The dropship pilots saw the smoke coming from Williams position and immediately made a b-line straight for it. As they touched down Specialist Keyes heard the three most important words she'd heard all day coming from her earpiece. "FIRE THE CANNONS" the Ad Victoriam had fired all of its cannons towards the reaper, in some hope that the remaining dropships could touch down.

Faltus stood groundside directing the remaining troops telling them to look for survivors before making his way over to William and the N7's. "Commander Martius Faltus, Turian Special Forces. Whos, the CO down here?" As the Commander was talking the rest of his fireteam made their way to strategic positions to defend their commander, the two Lieutenants made their way up to sniper points while Specialist Keyes and Private Jackson watched as the other troops went on their search and rescue mission, wondering how many would return. Only Corporal Moreno stuck by Faltus' side while he and the other Soldiers discussed things.

The landscape was barren. No life of any kind could been seen for miles. The Reaper stood, still shouting its horn across the plains. A kinetic barrier rendered the fire from Ad Victoriam utterly useless. However, Chimera wasn’t without a sense of malevolent humour. Knowing that the fire would do little irreversible damage. It lowered its barriers to take some of the fire, looking as if it had started to lose balance. But after a moment the barriers raised themselves again and fired directly in the direction of Ad Victoriam. The beam glanced the hull enough to sake the crew, but not do any serious damage.

Meanwhile, Reaper Drones continued to build pipelines throughout the wastelands from the cities and colonies. The small leaks would reveal organic slush was being pumped from these cities and into a storage facility a few miles away from the Reaper. This storage facility was protected by a biotic barrier that was being generated by a power generator in the centre of the facility… However, one weakness was the pipeline network itself. Should someone be brave enough to go into the pipes themselves, they would be able to infiltrate the facility.

The blast of the reaper beam shook the crew of the Ad Victoriam, the hull was hit but there was no breach so they could continue fighting but Captain Karrel Vakarian knew there would be little that the ship and crew could do to effectively take on the Reaper. He had a plan but it would require the combined ground forces of the Terminus fleet, Blackwatch and the Alliance to hold out long enough for him to get back.

"Commander Faltus, we cant do a thing to that reaper without taking serious damage ourselves, we need more ships. I will go to the Citadel and bring as many ships back as I can to destroy the Reaper, do you think you and your men can hold out that long?"

Down on Arcadia, Faltus' team were suffering heavy losses, the Salarian team sent in to find and retrieve civilians from the wealthier districts had become completely over run by husks and killed, leaving only Faltus' squad, the Asari and the Original Turian Blackwatch. Faltus knew that this was going to be a losing battle if he didnt bring his soldiers back to defend the area that they were currently in until fire support arrived.

"This is Commander Faltus to all fireteams, get back to the drop zone ASAP. Mission objectives have changed, if you find civilians on the way back bring them with you" Faltus knew that it would be unlikely that the Ad Victoriam would be back in time to save all the troops stationed on Arcadia, but they had to hold out for as long as the could. "Look at the minute we have very little choice on what to do, that Reaper has an endless supply of troops and we have very few. The warship that accompanies the Ghost of Vakarian has just left to go and get us some more fire support, we need to hold out until they return. I dont know either of you personally but right now we have little choice but to work together. My suggestion is to barricade this part of town off and create a forward operating base to hold out here until we get some more fire support."

William looked at Commander Faltus, and laughed. "Commander Faltus, you've got to be joking." When he saw that Faltus was being serious, he stopped laughing. "Commander, there is a few problems with that plan of yours. One, it's pure suicide. Two, our ships are still here, so we can leave at anytime. Three, we are mercenaries, meaning that we have to be paid a ridiculous amount to even be tempted to take on a Reaper. And four, we already have a mission."

He nodded to the mercs around him, and they started moving to the vault door, preparing to enter as soon as they were told to. "Our mission comes from someone better paid, and with more authority than whoever sent you to this place. Aria T'Loak. And nobody, and I mean nobody, is stupid enough to break the one rule of Omega, even though we aren't on it. Don't FUCK with Aria. Now we are going in there, we are grabbing everything that we can, and then we are getting the hell out of here." He turned and looked each man and woman briefly in the eye, "If anyone here has any objections. Well, you either better have a shit tonne of credits or tech. Or, you better be have the skills and numbers, to stop us. So, speak now, or forever hold your peace."

Faltus frowned at the objection to help the Turian defeat the Reaper. "Goddamn Mercs, if you agree to help us you can take a share of whatever is in that vault and we will supply you with much better weapons than whatever you bought on Omega. I also have contacts in C-Sec, i can get you some discounts at the stores on the Citadel aswell as them turning a blind eye to the odd, shady deal." Faltus turned to look at the N7's and shrugged. "Do we have a deal"

Alex would teleport next to William, placing his Katana up to his neck line.

