in his hands, than in a Carrier fighting an enemy that he couldn't do much against.

"Prepare to disembark in 5.....4....3.....2.....1"

The door to his right flew open, and Raibert jumped off the transport onto the walkway. Standing up, he turned around to help any man that might miss the jump. He knew that they had to move quickly, from this position they were exposed to fire from all sides.....

Kekken and Tonda had cracked their way out of the cell, ducking around corners as they heard sirens blaring. They grabbed their gear, Kekken opening a datapad "Central, whats going on?"
The image of the Turian AI appeared on-screen "The citadel is under siege by the Geth. Current status reports are limited due to extreme cyber-defense countermeasures in place. I will be able to assist in point-areas. I will not have the proper processing power to spread myself out. I will monitor your situation. One moment..."

Central appeared on the holographic display column outside the C-sec tower, and broadcast a message. It was heard from the column, and on a few C-sec channels
"Attention: I will be rendering assistance as needed. My identification is Central - I am a matrix-based AI construct. I currently have very little access to system commands - I will need assignments from one of you to carry out, as I cannot access sensory data outside low-security areas. Please advise." Hopefully, that would get the attention of some wary C-Sec officer - and he could get helping.

Kekken and Tonda were making their way to the hanger, looking around "We need a ship to get out of here. Central, what can you do?"
Central's image appeared on a nearby projector column "Little to none. I have requested clearance over some C-Sec comm channels, so that I may assist. My...gut feeling, I suppose, would be to assist the Citadel in any way possible. Perhaps if I can convince them to let you two, and myself, onto a ship, we could do some damage. I'm sure with our combined efforts, we can jam, or even disable enemy ships from a distance. Geth ARE synthetics, after all. They have far superior processing power in the numbers they have, but they can't direct all processing to one ship. One ship at a time, and we'll be under their radar I suppose."

As Naomi made her way across the wards to the clinic, she paused near the C-Sec academy. There was a balcony here that overlooked the wards and the space beyond them, and the sight there was one that struck her with both awe and fear. The space surrounding the Citadel had become a war zone. Now explosions went off every few seconds, like tiny, devastating fireworks in the dark vastness of space. There were thousands of ships engaged in combat, and from what she could tell, the Citadel's forces were heavily outnumbered by the geth.

"God help us," she said quietly.

"Are you religious, Dr. Chance?" one of the nurses asked. He seemed hopeful that somehow her faith would save them where his own could not.

She smiled ruefully. "No, but I figure a little faith couldn't hurt at this point."

Sam sat in the transport next to Jakob. Explosions were occuring all around them, rocking the vehicle back and forth. Finally he heard the fatal words.
Jakob glanced over at Sam.

"You ready, man?" Jakob's expression and tone suggested that he himself may not be.

"We'll see I guess," Sam responded.

"Prepare to disembark in 5.....4....3.....2.....1"

They hit the ground running, dodging fire left and right. The team moved from one cover to the next watching Geth fire and be fired upon. The finally fell back to the other squads.

Sam looked up at his new commander.
"Sir, what are our orders?"

Raibert saw that the last man had gotten off the transport. He gave the OK to the pilot, and she immediately shut the back hatch, and sped back towards the fight. He knew that she didn't stand a chance of getting back to the Franklin, not with the rate that the Geth Fleet was advancing.

Turning back, the fire fight was in full throat. Grabbing his Volkov off of his back, he aimed through his sights, and squeezed off a round at an advancing Geth trooper. The sledgehammer round blew its head clean off, and he was left with the satisfying sound off frying circuitry. The Geth started to fall back, and the men gave a cheer as they did. Raibert knew that his squad was currently of small concern to the Geth. They had control of the main elevator in this section of the docks, and if the humans wanted to take it, they could try.

"Sir, what are our orders?"

"We're moving Sam. Men, remember your ADDRAC as we engage in further combat. I don't want to see anyone play the hero. We work as one single unit, and we move as a single unit, unless I tell you not to. The Geth are watching the main service elevator. However, I know of a cargo elevator a little bit further along the walkway, that's where we're headed. Once there, we will head up in two separate lifts. We will find out where we are needed most once we reach the Wards. Move out! Standard column formation. Remember to maintain cover consistency at all times, and watch each others backs!"

