Abigail Shepard rechecked herself for the fifth time. Armour on; shields up; kinetic barriers up; pistol loaded and ready; extra clips: 5. She took a deep breath; somehow unable to get enough, spreading her feet wide as she leaned her elbows on her knees and pressed her head into her hands. There was a throbbing pulse inside her head that threatened to sicken her yet. She closed her eyes and swallowed against the blackness.

Kaidan was in danger. That thought, singular, resonating like a sun gone supernova, railroaded its way around and around her head like a speeding train gone off the tracks. All these months since she had talked with Anderson she had tried to put Kaidan aside, after all it wasn t like she had nothing to do, and who knew what two years had done to the lieutenant.

Commander.

Anderson had been reluctant to tell her anything; a fact that had stung like a festering wound when she had gone to see him, hoping to be greeted by that familiar fatherly figure she had relied on before, instead there was a changeling in his skin: A distant politician unwilling or unable to share what was to her the most important information because she was working with the enemy. Working with the enemy. She was no idiot; she knew Cerberus were bad people, knew they would never change but dammit, people were disappearing and there was no way she could get the resources with the Alliance that she already had with the Illusive Man behind her. So long as he stayed behind her she could control this situation; she could make sure nothing bad happened with it.

It seemed only a few weeks ago she had saved the Citadel; it was dizzying to think it was actually two years ago. That fact, somehow, she couldn t grasp. She could remember with perfect clarity receiving her commendations for saving the Citadel Council; for saving the whole galaxy, Kaidan by her side; those dark eyes watching her every move, that secret little half smile on his lips that he saved just for her. They had been given two weeks leave for rest and recovery following the fight with Saren and his geth, and boy hadn t they rested and recovered? That whole two weeks Shepard was sure neither of them saw daylight except through the window of Kaidan s apartment on the Citadel Presidium. If she closed her eyes she was there in the predawn light of his bedroom. She could almost feel the soft cotton of the sheets, his hands always so warm and softer than she had thought they would be, his lips grazing her shoulders leaving them reddened by the roughness of his unshaven face.

But that wasn t a few weeks ago; that was two years ago, she reminded herself. Just because she still felt that aching void in her chest didn t mean that Kaidan felt the same; or even remembered. Two years was a long time, he would have moved on of course he would have, she had been dead after all. She wasn t sure what terrified her more: finding out he hadn t moved on and had spent the last two years in purgatory, or finding out he had moved on. Maybe got married. Maybe had kids. She swallowed, crushing her face into her hands further to stop her eyes welling with tears. That wasn t fair. If it were true she had to accept it. Two years was a long time.

Shepard? The voice was Garrus and she lifted her eyes to look at him, giving him a reassuring ghost of a smile. His small grey eyes watched her unwavering, his hand held his rifle, the butt of the gun resting on the shuttle as it jounced into the atmosphere of Horizon.

Abigail would never get used to seeing a Turian up close she figured; even back in school when they were given their first pictures of Turians she had thought they were one of the strangest looking species out there. Not that the Volus or Elcor looked normal; but Turians had a dangerous undertone to their every look, every gesture.

On average they were about the same height as human men, some stretching to seven feet, and they were built roughly the same; standing on two legs with two arms, but they were much wirier. Their skin was tough and reflective and looked scaly to touch, but she knew it was soft like human skin, just grey in colour. Their eyes were small, like a birds, resting in a head that looked like it belonged somewhere between bird and reptile, folds of hardened cartilage creating almost a crown tapering to the back of their heads. She could remember her lecturer back on Mindoir, Dr Craig, teaching them about the Turian home-world Palaven. The planet had a core that was poor in metal which meant that the protection from the sun s radiation was weaker than on other planets; as a consequence almost everything alive on Palaven had developed some kind of reflective protection against radiation; for Turians this was in the structure of their skin.

Perhaps the dangerous undertone was nothing to do with the way Turians looked but more to do with the history they had with humans. After all, it was the Turians that had first contact with humans and started a war that lasted little more than a month before the Citadel Council intervened, offering a tentative welcome to the human race. For all the hostility

however the relationship had come far since then. Turian s had great respect for the human sacrifices made while saving the Citadel; their fleet had become the pride of the galaxy and if there was one thing Turians knew it was good military.

You look pale, Shepard. He commented, surprisingly observant for Garrus, normally such human traits passed him by without much notice. I m fine. She said, and she was. Perhaps saying it enough would make her believe it. Did the Illusive Man tell you anything else about this colony other than it was under attack? He asked, and there was a hint of suspicion there, but she thought it would be best keeping the fact that Kaidan was supposed to be there to herself. Less distracting that way. She shook her head. No, we re going in to find out what the Collector s are up to. She swept a strand of hair behind her ear before lifting her helmet and securing it on her head. No shit. Jack muttered from where she sat, peering out the shuttle window.

She was a collage of tattoos and not much clothing, but her biotics made up for the scarcity of her armour. She looked to Garrus, she had a fiercely beautiful face the angles of her cheekbones and chin made sharper by her shaved head. She watched Shepard with the same guarded demeanour she held for everyone; but she was glad she brought Jack along. It felt like they were the only two she could trust; Garrus had no ties to Cerberus except her and she could trust him, he had helped her before. Jack had every reason to despise Cerberus, and she did, which made her a perfect ally. Just stay sharp. Shepard said firmly Whatever the Collectors are up to; I want to know.