“How about you fall inline… ‘soldier’.” Green’s voice was dark and husky. “We’re going into the vault, anything you can take is yours, but this is a profit share business.”

With that he sheathed his blade and turned towards the vault entrance and pointed towards it.
“We’re going in.” He said as he looked down at his Omni-tool. “Shadow-Blade, give those in the city some fire support.”

In the city where multiple fire-fights were taking place, the smooth ripping of engines broke through the sound barrier. A ship flew through the city, dropping biotic bombs that created rifts that drew in Reaper forces. The Shadow-Blade kept as low as possible to avoid the fire of the Reaper.

William sneered at the newcomer, he hated how people interrupted negotiations, but he got what he wanted. "Commander Faltus, you've got a deal. I'll tell the others what to do." He got onto his Comms and opened a channel to the other groups of mercs. "Alright everyone listen up. I've got a Turian Commander here who is giving us a good offer. So, you wanna get paid, rally to my position and set up a defensive perimeter around the vault." He then walked over to the doors of the vault, "Alright ladies and gentlemen. Let's see how much we are getting paid." The mercs cheered, opened the doors, and charged into the vault. William and his team went in right after them, and he made sure his personal recorder was taping everything, you never know what you can find to on a wall that may be worth a pretty penny. That's when he got a call that made him shudder.

"Boss, this is your Lady Luck. When got some of those Cerberus bastards coming in fast to your position. There doesn't seem to be too many of them, about company strength, but their tech is top notch. Good luck boss."

Fuck.

"Glad to be on the same side." Faltus hated the idea of working with Mercs but he atleast had to pretend that he was happy abut it. He looked at the N7 who had appeared behind William. "So, how much do i have to pay you to help us defeat a Reaper" he joked hoping that the N7 didnt actually ask for payment.

MEANWHILE AT THE CITADEL

Captain Vakarian and the Ad Victoriam drifted gracefully into the docking area of the Citadel. "Marinus, Jacks i want you two with me while our Specialist goes to speak with the Commander of the 43rd marines. were going to see the council to see if we can convince them to send aid to Arcadia. in the very likely case they dont send aid. well. were gonna take it anyways. im pretty sure i could get some spectres to come help us and if spectres are helping, hell anyone will follow them into battle"

As the doors were opened, the true vastness of it was revealed. Hundreds of storage sections were sealed off, protected by barriers that prevented access. – The corpses of the Collectors proved that much. As the different teams entered the vault, green streaks of light phased throughout the sections of the vault, scanning the newcomers. A strange alien language was heard through some type of intercom, most likely a VI announcing the scan results; and seeing as everyone was still alive, it must have been good.

Straight ahead was a much laid a much larger door that lead into the greater vault, and the only one that hadn’t had a barrier protecting it. As the teams neared it, the hissing of depressurisation signalled that the doors were about to open.
As they did, no one could have imagined what was behind them.

Pillars of light were shooting up from computer terminals as large as fighters. Thousands of holographic displays were scattered among them, all with various blueprints. The most notable… the Citadel…

As their eyes got use to the lighting conditions, the teams could finally see an odd, but familiar looking race around them… the Keepers.
As they entered, the teams were greeted by one.

“Quickly, time is not on our side. I am Sah’shi, Master Keeper.”

Captain Vakarian and his squad made his way to the Council room and barged in while they were still mid-session. "Captain, how dare you barge into the councils chambers while we are still negotiating terms of Palavens defence request." The Turian Captain pushed the Ensign, probably sent by the Sixth fleet, out of the way. "I must appologise for my rude introductions but we have much more urgent matters. A distress signal was sent from Arcadia which we..." Councillor Udina spoke up part way through the Captains speech. "Ah, we have already had reports of that. we deemed it just to be an attack from pirates that the Alliance navy stationed there could control." The other councillors could see the captain becoming enraged at the Earth councillors remark.

"OH PIRATES. WELL COUNCILLOR UDINA WHAT IF I TOLD YOU IT WASNT PIRATES BUT INSTEAD A REAPER AND THERES A VAULT ON ARCADIA THAT MAY HAVE A WEAPON INSIDE THAT COULD DESTROY ALL THE REAPERS!" the entire council sat shocked, even the Turian Ensign behind Captain Vakarian looked shocked. The First to break the Silence was the Asari Councillor. "The Asari will send the sixth fleet with you, aswell as Commandos and the Armali Sniper Unit" After her was the Salarian Councillor "At this point the Salarian race cannot send any troops or fleets to help in the Battle of Arcadia as we have to continue research into the cure of the Genophage to help win the war. Im sure you understand. Then the Turian Councillor spoke "Palaven's safety comes first Captain, however you arrived earlier with the 43rd Marine fleet, take them with you." Finally Councillor Udina spoke out "AT THIS POINT IN TIME ALL HELP SHOULD BE DIRECTED TO EARTH AND PALAVEN, NOT SOME OUTER COLONY THAT NOBODY EVER HEARS FROM." That was all the Captain needed to hear. "You know im glad you say that Udina, because that statement was just recorded on my Omni-tool. Now unless you feel like giving me an Alliance fleet or at very least some Troops that i can take on board the Ad Victoriam, i think the people on the Citadel will be very glad to hear what the Earth Councillor has to say about the Outer Colonies" Udina went red in the face when the Captain said this. "FINE TAKE SPEC OPS TEAM DELTA. BUT YOU BETTER DELETE THAT FILE"