He moved to the front of the squad, and began moving down the walkway. Each time Geth was spotted, the whole squad layed fire into it. The fighting wasn't too bad just yet, the Geth were still pretty scattered down in the docks. The squad slowly made its way towards the cargo elevator.

The Kali aboard the Frigate fought the Geth in the bay, securing the area around them. They would be fine, near 9 feet tall and covered in armor.

The Destroyer was maneuvering through the fleet, dodging explosions and debris. The Armals captain spotted the ship, ordering two interceptors to go and help it. He then saw a Geth ship get into what seemed a firing position, pointing the weapon at the Destiny Ascension.

He ordered thrusters to full power, the mass of the ship pushing froward in front of the large dreadnought. The Geth ship fired, its main projectile streaking through space, the Armal made it, the brunt of the ship taking the impact.

The destroyer rocked from the hit, the ships automated systems starting to lock down the damaged portions. Oxygen shelters saved Kali unlucky enough to be in compartments that the shell breeched. About 35 died, the shell striking the barracks, but it was mostly empty as the crew was on high alert.

The ships captain radioed the Palegros, telling Arthirius of the damage.

"Those Council people better be thankful"

"Do not worry about what they think, be happy for those you have saved" Arthirius responded.

"Joining up with the fleet now."

"Good work people."

Two frigates flew out to great the Midway. The SSV Pearl Harbour, and SSV Berlin.

The three turned back, as cruisers and dreadnaughts began concentrating fire, starting with the larger Geth ships. No one had given any orders. Humanity just knew, on an instinct, that this, was the last stand. If the Citadel fell, the galaxy would be in chaos.

The three frigates began swarming a dreadnaught, The Midway firing at targets of oppurtunity, and jamming the dread's radar, so most of the defensive shots fired missed. The three converged, and fired at the sensor array, destroying it, rendering the dreadnaught blind.

The Midway used it's agility, to swoop round, and fire and disable the dreadnaught's engines, effectivley putting it out of the fight. As the three frigates scattered, a couple of rounds from the Alliance ships tore into the stricken dreadnaught, destroying it utterly.

However, a couple of ships moved to block the trio from escape.

"Berlin, Pearl Harbour, Execute Wolf Scatter, Alpha-niner-delta!"

"Affirmative."

"Rodger that."

The two inverted, relative to the Miday, and pulled a sharp turn downwards, while the Midway went up.

"Reassuming formation." came the voice of the Pearl Harbour's Captain.

"Berlin, reenter the formation."

static.

"Come in Berlin, do you copy?"

The radio remained dead.

"SSV Berlin, this is the Midway, do you read me?"

"... Berlin, Rejoining formation."

broadcast the Berlin, flying out from a dense crowd of geth ships.

the crew of the Midway audibly released held breaths.

The fight was going better than before...

Just before the team of Meds reached the clinic, the area nearby shook as a geth pod crash landed in the Wards.

Naomi knew from her lack of recognition concerning the technology of the pod that it was probably geth. It was close, too. The crowds were now surging to get out of this area of the Wards, and it wasn't long until her team were the only ones left in the room.

"I think we should get out of here, folks," she said quietly, turning toward the nearest doorway out and starting in that direction.

She stopped as a cry from her team rang out. It was a cry she was very familiar with... a death cry. She turned around in shock to see that it was the nurse who had asked about her religion. She would have spared a moment for him, but she spotted the geth not far away, with their guns trained on her team.

"Get down!"

The shots rang out again as the team futilely tried to find cover. She found solace behind a pillar, but she knew it wouldn't be long before they overcame that little obstacle.

"What are we going to do, Chance?" an asari doctor asked her, her eyes desperate.

Naomi looked at her small, meager Kessler with uncertainty. It wouldn't do much against the geth, especially without someone who knew how to use it.

"We'll figure something out. Hang tight."

Denny looked out of the window of the Judecca and he saw that the hole that they made in the battle line was still open and something was happening back there near the Citadel.

Whatever they had to do out here seemed to be done, and the Geth weren't going to wait for them to make a decision.

Denny turned around and began yelling at Olivia, "We have to get back to the Citadel! I'm not going to be of any use up here in a ship when there are people down there getting shot up!"

