The Great Galactic War Has Begun.

(Realmers quarters)

Jack wakes up along with the others and they hear the intercom "Realmers, report to Command for briefing on your roles in this war" the team grab their gear and head to the commanders office to receive their orders.

(Commanders Office)

The team stand in front of the Commanders "Realmers, it's been an honour to have you here... but now the endgame has come, your team Michael will be leading the charge on their flagship, according to the galactic council they have increased their Vitrum shielding and so we need people to shut it down while our fleets take care of their fleets (the humans have 2 more fleets than the Layrian's (not including the other 3 races helping the humans) but don't posses lasers strong enough to damage the flagship, (Elara's ship) for this you'll be flying The Normandy (same one as in mass effect 2 with all the upgrades) and your job will be shut down the shields then regroup with Zager" (the codename for main attack force).

Michael and the team nod "Yes sir" the Commander smiles "Good, now get going, you don't wanna miss your shot" the team head to the MPF which takes them to the Normandy.

(The Normandy)

They land and get out, Marion heads down to the engineering deck, Max heads to the armoury, Carolina heads to the Medbay and Eliza heads to the crew deck while Jack and Michael head to the war room to discuss tactics with the Admiral and the other Ailen race commanders (will explain them in detail in a later chapter).

(Normandy's war room)

"Ah, you two have arrived, Michael, Jack this is Zaren, Commander of the Sains (a reptilian race known for their opposition to the Layrians because of their belief in freedom of choice), Aeron Commander of the Exos (An Avian like race with advanced technology and the biggest military in the galaxy) and Celina Commander of the Ricons (A humanoid blue race that has the best minds in the galaxy they look like the Asari) "The Zerians would have been here but they are currently still at war with the Swarm" (they will make an appearance in a later book) Michael nods "Nice to meet you... so what's the latest on the ships barriers" Zaren pulls up a holographic image of the ship "The ship is protected by a double layered Vitrum shield combined with an Ascion particle generator(Ascion is a material used to make Vitrum barriers more resistant to damage but also has the side effect of making the barrier more unstable if the switch or core powering it, is damaged then the barrier explodes with force equal to an Atomic Bomb) Zaren looks at Aeron "You could have said that earlier when I proposed blowing the core" Celina shuts him up "That would blow up most of their fleets but also most of ours" Jack smiles "Could still be a viable plan, for a worst case sencario" Michael nods "Yeah, but hopefully it doesn't come to that" the ailen commanders nod "Indeed" Aeron then pulls up an image of the ship's many decks "They'll most likely be on the engineering deck... but on the off chance they aren't they could also be in the command centre here" he pulls up an image of a control centre, Jack chuckles "Well, I have another idea" Michael and the leaders nod "Go, on" Jack continues "We spilt up into two teams, I'll take Max and Carolina and however many troops you plan to spare to come with us and head for the command centre while Michael takes Marion and Eliza and the rest of the troops to the engineering deck, then meet up at the hangar and bring in the Normandy for extraction" Aeron and the others nod "That sounds like a plan" Michael pats his brother on the back "Great, but how are we getting onto the flagship" Zaren responds "The Layrians use long range portals to move their troops through their fleets, our cyber warfare suites will fake several errors which will force them to move troops, so the resistance in the flagship is lessened, maker it easier for you to fight your way through" everyone agrees and they all get ready and start heading to the battlefield (above Laren).

(The Layrian flagship, War Room deck)

Elara starts organising the troops and sets up holograms of her Commanders "You all have clearance to do whatever it takes to keep the fleet secure, scuttle ships or blow cores but do not let the soilders onto the ships, otherwise they'll use the portals and overrun us on here" the commanders nods and Aural responds "Yes, my Empress, do you also want me to gather our best troops to capture the Realmers" Elara nods "Yes" Aural nods and her hologram disappears. Irina sits on her throne next to her mother "This is not going to be easy mother, especially with Jack and Michael's knack for stragety" Elara nods "That's why, you are guarding the Command Centre while I guard the Engineering deck, as soon as those switches are turned off their superior beams will shred this ship to pieces" Irina nods "Yes mother" the two look at the approaching fleets, Elara looks intently and sees the council fleets among them "So the council have finally decided to beat us down" Irina is shocked "The Council, there're siding with the humans" Elara nods "Not surprising considering, the Sains, Exos and Ricons have always hated our method for keeping our population up...but it will make no difference" Irina nods "Yes it won't" the two sir and watch the battle unfold.

(The Normandy, Vidcom room)

"I like this plan, Jack, you might need a promotion after this is over" Jack smiles "As long as I stay with my team" The Admiral nods "I'll see what I can do, in the meantime, you two should rest up, you're still two days away from Laren" (FTL takes longer when multiple ships are travelling at once) Jack and Michael nod before heading to their quarters for the night.

(Michael's Quarters)

Michael sets out his gear for the battle and holds his and his dads dog tags in his hands "This is for you dad, mom, uncle...brother" his door opens and closes while Marion steps in (she and Michael have a thing for each other) "I see you waste no time getting your gear ready" Michael laughs "Yeah, you cant afford to be lazy in war" Marion giggles "So has Carolina made her feelings known yet" Michael nods "Didn't you see them sleeping together last night" Marion smirks "Yeah, just checking if you were paying attention" she picks up a picture of Jack, Michael and their mom and dad standing for a photo when they were young and sits then puts it down and sits on the bed. Michael puts his dads pistol on the bedside (with the safety on) and then he and Marion embrace each other before falling asleep.

(Jack's room)

Jack lays out his gear and paints a black V on his chest plate, hands, legs and helmet (avoiding the visor) (his armour his Blue, Michael's is black, Eliza's is red, Max's is Green, Marion's is Yellow and Carolina's is white) He then puts his rifle on the work bench and puts his mother's pistol on his bedside before he hears his door open and Carolina steps in "You, always prep quickly, much like your brother" Jack laughs while putting a new scope on his rifle "One of the many similarities between us" Carolina smiles and picks up a picture of Jack, Michael and their parents at Jack's 16th birthday (his birthday was the day before the Layrians captured

him the first time) "You look so cute" Jack blushes realising that she's looking at the old photo "Yeah, but the day after that photo was not fun" Carolina looks at him before realising what he meant "That happened right after your happiest day" Jack nods before joining her in the bed "But I now have a new happiest day" he kisses her, she returns it and the two embrace each other before falling asleep.

(The Normandy, War Room)

"Is the "Warden" ready" The Admiral nods at Aeron "Yes but the Vitrum shields must be brought down first or the Ascion particles will make the feedback blow up our fleets" Aeron nods "Roger, I'll tell the others" he contacts the others "The Warden is ready, all we need to do is wait for the Realmers to destroy the shields and get off the ship then we can blow the thing to pieces" the Commanders nod "Got it" Aeron turns off the Vidcom "May the gods watch over us for this battle" he heads to his quarters.

(The Layrian flagship, Irina's room)

Irina sharpens her dagger "Don't you worry Jack, I'll get you back and when I do, my mom's going to carve your brother up and make you pound me while you watch him suffer at my moms hands" she laughs evilly to herself and then goes to sleep.

(Elara's room)

Elara grabs Michael and Jack's dad's broken helmet with a V on it, "your sons will suffer for defying me twice and then I'll make you regret ever killing my mother" she puts the helmet back on her shelf before going to sleep.