William walked up to the master keeper and bowed his head as a sign of respect. "Sah'shi, my name is William. I understand the need for haste, so tell me only what you deem to be of vital importance, and after that if there is time we can ask more straight to the point questions." He looked around and saw that some of the other mercs were already starting to fill their hands and their pockets with whatever they could grab, loose tech, Collector weapons and even a few were snapping pictures. He looked at one of his people and nodded his head at one of the Collector bodies, the man knew exactly what he wanted, and handed William a Collector rifle, and then proceeded to pick up the Collector body with the help of another. A few of his other crew grabbed a few Collector weapons as well, and started hauling a few of the Collectors over to the entrance. If they could manage to get even one of their corpses back in one piece, it'd be worth a fortune.

For now though, the real treasure was something that this keeper had in his head, plans to fight the Reapers. Good thing it seemed to be in a cooperative mood.

The insectoid blinked its large, focused eyes in a sense of indifference at William. Clearly bowing wasn’t something that these creatures acknowledged, but it knew the words that he spoke. Meanwhile the other Keepers continued their tasks, not noticing the newcomers. Some carried what appeared to tools and building materials of some kind.

“I must be brief. The Reaper you have no doubt seen out there is known as Chimera. He… it is a rogue element within the Reaper ranks. When our cycle came, we were to be harvested like the rest of our race, only their artificial constructs of ourselves were to remain… to maintain our creations, he allowed us to live.” Sah’shi said as it looked at the hologram that displayed a blueprint of a Mass Relay. “Now our creations are used to speed up their work.”

Sah’shi then began to walk towards the main terminal.
“If only there was more time… Chimera has a…”

But before Sah’shi could finish, the terminals and their energy turned to a solid red. A booming voice echoed throughout the entire greater vault.

“Sah’shi… why do you betray me?! Have I not kept my promise and kept you safe? All I ask for return is your obeisance…”

Captain Vakarian left the Council chambers and continued on towards the Docks where the Ad Victoriam was. In the Docking bay stood 3 rather important Figures. A female human, presumably from the Spec Ops team. A Turian sargent from the 43rd marines and an Asari Commando.

"Sargent Amy-Lee Martins, Spec Ops Team Delta. Current CO of The Black Thorn, Reporting Sir" the Turian nodded in her direction then turned to the others. "43rd are ready to move on your orders sir" the final speaker was the Asari. "Commandos are ready to run and gun as soon as you give the go"

MEANWHILE ON ARCADIA

Commander Faltus' troops began to file in as the mercs that william had left outside pushed the gate to the compound shut. "We will talk later" he said to the N7 Operative that he had spoken to moments ago. "Ok Asari get on the barricade you have first watch everyone else your on break for the next hour. eat your rations and get some rest. Taylor, Cortez. You two are on lookout keep an eye out for any unfriendly guests"

William saw all the screens go red, then saw an image of the nine other than the very Reaper creeping outside. He looked around, searching for any screen not turned red, and saw a small device that showed holograms of some weird plans. He snatched it up quickly and hid it in his armour. "Lady Luck, I need you to use the biggest weapon we have on there. Aim for that fuckers eye." The Lady Luck powered up its main weapon and fired, nobody had any idea what the hell the cannon was or shot, but it grazed the side of the Reaper, though it did take out a small chunk of the Reaper.

@Catchphrase@Legion-114

From the forward operating base that the Mercs and Turians had set up, Faltus' men could see the Reaper get blasted by the cannon of the Lady Luck. Cortez and Taylor were doing their job well, keeping the Cannibals and Husks at bay while the Asari kept the larger creatures at bay. Down inside the base Faltus and the other Turians were getting a much deserved break from the fight until he heard something from one of the snipers.

"Commander, we have incoming Cerberus troops. id get everyone rallied for the fight" the commander groaned loudly and got on the Comms to william. "Hey Merc, theres a problem topside, you might want to get up here and help"

MEANWHILE

The Ad Victoriam along with, The Black Thorn, The 43rd Marine fleet and the Asari Commandos arrived in the Utopia system near Arcadia.
"Commander Faltus. The cavalry has arrived. Get your seats ready for the gunshow"

The Keeper’s face remained motionless; most likely due to the lack of facial muscles, but there was a sense of sternness behind this Keeper, a self-sufficient sense of confidence.