Was the Medical Section Alright? How about the docks? Denny kept on thinking to himself, People were dying on the Citadel and no matter how good he was at shooting he couldn't do anything in the middle of space.

At that moment he noticed that the escape pods were empty, like a good solder Denny took the initiative and decided to use one.

Yarik growled as the Council ships swarmed the Geth fleet. He had hoped some might have the sense to retreat. The Alliance, at least, he would expect, would pull their ships back. But that was not the case.

"Bring in the reinforcement fleets." He said as the Geth fleet continued to wedge itself further and further between the Citadel fleet and the Citadel itself.

"Fire the remaining drop pods." He added as the small, auxiliary Geth fleet came through the Mas Relay, already firing at the Organic fleet. Yarik turned and left the bridge in a huff, checking his weapons and armor as the end of the ship's main passage corridor grew shorter and shorter. At the end he turned, and, after a short elevator ride, came into the hangar bay, where a number of drop ships waited for the command to occupy the station.

"Let's go." Yarik said, climbing aboard one just as it took off in unison with the rest.

Raibert and the squad had moved for about an hour down the walkway. They had to move slowly, and they had yet to see any signs of life in this section of the dock, outside of the Geth. They were moving in the opposite direction of the main service elevator though, and they have no idea what was going on in that section of the dock. They started moving through a larger section of the docking bay. This area looked to be primarily for cargo ships, and he knew that they were getting close to their destination. The walkway began widening out, and there were large metal crates, debris, and what looked like a load of some kind of candy strewn all over the walkway.

He looked a little further down the walkway, a flash of light caught his eye. The service elevator was straight down this walkway, not even 60 yards. There was a small contingent of Geth in front of it, and they had set up some turrets. He held his hand up, and opened it with each digital splayed out. He wanted his men to spread out, and he was too busy thinking to talk. He knew that they had the element of surprise, and he wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. The Geth had cleared off all of the debris 30 feet or so outwards of their position. That gave his men 30 or 40 yards of space to work with before being forced to give up their position. "Men, move up in a staggered formation to the end of the debris layer. Move quietly as possible. I don't want to alert the Geth to our position just yet."

Raibert noticed a planter to his left. He slowly moved behind it and lifted his Volkov up to his eye. Normally he would participate in the front, but he felt that they needed sniper support more than anything else right now, and he was the only one that he could trust. "Don't fire until you hear me fire first. I'll take out the turrets, lay down suppressing fire on the rest of their troop, and don't forget about grenades!" He whispered. The walkway was angled down towards the Geth, so he had a very clear shot on the Geth at the turret. "How long before their sensors pick us up?" He wondered. He tucked the rifled into his shoulder, and slowed his breathing. He took aim at the Geth's head, and squeezed his shot off, erupting pandemonium all around. As an explosion of fire erupted in front of him, Raibert quickly took aim at the other turret, this time shooting the Geth just as he was aiming the turret the squad. Hearing a rather large sounding shot, he looked up. "Jackson is hit! Sniper, GET DOWN!!!" Raibert heard someone yell from below, looking up, he saw the familiar red glow of the Geth sniper, and he quickly aimed up on the balcony. He fired one shot, and severed the Geth's head from his body.

"Clear!' He yelled into his com. As he began to run up to the front of the line, he cursed himself for not seeing that sniper. His men were clearing up the few remaining Geth. There was a small huddle about halfway through the clearing, looking down he saw a Private Jackson that had been shuffled into his squad at Arcturus. He was the first person seriously injured so far, and it looked like he had taken the shot right through his abdomen, and he knew that he had to find a medical facility of some kind quickly. After asking the Private if he could walk, he was told that he could not. Snapping his rifle onto his back, he bent down closer to Private Jackson. Grabbing his wrist, he put his arm across his back over his shoulder. He than reached between his legs, and took hold of his thigh. Grabbing onto Jackson's wrist, as well as maintaining his hold on his thigh, Raibert stood up and began walking towards the elevator. "Gutierrez, Lowe, Fireburn, Schisler, Roptowski, Stewart, and Talith. Stay down here and guard this elevator for as long as possible. When forced to fall back, blow the shaft when you reach the top. Keep moving through the wards, and I'm sure that you'll find us. If you run into some kind of trouble, let me know on the com" Keeping his hold on Jackson, Raibert walked into the elevator with the rest of his men, and the doors shut automatically, taking them up to the Wards.