Lilith Baker paused on the threshold of her cabin, readjusting the fuel cells in her arms before they toppled down the steps in front of her. Satisfied they were balanced once more she descended the steps onto the grass with quick strides; the fuel cells were not light after all and she was in a rush. It was then April appeared, blonde hair shining under the sunlight as she came marched toward her, her blue eyes looked furious and she flicked her hair over her shoulder falling into step beside her. Where are you headed? She asked, her tone clipped and sharp. The Control Room. Lilith said shortly, she was in no mood for dealing with April s drama moments. Since she had arrived at the colony she had gone out her way to make trouble simply to have something to talk about, and now was not the time for that. That Alliance rep is looking for you. April said He s furious that we ve taken our engineers off the guns to work on the Comm dish. Lilith gave her a sideways glance; it was hard to tell the direction of April s anger.

She was certainly not mad at the Alliance rep; since this Commander Alenko had arrived April had been tripping over herself to talk with him. For his part the Commander had remained distant from the colony; they had even given him one of the nicer cabins, a private one to boot. It wasn t that he didn t appear thankful for their hospitality but he sure did prefer his own company. Even after hours while they drank at the makeshift bar he spent most of his time in his cabin. All he had requisitioned was a bottle of Noverian whiskey and parts for these damned defence guns the alliance had gifted them. Not that she wasn t grateful; lord knows the colony needed better defences this far out in the Terminus Systems, but in her experience gifts from the Alliance usually came with a subtle string attached. So she could never be sure if April was angry with the Commander, or angry that the hiccup with communications had meant she didn t have an excuse to hang off his arm. Well, Lilith said, rounding a cluster of cabins onto what stood for the main street of their colony, a direct walk to the Control Room from here We need our Comms up April. Without them we re blind. The Commander is military, he ll know that. She paused Or he should.

It was then she spotted the Commander, dressed in his armour he looked ready to battle let alone tinker with some defence guns; but then she had always wondered why he needed an arsenal to set up defences. She handed the fuel cells to April without breaking stride, gesturing for her to continue on as she paused in front of the Commander, waiting to feel the wrath of this fury. It never came.

He was a handsome man, she could give him that at least, dark hair slicked back with a strong, angular face and deep, dark eyes that had many of the women here swooning. Not her though, Commander Alenko was all too quiet for her. She liked her men rowdy. Even now, when she expected him to offload a temper, he was simply looking at her; a picture of serenity and calm. Lilith, He said in way of greeting We have a problem. He began walking and she had to half jog to keep up with him;

she wasn t military, not even close. Still trying to calibrate the targeting matrix? She asked.

It wasn t as much a guess as she made it sound, the Commander had been trying to get it done for the last few days; but life in a border colony was nothing if unpredictable. Power shortages, water supply problems, burnt out fuel cells, late shipments of supplies, hell early shipment of supplies she could knock them all out in a standard week on Horizon, and each and every one could cause unparalleled chaos.

Those defence towers are useless without it. He said, his tone was deep but it wasn t angry and not for the first time she wondered what April had been talking about. The Commander was alright in her books. I know. She said by way of apology But Comms take priority Commander, with them down Okay. He said, stopping and turning to look at her I m just surprised they ve not tried to blame that one on me too. For the first time since he had arrived she thought she could detect a little bit of emotion from him, it knocked her off her guard a little as she looked carefully at him. A lot of people don t trust the Alliance out here. She tried It s nothing personal. And that was true, it really wasn t anything against the guy; there would be plenty a happy lady if he should choose to integrate a bit more with the colony.

But his attention was somewhere else already, his dark eyes turned skyward. She followed his gaze. Above them the air was shifting; the clouds that normally crawled by silently were moving, turning, twisting as a great metallic monstrosity was birthed from their depths high above in the sky. Lilith couldn t believe her eyes; she had never seen a ship so large even the transporter that had brought them here would have been dwarfed beside it. What is that? she asked, she had no idea what else to say. The Commander s brow furrowed as he lifted the rifle at his side to get a better look, without lowering the gun he glanced to her; dark eyes meeting hers Get everyone to the LPR. He ordered and she hesitated, wondering if he was being serious. But then she caught the dark look on his face and knew this was no drill. There was a sudden crack of gunfire, one that made her jump in the air literally, and god that was going to be embarrassing when this was all over and then she was running, the Commander a little behind her, lunging backwards, his gun pointed skyward, bullets pumping the air. Only it wasn t just air, there was something like a black cloud, that moved and shifted, parted for the bullets, came back together. She was too busy trying to keep her feet moving to look and then she tripped; her hands sliding into grass that was still slick and cool with dew from the morning. The Commander gripped her arm, pulling her to her feet, and giving her the gentlest of pushes but it didn t lack urgency. Then he cried out, his hand reaching the back of his neck and dislodging some kind of insect that was there. He growled, moved back to fire again, but no gunfire ever came. The Commander simply stopped, mid step, his finger an inch or two from the trigger. It was as though someone had blew dry ice over him and frozen him solid.

Her heart began to skip as she turned and fled, too scared to look back. One of the colonists grabbed her arm and she held onto them, as though the very contact could stop what was happening. She tripped again was it her new sneakers? and fell this time onto her shoulder. A piercing pain in her back and she cried out, the sound rumbling up from her gut only to freeze halfway in her throat as she tried to suck in a breath but she couldn t. She couldn t move at all. All around her she could see people screaming as they ran, those swarms of insects enveloping each in a dark cloud, but she couldn t move a muscle. Couldn t speak. She felt her eyes well with tears that she couldn t shed; her eyelids wouldn t move.