“Come with me please.” The Sah’shi spoke, leading the group past the terminals that flickered from red to blue as the Reaper continued to speak.
“Organics, hear me well for this is my only offer. Allow my presence into the vault, and you shall take your place by my side. As the last of your dying race, you can help shape the future of all galactic species. The Keepers are proof that I keep to my word.” Chimera spoke, his voice rumbling throughout the halls.

The Keeper, rather in rejection, agreed to the Reaper’s words.

“He is indeed correct. The chances of your race surviving this cycle are unlikely… and he gave us the same offer over two hundred cycles ago, and we’re still here today. It would be wise to accept if personal survival is your goal.” Sha’shi spoke, his voice unmoving.
Alex stepped forward, his hand in a solid fist.
“We’re not accepting any offer from that monster.” He yelled, his voice ripening with passion.

“Very well… It’s a shame we can’t take all this data with us. We only have enough time to download one data cache before we are overrun.”
Sha’shi moved over to a large holo-screen, on it the clear blueprints of a Reaper.
“Our first option is the most obvious… we designed the body of the Reaper... while we did our best to perfect its design, there are numerous weak spots we can exploit.”

After typing, the screen changed to a large foundry station, much larger than the Citadel.
“The next is Chimera’s personal foundry known as the Reaper’s Heart. Here he has unthinkable production capabilities. Its current location is unknown, but this is the full layout, access tunnels and such.”

Again, typing Sha’shi changed the image to the Citadel. However, to start it looks as normal, but suddenly sections of it swipe in from the sides, adding to its overall structure which looked fierce indeed.
“Your final choice is to unlock the Citadel’s combat form. The Citadel was designed to be a modular unit, capable of adapting quickly. We have spent many cycles designing a battle form that would be capable of withholding attacks from Reaper forces and capable of destroying them. As long as it is supported of course.”

William looked at all the designs, and made doubly sure that his recorder we was getting it all. This information is definitely worth a large amount of credits, especially to Aria, she'd know exactly who to sell it to. When he heard that the Cereberus troops were pushing up, he looked around and made sure that all his troops could see him. "Commander Faltus, I'm heading up top to deal with the Cerbs. I'll leave you teams two and four to watch over. I'll be back as soon as I can, so don't do anything I wouldn't. Alright boys lets go." He ran topside with his own team and two others, heading to to flank where the Cerbs were hitting hard.

"Aye Aye soldier. The fleets returned as well so we can take some heat away from the reaper while you deal with Cerberus" Commander Faltus turned and looked at the men which were under his command "Alright ladies our job is to keep this base secure until your commander comes back. Get up onto those barricades and show Cerberus why they dont mess with the Terminus system" a resounding 'Oohah' from the men that William left behind was the best thing Faltus had heard all day. I was a tremendous sight to see aswell, Asari, Humans, Turians, Batarians all stood together on a barricade knowing that the only people they had to rely on now was the guys stood either side of them. Silence fell over the battlefield as the Cerberus dropships landed. "Hey merc, if either of us dont make it out alive. You did good kid just wanted to tell you"

As William and his team blindly ran outside, unknown to them the Reaper had closed in on their position and was directly over their heads. – A single beam fired in front of them, destroying the Cerberus dropship and cutting off any means of escape. Husks fell from the sky in uncountable number, chagrining at the mercenaries.

Suddenly an alarm at the entrance of the vault began to sound. After a moment, a great grinding sound emitted from the large doors as they slowly began to seal.

Meanwhile in the Greater Vault the other Keepers began to make their way to what appeared to be some form of service elevator, highlighted by green strobing lights. Turrets deployed from the ceiling and pointed towards the entrance of the vault, they too began to close.
“We must hurry; we have only but a few moments.” Sha’shi said. “Then we must board.”

Alex turned to Sha’shi, slightly confused.

“What do you mean ‘board’?” He asked.

“We must escape by the only means that will not result in permanent death.” Sha’shi replied as he typed at the console. “I shall begin the data stream to The Last Stand now.”

William was blown off his feet by the blast, along with most of his men. When he got back to his feet a husk jumped towards him, howling at the top of its lungs. He kicked it in the chest and as soon as it dropped to the ground, he stomped on its head, crushing it completely. He looked around and saw that his troops were getting overwhelmed by the husks. Another wave was coming towards them and he fired a concussive blast, taking out a chunk of them. "Pull back! Everyone get back to the barricades. Faltus, grab whatever you can in there, grab that keeper if possible. We are leaving now! You hear me! Lady Luck, send down some shuttles to evac us out of here." As soon as he and his men made it back to the barricade, he noticed that the doors were closing, he grabbed the nearest person next to him and got them to help him pile stuff in the gap of the door. "Faltus! The doors are closing fast! Get out of there!"