The elevator reached the top of its trip. On the way they were alerted by the Citadel's lovely AI to evacuate the station. Quietly laughing to himself, he knew that know one would be leaving through the docks for much longer. The doors open, and he wasn't surprised when his team was fired on immediately. Taking cover behind some kind of vending equipment, he layed Jackson down to get better look. A fairly decent sized squad of Geth were standing between them and the Med Clinic. "Fire at will!" He raised up his head and took a shot at a Geth trooper walking away from his men. Why he was going in the opposite direction he couldn't guess. His men had immediately spread out upon exiting the elevator. They had superior cover, and the element of surprise. The Geth were interested in something towards the med clinic, and they weren't expecting a group of well armed Alliance Military coming up behind them. They were quickly dispatched. Picking Jackson up in the fireman's hold once again, he looked around for any other Geth, and exited his cover and began walking through the clearing.

Peering at the Geth pod that had landed, he wondered how long it would take before the Geth got tired of space combat, and started concentrating more of their forces towards taking the Citadel. He had to get closer to the Citadel Tower. The Geth were going to try and gain control of the station's arms, it was the logical thing to do.

As they moved towards the clinic, Raibert noticed something moving behind the pillar. "Alliance military. We're coming to the med clinic. I have a man here who needs immediate medical attention, and we need someone to help. If you're not Geth, come out from behind the pillar, now!"

Omega Squad waited on Jarulek for hours before Isaac ordered the team to move out and find out what happened. Jarulek was supposed to be a stealth expert, but if stealth tactics took hours to do rather than going in there guns blazing, the rest of the Omega Squad didn't have the patience for that.

As soon as they stepped in they found Jarulek dead, face down in a pool of his own blood. "Yeah, some stealth expert. As soon as he walked in he got himself killed," Coal said, in disgust.

"Maybe they killed him somewhere else and dragged him back here," Isaac shot back. "Don't sound so sure of yourself, Coal."

"Well, eitha way, the dude's dead," Cortez said, in his pseudo gangter accent.

"Standing around won't do us any good. We have to press on, find some answers. Maybe even knock down a few Terri Firma bastards along the way," Isaac replied.

And off they went.

Sam and Jakob stood there. The fighting had left them ragged, especially as they fought to get their new companion to the infirmary. Sam had personally dispatched 6 Geth, an amount he was proud of.

Standing in front of the clinic, one pillar stood in their way from saving their companion.

"Alliance military. We're coming to the med clinic. I have a man here who needs immediate medical attention, and we need someone to help. If you're not Geth, come out from behind the pillar, now!"

Sam stood staring at the pillar, breathing hard and sweating. Just then, he saw something poke itself out. Sam raised his weapon. As he watched, he noticed a small light cast upon the floor near the pillar. As it intensified, Sam's grip tightened on the trigger. Then he saw it. His finger squeezed and the light was shattered. A dead Geth trooper dropped to the floor.

[[Wasn't that my pillar? :P]]

Naomi let out a ragged cry like a sob. "Alliance Military, we are Citadel Emergency team dispatched from the Presidium Clinic."

She stepped out from behind the pillar, clutching at the gun. Her muscles were so tense that she couldn't seem to relax her hand. She wanted to drop the weapon, or throw it somewhere far away where she'd never have to touch it again, but chances were, she was going to need it again before the battle was over.

"We came down here to-" she choked for a moment, still holding back sobs of shock and relief mixed together. It took her several seconds to calm down, steady her breathing, and start over. "We came down here to help with the crowds. Right before we hit the clinic, a geth pod landed right over there. They shot one of ours-" she glanced down at the dead body of the nurse- "and the rest of us took cover."

She took a moment to look over the crew in front of her. "Thank God you showed up. We thought we were dead. This was our only weapon." She held up the weak little Kessler.

"I'm Naomi, by the way. Doctor Naomi Chance. This is my team."

The air was tense inside the elevator as it began to rise up towards the Presidium. Lights the lights flickered by as it rose, up higher and higher. “Alright, Ferren” Henaris started, “This may get messy, be watchful and follow me! We have to get to the Citadel Tower ASAP, that is our main objective, no questions!”

He lowered his head and began to think, “This isn’t good….” He light continued to flash, but where steadily loosing speed. Flash after flash, the distance between each one grew, as they began to slow down. “This is it…” He said back to Ferren without turning around. As soon as he had finished what he was saying the elevator came to a stop and only moments later the door opened to reveal the Presidium in a blaze and in ruin.

Without question he crouched down and leaned against the wall next to the opening of the elevator. “Ferren, give me cover fire.” He paused for a second to take some deep breaths, “Alright, I’m ready when your are.”

An enormous burden lifted off of Raibert's back as he heard the Doctor yell out. The fallen Geth had nearly given him a heart attack, but he knew now that they had dealt with the Geth that had landed in this immediate area. Turning around he looked for Sam. "Sam, I need you to set up a perimeter here. We can't let any Geth through until we find the best way to the Presidium. After we get Jackson stowed away we need to find someway to get towards the Citadel Tower." Turning back towards the doctor, he walked towards her with Jackson on his back. She definitely looked distressed.

"I'm Naomi, by the way. Doctor Naomi Chance. This is my team."

"Hello Doctor chance. It's all right, you're safe for now. I'm Service Chief Raibert Adastre. You did well to take cover when you did. I need a place where I can set Jackson down" he said as he pointed to the man on his back, "he's been shot once through the abdomen. I don't think that he has lost too much blood, but he hasn't said much at all, and I haven't been able to look at his wound for nearly half an hour.

Naomi moved to the clinic door and opened the place up. It had been deserted with the rest of the upper markets, but everything was still in tact and a few supplies were left.

"Get him in here, and let him down easy. Start taking off his armor's chest piece while I grab some things." She seemed to calm down in the face of work. This was something she could control. It was something she could handle. She pulled a pair of disposable gloves from her pocket, then gathered a few things from the clinic.

"Stock up while we're here," she ordered her team. "Take what supplies you can. We're going to need whatever we can get."

"Medi-gel works fine in the field," she continued to Raibert, "but if you've got the time, we really should use something a little stronger. It will patch up the wound so he doesn't lose anymore blood. If we can keep him conscious while we work on him, he should only improve after the wound is sealed."

She paused and looked over her shoulder at him. "Of course, that depends on the situation. How bad are things out there? How quickly do you need to get to the tower?"

Following Naomi as directed, Raibert slowly and carefully took off Jackson's standard marine issue body armor. He was thankful that chance had provided them with skilled doctor, because it was times like this that he had wished that he had paid more attention when Medigel was brought up in training.

"Of course, that depends on the situation. How bad are things out there? How quickly do you need to get to the tower?"

"It's pretty rough outside the station. I haven't seen a Geth fleet this large since New Eden, and this one is definitely bigger than that one. Our transports made it in just in time, but I don't know if we're going to get very many more reinforcements from outside the station. That being said, take as much time as is needed. The Geth haven't nearly begun a full scale assault on the Citadel quite yet and while I don't know how much longer they're going to wait, the current priority is getting Jackson healed up well enough to transport with us. If he can't walk, we'll use a stretcher, if he can, all the better."

She nodded. "Good." She was about to turn back to Jackson to start, but then a syringe in a sealed packet caught her eye.

"Hello, beautiful..." She reached down and plucked the syringe from the shelf, double checking the listed contents. "This should help a lot. It's adrenaline. After I get him patched up, it should get him up and kicking again."

This time she did turn back to Jackson. The procedure was comparatively fast, considering the size of the wound, but she was efficient and known for her speed. First she cleaned it out, then she applied a substance similar to medigel to the wound. It sizzled for a moment before grafting itself to the skin and sealing up the hole. Then she turned him over and repeated the process on his back where the shot had gone through.

Finally, it was finished. He was fading from consciousness quickly as the pain got to him, but that didn't last long. She shot the adrenaline into his veins, and that woke him up immediately.

"You can put your armor back on now," Naomi told Jackson, removing her bloodstained gloves and throwing them in a waste container. Then she turned back to Raibert.

"We should stay here for a few more minutes to make sure he's stable before we go. Do you mind if my team and I tag along? I don't think we'll last long out here on our own."